The rollercoaster continues....

5^th February 2011 – 26^th February 2011

Saints were the late kick off for a televised away game to Peterborough. A game which we all knew would be a tough task. Boro have a good home record and score by the sack full, but also concede almost as many. Darren Ferguson was back in charge, so I expected the home team to be up for it.

Saints started brightly, as per usual. The wind was causing all sorts of issues for the keepers. We took the lead when Chaplow stabbed home. He continued his good form from the previous month. Alex Chamberlain was causing all sorts of problems for the home team allowing Lambert and Guly to hold a very high line. Chamberlain was bought down for a penalty, which Sir Rickie converted. 2-0 up and cruising. Yet again Saints seemed to switch off and allowed the home side back into the game. Seaborne mis-judged a bouncing ball which allowed Mackail-smith to run in on goal. An average shot beat Kelvis at his near post. Boro then levelled when Whelpdale was allowed too much space at the back post to head home from inside the 6 yard box. 2-2  half time.

Saints again flew out of the traps in the second half and scored 2 quick goals, first Rickie Lambert blasted home another penalty following a foul on Chaplow, then skipper Dean Hammond smashed home a great shot from a well worked training ground corner. Surely this would mean we would tighten up and come home with the 3 points? Being saints fans, we all know the answer was no! The ref gave Boro a penalty following a clumsy tackle by Seaborne, 3-4 with 54 minutes gone. We managed to hold the lead until the 2^nd minute of injury time when Chamberlain was very harshly judged to have handled the ball. Boro equalised and for me it felt like a defeat rather than a point gained away from home.

It was a performance which had its high points, but I will be critical of several players. Firstly Dan Harding was so out of position for their second goal. Again a wide player had got goal side of him. Secondly Dan Seaborne allowed a ball to bounce when he should have cleared and then gave away a penalty with a silly challenge. But yet again our keeper was at fault. Beaten at the near post for the first goal, then stayed on his line for the second. If he had come and claimed the cross Dan Harding would have got away with his poor positional play.

Carlisle were the visitors to St Marys on the 12^th. They had been on a poor run before the game and long may it continue. A crowd of 25,076 turned up to watch a poor game. Carlisle came with a game plan of sitting deep and trying to stop our ball playing midfield getting in behind. It worked for large periods. Rickie Lambert, who looks like returning to the form of last season, gave Saints the lead just before halftime.  It was a lead which we managed to hold on to, but without really creating many chances to extend the lead. I myself will accept this type of match every time as long as we win. Some people enjoy moaning about this type of game, but did we hear Chelsea fans complain when under Mourinho they would grind our results? This is a sign of a team going places. Consistency is all we lack.

Our away day at Rochdale was postponed on the morning of the match. This proved very frustrating and adds to our heavy fixtures load between now and the end of the season. The team stayed up north and prepared for the next away match at Hartlepool  on the 22^nd. By all accounts we trained at Middlesbrough’s training ground and had a few team building moments on this very long road trip.

The match against Hartlepool is another where there is not really a lot to say. We huffed and puffed but didn’t create many chances. 0-0 was the final score and by all accounts the 600 or so loyal fans that made the trip didn’t have much to help warm them up!

During the week we got the bad news that Bart Bialkowski has suffered a bad knee injury and could be out for over a year. I wish Bart a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in action soon. To deal with this injury Saints moved fast and loaned James Shea from Arsenal. Hopefully this will be the first of many loans between the two clubs.

So we went into our final match of the month against Swindon. The Robins have fast become a bogey team for the Saints. We have failed to beat them in the last few seasons and were well and truly outplayed in the JPT when Swindon visited early in the season.

Kicking towards the Northam end, Saints started brightly and nearly took the lead when Chamberlain hit the post from inside the box. Alex was almost wheeling away celebrating but luck was not on his side. We did take the lead when Lallana finished off a good move and gave us the lead. Guly who was working hard then hit the same post as Chamberlain following a Lambert knock down. Would this be our day? 1-0 at half time, Swindon had barely got into our half.

Saints were sloppy at the beginning of the second half. Our passing was poor and we seemed second to most 50-50’s. Swindon got back into the game when ex skate Ritchie beat Davies at the near post. Yet again another poor piece of keeping from our only senior keeper. Hopefully the gaffer has a new number one on his summer shopping list! Conceding this goal worked in our favour as it seemed to spark life back into the team. Adkins made two subs, bringing on Morgan and Bernie for Guly and Chaplow. We hit Swindon with a quick fire double as Lambert and then Radhi “Fireball” Jaidi headed in from well worked set pieces. Once we had the two goal lead the confidence soared and we knocked the ball around quickly and could have scored a few more. Kelvis had the cheek to turn to the crowd and smile and make gestures when asked the score. How about you do your job Kelvin and stop conceding poor goals? Your team mates got you out of a very sticky situation. It was good to see the Muppets who chant his name like he is a god still sing it despite his poor performance. Grow up lads, he’s a mediocre keeper who needs replacing! Good old Bernie then scored his third injury time goal of the season to give saints a well deserved 4-1 win.

Now the fun really starts. Saints have a run of games which will test the strength of the squad. We will play Saturday, Tuesday for a few weeks. I hope this build momentum and gets us closer to our pre season goal of promotion.

On a sad note, Dean Richards who served us so well passed away today. Dean was suffering from a terminal illness and battled hard against it. He was forced to retire in 2007 due to his illness. Dean signed for Saints on a free transfer from Bradford and went on to make 87 appearances for the club. Dean followed Glenn Hoddle to Spurs for a then club record £8 million. A sad day for football and our thoughts are with his family.

                                                   RIP Deano, Thanks for the memories!

A big thank you to all those that have been able to read this and if you have any comments, good or bad please get in touch. Email – modha79@gmail.com

Special thanks to my very good friend Alan who is helping spread the word by advertising this blog on his own website. Please visit www.bellsofhythe.co.uk for all your outdoor sports needs!

All the best

Neel

Cups, Windows and Bobbles....

29^th January 2011 – 4^th February 2011-02-04

This week started with Saints playing in the FA cup against the current Premiership Leaders Man Utd. A large crowd was expected at St. Marys for this match compared to the majority of the league games played this season. Coincidence or not? I’m all for a full stadium roaring the team onto victory but the amount of plastic fans who attend these games frustrates me. The amount of so called fans who tell me they have to work every Saturday or have childcare issues so can’t make league games, but miraculously they can arrange days off work and someone to look after the kids, just to watch Man Utd. I know the majority of supporters would prefer larger crowds for league games rather than cup games like this one.

Anyway, Saints started the game against Utd in the diamond formation which worked so well against Blackpool in the previous round. The lads didn’t look intimidated and started with plenty of confidence. We passed the ball sharply and caused the premiership team some problems with our passing and movement. Guly playing at the top of the diamond seemed to be enjoying the extra space he was given. Morgan and Chaplow had the upper hand in midfield. First big chance of the game went to Guly who poorly headed over after a great cross from the recalled Danny Butterfield. Saints were more than matching the opposition and took the lead just before half time as Richard Chaplow smashed a shot past Lindegaard on the stroke of half time. It was a ferocious effort which flew into the net. A well deserved lead, but Utd would still be dangerous in the second half.

It was great to see some of the heroes of the 1976 cup winning team paraded on the pitch at half time. Well deserved recognition for a group of players who battled hard to win the cup for us. The second half started much like the first, Utd had their fair share of possession but Bialkowski in goal wasn’t really troubled. Saints had a great chance to extend the lead when a clever set piece between Harding and Chamberlain resulted in a Harding cross being missed by everyone as it flashed across goal. Saints were starting to look tired after all the effort that had gone into the game. On the hour mark, Utd bought on Giggs and Nani. They had the choice of £100 million worth of players. Rooney and Berbatov didn’t even get up to warm up. Eventually Utd worked an opening and Owen showed why he used to be a great striker and pounced from close range. By this time saints were out on their feet and with the extra quality Utd had bought on the result was inevitable. Hernandez poked home the winner after Dickson was robbed on the edge of the box.

Saints may have lost, but I think we should all be proud of the effort and skill they showed. We were not given a beating and showed the nation that we play an attractive brand of football and have some very special players. Chamberlain played a different role and excelled, Lambert, Barnard and Guly all worked hard to create chances for each other. The defence looked solid with Seaborne and Harding having great games. The star of the show for me was Morgan. He showed with time and space what a talent he is. His performance frustrated me, he can sometimes go missing in league games, but on this day he showed that if the likes of the ineffective Darron Gibson and Anderson are worth millions, Morgan more than matches up to them. The final highpoint of the day was abusing the mancs! Oh how I enjoyed that!

Following the good performance in the cup, Saints played what in my opinion was a more important game. Away to the Grecians of Exeter. This was always going to be a tough match. Exeter have a decent home record and the pitch at “the real” St James’ Park was always going to even the contest. This is traditionally the type of game we lose, as at Tranmere.

We started badly and eventually gave away a goal when a long ball was poked past the on rushing Davies. The ball trickled in despite the efforts of Jose Fonte. N’Guessan our recent loan signing started and showed glimpses of what he can add to the team. Second half Saints reverted back to a diamond formation and got a good equaliser when N’Guessan crossed for the goal machine Lambert to power a header back past the keeper. The returning Dean Hammond got an assist for the winner in the last minute, again Lambert rising to head home from close range. A great 3 points which keeps us in the promotion race. Brighton could only manage a draw and with all the other teams around us winning, this was a game we simply couldn’t afford to lose.

Editorial -

This week saw the transfer window shut. Saints added Jonathan Forte from the gaffer’s old club Scunny on deadline day, a move none of the fans predicted. Outgoings were Forecast and Puncheon on loan. Shame we didn’t release Forecast as he is the worst keeper I’ve ever seen, even worse than current number 1 Kelvis! Puncheon on the other hand should be sold in the summer to the highest bidder. I’m glad he’s gone.

So many fans appear to be unhappy with the clubs dealings during the window. But I disagree. We have completed the permanent deals of Guly, Chaplow and Forte. Bought in N’Guessan on loan, managed to keep hold of Chamberlain when many predicted the lad would be sold to one of the premiership’s top clubs. The most important signing of this window was securing Lallana on a four year deal. He seems to have taken on the responsibility of being our creative genius in midfield and shows how important he is to our side. Stats prove that when Adam doesn’t play we can sometimes struggle to score the necessary goals to win matches. But aside from creating goals, Adam chips in with his fair share and scored a vital opener at Dagenham. Being a fairly local lad, he seems to have the same passion for the club that the likes of Benali and Le Tissier had.

I will soon be running a competition to win a signed Saints shirt and might even have a surprise in the next edition, so keep checking back!

Also I would like to use this blog to pass on my congratulations to Jamie Cotton Jnr, who has signed academy terms with Saints. Good luck for the future Jamo, remember me when you’re handing out free tickets!!

A big thank you to all those that have been able to read this and if you have any comments, good or bad please get in touch. Email – modha79@gmail.com

Special thanks to my very good friend Alan who is helping spread the word by advertising this blog on his own website. Please visit www.bellsofhythe.co.uk for all your outdoor sports needs!

All the best

Neel