The bus has pulled in, Journey Compete!

7^th May 2011

Our final game of the season saw Walsall make the trip to St. Mary's. Saints needed a point to be assured of Championship football next year and the coveted runners up spot to Brighton.

The game was a sell out and over 31,000 supporters filled the stadium to enjoy the promotion party. Walsall fans played their part by bringing about 2,000 in their bid to avoid relegation.

Before the game, Saints fans held aloft red or white placards to show the support the team had behind them.



Before the game, Itchen / Chapel Corner



Chapel / Kingsland Corner 

As per most games this season, we started brightly with Guly and Lambert both moving around the visiting defence. Guly broke the deadlock with a well taken goal on 25 minutes, cutting in from the right before curling the ball past Walker in the Walsall goal. This joy was doubled 3 minutes later as Connolly finished from close range following good work from Lallana. We seemed to have wrapped up the points and took our foot off the gas. We got a little bit sloppy and gave away a goal on the cusp of half time as Gray cut in and drilled a shot past Kelvis.

Second half we seemed to have regained our composure and played in 3^rd gear. We could have opened up and scored many more, but there was no need. Saints bought on the returning Chamberlain who seemed fresh and eager. Alex should have scored a hat-trick within 10 minutes of coming on, but he made one chance count with the goal of the game, cutting in from the right and curling a shot in from 18 yards. A fitting end to the season.

The inevitable pitch invasion took place at the final whistle, with many of the players struggling to make it to the tunnel. It was all in good spirits and it was great to see the players celebrating with the Chairman in the directors box shortly after. Mission complete!

Party time on the pitch!

Block 42, Row W boys.
 (L-R: Me, Jamie, Dave, Brendan, Geoff)

Here is to a busy summer, with hopefully more additions to the squad. It would be great to be able to keep all our star players, but I think we may lose one in Chamberlain. Nigel Adkins deserves great credit for all his hard work and I for one cannot wait till 17^th June when the fixtures come out. The build up starts then! But for now, the bus is parked up in the station and getting a well deserved rest for the summer.

Adventures of a Saints Fan, Season Player Ratings:

1 Kelvin Davis - A good shot stopper, but poor communication and looks nervous coming off his line. Some vital penalty saves. 6/10

2 Frazer Richardson - Always dependable. Long term injury meant we didn't see the best of him. 7/10

3 Dan Harding - Got into good attacking positions, weighed in with a couple of goals. Shame his defending was inconsistent at times. 7/10

4 Morgan Schneiderlin - Best passer of the ball at the club. Needs to cut out silly bookings, but good to see him getting stuck in. A massive season awaits. 7.5/10

5 - Ryan Dickson - Yet another good attacking full back. A bargain signing who should establish himself as number 1 next season. 7.5/10

6 Jose Fonte - Hardly put a foot wrong and was our best defender this season. Scored his fair share too. 9/10

7 Rickie Lambert - Didn't reach the height of the previous season. Carried injuries, but still scored 20 goals plus and numerous assists. 8.5/10

8 Jonathan Forte - Signed midway through the season. Looks a good signing. Vital goals against MK Dons. 7/10

9 Lee Barnard - Despite off field distractions, still banged in almost 20 goals. Always works hard and a fans favourite. 8.5/10

10 Jason Puncheon - Absolute disgrace, should never wear the shirt for us again. 0/10

11 Guly Do Prado - Took a while to settle in. Hit double figures and bought some chaos to our front-line. We still don't know his best position. 8/10

12 Danny Butterfield - Great free transfer signing. Always solid, put in a few great crosses and offered versatility. 7.5/10

14 Dean Hammond - The skipper dragged the team at times to victory. Superb in second half of the season. 8/10

15 Radhi Jaidi - A rock at the back. Shame his legs are going. Scored a few and won lots of headers at the back. 8/10

17 Aaron Martin - Showed great promise with some impressive displays. Under used in my opinion. One very much for the future. 7/10

19 Danny Seaborne - Bobby Moore as we like to call him. Over uses his cross field passes, but another squad member who can be relied on. 7/10

20 Adam Lallana - Critical to all our success. Not only chips in with goals and assists but shows the passion required to be a fans favourite. 9/10

21 Lee Holmes - Another injury ravaged season. Showed glimpse of talent in his few appearances. 6/10

22 David Connolly - Injuries ruined his season. Once fit, showed his class. Scored a classic Connolly goal away to Brighton. 7/10

23 Tommy Forecast - Who? What a waste of space, even Eastbourne thought he was crap! 0/10

24 Bartosz Bialkowski - Didn't feature much, performs well when selected. Still doubts over long term fitness but should be number 1 in my opinion. 7/10

26 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - What a season from the young kid. Gave many a left back nightmares with his pace and directness. Scored his share of goals too. 8.5/10

27 Oscar Gobern - Potentially can be our Patrick Vieira. Breaks up play well and tries to get forward. Classic sending off at Bournemouth! 7/10

30 Richard Chaplow - Bargain signing at 50k. Added needed bite to midfield and always a goal threat. 7/10

32 Dany N'Guessan - Showed glimpse of skill but generally was a let down. 5/10

33 Dale Stephens - Came in and did a job. Too many sideways passes for my liking. Like a young Jim Magilton. 5.5/10

Other loan signings like Nicholas Bignall 4/10

The Gaffer Nigel Adkins - Nigel got us fit and motivated. Won mind games with most managers and always seemed to try to play flowing football. Tactically very good and not afraid to change the system. 10/10

Adventures of a Saintsfan, Player of the Season :

Dean Hammond wins my player of the year. Dean has skippered the side well and was the driving force behind the new found resilience that our players seem to have. Dean chipped in with a few goals and deservedly wears the armband. Well done Deano, hopefully the first of many awards!

I would like to thank everyone who has read, contributed and given me feedback this season. I plan to make lots of improvements over the summer and hope you'll all be back next season to read my thoughts on Saints in the Championship.

COYR!! We did it for Markus!!

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 http://www.bellsofhythe.co.uk/ for all your outdoor sports needs!

All the best

Neel

The Promotion bus is pulling into the station!

23^rd April 2011 - 2^nd May 2011

The final push for promotion started with a trip to the Withdean to face league champions Brighton. Most Saints fans have been respectful to our south coast neighbours and congratulated them on their successful season, shame the same can not be said for Gus Poyet and his club.

This was a vital game in our season and it seemed the hosts did everything they could to gain victory. The games started during the week in the run up to the game as Poyet and his little mouthpiece Tarrico yet again opened their big mouth's and slated our club. Then on match day, Nigel Adkins and his men were subjected to songs such as “Catch us if you can” during the warm up. Some of the Brighton fans even made a childish banner referring to “The Adkins Diet.” Yet again, here is a club who should just concentrate on enjoying their season and act professionally, but small club syndrome seems to have struck again! Very much like little old Bournemouth who seem to think they are our rivals. When will these clubs learn, we have only one rival and that is the Blue mob down the M27!

Saints started well on a bright sunny day in the not so pleasant surroundings. Saints travelling army were in good voice and as usual gave tremendous backing to the boys. The first half was dominated by Saints as Guly and then Lambert had good opportunities. Then disaster, an under hit back pass from Jaidi was intercepted by Barnes who finished to give the home side an undeserved lead.

Saints acted instantly at the beginning of the second half, Talisman Lallana was introduced to help create more chances for the forward players. Saints kept banging at the door and Ankergren in the Brighton goal made a few decent saves. But all the hard work our lads had put in finally came to fruition in the 83^rd minute as Connolly showed his class and turned inside the box and put the ball in the bottom corner. The determination of this current side meant we would go for the winner and that we did. A long ball in from Davies was met perfectly at the back stick by Jose Fonte who looped a header over the keeper. The scenes of pure delight were evident not only in the crowd but also on the players faces as they ran towards the crowd and celebrated. A vital 2-1 away win at the Champions and promotion was still in our own hands.

Even after being beaten by the better side Poyet still didn't have a nice word to say about us, comparing us to Dagenham & Redbridge. Hmm-mm, Sour grapes Gus?

The lads had two days rest after beating Brighton and were then back in action at St. Mary's against a resilient Hartlepool side. From the very start Saints were comfortable and it was a case of when we scored rather than if we would. Goalless at half time and a few nerves were jangled. We weren't passing the ball in the way we know we can, but were still much better than the visitors.

Relief for the home fans finally at the beginning of the second half as Lambert broke into the box and was pushed, simple decision for the referee who also showed the monkey hangers defender a red card. The penalty was of course dispatched by Rickie who was closing in on 20 league goals again this season. The second goal was a long time coming following a spell of frustrating play where our midfield again seemed to go missing. Lambert had the opportunity to shoot from a free kick about 25 yards out but he cleverly disguised the free kick and instead floated a great ball to the back post where Fonte again headed in. It was a well worked training ground set piece and again showed that the gaffer has got players thinking about how to earn different scoring chances.

The travelling army then had the short trip up the M3 to play Brentford. This was a game that I felt confident of winning and with Huddersfield making the trip to Brighton I felt this could finally give us some breathing space above the terriers from West Yorkshire.

Pre match warm up at Griffin Park

Saints had this game won after 29 minutes. Following good link up play Lallana got free on the edge of the box and drilled home a low shot. Then the evergreen Connolly chased a lost cause, got to it before the keeper and coolly lobbed it over him. This goal sent the Saints fans in the terracing wild. A tremendous atmosphere which just kept building. You could see that the players seemed to enjoy the ease with which they were winning.

The second half was a slightly different story as the home side chased and harried our lads. We seemed to take our foot of the gas and looked like we had our minds on the upcoming trip to Plymouth. The referee didn't help, he awarded a penalty for a foul by Richardson which even from my view at the other end of the ground seemed outside the box. Luckily the penalty was smacked against the left hand upright and bounced to safety. Just to help calm the nerves, Saints then broke down the pitch and Lallana laid the ball of for Gobern to tap in from a couple of yards. 3-0 and it was not a harsh scoreline on the home side as we outclassed them in all departments.

It is a shame that the day out was ruined by London Met. Yet again they have no respect for visiting fans and seemed to want it to kick off. They were rude and even threatened to push fans who were simply waiting to get to their cars! Good to see our taxes being spent so well!

Yet another Pillar blocking our view!

With Huddersfield managing to beat Brighton, Victory in our last game in hand at Plymouth was vital. A win for Saints today would leave us 3 points ahead of Huddersfield with a much superior goal difference. As with every trip I have made to the Plymouth, the first thing to do is make your way to the fresh doughnut stand. Best I've ever had!

The Saints were backed by a magnificent following and I’m sure there were more than a few hundred in with the home fans.

The crap side

The good side

Saints started slowly and the home side were chasing down every ball. A defeat for Plymouth would mean relegation and it showed that Peter Reid had wound them up a treat. It was a shame that the highly rated Bolasie dived so blatantly in the early minutes trying to claim a penalty, good thing the ref was strong and didn't bow to crowd pressure. The home side tried an aggressive approach which for once Saints stood up to. The magnificent centre back pairing of Fonte and Jaidi won every high ball and Hammond in midfield showed his class with an authoritative performance. The breakthrough came on the stroke of half time as Butterfield crossed to the back post and Lambert rose to power home a great header. Some of the Saints fans in the home end couldn't hide their happiness and some were outed by the home fans and even a few skirmishes broke out. 1-0 half time.

Promotion was all but sealed in the first 15 minutes of the second half. First following Jaidi cracking the post with a flying header, Lallana put the ball back into the box and Dickson curled the ball in from 6 yards for his first goal for the club. Then Lambert broke into the box and was bought down. As per usual he smashed home the penalty. This sent the Saints fans into raptures and the promotion party was well and truly under way! Shame the result was ruined by a late goal for the home side.

At the final whistle the fans and players alike shared some joyous scenes as the Saints had all but confirmed promotion. Shame the police bought the dogs out or we could have had a pitch invasion to celebrate our first promotion in 33 years! A great achievement which will be confirmed after our last game on Saturday against Walsall.



Police Dogs, not to be messed with!



Now you gonna believe us! The Saints are going up!

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 http://www.bellsofhythe.com/ for all your outdoor sports needs!

All the best

Neel