London Saint

Match 42/46

2010-04-17T07:16:00.001-07:00

Yeovil 0 Saints 1 - a fantastic performance by 10-man saints with Lee Barnard scoring an injury time winner. Colchester also lost and we will overtake them if we beat Oldham on Tuesday.

Match 41/46

2010-04-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

UPDATE - HUDDERSFIELD BEAT MILLWALL 1-0 - BAD RESULT FOR SAINTS

Bristol Rovers 1 Saints 5 - fantastic result which was spoilt by the news that Huddersfield won with two late goals.

Assuming we win all our remaining games, our vastly superior goal difference means that Huddersfield must drop at least five points from their remaining ~~four~~ three matches (ie they could lose 1 draw 1 & win 1). ~~The Millwall match on Friday night looks the best chance of defeat~~ unfortunately not. Colchester must also not win at least one of their matches.

Match 40/46

2010-04-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

Saints 1 Charlton 0 - with Huddersfield losing we are now eight points behind sixth place with a game in hand.

Match 39/46

2010-04-05T11:52:00.001-07:00

Saints 2 Leyton Orient 1 - 11 points behind 6th with a game in hand

A poor game but three points all the same. Colchester and MK Dons lost but Bristol Rovers and Huddersfield won.

A New Dawn :-)

2010-03-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well it's been nearly a year since I last updated my London Saint blog and what a lot has happened.

Despite being relegated, we did find a buyer in Marcus Liebherr and what a marvellous man he has turned out to be. We appointed a new manager in Alan Pardew who has certainly been the best we have had since Gordon Strachan.

It was always going to be tough starting on -10 points but we are still in with an outside chance of the playoffs despite a few inconsistent league results this season. Not to mention yesterday's Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final at Wembley!!!

League One here we come :-(

2009-04-24T04:20:00.000-07:00

Saints 2 Burnley 2
A spirited performance with Saints just falling short whcih seemed to sum up our season. There were plenty of chances not taken which proved very costly in the end. So next season we start League One on minus ten, if indeed we are still around. These are indeed dark days for Southampton Football Club and we need a buyer to come in as soon as possible. It looks likely that Norwich will join ourselves and Charlton - three recent Premiership clubs. Norwich will need to win (at Charlton) and hope that Barnsley lose (at Plymouth) and there needs to be a goal difference swing of three for the Yorkshire club to be relegated.

Match 44 - 2 to go

2009-04-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

Sheffield Wed 2 Saints 0 - nothing to say really :-(

Matches 41-43 - 3 to go

2009-04-08T12:10:00.001-07:00

Watford 2 Saints 2
Wolves 3 Saints 0
Saints 1 Crystal Palace 0
At Watford, a spectacular last-minute free kick from Jan-Paul Saeijs rescues a point in a match where Saints took the lead. At Wolves, Saints continue their 100% defeat record on TV this season as they concede in the first minute. On Easter Monday a welcome first win in eight matches thanks to a second-half strike from David McGoldrick.

Match 40 - 6 to go

2009-04-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Saints 2 Charlton 3
A disastrous end to a terrible week for Saints as a poor Southampton side lose 3-2 in front of the largest league crowd of the season.

Match 39 - 7 to go

2009-03-18T02:22:00.000-07:00

Blackpool 1 Saints 1
Saints come back from a goal down through David McGoldrick and could have won the match but hit the post with the last kick of the match.

Match 38 - 8 to go

2009-03-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

Saints 0 QPR 0
A second consecutive disappointing home draw and time is starting to run out.

Matches 36 & 37 - 9 to go

2009-03-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Birmingham 1 Saints 0
Saints 1 Derby 1
Two disapointing results, especially the Derby match where Chris Perry gave Saints the lead on 58 minutes only to concede with eight minutes remaining. Feeling rather more pessimistic about our chances

Match 35 - 11 to go

2009-03-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Ipswich 0 Saints 3 (Euell 30 & 85, Patterson 88)
An excellent performance from Saints sees Euell scoring on 30 and 85 minutes with Patterson scoring a third two minutes from time.

Match 34 - 12 to go

2009-02-28T07:08:00.001-08:00

Saints 1 Cardiff 0
Another fantastic result - like buses we wait almost five months for a home win then we get two in a week!

Match 33 - 13 to go

2009-02-21T07:19:00.000-08:00

Saints 3 Preston 1
Fantastic result!

Match 32 - 14 to go

2009-02-14T12:22:00.000-08:00

Bristol City 2 Saints 0
Saints hit the post twice but again are left to rue their chances with a defeat which leaves them in dire relegation trouble.

Match 31 - 15 to go

2009-02-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

Saints 1 Sheffield Utd 2
Heartbreak as Saints lose in injury time having equalised through Andrew Surman moments earlier against 10-man United and extend their winless home run to 12 matches.

The Great Escape II

2008-05-04T11:18:00.001-07:00

Saints escape.jpg
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

What a day! Zoomed down to Southampton after church. What an atmosphere in the ground which hasn't been matched since our halcyon Premiership days. We were down (0-1 Sheffield Utd), we were up (2-1 us), we were down (2-2) then we were up (3-2 us) but knowing that a United equaliser would relegate us. Those last ten minutes were hell with the kitchen sink being thrown at us. But we survived. Even got onto the pitch at end. Fantastic!!!!!

Relegation Run-In - D-DAY

2008-04-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

Well here it is, the six-pointer to end all six-pointers. We've decided to put our money where our mouths are and go to the Sheffield United match, although I'm not sure I can stand it.

The permutations are:

SAINTS WILL BE RELEGATED IF THEY LOSE

SAINTS WILL RELEGATED IF THEY DRAW AND
Leicester (Stoke away) pick up at least a point

SAINTS WILL BE RELEGATED IF THEY WIN AND ALL OF:
Leicester win
Sheffield Wed (Norwich home) win
Coventry (Charlton away) win or draw
Blackpool (Watford home) win or draw

SAINTS WILL BE SAFE IF THEY WIN AND ONE OF:
Leicester fail to win THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED
Sheffield Wed fail to win
Coventry lose
Blackpool lose

Goal Difference is unlikely to come into the equation for Saints, barring some extremely improbable scorelines (eg Saints win 15-0 Leicester win 1-0)

Leicester, Blackpool and Saints have opponents with something still to play for. In Leicester's case, Stoke need at least a point to guarantee automatic promotion. Blackpool play Watford who need a win to secure a playoff berth. Sheffield United, Saints' opponents, need a win and four other matches to go their way to make the playoffs.

The one thing that is clear is that we must win to give ourselves a chance. If we draw there is just one scenario that saves us. If we win there are four.

West Brom and Stoke City automatically promoted. Hull City, Bristol City, Watford and Crystal Palace in playoffs - eventually won by Hull City. Leicester joined Colchester and Scunthope in League One next year. The six teams to replace them are Derby, Birmingham and Reading from the Premiership and Swansea, Nottingham Forest and Doncaster Rovers from League One.

Relegation Run-In - 2 TO GO

2008-04-26T06:53:00.001-07:00

Working on the assumption that we lose at West Brom on Monday, I feel that we need two things to happen today:

1 Sheffield United must not end the day within three points of the playoffs. In other words, we don't want them to be in a position to need a win next Sunday against us. They must either not beat Bristol City today or Crystal Palace must win at Hull - BAD NEWS, UNITED WON AND HULL LOST SO SHEFFIELD UNITED HAVE SOMETHING TO PLAY FOR

2 Leicester must beat Sheffield Wednesday today so that safety is in our own hands in our final game (ie we beat Sheffield United and guarantee staying up) - LEICESTER LOST

In this crazy season, anything can happen.

A WELL-DESERVED 1-1 DRAW AT WEST BROM. LEICESTER GO TO STOKE WHO NEED A POINT TO GUARANTEE PROMOTION. IF LEICESTER LOSE THEN A DRAW FOR SAINTS WILL BE ENOUGH. A LEICESTER DRAW WILL NEEDS SAINTS TO WIN. A LEICESTER WIN WOULD RELEGATE SAINTS WHATEVER THE RESULT AT ST MARY'S (BARRING A 15-0 GOAL WIN FOR SAINTS!!!!)

Relegation Run-In - 3 TO GO

2008-04-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

BURNLEY AT HOME AND AN ABSOLUTELY MUST-WIN MATCH. MY SECOND MATCH IN A WEEK...WE LOST 1-0 TO A 45TH MINUTE HEADER FROM A CORNER (WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THAT BEFORE) AND REMAIN IN DEEP TROUBLE

Charlton v Saints

2008-04-13T00:05:00.001-07:00

Charlton v Saints
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Good result, with other results (Coventry, Blackpool, Leicester) pretty kind
to us. Three points at home next Saturday against Burnley, who are now too
far from the play-off places, will take us a huge step towards Championship
safety. Great support from the fans and an excellent day out.

Relegation Run-In - 4 TO GO

2008-04-10T01:45:00.001-07:00

IT'S CHARLTON AWAY AND MY FIRST LIVE MATCH SINCE OCTOBER

Relegation Run-In - Match 42

2008-04-05T07:01:00.001-07:00

FIVE TO GO, STARTING WITH LEADERS BRISTOL CITY AT HOME TODAY. HERE'S TO AT LEAST A POINT.....A FANTASTIC 2-0 WIN AND SAINTS MOVE BACK OUT OF THE RELEGATION ZONE

Relegation Run-In - Match 41

2008-03-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

TOUGH MATCH AT CARDIFF - HOPEFULLY THEIR MINDS WILL BE ON NEXT WEEKEND'S FA CUP SEMIFINAL....WE LOST 1-0 AND AFTER SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY PLAY ON TUESDAY WE COULD BE IN THE RELEGATION ZONE

Relegation Run-In - Match 40

2008-03-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

SEVEN GAMES TO GO - STARTING WITH COVENTRY AT HOME...A MUST WIN MATCH AS COVENTRY ARE JUST ONE POINT BEHIND US WITH A GAME IN HAND...ONLY DREW 0-0 AND AT LEAST WE DIDN'T LOSE AND RESULTS GENERALLY WENT FOR US

Relegation Run-In - Match 39

2008-03-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

HULL 5 SAINTS 0 - ANOTHER RELEGATION SIX-POINTER AT ST MARY'S NEXT SATURDAY AGAINST COVENTRY

Relegation Run-In - Match 38

2008-03-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

Relegation six-pointer!!!! STERN JOHN SCORES TO GIVE SAINTS A PRECIOUS 1-0 WIN AT HOME TO LEICESTER

Relegation Run-In - Match 37

2008-03-05T02:38:00.000-08:00

A late, late point for Saints which could be vital. Coventry will overtake us tonight if they beat QPR [they only drew]. If Sheffield Wednesday were to win their games in hand we would be just a point off relegation.

Relegation Run-in - Matches 35 & 36

2008-03-03T04:23:00.000-08:00

Who would have guessed that after last season's heroic play-offs we would be battling against relegation into the old Division 3, but battling we are. Teams below us have games in hand and only one has a worse goal difference.

Two tricky away matches in a row

Firstly on Tuesday night at Wolves [we got a 2-2 draw] who are just two points from the play-offs with a game in hand. Their recent home form hasn't been fantastic - one win in the last six. Saints have lost just once (at Stoke) in their last eight league matches away from Saint Mary's. In last season's corresponding fixure they hammered Wolves 6-0.

On Saturday Saints travel to Blackpool [another 2-2 draw], surely safe and still in with an outside chance of the play-offs. Blackpool have a fairly good home record, winning four of their last six league matches.

Let's hope that the improvement seen on Saturday is carried forward.

Burley's gone up North

2008-01-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

Well George has left us to take on the Tartan Army and we're looking for our ninth manager of the millennium!

I'm not too sorry to see him go. This season has been rather mediocre - we're a distant seven points from the playoffs. Players are played out of position and strange substitutions are made. Things seem to be rather stagnant at St Mary's and I feel that a new broom is needed. Who we get is another matter.

The other seven managers since 2000? Dave Jones, Glenn Hoddle, Stuart Gray, Gordon Strachan, Paul Sturrock, Steve Wigley & Harry Redknapp.

Football grounds

2007-10-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

In my last blog I was thinking about the number of football grounds I've been to - so I've decided to add them up.

It comes to 27 English League Clubs (at 29 different grounds).

Current Premiership
Arsenal (Highbury), Aston Villa, Birmingham, Bolton (Burnden Park), Chelsea, Derby (Baseball Ground & Pride Park) Liverpool, Man Utd, Portsmouth, Reading, Tottenham, West Ham

Current Championship
Bristol City, Charlton, Coventry, Crystal Palace, QPR, Southampton (The Dell & St Mary's Stadium), Sheffield Wednesday, Watford

Current Leagues 1 & 2
Bournemouth, Gillingham, Leyton Orient, Millwall, Notts Forest, Wycombe

Non-League
Oxford

Other
Wembley Stadium (Old), Millennium Stadium Cardiff, Heart of Midlothian, Cowdenbeath

Bristol City 2 Southampton 1

2007-10-24T10:39:00.001-07:00

DSC00346
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

A disappointing result as I felt we deserved a point from the game. I guess luck evens itself out as we certainly didn't deserve to win on Sunday.
My first trip to Ashton Gate - I must work out how many ground's I've been to in my time.

Watford 3 Southampton 2

2007-09-16T06:44:00.001-07:00

DSC00338.JPG
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Watford 3 Southampton 2

2007-09-16T05:16:00.001-07:00

DSC00336.JPG
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Watford 3 Southampton 2

2007-09-16T04:51:00.001-07:00

DSC00335.JPG
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Stoke

2007-08-25T07:02:00.001-07:00

Saints v Stoke
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Stoke

2007-08-25T05:51:00.001-07:00

Saints v Stoke
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Stoke

2007-08-25T05:40:00.001-07:00

Saints v Stoke
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Dyer

Saints v Stoke

2007-08-25T05:39:00.001-07:00

Saints v Stoke
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Bennett

Millwall 0 Saints 1

2007-07-31T15:26:00.000-07:00

An interesting evening out with Saints coming through a good work-out thanks to a neatly-finished Licka goal after 32 minutes. George Burley has at least got us a centre back - Reading's Alan Bennett (not the Yorkshire playwright!). He gave a reasonable performance which improved as the game progressed. The other three defenders (Makin, Vignal and Ostlund) were generally OK. Saganowski and Rasiak were paired up front and I was fairly impressed with Licka and Dyer. Kelvin Davis was injured during the course of the match and looks set to miss the start of the season (I would rather have Bart in goal anyway).
That's the end of the photograph experiment for now as I'm probably not going to be able to make a game until Watford in mid-September. I hope it's been of some benefit to people. Do let me know.

Saints v Millwall

2007-07-31T15:17:00.001-07:00

Saints v Millwall
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Millwall

2007-07-31T13:07:00.001-07:00

Saints v Millwall
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Millwall

2007-07-31T11:36:00.001-07:00

Saints v Millwall
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Davies Ostlund Saganowski Skacel Rasiak Wright Licka Dyer Vignal Bennett Makin

Saints v Millwall

2007-07-31T11:10:00.001-07:00

Saints v Millwall
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Millwall

2007-07-31T11:03:00.001-07:00

Saints v Millwall
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Millwall

2007-07-31T10:47:00.001-07:00

Saints v Millwall
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

Saints 2 Lazio 5

This was men against boys; Saints poor defence was breeched three times in the first quarter of an hour and the two penalties that Saints got seemed a little generous to me. We are desperate for a centre back. Pele is a liability in defence, Powell is suspended for the first three matches and Claus is not yet fit. On the plus side, Adam Hammill showed some nice touches on the right side of midfield and I was quite impressed with Rasiak, not so with Jones. New signing Vignal did OK considering he only got off a plane at 12.30!

When I arrived at the stadium, there was a group of half a dozen or so Lazio players standing in front of the main entrance having a fag! Perhaps this is where we are going wrong!

I hope that the photos I sent gave people a bit of a sense of atmosphere. Unfortunately I am not able to attend that many matches this season, and I certainly won't have as good a seat as saturday, although I will certainly send photos when I do go. I will publicise these on Saintslist (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/saintslist/).

I was pleased with my shot of George Burley coming up the stairs - he was going up to the hospitality suites.

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

2-5 final score (Jones & Rasiak penalties for Saints)

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T08:35:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Dyer on

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T08:25:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Rasiak scores

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T07:58:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T07:03:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T06:13:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T06:11:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T06:09:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Saints v Lazio

2007-07-28T06:05:00.001-07:00

Saints v Lazio
Originally uploaded by Saintmark76

Southampton v Lazio

2007-07-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

Technology permitting, as an experiment I am planning to send live photos to this page during the Lazio game today for those unable to be there. The pictures will be taken on a Sony Ericsson w810i phone which has a 2MP camera. The image will also be reduced in size to make it a manageable size for uploading (one full-size image takes over 500K while the smaller one just a tenth of that) so it won't be of the highest quality. Do let me know what you think, either during the game or afterwards. Was it beneficial?

Southampton comings and goings - UPDATE

2007-07-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

GOINGS

Chris Baird (or allegedly his missus!) finally chose Fulham over Sunderland for £3.025m. Leon Best has joined Coventry for a fee to be decided by tribunal. These two join Bale, Crainie and Belmadi as the summer's departures.

COMINGS

Saints have signed Liverpool winger Adam Hammill on a season-long loan. They are also trialling Hungarian centre-back Tamas Vasko and French left-back Gregory Vignal. All three played in the 4-2 win at Eastleigh with Hammill scoring the second Saints' goal. Southampton's other new "signing", Marek Saganowski, also played but didn't get on the scoresheet.

For all the Saints....

2007-07-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

I was wondering the other day about the different teams that shared Southampton's nickname of the Saints.

Well here is a list of those I've come across:

St Mirren Football Club are based in Paisley, to the West of Glasgow and play in the Scottish Premier League. Last season was their second back in the top flight following five seasons in the First Division. Sir Alex Ferguson was manager from 1974 to 1978.

St Johnstone Football Club are based in the Scottish town on Perth play in the First Division (the second tier of Scottish football). Last season they dramatically missed out on promotion to the Premier League as rivals Gretna scored an injury-time winner. Paul Sturrock - who managed Southampton for a brief period in 2004 - was St Johnstone manager for five years in the late 90s.

St Patrick's Athletic Football Club are based in the Dublin suburb of Inchicore. They play in the FAI League of Ireland and currently (July 2nd) stand 1st - the Irish league season running from March to November. Paul McGrath is arguably the best player to come from St Patrick's.

St Kilda Football club are an Aussie Rules Football Club based in Melbourne and play their home matches in the 53,000 seater Telstra Dome. They currently (July 2nd) stand 12th in the 16-team AFL Premiership League.

The New Orleans Saints are an American Football team who play in the NFC South section of the NFL. The Saints are one of just six teams not to have played in the Superbowl although in 2007 they got to within one match as they lost the NFC Championship Game.

The New Saints (TNS) are a Welsh football club. Formed in 1959 as Llansantffraid FC. Following their entry into European Competition in 1996, a local computer company paid for the club to be called Total Network Solutions. In 2003 they merged with nearby Oswestry Town and in 2006 became the New Saints. Last season they won the League of Wales for the third year running.

The Northampton Saints are a Rugby Union team who will play next season in the National Division One (Second tier) following their relegation from the Premiership.

St Helen's Rugby League Football Club are based in Lancashire. They play in the Super League and have won the competition five times, more than any other team. They currently (July 2nd) lead this year's competition.

St Paul Saints are an American Baseball team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They play in the independent American Association and currently (July 2nd) stand 3rd in the five-team Northern Division.

Southampton comings and goings

2007-06-05T04:13:00.000-07:00

The rumour mill updated 02/7

THE GOOD NEWS
DEFINITE COMINGS
Marek Saganowski has finally signed for Saints after impressing on loan last season.

POSSIBLE COMINGS
According to Tribal Football, we have made a £750k offer for unsettled Birmingham midfielder Stephen Clemence.

It's gone a bit quiet on the Tomasz Radzinski front; he could be off to Leeds or Rangers if the rumours are to be believed. We lost out to Bolton for the services of Dannie Guthrie.

Jason Dodd may be coming back as a coach. If Baird goes we may need you to bring your boots with you!

THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS
DEFINITE GOINGS
Gareth Bale has joined Tottenham for an immediate sum of £5m and further conditional payments of up to £5m.

Martin Cranie has joined Portsmouth for an undisclosed ammount of compensation.

Djamel Belmadi has not been offered a new contract.

POSSIBLE GOINGS
No further news on Chris Baird , who has handed in a transfer request, or Leon Best , who has yet to accept the offer of a new contract.

TV Star

2007-05-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Aline went to London on Sunday to vote in the French Presidential elections. A film crew from France 2 were there and she made an appearance on the lunchtime news in France. Fame indeed!

Saintswatch - Match 46

2007-05-09T12:17:00.000-07:00

We did it!

Two goals each from Jones and Best eventually made it a comfortable afternoon after suffering the shock of conceding an early Southend goal.

So it's Saints v Derby and Wolves v West Brom. We play Saturday and Tuesday, the Brummies on Sunday and Wednesday. Final on Bank Holiday Monday.

Come on you reds!

UPDATE - Not to be in the end. Superb performance at Pride Park though but why drop Bart from goal? Also some dreadful penalties in the shootout.

Saintswatch - Match 45

2007-04-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

Norwich 1 Saints 0. Leon Best keeps Saints' play-off hopes alive. As long as we beat relegated Southend by at least the same margin as Stoke beat QPR, we will make the play-offs. A draw would only be good enough if both Stoke and Preston lose.

One of Saints' greatest victories came at Carrow Road. It was the 1993-1994 season and we were, as usual, in danger of relegation. A Matt Le Tissier hat-trick contributed towards a famous 5-4 win and at the end of the season we were safe by just one point.

Table as it stands (Saints cannot catch Sunderland, Derby or Birmingham)
1 GAME TO GO
1 Birmingham (P) 86 points
2 Sunderland (P) 85 points
---------------
3 Derby 81 points
4 West Brom 73 points GD+19 (GF74)
5 Wolves 73 Points GD+0 (GF55)
6 Saints 72 Points GD+21 (GF73)
---------------
7 Stoke 72 Points GD+21 (GF61)
8 Preston 71 points GD+10 (GF63)
9 Colchester 69 Points GD+16 (GF70)
10 Sheff Wed 69 Points GD+5 (GF67)

The final games next Sunday
PRESTON
Sun 6th home to Birmingham (secured automatic promotion)
WEST BROM
Sun 6th home to Barnsley (safe from relegation)
WOLVES
Sun 6th away to Leicester (safe from relegation)
STOKE
Sun 6th away to QPR (safe from relegation)
SAINTS
Sun 6th home to Southend (relegated)
COLCHESTER
Sun 6th home to Crystal Palace (mid-table)
SHEFF WED
Sun 6th home to Norwich (mid-table)

Leeds are relegated along with Southend and Luton.

Saintswatch - Match 44

2007-04-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Southampton 1 (Wright-Phillips) Leeds 0

Preston and Stoke games also went in our favour (Preston lost at home to Leicester while Stoke conceded a 90th minute equaliser at home to Hull). The one result which could have been better was Colchester's 3-1 win at home to Sunderland, which means that the Essex club close up the Goal Difference on Saints to 2.

Saintswatch - Match 43

2007-04-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

Birmingham 2 Saints 1 :-(

My third Saints game of the season. Nice day out in Birmingham apart from the result!

Saintswatch - Match 42

2007-04-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

A win takes us 5th, a draw 7th...

But unfortunately a 2-1 loss at home to Sunderland puts us 8th.

London Wetlands Centre 09 April

2007-04-09T07:53:00.001-07:00

London Wetlands Centre 09 April
Originally uploaded by mhammond@btinternet.com.

Saintswatch - Match 41

2007-04-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well both happened (Saints beat Luton 2-0 and Wolves lost 1-2 at Sunderland) and Saints are back into the play-off zone prior to Easter Monday's massive televised game at home to Sunderland. Saints will do well to get a point, not a terrible result.

Results went our way at the weekend with five of the top eight losing and only one other team - Sunderland - winning.

Saintswatch - Match 41 previews

2007-04-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

Saints will be back in the play-off zone:

IF 1 They beat Luton (not easy, they are 4 points from safety in the relegation zone)
AND 2 Wolves lose at Sunderland (can see this as Sunderland just one place from automatic promotion and in terrific form)

I don't think that Saints can catch the top 3
(All have 6 matches to play except Birmingham, who have 7)
1 Derby 76 Pts (away to Leicester Fri)
2 Birmingham 74 Pts (Home to Burnley Sat)
--------------
3 Sunderland 73 Pts (Home to Wolves Sat)
4 Preston 68 Pts (GD+13) Sat Away to C.Palace (mid-table 11 Pts from play-offs)
5 West Brom 67 Pts (GD+21) Sat Home to Stoke (5 Pts from play-offs)
6 Wolves 66 Pts (GD-2)Sat Away to Sunderland (Play-offs at worse, possibly automatic promotion)
--------------
7 Saints 63 Pts (GD+19) Sat Away to Luton (Relegation zone 4 Points from safety)
8 Cardiff 63 Pts (GD+11) Sat Home to Sheff.Wed (mid-table 10 Pts from play-offs)
9 Stoke 61 Pts (GD+16) Sat Away to West Brom (Too far from automatic promotion and in Saints' sights)
10 Colchester - at 7 points from play-offs surely too far - away to relegation-threatened Southend on Fri

Anything less than 3 points at Luton is not an option!

I can take the despair...

2007-04-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

it's the hope I can't stand!

This wonderful quote from John Cleese in "Clockwise" sums up my feeling for Saints at the moment. Throwing away a 2-goal lead to draw at home to Cardiff in match 38 followed by a truely pathetic dispay in losing at home to Colchester had resigned me to Championship football next season.

What do Saints do? Only win 6-0 away to play-off rivals Wolves! Now hope is reborn. Saints are still 3 points from the play-off places but who knows. Confidence must be sky-high and that surely is one of the most important things a side can have. Bring on bottom side Luton this Saturday.

Saintswatch - Matches 34-37

2007-03-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

Oh Dear, oh dear. The wheels have well and truly fallen off of Southampton's season. Three successive away defeats at Coventry, Preston and Stoke have not only almost certainly seen off automatic promotion but makes a play-off place looking increasingly remote. In between, Saints did manage a narrow 1-0 home win over Ipswich.
There appears to be little fighting spirit or a desire to win from the players and little evidence of any leadership or inspiration from the manager. Grzegorz Rasiak has been particularly poor and Gareth Bale appears to have one eye on Old Trafford.
Saints can rise at least one place on Tuesday with a victory over Cardiff but can you really see it at the moment?

1 Birmingham P36 70Pts (away to Norwich Tues)
2 Derby P37 69Pts (home to QPR Tues)
---------------------------
3 Sunderland P37 66Pts (home to Stoke Tues)
4 Wolves P37 65Pts (away to Coventry Tues)
5 West Brom P37 63Pts (home to Crystal P Wed)
6 Cardiff P37 62Pts (away to Saints Tues)
---------------------------
7 Preston P36 62Pts (home to Ipswich Tues)
8 Saints P37 59Pts (home to Cardiff Tues)
9 Stoke P37 57Pts (away to Sunderland Tues)

Saintswatch - Match 33

2007-02-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

Andrew Surman scores the first Saints league hat-trick since James Beattie in October 2002 as Saints beat Barnsley 5-2. Kenwyne Jones also scores twice.
Saints rise a place due to the fact that Preston did not play a league match this weekend.

1 P32 Derby 63 Points [+12 42G] (Wed: At home to Stoke)
2 P31 Birmingham 60 Points [+20 50G] (Tue: At home to Sunderland)
_______________________

3 P33 West Brom 59 Points [+22 60G] (Tue: At home to Cardiff)
4 P33 SAINTS 56 Points [+17 54G] (Tue: Away to Coventry)
5 P33 Sunderland 56 Points [+15 49G] (Tue: Away to Birmingham)
6 P32 Preston 56 Points [+14 47G] (Tue: At home to Norwich)
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7 P33 Cardiff 56 Points [+12 46G] (Tue: Away to West Brom)
8 P33 Wolverhampton 53 Points [+1 36G] (Tue: Away to Ipswich]
9 P33 Colchester 51 Points [+17 54G] (Tue: Away to Plymouth)
10P33 Stoke 50 Points [+13 40G] (Wed: Away to Derby)

Saintswatch - Match 32

2007-02-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

An excellent 1-1 draw away to West Brom, who had won their previous eight home matches. Saints were the better side and West Brom should have had at least one player sent off. Kenwyne Jones scores his 12th goal of the season.

That leaves the table like this:

1 P32 Derby 63 Points (no league match this weekend)
2 P33 West Brom 59 Points (no league match this weekend)
_______________________
3 P30 Birmingham 57 Points (away to Crystal Palace [12th] Sat)
4 P32 Preston 56 Points [+14 47G] (no league match this weekend)
5 P32 SAINTS 53 Points [+14 49G] (home to Barnsley [22nd] Sat)
6 P32 Cardiff 53 Points [+11 45G] (home to Leeds [24th] Sat)
----------------------
7 P32 Sunderland 53 Points [+11 45G] (home to Southend [23rd] Sat)
8 P33 Colchester 51 Points [+17] (no league match this weekend)
9 P32 Wolves 50 Points [+0] (home to Burnley [14th] this weekend)

So the three teams on 53 points (including Saints) play the three relegation-zone teams at home. A must-win game for Saints.

Saintswatch - Matches 30 & 31

2007-02-10T04:20:00.000-08:00

A mixed couple of matches. A brace from Kenwyne Jones gives Saints a comfortable 2-1 home win against Sheffield Wednesday on Jan 31st. Three days later, Southampton spurn a hatful of first-half chances and go down to a late Derby goal.

The top of the table looks like this
(all teams 15 matches left to play except Birmingham who have an extra 2 matches)

1 Derby 62 Points (Home to Hull today)
2 Preston 56 Points (Home to Wolves today)
3 West Brom 55 Points (Home to Saints today)
4 Birmingham 54 Points (Home to Stoke tomorrow)
5 SAINTS 52 Points (GD +14) (Away to West Brom today)
6 Cardiff 52 Points (GD +11) (Away to Coventry today)
7 Sunderland 50 Points (Away to Plymouth today)
8 Stoke 48 Points (Away to Birmingham tomorrow)

Saintswatch - FA Cup 4th Round - Man City (Away)

2007-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

Man City 3 Saints 1

Oh well, the cup run's over for another year. Saints took the lead with Jones (23') but held it for just 3 minutes (Vassell 26'). The killer blow was Barton's strike just on half-time (how many times has that happened to us?) and Beasley (70') killed the game off. All in all I think we gave a creditable account of ourselves.

I don't think we need the distraction of a cup run just now. Promotion has to be the priority and we don't want players injured or suspended in cup matches.

Saintswatch - Matches 28 & 29

2007-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

Two more unbeaten matches, one rather disappointing and one rather fortuitous. The disappointing one was match 28, a 0-0 home draw against Barnsley on February 13th. The fortuitous one was a 2-0 win at QPR on February 20th. Saints took the lead through Rasiak with just 10 minutes remaining only for QPR to have a similar goal disallowed just minutes later.

Anyway we're still in the thick of the play-off places and with matches with all four teams above us to come - including four in the next five weeks - our destiny is largely in our own hands. We are four points off an automatic promotion position although there are three teams within a win of catching us.

Saintswatch - FA Cup 3rd Round - Torquay (Away)

2007-01-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

TORQUAY 0 SOUTHAMPTON 2 (HT 0-1)
FA Cup 3rd Round
Team Changes (5): Makin, Powell, Viafara, McGoldrick and Sarmiento in for Bale, Ostlund, Lundekvam, Skacel and Dyer.
Goals: Rasiak (0-1,43'),Rasiak (0-2,72')
Attendance: 5.396

Saintswatch - Matches 24-27

2007-01-05T03:38:00.000-08:00

Oops - a bit behind again with the matches. Saints started the holiday period with a 3-3 draw at Sheffield Wednesday. This was a bit disappointing as we were 3-1 up and conceded a last-minute goal which was scored by Wednesday goalie Mark Crossley (who incidentally is the only keeper ever to have saved a Matt Le Tissier penalty). Saints drew their Boxing Day home match against Crystal Palace - a creditable result considering that we were down to ten men for more than an hour. Then it was back to winning ways at home to Leicester - my first live match of the season and Alex's first ever English match (last summer he went to a French Division 2 match). New Year's Day saw a well-fought draw at Plymouth.

Saints have now lost just one match in thirteen and are nicely placed in the play-off zone (4th). There are still 57 points to play for and five points from an automatic promotion place.

Saintswatch - Match 23 - Norwich City (Home)

2006-12-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

SOUTHAMPTON 2 NORWICH CITY 1 (HT 1-1)
Championship League Match No 23 of 46
Team Changes (2): Ostlund and Jones in for Makin and Wright-Phillips
Goals: Earnshaw (0-1,21'),Bale (1-1,40'),Jones (2-1,64')
Table P23 W11 D6 L6 37-27 +10 39Pts 4th (up 2)
Points from automatic promotion-4, relegation-19
Attendance: 25,919
Back to winning ways after last weekend's slipup and it's now five wins in six!

Saintswatch - Matches 18-22

2006-12-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Work commitments have meant that I've been unable to update this site for the past month. In that time Saints have made good progress in the league, winning four matches in a row (away to Leeds & Hull and at home to Luton & Birmingham) before being surprisingly beaten at bottom club Southend last weekend. In those five matches they moved from 12th to 6th position, scoring 14 goals in the process, six from Rasiak who is Saints' top scorer with 14 for the season.

Saintswatch - Match 17 - Sunderland (Away)

2006-11-11T00:21:00.000-08:00

SUNDERLAND 1 SOUTHAMPTON 1 (HT 0-0)
Championship League Match No 17 of 46
Team Changes (2): Pele and Dyer in for Idiakez and Wright-Phillips
Goals: Wallace (1-0,61'),Bale (1-1,90')
Table P17 W6 D6 L5 21-18 +3 24Pts 12th (down 2)
Points from automatic promotion-9, playoff place-2, relegation-8
Attendance: 25,667
A point was the least we deserved from the game although we had to wait until the last minute to gain it. Still incredibly tight with Saints one of three teams on 24 points and only two points off a playoff place.

Churchwatch - Sunday Nov 12th

2006-11-11T00:19:00.000-08:00

St Edmund The King, Northwood Hills
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY - 3RD SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT
10.00am PARISH COMMUNION (Choir 5.1.1.2)
Prelude - Nimrod - Edward Elgar
Setting - Adrian Batten - Short Service
Anthem - Contakion of the Dead (Kiev Melody)
Postlude - Fame and Glory - Albert Matt
HYMNS
Entrance: God Is Our Hope And Refuge (Dambusters March)
Gradual: Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory (Battle Hymn Of The Republic)
Offertory: Eternal Father, Strong To Save (Melita)
Communion: And Did Those Feet (Jerusalem)
Post Communion: O God Our Help In Ages Past (St Anne)
MUSIC DURING THE ACT OF REMEMBRANCE
The Last Post
The National Anthem (Verse 1)

"Fame and Glory" has become a Remembrance Day tradition here at St Ed's. It was requested several years ago by the Head Server and has sort of stuck. It accompanys the veteran's march past the Cenotaph. Sadly the "Last Post" was performed on a compact disc.
This afternoon we had a Memorial Service where the families of those who have passed away in the past year were invited. I played Faure's "Pavane" and Paradis' "Sicilienne", while a soprano sang Walford Davis' "God Be In My Head". The hymns were "Love Divine", "Ye Holy Angels Bright", "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" and "Thine Be The Glory". Candles were lit for each person and tea and cakes were served afterwards!

Churchwatch - Sunday Nov 5th

2006-11-07T03:23:00.000-08:00

St Edmund The King, Northwood Hills
ALL SAINTS' SUNDAY
10.00am PARISH COMMUNION (Choir 5.1.1.2)
Prelude - Chanson de Nuit - Edward Elgar
Setting - Merbecke (Gloria & Creed)/Rogers
Anthem - These Are They - John Goss
Postlude - Canzona in D Minor - J.S.Bach
HYMNS
Entrance: Through All The Changing Scenes (Wiltshire)
Gradual: Jerusalem The Golden (Ewing)
Offertory: Bright The Vision (Redhead No 46)
Communion: Spirit of the Living God
Post Communion: For All The Saints (Sine Nomine)

Arthur Rogers was a former St Ed's Choirmaster who wrote this communion setting for the church.
This afternoon at church we had a lovely meditative "Prayer and Praise" service in a Taizé style. The ecumenical community was founded by Brother Roger in 1940 in the French Burgundy region. Brother Roger was murdered in 2005 during an evening service in front of thousands of horrified pilgrims.
The music was provided by a small band consisting of singer, piano, violin, recorder and trumpet. The songs are easy to learn, being simple and repetitive.

Saintswatch - Match 16 - Hull City (Home)

2006-11-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

SOUTHAMPTON 0 HULL CITY 0
Championship League Match No 16 of 46
Team Changes (1): Licka in for Dyer
Table P16 W6 D5 L5 20-17 +3 23Pts 10th (down 2)
Points from automatic promotion-9, playoff place-3, relegation-10
Attendance: 20,560
Oh well I spoke too soon! We were a bit unlucky not to win and at least we didn't lose. It's a strange league and a couple of wins can put you right back in contention.

Saintswatch - Match 15 - Wolverhampton Home)

2006-11-01T01:25:00.000-08:00

SOUTHAMPTON 2 WOLVERHAMPTON 0 (HT 1-0)
Championship League Match No 15 of 46
Team Changes (3): Makin, Skacel & Wright-Phillips in for Viafara, Surman & Rasiak
Goals: Wright-Phillips (1-0,39'),Jones (2-0,70')
Table P15 W6 D4 L5 20-17 +3 22Pts 8th (up 4)
Points from automatic promotion-7, playoff place-3, relegation-10
Attendance: 18,979
Two cracking goals from Wright-Phillips and Jones in an encouraging and improved performance. Bradley's goal was, according to the Official Site, slightly reminiscent of one of Matthew Le Tissier's two wonder strikes against Newcastle in 1993 (the second goal in this YouTube video). Relieved with this result following the previous two defeats - surely we will beat relegation-zone Hull on Saturday.

Matt Le Tissier....Watching Matty's above-mentioned top ten goals again takes me back as I was lucky enough to be on the Milton Road terrace for that Newcastle match. I was also present for the 6-3 hammering of Man United but my main regret was having to miss Matty's testimonial because of work commitments.

Welcome...

2006-10-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

...to the first post on my blog. You've probably come from my website and may know that I teach at a girls' independent school and play the organ at a local church.

Yesterday was the start of the second half of term, for me the busiest of the year. In the next six weeks as well as the normal teaching there will be a concert, two Christmas carol services and reports to write for about 125 girls!

A word of explanation is needed for the title of my blog. The London bit's easy enough - we live about ten miles North West of Central London as the crow flies. The reference to Saint is football-related although it has it roots in religion. In 1885 in Southampton a group of men from St Mary's Church Young Men's Association formed a football club called Southampton St Mary's. They later changed their name to Southampton Football Club and their nickname has been "The Saints" ever since.

The last few years have been rather depressing for us Saints supporters. We were relegated from the Premiership in May 2005 after a run of 27 successive years in the top flight and are currently in our second season in the Championship - the second tier of English football. This season is not exactly going to plan; we were knocked out of the Carling (League) Cup by a team two leagues below us and we've lost four of our last five league matches, sinking to the bottom half of the table, 7 points below an automatic promotion place. Team confidence is low and fans are getting restless. We have back-to-back home games tomorrow and Saturday and positive results are crucial. Otherwise the manager's position must be in question.

If you stumble upon this blog, do please leave a comment on this page or email me.