We also surrendered 3+ goals on just three occasions in the league (to Everton, and to each Manchester team) all year, and didn't surrender 4+ on a single occasion. Meanwhile, we scored 3+ on nine occasions, scored 4+ in three of our final four alone. We have demonstrated an ability to both run up the score and post long clean sheet streaks...just need to avoid having a couple of annual stretches of futility.
You know how we all though we hit the woodwork loads this season....well.... http://www.skysports.com/football/n...r-league-if-shots-against-woodwork-were-goals
Wish I'd seen one for last season because Graziano hit the woodwork around 10 times on his own and the rest chipped in enough.
It's one of the things over a football season that I unconsciously tick off. In all the years I've followed Saints on and off, there has been the inevitable result where we've taken a battering. It was our position in the hierarchy that we took at least one per season. In the years where we had a very strong squad we handed them out and didn't take them [that didn't happen too often] But Saints are in the latest non-battering era. We're more inclined to hand them out than to receive them. It's a good time.
We've also entered an almost entirely new era for Saints. I say new because it's almost certainly not happened in my lifetime before [ok once, but I'll come to that]. It's the perfect away performance game where the home team pummel us with attack after attack and we take it on the chin and just repel them with a solidity that makes one think the home team wouldn't score if the game continued for a month. The only instance I can think of pre-2009 Saints is against Liverpool at Anfield in something like 1980/81 when Liverpool had us pinned in all game and then in the last few minutes the ball was fed out to Keegan and he released Steve Moran to score, and we won 1-0 against the totally dominating side of the day. Since the new era of the Liebherrs there have been several games. Off the top of my head, stand out ones have been both away games at ManU in the last couple of seasons, for example. And you could throw in the Championship game against Leeds Utd, although I was pretty sure they were going to score, but for the one man defence of Kelvin Davis. We are doing it more often though, I'm pretty certain of that. Yet, once upon a time, to think of a Saints team which was capable of truly great defending was... unthinkable.
And even if we go on to lose, I never give up believing we can pull it back. Pre-Leihberr, I hoped we could win, but now I know we can beat anyone and we can come back from behind. The best example was against Spurs, they scored the first goal and I hardly blinked.
Yep that's another new attribute. It's remarkable for Saints to have reached the stage where you hardly blink when we have a temporary setback.
Absolutely, and the teams we battered this season have gone up a level as well. Last season it was Sunderland and Villa, this season it was Arsenal, Chelsea, and Man City. Good times indeed!
And we at least bread-crumbed Liverpool and Spurs. Think it's time to re-watch some of these matches again.
So, let me see if I can summarise the last few weeks. - Saints secure European football, its highest ever points tally, most wins in a season, another climb in the end of season ladder along with many other records (finishing above liverpool etc.) -Saints rack up victories against all manner of perceived big and bogey teams. - Saints extend contracts for key players and there are positive signs regarding an extension for the coaching staff. - A massive underdog wins the league and upsets the established order, giving hope to all other clubs outside the 'Big 6'. - Spurs crash out of the title race so hard they actually manage to do the impossible and finish below their hated rivals. - The skates crash out in the play-offs and get to spend another year in the footballing equivalent of tartarus. - Liverpool fail to secure any form of European football after finishing 8th and losing their cup final in spectacular fashion. Sooo...yeah. I mean, I want to thank whoever the scriptwriter for all of this was. Its almost too perfect. What an end to the season. P.S Allowing man utd 5th was clearly just a clever way of hiding his tracks and he'll make it up to us in the FA Cup.
