Seen this posted on another site, when i read it i just smiled. thought i'd share with my fellow saints
To be fair, how many of us thought we would finish second at the start of the season? The Rickie being the weak link part is a bit of a joke though.
Taking away every trace of hindsight, who can seriously argue with the assessment of the squad though..? The only debate I would have still had with the reviewer was... only 16th and lower midtable..? I would have thought we would have done better than 16th, even with a slightly misfiring lead striker. Mid-table to Upper was my prediction, and falling short of the play-offs; bearing in mind that this was with the addition of Jack Cork, [plus a few] and the late transfer out of Oxlade-Chamberlain, like the reviewer said. Seems like mutiny to say it, but Rickie could have quite easily not made the step-up, and all the coaches, who saw him as an effective, indeed deadly, striker of the lower leagues, could have nodded their heads sagely, and suggested that he'd better go back there for his own good. But he defied his critics, the unbelievers and the unfaithful. As Saints fans, we were already on board the bus. We almost knew Rickie was going to be alright. All we needed was a sign in the first 5-6 games, and he certainly gave us that. What he told us was that he was going to be better than alright. He was going to be exceptional. Our predictions changed - mine certainly did. Those making them in print didn't get another chance.
"A team that are used to winning" should read "A team that is used to winning" I like the Grauniad normally, but I do often find the football write-ups a bit tiresome; it has always seemed needlessly pessimistic about Saints.
So do I. But I fear most pundits appear to be a bit clueless about the goings on lower than the PL, save for Steve Claridge and Leroy Rosenior. Of course, we know why those two guys have a clue - they were players, they know what they're talking about and they watch the lower leagues. Most other pundits fall down in at least one of those categories.
Hope they do a similar piece this year. Steve Claridge said we were the real deal a few games into the season for the simple reason that he watched us. Don't know what his prediction was before the season started though.
The Guardian so what do you expect - only school teachers and every do-gooder under the sun read that rag ! Pre season predictions are difficult though - especially in this league at present where most teams can beat each other. Its great to look at this now though and smile. Ricky Lambert is such a good footballer, far more than just a deadly striker, and i dont think that anybody other than those that watch him week in-week out realise how good he is. They may be getting the idea now though. I think that he will do OK in the Prem too - he reminds me somewhat of Teddy Sherringham with no pace but a sharp football brain and a lot of skill. Very good post by the way.
We are favourites to go down this season for two reasons: a) they know nothing about us and b) they always predict that promoted teams go down. The only exception will be West Ham (if promoted) because they are regarded as a 'real' PL team.
