Mention the 7 shirt to most Saints fans and Le Tiss springs to mind, of course. For those of a certain vintage the magnificent Terry Paine is forever imprinted on the memory. I was just ruminating on the way back from Coventry what a brilliant number 7 we have right now. His all round play has improved beyond belief and his free kicks are now all the more dangerous for not simply being blasts at goal. From the moment that he put Lallana in on goal against Leeds he seems to have been a key playmaker this season. I confess to being one of those who thought that Rickie would be found out this season, but he is showing us that he is not simply a goal machine. The only criticism I would have was well put by a bloke behind me at Coventry. Rickie had the ball at his feet about 16 yards out and was looking to play in Guly rather than shoot himself. "Has Rickie forgotten he's got a shot like a mule?" asked this fan of his mate. But when you score 4 goals away from home, with 4 different scorers, and Rickie's contribution to the game has been immense who are we to question?!
Nigel has everyone involved in trying to score. They don't always come off, but look how frequently Fonte is there in the scoring zone. I'm sure Lambert would like to score again soon, but the immense team spirit means that they only really care that Saints score.
Yes, you only have to look at the delight on Connolly's face when Ricky set him up (after 26 passes) and he runs straight to Ricky to celebrate. They are all on the bus together!
Previous number 7's: Andrei Kanchelskis, Tomasz Hajto and Rudi Skacel... ... not quite in the same league as the 3 aforementioned!
