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SAINTS
Pards’ plans From Back Page After two relegations in five miserable seasons, Saints are in desperate need of stability as they approach their first season outside the top two divisions for almost half a century. “My expectations are to stabilise the club on the playing front,” said Pardew. “The club is all here but the team needs to stabilised, it needs some structure to it. “It’s a bit disorientated I feel at the moment in terms of players in the right holes. “My immediate aim is to make the team strong and competitive and I hope to do that for Millwall, but that might be a bit tight. “We are minus ten and I have to make sure we get mid-table real quick. “When we get to mid-table then I’ll start looking at what our goals will be. “When we get to the end of January or the end of February we’ll see if we’ve got a chance of promotion, play-offs or whatever it is. “But the short term aim is make the team strong again and not get a disjointed performance like against QPR (in last Saturday’s friendly) where we weren’t big enough or strong.”
dailyecho.co.uk
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Strong words from the man who
Saints’ decline was ‘criminal’ – Sydenham FOR Saints fans the words Sydenham and Paine would roll off the tongue as easily as peaches and cream throughout the late 50s and the 60s. The pair baited defences across the land for 14 years, with the latter tormenting defenders with his skill whilst, on the opposite flank, the former would simply dart past opponents with his devastating pace. The duo were the catalysts during Saints’ rise from the third division to the top flight, providing pinpoint crosses for their colleagues to tuck away. Sydenham and Paine (pictured left with Ted Bates) helped Saints to the Division 3 title in 1959/60 – Sydenham missing just one of the 46 matches and Paine being an ever present. On Saturday the club will return to the third tier for the first time since then – something Sydenham n e v e r
Jaidi talks
By Simon Peach echosport@dailyecho.co.uk For up-to-the-minute sport – dailyecho.co.uk
thought he would see. “I was totally, totally shocked by the decline,” admits Sydenham, who now lives in Perth, Western Australia. “I worked for a number of years as a scout in Australia for Southampton and had so much pride. “When it started to fall apart, it really did.” Too right.
Family club Sydenham and his teammates were on the crest of a wave after their title win 49 years ago and Ted Bates’ management It was a family club, a happy club and a very secure financially one at that. All that has changed. “I saw it close up,” he says. “The Clive Woodward thing, the Australia thing, millions of pounds wasted by people who
From Back Page rently the only cover for centre backs Wayne Thomas and Chris Perry. Pardew is keen to give Lancashire more time to develop in the reserves before using him in the first team and Jaidi would likely partner one of Perry or Thomas. However, the longer a deal for Jaidi drags on, the more concern will grow that it will not be completed. Should that be the case, it is understood Pardew has other targets in mind that could help Saints defensively. However, Jaidi is first choice and Saints still hope to have him in place before they kick-off against Millwall at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Concerned
HITTING OUT: John Sydenham has been critical of how Saints have ended up back in Division 3.
‘We didn’t talk about defending’ JOHN Sydenham has revealed the last Saints team to play in the third division hardly ever talked about defending. Sydenham was one of the stars of Ted Bates’ side that stormed to the third division title in 1959/60. He and Terry Paine provided the ammunition for Derek Reeves to belt 39 league goals while George O’Brien struck 23. “The main strengths of the team were going forward,” he says, fifty years on. “In those days we were encouraged to do what we did best – attack.
don’t really understand football. “By people meddling, who really shouldn’t have been.” Sydenham mentioned one major point of resentment – the decision to start an expensive academy in Australia. “To be honest, it was pretty heartbreaking because it was happening on my doorstep,” he says. “I mean that’s the sort of thing which is part of the big picture of money. “Large sums being spent on players who were never good enough. Agents that were never ever going to be part of Southampton FC, which is why we went adrift.” He believes that is part of the reason Saints find themselves in the predicament they are now in – starting League One bottom of the table with a tenpoint deduction. But the left-winger views the future with optimism. He points out that at least the club is saved, their are new owners and a fresh start. He is especially pleased with the appointment of Alan Pardew as an alternative to the Dutch “c***” fans were forced to watch last season. “When I first read about pure Dutch football I thought it was never going to work in the real world,” he said. “I was watching a lot of games live in the Championship and it was all route one. The goalkeeper literally hitting it long to the striker who holds it up before laying it off.
“Defensively we weren’t the best so the idea was to score more goals than they did. “We had some really good goalscorers, two wingers and really it was all about attacking football. “We never talked defensively, we just kept taking them on and didn’t worry when it didn’t work out, as we knew people would get back and cover.” Sydenham, in just his third season as a professional, blossomed during the 1959/60 season, and even earned a call-up to the England under-23 squad.
It was a far cry from the previous season when Saints finished a lowly 14th and there was a clear need for new signings. Bates duly obliged, bringing in 10 new arrivals while 14 left. During the season Saints racked up 106 league goals with Reeves bagging 39 – a club record to this day. Cliff Huxford, who had arrived from Chelsea in the summer of 1959, helped shore up the defence. The centre back was immediately installed as captain aged just 22. “Cliff was a fantastic captain, a guy you wanted on your side,” says
Sydenham. “We used to train on the car park, playing 5-a-side, and Cliff would clean me out with so many slide tackles I lost count. “To have somebody like that helps you because we were getting kicked up in the air by defenders. But Cliff was there to sort it out.” Huxford was the leader on the pitch. Off it, Ted Bates was creating something special. “Ted was a guy you wanted to make happy and win for,” admitted Sydenham. “He was that kind of person.”
“All this pretty midfield stuff the Dutch people were advocating didn’t work, especially with the young lads.” Sydenham was part of the Saints youth system that did so well in the 1956-57 FA Youth Cup, reaching the final against the Busby Babes. From there Sydenham and Paine were gently blooded into the first team, meshing in with experienced professionals, allowing them to learn from others as well as their own mistakes. But the current crop of youngsters weren’t so lucky, and Sydenham, who will be at St Mary’s on Saturday, is concerned for their development. “I fear [last season] may have affected the young lads and maybe they won’t go on in the game like they would have if they had gone into an experienced team,” he remarked “I know there was no choice but to let it get to the level where we relied purely on youth was criminal.” He apportions the blame at those in the boardroom but now hopes the club is on a sound footing. “People are going to have to be patient, its going to take a long time to rebuild,” he says. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. “But the big thing is that the facilities are there. A wonderful stadium, training facilities that are second to none. “We just need to get the name back to attract players.”