12
THE DAILY ECHO
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2008
SAINTS’ FIRST TEAM FIXTURES AND RESULTS 2008/09 2
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AUGUST Sat 9 Cardiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A
L 1-2
James
Svensson
Perry
Surman
Schneiderlin*** Gillett
Lallana
Thomson*
Holmes**
McGoldrick 1 Dyer*
Tue 12 Exeter (CC1) . . . . . . . . .A
W 3-1 Bialkowski
James
Schneiderlin
Perry
Surman
Wotton
Gillett
Lallana
Thomson
Holmes 1
McGoldrick 2 John*
Sat 16 Birmingham . . . . . . . . . .H
L 1-2
James
Svensson
Perry 1
Surman
Schneiderlin
Gillett
Lallana
McGoldrick
Holmes
John*
Thomson*
Sat 23 Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A
W 1-0 Davis
James**
Svensson
Perry
Surman
Schneiderlin
Gillett
Lallana 1
White*
Holmes***
McGoldrick
Tue 26 Birmingham (CC2) . . . .H
W 2-0 Bialkowski
James
Thomas
Cork
Surman
Wotton
Gillett**
Schneiderlin*
Lallana 1
Holmes 1
McGoldrick
Sat 30 Blackpool (12.45pm) . . .H
L 0-1
Davis
James
Svensson
Perry
Surman
Schneiderlin** Gillett***
Lallana
White*
Holmes
Sun 14 QPR (4pm) . . . . . . . . . . .A
L 1-4
Davis
James
Lancashire
Cork
Surman
Wotton
Gillett
Schneiderlin**
Lallana 1
Wed 17 Ipswich . . . . . . . . . . . . H
D 2-2 Davis
James
Perry
Cork
Surman 1
Wotton
Gillett*
Lallana
McGoldrick
Sat 20 Barnsley . . . . . . . . . . . . H
D 0-0 Davis
Cork
Perry
Wotton
Mills**
Surman
Gillett
Lallana
Tues 23 Rotherham (CC3) . . . . .A
L 1-3
Cork
Perry***
Svensson
Mills*
Surman
James
Wotton
Davis Davis
W-Phillips**
Wotton***
Wotton*
Cork**
John***
John*
Mills**
McGoldrick
Dyer*
John**
Holmes*
McGoldrick
Dyer*
Pekhart**
Dyer***
John**
Schneiderlin*
Pekhart** 1
McGoldrick
W-Phillips*
Pekhart
Thomson*
John**
Lallana
W-Phillips**
McGoldrick
John* 1
Dyer**
Wotton***
SEPTEMBER
Bialkowski
Tue 30 Norwich . . . . . . . . . . . .H OCTOBER Sat 4 Coventry (5.20pm) . . . . . .A Sat 18 Watford . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Tue 21 Sheffield Utd . . . . . . . . .A Sat 25 Swansea . . . . . . . . . . . .A . . . . . . . . . . .H
NOVEMBER Sat 1 Preston
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .A
Sat 8 Bristol City (5.20pm) . . . .H Sat 15 Wolves . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 22 Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Tue 25 Plymouth . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 29 Charlton . . . . . . . . . . . . . A DECEMBER
COMEDIAN Lee Evans played several sell out gigs at the Sheffield Arena last weekend but nobody would have got a bigger laugh than if they had gone to the next door Don Valley Stadium to see Saints this week.
Sat 6 Sheffield Wednesday . . .H Tue 9 Crystal Palace . . . . . . . . A Sat 13 Burnley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Sat 20 Nottingham Forest . . . .H Fri 26 Plymouth (3pm) . . . . . . . .A Sun 28 Reading . . . . . . . . . . . .H JANUARY Sat 3 TBA (FAC3) . . . . . . . . . . . . Sat 10 Barnsley . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Sat 17 Doncaster . . . . . . . . . . .H Tue 27 Norwich . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Sat 31 Swansea . . . . . . . . . . . .H
An embarrassing mixture of disastrous defending, five foot first touches and scandalous shooting from Saints made an awful Rotherham side look quite magnificent. Saints looked completely out of their depth against a side that are in even more of a financial pickle than us and, let us not forget, currently teetering over the precipice of the Conference National. Things didn't start well as the first sight fans got was three empty stands and a cauldron of quiet, otherwise known as the Don Valley Stadium. To be honest the Rotherham fans looked rightly embarrassed to only fill a fifth of the 25,000-seater athletics stadium, and in turn were silent throughout the game. The eerie stadium layout and lack of atmosphere reminded me somewhat of a reserve game and, to be hon-
FEBRUARY Tue 3 Sheffield Utd . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 7 Watford . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Sat 14 Bristol City . . . . . . . . . . . A Sat 21 Preston . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 28 Cardiff . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H MARCH Tue 3 Ipswich . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Sat 7 Birmingham . . . . . . . . . . .A Tue 10 Derby . . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 14 QPR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H Sat 21 Blackpool . . . . . . . . . . .A APRIL Sat 4 Charlton . . . . . . . . . . . . .H Sat 11 Wolves . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A Mon 13 Crystal Palace (3pm) . .H Sat 18 Sheffield Wednesday . . .A Sat 25 Burnley . . . . . . . . . . . . .H MAY Sun 3 Nottingham Forest . . . . . .A Midweek games 7.45pm kick-off unless stated. Weekend games 3pm unless stated. Key: CC = Carling Cup; FAC = FA Cup
KELVIN DAVIS BARTOSZ BIALKOWSKI TOMMY FORECAST CHRIS PERRY WAYNE THOMAS JACK CORK MICHAEL SVENSSON JAMIE HATCH LLOYD JAMES OLIVER LANCASHIRE
Pekhart***
Saints cup crash is beyond a joke
Sat 27 Doncaster . . . . . . . . . . . .A
Tue 28 Coventry
W-Phillips***
LA 7 0 0 6 0 3(1) 4 0 6 1
LG 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
CA 0 3 0 2 1 2 1 0 3 0
CG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CSA 87 21 0 14 31(1) 5(1) 87(1) 0 9 1
CSG 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0
est, that is something Southampton's young players should still be involved with. And that is being kind. It became abundantly obvious that night that the grand plan of harnessing youth to create a seamless link between the academy and first team just won't work when the players aren't up to scratch. As is well documented Saints are in the midst of a financial crisis but using such players is only speeding up the club's path to complete self-destruction. In fairness to Mr Lowe and his cronies, the plan is a good one - on paper. Hiring Poortvliet and Wotte, a pair known for their youth development skills as well as their history of getting the best out of a bad situation, was a sensible move. But the key issue Lowe must realise is the Saints academy he left two years ago is of a very different standard to the one we currently possess. Gone are the prodigiously talented Walcott and Bale, as well as the likes of Best, Cranie and Blackstock, who at this time would waltz straight into our first team. Now Saints have players that don't possess the skill to bridge the gaps left by the experienced players who left over the summer and we are struggling.
KYLE DAVIES JOSEPH MILLS MICHAEL BYRNE RUDI SKACEL PAUL WOTTON ANDREW SURMAN LEE HOLMES JASON EUELL NATHAN DYER MORGAN SCHNEIDERLIN
LA 0 1 0 0 3(3) 7 5 0 1(3) 5(1)
WHAT’S GOING ON? Jack Cork (left) and David McGoldrick protest. Don’t get me wrong, I know we have no money and these young players need our support, but I can’t help fear the worst. Despite the best efforts of the away support, of which Saints are a good-natured bunch on the whole, there is a limit to how much we can take. I spent the whole of the first
LG CA 0 0 0 1(1) 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 0(1) 0 2
CG CSA 0 0 0 2(1) 0 0 0 52(6) 0 6(3) 0 90(18) 2 7 0 32(6) 0 42(25) 0 7(1)
CSG 0 0 0 5 0 12 2 3 3 0
half with my head in my hands and the second laughing hysterically at the whole situation. I think I may have even had a breakdown of some sort during the 90 minutes, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. Saints fans will always support the players but, by the same token, we need to feel a little love back.
A 500-mile round trip to South Yorkshire for a Tuesday night Carling Cup game is a huge effort for fans and we don't deserve to be treated to performances like that. No matter how funny it may have been. SIMON PEACH Bishopstoke
LA LG CA SIMON GILLETT 7 0 2 JAKE THOMSON 1(2) 0 1 BRADLEY WRIGHT-PHILLIPS1(2) 0 1 GRZEGORZ RASIAK 0 0 0 STERN JOHN 2(3) 0 0(3) DAVID MCGOLDRICK 7 1 3 ADAM LALLANA 7 2 3 JAMIE WHITE 2 0 0 MATTHEW PATERSON 0 0 0 TOMAS PEKHART 1(2) 1 0(1)
KEY: LA: league appearances. LG: league goals. CA: cup appearances. CG: cup goals. CSA: career Saints appearances. CSG: career Saints goals.
CG 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0
CSA 9(2) 2(2) 50(36) 68(16) 36(12) 16(17) 12(5) 2 0 1(3)
CSG 0 0 18 33 20 4 4 0 0 1