Printer-friendly pageWednesday, August 8, 2007
Saints concluded their pre-season fixtures with a winning performance at Brentford that was unimpressive but maybe understandable on a rare hot day in London. Thus they emerge with a string of victories and just the one defeat, against Lazio. But what a defeat, with even a 2-5 scoreline not reflecting how superior the Italians were.
Where it really matters starts against Crystal Palace, and I'm not looking forward to it. Last season the squad were capable of thrashing anyone on their day; trouble is, that day was on 31st March at Molyneux and it's a 46 game regular season. We are now without our best player (Bale), the fans' favourite (Baird) and the captain (Lundekvam), so why shouldn't we be worried? I think Saints received a reasonable fee for Bale, probably on decent terms, and must still be chuckling about the money they got for Baird. Why they didn't encourage a move for Rasiak that would have recouped most of the money spent on him is surprising, especially as there is now transfer speculation concerning Viafara and Pele, who play in positions where there is less cover. Maybe Saints now expect Jones to leave as well?
Of the new players, only Hammill excites, and from what I've seen so far Vignol may be vying with Ostlund for the unwanted title of worst defensive full back in the division. With his new look, Ostlund already has the worst haircut award sewn up. There's always the possibility that Jason Dodd could reappear, but registration bureaucracy will provide as much an obstacle as those dodgy knees. Dodd looks seriously inexperienced for his role, so what odds against a return for Dennis Rofe as well? Actually we could do worse than hire Dennis to run the half time entertainment instead of Mike Osman's rabble rousing.
Even further away from the pitch, all is far from well with the ownership of the club either. However, I remain more optimistic in this respect, as I can only assume that the executive directors who forced out Mr. Crouch have some grand plan in mind. If not, 2007/08 could be a bumpy ride on the political side as well as the playing one. Prediction: 10th place (unless we also get a 10 point fine for going into administration).
