September 26 2003

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
September 26 2003

Well I knew I should have kept my mouth shut in talking about the joys of an emotional rollercoaster of a season. No sooner had we atarted this seasons big dipper ride and were (almost) scaling the heights at Sale, on Saturday at the ‘Wreck’ it was way back down to earth with a bump.

The visit to Bath did not quite go to plan for the lads and unfortunately it was one of the performances we usually reserve for playing London Irish just about every other season. To be honest, it was dire.
On the day nothing clicked and the team was a pale shadow of the group that fought back at Sale. When Dan Richmond stole one against the head in the Saints twenty two only to see the ball fumbled seconds later and Bath stroll over for the try it just about summed up the day. Taking nothing away from Bath though, they were deserved winners and a much improved and streetwise side than we have seen for the last few years.
However for the Saints its onwards and upwards. I’m sure (fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed) that this was just a blip and the early season kick up the backside we may have needed and no doubt things have been put right on the training paddock this week. Lets hope that Wasps will be on the receiving end of the backlash this week.

Sit down!

Things may be going well for Bath on the pitch but off it they are still beset by problems with their facilities. A strong resistance from certain groups within the city, not wishing them to carry out any improvements, or indeed be in the centre of Bath itself has not helped matters. On Saturday our group, along with the bulk of Saints support, were located in their brand spanking new Virgin Mobile Stand. For a temporary stand, which is all the club is allowed, it’s not bad but the bottom tier has a way too shallow gradient meaning some areas of the pitch are not visible unless you stand up. However on standing up to get our moneys worth we were told by a steward, a product of the Phil & Grant Mitchell school of charm, that standing was not allowed as it ruined the skyline for people living a quarter of a mile away.
Yes I know that sounds daft (and it didn’t stop the very same stewards jumping up and down when Bath scored) but we later found out it was totally true, the NIMBY brigade in Bath had made complaints. Bath may be a heritage site of national importance but does seeing a few distant rugby shirts really make that much difference an hour or so a few times a year?
Now I know it’s easy to point the finger at other clubs facilities when, due to the vision of our very own Uncle Keith, we have the best set up in the league but could you envisage a scenario where Geoff Allen asks the Gardens crowd to keep the noise down as some chap in Kislingbury cannot hear the Archers? No me neither.


Cardiac Club

You may not have heard of the Saints Cardiac Club but it is certainly not a club we would wish any of you to become a member of. Three avid Saints supporters Rob, Bob and Mark were all struck down in the last couple of years in the prime of life with heart attacks. Indeed Mark was struck down while on Saintly duty in Biarritz last season. What most of us thought was a bad hangover, after a night singing in an Althletico Bilbao supporters bar, was far worse. A warning to all maybe?
Thankfully all are now well but their illness set a few alarm bells ringing within the community and the idea of the Saints with Heart walk was born.
Towards the end of last year a group of us did a sponsored round trip walk to the Gardens raising £3500 for the British Heart Foundation.
This year we have set our sights a bit higher with two walks (Saints with Hearts II – The Walkers Stride Back) both heading off to the Gardens before the Irish game on October 11th. Group one, including yours truly, sets off from the sun kissed foothills of Wolverton at dawn meeting up with group two at Stoke Bruerne late morning for the walk into town.
The club have given their full backing and there will be a bucket shake inside the ground on the day.
If you would like to donate, sponsor a walker, lend a hand on the day or even take part yourself please contact me at coysdc@aol.com and I will pass on the details.

Cashback Tickets for London Irish

Being the all round good eggs that they are the club have also supplied us with 100 cashback tickets for the day to raise further funds for the British Heart Foundation.
If you have not purchased your tickets for the Irish game yet please consider buying these with the proceeds going to a very worthwhile cause. Contact Barry Forrestal on 0795 1743744 for details

Predictions, Predictions, Predictions

Of course this the time of year when every rugby pundit predicts their standings for the current season. Most predict Saints to do well, with even Stuart Barnes and Paul Ackford picking us to win the whole caboodle but I was quite amazed to read the expert at gambling website Readabet saying Saints will finish seventh. We may have had that blip on Saturday but seventh!!!.
Now I’m a glass half full kind of chap and every year I think Saints will win the Premiership, the Cup, the European Cup and the Eurovision Song Contest but even the most rabid Tigers supporter (and most of them are rabid) would not have us down as seventh.
When I questioned the logic of the prediction in print and enquired whether the author had been dropped on his head as a baby I was surprised to hear from Richard Cree at Readabet within the hour defending his decision. Fair enough, I thought, everyone is entitled to their opinion till later that day I noticed he had Saracens down to play Newcastle ‘Knights’!
The moral of this story? Parents, watch how you carry those infants this weekend.

And finally.

After the traumas of the last two weeks it will be nice to get back home to the Gardens this weekend for the first game on our home turf. There is something special about getting into the old routine, seeing familiar faces and when Geoff Allen announces ‘Welcome to Franklins Gardens, home of the Saints’ it feels like the real start of the season to me.

See you there!

September 19 2003

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
September 19 2003

As some of you may already know, I started to write a column for the local evening paper, the Chronicle & Echo, this week. Each Friday will will be publishing the column here, but why wait, rush out each Wednesday to your newsagents and get the pretty version.

THE EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER BEGINS

Well the emotional rollercoaster that is a Saints season started in spectacular manner with the nine try draw at Sales Edgeley Park on Friday night. Those supporters who travelled north or listened to the game via the radio or net were entertained right up till ‘Wee Dram’ hit that last gasp penalty to secure the draw well into injury time. Fingernails will be in short supply come next May if the lads carry on in this style but would we have it any other way? Aren’t those emotional highs and lows what make a season? The lows (only a couple this year please lads) makes those highs taste all the more sweeter. To me it’s all part of being a Saint. Going by Fridays ups and downs we are in for one hell of a season but fingers bitten back to our knuckles.

‘SOMETHING’ AND BREWERIES COME TO MIND

Thank god for the professional backroom staff we have at the Gardens. (there, that’s got me off on the right foot in my first column, but don’t expect it every week).
The shortage of cuticles in the Northants area was not helped by Sales ticketing arrangements for Friday nights game. The Sharks began selling tickets a month ago, but despite money being taken straight from local fans accounts on booking nothing dropped on their doormat in the ensuing weeks. Despite assurances that ‘they are in the post’ postie still didn’t deliver the goods and the fire at the Barrack Road sorting office just added to peoples anguish. One supporter was more worried than most as he had booked tickets for several friends so he contacted Sale direct. After several hours of calls and being fobbed off and disconnected he was dismayed to hear, after they had checked the book (yes the ‘book’) he had not ordered any tickets through them, despite them having HIS cash in THEIR bank account. He finally got into the game after a lot chasing around but we hear this was not an isolated incident.
So next time we have a gripe at the Gardens ticket arrangements remember we are much much better off than some other Zurich clubs.

YELLOW RED OR INDIFFERENT?

The facial injury to Andy Blowers on Friday put a dampener on the evening for all. Despite not being seen by any official, several supporters claim that it was clearly a punch thrown to AB’s head, even the local BBC commentator, forgetting his mike was still switched on post game, muttered ‘how the hell did the touch judge miss that punch?’ Video evidence may of course confirm or disprove this but surely if proven the punishment should fit the crime.
The week before in the not too friendly against Gloucester, Oriol Ripol was punched off the ball. The villain of the piece received a yellow card. The supposed punishment for killing the ball and slowing up the game was treated the same as an action which could end a players career, or worse.
Now referees do a sterling job and I’m not one to question their motives (just most of their decisions on a Saturday afternoon) but I think it is getting all too easy to hide behind a yellow card when a red should be mandatory for such acts.
Last season Matt Dawson was taken out quite blatantly in the opening moments of the Quin’s game at the Gardens. The perpetrator spent ten minutes in the bin, Daws spent a month on the sidelines. Where is the justice in that?


SEE, WE WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG.

Talking of referees, we have been graced by the company of a well known Zurich referee (I cannot tell you who he is but it rhymes with Mashley Sowden) on our site the last few weeks, answering, in good sport, questions on aspects of the laws of the game decision making etc. Accepting an invitation from one of our regulars he spent the Gloucester game standing in C Block of the Gordon Terrace to see things from the other side of the fence.
A good afternoon was had by all as the honoured guest kept us all entertained during the game with an insight on how a ref ticks and why he sometimes comes to decisions which fox the rest of us.
However one thing the ref did agree with was what a better view we had of proceedings from the terrace and even conceded that we all clearly saw a forward pass that on pitch referee Chris White missed. Which beggars this question.
In these days of cost cutting and on the field congestion would it not be more prudent to do away with officials and hand all decision making over to us?
Altogether now, 123 OFFSIDE!!!

A VISIT TO THE PRETTY CITY

So it’s off to Bath this Saturday for all and sundry for the game at the Rec against the once mighty Bath (although going on the last two seasons perhaps they should be downgraded to The Shower). It is always one of the highlights of the season and with the Saints going for a sixth win in a row against Bath, something unthinkable a decade ago, it’s a must go fixture.
For those thinking of letting the train take the strain, you should note that, yet again, buses will be running on the return stretch via London and there is planned rail work on the Birmingham, Bristol route.
However there is an alternative. If you can make the short trip to Oxford, trains run to Bath with a single change at Didcot Parkway. Not only does this cut around two hours off your journey time, giving you more time in the Pretty City, it is about a quarter of the normal price giving you more money to spend in The Boater.

See you there!!!