defence that saw Newcastle held back for a whole 80 minutes on Sunday without ever really getting a sniff our line.
If the team could sharpen up the discipline and give away less penalties
and we could be on to something.
To give the lads their due however they had only been under the new
regime for four unsettling days and things must have been tough mentally
after all the upheaval following Alan Solomons departure. You however
once again could not fault their commitment to the cause. Confidence in several players return by the bucketload, especially Shane Drahm who on this form could keep new coach Paul Grayson out the side. This week
though I suspect the real work begins and what a prospect for the first
home game for the new coaching team, Toulouse at home.
Saturday's game is about as big as they come. It could be a massive one
for the Saints too. Putting the league behind them till we travel to
Irish on the 27th it's a chance to put our house back in order and start
on Saturday by putting down a huge marker for the rest of the season. Of
course it will not be easy but renewed faith, a return to that Heineken
Cup form and with a full throttle Franklins faithful in top voice Saints
have it well within their means to get something out of this game and be
top of the group by Saturday evening.
The French have a tradition of not travelling well, Montferrand being
the only side to have won at the Gardens in the Heineken Cup and as I
write this on Monday evening the weather outlook for Saturday is bleak, certainly more Northampton than the south of France.
Taking this into account plus the fact that several
Toulouse players picked up injuries in France's loss to New Zealand at
the weekend bringing the number to a dozen or so that Stade have concerns about, including the talismatic Trevor Brennan who definitely misses out (I'm of course turning a blind eye to our own 'mini crisis') it has to be said what fair wind there is could be starting to turn in our direction.
Now I know some of you out there will be thinking I’m clutching at straws but I do honestly believe we have the armoury to get something out of the game, and I just can’t wait for kick off on Saturday. See you there, mes amis.
TOULOUSAIN NIGHT
On Friday, the night before the Toulouse game Paul Shaddick and the crew at The End pub at Southbridge are holding a ‘Soiree Toulousaine’ night. Paul has been in contact with the Stade supporters through the various websites inviting all Toulouse supporters in town to spend a night at his hostelry where there will be a definite French air about things with Toulouse sausages a speciality and money off deals on French beer.
The night gets going at around 7:30 onwards, pop along if you can.
JIMMIE’S RIDDLE
Some of you may remember the Saints wine that the club marketed a decade ago, if my memory serves me right England and Saints fullback Ian Hunter designed the label as part of his day job. Well it may have taken ten years but finally the Saints are going to have their own beer!
If the team could sharpen up the discipline and give away less penalties
and we could be on to something.
To give the lads their due however they had only been under the new
regime for four unsettling days and things must have been tough mentally
after all the upheaval following Alan Solomons departure. You however
once again could not fault their commitment to the cause. Confidence in several players return by the bucketload, especially Shane Drahm who on this form could keep new coach Paul Grayson out the side. This week
though I suspect the real work begins and what a prospect for the first
home game for the new coaching team, Toulouse at home.
Saturday's game is about as big as they come. It could be a massive one
for the Saints too. Putting the league behind them till we travel to
Irish on the 27th it's a chance to put our house back in order and start
on Saturday by putting down a huge marker for the rest of the season. Of
course it will not be easy but renewed faith, a return to that Heineken
Cup form and with a full throttle Franklins faithful in top voice Saints
have it well within their means to get something out of this game and be
top of the group by Saturday evening.
The French have a tradition of not travelling well, Montferrand being
the only side to have won at the Gardens in the Heineken Cup and as I
write this on Monday evening the weather outlook for Saturday is bleak, certainly more Northampton than the south of France.
Taking this into account plus the fact that several
Toulouse players picked up injuries in France's loss to New Zealand at
the weekend bringing the number to a dozen or so that Stade have concerns about, including the talismatic Trevor Brennan who definitely misses out (I'm of course turning a blind eye to our own 'mini crisis') it has to be said what fair wind there is could be starting to turn in our direction.
Now I know some of you out there will be thinking I’m clutching at straws but I do honestly believe we have the armoury to get something out of the game, and I just can’t wait for kick off on Saturday. See you there, mes amis.
TOULOUSAIN NIGHT
On Friday, the night before the Toulouse game Paul Shaddick and the crew at The End pub at Southbridge are holding a ‘Soiree Toulousaine’ night. Paul has been in contact with the Stade supporters through the various websites inviting all Toulouse supporters in town to spend a night at his hostelry where there will be a definite French air about things with Toulouse sausages a speciality and money off deals on French beer.
The night gets going at around 7:30 onwards, pop along if you can.
JIMMIE’S RIDDLE
Some of you may remember the Saints wine that the club marketed a decade ago, if my memory serves me right England and Saints fullback Ian Hunter designed the label as part of his day job. Well it may have taken ten years but finally the Saints are going to have their own beer!
But hold your horses you will not be able to sup this tipple in the Rodber, the Sturtridge, the Bus Club or the Foundary it’s a little bit further afield,
I mentioned a couple of weeks back about the Frog and Rosbif a microbrewery/pub in Toulouse, and their offer of a free drink to all who produce their match ticket. Well Rob and the staff have taken things one step further and decided to specially brew a beer to commemorate the visit of the Saints to La Ville Rose in two weeks time. The brew is strictly a one off for the occasion and as you read this there an 800 litre tank of the stuff happily bubbling away awaiting our visit. Rob, who says it will produce around 1400 pints so get in early to avoid disappointment (he’s a good salesman that lad), has been running a competition on the comeonyousaints.com site this week to name the beer and although there is no outright winner so far this weeks working title is Jimmie’s Riddle – for the uninitiated Franklins Gardens is in the St James area of town and Jimmies is one of Saints traditional nicknames, not as Michael Dods thought a chant welcoming new Scottish players to the club.
So remember to keep your hands on your ticket stub to claim your free pint.
Just don’t have too many and hand it over before you get to the match.
MINI
So okay which one of you is £90,000 lighter this week? According to reports a Saints supporter bid that amount for a special red Mini Cooper that was sold at auction last week. What made it so special that it fetched seven times its list price? Well it had been signed (and sealed to stop it washing off) by several England players including Paul Grayson and Kyran Brackan who organised the auction as part of their testimonial year. Overall over £200,000 was raised with money going to both The Wooden Spoon Society and the Saints Benevolent Fund.
Lets just hope this doesn’t set a new trend. I can understand those people who might want to get the players monikers on their Saints shirts but if people started trying to get Vauxhall Viva’s and Ford Cortina’s pitchside so Wally and Ben could sign them before they put them on Ebay I could see Piggy Powell get awfully dangerous with a pitchfork.
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