January 26 2006

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
January 26 2006

A frustrating time for those that travelled out to Italy to watch the Saints at the weekend. With the winter weather intervening and causing not one but two games to be abandoned before hosts Viadana opted to concede the rather than venture over the Apennines to Livorno for a third attempt.

You have to feel sorry for those supporters that spent their hard earned cash travelling out to support the team but from what I’ve heard the majority still had a good time in Italia though the temptation of the shops in Florence, Milan, Parma and Verona means a few people will be nursing bigger headaches over February’s credit card bill than they did over the weekend on the vino and grappa.

But when all is said and done the five full points award for the fixture by the ERC means we progress to the European Challenge Cup quarter finals with a game against Worcester on April 1st at the Gardens, let’s hope it’s Wuss who are left feeling the fool.

An added bonus in having no game last weekend is that the ever lengthening injury list did not get any longer. There was always a risk that a game on a barely passable pitch, that would have obviously deteriorated further during the evening, could have added to those already queuing for Cliff Eaton’s physio’s bench. Even worse we could have picked up injuries in a game that was abandoned once it had started. So despite a wasted journey for most still one or two silver linings to that foggy frosty cloud.

LOOKING AHEAD

Another benefit of last weekends cancellation was that the whole squad, including the walking wounded, got, apart from the obvious training, a weeks rest before the Guinness Premiership game against Leeds on Saturday at the Gardens.

The game is crucial for the Saints and given the Tykes position at the foot of the GP table probably even more so for the Yorkshire side. A win for Saints with other results going our way could take us to mid table, knocking on the door of that all important 6th place in the league whilst a loss would drag us back to the edge of the relegation trapdoor just a couple of points ahead of Saturdays visitors.

In spite of their league position Leeds should not be taken lightly. They have started to put some form together and as those of us that saw them almost pull off a famous victory in Perpignan on the recent Saints trip to Narbonne we know they can mix it with the best. Indeed on Sunday they were within a whisker of qualifying for the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup after their demolition of Cardiff. Whilst the quality of the Welsh opposition has to be questioned (even the January blues are not as bad as Cardiff Blues) there is talent throughout Leeds ranks but everything seems to revolve around scrumhalf Justin Marshall. There is no doubt he is there talisman, if he is on the top of his game, and he was on Sunday, then Leeds play well.

That’s not to say they are a one man show but I’ve got the feeling that if you can stop Marshall to a certain extent you can stop Leeds too. Sharky might just be about to have his busiest afternoon in a Saints shirt.
Of course the Saints are on a bit of a roll themselves, the only defeat in the last eight weeks being at table toppers Sale on Boxing Day. With extra non-European registered players being available this week and maybe a couple more returning from injury I’m backing the lads to edge this one and it to be the springboard of our GP season. We, the supporters, can also play our part and it has all the hallmarks of a good hell for leather game on a crisp winter afternoon. I’m looking forward to what could be the most important game of the Saints season so far, see you there.

THE HEINEKEN CUP

Like most that did not travel out to Italy I took the opportunity to watch some rugby on the television weekend. Not the same thing as standing on the touchline of course but plenty to keep you entertained. There were some superb displays from Munster, Biarritz, Leinster and Saturday’s opponents Leeds but my moneys still on our friends from Toulouse who scored (and nearly conceded) 50 points at Llanelli on Saturday. Despite the points gap at the end the result was never really in doubt and you get the feeling they are coasting with still another couple of gears to step up if needed and it will take a good, if not great, team to beat them this year.

On reflection it left me a bit flat though knowing that this season we are not up there battling with the big boys. The European Challenge Cup may be a fine competition and it may give us a chance to visit a few other places around Europe that we have not before but it’s just not the same as the Heineken is it? I’ve always thought that your two main aims for the season is firstly winning the European Cup, secondly making sure you qualify for the next seasons European Cup with domestic honours coming after that. I’d like to think now we seem to have turned the corner that we may well be in with a shout to be up there with the Toulouse’s the Munster’s and the Perpignan’s next year.
Here’s hoping.

MYSTIC CHRIS

Sometimes you just wish you were going to be way wide of the mark with your predictions when you put something into print. I know I am. When I said in last weeks column “But it could be the weather that plays a more crucial role in Viadana” I had not foreseen that I’d put the curse of Gleadell on everyone’s weekend. Apologies to all. So this week, to balance things up, I predict someone that goes to Franklins Gardens will win the lottery. I would give you all the numbers but it would be an abuse of my psychic powers, however if the winners reading this I’ll settle for the usual 10%.

January 19 2006

Marching On

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
January 19 2006

The Saints revival continues. That’s now five out of six victories in the last half dozen games and confidence increasing by every game. People may point out that Bristol only sent a shadow of their normal 1st XV to the Gardens but you can only beat what is in front of you.

After a blistering start and three quick tries the lads took their foot off the gas for the middle section of the game but finally upped it a notch or two in the last quarter and put Bristol to the sword with a further four scores to retake the lead at the top of the group with a home quarter final game in the European Challenge Cup a real possibility. Firstly though the lads must overcome Viadana.

FORZA SAINTALIA

So on Friday night it’s the Italian Job Part Two for the Saints as they travel out to Italia to take on Super10 side Viadana. Whilst they lie at the bottom of our group they will still be going all out to pull off a famous victory. It may not be easy as it looks on paper especially given our long injury list and lack of players registered for the competition.

The Viadana website this week has mocked up pictures of Carlos confronting the Viadana Lion.
The poster states ‘No Saint can protect you from these Lions’
But it could be the weather that plays a more crucial role in Viadana. At the time of writing, according to the BBC online weather service, this morning it is snowing in nearby Parma and there are projected temperatures as low as minus ten. However after dealing with adverse conditions in Narbonne in a well earned victory in the competition before Christmas I’m taking the lads to buckle down and complete a job well done, cementing that quarter spot at the Gardens possibly against our old friends Worcester for the fourth time this season in early April.

Again the Saints will be well supported on their travels with a few hundred intrepid souls making the journey out to Italy. The club are taking a full contingent on the official trip while the bulk of support will again be the do-it-yourselfers who are heading to Viadana by the usual half dozen routes, flying into various airports in northern Italy, staying in three or four different locations and making it by hook or by crook to the game on Friday night.
Given the location and very limited access there is to Viadana itself (it is not served at all by public transport) a special mention has to go to the Saints Supporters Club for organising three coaches from Parma to the game on Friday night. I only wish I could join them but this one’s a game too far for me. On past trips I know those travelling will have a great time and will come back with stories galore. Given the conditions if you are going remember to pack your thermals and your best brandy in your hip flask and if any brass monkeys are thinking of travelling, don’t!

MUSIC TO OUR EARS

I’ve changed my mind about the music played before the game.
I was never against the tune itself, Vangelis’s Conquest of Paradise but like many did not like the timing of it as it drowned out the traditional greeting of the team onto the pitch with ‘Oh When the Saints’

On Saturday I think the timing was just about right, it ended as the team were about to emerge from the tunnel allowing ‘Oh Wendy’ to start in earnest and I think just about everybody was happy.
I do think it’s a tad ambitious though expecting the crowd to sing along to Conquest and I know a lot of people thought the lyrics were a bit over the top but starting in C Block the crowd have picked up instead on humming the tune along with synchronised (and some not so synchronised) swaying and continued the theme in the second half of their own accord. Now I know this is mostly tongue in cheek but it seems to have catched on and if indeed the tune does have an affect on the players (I’m sure a sports psychologist could explain how) then what better way than a spontaneous rendering from your own support every now and then?

Now if only we could get everyone singing the ‘Au Revoir’ song that a few hundred Saints were singing in France to each red and yellow card as well.

Saints with Heart IV

After a final totalling up of the cash Saints with Heart IV, the supporters sponsored walk, quiz night etc in aid of the British Heart Foundation, raised £22,000 in 2005. On Saturday at halftime Maggie Barwell, the SWH patron presented a cheque for that amount to the BHF making it over £55,000 raised for the charity since Richard Lindsley came up with the idea after three Saints supporters, now dubbed the Cardiac Club, suffered heart attacks four years ago.
Bob Stainsby, one of those trio is now the major driving force behind Saints with Heart. Plans are already afoot for SWH5, as ever, watch this space.

The RFU.........

And a final word on last weeks section of the column that reported an RFU official stating it was the clubs ‘killing the players’. This was picked up by a friend who supports Leicester, this is what he had to say on the matter.
“Consider an isolated and extreme example:
A club develops a young prop, that prop is selected for England U21s, whilst at England training, that prop suffers a life threatening and career stopping injury.
The club promises to support the player and his family for the rest of his life.
Fellow players donate signed stuff to be raffled.
Fans from many other clubs raise funds for the prop.
England RFU suggest that they donate half of the money that they are (alledgedly, potentially illegally) withholding from 3 clubs, its not even the RFU's money! as a way of getting out of a court case.
Great aren't they.”

January 13 2006

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
January 13 2006

I’m starting to like 2006. One week in and we have two wins under our belt already. Saturday’s victory at Worcester could well have been a major turning point of the season.

Not counting any chickens yet, but the way in which we dominated the game on a day when conditions dictated it was not a day for running rugby shows that if we need to we can stand toe to toe against clubs who build their team on forward power and grind out wins against them.

Of course it is a bit of a double edged sword knowing you can win this way but I’m sure the coaching team and the players will be chomping at the bit to return to the expansive game once the weather improves but it must make a few people sleep a bit easier at night knowing that if our backs are to the wall we can shut up shop and let the forwards do the business.

As for those conditions, the rain, sleet and snow (and we encountered all three on Saturday) come as part of the English way of life but it does make me smile when before the game some people suggesting that the likes of Carlos Spencer cannot play in those conditions as it would be alien to him.

I don’t know if people get the impression from seeing Maori warriors in full regalia that the Land of the Long White Cloud is some kind of southern Pacific Hawaii but in their winter New Zealand get conditions as bad, if not worse in the South Island, than we do. Of course Carlos played most of his rugby in the north but on Saturday he proved he is a man for all seasons with a wet weather game and some nice pop passes and deft touch finders off the outside of his boot that were honed on the wet and windy playing fields of Auckland.

That’s not suggesting Saturdays victory was a one man show, far from it, each and every player played his part. Robbie Kydd made an assured and solid debut at inside centre and looks like he already has a good understanding with those inside and outside him. On his outside of course is the man of the moment Jon Clarke. He has been nothing short of a revelation after his switch from wing/fullback to outside centre this season. Whilst Saturdays display in front of the cameras put the spotlight on Jon and all and sundry are now touting him for England honours I hope he is not rushed into things too soon.

As Paul Grayson mentioned on Saturday he only has a handful of games in his new position and is still learning his trade and we have already seen what has happened to likes of Matthew Tait when he was thrown in the deep end too early. I doubt at the moment if there are that many better 13’s playing in the country at the moment but let Clarkey learn his trade, get a season under his belt and come next year with a World Cup in France on the horizon, well who knows but in a position where England have never really got it right in recent seasons if he progresses as he has been then Jon could find himself in pole position.

LOOKING AHEAD

So while the Guinness Premiership takes a back seat for a couple of weeks, for the Saints it’s back to Europe this week and a game against Bristol in the Challenge Cup.

After the win in Narbonne which put us in the driving seat in the group and having narrowly edged Bris on the first day of the year in the GP the lads will be looking to repeat the performance. The Bristol team have headed off to La Manga in Spain this week for some warm weather training and it is still unclear what type of side they are going to select for this game, I somehow think though that given the recent weather a week on the back pitches at Franklins Gardens in the rain (and possibly more snow) might prepare you better for Saturday than a sun kissed beach and I’m taking the team to secure the win, the points and virtually assure themselves a home quarter final spot.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

How’s this for a quote? “What concerns us most is that the clubs are killing the players". No this didn’t come from some misinformed, out of touch ignoramus instead it came from the mouth of RFU management board chairman Martyn Thomas.

I’ve said it in this column before and no doubt I’ll say it again (and again, and again) but some of the people coming out with these soundbites for the RFU should be representing the Cloud Cuckoo Land Rugby Football Union, not the English one. What planet are they on?

Do they live in some kind of fantasy world where international standard players are conveniently found under the nearest mulberry bush or flown in by stork when Andy Robinson needs them? Do they have any notion that the clubs they attack are actually the ones producing the players? No of course not, how ever could they control the players if they admitted such a thing.

To suggest that it is the clubs that are ‘killing’ the players is wide of the mark in the extreme and insulting to those who work to ensure that every player is catered and cared for 52 weeks of the year, through injury hardship and often post career, not just an elite squad for the period when the nation calls.

Now as has been pointed out to me before, the RFU do spend a lot of money on youth and junior rugby, this should not be forgotten but it is the senior clubs, those under attack, that take the rough diamonds that the junior system produces and hones and nurtures them into the potential international class players. Would it really be in the clubs, and lets face it a business, interest to systematically destroy your stock in trade through being an irresponsible employer as Thomas suggests? 

No of course not, but then I may have been right about the out of touch, misinformed, ignoramus bit all along.

January 5 2006

Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron
By Chris Gleadell
January 5 2006

So here’s to 2006. Let’s hope it’s a sunnier outlook than 2005. Having said that, although we are in a similar league position to a year ago, Saturday’s game showed one thing, we have regained a lot of heart in that twelve month period.

Although we did not play anywhere near what could be described as a good performance, we stuck at it till the bitter end and ground out the victory something I’m not too sure we would have done in the Solomons era.

So whilst the coaching team readily admit that we are “technically nowhere near where we want to be” it is not all gloom and doom on the horizon. Every cloud has a silver lining and whilst we have an injury list as long as your arm several players have stepped up from the academy to stake their claim and though things may not be too bright at the moment the future certainly looks assured should these youngsters continue to progress. Despite the loss at Sale on Boxing Day I thought there was no disgrace in the result given they are table toppers and the number of players we had out.

However the present is still far from certain and we sit just one place off the bottom albeit with a little bit of a breathing space over last placed Leeds, making the end of month games between the clubs at the Gardens a game of massive proportions for both teams. However we can ease ourselves a little clearer before that date starting with the trip down to Worcester on Saturday.

Saturdays visit to Sixways just shows how much the game has changed in the last couple of seasons. When Worcester came into the Zurich Premiership at the start of last season it was predicted by all and sundry (including myself) that they would just be another bunch of whipping boys and be well adrift by Christmas. To their credit the chaps from Wuss fought tooth and nail all the way last term and secured their future in the newly named Guinness Premiership with a last gasp win over the Saints in the final game of the season. This season they have stepped up once more and sit on the edge of Heineken Cup qualification.however in the last couple of weeks things have not gone all their way with losses at Newcastle and a home hammering by lowly Bath. It may of course just be a blip but what better time to play the Warrors knowing that they are on a low and that we won down there at a canter in the Powergen Cup earlier this season.

It is sure to be a tough one, Worcester’s wounded pride and us out to get anything we can to pull us clear of the mire. With luck on the injury front we may just have a couple of key players back and it could go down to the wire.
What better way to wash away those post Christmas blues. See you there.

EN FRANCE

Yet again the supporters did us proud again out in France with (by my estimates) around six hundred making the journey out to France to see the lads match our efforts on the windswept Narbonne turf to come away with a well earned victory. I don’t think I have ever watched a game in such windy conditions, indeed it was even hard at times to look directly into it such was the winds force as balls kicked to corners veered near the posts and vice versa.
The team however did not let it daunt them and for once everything clicked into place playing the French at their own game and muscling them off the park.
Whilst in the local papers the next day there was the odd grumbling about refereeing (just goes to show how close the French and English really are eh?) the Narbonne coach admitted that there was no way they could deal with the Saints superior technique and above all physique. For a team that has built its reputation on forward power in recent years that was somewhat of a compliment.

The compliments were not just reserved for the team though, a local bar owner told us on Sunday morning that the support was a real credit to the club. Not only did the owner of The Globe, an ex-pat Australian former Narbonne player praise the behaviour and friendliness of both the support and the first team squad that frequented his establishment on Friday night mingling, singing and dancing with locals (and strangely Santa and his dozen elves) but he was over the moon that he had had the biggest nights takings in the years he had owned the bar with not one hint of trouble, just everyone out to enjoy themselves. Such was he enamoured with the Saints he promised that if we got him a shirt it would replace the Leicester one in pride of place over the bar and he said the doors would always be open to Northampton people.

On Saturday our group travelled down to Perpignan for the day to see the Catalan side play Leeds in the Heineken Cup. Numbers were swelled with the official Saints party staying in the town and it was somewhat surreal sitting in a bar near the ground watching Saint after Saint traipsing past to the stadium. When Phil Davies and his team went by in the Leeds team bus some looked quite bemused as they saw a window full of people in Saints shirts, some wearing Perpignan scarves etc. The locals were even more bemused at these people in Gold, Black & Green but there were plenty of handshakes and greeting when they heard where we came from. We quickly learnt that the phrase, however bad the translation “Je suis Northampton, ce soir Catalan” earned us whole bunches of new friends. At a guess there was around double the number of Saints supporters at the game than Leeds but to their credit the small band of Tykes sang from start to finish and their team did them proud battling all the way and almost stealing a famous victory at the end.