Scared shitless !!!Now it was time for one of those games that last year, we didn’t like. Oop North on a cold night in the rain on a dodgy pitch. The dodgy pitch belonged to Oldham and Boundary Park always brings back bad memories for Saints fans of a certain age. Oldham gave us a decent game at SMS earlier in the season and Paul Dickov, their manager was promising more of the same. He had brought in Saints legend Neal Trotman on loan which will be interesting as the last time he played against us was for a Huddersfield side who we battered 5-0.
Predictably, Saints changed the team around, bringing back some of the players who Nigel felt we didn’t need in order to beat Holloway’s lot. So, back came Davis, Fonte, Jaidi, Dickson, Chaplow, Chamberlain and the Gulyman and out went Bart, Seaborne, Martin, Harding, Hammond through injury, Puncheon through illness and Barnard. The crowd was swelled with the ever annoying presence of Damien Comolli from Liverpool, no doubt checking out promising youngster Radhi Jaidi, to replace those idiots that they’ve got at the back for Liverpool. Also in attendance was old Taggart himself, Sir Alex Ferguson, no doubt checking us out for the Cup game but also checking on the keeper he’s just loaned to Oldham, Ben Amos.
It was all Saints from the off and it took a whole 7 minutes for us to take the lead as Lallana picked out Sir Rickie at the back post. Showing a remarkable unselfishness for a striker, he first barged past a defender and instead of smashing it goalwards from a tight angle he just rolled it into the path of Chamberlain who drilled it home.
Ben Amos, under the watchful gaze of his manager, Sir Taggart of Manchester, must have reminded him of the great Massimo Taibi in the 35th minute when he allowed a Lallana in acres of space, scuffed a left footed effort straight at him which Amos allowed to go through his legs and bobble into the net to make it 2-0. The more you see it, the funnier it gets. Oh dear, not good. Great for us though and heading into half time with a bit of a cushion which we then tried to throw away by allowing some bloke to hit the post with a close range header before a scene reminiscent of a Charlie Chaplin film took place as Richardson smashed a clearance against Jaidi and it rebounded to Fonte who missed it and the ball ended up back with the original Oldham player who then, in a perfect demonstration of crap finishing, stabbed the rebound wide from barely a yard.
We made it to half time with our 2-0 lead intact but predictably, Oldham emerged with a new purpose in the 2nd half. Basically, they had to score the next goal or they were screwed. It’s all Oldham and we’re soaking up a it of pressure but it’s obviously a ploy as Chaplow wins the ball in midfield and ten seconds later, it’s 3-0 as Schneiderlin sends Sir Rickie away down the right and he sets up the Gulyman who produces an excellent first time finish past the Ghost of Taibi.
Just when you’re thinking that it can’t get any better, it does as Lallana pulls out his signature move of cutting in from the left and onto his right foot. As everyone anticipates the curler to the back stick, he just lays it into the path of the onrushing Chappers via a bit of a lucky deflection and the new Chrissy Marsden smashes it first time into the top corner for 4-0. It’s more or less Lallana’s last contribution as he is replaced with Carlton Palmer Gobern. Sir Taggart has had enough of seeing the Ghost of Taibi humiliated and chooses this time to depart, no doubt with images of a Le Tissier daisy-cutter in his mind.
Thinking that the sub was Nigel’s way of closing the game out, we immediately break forward again and Gobern should really have scored but he fell over in a sprawling mass of arms and legs following an air shot. Two minutes later and a bit of pinball and Oscar manages to poke the ball via the keeper to Sir Rickie for him to sidefoot in for 5-0 and the goal he deserved.
Sensing that the game was well and truly won, Nigel saw no need to allow Comolli a longer look at promising youngster Radhi and so he replaced him and Chamberlain with Dan Seaborne and Lee Barnard. There was still time for Sir Rickie to play in the Gulyman whose pass found Barney’s well timed run and he skipped past the Ghost of Taibi to make it 6. I’m sure there was loads of other stuff that went on in the game but with so many goals to talk about, I can’t be arsed.
Well League 1, have some of that then! I don’t subscribe to all this ‘quaking in their boots’ bollocks but it’s the kind of result that does get noticed. To score 6 away from home against anyone is a big deal no matter who you are and who you’re playing against. Oldham had only lost once at home this season and only let in 11 goals at home until Saints turned up. Even that twat Roger Milford couldn’t have added enough time to allow them to equalize this time. I always thought of Oldham as one of the sounder sides defensively and Hazell is one of the best defenders I’ve seen at this level. Maybe it was the Trotman factor.
Nigel was quick to point out that it is only 3 points at the end of the day and that you need to listen, be on the bus, in the building and taking care of business. He’s right of course and we must be wary of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ when we play Whinging Ince and his Notts County mob on Saturday. That goes for the fans too who have to accept that 1-0 on Saturday will do.
Following Hollowaygate at the weekend, it was nice to be ‘having a laugh’ again so soon. I will be having a laugh again tonight if they get battered by Liverpool (sadly they didn’t!!!). Talking of Liverpool... The media today is full of every team in the top 5 and mid-table average teams like Liverpool and Stoke looking to pay £10m for Alex Chamberlain. Where did that figure come from? I guess the figure comes from the fact that Walcott and Bale were around the £10m mark so that’s what the media has guessed at.... but there’s a difference now in that we don’t need the money. In my opinion we should be looking for double that in order to be tempted. So – Liverpool or whoever, give us upwards of £20m or better still, fuck off and spend the money developing your own players.
Oh yeah, Fergie.... be afraid, be very afraid....
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