Stage 2 of the 3 part programme is succesfully completed.
Yesterday saw another great home win and its hard to say anything detrimental about a game that by the end could have easily have seen the eventual 4-0 scoreline doubled and that is no exageration.
Of course there are still one or two things wrong but when you are in a winning run they can be tweaked and put right gradually rather, than needing urgent attention.
Perhaps the main fact to highlight is that onle a few days ago Exeter were above Saints in the table after hammering another promotion contender in Sheff Weds 5-1 at home, whilst some will herald this as a triumph over s strong team, i would point out that its more an indication of how closely packed this league is and how there is no team who are really shining above the rest and that should give Saints good hope for the future in that if they can now put a good run together ther eis no reason as to why they shouldnt go on and win this league.
Against Exeter perhaps the key to the performance was the central midfield pairing, put bluntly the Hammond /Scheiderlin pairing saw two similar players failing to compliment each other, meaning that although each was a good player in their own right, it did not give us enough options and contrast, the introduction of Chaplow gives us differing options, Chaplow is a totally different player to either Hammond or Schneiderlin and more of a midfield terrier and thats what we have been lacking, in fact the good news is that whoever Chaplow plays with should benefit, because with either they have struggled to shine.
I have long said that this squad was big enough and strong enough to sustain a promotion bid, that it just needed to be motivated and managed and that so far it hasnt been done, the signs of recovery have been there in the last two games and if you look at the players involved yeasterday it would be hard to see a position that could be improved upon, at least not with the players that we are likely to be able to entice into League 1, whilst a new signing in any team is always a boost, we might be as well to keep our money in our pocket for next season.
Perhaps the best thing about yesterday though was the fact that it showed we had options, it was good to see Gobern used again, I feel that he could play a big part in the campaign as it gets crowded with rearanged matches etc, a look at the bench shows the stregth we have, what side can bring on three subs of the quality of Dickson, Barnard & Gobern & still have Jaidi, Connolly & Butterfield left on the bench, not to mention Arron Martin & Dean Hammond who were not there, compare that with Exeter who were using the likes of Jake Thomson once of this parish.
Another plus was the form of Guly, OK he may have the look of George Lawrence about him in some respects, but he offers something up front that we have been missing and he can score a goal or two, in truth (For French Chris & Channonite) he should not have been taken off yesterday, he should have been left on to get that hat trick and boosts his confidence, but Rickie Lambert was again not subsstituted when he should have been, his performance was better but he is living on his reputation in that both Guly & Barnard should be in front of him now, comapre the scoring records of both Guly & Lambert, SRL has 7 goals, but 4 are penalties, whilst Guly has 5 goals all from open play and from a lot lot less minutes on the pitch.
Now we are in second spot its ours to lose and we have to keep it by winning games, this last week has been good in that we have shot up the table, but it shows how compact that table is in that if we lose at D & R we could be straight out of even a play off spot, winning home games has been the backbone of our climb, but we have now got to do the same on the road, the last two matches will be all in vain if we dont win at Dagenham, we have to start putting sides to the sword on the road.
Nigel Adkins now knows he has options, he now has to use those options properly, he has to get the selections right from the start and he has to know when to use the substitutions, the supporters will not accept a mis firing Rickie Lambert staying on the pitch in the last ten minutes of a game we are losing or drawing when we have Guly, Barnard & Connolly chomping a tthe bit, a winning team creates competition, when the players who are looking to get a game see that they are not going to get one, align that with those who play who know they arent going to get dropped and the sum total is you have a de motivated squad, we have made that mistake before lets not make it again.
Kelvin Watch
Not a lot to do for our goalkeeper, however one small point was the number of times he came rushing out of his area for through balls when he didnt need to, on several occasions being able to back track and collect the ball, add that to a cross where he came for it and Fonte headed it out of his hands and you have to conclude that the defence are a little wary of a keeper who has clearly been told to dominate his box and distribute the ball quicker and is not quite getting to grips with it.