Jack Cork's return from Olympic duty etc coincided with Saints starting to pick up points, it was no coincidence !
Initially many Saints supporters were proud of Jack Cork being selected for Great Britain's Olympic football squad, but it soon became clear that this would impact greatly on Saints season, Cork had to miss the entire Saints pre season preparation as he met his Olympic commitments, not to mention that it meant he had virtually no break from football, this impacted on Saints in that he picked up niggling injuries meaning that although the Olympic tournament finished in early August, it would be 10th November before Cork appeared in the Premier League for Saints.
By then he had missed 10 games and Saints sat at rock bottom with only four points.
But then the season started to change and as mentioned it was no coincidence as Jack came into the side and formed a great partnership with Morgan Schneiderlin, in his first four games back Saints picked up 8 points and he would not miss another Premier league game all season.
But it would have been the most optimistic Saints supporter who would have predicted such success for Jack in the centre of the park in the Premier, indeed in the Championship Dean Hammond often played in the centre with either Cork or Schneiderlin moved out wide, yet when they finally came together it was if they had played together all their lives.
Jack though is the unsung hero of the dynamic duo in the centre of the park, Morgan Schneiderlin has got all the plaudits and there can be no denying he deserves them, but for me withough Jack Cork I dont think he would have been that effective, indeed I feel that without Cork Saints themselves would not have been so effective, in short Cork busied himself around in the midfield and did the things that many dont notice, win little balls here and there, keep the ball moving etc etc
These are not the grand sweeping passes and tackles that win you the player of the year, but without the smaller things done well I think we would have gone down. I honestly feel that without Jack, Morgan Schneiderlin would not have won the player of the year, however Jack with Morgan would have walked it, thats not to demean Morgan Schneiderlin, but to highlight just how crucial Jack Cork is to our team.
But it wasnt just his ability to play the supporting role so well, Jack also could adapt to whatever the situation demanded, whether it be to fill in at right back or combatting a different style of play from the opposition.
I would also pose this question, if Jack Cork can start the season well and keep up the standards that he has set in this last season, then I would suggest that he will be the next Saints player to win a full England cap, he is well known to the England set up and he plays in a position that England really struggle in, he might just be able to capitalise on that.
A year ago Saints supporters probably wondered whether Jack Cork would make the step up to the Premier, certainly no one seemed unduly worried that he would miss the start of the season due to the Olympics, now that has all changed, Saints truly have an engine room in the midfield that they never had in the Championship with all the chopping and changing.
9/10 for Jack Cork, he was one of the players who truly changed the direction of the season.