Have Saints had a few good ‘uns..? Whenever someone asks me, I always think it’s just been one or two down through the years. We’ve always been a bit lightweight in that department. And then I count them and realise we’ve had our reasonable share. Ramsey, Ellerington, Traynor, a certain R.T.Davies, Williams, all in the 1940/50/60s and before my time. But the feeling still won’t go away, even when I think of those featured below, and the near misses/unmentioned, as for example, Mills, Kenna, Peach and Adams.

When I started watching Saints it was Dave Webb and Denis Hollywood’s time. Webb went on to be a damn fine centre half and score the winning goal in the 1970 FA Cup Final replay at Old Trafford with Chelsea, and Hollywood kind of made the LB position his own. When I used to look at my matchday programme, there his name would be, sticking out because it was longer than everybody else’s. Right above it was Webb’s make-weight return - Joe Kirkup. Joe was slow, but dependable, and together with Denis, forged a partnership that saw Saints through their growing years as an established top division team. Let’s see the pick of who came after.

Ivan Golac

Anyone who remembers Ivan Golac won’t be thinking too much about his defending. Dubbed the best right winger Saints never had, Ivan used to get caught upfield when he should have been back at RB. Amazingly naïve, you’d think for a player of 28. Yes that was his age when he arrived at Saints, and stayed for several seasons, with short periods at Bournemouth, Man City and FK Belasica in between. But Ivan was just doing that modern wingback thing of getting up the flanks and making himself available. But he was a very fit and fast player, so running back must have just been too boring to bother with.

Communist Yugoslavia had just started to allow its footballers to play abroad, should they get the chance, and Golac got his as one of Saints first foreign imports for a paltry £50,000. He had a charging style that the fans quickly warmed to, and he became a real crowd pleaser. So much so, he was voted Saints player of the year in 1981. And there’s no doubt the man could defend, which he did with skill and timing. In my memory, Golac never crunched his opponent, though no doubt he did occasionally. His was more of a removing the ball from the opponent style, by just taking it off him, and then passing it to a team-mate.

Famous for his wry humour, he claimed he learned English from listening to Rolling Stones records. His time at Saints coincided with some of the club’s best years at the top, and Ivan could rightfully claim his share of responsibility for that. Here’s Ivan many years later as Dundee United’s coach. Same old humour. Same old Ivan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLht3PazUXY

Golac’s Saints Stats
Appearances (sub) [goals]:
League 167 (1) [4]
FA Cup 12
League Cup 13
Europe 3
Other 1
Total 196 (1) [4]

Wayne Bridge

Another fan favourite. He became Saints player of the season in 2000-01 within a side that was on the up. In his schoolboy years, Wayne had played further upfield, but settled into a wingback role for Saints, which allowed him to make surging runs up the left flank. Unlike Ivan Golac though, this player always used to be back to defend if the ball went loose. But he was, like Golac, in that he removed the ball from the opponent, rather than tackled heavily, and it was a rare thing indeed for a player to get round Wayne, such was his pace.

Coming right up through the junior Saints ranks, Bridgey held the Premiership consecutive appearance record of 113 matches [since passed by Frank Lampard], and only stopped there due to an ankle injury. Quite left-sided, he was fast, skilful, consistent and reliable. He balanced on his right leg and played football with his left. In the new millennium era, it’s hard to expect players to turn down lucrative moves, and Bridgey couldn’t look the other way when Chelsea came with £7M to tempt him away. But then neither could Saints, and he left with Graeme Le Saux.coming in the opposite direction.

Some point to his departure as the beginning of the slide at SFC, such was his impact at the club. He probably cemented his status as a club favourite after he left for Chelsea, with this celebration - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H2BO9qUceU to this goal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr0s-uYevmc

Bridge’s Saints Stats
Appearances (sub) [goals]:
League 140 (12) [2]
FA Cup 11
League Cup 10 (1)
Europe 0
Other 0
Total 161 (13) [2]

Jason Dodd

Dodd was around longer than a significant proportion of Saints fans. Many won’t have known of any other consistent Saints RB, such was his dominance at the club. I always find it curious that fans knock Dodd for his lack of pace. It’s always those who are mainly St Mary’s era only though, because Jason didn’t lack it in his earlier years. Like many, he got slower as he got older. Perhaps a bit of speed training might have helped. However, like other modern fullbacks, he liked to get forward, and possessed an excellent cross, whether floated or driven in with swerve.

Right from his early years, he read the game well, and was rarely caught out of position, although a, well timed, solid tackle was sometimes forthcoming to save the day. Signed from hometown Bath City for £15,000, and after so long a career, there’s many stories of Doddsy, some good, one or two sullied, those of which are off the pitch, so we’ll not talk about them here. He first featured in his home debut, by providing Paul Rideout with a superb cross, producing a stunning headed first goal in the 4-1 storming of Liverpool back in 1989.

Probably the best, recent memory is his contribution to an excellent 3-0 victory over those people down the M27. Was it really back in Dec 2003..? Although he didn’t play in the FA Cup Final due to injury, Doddsy rightfully holds a Runners-Up medal for his contribution during the route to the Final. Happy days indeed..! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0StQKf5NRp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQqIBOP8zhU

Dodd’s Saints Stats
Appearances (sub) [goals]:
League 372 (27) [9]
FA Cup 32 (1) [3]
League Cup 43 (2) [1]
Europe 0
Other 7
Total 454 (30) [13]

Mark Dennis

Christened Psycho, by fans, many years before Forest’s Stuart Pearce, he was the bad-boy who came to Saints from Brum City, and found an admirer and mentor under Lawrie McMenemy. It’s probably true to say that if Dennis had gone anywhere else he would have failed, but with careful nurturing, and a firmer control over his wild tackling and general play, he became an excellent, reliable LB who was knocking on the door of international honours during his playing days at Saints.

Also famous for the Accident at Fratton Park during which Top Division Saints were struggling to overcome Second Tier Pompey, and a coin thrown from the crowd felled Dennis as he was taking one of his long throw-ins. The referee’s added-on time, because of the coin throwing, gave Saints the chance to wrap things up 1-0, and move into the 5th round of the 1983-84 FA Cup.

Dennis was a stylish, skilful, and fast LB, who perhaps would have done even better with his career, were it not for his boss McMenemy leaving for Sunderland, and a parting of the ways. Played more games for Birmingham City, than for Saints, but because of his attitude turnaround, he bleeds red and white, and Saints fans love him for it. Still lives in the area, and is an occasional presenter on Hampshire Radio, partnering his brother, Stuart. - http://www.radiohampshire.com

Dennis’ Saints Stats
Appearances [goals]:
League 95 [2]
FA Cup 14
League Cup 16
Europe 2
Other 2
Total 129 [2]

Next time, the centre-backs…

It has been decided, nay decreed. The greatest Saints sides in living memory are settled. It’s been a few months of polls and arguments. Of suggestions of influenced and rigged results. But all this debate and decision has been significantly against a backdrop of Saints gloomiest season in living memory. At the time of writing, it appears SFC are for the drop into the old 3rd division again [update - but maybe not], for the first time in 49 years, unless a minor miracle occurs. So who were these players who were so good, and helped to create some of the best times that Saints fans can remember..? Well, to start off, it’ll help our understanding if we know who the hell we’re talking of. Starting with…

Peter Shilton

Not only are we talking about the best goalkeeper ever to have stood between the Saints sticks, but one of the best goalkeepers of all time. Certainly in the top 6, and many pundits would suggest a lot higher. Shilton came to Saints as the best known keeper in the land. His positioning was second to none. His handling, agility and reactions were top-notch. He completely ruled his penalty area, barking out encoragement, instructions and advice in equal measure. His intimidation of opposing strikers is well recorded. They said they simply felt less confident of scoring against him. Saints strikers of the time had been known to say “I’m glad he plays for us”. They didn’t have to face Shilton themselves.

Shilton had been understudy to the then-best goalkeeper in the world - Gordon Banks. It’s an indication of Shilton’s ability, that Leicester City felt they could cash-in and allow Banks to move to Stoke City, because the sorcerer’s apprentice was so good. It’s against Leicester that Saints fans first got wind of Shilton. In mid-October 1967, Shilton rubbed in a 1-5 result by actually scoring from a drop-kick from his area in the 89th minute. The ball bounced on a hard painted white line, and shell-shocked Saints keeper Campbell Forsyth, who had seen 4 goals go by him in the previous 40 odd minutes, watched helplessly as the ball looped over his outstretched hands, and into the net. Shilton said it was a complete fluke. But it was just the start of his reputation. Not only did he save goals, but could even score them. By 1982, Saints had seen enough, and Lawrie McMenemy convinced Shilton to come to The Dell for £325,000. It should be no surprise that some of Saints most successful period in the top flight coincided with Peter’s reign.

Shilton’s Saints Stats
Appearances:
League 188
FA Cup 17
League Cup 28
Europe 4
Other 5
Total 242

Antti Niemi

A spectacular goalkeeper with lightning reflexes. No Saints fan will ever forget his triple save against Arsenal. Antti came into a Saints side that was starting to buzz with the expectation of progress. The man he almost instantly replaced - Paul Jones, was a fine keeper by any standards, but there was a little of the Gary Sprake factor in Jones. Older fans will know what I mean. And not only was Niemi brilliant, he was utterly dependable. Even his kicking was straight and true. So good was he, that almost immediately after Gordon Strachan had bought his much admired keeper, from Heart of Midlothian for £2M, he was being hailed as possibly the finest keeper in the Premiership since Peter Schmeichel. And like all star players, there was to be a little of the myth and legend about Antti. On the downside, at the 2003 FA Cup Final, he was to suffer a torn calf muscle while taking a goal-kick during the second half. The match played on, while Saints fans increasingly whistled the alert. Finally, aid came to him, and he was replaced by the man he had replaced for the season - PJ, who incidentally, didn’t let the side down one bit.

The other, certainly happier memory is of a match at Loftus Road, against Fulham (Craven Cottage being improved at the time) in mid-March. Saints had gone 2-0 down, but this was a Strachan side - they fought, and they believed. Right upto the 80th minute, Saints were still 2 goals adrift, and then James Beattie gave them a lifeline. Each Saints attack was rebuffed, but right on 93 minutes (yes, 93..!) a little bit of Antti Neimi magic happened. It was obviously the last attack, and Gordon Strachan waved his GK forward for a corner. In fact, he couldn’t hold him back. Niemi stood aside from the rest of the players, and as the ball bounced around the area, it came to Antti. He chested the ball down, and volleyed past the bemused Fulham keeper, and against the bar. The ball bounced cleanly out into the area, and ever goal alert CB Michael Svensson headed it into the empty net. Cue amazing goal celebrations as both Svensson and especially Antti Niemi were utterly swamped by their teammates. The game finished 2-2, but such was the Saints spirit of the time, that it felt like they’d won.

Niemi’s Saints Stats
Appearances:
League 106
FA Cup 9
League Cup 7
Europe 0
Other 1
Total 123

Next week, the defenders…

It seems only a short time ago that DarrenLeTiss began a thread about the greatest Saints players in people’s memories, just because he wanted to talk about something positive regarding the football club we all follow. It was actually mid-November when he came up with the idea. And since then, week-by-week, almost like a magazine collection, the teams have grown. From a very early stage I realised that a B [back-up] team was going to have to stand next to the A team, if only so we could accommodate more of our favourite players. Even so, when it came to the closing stages, we were asked to consider subs and managers. It almost seemed as if we didn’t want the voting to stop.

The goalkeepers seemed straight forward enough. Peter Shilton seemed a shoe-in, and yet plenty of posters thought Niemi the better. And who could blame them..? Recent memories of superb performances do have a habit of pushing out the old. Yet it was a measure of Saints fans memories, and perhaps a demographic of the age range on The Saints Web, that sufficient people recalled how brilliant Shilton was. He didn’t become England’s most capped player, in an era of great England keepers, for nothing. And his numbers would have been considerably higher had he not shared the top position for a while with the slightly inferior Ray Clemence of Liverpool.

The defence caused more stir than I initially thought. There were calls for Steve Mills, for a brilliant, but short career. I’m sure he would have been a great player. My own biggest disappointment was that David Peach never got into any side, A or B, and never even made any subs bench. To my mind, Peachy was a real standout. But he fell into the same near-miss box alongside Denis Hollywood, Alf Ramsey and Stuart Williams. And who could deny Ivan Golac and Wayne Bridge anyway..? Two centrebacks stood out, Mark Wright and Michael Svensson; and in the end it was just a question of who would partner Dave Watson in the B team. Without other nominees to deflect opinion, a straight contest of Silky vs Deano ended with Claus Lundekvam a clear winner.

Back while we were deciding the defences, I remember thinking about the weeks to come and realising the debates that could occur when certain positions came up for nomination. It came as little surprise that Terry Paine would win his Right Wing/Midfield position. I put people out of their misery early when I counted up the nominations after just a couple of days, and he’d received about 6 or 7 times more than all the other nominees combined. His position was more definite than Saints favourite player, Matt Le Tissier. MLT’s problem was that there was only one of him, and posters understandably wanted him in almost every midfield position. It was such that there was real danger his support might become diluted, and posters were clearly afraid of this. Certainly, I could not comprehend how he couldn’t be in a greatest team. But where would he be best, and where could he end up without pushing out another truly brilliant player..? In the end, posters were sensible enough to put Matty in amongst a cracking midfield of creativity, vision and skill.

So we got to the strikers. Once again I was glad we’d got ourselves a backup team. There are so many great Saints strikers in people memories, and with only 2 positions in each team, people were going to be disappointed. We had great strikers who were near misses in Martin Chivers and Phil Boyer. We had star players who barely got a mention in Charlie George, Frank Worthington and Ted MacDougall. Players like these had great past playing records, but were perhaps on the wane when they got to SFC, and Saints fans realised this. Players like Charlie Wayman, George O’Brien and Derek Reeves were simply too early for most fans, and there was the obvious caveat that their best years for Saints were in a lower division. But they could only score as well as the service they received.

As the teams positions were being settled, posters started mentioning a subs bench. But we’d blown it..! We had a B-Team, and clearly they were the replacements for any A-Team player. If we’d have decided upon a subs bench from the start it would have been better. Everyone makes mistakes, and perhaps we just didn’t want an end to the voting. Besides, in today’s football world, teams play with a load of available subs, and we had 2 teams of 11. So we had to have a bench for each team. It may have been a little imbalanced, but posters got the idea, and carried on. At least some of those near-misses got another chance, although once again Chivers and even James Beattie missed out. Peter Osgood slid into the line-up as a utility player for the B-Team, and I couldn’t help thinking that was a serendipidous bit of voting with a main B forward line of Keegan and Pahars. Surely the shortest strike pairing ever.

So we ended with the managers. There were several points of interest here. Who of Ted Bates and Lawrie McMenemy would win, and where would the alsorans end up..? It was also notable that so many posters came out and said they’d wished SFC had left Chris Nicholl in place as a manager. Saints had had a poor season, and the Board had been quick to act in the face of fans disapproval. There was almost an apology out there for CN’s departure in 1991. Perhaps history would have turned out differently if Chris had stayed on. Because after Nicholl, managers came and went in relatively quick succession, and only Wee Gordon Strachan had an extensive go. When CN left, so ended 36 years of Saints managerial stability. It must be time to find some again.