PAINFUL VIEWING..
Yes, I know I should get a life and not loaf around on a Sunday watching wall-to-wall football matches on television, but yesterday was a chance for me as a Saints fan to see what might have been. What made the viewing a bit painful was seeing the number of players who had `graduated` from Southampton`s Academy and were now playing starring roles in the Premier League.
The lunchtime kick-off saw Newcastle United beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 with the winning goal scored by Leon Best and the Newcastle back four included Mike Williamson. (Incidentally the managers of each team also had Saints connections with new QPR gaffer Mark Hughes having played for Southampton and Newcastle boss Alan Pardew having managed the Saints.)
The afternoon game was between Arsenal and newly promoted Swansea City. The man of the match was Swans` very own pacy flanker Nathan Dyer with another former Academy player in Gary Monk on the bench. For Arsenal, Theo Walcott scored a sublime equaliser for the Gunners before Swansea secured a 3-2 win seconds later. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain was introduced by Arsene Wenger late in the game, which brought the total of former Saints Academy players in just those two games to no less than six.
Saturday night`s Match of the Day included highlights from the Premier League games which featured Gareth Bale playing for Spurs and Andrew Surman scoring again in Norwich City`s win at West Brom. Seeing these players brought back memories of the dark days of Administration - Andrew Surman, for example, never wanted to leave his home town club but such were Southampton`s financial problems at the time that he was more or less forced into the transfer to Wolves before settling in at Norwich.
So I watched those games and thought, "if only." The present Academy is beginning to flourish once more with another crop of talented youngsters providing a bright prospect for the future.....providing also, of course, that the vultures from the high echelons of the Premier League don`t swoop yet again. Already they`re circling around, so I may be in for some more painful viewing before too long.
Ah well, c`est la vie, to be fair.
The lunchtime kick-off saw Newcastle United beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 with the winning goal scored by Leon Best and the Newcastle back four included Mike Williamson. (Incidentally the managers of each team also had Saints connections with new QPR gaffer Mark Hughes having played for Southampton and Newcastle boss Alan Pardew having managed the Saints.)
The afternoon game was between Arsenal and newly promoted Swansea City. The man of the match was Swans` very own pacy flanker Nathan Dyer with another former Academy player in Gary Monk on the bench. For Arsenal, Theo Walcott scored a sublime equaliser for the Gunners before Swansea secured a 3-2 win seconds later. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain was introduced by Arsene Wenger late in the game, which brought the total of former Saints Academy players in just those two games to no less than six.
Saturday night`s Match of the Day included highlights from the Premier League games which featured Gareth Bale playing for Spurs and Andrew Surman scoring again in Norwich City`s win at West Brom. Seeing these players brought back memories of the dark days of Administration - Andrew Surman, for example, never wanted to leave his home town club but such were Southampton`s financial problems at the time that he was more or less forced into the transfer to Wolves before settling in at Norwich.
So I watched those games and thought, "if only." The present Academy is beginning to flourish once more with another crop of talented youngsters providing a bright prospect for the future.....providing also, of course, that the vultures from the high echelons of the Premier League don`t swoop yet again. Already they`re circling around, so I may be in for some more painful viewing before too long.
Ah well, c`est la vie, to be fair.
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