WAYS AND MEANS..
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | Last 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This is how the npower championship table looks this morning. And what a pretty sight for us Saints fans who have not experienced such highs since the days of beating Manchester United to go fourth in the Premier League all those years ago. What`s more, records keep tumbling - last night`s record crowd of 32,152 was the biggest since St. Mary`s Stadium opened ten years ago, Saints are having their best start to the season for what is now 52 years and the winning run of home games now extends to a record 17 in all competitions, the last defeat at St. Mary`s being against the aforementioned Manchester United in an FA Cup game in December 2010.
Indeed, Southampton Football Club seems finally to be on the rise, with settled ownership, a talented manager, dedicated backroom staff and a hard working group of team players. Football, like life, is of course transient and no-one has any idea how long this euphoria will last, so please forgive me for enjoying it all while it does. It might not be for long. Now, some of my close neighbours and at least one of my very best friends are diehard West Ham United fans and so I will excercise restraint in my comments about the 1-0 defeat West Ham suffered at St. Mary`s last evening. But on last night`s evidence, there is a comparison to be drawn between the current West Ham and the much loved football academy of years gone by. West Ham`s current pornographic owners, their neanderthal manager and their primitive style of play which seems to rely on size and strength rather than anything resembling subtlety are all a far cry from the style, grace and elegance of the days of Ron Greenwood and John Lyall. Football is a results-driven business, of course, but there are ways of achieving results and there are means of projecting the image of a club. In the end, West Ham`s current persona may take them back to the Premier League which will obviously please their supporters. But I wonder how many of them might quietly wish for a different approach to restore their club`s affections amongst the wider football fraternity. | |||||||||||
| 1 |  | Southampton | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 13 | 14 | 26 | 11   |
| 2 | | West Ham United | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 11 | 11 | 21 | 8 |
| 3 | | Middlesbrough | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 21 | 7 |
| 4 | | Derby County | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 21 | 9 |
| 5 |  | Crystal Palace | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 20 | 10 |
| 6 | | Ipswich Town | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 19 | -1 | 20 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment