Ouroboros

[dullonien]

Good article. It's obvious that you're a Saints fan first and foremost, so your take on this is understandable, but the recent run of results tells us alot about Northampton and where they are at the moment. When their best team is playing, they are a match for anyone, but take a few key players away and things start to crumble a little. Loosing players to international duty is part and parcel of being a succesfull club with quality players. I tend to agree with you that the structure of the season could be tinkered with to minimise the effects the international playing windows have on domestic rugby, but that doesn't look likely anytime soon. Injury is another thing that can strike at any time, and as a Welsh fan I know how injury can effect a team that's a little shallow, depth wise. It is therefore up to Northampton to build a squad capable of performing when the international stars are taken out, and for this I think you need to be a little more patient.

Other teams show that it's perfectly possible to produce a squad good enough to compete when players are off on international duty. Leicester are probably the best example here, as they play in the Aviva Premiership which remains strong during international windows (unlike the Magners which quality reduces significantly). They have learned to deal with the player loss, and accept that having quality English players that are capable of winning the team silverware also means they're almost certainly going to be involved with England.

Northampton will get there I think. The core of the squad is excellent, a few more backup players in a few critical positions and you won't see a similar dip in performances during international windows. Try and be happy that those Northampton players on England duty are getting what they deserve for the performances they've been putting in during the season.

Edit. One last thing. You mention the players that have been bought into the squad in your article. It appears that just about every one of your top players have been signed by Northampton and very few have actually been developed by Northampton through the academy etc. Lawes is the only name mentioned that's come through the system. What is the state of the acamedies etc. in place? Are they churning out youngsters that are / will be challenging for places?

 

[Feicarsinn]

Anyone else think of that Red Dwarf episode the moment they saw the thread ***le?

 

[Teh Mite]

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If I were to offer you one piece of advice, itââ'¬â"¢d be to never bother supporting your club team.

Being a lifetime resident from the parish of St James, Northampton, it was inevitable I would end up following the local rugby team. After all, there are 3 things in the area of note: Lots of pubs, Lack of sufficient shopping and a whacking great 13,600 capacity rugby stadium. I never expected however I would end up following the local rugby team through the length and breadth of the country back in the days when I occasionally bought a ticket for the Saints 5 times or so a year.

Now I find myself forking out for 30+ games a season, plus overseas trips, playing for transport, food, beer, hotels, raffles, more beer and (no doubt eventually sooner or later) some sort of bail on a weekly basis! This is an expensive hobby, but I am beginning to ask myself ââ'¬Å"why do I botherââ'¬Â. Let me explainââ'¬Â¦

When I first bought my season ticket, the fallout from the 2003 World Cup Victory was in full swing; England had lost the Six Nations (and the Twickenham record), the fans were turning back to football in the mainstream and the doldrums were beginning to set in.

Saints however were still doing well. Finishing 3rd, they managed to secure a place in the playoffs, but this was a game too far for the ageing squad as they were trounced at Adams Park (or ââ'¬Å"The Causewaysââ'¬Â as it was known back then). This would be Wayne Smiths last game as the boss at Saints as he moved on to take up his role with the All Blacks.

Smithy had seen an idea though ââ'¬â€œ During the World Cup, heââ'¬â"¢d lost 4 of his key players to England and another several elsewhere (Smith to Scotland for example), so a plan hatched: Get a mostly foreign squad and enjoy the benefits of having top-drawer players without losing them for half your season! This is a professional game after all. The seeds were planted and a good squad of foreign players including Andrew Blowers, Chris Budgen and Bruce Reihana were brought into strengthen the team. 3rd was no mean achievement considering the likes of Rodber, Pearce and Lam were gone, so everyone was happy for it to continue.

When Smithy left to be replaced by Solomons, the mindset continued. However, it didnââ'¬â"¢t work. Krige, Kempson, Human and a whole raft of South African players were brought in along with the controversial coach. Things clearly went wrong that season (despite starting the season with 2 impressive bonus-point wins and being miles out in front on points difference), as Saints had an 11 match losing streak, not helped either by losing Cohen & Thompson to England duty throughout the Autumn and Six Nations. Nobody noticed either as there was clearly bad goings on behind closed doors as Saints players didnââ'¬â"¢t look interested in playing for each other or the club. The mercenaries lost the will to fight.

Enough was enough as Solomons was sacked during the AIs when Worcester embarrassed Saints at Franklins Gardens. Budge Poutney (along with Paul Grayson) was promoted to head coach in an attempt to rejuvenate Saints season, but in the end they still relied on a missed Jeremy Staunton penalty to send Harlequins down to ND1, when frankly Northampton should have gone down.

This lead to even more overseas recruitment in the form of Carlos Spencer. The mercurial fly half was touted as the beginning of Saints ââ'¬Å"rebirthââ'¬Â, but few saw how this could be the case following a 32-nil drubbing at Welford road on the opening day of the season. Eventually however, he and Saints briefly found their feet and after an unexpected big win against Steve Diamonds Saracens began a run which would see them rocket-propel themselves back into Heineken Cup qualification. Jon Clarke fed off Spencersââ'¬â"¢ tricky playmaking and became the brightest young prospect in England.

Sadly however this was not the rebirth, more like a final hurrah. Saints, with the weight of expectancy firmly on their shoulders opened the new season against Newcastle at Franklins Gardens. A dogged and (frankly) uninspiring win, including a broken ankle for Clarke, and Saints started what would be the most frustrating season in the history of a rugby side. Week after week, Saints would let big wins and huge leads slip through their fingers. These of course were offset by away wins at Leicester and Worcester, but pretending for one second that Saints had a good domestic season would be to lie.

In Europe however, Saints finished as the highest seeded runner up and earned themselves an away quarter final in San Sebastian against Biarritz. Thatââ'¬â"¢s be the same Biarritz whoââ'¬â"¢d conquered them twice in the group stage.

With 5 minutes (or so) to go, Robbie Kydd intercepted a loose Yashvilli pass and sprinted 75m to the line, scored the most unlikely try in the history of a rugby match (as Northampton had barely gotten near the French 22 up until that point) and Saints progressed to earn a ââ'¬Å"homeââ'¬Â semi-final against Wasps ââ'¬â€œ Looking back, letââ'¬â"¢s not pretend this was a good Biarritz team. Now Saints, with their underpowered squad of mercenaries, journeymen, injuries and aging heroes from yesteryear found themselves dreaming of silverware while also terrified about relegation.

Sport however isnââ'¬â"¢t a fairy tale. When your backline can barely catch a cold, your fly-half is on one leg, your centre barely able to jog & your pack MIA, you donââ'¬â"¢t win games of rugby. Saints crashed out of Europe against Wasps (despite looking like the better team for the 1st half hour) and looked to be on their way out of the premiership.

At the bottom of the league, Saints had a simple objective on the last day: Win against Irish and hope Sarries do the same against Worcester. Saints to their credit did their part. Sarries however did not, instead getting hammered by Worcester all by halftime.

The foreign player principal failed. Saints went down. Budge stepped down. Cohen, Wally, Quinlan and several other team mainstays left. Jim Mallender, the Saxons coach, joined and brought Dorian West and a whole raft of other staff with him.

He signed all sorts of young (mostly) English & British talent, most notably one very rough diamond going by the name of Chris Ashton from the Northern Union. You may have heard about him.

Saints bamboozled ND1 (undefeated with cups galore that year) and instantly qualified for the Heineken cup on their first attempt (via winning the European Challenge Cup). Saints Brought in even more English players ââ'¬â€œ Ben Foden, Shane Geraghty, Christian Day, Phil Dowson, Lee Dickson, Tom Wood, Tom Mercy. Through the ranks emerged Courtney Lawes. Clever signing for foreign players meant they kept hold of Soane Tongaââ'¬â"¢uiha while bringing in Mujati, Vickerman and Wilson.

On paper, Saints suddenly had a team which could match any squad in the world. Such a shame in that case that rugby games arenââ'¬â"¢t won on paper. As proven by since Christmas when Saints have seemingly overnight gone from being the best team in the land (8 points clear with 2 games in hand) to the whipping boys having lost 6 Premiership fixtures on the bounce ââ'¬â€œ 1 was understandable away to Leicester, bur5 of which have been since the international players were missing).

What we saw was Saints go from a strong core of England international players and fairly successful ââ'¬â€œ but not much depth, to a team full of strong mercenaries, to a team full of weak mercenaries, to a relegated side full of English kids and now a strong core of England internationals but not much depth yet again. The eternal ring.

This sadly is why I question the value of my season ticket. Itââ'¬â"¢s an expensive hobby following my team around the country also. But what Iââ'¬â"¢m paying for is half a year of my team and half a year of the internationals rendering the league worthless.

Apparently the playoffs ââ'¬Å"make up for the weeks when the clubs lose their playersââ'¬Â. Saints are now 5th. They were 1st. They have 2 more games to play before the internationals are back. They could end up in 7th. To qualify for the playoffs you must finish 4th. Iââ'¬â"¢m pretty sure Saints wouldnââ'¬â"¢t finish in the playoffs if that were the case. In fact, theyââ'¬â"¢ll be unlikely to qualify for Europe (barring a minor miracle).

Will the RFU refund my season ticket being as their robbing of our players has effectively made it null and void? No, they wonââ'¬â"¢t. They offer playoff places and dish out money to the clubs. Sod the fans, apparently. Weââ'¬â"¢re only the ones who fund the entire fiasco.

So once again weââ'¬â"¢re back where we started. Ouroboros

The England players are missing, the seasonââ'¬â"¢s gone to pot, the club are bringing in foreign mercenaries to cover the 6 monthsââ'¬Â¦ I hate rugby. Take my advice, never start following a team.

A club is worth more then a region or a franchies will ever be. Sadly however, this means in the world of nepotism and red tape, they'll only break your heart more in the long run.