Northampton Saints - Thoughts from the Chron

By Chris Gleadell
May 4 2007

So the season ended with a victory but alas it was not enough to preserve Saints GP status. To give the lads credit they gave it their all on the day but Worcester's win at Sixways sealed our fate. By just that single point the club will be plying its trade in National Division One next year.

The sun shone and the crowd was in fine voice, you could have said it was the ideal day for rugby, but by the time Chris White blew the final whistle a dark cloud had descended on the club. There were the emotional scenes at game end of course, a few tears both on and off the pitch and while some might question the response the players got from the crowd as applauding failure I thought it was something totally different. To me it was a show of solidarity from the supporters to the team showing that whatever, we are all still in it together.

HOWEVER...
That is not to say that support should be taken for granted throughout the club though, there have been grumblings for some time about the way the club has been heading. This week the head honchos at the club decide on the way forward, by the time you read this the details may well be out in the public domain. One thing that has to be taken on board is that first and foremost Saints is a rugby club and the prime focus should always be events on the field at the end of the day.

I think over the last couple of years in some respect that focus has been lost in some areas and the (hopefully) short sharp shock of Division One rugby might see the club take stock and come back to top flight rugby refreshed, regrouped and having re-found exactly what the Saints is all about. It did not go unnoticed that the first emphasis was not on the rugby but how much money we would lose due to relegation in the run up to our demise. Of course the financial side is important, how else would the club pay the players we hand over our hard earned cash to see each week, but there has been an increasing feeling in the support that it had become the priority rather than playing matters in some peoples minds. Most businesses use their profit and loss stats for their mark of success, whilst profit has to be made the only true mark of success is that on the pitch. Therefore the rugby must come first and all areas of the club be solely focussed in making that a success.

Looking purely at the playing side, as the club rebuilds, we cannot just be content with winning Division One next season. Whilst that will not be the cakewalk some people are already envisaging, this will not be another 'Demolition Tour', when we do hopefully return to the Guinness Premiership we should be hitting the ground running or I fear I could be writing this very same column in two years time. No disrespect to those we play next season but the main aim should be September 2008 and the work on the team that takes the field then should start now. Sharky Robinson is totally right in saying loyalty works both ways and the club should be offering those players that want to stay who are currently on one year contracts an extension.

Whilst the players must take part of the blame, though certainly nowhere near all, there seems little sense in building a squad around players who will be gone should we make a return to the GP or again we will find ourselves restarting that ever revolving five year plan again (and again, and again). For those players that are thinking of leaving through choice, well it cannot be an easy decision especially if they have international ambitions. However from a purely selfish Saints supporters point of view I hope before making that decision they look around at those that opt to stay and what they might be sacrificing and above all the thought that we got you into this mess we will help you get out of it. For those that do go through choice well goodbye and good luck but I think a lot of the support will be a touch disappointed by your decision. Personally I hope to see a lot of returnees next year.

On the coaching side I think for still a relative rookie Paul Grayson has had a lot on his shoulders this year but I still look back to the latter half of last season as proof that he is a coach in the making. There is talk of a top drawer Director of Rugby coming in and if this takes some of the pressure off Paul so that he can get on with the job in hand all the better though perhaps a look at the whole coaching and managerial set up and a look at employing specialists in areas we are lacking is high on the to do list too.

IT REALLY WASN'T OUR DAY

To compound matters on Saturday, and to prove it was one of those days when the Gods were not on our side, when news filtered through that Tigers were hammering Wasps and Gloucester were doing pretty much the same to Bristol it was clear that in a strange turnaround of events the last thing Saracens now needed was a victory.

A win for the Watford team would have meant them travelling to favourites Leicester for the Championship semi final, instead they play Gloucester away at a capacity reduced, three sided Kingsholm that is half way through demolition.

...BUT AT LAST A SILVER LINING

Despite all the doom and despondency the followers of other rugby clubs restored my faith in the wider game. Our site was deluged this week with supporters of other GP clubs offering their commiserations and wishing us luck for next season. Not far behind were the fans of the Division One teams welcoming us to the fold and advising us as to who did the best pasties etc. So here's to the supporters of Bedford, Cornish All Blacks, Cornish Pirates, Coventry, Doncaster, Rotherham, Esher, Exeter, London Welsh, Moseley, Newbury, Nottingham, Bees, Plymouth and Sedgley Park, thank you and if we can get tickets we'll see you next season.