Review of The Year: Saints can be most pleased after 2008
Sports editor Jeremy Casey runs the rule over the fortunes of the Saints, Cobblers and Northants in 2008... and wonders what is around the corner in 2009
So how was the Northampton sporting year of 2008 for you?
Well, it was hardly a classic for the town's three major clubs in rugby, football and cricket.
There were highs, but in truth they are probably outweighed by the lows, and things don't look massively more encouraging for 2009 – although we can get on to that later.
Looking back, the most successful 2008 has been enjoyed by the Saints.
The downside for the Franklin's Gardens club was that they started out the year in National League One, but they won that league at a canter and also enjoyed EDF Energy National Trophy success at Twickenham, where they had 15,000 fans cheering them on.
But in truth, they were hollow successes because a club of Saints' stature shouldn't have been playing at that level in the first place.
Far more encouraging for Jim Mallinder and his team has been the performances since returning to the top table of English rugby – at home at least.
Saints, to their immense credit, have maintained their unbeaten home record, which now stretches back to April 2007.
Wasps, Worcester and Harlequins have been seen off in the Guinness Premiership, while leaders Bath escaped with a draw.
It has been on the road where Saints have had their problems, losing all six Premiership games they have played.
That is a situation they are going to have to sort out if they are not to get bogged down in another relegation battle.
Saints have also done well in the cups and have an Anglo-Welsh semi-final to look forward to, as well as a quarter-final in the European Challenge Cup, so overall, 2008 has to go down as a decent one for Saints – although it could have been better.
It's pretty much the same scenario for the Cobblers, who started the year in 16th place in Coca-Cola League One having racked up 27 points – and they go into 2009 in 14th place with 29 points.
It is progress of a sort, but possibly not what manager Stuart Gray or the fans were hoping for, especially when back in March the team were impressing week in, week out and looking genuine challengers for a promotion play-off place.
That bid faded away as the Town squad proved to be just a little too shallow, and it has been a similar story this season.
There have been good performances and some excellent results, but there have also been times when Town just haven't looked good enough – usually when Adebayo Akinfenwa hasn't been available.
But on the whole, it hasn't been a bad year on the pitch at Sixfields, especially as it has been played out with the farce of the stadium redevelopment in the background and, in recent weeks, to the forefront.
The Borough Council's decision to rule out giving David Cardoza the go-ahead to develop the land around Sixfields until 2026 is a ludicrous one, and one that the ramifications of have not yet been truly felt.
The Cobblers chairman is sure to tighten the purse-strings at some point, and that is when the team will be affected, whether it is in next month's transfer window or in the summer. We will just have to wait and see on that one.
So on to the cricket and Northants.
Hopes were high that the County, under the captaincy of Nicky Boje following David Sales' decision to stand down, would excel in one of the shorter versions of the game in 2008.
But after a bright start – particularly in the Twenty20 – it all went spectacularly wrong.
That campaign ended in humiliation at Essex in front of the Sky Sports cameras, and the team never really recovered.
Perversely, for a team built for one-day cricket, they actually performed best in the four-day game and pushed hard for promotion, but in the end they came up short.
The decisions to release Lance Klusener and Jason Brown were controversial, with Klusener in particular having been an integral part of the side with his mighty bat.
As for Brown, what's the betting he has a storming season with Nottinghamshire in 2009?
The signings made by the club so far of the likes of Ryan Cummins, Lee Daggett and Jack Brooks have been underwhelming to say the least, and it does look like 2009 could be a long summer for David Capel and a squad looking short on experience and quality.
Unless a couple of high-calibre signings are made, the County quite simply don't look anywhere near good enough to compete on a consistent basis and I fear for them.
But what of the other clubs for 2009?
Saints should be okay, but they are playing a dangerous game if they are going to rely on home wins alone to keep them up.
That's because if they keep losing away, the pressure to win those home games later in the season will be massive, and might prove too much for them.
Another relegation would be a sporting disaster, but they should have enough to stay up and then consolidate in the Premiership next season, while they might even add a cup to their collection.
They only need two wins to lift the Anglo-Welsh, and they are capable of beating anybody if they get their game right.
As for the Cobblers, they too should avoid relegation this season, but that is about all the ambition the club can realistically have – especially if key men are allowed to leave in next month's transfer window to balance the books following the block on the stadium redevelopment.
Even if nothing happens in January, the squad is likely to undergo a major overhaul in the summer, and the club's immediate future could rest on the ability of manager Gray to assemble a competitive squad on a lesser budget.
I'm backing him to be up to the task, but a bigger worry for Town could be if another club comes calling for Gray.
He has done a great job since taking over at Sixfields, and that work won't have gone unnoticed in boardrooms up and down the country...
So, overall it has been a mixed 2008 for our major teams, and I reckon it will be more of the same in 2009.
But the beauty of sport is that you can never really predict what is round the corner, so here's to a successful and trophy-laden year… we can always dream.
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Man dies following motorway smash on Northamptonshire border
- BREAKING NEWS: Police inundated with hundreds of complaints over snowball fights
- Huge cigarette haul by masked burglars in armed raids at Northampton stores
- Student flats planned for Northampton town centre revealed
- BREAKING NEWS: Police name man killed in crash on motorway in Northamptonshire
- BREAKING NEWS: Fishmarket art gallery offered new home
- Student flats planned for Northampton town centre revealed
- New manager of Northampton’s Grosvenor Centre says ‘This is the beginning of a new era’
- BREAKING NEWS: Police inundated with hundreds of complaints over snowball fights
- Neighbours raise concern about bid to build new house three inches from their home
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
