October 10, 2008
Don't get too carried away. I understand Toulon only played one of their internationals and didn't take the game seriously. Still a nice win builds confidence.
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The French side 'Toulon' were awful! They may have 11 to 17 million pounds to spend on their players but the Saints boys were priceless!!!
A fantastic result and a job well done by all the Saints players young and older.
Keep the Faith!
Jo in Duston

Re Haskell: I feared for my sight after eye-gouging at Saints.
Why come out and say these thing if he just wants to put the incident behind him, seem odd to blab it out to the press. Still feel Best was treated unfairly in an incident which was completely unintentional, bet if he played for Wasps and England his sentence would be lighter, also seems unfair to have an ex-Wasp on the discilinary panel too, he certainly can not be impartial. Also lets not forget Haskells headbutting the week before, he should have been cited and hence not even on the pitch for the Saints game!!!! Hopefully with the depth in squad and on the back of last nights performance, we wont miss Best too much and have him back rareing to go for the business end of the season.
Simon Smith,CORK

October 2, 2008
St Lytham how can you say its all over the papers? I bought the sun today and there was a very small paragraph on this story. Another note aswell on your comment about "I'd still rather bring my children to watch rugby than football as the action is on the pitch," I have been going to watch the cobblers since I was 3, I am now 16 and a season ticket holder and i have NEVER been involved or witnessed football violence, sure there is the singing and banter between the fans but this in turn creates a great atmosphere unlike the dull atmosphere when watching rugby. I have watched the saints several times and in my opinion there is NO atmosphere. Surely a great atmosphere can only encourage your team to victory and we should remember this is what its all about.
im-a, Northampton

As the result of the hearing has just been published it is now 'all over the papers'. That's how 'im-a' has managed to read about it no doubt!
Most of the players in football and rugby are not 'thuggish', but there are some who are, as indeed there are among the supporters. No one laughs this kind of punishment off and the repercussions for the club are worrying. The important thing is that the incident was reported and looked at after the event and was dealt with by a severe ban, and not simply a fine as may happen in other sports. I am not aware of similar punishments being handed out in other professional sports. I'd still rather bring my children to watch rugby than football as the action is on the pitch. The supporters do not use foul language and are, by and large, courteous and well behaved.
St Lytham

October 1, 2008
How comes this player is not branded a 'thug'? If it was a football player it would be all over the papers and the rugby fans will be moaning how thuggish football is. Yet when it is their sport, rugby, they laugh it off and say it's part of the game?
im-a

September 26
Well done to Chris Gleadell for finally writing what so many people are saying!
Having read your article in the Chronicle and Echo on Thursday 25th September which refered to James Haskell (Wasps player), I completely agree with you.
It is and always has been a well known fact by players and supporters alike, that if you play for England and you are guilty of a potentially banning offence, you will only receive a lighter sentence than European or Southern Hemisphere players (or Saints players in the case of Mark Robinson and Mark Regan).
It makes a complete mockery of the rules and the RFU.
Then again, it would not make sense to give England players long bans as then they would end up with half a team and the RFU would potentially end up out of pocket! Double standards indeed!
Ironically, James Haskell and Wasps have now cited Neil Best for an incident during last weeks game when realistically James Haskell should not have been playing as he should have been serving a longer ban!
Never mind the 'kangaroo court' it seems to be more like a 'monkeys tea party'.
Jo in Duston, Loyal Saints and England supporter

September 21
Today I was really proud to be a Saints supporter. What a wonderful performance from the lads on the pitch and such fantastic support from the Franklins Faithful.
Just remember 'If you believe in yourselves you can do unbelievable things'
What more could anyone ask for! Keep the Faith.
Jo in Duston (aka the bannerlady)

September 14
After last weeks wonderful performance from the Saints this week was a bit of a reality check.
Why must we keep putting huge amounts of pressure on the goal kicker to kick endless amounts of penalties when we keep banging on about the new ELV rules being to our advantage, particularly when the defending side has to stand 5 metres behind the back foot of the scrum.
I think we lost this game by not making the correct decisions and not kicking for the corners. Have we not got enough faith in the forwards to kick the ball down the pitch and go for the try?
I am no expert so it is over to you Jim.
Keep the faith.
Jo in Duston.

September 7
It was fantastic to win the first game up against a pretty good side. The new signings were superb, they've added a lot to the team. They've given us a lot more mettle, which we seemed to lack last year. All three in the back row and Lobbe in the second row have made such a difference. I thought the penalty kicking had come back to haunt us at half-time with Bruce Reihana missing a few and us not signing a top quality kicker. I thought oh no, not again. It was a bit tense and it could still be a problem later in the season. Any of the back row and Jon Clarke had a superb game in the centre, tackling everything. The top six has got to be an aim for us.
Steve Jobson, 45, Abington

I've been coming down the Saints for 60 years and they looked very fit. Fitness-wise I thought we were brilliant. The new signings were very good, the back row especially. I'm still frightened about our kicker. I wasn't worried at half-time though, because I felt the fitness would always come through. I think we think we will finish somewhere between halfway and the bottom.
Barry Love, 78, of Kingsthorpe

The club has got the passion back, with the crowd right behind the team. If we perform like that we shall be all right. We shall finish about halfway, but we should be happy with that. Jim has got us playing passionate rugby again. We're fit and we want to win. It was a fabulous atmosphere and we will need the crowd to keep us up probably. The back row were very good, quick to the breakdown, the other two in the back row weren't far behind Scott Gray for man of the match. We look like we have made some good signings. I would like to be in the Heineken Cup, but I would be happy with seventh this season.
Mark Love, 54, of Kingsley

If the Saints play with that passion and intensity for the rest of the season, we will definitely finish in the top 3.
Well done to all the lads.
Also well done to the supporters.
Keep the Faith!
Jo in Duston (aka The banner lady)