There were a couple of well earned awards being presented at St. Mary's before yesterday's game against Birmingham.
Saints legend Matthew Le Tissier was granted the freedom of the city for his loyalty to the club and for his genius on the pitch.
It's a great award for the man who has meant so much to the area.
Now that he's retired, I was worried that a bit of the magic would leave with him. Fortunately he's become a club ambassador and is still very much involved including having his own radio show.
The other recipient of an award was James Beattie. Beattie is rapidly taking over this Snapshots page this season, as his goalscoring has taken him to the top of the Premiership scoring tables.
While its Beattie's goalscoring which has got people talking about him in terms of an England call up, it's his all round game which has impressed many Saints fans. Not only has he taken on Le Tissier's penalty mantle, but his positional awareness, strength and ability to set up his team-mates has made him a vital part of the team.
Gordon Srachan thinks that it's too soon for an international call up, and it looks as though Beattie has grudgingly went along with this, without ruling himself out of course. However, I think that should his form continue over the next month, then it would be the ideal time to call him into the squad. While he may not be the first choice, Beattie will continue to improve in the next few years. So why not make sure that he is groomed for the highest level now, rather than wait until the last moment and then throw him into the deep end.
Beattie is clearly a better all round player than Heskey and is unmatched this season when hit comes to goalscoring. Hopefully Eriksson will reward that confidence and ability with a call up which will enable Beattie to experience the the step up to international football.
As for yesterday, Beattie grabbed himself another brace, taking him to eleven goals in only eight games. While the first was form the penalty spot, James earned the second with his hard work over the full ninety minutes. Beattie was on hand to knock in Anders Svensson's flick on at the near post from Jo Tessem's cross.
Beattie showed his strength in the air from the rather too numerous, Saints punts up the park as well as being available to control the ball on the ground to set up chances.
Anders Svensson found himself out on the left of midfield yesterday as the replacement for the suspended Chris Marsden. While Anders will be the first to admit that it's not his best position, such was Saints dominance that he was easily able to cut into the centre. While he wouldn't get away with it against the top clubs in the league, Anders' urge to get into the middle put him at the centre of numerous Saints moves and he was an influential part in the victory.
With Matt Oakley and Rory Delap pressing Anders for the two midfield slots, we've seen improvements in the Swedish international as well. Strachan has instilled the need for all his midfielders to work both in attack and in defence. This has meant that Anders has had to drop back to help clear the lines. I think it's improved his sense of position and we're seeing him apply his undoubted skill in a number of areas, rather than just in setting up the strikers.
Brett Ormerod showed that although he has plenty of endeavour, that he still has some work remaining to ensure a regular first team berth. Brett always gives 100% ti the Saints cause and makes sure that the opposition know he's about. Wile in this area, he's miles ahead of Agustin Delgado, it could be argued that he doesn't have the Ecuadorians level of skill. Or Pahars, for that matter. Brett has already shown that he can play a vital part in the Saints team, and as he improves it will give Strachan more of a pleasant selection problem in other areas too.
With Birmingham's main strategy seemingly to frustrate Saints attacks, it could have been a tough game for Fabrice Fernandes. Without opponents leaving space, Saints used to struggle to overcome visitors to St. Mar's. At the moment, such tactics man that it's just a matter of time before Saints find that edge. While Fabrice looks best when he's attacking defenders and getting past them, he showed yesterday that he's more than capable of biding his time and pressing defences back.
One of the front runners for Saints player of the season is Claus Lundekvam. While he's never going to get the headlines of Beattie, Niemi, Bridge and Fernandes, Claus has been absolutely immense this season. For regular Saints watchers, this is no surprise as it's been clear for a number of years now, that Claus' ability is what makes the defence tick. Perhaps it took the departure of the highly rated Dean Richards to show just how good Claus was for some. Saints defence hardly missed a beat as Lundekvam formed a solid partnership with the underrated Paul Williams.
This season, Claus has been instrumental in bringing Michael Svensson into the trials of life in the Premiership. With the experience of Dodd, the ability of Bridge and the great goalkeeping of Niemi behind him, Claus can finally focus more on making the Saints back line even harder to beat, rather than being forced to cover for errors by others. Strachan's focus on making the midfield far more solid has also enabled Claus to focus on what he does best and Saints have their best goal difference in years.
Beatts and Fernandes celebrate another Saints goal.
Ormerod puts pressure on Birmingham's Darren Purse
Another penalty conversion for Le Beattie