For a large part of this season Nathan Redmond has come in for criticism from a section of the Saints support, but he is now starting to prove them wrong.

Nathan Redmond could well have been asking himself just what he had let himself in for when he reported for pre season training, he had agreed to sign for the club before going away on England U21 duty, but by the time he had formalised the deal the the manager who had wanted him Ronald Koeman had left and he found himself under Claude Puel who wanted to change the style of the play and that did not include out and out wingers.

That being the case the spin put on it by the club was that they saw Redmond as a striker.

Add to that the fact that Sadio Mane had departed for a big fee and that he was being touted as the replacement and Nathan must have wondered what he had let himself in for.

As Saints struggled to find any rhythm under the new manager and system despite scoring on the opening day of the season our new signing from Norwich found himself increasingly the target of the section of Saints support who always have to have a scapegoat.

This was slightly unfair, although his form was not at it's best at times, he was being asked to play in an unfamiar position and in a team that was misfiring.

Come late October with 9 Premier League games under his belt and 3 goals to his name, he should really have had a lot to be pleased about, but yet he was stillthe one that was getting the stick on social media from some supporters.

Many of these fans now had an inflated impression of the man Redmond had replaced, Sadio Mane was now mooted as a player who had been brilliant for Saints and amnesia was rife and many could not remember that for most of the mid part of the previous season Mane had been awful, yet no one took this into account, Redmond was judged on Mane last 8 or so games for the club and not the first 3/4 of the season.

It would have been easy at this point for Redmond to have lost confidence and hidden, but he didn't he stepped on to the pitch and got on with doing his job and ignored the knockers.

Yes sometimes they had a point, but for the main part they didn't, the club had made a rod for his back championing him as a goalscorer, but the reality was that he was more of a provider, albeit one that could chip in with a few goals.

But being a provider only gets the credit if the person on the end of the ball puts it away, that was not happening, there were many occasions where Redmond did his job and got the ball into the box, but we had no one who could put it in.

One game that sticks in my mind was in December when Middlesbrough where the visitors, it was an awful game with only a wonder goal from Boufal to make it a little better, but late on Redmond disposessed a Boro player out wide, got down to the byeline, put in a cross that disected both keeper and defence needing only Jay Rodriguez to put it in, sadly J Rod could not finish it from close range and the score stayed the same.

This was typical of the season Redmond was having, he was taking the stick for the whole team, but people did not see his own contributions.

For much of the first half of the season Saints had no target man, at least not in the way that Puel wanted to play, Charlie Austin got goals, but did not have the mobility that Puel's system needed, apart from that for much of the first half of the season Long and Rodriguez were injured and this worsened when Austin was ruled out for four months.

Saints were a team without an outlet up front, the fans were blaming Redmond, but he was never going to be the solution to that problem. Unfairly though he was going to be compared to Sadio Mane, but as stated, not the Mane of the first 3/4 of the season, but the last 9 games, fans forgot that Mane himself only had 3 goals himself up until late March, the same number as Redmond had going into the new year.

But January would be the month that changed the course of the season for Nathan Redmond and it would be two events that did so.

The first was scoring the winner in the home game in the first leg of the League Cup semi, that capped a great performance from Redmond who was arguably the man of the match.

The second was the signing of Manolo Gabbiadini, this meant that Claude Puel now had the type of striker he wanted to spearhead the team and that he could tweak the system and use Redmond in a wider position, one that suited him better.

Since then he has flourished and has been a crucial element in our resurgence, ironically he has perhaps still not got the plaudits, Manolo Gabbiadini has been the hero, but it has to be said that without Nathan Redmond his impact might not have been so great.

The two goals at Watford capped his resurgence and he is now ahead in the goalscoring stakes of where the man many judge him against Sadio Mane was at this stage last season.

With 13 Premier League games left Nathan Redmond now has a chance to kick on and show those who doubted his class that they were wrong, in doing so he can perhaps force his way into the full England squad after being the U21 player of the year last season.

Of course a month or so of good form does not make a season, but now everything is in place to give Redmond the chance to flourish, he has a team that is geared towards the way he plays and he now has someone who can finish in the box.

The time is now here for Nathan Redmond, hopefully he will take it with both hands, or more accurately both feet.

Photo: Action Images

Bettwsresident added 10:51 - Mar 8 Top article. I am loving the change back to the 4,2,3,1 that served us so well under Roko. Also with Manolo we have been scoring and Redmond is at his best when the game is stretched and he has space to get going. He is no one trick pony though and the initiation and then finish of the 2nd goal on Saturday was superb.
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beynali73 added 10:54 - Mar 8 Great article Nick and on the whole totally agree. He's always been committed to the cause as far as I am concerned and his flaws are only noticed because he hasn't hidden away even when things were not going well. He's got the will to fight and prove himself and now that Saints have a mobile striker the finesse side of his game which is obviously there will shine through. Great website and thanks for giving us a worthwhile platform for reading about the team.

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redwight added 10:58 - Mar 8 I wonder how many of those who have been on his back all season will now be big enough to admit they were wrong. And with the signing of Gabbiadini in mind, perhaps Les Reed could be cut some slack as well.
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SanMarco added 11:22 - Mar 8 Starting to play better doesn't prove those who pointed out you were playing poorly wrong does it? Many fans (and not just scapegoaters) were not happy with the level of his performances (yes, with one or two exceptions, I thought he played well at Man C and home Burnley). Yes, he is starting to look a lot better now we have a sensible system and all reasonable fans are now saying that (and, by the way, well done Nick for predicting that it might happen). If he continues to improve and is played in the right system he could become a Saints great but a handful of good games does not establish that as fact. The trouble with fans who have a go at particular players (and I plead guilty to this, as would a lot of us if we are honest) is that they tend to use terms like "he IS rubbish" rather than "he played rubbish today". Redmond was, on the whole, not good enough in the first half of the season - he is improving now and long may it continue, we will of course be getting Redmond to Liverpool rumours before long...

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TeamCortese added 11:37 - Mar 8 Some of you might think this is a bit harsh but for me the jury's still out on Redmond. Whilst there have been improvements of late he needs to be showing this type of form more consistently throughout the season. My main issue with Redmond (and Tadic as well) is his decision making in front of goal. He needs to be more clinical and know when to be (and not to be) selfish. There are times when you want him to commit defenders by taking shots quicker in front of goal or play the pass quicker instead of dwelling or cutting back. Also he’s too reliant on his right foot. He needs to develop his left foot to keep defenders guessing. I feel with the experience he’s had playing in the EPL the last few years he should have already developed these aspects of game. Nevertheless if he can get 10 goals (in all competitions) this season—not to mention his assist—then I would say we got more than a decent return for someone we brought for £10 million. We also shouldn’t forget that he’s still only 23, so there’s still a lot more to come from him. I feel next season is when he’ll really kick on and start fulfilling his potential. I think the same could be said of Boufal, Hojberg, Clasie, McQueen, Targett, Sims and Stephens. All of these players should be looking to become first team regulars next season. With a few more additions over the summer and assuming we keep our core (VVD, Romeu, Gabbiadini, Bertrand, Soares) I think we’ll have a very, very strong squad next season. Strong enough to push for Top 6.

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redwight added 12:25 - Mar 8 Point taken, SanMarco, although I always felt the criticism was overdone. What is interesting is that throughout the season, the national press, MOTD 'experts' and others have consistently praised NR for his attitude and performances - in complete contrast to the views often expressed here. Sometimes it helps to see ourselves as others see us.
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bstokesaint added 12:35 - Mar 8 Good article Nick and couldn't agree more. As I keep saying we've been spoiled with talent over the past few seasons and there are a small, but noisy contingent of fans who now expect new signings to come in and just be brilliant. It's a shame because you want players to feel welcome (there might then be some more chance of them sticking around). I'd rather like us to thought of good supporters of our club and get behind our players than be a bunch of spoilt brats. I don't understand either why there always has to be a scapegoat or boo boy. As long as our players aren't going missing, but giving it all on the pitch, having impressed the manager enough to warrant a place in the starting line-up then they should get good support. Especially when they’re young, come from overseas or are playing out of position. I think SanMarco nails it on the head when a fan will say “he is ****” as opposed to “he had a **** game”, which is a temporary thing as opposed to the first quote! Anyway, well done Nathan. Keep up the good work.

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SaintNick added 12:42 - Mar 8 So far everyone has made valid points, the article did not setout to claim that he was the finished article only that he had played through a bad time that was not completely his fault and was now hitting form, as was pointed out in many of the games where some fans were screaming blue murder many pundits were praising his play. Perhaps one comparison in how fans see various players could be seen in Josh Sims Everton debut, it cannot be denied it was a decent debut, but a defining moment came when he got a ball outside the box, over ran it, nipped in and pushed it round one side of the opponent and got it the other side and then faced with a 3 on 2 situation and with loads of room put in a poor pass to an everton defender with at least two of ours unmarked. Now Im not using this to criticise Sims but to highlight how players are seen differently at times, Sims was cheered to the rafters, whereas Redmond would have been roundly slagged off for a poor pass. Too often in my opinion do supporters follow a populist view and find it hard to change, hence why Forster is getting stick with no account for the poor marking n front of him, like for the Utd winner at Wembley, Yoshida/stephens were not taken to task for leaving Ibramovic unmarked, Forster was slagged for having done everything wrong from his position, to where his arms where to failing to come out for the cross and blamed for a goal that even the best keeper qould have had a 1 in 10 chance of stopping

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bstokesaint added 12:47 - Mar 8 I agree Nick, I hate to hear Forster get stick. It's insane to jeer him on passbacks too and when he catches crosses. Hardly the kind of behavior that will inspire him play well. That said he needs a break. He's really not on his 'A' game right now and I don't know why.
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dixiefrog added 13:18 - Mar 8 For me there seems to be a combination of reasons for why NR is now coming into good form. A relaxation of the rotation policy and change of formation are two but mainly, I think it's the arrival of Gabbiadini which has had the biggest effect. Some players don't react well to pressure, when Austin got injured suddenly it was all down to Redmond and Long to score the goals, which is a huge amount of pressure on the shoulds of a young man. I think with Gabbi arriving, that pressure has been taken away and he's beginning to enjoy the game and express himself, without the fear of HAVING to score the goals. Whatever the reason I hope his good form continues, he's a very good player who could become a Saints great.

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SaintBrock added 14:50 - Mar 8 Redmond does not deserve special praise for his performance on Saturday against a poor Watford side. It is the standard that he should expect to deliver every week not just a couple of times a season when he is in the right frame of mind. The guy is not a novice and not that young either by today's standards. Let's see how he gets on against Spurs, Man City and the other top six clubs we have to play before we laud him as the English Messi. Knee-jerk works both ways and is never a good idea.

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Whiteknight added 15:06 - Mar 8 There have been many good points raised here. However, to me it is most important that we don't scapegoat any of our players - be it Redmond, Yoshi, JWP, Davis, Forster etc. It's also worth remembering that even the likes of Messi make mistakes. I will admit that I swore at FF at Crystal Palace in the immediate aftermath of the goal and that I still feel uneasy whenever the ball is anywhere near him but to give him stick during games when he is doing an ok job is riduculous.

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Bettwsresident added 15:09 - Mar 8 If he scored 2 goals every game Saints came up against a mid table side he would be getting 40+ a season and worth £100m+ and really would be the English Messi! I think the point that Nick was making is that since the new year he has been playing well ( justifying his transfer fee) and put in a a couple of really good performance after we changed to the old formation and signed Manolo which is suiting him.

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BoondockSaint added 16:08 - Mar 8 As Mane drew the focus of defenders and left space for Long last year, so Gabbi now does the same for Redmond. I don't think it is a coincidence that Redmond's game has vastly improved since Gabbi came to town. I do feel that for some reason (new haircut?) he seems to have a whole new attitude. The first half of the season he seemed to not be bothered to put in an effort-which will always (and should) get you stick from the fans. Hopefully the new Redmond is here to stay. I for one always take the opinions of "pundits" with a huge grain of salt (and an even larger shot of tequila)-they never seem to be watching the same game! Believe me, I make an effort to not look at things through Saints-tinted glasses-If Saints are doing well against a big team, its "What is (Big Team) doing wrong?" and the only time they have anything positive to say is when they are talking up Saints player about how he will surely move on in the next window.

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MauriceDear51 added 09:52 - Mar 10 portsmouth 666 says fans have a right to be critical....and playing loud music as the players come out is silly censorship.
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MauriceDear51 added 09:52 - Mar 10 portsmouth 666 says fans have a right to be critical....and playing loud music as the players come out is silly censorship.
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