The third in the series of player reviews looks at Artur Boruc, perhaps in hindsight one of the crucial signings of the season.
Artur Boruc arrived at Saints in September, ironically on the very weekend that Paolo Gazzaniga made his debut and Saints gained their first points of the season in beating Aston Villa 4-1, being a free agent after his departure from Fiorentina, he was able to sign outside of the transfer window.
However there was some question about his fitness, in that he had not had the benefit of pre season training etc, so it would be another month before he made his Saints debut, those that hoped he was fit and ready would be sadly disapointed as it was quite clear that he was still carrying a few pounds and nowhere near as sharp as he should be, it was a gamble that didnt pay off, Saints got walloped 4-1 and Boruc was attributed a more than fair share of the blame.
His home debut a week later against Spurs saw a section of the crowd behind the Chapel goal hurl abuse at Boruc as Saints went in at half time 2-0 up, in retaliation he appeared to throw his water bottle at the crowd, in truth it was nothing more than a show of dissent rather than a baseball type pitch at the supporters, but the Club had to be seen to do something and he was susspended and Gazzaniga restored to the goal.
For the next couple of months nothing was heard of Boruc, the optimists hoped that he was getting fitter but most thought that we had perhaps seen the last of him and that in the January transfer window, we would do what we should have done in the summer and sign a fit and experienced Premiership quality keeper.
However the tale was to have another twist, Kelvin Davis didnt cover himself in glory as 10 man Stoke came back from 3-1 down to force a draw and perhaps in a desperate gamble, Boruc surprisingly was named to face Arsenal on New Years Day, no one really saw it as anything more than a stop gap, however the season was about to take a turn for the better.
His opening ten minutes or so against the Gunners was a nightmare, with his first touch he dropped a simple catch and for a period it seemed he had teflon gloves on, however those that were giving him the benefit of the doubt as the crowd started to get on his back, noticed that although he wasnt catching the ball, his confidence wasnt dented and he kept coming for those balls he should have been coming for, when he caught the next cross it was greeted by a huge ironic cheer from sections of St Mary's, however he would virtualy not drop another one the whole season, a point silenced some of the doubters but he still wasnt seen as the answer.
A home drubbing against Chelsea in the FA Cup didnt do much to improve his standing, but like Gazzaniga before him it would be Aston Villa whp would provide the opposition in what would be one of those turning points in the season.
In a tough difficult game and one that would have put a big dent in our chances of staying up if we had lost, indeed I still think now if we had lost we would have gone down, Boruc though was outstanding, it wasnt just hios shot stopping it was his command of the box as the second half saw Villa suddenly come to life and bombard our goal, we held out thanks to his display and those who travelled up to the Midlands thought that perhaps we might have our keeper after all.
After that game he barely put a foot or glove wrong and established himself in the side and if you wanted another season changing moments, his penalty save in the final minute of the game at Norwich was another one. However goalkeeping isnt just about saves, a good keeper will not have to make as many saves as a poor one, Boruc's command of his area took the pressure off our defence at a crucial time of the season.
The signing of Artur Boruc didnt turn the season or save Saints, in fact the signing of him rather than a fit and ready keeper back in September almost cost Saints their Premier place, however putting him in against Arsenal did turn the season and that being the case I would say that Boruc was a key player in our staving off relegation and being able to commence next season in the Premier League.
That being the case I think he deserves a 9/10 and certainly in signing a new contract he has saved the club a few million quid in buying a keeper of similar standing, at 33 he is still young in keeper terms and could hold the Saints first team spot for a few more years at least, in which time we will have found out if Gazzaniga truly is one for the future.