85 goals rattled in made Saints the most prolific scorers in the Championship last season, so how did our attackers rate individually in contributing towards this.

It has to be said that not only did Saints score a lot of goals but there were a lot of goalscorers as well with 15 members of the squad sharing the burden, of those 5 were forwards if you include Guly who played around half his games in a forward role, in total Saints used 7 forwards in the league, the only two not to score being Lee Barnard who came on as sub 6 times and Jonathan Forte who had a solitary sub appearance to his name.

Rickie Lambert had yet another great season up front, 42 starts and 27 goals, the Saints number 7 was integral to the team and once again Rickie stepped up a gear in his game so much so that in many respects he is a much different player than the one that arrived at St Mary's a little under three years ago, back then Lambert was very much a selfish type of forward, he knew only one way to goal and although that meant plenty of spectacular goals from long range and free kicks, there was something missing from his armoury, it has to be said that over the past two seasons he has worked hard not only at his fitness but his overall play, he no longer hits so many from long range but the benefit to Saints has been that others have scored from chances he has created, of course he is till the vanguard of the attack, but gone are the days when if Rickie didnt score he didnt contribute.

Initially his partner up front was David Connolly who started the season well with four goals in five games and looked set to challenge Rickie for the top scorer spot, however fitness was again his problem and he would only score two more after August, one in October and another in January, it soon became clear that Nigel Adkins would have to bolster his firepower through the transfer window, Guly replaced Connolly and in truth did a decent job, however for some reason the Saints crowd for as long as i have been a fan seems to need a whipping boy and Guly was their choice possibly because he didnt charge about like De Ridder, some sections of the support equate running around a lot as playing well, harking back to the times when Bradley Wright Phillips was a hero due to his ability to chase balls out for goal kicks near the corner flag whilst Kenwynne Jones got stick because he didnt but concentraded on goals, Guly like others suffred because he was flexible and could play in a number of positions and this affected his form.

The transfer window brought two new arrivals, Tadanari Lee and Billy Sharp, Lee's season lasted little ove a month but he had a big impact, initially Billy Sharp was preferred but then inexplicably seemed to drop from favour, Lee took his chance spectacularly with a screamer against Derby County and this made him a crowd favourite when added to his high octane game and Sharp had to sit and watch whilst Saints went on a winning run, Lee played well but that screamer apart he wasnt looking like scoring, but that wasnt a problem as Saints were winning games and to be blunt beating the likes of Derby and Barnsley at home and Watford away werent difficult games.

Then came one of those moments when a decision is made for a manager, no offence intended to Lee who played his part in the season and will surely have a big future at the club, but he got injured just as Saints hit a run of games when goals were becoming harder to get, would Sharp have got his chance at this time if Lee had have been fit ? thats a question that we will never know the answer to, but just as Saints needed to up a gear to push themselves over the finish line up came Sharp to the plate to add some goals, Sharp came in with eight games to go against Doncaster and hit the two goals in the game against his old club, in those final eight games he would score 8 times, exactly half of the sixteen goals that Saints would manage as a team, but perhaps more vitally all apart from the last two would have seen points dropped without them, when Saints just needed a scorer on the pitch who knew where the goal was, Sharp was the man for the job, indeed the best man in the division, perhaps Sharp would have come in and been preferred to Lee ? as i said we will never know, but it was the right man at the right time and thats what counted and for Nigel Adkins, he showed that sometimes managers need a quirk of fate to give a helping hand.

So Saints in the main relied on the famous five of Lambert, Connolly, Guly, Lee and Sharp up front and it has to be said all played a part, but a special mention must go to the forgotten man, Lee Barnard, as April 2011 arrived Lee Barnard was the man of the moment, the man in form pushing Saints to promotion, then he got a bad injury that took him almost a year to recover from, but Barnard played a little cameo role in his six appearances as sub, coming on and his hard work heling running down the clock, perhaps Saints in the premiership will be a step too far for him, but in his time here he has never let us down and scored some vital goals and we shouldnt forget that.

Overall Saints had a strike force that was varied and thats why we scored so many, although our approach play in many respects was rigid in the way we got the ball to the forwards, they all had diferent talents that they brought to the table, Lambert brought sheer force amongst many attributes, Connolly brought experience, Guly brought guile, Lee brought hard work and Sharp brought a knack for scoring goals and being in the right place at the right time, between them they were the reason why Saints scored so many, defenders could never be sure of what would happen next, Saints had options when they got the ball into the final third.

All in all our five main attackers contributed 53 out of the 85 goals scored in the league and although it should be noted that Guly scored some of his from midfield, thats still around half a century between them and thats no mean feat.

Photo: Action Images

saintandy11 added 11:41 - May 17 good article, especially the piece about SRL. I don't know if he made the decision to change his game or if it was down to the manager/coaching staff. either way we are the ones benefiting from the changes. good call whoever made it. one thing i think you could of mention was our reliance on SRL and the failure of the others to step up to the mark when he was missing. remember back to the games he missed due to his sending off against brighton. we looked toothless up front without him. ok this was pre lee and sharp but i can't see either of them taking his role. for me it is an area of the squad i hope NA/NC are looking at. either another player comming in who can play that role or a change of tactics, a plan B (tactic that is, not the c**p singer).

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SaintNick added 11:54 - May 17 I did say in articles back in October as the loan window closed that we should have gone for Jutkiewics as he was a similar sort of player to Lambert and that for a team that played to a certain way ie everything channeled through lambert, if he wasnt in the side then we had no direct replacement
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hortonsaint added 11:56 - May 17 Yes good summary, only part I'd slightly disagree on would be Sharpe being 'inexplicably dropped', I felt that on arrival he was below the required fitness levels for a team in our position and quotes from NA and BS have hinted at that. Also not being the quickest and with Ricky having no pace, NA was looking at Lee to provide that and he did ok in the games he played and think there's more to him than hard work. Yes I appreciate that people may have seduced by his pace and all out effort (a la Harding you'd say!) but I thought I saw enough in his game to suggest he has a good future with us. But pace is so important and scares the life out of defences and forces them back and gives a team like us more room to play in midfield. However I really warmed to Sharp in the run in and aside from his goals was really impressed with his movement and link up play. I really hope he will also be a success but the trouble is pace is going to count in the PL and he just doesn't have it. We'll see...

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geezershoong added 12:18 - May 17 Yep, a good assessment although I disagree with the Billy Sharp being 'inexplicably' dropped, it was clear that he was not match fit & needed a serious uptake in the gym. I think that was pretty clear for everyone to see.
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bstokesaint added 12:42 - May 17 Probably the area on the pitch we have our least concerns. We have four strikers for the next division, Lambert, Lee, Sharp and Guly. All offer something different which is a real plus. On the downside as others have said Lambert is such a key player. I'm thinking back to the Blackpool away game and we looked awful. Admittedly it was everywhere on the pitch, but I couldn't help thinking if he'd played we'd have kept our shape around him. Maybe we will have to buy one more striker to challenge for this position. They may cost a lot though! I can't see Connolly playing for us again, or if Barney will be up to it after missing so much of last season.

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JimmySteal added 12:59 - May 17 Barnards goal record (Southend & Saints) is pretty much one every 2 games, which coincidentally is almost the same as SRL. Are we sure he can't do a job in the Prem?
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SaintNick added 13:07 - May 17 By inexplicably dropped there are a couple of points 1.yes Sharp might not have been as fit as we wanted but he was still a proven scorer at this level and had scored against Burnley and done well enough in the other games. 2. By barnsley he was fit but not getting off the bench, he looked good when he came on at Millwall and had a hand in the first penalt, yet de ridder came on up front against Hull, four days later Sharp was fit enough to score two goals against doncaster

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Scummer added 13:36 - May 17 One thing I noticed with Lee's spell is that he was making some fantastic runs, tormenting his defenders, but that the killer through balls weren't being made. Sometimes the midfield were too focused on getting the ball out wide to the wingers and full backs rather than playing it through. Schneiderlin does have that killer pass in his armoury, and I think the two of them will be worth watching in the new season. Billy Sharp looked much stronger after a few games and he is the out and out poacher that we need - a direct replacement for Barnard in my eyes, and a player with a similar amount of heart that will always endear them to the fans. Barnard should look elsewhere as he is too good a player to be content with 5th place in the ranking and another club should snap him up.

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hortonsaint added 13:49 - May 17 I'd disagree that Sharp did well in his intitial games and was very disappointed with his performances, the 'goal' against Burnley was very fortunate. Regarding bringing De Ridder on at Hull, De Ridder, whilst being a major disappointment, makes more sense as a sub in certain situation than Sharp, particularlry if defending a lead and looking to hit on the counter. Sharp may have been a leading goalscorer in the league but I bet he could get away with a lot of things at Doncaster that he couldn't at Saints where more is demanded of him than just being a poacher. To his credit he addressed his fitness and showed what a good player he is in the run in. I agree with Scummer that we weren't used to a player like Lee and he was making a lot of runs that were not found/the ball played too late. It's all about timing with a player who plays on the last shoulder and that understanding won't click overnight.

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saintandy11 added 14:18 - May 17 I think you are spot on about Jutkiewics being a similar sort of player to SRL. In the away game at boro he put himself about alot, the plus he has over SRL is he has pace to go with his size & he is a Saints boy. Shame he's at boro as i would love to see him in red and white.
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SaintNick added 14:53 - May 17 we bought in sharp to do a job and that was score goals, we knew what his fitness levels were like, his goal against Burnley wasnt "fortunate" he harrased the defender and keeper and made them f*ck up, that showed he was prepared to chase and harass, good point about Lee he put himself around and made runs, but we dont play that way, we look to get it wide and cross the ball, perhaps proves my original point, his injury was a bit of a lucky break for us, as sharp came in and showed he could play our way, most of his goals werent down to fitness just a knack of being in the right place at the right time

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Whatsforpud added 15:02 - May 17 Not only has Lambert worked hard on his general fitness this past season, but over the 3 seasons that he has been here, he's been largely injury-free, and always available. His game has developed enormously, bringing others around him into the game. If all the attackers are fit, it will be interesting to see who starts with him in the first match. Lee seems to have genuine pace, and bags of enthusiasm. He would be looking for that killer ball threaded through from midfield. That ball, played into space, has to be weighted just right. I agree with Scummer, Schneiderlin might be the one to do that.

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hortonsaint added 16:13 - May 17 Nick his goals may not have been done to fitness but his improved all round displays were and this contributed a lot in the run in. Agree that we weren't used to playing in a way to accomodate Lee but next year we'll need as many options to score a goal as possible and surely a good side can score goals in all manner of ways and it would be criminal not to take advantage of a player with pace if he's good enough, though it will remain to be seen if he is. We'll beg to differ re the goal vs Burnley, I seem to remember him looking somewhat sheepish at scoring the goal, not looking happy in the knowledge that he'd caused a f*ck up and in any case it was a real f*ck up so by nature was fortunate surely? How often do you see a mistake like that? I am sure if Jos and Kelvin had been involved in such a f*ck up you'd be looknig to credit the forward who 'caused' it.....as you have no favourites ;)

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SaintNick added 16:29 - May 17 all Sharp did against Burnley was harass the defender and chased a ball that looked a lost cause, a bit like Jutkiewics did against Fonte up at Boro and forced an error, he may have looked sheepish, but if he hadnt chased the ball the keeper and defender wouldnt have got in a mix up
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hortonsaint added 16:42 - May 17 True but I still maintain it was fortunate as routinely players do this with no joy in a game-as you said 'all he did was..', Don't think that confirms that he was looknig the part in his first few games and hence back to the original point that I didn't think it was inexplicable that he was dropped at that time. Anyway we'll beg to differ
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thedelldays added 10:06 - May 18 sharp was not inexplicably dropped...he even said he was no where near fit enough to be in the team when he first arrived as it was a whole new level from doncaster...also, he even said himself his performances when he first arrived were no where near good enough
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nobby added 12:16 - May 18 Agree with 'thedelldays', Sharp admitted himself that he was not as fit as the rest of the Saints squad. He was quoted as saying that Saints worked a lot harder than anyone he knew.
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hmmm added 13:16 - May 18 I agree with Scummer. Lee made some great runs and troubled defenders with his pace. To indirectly criticise Lee by saying "we don't play that way" is hard to say. Maybe NA wanted us to play a little differently. Further, we got more points per game with Lee than with Sharp. And hence to say that we were lucky that Lee got injured is purely a matter of conjecture. Personally I think Sharp got more goals in the run-in, and SRL noticeably fewer (although he assisted a few of Sharp's), as SRL was playing slightly differently, and hence Sharp got some goals that SRL would have otherwise scored if Sharp had not been playing. And although Lee scored fewer goals he did create a few assists (something curiously missing from this piece, and also the one on centre midfield - SRL did well in this regard as well). Also as pace is more important in the Prem, personally I would say that Lee offers more potential next season than Sharp. Billy Sharp was clearly brought in to score goals - he adds little else as he has no pace. And I'm not criticising him for that. He did what he was paid to do - and did it well. But Sharp and SRL together in the Prem, with no pace between them. I am not convinced. Lee and SRL for me. BS on the bench

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hmmm added 13:56 - May 18 One further point. The introduction to these articles said that you (Nick) would analyse are weaknesses, and hence where if at all, we need to improve. I quote "So over the coming weeks I will attempt to look at various areas of the team and what needs to be done in these areas, I will attempt to highlight what I see as our weak points and why they need to be addressing" So as you haven't commented on this, either 1) You forgot - another article to come? or 2) You are happy with our striking options for next season

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