Harrad's sale gets Sammo scrambling!

There's a new year transfer window on the horizon and Sammo's main target has been revealed to be Burton Albion's Shaun Harrad as he looks to strengthen his forward line. Harrad has been out of the Burton side of late despite hitting ten goals this term with Villa loanee James Collins ahead of him in the pecking order.
Harrad has scored 77 league goals for the Brewers since joiining them in 2005 but his contract is up at the end of the season and Albion look like they're about to cash in on the striker rather than risk a free transfer in the summer.

What the problem looks like being now though is that the player's agent is making noises about the Cobblers' bid. Town were keen to keep this one under wraps but as usual the agent has been talking up the player in a bid to get a better deal higher up the footballing food chain, or even to high spending Crawley Town in the Conference.

Sammo though, who was hoping to get a look at Harrad in the Boxing Day game at Sixfields before it was called off, hopes that the club's ambition and league status can persuade the front man to come to Sixfields.

Certainly if this one comes off then it could be one that takes us on to the next level. A fit, proven striker at this level is something that we've been crying out for for a long time. Harrad doesn't have a great deal of an injury history and can find the net on a regular basis in this league. There are, apparantly, plans b and c in place but Harrad is the one that Sammo really wants this January.

From the Burton side, boss Paul Peschisolido admits that talks are at a stand still with Harrad and it looks likely that he'll be leaving the club one way or another within the next month. Fingers crossed that Sammo's vision can bring the proven goal scorer to Sixfields and set up another exciting second half of the season.

2010...

So with no more games to play this year, it's time to look back on a year that will forever be etched in our memory forever more because of one night in September.

That day aside it's been a typical kind of year for the Cobblers with a late surge towards the playoffs at the end of last season offering bags of hope for the new campaign come August. The final day of the season back in May was memorable only for Bayo's final moment as a Town player as his final touch earned a draw against Bury. The big man packed his bags for Gillingham in the summer and the reshuffle never really got going until recently with Leon McKenzie starting to show the sort of form that fills the holes of Bayo's leaving.

Elsewhere we've seen the return of John Johnson to the club, Chris Dunn's rise and rise to become the dead cert for the Number One jersey and Sammo continueing to learn his trade as boss. Five defeats in October tested Mr Cardoza's patience a little and the horrific 4-3 home reverse to Hereford sent us all to rock bottom.

But slowlty and surely we've got back on track and that's made the recent bad weather even more irritating with a good run of form leading up to the wintery months that included an excellent victory over Stevenage in the last game played.

All in all it's been steady but we can forgive everything else in 2010 for that one night, September 23rd when Northampton Town went to Anfield, put it all on the line and shook the rafters of one of the biggest clubs in the world. The penalty shoot out win over Liverpool will go down as one of the finest nights in the club's history and to be there to witness is was one of the highlights of my life, two more of which were on the way.

Whatever happens in football, I've learnt this year that nothing in any way compares to life for emotions like I've had in the last month. When my daughter, Faith, was born exactly a month ago today the world as I knew it changed. All I think about now is my life with her and her incredible mother, Martha.

On Boxing Day, a sentimental day for my family, I asked Martha the biggest question of all and, quite luckily I thought, she said...yes! So we shall be married and be the family that little Faith deserves. Forgive me for a moment of pride but I feel truly blessed as 2010 comes to an end and a year that started undcertainly has become a year that I will treasure forever more.

So here's to your 2010. I hope whoever you are you too feel the same way. This football lark really isn't life or death...but when something truly remarkable happens like that day in September we should embrace it and call it what it was - a minor miracle!

Stay safe, stay positive and let's hit 2011 running...oh and please let this snow go away so we can get some games on!

Happy New Year!

Three in a row postponed

Tomorrow's game at Hereford continues the run of games called off as a frozen pitch halted any hope of the Cobblers playing again in 2010. The last two games have fallen victim of the weather and we could have taken advantage of a tired Bulls side that did play on Sunday but the weather has hit once more.

No new date has been arranged as yet.

Snow, cash bids and more snow

A bleak and quiet Christmas at Sixfields then as two games are called off due to snow and the main talking points are happening off the pitch as an apparant bid for a League Two striker has been made - a cash bid no less - sparking heated debates on message boards as to who the mystery man is.

Plenty of speculation as we head into the January transfer window but we could do with getting a game on this Tuesday at Hereford but I would imagine that it's already in doubt as snow continues to haunt League Two football, giving us a winter break of sorts!

A Merry Christmas to you all in any case and let's hope we have some action to report on soon...Stay safe Kids!

Game OFF

Today's game against Morecambe has been called off due to a frozen pitch. The Cobblers had hoped to get it on but overnight frost has put paid to that and along with most League Two sides are facing a blank afternoon!

Cobblers hold off ten man attack

Stevenage Borough 0-1 Northampton Town
League Two
Saturday, December 11th 2010

Red cards have been a painful part of this season for the Cobblers with a number of marching orders being given to Town players over the first few months of the campaign. So it was with a great deal of relief that we finally got one the other way on Saturday with Stevenage’s Darius Charles shown red for a dangerous challenge on John Johnson just after coming off the bench at half-time.

By then we had already taken a lead that would just about see us through to the end of the game to claim all three points with after Ryan Gilligan’s well taken volley in the fifteenth minute stole a crucial second win on the road this season to build up some momentum before a decent looking run of games up until the new year.

It was by no means plain sailing though as Boro pushed us all the way and could easily have gone home with a share of the spoils themselves, particularly with a stoppage time effort from former Town loan man Josh Walker that smacked the cross bar and the home side will feel that they were more deserving of better things than coming out of this one pointless.

But the Cobblers had to show character of their own and managed to keep the side fresh and attacking with second half substitutes Leon McKenzie and Craig King putting more doubts into Sammo’s mind as to what his best front pairing is. Chris Dunn also came out of the game with a lot of credit as he was called upon to keep out Boro leading scorer Chris Holroyd with a fine near post stop.

So all in all a positive result at a ground where not many sides come away with three points. Indeed it was only Boro’s second league defeat at Broadhall Way all season and it reminds me of a similar result that was ground out at Dagenham last season on the long road back up the League Two table.

Fingers crossed that this one points us in exactly the same direction.

Seventeen up for Sammo

A milestone was passed this week as Ian Sampson crawled through into his eighteenth year with Northampton Town Football Club, an association that has seen the popular ex defender rise from reliable head to young manager in a period that will span three decades should he remain in place until the New Year.

No mean feat then for a humble northern lad plucked from Sunderland in 1994 after just 21 appearances. Who knew then that the relationship between the Cobblers and Sammo would last another seventeen years and see him eventually end up as the main man at the top as first team manager.

449 appearances sets himself aside in itself and the fact that he’s survived a couple of scares managerial wise over the last couple of months, namely a five game winless streak, shows the regard that he’s held in at the club both in the knowledgeable board room and on the terraces where Cobblers fans have given him a lot more patience than they would have if pretty much anyone else was in charge.

But after looking back on his tenure with the club you have to admit that Sammo has earned every minute of patience granted to him over the last few months. Personally I have so much time for Sammo that my judgement can be clouded a little when folk on internet forums attack him but after trudging through the nineties and early “naughties” with Sammo in the back four as I travelled the width and length of the country I think that’s ok.

What has set Sammo aside is that he’s not a superstar, he never was. He never sought the spotlight or demanded a bigger wage packet (to my knowledge anyway) and all he wanted to do was give 100% for Northampton Town, something that he’s still doing now whether you believe him to be the right man for the job or not.

Quite simply, Ian Sampson for me is Mr Northampton Town of the present times and if this blog can do one thing with this article I hope it gives younger readers some idea of the regard held by Town fans of Sammo’s playing days.

The Cure once said “Seventeen Seconds, A Measure of Life.” What that makes Seventeen Years is something beyond contemplation in this day and age of football disloyalty and greed. Here’s to Sammo’s legacy continuing long and hard towards twenty years. No-one deserves it more.

Festive season begins at Stevenage

Ian Sampson begins his eighteenth year at the club by visiting Stevenage Borough, a place full of controversy last time the sides met at the same venue. Almost exactly five years ago in December of 2005, the Cobblers were held to a 2-2 draw here in the FA Cup by the then non league club but the main talking point made headlines across the country. Lionel Perez, the ex professional goalkeeper for Cambridge among others, was a coach for the Boro' at the time and took offence at something that Cobblers coach Dave Watson said/did and poked him in the eyes on the touchline!

The Cobblers, and Scott McGleish, had the last laugh in the replay as the Cobblers striker re-enacted the assault in the goal celebrations during the 2-0 win at Sixfields and the clubs haven't met again until now.

I'm sure that's the last thing on any of the players' minds going in to this one but Sammo will certainly remember the last visit to Broadhall Way.

Boro's top scorer will be back in action for the Cobblers' visit - Chris Holroyd was ineligible for the FA Cup victory over Wimbledon - whilst Ben May could also come back into contention after being rested for the same game.

Sammo could stick with the same team as in the 2-0 home win over Stockport last weekend as we look to kick start the Christmas period. The one decision he might have to make is whether or not to include Michael Jacobs in place of Andy Holt who came off at half time in that one.

With a lot less drama expected then our last trip to Stevenage we'd settle for a simple and scrappy one goal win thank you very much!

Christmas period crucial for getting out of trouble

With Christmas approaching there’s, as always, a hectic line up matches that will be looking to dodge the cold weather and help the Cobblers through to January hopefully in good spirits. It’s traditionally a make or break period for many clubs and the following few weeks should hold a good indication as to which end of the table we’ll be battling in come May.

It’s not the easiest start to the run this weekend away at Broadhall Way with Stevenage taking well to the challenge of League Two football and a match for anyone at home. Home games against Morecambe (18th Dec) and Burton Albion (Boxing Day) give us a chance of racking up much needed points while the last game of 2010 sees us travel to Edgar Street to face fellow strugglers and current bottom club Hereford United.

So there’s plenty of scope to dig ourselves out of trouble in these festive times...hopefully by the time we enter 2011 we’ll be breathing in the chilly air a little easier!

Snow Problem for victorious Town

Northampton Town 2-0 Stockport County
League Two
Saturday, December 4th 2010


Incredibly good work from the Sixfields ground staff meant that today’s game went ahead as planned but Stockport will be wishing that the snow had got the better of us after goals from Kevin Thornton and Michael Jacobs decided a heated game in the chilly air of Northampton.

The fact that just one other League Two game got the go ahead today, Oxford’s 2-1 win over Barnet, meant that the Cobblers move up to eighteenth and we must use Oxford themselves as an example as team who were in the bottom two a few games ago and who now reside in the top half of the table. In fact, Barnet aside it’s not been too bad a run in the last month or so and we have to take this on into Christmas, the most vital period of the season.

It was two midfielders that won it this afternoon for Sammo’s men with Kevin Thornton beating three men to fire us in front after just four minutes and Michael Jacobs rounding things off in the last ten after coming off the bench to replace Andy Holt at half time.

Apart from that there were plenty of talking points. A denied penalty for a foul on John Johnson that wasn’t deemed an offence, a pull back on Billy McKay by Tom Aldred in the County defence when it looked like he was the last man and Greg Tansey getting booked for booting the ball at Abdul Osman while he was on the deck!

But it’s goals that win you games and this was a massive win for the Cobblers, not least because it was against another struggling side and had we failed to pick up maximum points we could have been looking nervously over out shoulder by the time the rearranged games for everyone else takes place.

As it is, it’s onwards and upwards and the slow recovery gains a little bit more momentum. On a day when freezing conditions threatened to rob us of Saturday football, a good home win is perfect tonic to warm the cockles as winter sets in.

Cobblers must attack leaky defence

Go for goals must be the message from Sammo ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s game with Stockport County at Sixfields. The Hatters have the worst goal difference in League Two ahead of the weekend and have suffered three 5-0 defeats in the past month. No better time for Leon McKenzie to shake off his injury then and return to boost the Cobblers’ attack after missing the game at Hillsbrough last weekend.

John Johnson is also expected to come back into the side and apart from Tadhg Purcell Sammo has a full squad to choose from. Craig Hinton and Steve Guinan have both gone out on loan to Luton and Forest Green Rovers respectively with Guinan’s move apparently looking to become permanent come January.

For County, Matty Mainwaring is still around a month away from recovery whilst Danny Swailes is another long term absentee. But the main concern for Paul Simpson is his leaky defence and he’ll be just as keen to turn things around as Sammo will be.

It could make for a passionate game between two struggling sides and so long as the 9:30am pitch inspection goes to plan then there’s a real chance for one of us to start the Christmas season off in style.