Comments on that Old Trafford clash:

Le Tiss's 1st goal against Man U in the recent 3-3 draw must be a contender for Goal of the Season 1999/2000, for sheer comical relief that is. And the arrogance and cockiness of Alex The Moaner to say United should have won by 6, 7 goals... and he doesn't have it in his heart to say a single word of praise for Saints' gallant performance in his post-match press conference. Unsporting or what? And I remember our dumb editor asking who Pahars was, when I suggested his name for our previous poll (for top scorer). He's the little Saints forward who made a complete fool of Jaap 'Best Defender In the World' Stam... just in case anyone still blur.

Titbits, Info, Humour and Tributes (as compiled by the co-editor):

Saints fans have arguably the best sense of humour and are also among the most sporting and loyal of all Premier League fans, despite their eternal underdog status. Just look at their long-suffering supporters' Saints websites. Very honest, very self-mocking, very shrewd observations and often very very funny. Just a few examples..

On the 4-2 win over Newcastle (when Saints played much better late in the second half): "Things came to a head yesterday when Newcastle capitulated spectacularly at the Dell, confused by the home side's innovative tactic of looking like relegation certainties for an hour before turning into AC Milan circa 1989 for twenty minutes."

On the 1-0 loss to Arsenal: "The turning point of the match came with 15 minutes to go as Lundekvam limped off to be replaced by Almeida making his Saints debut. Soon after he missed a header down the middle which dropped for Henry on the edge of the box who spun and curled his shot beyond Jones into the far corner. (what a surprise, an opposition player getting his first goal for his new club against Saints..always bloody happens to us!) "

"So all in all Saints hard work went unrewarded again. We really missed Pahars today, his pace is so important for us. Arsenal used their usual bully boy tactics which, as ever were mainly ignored by the Ref. Speaking of whom, Mr Barber is one of the new breed of refs who seems to think the fans pay to watch him. He seems to genuinely enjoy booking players and was totally crap throughout."

News headline when Saints thrashed Moan U 6-3 a few years ago: "Hell at the Dell for United"

(Co-ed: All anti-Man U fans must love this one.. remember Alex 'The Moaner' Ferguson complained his team lost because Man U players can't see each other in their grey away strip, so they changed colours at half-time, but still lost. Really hilarious.)

News headline when Saints escaped relegation in their final game last season: "If they had painted the Titanic in red and white stripes it would never have gone down!" - Southampton Echo match report

On all those critics who predicated relegation for Saints every season: "Over the seasons, Southampton Football Club owes a tremendous debt to these pundits for being the inspiration behind unbelievable and amazing recoveries. Many is the time either or both of these esteemed gentlemen have said those rousing words: "Definitely, this time they're finished" and "You think just maybe this is the season where they go down". Once spoken, they elicit a committed response and 3 points are only a blink away."

My Personal Tribute to Le God

Enigmatic... Mercurial... Brilliant... Naturally Gifted... Outlandishly Talented... Creative Genius... - All these words and phrases have been used to describe Matthew Le Tissier, and rightly so. Not for nothing is he so revered and admired among discerning football fans who can truly recognise and appreciate what a great player he is.

But my favourite phrase which has been applied to Le Tissier is - Simply Unbelievable, which can either refer to his goals or to his footballing skills. Le Tissier is arguably one of the best football players of his generation, in terms of sheer skill and talent, flair, vision, creativity, number of goals scored and created (assists), penalty conversion rate and of course, for the outrageous ways he scores so many of his goals. I think it is safe to say some of his goals will go down as all-time classics in the history of English and world football. Those by-now-legendary strikes seem destined to be part of football folklore in generations to come.

A prophetic remark from Matthew Le Tissier in an April 1998 interview, just before the June 1998 World Cup: Question: How do you rate England's chances in the World Cup? Le Tissier: "I think they'll make it to the semi-finals if they take enough penalty takers with them.... "

Last year, Le Tissier failed to make the England World Cup squad, despite scoring a hat-trick in the 'B' England international friendly 4-1 win over Russia just before the event (Darren 'Sicknote' Anderton and Les Ferdinand also played in this match & were selected.) Also, Le Tissier had just scored 10 goals in the last 10 games of the season, and was the most on-form midfielder in England then. Instead 'do nothing' people like Paul Merson and Steve Maca-whatever-man and David Batty get selected! The sheer injustice! The stupidity of the England manager! Too bad... it is an unfair world after all. (But still, I was heartbroken..)

Le Tissier has the best penalty-taking record in the Premier League, having only missed one in his professional career (in a cup match) and has a 100% perfect record in league games (something Shearer, Fowler, Cole etc etc can't boast of). Well, we all know what happened to England in the World Cup afterwards... Oh right, in the 1990 WC and 1996 Euro Cup, England also kena knocked out by penalties, and also without Le Tiss in the squad. See a pattern?

Matthew Le Tissier's top 10 goals

(As copied from a Saints website... er, not by me. Someone else. Those goals I had the honour of seeing before, I comment on.)

10. Southampton 5-4 Norwich City, 1992.A unique goal in a fascinating game. Cutting in from a tight angle with a great shot.

9. Southampton 1-2 Aston Villa, 1998. This goal equalized the game at 1-1 in a crucial match towards the end of last season. Picking the ball up on his thigh, Matt fired a simply unstoppable shot past the bewildered Mark Bosnich.

8. England 'B' 4-1 Russia 'B', 1998. The second goal in a marvellous hat-trick, which incredibly was not recognised by a call-up to a the World Cup squad. Collecting the ball on the edge of the area, he broke through the Russian defence and curled a shot into the far-left corner from 12 yards.

7. Southampton 1-0 Newcastle United, 1997. This goal from Le Tissier kept up a rich vein of Saints form. He raced on a long through ball and slammed the ball full power past the Newcastle keeper.

Co-ed: Will never forget the look of despair on the Toon keeper's face as Le Tiss and co. celebrates after the stunning strike.

6. Southampton 2-0 Newcastle United, 1993. This was Le Tissier's second goal of the game after coming on as a sub. Controlling the ball on his chest and then his thigh, he pivoted 45 degrees and as the ball dropped, he lobbed it into the net from thirty-five yards.

Co-ed: In my opinion, should be among top 3. He makes it look so casual and effortless the way he swings the ball from so far away, in a perfect arc, just under the crossbar, and into goal. The way Le Tiss strikes the ball must be one of the most stylish and classy around, as in his free-kicks and long-range shots.

5. Liverpool 3-2 Southampton, 1993. Not a particularly well-known goal, but a great one nonetheless. Inside the Liverpool box and surrounded by players, Matty twisted the defence inside out by juggling the ball and switching from side to side three times and then firing past the keeper.

4. Southampton 6-3 Manchester United, 1996. A goal to suit the performance: Picking up the ball twenty yards from goal, facing the other way, Le Tissier turned past 2 defenders and just outside the box, chipped the ball over Schmeichel's head and just underneath the crossbar, leaving the rest of the Great Dane's face as red as his nose.

Co-ed: Damn outrageous one... and against Moan U too. No respect for the champions huh? Haha.

3. Southampton 1-0 Wimbledon, 1994. A moment of pure Le Tissier genius: Southampton has a free kick right on the edge of the box, too close for a direct shot. Instead, Matt had the ball passed shot to him and he flicked the ball up and then, with almost no backlift, lobbed the ball right into the back of the net.

2. Southampton 2-0 Newcastle United, 1993. This was Le Tissier's second goal in this match after coming on as a substitute. He collected the ball twenty-five yards from goal, and, almost with the ball not touching the ground, back-flicked the ball over one defender, juggled with his thigh past another, lifted delicately over a third and then placed a perfect side-footed shot into the far corner past the keeper. (4-4-2 Magazine listed this as one of the top 50 goals of all time. Also Goal of the Season 92/93.)

Co-ed: This is my fave Le Tiss goal. Simply incredible. Note all the actions above done in one seamless movement as he waltzed into the penalty area. The best solo goal I have ever seen; Pele himself would be proud of it.

1. Blackburn Rovers 2-3 Southampton, 1994. Matt picks the ball up on the halfway line and runs at the Blackburn defence. He twists and turns 3 defenders each way before planting a splendid shot over the keeper Tim Flowers and into the top left corner of the net from way out. Even the Blackburn home fans applauded. (94/95 Goal of the Season.)

Co-ed: I think this was the year Rovers won the championship was it? Anyway I recall this goal... superb dribbling and shooting. There are some more great goals I have seen but not in this list, but then this is not my list.

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