James Beattie is having another purple patch. He's now scored eight goals in seven games and Saints are making steady progress up the table as a result. There's more to Beattie than the goals these days too. He often pulls wide to allow others space and his ability to hold the ball up provides others with time to get shots in on goal. Beattie's overall game has improved since his arrival and he's getting more consistent every season.
Saints now have a policy of buying in hungry players, looking to improve. It's unfair to expect miracles overnight. The progression is a steady season after season affair and that's what has happened with Beattie. For a measly one million outlay, Saint have reaped the rewards. At only twenty four, Beattie's best days are ahead of him and Saints should hold on to him for as long as possible.
Last year, Beattie's purple patch before injury was getting him mentioned in England circles. If he keeps up his current form you can expect the same this term.
It's not often I have an opposing player in the snapshots, but the look on Vieira's face after Niemi has pulled off another wonder save tells you all you need to know about the Finnish stopper game. Saints have looked really solid at the back since his arrival. He's a better all round goalkeeper than Paul Jones and the team is clearly benefiting from this.
Yesterday, Jason Dodd showed why he still belongs in the Premiership. Pace isn't everything when you've got intelligence and experience. Michael Svensson is improving with every game. It looks as though he's going to be another great bargain buy for us and the competition between him and Paul Williams keeps everyone on their toes.
Along with Rory Delap, Matt Oakley had a great game, bossing the midfield, getting in plenty of tackles and also looking to be involved in Saints going forward. This type of game is nothing new to Oakley though. He's been a pretty unsung member of the side over the last few seasons. Although he has a great shot and should really get forward more, Matt has found his best role in getting Saints moving forward from a holding midfield role.
Matt breaks up moves, gets the ball out wide or forward and gets back to do his bit of defending. Up until now a real criticism of his game was that he didn't really dominate for long periods of the game. Having been dropped earlier in the season, though, Matt has come back stronger than ever and looks to be first pick in the centre while Svensson and Delap fight for the other slot.
Rory Delap made an excellent case for a first team place with a really committed performance against Arsenal. While having two similar players in Oakley and Delap won't be suitable for every game, Strachan knows he has real quality to pull from when he needs it. Delap was everywhere against the champions, pressing their attacker's and helping to build up Saints attacks. He should even have got a fourth for the Saints, but his strong header went wide rather than into the net.
With Anders Svensson still not showing his best, there's real competition for places in the Saints midfield.
Fabrice Fernandes has certainly been flying this season as the pic to your left shows. While not able to have as much space as usual because of the opposition and Saints tactics, he still looked to add a real attacking edge to Saints going forward. Fernandes is now capable of getting to the byeline as well as cutting in to the centre, and his passing has always been good.
Here we see him involved in celebrating Beattie's second. There is great team spirit in the Saints camp. This has traditionally been the case, but now there is perhaps a bit more self belief that the players can continue to push up the table.
Some other highlights from the Arsenal game...
Matt Oakley knows where Beattie's free kick is going and doesn't bother taking his hands off his hips.
Another picture Delap on the move.
Did he ever stand still yesterday ?
Fabrice Fernandes showing that there's more to his game than getting forward. Here he's tracking Dennis Bergkamp who scored from an excellent half volley for Arsenal's opener.