It is often overlooked that Cullen won two games in 2002, whereas under Plange we won five. Including Leeds and Hull away. I'd suggest some gratitude is extended his way.

But in truth what really saved us from relegation was the signings of Nathan Wood, Ben Westwood, Danny Halliwell and Richie Mathers mid-season. Without them we would have been down for sure.

Didn't Tony Smith sign Mathers ,a few months after after Richie nearly decapitated Matt King ?

I wonder if scrum half signings weren't his undoing? Sullivan (Dick Turpin if ever I saw one) and Monaghan. Both clearly hookers but allowed to dictate where they played (as I understand it).
I know there was a lot more to his demise than that though.
For me the best part of Cullen was that when we passed the ball more than once in a move, or in heavy traffic, I wasn't watching through my fingers expecting us to stuff up.
It was an interesting ride and with hindsight he stayed a little bit too long. Still look fondly on his reign though, whereas I don't suppose Saints fans can think of ANYTHING positive to say about their former player as a coach , take a bow Mr Cunningham.

Didn't we have Mathers on loan before that?

Ps great post SC

Halliwell and Mathers were loan signings in 2002.

No question....for me I've always said the game away at Hull under Plange saved us from relegation.
There was no rabbit out of the hat games won under PC.
Stripping Wakefield did save our ass.

I see .

Plange won 4 out of 16 and Cullen won 2 out of 6. Neither were great, but I think being grateful for Plange for winning four games in 2002 is a bit like being grateful to TS for saving our club when relegation threatened in the qualifiers last year...

But you are right about those Plange signings: Westwood and Nat Wood in particular were very influential over the next few years, so credit to him for that.

I think getting Cullen in late 2002 did save us because it changed the momentum. We were sliding listlessly away at the end under Plange and from Cullen's first game where we lost by a point to Widnes, the atmosphere and intensity was different. The Halifax game had some ropey moments and we might well have lost that game a few weeks earlier, and we produced a really good performance against Cas to secure survival.

No pal I don't think you're giving Plange enough credit. He wasn't the organ grinder for our demise...that was Anderson.
It's been the norm for many a assistant to take over. He did the maths weakened Wakefield and masterminded the win at Hull.

OK we needed more but Plange as a stand alone was no failure.

Yeah - the halfback situation was really significant, and if you break the Cullen era in to two parts: 2002-2005 when things were moving forward and 2006-08 when we were standing still, the big difference was Nat Wood left at the end of 2005. In that first spell Nat Wood was the talisman of the team, not only because he was a good halfback but also because of his attitude.

We had chased Matt Orford for 2006, and if my memory is correct, we then tried for Michael Monaghan, but both fell through and we ended up rushing around for alternatives and picked up Sullivan who had had a good spell as an interchange hooker, but wanted the chance to be a halfback. It became clear very soon that Sullivan wasn't the calibre we had hoped, and the comparison between him and Nat Wood was chalk and cheese. Sullivan didn't seem to have a great relationship with Cullen nor did he seem to be really bothered about Wire. Contrast to Nat Wood, who embraced the jersey and fans and was a positive influence in the dressing room.

Mind you, I'm not sure Orford would have been the answer despite being a much higher calibre player, as he later signed for Bradford and did a "Sandow" on them.

Michael Monaghan was the right signing, a blue chip player with a great attitude, but he wasn't nearly as effective at halfback for Cullen as he was at hooker for Smith, so Cullen suffered from not having the right man at halfback from the moment Nat Wood left.

Much as I adore Cull for what he did as a player, and as a coach in the early days of his tenure, there's a tendency towards romanticism and era-rewriting going on here.

Cull assembled a great cast but too often they were more Prisoner Cell Block H than Royal Shakespeare Company. Monaghan was a [ipoor[/i scrum half who's speciality was interceptions and don't get me started on Sullivan.

There was a toxic culture of drink, under-ambition and failure at the club and one man, [ione man[/i turned it and the players around - Tony Smith.

Cull would have made a brilliant talent scout/football director and he should still be in the SKY dugout handing out verbal slaps, but as a coach, sadly he fell short.