david in sweden

I think he will be, but this thread highlighted Jake Vokins recent appearances, but I recall a lot being written about Shaw and JWP when they were in the same age. It takes time to develop and a few good games don't make a whole career. Slattery is very impressive....although IMHO both are someway behind Jake Hesketh.

Agreed......100%

I think it was that fact that surprised us all. Then suddenly Ashley Cole had the shirt for ages, and Bridge only got into the side on odd occasions. After Bridge's departure from Saints, Le Saux got too many injuries, and so when Bale emerged he did get a lot of media attention. I can think back 50+ years and the number of class LB's can almost be counted on one hand, and very few of those were Saints products...

even if his stay was short , his performances were top rate. He played 80 games for Saints scoring 42 goals....one of the best ever Saints goals / games stats.

and well we might have, too. We finished 2nd. (1983-84) after a 10 game unbeaten run (which included an 8-2 win over Coventry and a 5-0 thrashing of Tottenham. Liverpool (who had won the League title for 8 of the previous 10 seasons) struggled to keep pace and ended up as Champs. and finished just 3 points above us.... There were fans in that era who said - if the season had been two weeks longer we might even have won the title. Statistical note ; that season we'd drew 1-1 at Anfield, and later won 2-0 at The Dell....

I think this is a tribute to Lawrie McMenemy (who is 80 this year)..as much as anything, especially as Keegan joining us must rate as the best Saints' signing of all time. Although I remember him well, it's 40 years since we won the FA Cup and there is a whole generation of fans who never knew anything about him - except his name.

No I didn't, but it was a long time between Bridge and Bale.....we were fortunate that Wayne B stayed as long as he did ...there was no adequate replacement after he left.

maybe it's good that we have the Academy to develop them. In over 50 years as a Saints fan..it always seems to be the most difficult position to fill. Admittedly, we've had one or two good ones over the years, but since Bale....things have looked up a bit.

I don't know how many others - either went to SMS /or /(like me) watched the U21 game v Tottenham game on You Tube on Tuesday evening, but aside from missing Jake Hesketh's screamer of a goal...most eyes would have fallen on a young player whose name no-one had heard, barely two months ago. 15 year old Jake Vokins was drafted into the U18 side for his first LB game in early December, and did well enough to keep his place in that side since. So it must have been some sort of reward for those performances to be given a seat on the bench to watch the above-mentioned U21 game. What no-one expected was that young Jake would suddenly be thrown into the action a few minutes after the kick-off. The U21's regular LB - Josh Debayo - fell awkardly after a challenge and damaged his arm/shoulder badly enough to go off after barely 5 minutes and suddenly young Jake was in the game, playing against Spurs U21 regulars. As if playing against experienced players 5 years older than himself, wasn't a daunting enough challenge ....Jake just got on with the job and the age gap was barely noticed as he gave as good as he got in tackles and also showed good passing / attacking skills. He showed no fear of the opposition, who might scarcely have believed anyone who told them that Jake was still under 16. The discussion (on another thread) about the LB spot goes to show that Matt Targett still has some way to go before he can match up to Ryan Bertrand , (or anyone else), but if Jake Vokins continues to impress, we might not have to wait 5 years before we see him vying for a first team spot. Well Done Jake.

it's also sad that.... by the end of the season...Victor will have missed more games through suspensions than most of his team mates will have done .... through INJURY !

I'd agree with that assessment, and maybe change out JWP / Clasie in 2nd half. With Wanyama out, Harry Reed will most likely get a bench place.

..that's what PR is all about. A carefully-worded statement underlining past successes and future prospects, because we are following " the plan" and seeing positive results. You don't talk about the ones - who don't make it.

impossible to compare really. We were at Championship-level when Walcott and Bale played with Saints, and after they moved on- neither of them got into their (new) respective first teams so quickly, (in fact Bale was a bit of laughing stock with Spurs fans in his first season). So what wecan see now; is Bale and Walcott = Saints Academy +10 years. JWP got his first real chances after we were promoted back up: 3½ seasons ago. Luke Shaw's progress to the first team was a no-brainer when you consider the only alternative was Danny Fox. Matt Targett has DAJFU (when needed) and was OK, but would have an impossible task replacing Ryan Bertrand, although both do get to play in the 3-5-1 formation. As for Callum Slattery .....he looked good at 16 -...he is a stand-out player in most U18 (videoed) games I've watched, but he will need to " muscle-up a bit " as he's still fairly slim. If he continues to improve, I might expect to see him getting U21 / the odd senior game ..next season, or if we get an injury crisis..maybe more often. Longer term? ...who knows?... I don't have a crystal ball, but what I can see .....is encouraging;)

a very good point, BUT on the other hand....do you think Saints want to buy a " 30-something" midfielder at this stage of our development?

I always " assumed " that phrase meant that a club who was desperate for cash needed to sell players in order to balance their books?. At any rate, OUR sales have been very good business, it's just a pity deals like Gaston and Osvaldo have cost us so much of the profit that was made. Aside from Leicester, who have turned the League on its head this season........ I think most of the top ten clubs have sold some of their better players at one time or another, and the bottom half have to in order to stay solvent. But.....As this thread is about Callum Slattery, I think he was outstanding last season (at 16), and although it maybe a year or so before he gets on the bench regularly (he'll be an U21 player for a few years to come) , but will surely be in the running for a first team place by the time those remaining 2018 contracts run out.

Agree with that bit, but tbf for someone new to the Prem. he didn't get a lot of game time and with the form of Schneiderlin and Alderweireld at the time, he wasn't likely to get much more....

interesting to see Bilic (as a player) for WHam, and Iain Dowie .....in his Hammers days....

of course there's still one record Victor hasn't got ... ......David Prutton's 10 week suspension, but then again he didn't rough up the referee - (more's the pity considering who it was). (sorry for that .....late night humour, I suppose).

Oops ! ....and so it is ? I'd just read about Seager on another thread when I wrote that...

the big question now has to be....Is the recent run of 5 games - a revival of fortunes, "a new dawn" or just a pleasant blip in an otherwise "indifferent" season? Perhaps the next 5 games will give us an answer. Swansea (A) Chelsea (H) Bournemouth (A) Sunderland (H) Stoke (A) IMHO .....10- 12 points would keep us in the running. Good results at Man U and Arsenal make a pleasant change of fortune, but now we face a string of teams who are below us in the league. One wonders how long the clean sheets will continue?, but after the inevitable 95 minutes are up, it's the points tally that counts. The defence seems to have clicked-in OK, but we are still woefully lacking goal-power away from home. Perhaps by the time we return fron the Stoke fixture, we'll know...which was the wind is blowing. ...Will it end with more Europa League action, or will it go down as a season of mid-table mediocrity?

??. not so sure about that bit " The 9" ....I thought he was a fair bit under 6 foot?....(although that may depend on how big....BIG ...is to you?). but I do like Seager's style and agree with your other comment.

THIS !

For anyone who has doubts about Wanyama's suitability, you'll have the next five games to contemplate the alternatives. Being given a ban after 5 yellows is standard, but getting straight red and a five game suspension ....means you're getting a reputation and becoming a liability.

it looked like he was carrying a kit bag on his back. Painfully slow, and not a patch on his earlier performances.

Agreed. Playing like that for 40+ minutes with 10 men against an attacking outfit like WHam is a compliment in itself. We defended courageously and deserved the win. Although they had more shots, we still had the better chances (for another goal) with Long and Austin going so close.