Sergio Ramos

[Wurzel]

Damn! Free agent and he's gone to PSG. Another one slipped through our fingers ☹️ Seriously though, unless rules re wages/transfers change, can you ever see us making a signing of that status of player again? Even if someone could be persuaded to give us the benefit of their experience for their twilight years at reduced wages on a free transfer would we even be looking in that sort of direction? 

[Green]

Not unless we got new owners. 

The cost of a "free transfer" is just too much in terms of wages and lack of re-sale value, although, you could argue Theo Walcott is a high status player but I think that is the only circumstance that would allow it for the time being. 

[Whitey Grandad]

Did I see that Messi is a free agent too?

[Ex Lion Tamer]

There's a certain generation of Saints fans who fondly remember stars like Case coming and doing a good job for us in their later years. However, at my age I more remember the disappointment of Hirst, Speedie, Howells, J Redknapp.

The best I can think of is Le Saux and even his legs had completely gone.

Can't remember if Mark Hughes was actually any good but he didn't bang in the goals like I perhaps naively expected

[Turkish]

18 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

There's a certain generation of Saints fans who fondly remember stars like Case coming and doing a good job for us in their later years. However, at my age I more remember the disappointment of Hirst, Speedie, Howells, J Redknapp.

The best I can think of is Le Saux and even his legs had completely gone.

Can't remember if Mark Hughes was actually any good but he didn't bang in the goals like I perhaps naively expected

Hughes was crap but then he did spend a lot of his time with us playing in midfield. Remember when we signed Andre Kanchelskis? Played a couple of times, was awful, moaned he wasn’t getting picked. 

[positivepete]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Did I see that Messi is a free agent too?

I heard that following a Spanish League ruling Barcelona can’t sign any players until they get their wage bill down below a certain figure.  I am not sure whether they have been able to officially sign Aguero, Depay, or Garcia yet.

[Patrick Bateman]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Hughes was crap but then he did spend a lot of his time with us playing in midfield. Remember when we signed Andre Kanchelskis? Played a couple of times, was awful, moaned he wasn’t getting picked. 

Didn't he play just once, vs Everton? I was in the Itchen Chapel corner (I think) and remember he being horrendous. 

[Smirking_Saint]

1 hour ago, positivepete said:

I heard that following a Spanish League ruling Barcelona can’t sign any players until they get their wage bill down below a certain figure.  I am not sure whether they have been able to officially sign Aguero, Depay, or Garcia yet.

This is true but they are only under it by about 200-300k I believe (Which for a club like Barca isn't huge)

Not sure if that figure includes Messi's wages or not, either as they stand or renegotiated. Still, they have so much overpaid crap, surely they can just dump Coutinho, Pjanic, O Dembele and be ok

Their recent transfer policy has been absolutely woeful

Edited 10 July, 2021 by Smirking_Saint

[Turkish]

16 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Didn't he play just once, vs Everton? I was in the Itchen Chapel corner (I think) and remember he being horrendous. 

I seem to remember him being absolutely crap. A few days later Strachan said he’d been complaining h wasn’t playing so he’d told him to get fitter and play better, he didn’t play for us again.

[suewhistle]

2 hours ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

There's a certain generation of Saints fans who fondly remember stars like Case coming and doing a good job for us in their later years. However, at my age I more remember the disappointment of Hirst, Speedie, Howells, J Redknapp.

The best I can think of is Le Saux and even his legs had completely gone.

Can't remember if Mark Hughes was actually any good but he didn't bang in the goals like I perhaps naively expected

Did you have to? 😉  I remember Branfoot on the matter..  I seem to recall Redknapp playing well when he wasn't injured and yes, Hughes was deeply disappointing wherever he was playing.  There are players who continue to show their class as they age - Sheringham of course, and Hately showed it for Portsmouth at Alan Knight's testimonial, but best you don't remind us of some of those above!

[Micky]

Kevin Keegan has got a lot to answer for. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

What about Peter Reid under Branfoot, that was another weird one. I think he was Branfoot’s mate. 

[SNSUN]

4 hours ago, Green said:

Not unless we got new owners. 

The cost of a "free transfer" is just too much in terms of wages and lack of re-sale value, although, you could argue Theo Walcott is a high status player but I think that is the only circumstance that would allow it for the time being. 

Free transfers/out of contract players can be good if sourced properly. Van Aanholt for instance is linked with Inter but could do a good job strengthening our left side.

 

Then of course we remember perhaps the best free transfer/bosman we ever made... Dean Richards. 

 

All IMO of course.

[Turkish]

15 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

What about Peter Reid under Branfoot, that was another weird one. I think he was Branfoot’s mate. 

Sammy Lee as well. Played half a dozen games at best

[The Kraken]

8 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Sammy Lee as well. Played half a dozen games at best

I remember we got him from Osasuna. He was absolutely rubbish, so fat and slow.  I reckon when Bally played in the Alan Knight testimonial game, he was quicker than fat Sammy.

[The Kraken]

 

He looks like someone who won a raffle to train with the first team.

[LeBizzier69]

5 hours ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

There's a certain generation of Saints fans who fondly remember stars like Case coming and doing a good job for us in their later years. However, at my age I more remember the disappointment of Hirst, Speedie, Howells, J Redknapp.

The best I can think of is Le Saux and even his legs had completely gone.

Can't remember if Mark Hughes was actually any good but he didn't bang in the goals like I perhaps naively expected

From what I remember Le Saux did really well for us and was even being talked about by some journalists as good enough for England again.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

4 minutes ago, LeBizzier69 said:

From what I remember Le Saux did really well for us and was even being talked about by some journalists as good enough for England again.

I didn't realise he played for us 44 times actually. My memory is of him in our relegation season where he must have been 36/37 years old, and by then I thought his crossing and use of the ball was fantastic but he was painfully slow

[Ex Lion Tamer]

2 hours ago, suewhistle said:

Did you have to? 😉  I remember Branfoot on the matter..  I seem to recall Redknapp playing well when he wasn't injured and yes, Hughes was deeply disappointing wherever he was playing.  There are players who continue to show their class as they age - Sheringham of course, and Hately showed it for Portsmouth at Alan Knight's testimonial, but best you don't remind us of some of those above!

I somehow missed Kerry Dixon off my list (sorry Sue)

Edited 10 July, 2021 by Ex Lion Tamer

[LeBizzier69]

He was definitely at the end of his career but I remember being shocked at how well he played and the plaudits that followed. Was too old for England obviously but put in a real quality shift. Again from what I remember.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Problem is it’s not an exact science when picking up oldies, some you think will be great, are pony. There’s no manager that comes close to Lawrie when it comes to picking oldies for us, yet it was disastrous at Sunderland. Fat Sam did well at Bolton following a similar approach. What made Lawrie great was mixing the youngsters in with them. Bally had to be the greatest IMO. But he certainly wasn’t afraid of personalities. 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

24 minutes ago, LeBizzier69 said:

He was definitely at the end of his career but I remember being shocked at how well he played and the plaudits that followed. Was too old for England obviously but put in a real quality shift. Again from what I remember.

My memory is equally unreliable but given that Le Saux was with us for two seasons, it's possible that we're both right

[suewhistle]

38 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

I somehow missed Kerry Dixon off my list (sorry Sue)

Wince...

[Jeremy]

As a complete digression, watched a docmentary last night about Le Tissier ("PL 100 Club"). It must have been a privilege sitting in the stand and watching him dealing to anybody and everybody..

Edited 11 July, 2021 by Jeremy

[Red]

5 hours ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

My memory is equally unreliable but given that Le Saux was with us for two seasons, it's possible that we're both right

Le Saux was great for us, so much so that we hardly missed Bridge. Also his form made a great case for an England recall. He was a very intelligent player and although  he lost some of his pace when he joined us he more than made up for it with his mind.

Met him in the Heathrow lounge a few years after he left us and we had a good chat about his time at Saints - said he really enjoyed it and was a great family/friendly atmosphere to the club and I am sure he meant it. Wished us/me luck and said he always looks out for our result after Chelsea 🙂 He was involved in some business venture but did not want to go into details (which is understandable as I might have been competition etc.)

[Wurzel]

11 hours ago, Red said:

Le Saux was great for us, so much so that we hardly missed Bridge. Also his form made a great case for an England recall. He was a very intelligent player and although  he lost some of his pace when he joined us he more than made up for it with his mind.

Met him in the Heathrow lounge a few years after he left us and we had a good chat about his time at Saints - said he really enjoyed it and was a great family/friendly atmosphere to the club and I am sure he meant it. Wished us/me luck and said he always looks out for our result after Chelsea 🙂 He was involved in some business venture but did not want to go into details (which is understandable as I might have been competition etc.)

Often hear that about us as a club. Sometimes wonder if it's a polite coded message. Much as every teacher knows - but most parents think of as a positive -"lively child" in a school report means "disruptive in class". Is "good family and/or friendly club" really a polite way of saying "lacks ambition"? If it is, I'd still support a club like ours than a win at all cost  glory team (although it would be nice to see a few more trophies in the cabinet.)

[St Louis]

On 10/07/2021 at 19:17, The Kraken said:

 

He looks like someone who won a raffle to train with the first team.

I think that's Sammy Lee? Played a couple of games on loan for us that season.

Edit - Sorry, just read above that you know its Sammy Lee  Tired... hungover...

Edited 12 July, 2021 by St Louis

[a1ex2001]

Hughes and Kanchelskis were both dire so far over the hill they were out of sight, Le Saux was brilliant and played with real commitment and professionalism even in our relegation season when his class was still obvious.  I'll throw another crap oldie in Stuart Ripley, I was hoping for a good swansong from him when he arrived but he was dire.

[Jeremy Corbyn]

20 minutes ago, a1ex2001 said:

Hughes and Kanchelskis were both dire so far over the hill they were out of sight, Le Saux was brilliant and played with real commitment and professionalism even in our relegation season when his class was still obvious.  I'll throw another crap oldie in Stuart Ripley, I was hoping for a good swansong from him when he arrived but he was dire.

My most traumatic time as a young Southampton fan was the excitement I had going in to the 98/99 season with Ripley, Hughes, Hurst etc, thinking we were going to have a great season to then watch us dive bomb in the opening 5 games.

[a1ex2001]

55 minutes ago, Jeremy Corbyn said:

My most traumatic time as a young Southampton fan was the excitement I had going in to the 98/99 season with Ripley, Hughes, Hurst etc, thinking we were going to have a great season to then watch us dive bomb in the opening 5 games.

Hirst what a waste of 2 million quid that was!  Imagine the row on here if we made a 30 year old with a dodgy injury record our record signing this summer! back on the positive side Williams and Telfer must have both been 29/30 when Strachan signed them and both of those deals turned out well for the club.

Edited 13 July, 2021 by a1ex2001

[Whitey Grandad]

31 minutes ago, a1ex2001 said:

Hirst what a waste of 2 million quid that was!  Imagine the row on here if we made a 30 year old with a dodgy injury record our record signing this summer! back on the positive side Williams and Telfer must have both been 29/30 when Strachan signed them and both of those deals turned out well for the club.

But he did have the odd moment. Didn’t injury effectively finish his career?

7th February 1998: Liverpool 2-3 Southampton (Hirst 2, Ostenstad)

Saints claimed their first win at Anfield for 17 years thanks to a brace of goals from David Hirst.
The striker grabbed his first of the game from the penalty spot after nine minutes to give the visitors a perfect start to the match.

Liverpool forward Michael Owen levelled up before the break to make it 1-1 at half-time.
It would go on to be another late show, with Egil Ostenstad sweeping home an assist from Hirst to make it 2-1, before the Norwegian returned the favour for Hirst to smash in the third past David James.

Owen reduced the arrears in stoppage time, but Dave Jones’ Saints were deserved winners on the day.

Southampton team: Paul Jones, Jason Dodd, Lee Todd, Kevin Richardson, Ken Monkou, Claus Lundekvam (Richard Dryden 49), John Beresford, Matt Oakley (Andy Williams 15), David Hughes, David Hirst, Kevin Davies (Egil Ostenstad 39)

[Jeremy Corbyn]

Just lucky that in the same season we managed to secure a work permit for a certain little Latvian.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

20 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But he did have the odd moment. Didn’t injury effectively finish his career?

7th February 1998: Liverpool 2-3 Southampton (Hirst 2, Ostenstad)

Saints claimed their first win at Anfield for 17 years thanks to a brace of goals from David Hirst.
The striker grabbed his first of the game from the penalty spot after nine minutes to give the visitors a perfect start to the match.

Liverpool forward Michael Owen levelled up before the break to make it 1-1 at half-time.
It would go on to be another late show, with Egil Ostenstad sweeping home an assist from Hirst to make it 2-1, before the Norwegian returned the favour for Hirst to smash in the third past David James.

Owen reduced the arrears in stoppage time, but Dave Jones’ Saints were deserved winners on the day.

Southampton team: Paul Jones, Jason Dodd, Lee Todd, Kevin Richardson, Ken Monkou, Claus Lundekvam (Richard Dryden 49), John Beresford, Matt Oakley (Andy Williams 15), David Hughes, David Hirst, Kevin Davies (Egil Ostenstad 39)

Remember that game. First time I'd seen Saints win at Anfield. 

[a1ex2001]

31 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But he did have the odd moment. Didn’t injury effectively finish his career?

7th February 1998: Liverpool 2-3 Southampton (Hirst 2, Ostenstad)

Saints claimed their first win at Anfield for 17 years thanks to a brace of goals from David Hirst.
The striker grabbed his first of the game from the penalty spot after nine minutes to give the visitors a perfect start to the match.

Liverpool forward Michael Owen levelled up before the break to make it 1-1 at half-time.
It would go on to be another late show, with Egil Ostenstad sweeping home an assist from Hirst to make it 2-1, before the Norwegian returned the favour for Hirst to smash in the third past David James.

Owen reduced the arrears in stoppage time, but Dave Jones’ Saints were deserved winners on the day.

Southampton team: Paul Jones, Jason Dodd, Lee Todd, Kevin Richardson, Ken Monkou, Claus Lundekvam (Richard Dryden 49), John Beresford, Matt Oakley (Andy Williams 15), David Hughes, David Hirst, Kevin Davies (Egil Ostenstad 39)

He had his moments briefly in his first season but his injury record before we signed him was absolutely dire and then low and behold he retired after 2 seasons, making him our record signing at a time when we didn't spend a lot of money was bonkers