You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone

[Monk]

Just seen a video on Graziano Pelle after Trumps comments about Pele. Said video made me realise I never fully appreciated him when he was here.

So, whilst we have our little semis over today’s win.
 

Who is the player you never fully appreciated when here but now appreciate just how good they were? 

Steven Davis with a memorable mention.

[stknowle]

🍻

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Paul Telfer!

[sfc4prem]

Tadic

[Football Special]

[ChrisPY]

Jermaine Wright

[miltonroad]

Jimmy Case, just assumed a midfield warrior was par for the course for Saints. The ignorance of youth. 

[Miltonaggro]

David Armstrong and Dusan Tadic. Greatly appreciated both at Saints but in retrospect both absolute Rolls Royce footballers. 

[S-Clarke]

Prime Oriol Romeu. I don't think many of us appreciated how much he held our midfield together in those topsy turvy PL years. 

I'd also probably say Tadic, he wasn't the quick/pacy player that Mane was in that team - but on his day, too good for us - as he proved at Ajax.

[Football Special]

2 hours ago, Monk said:

Just seen a video on Graziano Pelle after Trumps comments about Pele. Said video made me realise I never fully appreciated him when he was here.

So, whilst we have our little semis over today’s win.
 

Who is the player you never fully appreciated when here but now appreciate just how good they were? 

Steven Davis with a memorable mention.

Can you share the video on Graziano Pelle? Would be good to see it. 

His move to China was an odd one, didn't it make him one of the world's best paid players at the time?

[Turkish]

Matt Oakley, a very good, underrated player that we didn’t realise how good he was until injured. Key player in Strachans team. Another one they just did his job without an fuss and kept us ticking over 

I’m also going to say Kevin Davies, great first season. Then misused by us second time round played right wing iirc and was very much third or even forth choice striker behind Beattie, Pahars and then Ormerod. However went on to do very well at Bolton for many years 

[Turkish]

5 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Can you share the video on Graziano Pelle? Would be good to see it. 

His move to China was an odd one, didn't it make him one of the world's best paid players at the time?

I think he because the 5th highest paid player in the Chinese league which at the time were playing silly money 

I Ioved him and thought he was great, when he was sold along with Mane that summer it was the start of our decline 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Anti Niemi, top keeper, our decline in keepers since has been staggering

[Turkish]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Anti Niemi, top keeper, our decline in keepers since has been staggering

 Boruc is the only one who comes close 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

 Boruc is the only one who comes close 

Totally. Ramsdale possibly, but playing behind that shit defence last season would make any keeper look bollocks.

[Singapore Saint]

Not a player but our slow and sure decline began when we sacked Claude Puel.

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

People are going to circle back to this thread if Damien Downs leaves 🥲

[LoyalSaintSO50]

12 hours ago, Turkish said:

Matt Oakley, a very good, underrated player that we didn’t realise how good he was until injured. Key player in Strachans team. Another one they just did his job without an fuss and kept us ticking over 

I’m also going to say Kevin Davies, great first season. Then misused by us second time round played right wing iirc and was very much third or even forth choice striker behind Beattie, Pahars and then Ormerod. However went on to do very well at Bolton for many years 

Good shout on both. Oakley’s goal against the skates was class and both we should have kept for longer. 
 

Ken Monkou and Jim Magilton for me. Both appreciated but maybe not to the level of how good they were for us 

[Paulwantsapint81]

Jose Fonte leaving was the end of promotion team & start of the rapid decline 

His cb partners got the limelight while he organised 

 

 

[Dan Johnson]

Steven Davis for me by an absolute country mile, one of the most consistent and intelligent footballers we've had, the perpetual unsung hero. Criminally underrated.

A constant when we finished 8th, 7th, 6th and 8th in consecutive seasons.

If he was Italian or Spanish he'd have been revered as a premier league legend and would have been playing consistently for a top 6 club week in week out.

Poch compared him to Xavi and Iniesta, thats how good he was.

[Turkish]

50 minutes ago, Dan Johnson said:

Steven Davis for me by an absolute country mile, one of the most consistent and intelligent footballers we've had, the perpetual unsung hero. Criminally underrated.

A constant when we finished 8th, 7th, 6th and 8th in consecutive seasons.

If he was Italian or Spanish he'd have been revered as a premier league legend and would have been playing consistently for a top 6 club week in week out.

Poch compared him to Xavi and Iniesta, thats how good he was.

Steven Davis is the most overrated underrated footballer ever 😂

I do agree with you but he is always on every lot of under rated players when it comes up on here. I agree with all What you say, it’s just funny how everyone seems to agree he was a really good player for all the reasons you mentioned but also that he was very underrated 

[Midfield_General]

Danny Ings won a lot of points for us, creating a chance out of nothing and then finishing it so that we edged something in games we otherwise would have drawn or lost. He’s the last properly PL-quality centre forward we’ve had, and not having a player like him last season was one of the (admittedly many) reasons we were so uncompetitive. A very good player who was written off by a lot of people when he arrived because of his past injury problems but was a very astute signing. 

Edited yesterday at 10:45 by Midfield_General

[Lighthouse]

5 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Danny Ings won a lot of points for us, creating a chance out of nothing and then finishing it so that we edged something in games we otherwise would have drawn or lost. He’s the last properly PL-quality centre forward we’ve had, and not having a player like him last season was one of the (admittedly many) reasons we were so uncompetitive. A very good player who was written off by a lot of people when he arrived because of his past injury problems but was a very astute signing. 

I don’t think you can really call Ings under appreciated when he was once competing for the golden boot with 23 goals. I’d put him in the same category as Lambert and Pelle in that whilst many people were upset to see them go, truth be told we sold them at exactly the right moment.

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

I don’t think you can really call Ings under appreciated when he was once competing for the golden boot with 23 goals. I’d put him in the same category as Lambert and Pelle in that whilst many people were upset to see them go, truth be told we sold them at exactly the right moment.

Fair point. I think we maybe thought he’d be easier to replace than he was though.  Adams had his uses but was never anywhere near as consistently effective, and watching others like Mara, Armstrong,  Brereton Diaz, Onuachu etc toil away against prem defences always made me realise how good Ings had been. Two great feet, half decent in the air, quick, always seemed to be able to create space for himself and a great finisher.

He was one player who left a massive quality gap when he left, although you’re right that he didn't do much after that and almost £30m or whatever it was was good business. Just a shame we could never find a way to properly replace him. 

Edited yesterday at 12:36 by Midfield_General

[Badger]

Thought provoking thread.

For me, going back years, Chris Nichol as manager.

I and many others thought he’d taken us as far as he could, and perhaps he was holding the club back. No one of course ever imagined how it could rapidly go downhill and also give up on playing style when Branfoot was appointed. 

Edited yesterday at 11:48 by Badger

[Badger]

Might also add Channon being given a free transfer from his second stint at the club.
 

He carried on playing for a couple of seasons after. Won the League Cup at Norwich. I doubt we’d have released him had we known Keegan was intent on leaving later that summer. 

[John Boy Saint]

2 hours ago, Dan Johnson said:

Steven Davis for me by an absolute country mile, one of the most consistent and intelligent footballers we've had, the perpetual unsung hero. Criminally underrated.

A constant when we finished 8th, 7th, 6th and 8th in consecutive seasons.

If he was Italian or Spanish he'd have been revered as a premier league legend and would have been playing consistently for a top 6 club week in week out.

Poch compared him to Xavi and Iniesta, thats how good he was.

Matt Oakley can sit in that same bracket, WGS always said he set the midfield tempo.  Those who know football could see their influence, to those less knowledgeable they were merely “Meh” players. 

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, John Boy Saint said:

Matt Oakley can sit in that same bracket, WGS always said he set the midfield tempo.  Those who know football could see their influence, to those less knowledgeable they were merely “Meh” players. 

I recall Hoddle raved about him whilst he was at Saints. 

[Whitey Grandad]

On 06/12/2025 at 17:14, Singapore Saint said:

Not a player but our slow and sure decline began when we sacked Claude Puel.

We sacked him because we were declining. 

[Football Special]

20 hours ago, Turkish said:

Steven Davis is the most overrated underrated footballer ever 😂

I do agree with you but he is always on every lot of under rated players when it comes up on here. I agree with all What you say, it’s just funny how everyone seems to agree he was a really good player for all the reasons you mentioned but also that he was very underrated 

I think Davis went  unnoticed for a while as we had other flair players who caught the eye and his hard work went under the radar, in someways Jack Cork was like that, good player but alongside Schneiderlin, Wanyama never really got praise from the fans 

[Turkish]

18 hours ago, John Boy Saint said:

Matt Oakley can sit in that same bracket, WGS always said he set the midfield tempo.  Those who know football could see their influence, to those less knowledgeable they were merely “Meh” players. 

Yep mentioned him above. A very good player who went about his job unnoticed. Consistent, kept it simple, set the tempo like you say. When he got injured we were never the same. 

[tttdcs]

 

Nick Holmes

Alan Ball said “one of the best pound-for-pound pros I ever played with in my entire career. I loved playing alongside him and he was always terrific – he would get you goals, he could defend. I never thought he had a bad game”. 

[Singapore Saint]

4 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

We sacked him because we were declining. 

No, we sacked him because we were not satisfied with defensive solidity and making the best of what we had.

World's worst interviewee I grant you that, but he did sport a very nice watch 😅

[Ted Bates Statue]

22 hours ago, Badger said:

Thought provoking thread.

For me, going back years, Chris Nichol as manager.

I and many others thought he’d taken us as far as he could, and perhaps he was holding the club back. No one of course ever imagined how it could rapidly go downhill and also give up on playing style when Branfoot was appointed. 

Sounds like such an exciting time to have been a Saints supporter, with so much young talent breaking through and the 4-2-4 formation. I always feel Nichol's tenure goes under the radar, perhaps due to being sandwiched between the Lawrie Mac era and then the lightning rod of Branfoot's style of management. Also, taking place just prior to the formation of the premier league doesn't help. 

I was also going to complain that the wikipedia season reviews don't even cover it in any detail, but as i write this I see that there are now updates going as far back as the 83-84 season - thanks if anyone on here was responsible for this.

[swannymere]

Paul Williams was a good player during his short time with us. 

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

Sounds like such an exciting time to have been a Saints supporter, with so much young talent breaking through and the 4-2-4 formation. I always feel Nichol's tenure goes under the radar, perhaps due to being sandwiched between the Lawrie Mac era and then the lightning rod of Branfoot's style of management. Also, taking place just prior to the formation of the premier league doesn't help. 

I was also going to complain that the wikipedia season reviews don't even cover it in any detail, but as i write this I see that there are now updates going as far back as the 83-84 season - thanks if anyone on here was responsible for this.

Ike a few on here that 89/90 season was so memorable. We had a good attacking team scoring loads of goals. We absolutely smashed Liverpool who at the time were the all conquering team in the country. Le Tissier and Rod Wallace scoring goals for fun, Shearer breaking through, a team that would win by ourscoring the opposition. When we beat spurs 3-1 at White Lane in the cup you thought it might be our season. Typical saints though, lost to Oldham in the league cup quarter final, lost away to Liverpool in the FA Cup 5th round but did finish 7th in the league. 
 

it was also the season I started going with my mates from school, turn up on the day and pay to get in, all stood behind the goal, same place every week. Get in the ground early and see the Dell fill up 
 

great memories