How old is.... too old ?

[swedish dave]

I never cease to be amazed by those who immediately condemn a player on age because (they think) he is ..too old.

My response is ....compared to whom?   Age is relative, (something I can relate to as I near my 7th decade as a Saints fan).

Any player nearing, or even past 30 ....is often deemed to be too old by some on this site (although this is not a curse  

restricted only to fans.  A classic tale comes from the period after Saints' relegation to League One (2009) and relates 

to a Sky Sports interview with ex-Saints manager Alan Pardew who was (at that time) our newest manager.

Having taken over as Chairman (and holding the club's purse strings). Nicola Cortese was shocked when Pardew said he 

wanted to buy ..." a certain player," and Cortese asked him again....Do you really want to buy a  27 y.o  ...for 1 million pounds?.  

The player in question was ...Rickie Lambert  and that fee would be a record for League One club. 

 

The suitability, of any player to do the job may depend on fitness, or experience and doesn't depend on the year of his birth.

Those of us who can recall the finer periods in Saints history will tell of Lawrie McMenemy's teams in the early 1980's in a 

period we saw a succession of players, (many over 30), who had captained an England team... at sometime in their careers.

They were (naturally) all top class players and served the club well ..even for shorter periods.. but with great success.

Players must be suited to the league they play in, and the role they are needed for, but age is not a concern - if good enough.

 

Amongst recent examples, I noted that "the ultimate journeyman" Billy Sharp (who almost single-handedly dragged Saints over

the line in our promotion season 2012) was (not for the first time) ..on the team sheet for Doncaster in our recent FA Cup tie

- despite rapidly approaching the age of 40.   James Milner began with Leeds at 16 and was still playing for Brighton at age 38,

 and they are not alone as we recall Saints one-time captain Stephen Davis was still a first-choice player in Prem. at 34, even

before returning to Scotland where he played to almost 40. 

I hope those who see us being linked with "any older players" won't condemn before they can even see them in action.

 

[Paulwantsapint81]

Age is just a number it’s what’s in the heart & legs that matters

Jose Fonte left 9 years ago but is still playing now & how he has been missed

[Badger]

You’re preaching to the converted where I’m concerned.Been crying out for a Ball or Case for years.

Said whilst we were in the EPL under Ralph that the best way to see the young players we were signing develop was to put a few experienced heads around them, rather than just throw them together and hope.

One of the themes of Lawrie’s era was mixing old heads and young legs to great success. 

A recent success showing this work has been Xhaka at Sunderland. But doubt we’d have the foresight to see what he’d bring.

One problem though is when we signed Alan Ball he was 31, and was playing for England about 18months before joining. If a player of that calibre was leaving Arsenal now they’d be looking for £30m plus,  and he’d probably rather end up as a squad player at Chelsea sitting it out on the bench with a few League Cup games. 

 

[Turkish]

The fan base has been conditioned over the years that we have to buy young hungry and guaranteed to improve because the club has for by and large been obsessed with signing players for what they can sell them for in a couple of years time, not ones who can do a job here and now. That’s why anyone over 27 is too old despite having probably at least 5-6 years left in them. 

I’m sure I’ll get a few yeah but (insert Lallana, Walcott) but they were well past their best when they came back. When was the last time we signed someone like Steven Davis, a quality experienced player, at a good age,  not a superstar not one that we can sell for 4 times what we paid but someone to come in, do a job for a few years? 

[Lighthouse]

9 minutes ago, Turkish said:

The fan base has been conditioned over the years that we have to buy young hungry and guaranteed to improve because the club has for by and large been obsessed with signing players for what they can sell them for in a couple of years time, not ones who can do a job here and now. That’s why anyone over 27 is too old despite having probably at least 5-6 years left in them. 

I’m sure I’ll get a few yeah but (insert Lallana, Walcott) but they were well past their best when they came back. When was the last time we signed someone like Steven Davis, a quality experienced player, at a good age,  not a superstar not one that we can sell for 4 times what we paid but someone to come in, do a job for a few years? 

Apart from Ramsdale, Stewart, Manning, Downes, THB, Fellows, Scienza, Azaz and Welington, I'm struggling to think of anyone in the last couple of years.

[bugenhagen]

18 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Apart from Ramsdale, Stewart, Manning, Downes, THB, Fellows, Scienza, Azaz and Welington, I'm struggling to think of anyone in the last couple of years.

As I understood his post (and piont), I took it as players over the age of 27 he was asking about, so none of them?

[AlexLaw76]

24 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Apart from Ramsdale, Stewart, Manning, Downes, THB, Fellows, Scienza, Azaz and Welington, I'm struggling to think of anyone in the last couple of years.

Were any of them over 27 when signed?

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

Apart from Ramsdale, Stewart, Manning, Downes, THB, Fellows, Scienza, Azaz and Welington, I'm struggling to think of anyone in the last couple of years.

Other than none of them being over 27 you’re bang on 

Edited yesterday at 19:35 by Turkish

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, bugenhagen said:

I took it as players over the age of 27 he was asking about

 

15 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Other than none of them being over 27 you’re bang on 

 

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Were any of them over 27 when signed?

Nope, he very obviously said...

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

When was the last time we signed someone like Steven Davis, a quality experienced player, at a good age,

None of the players I mentioned were kids, all have plenty of experience of first team football. As do players like Isak and Haaland, who would also be excluded from your definition of 'a good age'.

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

 

 

Nope, he very obviously said...

None of the players I mentioned were kids, all have plenty of experience of first team football. As do players like Isak and Haaland, who would also be excluded from your definition of 'a good age'.

Possibly need to read and understand the OP

[bugenhagen]

22 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Possibly need to read and understand the OP

Nah, no interest in that. Just wants to try and pick apart one sentence, removed from the rest of the post (and the thread), and start an argument (not a discussion).

[Turkish]

31 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

 

 

Nope, he very obviously said...

None of the players I mentioned were kids, all have plenty of experience of first team football. As do players like Isak and Haaland, who would also be excluded from your definition of 'a good age'.

You’re struggling aren’t you..

[swedish dave]

As I started this post (what a mess I made of it, too).. BUT most of you have grasped the nettle

and the recent "comments on age " concerned  Larin  (who has helped us win 2 games so far). 

Just look back at the start of his thread and see who condemned him  - simply because of his age.

 

IF he were to stay..?  he's unlikely to be getting a 3-4 year contract, but a player on form is certainly

one to keep regardless of age, and he may even end up in the Canadian squad for the World Cup.  

 

My other reference to " 27 year old " came from the 2009 dialogue between Pardew and Cortese   

(who on his own admission knew  f*** a** about English football ) and Pardew - already an experienced 

manager and former player.   Fortunately Pardew convinced NC that his "age-bias" was unwarranted. 

Experience is vital in every side - especially one with quite young talents, and it was interesting to hear

Cam Bragg praising the help he's getting from Oriel Romeo on a daily basis. Ironically neither of them will

get a lot of game time for rest of this season, but the young man is learning from the older one's experience.

Experienced players are the source of encouragement for the younger ones, and the storyline behind the

success of Alan Ball's partnership with the young Steve Williams was part of Saints legend in the late 1970's

[Chez]

Manning and Stewart were both 27 when they signed for us.

Other players 27 and over that we have signed them on permanent deals include Lallana, Taylor, Fraser, Lumley, Onuachu, Orsic, Caballero, Pied, Pelle, Long. Not that many, but in the PL we were losing £30m a year before player sales. Unless the club sells players it goes broke very quickly. Hence signing younger players with resale potential.

Edited 3 hours ago by Chez

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Since he's got his own podcast all over the BBC, I asked Wayne Rooney "how old was too old?" I've been blocked for some reason.

[Charlie Wayman]

On 22/02/2026 at 16:41, Badger said:

You’re preaching to the converted where I’m concerned.Been crying out for a Ball or Case for years.

 

 

We've got Romeu, the best a man can get!

[ecuk268]

Jimmy Case was 31 when he signed and was our best midfielder for 6 seasons.