david in sweden Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 (edited) as all the talk is about managers, it's interesting to look back at which players can be considered GOOD and BAD buys during their reign as boss. With Ted and Lawrie occupying 30 odd years between them, that takes up a lot of the time but here goes... Ted Bates signed Paine, Sydenham, Chivers and Channon as juniors and not a transfer fee in sight. They played close to 2000 games between them and scored + 550 goals ! (nuff said there). Ted said the only player he ever regretted selling was ..Martin Chivers, even though the £125 K was British record fee at the time, but he must have thought that the £45K in the exchange deal with Frank Saul was a waste, only 60 games (12 g). However, the best buy (for money) was undoubtedly Ron Davies £55K and 153g. in 277 apps. he was worth 3 times that (at his best.) Lawries arrival brought relegation the first year, but later came; Osgood, Ball, Boyer, MacDougall, Ivan Golac, Dave Watson, Keegan, Mick Mills, David Armstrong and of course Peter Shilton..plus young recruits in Nick Holmes, Steve Williams, Danny Wallace, Steve Moran and Mark Wright. A great balance of youth and experience. WORST buy.....certainly Derby sold us a pup with a 600K fee for injury prone Charlie George, whose knee injury never healed and he played only 50 games. (something we'd see more of in later years.) Ironically, Lawries last buy would become the mainstay of Chris Nicholls team for the next 7 yrs. Jimmy Case was one of the best midfielders we've had in the last 50 yrs. Chris Nicholl had a great chance to introduce youngsters and Dave Merrington's fanatastic youth sides provided us with Dodd, Benali, Kenna,Shearer, Maddison, MLT and two more Wallace brothers. Shrewd buys like Tim Flowers (future England goalie), Ruddock and ©ockerill gave us a good balance. Disappointments were the loss of Shilton and Mark Wright. Andy Townsend was surplus to requirements after return from injury but made an International career as well as Norwich, Chelsea, Villa and Middboro. BAD buys, Mmmmmm ideas anyone ? Here endeth the first lesson ..part 2 starts with .. Ian Branfoots unforgettable record. Edited 20 February, 2009 by david in sweden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the saint in winchester Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 Are you a writer or something? Chapter 2 : The Branfoot Years. ..... You're not David Singer are you? Didn't I go to school with you? Last known working for Telia in Sweden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_saints Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 Chapter 3: Why Rupert is a c**t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodles34 Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 Chap 4: Best buys during Administration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnB Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 Other good buys were Derek Statham and Mark Dennis. I always had a soft spot for Chicken George and was disappointed when he was sold and so very pleased when he returned - ok he wasn't the most gifted player, but he was exciting to watch, as you just didn't know what he was going to do, sometimes magnificent, but also sometimes not so good. Not necessarily a bad buy, but Gordon Watson failed to live up to my expectations of him - you couldn't fault him for his effort, but the goals just didn't come and his arrival conincided with the departure of Jeff Kenna, who I always preferred to Jason Dodd (and Dodd was very good) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 David, always enjoy reading your informative posts! When I look at those names, it brings a large smile to my sadly depressed face. Sad at our current state and the prospect on administration/10 points deduction/loss of players and even more fans. Thanks for the memory of yesteryear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 ' The Bald Eagle ' was great unsung hero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lets B Avenue Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 ' The Bald Eagle ' was great unsung hero. Jim Smith?? Bagpuss' bum chum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyNorthernSaints Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 Alan McLouglan was probably Nicholl's worst buy. Barry Horne a decent signing. Keith Cassells was a poor Lawrie signing. Branflake signed loads of rubbish including, Dixon, Speedie, Wood etc but also decent one's like Monkou and Adams. Souness signed decent players like Egil, Claus, Berkovic but also is best known for Ali Dia and i think he is also responsible for Dryden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eesti matty Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 Alan McLouglan was probably Nicholl's worst buy. Barry Horne a decent signing. Keith Cassells was a poor Lawrie signing. Branflake signed loads of rubbish including, Dixon, Speedie, Wood etc but also decent one's like Monkou and Adams. Souness signed decent players like Egil, Claus, Berkovic but also is best known for Ali Dia and i think he is also responsible for Dryden? Yep, Souness signed Dryden. He also signed Van Gobbel (not bad whilst he was with us) and Graham Potter. Souness and McMenemy also set up the deal for Kevin Davies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eesti matty Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 I also remember Branfoot signing people like Paul Moody. He was rather prolific for Waterlooville but it was a big step up to the Prem. Having said that, he was rather successful in the lower leagues and Oxford United fans in particular hold him in high regard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallyboy Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 anyone else catch Perry Groves on the radio apologising for his Saints form the other day? He said he pulled the shirt on but didn't play much! Refreshing honesty. We sound like old gits but we were spoiled back in the late 70s, early 80s, the signing of Keegan was the catalyst for so many other players to come, great era, and the only good thing about getting old is being able to say, I was there. When you get to being a proper old crumbly and you start telling people you saw the 76 cup final or even that you were there when Matt scored against Arsenal, the less aged will be well-impressed. Unless by then they all support Man City/Chelsea or whoever is financial flavour of the month! Looking back is great, especially when the view forwards don't look so pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidthesquid Posted 19 February, 2009 Share Posted 19 February, 2009 Chris Nicholl actually signed some very good players from the lower divisions - Glenn ****erill, Gerry Forrest, Kevin Moore to name but three Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 20 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 20 February, 2009 Are you a writer or something? Chapter 2 : The Branfoot Years. ..... You're not David Singer are you? Didn't I go to school with you? Last known working for Telia in Sweden? well ........an " or something " I guess, but I enjoy history and statistics, too. No I'm not THAT David, been here 25 years but never heard of him. Sorry ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 20 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 20 February, 2009 Chapter 3: Why Rupert is a c**t I'm waiting a while with that - it's a hard chapter to write. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 20 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 20 February, 2009 Chap 4: Best buys during Administration I take one day at a time, and never considered myself to be a prophet ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 20 February, 2009 Author Share Posted 20 February, 2009 David, always enjoy reading your informative posts! When I look at those names, it brings a large smile to my sadly depressed face. Sad at our current state and the prospect on administration/10 points deduction/loss of players and even more fans. Thanks for the memory of yesteryear. Hi Norm, thanks for the greeting. It really got interesting when I started to think about it ! .....but apart from the impatience that modern day fans have with indifferent management and players form we're unlikely to ever have another manager for the 13 years (Lawrie) was here.......or even Ted Bates' 18+ years stint. They really were in a class of their own, but for totally different reasons. I'm afraid the later chapters may make poor reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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