Worth a gamble IMO, Beatts was always a big match player and once a goalscorer always a goalscorer. I didn't like the way Saints fans forgot the valuable contribution he made for us for 6 years and he always did his share of good work in the community. Yes, he was a bit cocky, but he has the skills to back it up.
I'm sure he would love to come back here, maybe give him a 1 year contract which doesn't break our wage structure and see how he gets on. Would be great back up if Lambert or Connolly get injured.
Agree, he may not be the exceptional player he once was, but for me would relish the chance to come back to the club that catapulted his career.
I would give him a trial. If he is good enough, then I would offer him a pay-as-you-play deal, if he is as loyal as fans make out - he will agree to it.
The only problem would be the wage deal I guess. If Adkins wants him, and Cortese will fund him, I think he'd be a class act still.
He didn't really look up to scratch for Blackpool last season, but I think he'd probably be a good signing as IMO the only person we don't have cover for is Lambert, so he'd be a good squad player for the CF position.
He stands at nearly 6 foot 2 Beattie, Beattie He'll take us to the Premier League, Beattie, Beattie He gets the ball, he takes the piss He wears the shirt of, er, Jason Puncheon... maybe not
No - if you read Gordon Strachan's book you will see he has a poor attitude and not too intelligent either when it comes to positioning and supporting team mates and finally is not a teamsquad player.
So what are our options regards to signing loan players? I don't live in the UK anymore, so am out of the loop, regarding the rules about signing loan players. Cheers. Steve
Saints can sign players on loan from any club for a maximum of 93 days when the loan window opens next week. There is a limit on number of loan players that can be involved in a squad at any one time, but don't think that would effect us.
Its a tricky one, but if Saints could get a deal done for him to drop his wages and perhaps on a play as you pay deal, so could offload him with little hassle if it didn't work out... then you never know, it could be a bargain. I get what people say about Beattie being a big character, but I think Adkins could handle him and could bring the best out of him if he gets him fit and part of the team ethic. For my part, having met Beatts a few times, I thought he was a good lad and as he's no doubt matured a lot since leaving Saints, I doubt he'd be that big a problem off the field (lets face it, even some of our current squad arn't exactly angels). Beattie has done some charity events in and around Soton, even after he left the club. His missus is a local girl, I wouldn't be surprised if he still owned a gaff down here.
Don't lets forget Beattie's drink driving conviction! Had a team mate as a designated driver who stopped to go into a shop. So super-brain Beatts gets into the driving seat to move the car 20 yards to wait for him outside the shop.
For which he got punished (they actually threw the book at him, the punishment didn't fit the crime) and it was a long time ago.
Was actually replying to someone who suggested he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box. Not suggesting an old conviction affects his ability to play for us.
I was very much against him coming back before as it would be a risky signing there's no doubt about that. However, it would be great for nostalgia - Beattie back at in a Saints shirt, just imagine him coming out the tunnel at St Marys. What sort of reception do you think he'd get?
Fair enough and on reflection, seeing him play on tv for both Rangers and Blackpool last season, he looked pretty awful. But then that was Beattie really, when he was in one of his rich scoring runs, he was unstoppable, but he always took a while to get off the mark and get his confidence up. So he might not be the best option as a back-up striker.
