I only saw him once as a Saints player - at SMS against Hull if I recall correctly - I remember thinking he was the fastest player over 20-30 yards I`d ever seen. Welcome back Theo. You don`t get 40 plus caps for England if you can`t play - a shrewd signing if he has the hunger for some unfinished business here!
That makes three as 'one of us', with JWP and Danny yes? We will need to be a touch patient I think, as others have said, he's here for football reasons primarily and secondary and Ralph is shrewed enough to make the right call. But Theo fitting in to the new Saints way will be a fascinating watch. Also his signing has, in my view, taken the pressure off some of the younger but more expensive players who have just joined us. Good luck to all of them!
Loved listening to that....as fans, we are a permanent fixture, but we are always aware that most players love us while they are here, but then move on. Walcott also moved on, but good to hear that we were always in his heart. He sounded like a fan. Let's hope that it works out for him....for his sake and ours. It is a shame that the fans will be absent for his debut (whenever that is) because the roof would have come off (if we had a roof).
By coincidence, I saw him on his Saints debut vs Wolves, and his Arsenal debut vs Villa. Both times, he came on at about 60 minutes, and scared the absolute living hell out of both defences. Didn’t score though, and both games ended in draws iirc
Not BS either every time he played at St Mary’s he always did a walk around applauding the crowd after the game In 2003 Me and a mate were watching Basingstoke v Saints Youth in a friendly 1st half 1-1 typical callow but technical youth v seasoned semi pros 2nd half Saints put a kid on the wing in front of us and he was the fastest thing I’d ever seen on legs, ripped the Stokies to shreds and it ended 6-1 He made or scored all 5. Who the **** was that said we. Looked him up and it was Theo, he was only 14!!
Happy to have him back. Met him a couple of times down the years and he’s a humble lad. Hope he has a great season here, and we can offer him a couple more years.
0-0 in about early November time? I was living up North and took the wife to that game. She wasn’t impressed
I think he’s showed a bit of class and genuine humility since his move went through tbh. I hope he does well, good luck to him. He’s still got most of his pace btw, he just doesn’t always use it, which can be frustrating, as you know he can do the full back and get to the byline, but he often checks and lays the ball off inside as if he doesn’t seem to trust his own ability at times.
Just listened to that interview again. He really does seem genuinely excited to be back. I have listened to a lot of interviews of new players coming and Theo seems more passionate than most. Having his youth career here certainly helped.
We’re very used to people doing that! In fairness though, a confidence boost does the world of good, as can a change in scenery at times. Hojbjerg is a good example - he was pretty bad for us last season and is now seemingly Xavi. Bertrand and Walker-Peters too. It’s actually quite encouraging when fans of the exiting club are negative!
I know Ralph prefers younger players which is a good thing but you also need experience to bring them through. Theo has bags of experience so the more I think about it the happier I am that he is back. I am also level headed enough to know he is not the player he once was so I'm not expecting him to work miracles but listening to his interview its hard not to get a buzz.My only worry is that some fans will expect him to be the17 year old Theo.
Always a difficult one because players like to show respect for their ex-club. Personally, I see nothing wrong with it as long as you don't show disrespect to their fans (and there are none at the moment). May help that his last club was Everton (so he hasn't just left Arsenal) and Arsenal are a big enough club to take it. Did he score against us and if so what did he do then? Would have been worse taste to celebrate too wildly when playing your boyhood club. Sorry, too serious an answer. He will do cartwheels and backflips whilst singing 'When the Saints....'
