Obviously Theo is no where near as bad as Carillo (and others) in financial terms but as a decision its right up there imo given we'd had him loan for season and seen he wasn't up to it. Baffles me that based on the season he was on loan someone thought he was worth 80k a week for two years. As bad as the Forster contract for me.
True, but it’s the pure piss-take of the man. Constantly ‘injured’ yet miraculously able to play in every Ecuador game and even a World Cup! Couldn’t even be arsed to learn English.
Sorry but have to disagree. I didn't think for one minute that Ralph gave the ok for Theo just on the basis of emotional ties etc. The absolute difference between Carillo and Walcott is that the latter is giving to younger players the encouragement and support they often don't get, wasn't it Tella who on scoring his first goal ran to Theo to celebrate before anyone else? I get the point on salary but if Theo's presence off the field is having that kind of effect, so be it. He knows what it means to wear our shirt and that's something I've not seen in a few of our more expensive signings.
Walcott left when he got a sniff of the big time, if he really wanted to play for Saints he could have come back years ago. He’s only here because we gave him a contract and paid his salary. If he has a positive influence on younger players then great, but that’s not why we signed him.
I can’t see any other reason why we would’ve signed him? I remember laughing at Everton signing him as he was finished then, that must’ve been about 4/5 years ago
If I was a Saints player on say, 30k/week, I`d be be pissed off if there was someone there getting twice that because he`s a nice bloke, yet contributing next to nothing on the pitch. So his presence may be counter-productive, and contributes only to an upward wage spiral.
It's a strange one with Walcott. On the one hand he is overpaid, on the other he isn't. If I was a player on £30k a week, (lol for a start i wouldn't be annoyed to only earn that ) I would look at Walcott and see what he has achieved in the game etc and look to learn from him. In most industries, experience will get you a bit of respect and a higher wage. In a role when I was around 40, a new member joined our team technically on the same level as me, but with no experience. He was 24 and he found out he was on £20k a year less than me. He was pissed off, but my 20+ years of experience meant I was worth it as I could mentor him and was better at handling situations and issues that happened. Funny thing is 12 years later he is still there and now earning the money. Walcott loves the club - I don't feel he jumped ship when we were a Championship side (on the way down) and Arsenal came calling. You can see what the club means to him and I think he is like Adam A that he tries too hard when he gets the chance.
Theo relied on his unbelievable pace in his early career and always lacked a bit of intelligence and good decision making. He no longer has the speed to outrun defenders and has become a very average player as a result and certainly not worth the wages that we can barely afford now. It was a misguided decision to offer a contract based on what I believe the club thought would be a popular one with the fans and now they are stuck with a player that doesn't contribute much but costs a lot.
Weren’t we supposedly “close” to signing him when he went to Everton originally aswell? Seen to recall stories that it was basically a done deal then he decided against it when Everton came waving their cheque book. Surprised he is generally so well liked by Saints fans. Left us as soon as he could (OK we were skint so maybe bit of slack there), turned us down for money couple of seasons ago and then has been stealing a high wage for us since signing permanently. Considering the animosity to other players not sure why he gets let off the hook
I think that at the time he left as a very young player, I'm not at all sure he was getting the best advice from those close to him, and we were not in a financial position to say no to the deal at the time.
Maybe we are paying him for scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final that got us into Europe through the league that year.
That's debatable, I thought that the general consensus was that Arsenal ruined him and he underachieved there but I was just offering a reason why "some" fans may cut him some slack.
Agree with this 100%. Wenger, over the years, built a reputation for NOT being able to bring young players on. I would also add that Wengers early success was built on the defence that George Graham established and his biggest failing at Arsenal in later years was he never properly addressed this issue. He always seemed to miss critical moments in matches where his players received bookings or red cards... strange that. Edit - l remember on here we used to joke that Wenger had been seen hiding in the bushes outside Staplewood!!
I would have to say that both Walcott and Oxlade Chamberlain never fuilfilled their potentials at Arsenal although it is worth pointing out that Walcott had a serious injury more much of that time. I think he was good for us or the frst few months when he returned from Everton. The one player who did disappoint at Arsenal was Calum Chambers. I think that Arsene Wneger will be seen as a manager who revolutionise the game in the UK. However, I think that things eventuall caught up with him as what was originally revolutionary eventually became the mainstream. I would struggle to argue that he really brought the three Saints signings he made on and I would go further by arguing that this was ultimately detrimental to the British national squads. When I started following football in the mid seventies foreign players were the exception and not the rule. Whilst Chelsea were as much to blame for fielding teams where the British players were in a sginificant minority, I feel that Arsenal under Wenger will be viewed by future generations as representing the turning point in the modern game. Ideas which were prevalent on the continent eventually became the norm here and I think this has ultimately manifested itself with seeing the likes of England and Wales performing better in International level. Ultimately, what happed in the mid 1990s will be viewed as a sea-change - not only because of Sky and the evolution of te Premier League, but because the likes of Wenger applied science to modernise the game.
