Might be my memory playing tricks, its old age! but I can't think of many players who have really blossomed after leaving Saints over the years. Obvious exceptions are Shearer and Bale. Walcott at first but he now seems to be going backwards. There are loads however who seem to have not been so good after their transfers. Channon and Steve Williams stick in my mind as players who were wolrld beaters with Saints but never quite matched that level after leaving. The Wallace brothers are another example. What do people think?
Don't agree about Chamberlaine he is doing for Arsenal exactly the same as he did for us although granted at a higher level. Certainly going back a while Chivers improved after he left, Baird has improved in my view and so has Delap. Although to be fair it didn't take too much for him to improve though did it? On the whole though a lot of players after they left were never headline characters again as they were while down here.
Think its fair to say Crouch improved after he left, could make an argument for Kenwyne Jones aswell.
There's no doubt some players improve and others don't. Players like James Beattie had their best years with Saints. Some players respond quickly to playing with better players. Chamberlain, for example, is like a sponge. If he had stayed with Saints, I'm sure he would have got to where he is now, but would have taken longer to do it. Bale was the same. I think Adam Lallana would easily respond to playing with better players, but he just prefers to stay with Southampton FC and progress with the same club. I can't do anything but respect him for his loyalty and his desire to directly benefit the club that brought him along. I think there are also players who need to stick around at a certain level and then leave at the right time, if they want to progress. Walcott would have been better staying for a season or two longer to complete his basic football education. He is certainly not the player he could be and I think it will take a good few years before he properly blossoms, if indeed he does improve from his level. Other players like Chris Baird and Simon Gillet wasted many seasons at Saints, patiently waiting for their moment. OK, Bairdy got a season or two and then got noticed by Fulham, but both should have jumped earlier IMO, if they wanted to play and progress. As they always say, there's nothing like playing regular competitive football to progress. But do it with as good a club as possible.
Kevin Davies' career didn't take off until he went to Bolton. Scott MacDonald has done very well since leaving the South Coast so to has Leon Best. Anders Svensson deserves a mention aswell. Since he returned to Elfsborg, he has become a much better player than his time at Saints. So much so, that he has captained the Sweden national team on many occasions.
Slightly off-topic, but I'm not going to start a new thread for this: Michail Antonio has gone to Sheffield Wednesday until the end of the season. Now there's a player whose career has stagnated. He was progressing with Saints really quite nicely and wanted to stay with us. And yet, at 21 he's back in League One, picking up career again. I think he missed his main chance, and for that I blame Reading for holding onto to him, when the best thing would have been to let him go, to progress at the League One level a couple of seasons back.
TSS. Yes I spotted that. It's a shame I really thought he had great potential and seemed very happy with us. Hopefully he can turn things around under Megson.
Antonio wasn't that brilliant. He was quick and strong but offered very little else. He would not fit into this system at all.
"Walcott at first but he now seems to be going backwards"-Rubbish,Walcott hasn't improved much but he certainly isn't going backwards.
There are so many permutations to this question. Players who have left us in there teens and early 20s should naturally get better if they have the right attitude. Surman is doing really well at Norwich, but if you had asked this question over a year ago when he was rotting at Wolves then you would have looked at it like he was doing poorly
Not sure most Arsenal fans would agree with you. He has been dire in the last few games I've watched.
on the other hand, would have lallana's progress been slowed if bale had not moved? or the same with oxo if theo had not moved
I'd disagree with this Greg - when he first came to us he was widely touted as "the next big thing" and was superb - then he went to Blackburn and it all went wrong and came back to us to rebuild his career. Granted he's gone back to being good again at Bolton, but in a strange way the most promising part of his career was during his first spell at Saints....
Too many ifs and buts. Bale could've stayed at left back and Lallana could be on the left wing as he is now. If Bale was put into the wing like he is now, then Lallana could be playing down the middle, as he started out in his younger days....but then Chamberlain started out playing down the centre then got moved to the wing. It's fairly straightforward. Lallana could be a completely different player at another club or at a higher level. We will never know how it would've turned out if he'd moved on, and indeed if Bale would've turned out so good whilst on our books, and as such we should just forget about it and move on.
One could argue Beattie had a better goals:games ratio at Sheff Utd (altho at a Div below I think). Gillet I never thought offered that much as is a poor Championship player IMO. Andrew Surman took a while to find his feet after leaving Saints but is playing really well currently and I dont really understand all the Nathan Dyer hype at all...
Is Walcott not out of contract end of next season? Arsenal havent begun negotiations yet but would be amazed if they didnt - a player aged c. 23 and has possible large re-sale value...
