Mick Channon came and went, then came back and went again Kevin Keegan came and went. yes, European Footballer of the year! He went Peter Shilton, England's greatest, he came and he went. Steve Williams he really did break my heart; he appeared and then he went Alan Ball came and went, then came and managed, then went Theo Walcott appeared, hardly grew, then went Gareth Bale appeared then went Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain appeared then went Rickie Lambert came, mesmerised me, achieved a very high place in my heart, then went home Luke Shaw appeared, did some growing, now looks like he's going Adam Lallana he appeared, he grew and he grew and he shone, then he wanted to stay forever, now he may want to go; I hope that he stays and smiles Morgan, j'espere que tu resteras ici pour des annes! Matthew Le Tissier you are the one real Saint; well you and me and maybe some others like me MLT, FLT and SFC. We're still here. The walls will be different. We'll speak Dutch for a while. We'll laugh and we'll win; we'll scream and we'll lose. . . . . . . Some haven't earned even a mention here.
Terry Paine. Didn't go to another league club, had a few twilight years with Hereford and Cheltenham, but he has always been a Saint.
Yes. I'm hoping people may add some of theirs to this list; players who they really took to who left. I saw Paine's last game at The Dell.... but in a Hereford shirt (my first ever Saints game), so sadly he was before my time.
I was actually trying to pint out that these players come and go. As CBK said earlier we fall for them sometimes too quickly. The list above is a few from my early years and some recent ones that maybe we didn't want to leave. Other people will have their own. I'm sure Dia wasn't one of yours.
The first one to jump on the gravy train and break my young heart was Martin Chivers. Sold to Tottenham for 125,000 pieces of silver.
Nope. There are many players that come and go. It happens in every club just seems to be us more then most. No player is bigger then the club. The club will be here long after they retire. If they want to go let them there's no point having a player who no longer wants to be here I would rather drop down a league with loyal players then have un loyal knobs who only want bigger pay cheques. (Lambert doesn't come into that)
The thing is, there has to be a balance. To remain competitive and progress towards European football we have to continually improve the squad, so like it or not, there will always be a turnover of players, including those who don't necessarily want to go. No-one has mentioned the players who helped us rise up the leagues but who weren't considered good enough for the Prem, players like Lee Barnard and Dean Hammond, and dear old Jos Hooiveld. In their way they were as important as the Oxlade-Chamberlains and Shaws, but we couldn't let sentiment get in the way of looking for improvements on them. So maybe we shouldn't be so quick to blame players who see a gold mine looming and cash in. They don't get very long to earn the big money so why not let them? We will replace them, and we have an advantage over most other clubs in the academy which will keep providing us with quality young players who will then have more chance of breaking through.
I'm just bitter about the lack of loyalty in football these days. Not just the players but the owners to the managers.
Very good post Chilco. You can't stand still. It's a little like last summer when some people couldn't understand why we signed Vic, when we had Cork, Morgan et al; it was part of the evolution, something different.
Yeah I remember that. Everyone was saying "why Wanyama when we don't need another midfielder?!" If we had signed Di Maria or Messi or someone, would people still have been saying 'ugh, we didn't need another midfielder!' ? Hell no. Small continuous steps = Constant growth
After visiting our friends to the South-East for a season. Ended up being loaned to Millwall, so let that be a warning to you, Lukey boy.
I don't mind those that didn't want to go as well - those not quite good enough, and those who just got old. BUT FLT How could you forget the magical skills of one F. Benali?
Can't forget the greatest Saint of all, the man whose statue graces the front of the Itchen Stand, Mr Southampton, Ted Bates.
