When Saints have gone for a new player or manager how many times have you been left unimpressd only to find out that they have been quality for Saints and proven wrong? The one sticks out for me would be Gordon Strachan got Coventry relegated then sacked during the Championship season when not diong well. Boy was i proven wrong. Another one was a Dave Jones signing a certain Chris Marsden never heard much about him before but he certainly left an impression on me.
I have to say that Rupert Lowe proved me wrong several times.... I never thought i'd see a Rugby coach at the club.... I never thought i'd see a Chairman in a tracksuit with the players on the training ground.... I never thought i'd see the fruits of our Academy sold too early for a fraction of their potential value....etc etc Yep old Rupes always found new ways of proving me wrong....Thank god those days are long gone.
Anthony Pulis was one I was completely wrong about. I thought he would be absolutely useless Instead he was much much worse than that!
What about: - Thinking that turning our club into some sort of dutch youth football fantasy was a good idea - Selling our best players and using the money to fill his and other shareholders pockets rather than re-invest it back into the club - And generally causing the downful, administration and relegation to League 1 etc etc! Yep, good old Rupert, he never failed to surprise me with he's ludicrous actions!
I have to say, SaintMarv ... FRANK WORTHINGTON Lawrie McMenemy bought Frank Worthington in the summer of '83 for £25,000. "He's scored a lot of goals in his career," said McMenemy but, as he explained to the Echo at the time, "I am looking to him to be the man that makes our forwards click. He's a wily customer and he's got the experience." Frank only scored 4 goals in the entire season, and only managed 1 when we hit Coventry City for 8. But McMenemy was right, he made the forward line click! And I believe he was dearly loved by all. A master stroke! Saints finished runners up to Liverpool that season I remember watching him warm up at Loftus Road before playing QPR. He was juggling the ball ( left and right foot ) consistently about 6 inches from the turf; hooked the ball onto the back of his neck; dropped his head to let it roll forward; tossed it high with his head; and struck it with the outside of his left foot; curling the ball into the top corner. It was millimetre perfect If only they had given his as much time on the ball in the game :-( QPR beat Saints 4-0!
I thought Rickie Lambert was a cart horse from The Gas..... I think I got that one wrong and probably why I appreciate his all round play more than ever now. Sorry Lambo. Love ya now
I would say that the wee man's appointment by Rupert Lowe is a common one with fans. I sulked like a baby when he was made our manager but he then delivered some of the best times in our recent history. Williams & Telfer who he bought with him didn't fill me with joy either.
I thought Rickie Lambert was a cart horse from The Gas..... I think I got that one wrong and probably why I appreciate his all round play more than ever now. Sorry Lambo. Love ya now
Peter Crouch stands out for me. Beanpole who couldn't hit a barndoor (except with his head when he walked under it) for Villa, turning out to be one of the very few shining lights in that season.
Peter Crouch - for the reason given above by Dan. Nigel Adkins - wasn't impressed when he bacame our manager as I hadn't heard of him. "We got him from Scunthorpe? Great, what a hotbed of football talent that place is." was my initial thought. I am soooo glad to have been proven wrong by our new boss! Top, top bloke.
Chris Marsden is a very good example. Not only of a certain player, being ideal for a certain club at a certain time... but also I think the "outrage" at his signing was one of the first ones I witnessed on the internet. Possibly was the first time I saw how people would use forums to rant and rave, well before a player had the chance to even play a game for us. Sadly, still goes on and has got steadily worse.
Very true, he was written off before he even kicked a ball - he proved everyone wrong in the end As an opposite, I remember when Delgado came and everyone thought we'd signed the next Rivaldo. They played a video at St Marys before a match of him producing great skills and scoring wonderful goals and everyone thought he was going to set the world on fire! How wrong were we all!
Talk about sulking. He makes Puncheon look like he has a positive attitude.Just a thought did the players not wish Puncheon a happy birthday ?
Ha! Yes, but I always thought that, despite all the annoyances with Delgado, I reckon his reputation / status with the fans, and subsequently his form, could have been sooo much better if that header had gone in against Man U after Beatts got injured... Maybe he wouldn't have gone AWOL Anyway, all ifs and buts, that's football eh
When Ted Bates sold Martin Chivers to Tottenham for a British record fee of £125,000 we were all heartbroken and wondering who was going to fill his shoes. A young lad by the name of Mike (yes, Mike) Channon was given a chance to show his skills alongside big Ron Davies, and nobody had any idea at the time that he would become our (still) record goalscorer.
Not sure Delgado really sulked much. He just couldn't speak English and the culture here was totally different to what he'd been used to. He was a big star where he was before and that wasn't the case at Saints. Plus, Strachan clearly begrudged the rumoured pressure by Lowe to play Delgado and had little to do with him on the training ground.
The question that never got answered (and never will) about Delgado is where did the £3.25m we paid for him go? It was rumoured his club "Necaxa" only ever received £0.5m. But I'm sure Mr Lowe would have never ever dealt with dodgy south american agents, ahem.
Remember the fella who came with him aswell, Kleber Chala. He was captain of Ecuador at the time but he was completly useless. He only ever played in the reserves and even then he struggled!
Disagree with that, I thought Kleber Chala was ok and much more suited to the english game than Delgado. He clearly was just a make-weight to give Delgado a mate to talk to, but I think Chala was the Ecuador captain at some stage. He probably had his career tainted here because of what was going on with Delegado.
