Of all the players who saw us through from the depths of despair in 2009 to having us invading the pitch to celebrate a second promotion Morgan Schneiderlin was a personal favourite. Rickie earned his 'legend' status, and I can still get a buzz from watching his goals. Yet in my heart he didn't surpass the quiet French lad who chose to stick with us when we dropped into Division One and grew into one of the finest players in the club's history. His was not a glamorous role. He didn't make good 'highlights' material but Saints fans knew he'd be a rock in the centre of midfield. His partnership with Wanyama was a thing of beauty in its own way. And now he's gone to Lille for half a dozen Super U vouchers and a packet of crisps. What should have been a great career culminating in winning the World Cup with France was destroyed on the rocks of Man Utd and Everton. Whatever mistakes he made - and that infamous tweet was huge - he was a great player for us and in latter years an articulate voice for the club in interviews. For those reasons I can only wish him well and hope, as a philosophical Frenchman, il ne regrette rien!
Snidders was one of the best all round midfielders I have seen playing for Saints for many years and it was sad to see him leave But it saddens me even more to see his career fall through the floor chasing the cash leading to this final transfer embarrassment If he had stayed with us he would have been a legend and we would have been a much better team for him anchoring our midfield
I agree. But just as great actors need a good script and director, players need good coaches and managers. Man Utd had The Chosen One. Case rested!
He'd never admit it, but he probably wishes he'd stayed too. I don't blame him for his harsh tweet, the club weren't blameless in that period. I once read he turned down Portsmouth to sign for us. Shunning the skates, sticking by us in L1, 2 promotions and generally dominating the midfield has earned him great respect with me. Legend status....not quite....but if he stayed...no doubt. Good luck moosh
I don’t think any other Saints player benefited as much as Morgan, from us being relegated twice. He always had quality, on the ball, but his tackling in the beginning was awful. There were times when he was arriving later than a Southern train, and the ball was long gone before he clattered the opposition player. Dropping to a lower level, playing against players that often needed extra touches to control the ball, helped him to build up his “tackle timing”, something he was able to build on as we went back up the leagues and back with the opposition players who could control and pass in one quick movement.
One of the legends of the Liebherr/Cortese era and good enough to be voted in the all time Saints XI on here so i'll always have good memories of him and wish him well. It could be that he chose the wrong clubs at the wrong time after Saints, I don't believe that you become a poor footballer overnight.
Morgan was a great player for us and he put in another good season (despite feeling aggrieved), so I wish him the best. And he may feel better about this move than we do because he’s going home.
I thought it was Arsenal he knocked back which, in a way, makes his decision to stay with us all the more worthy of praise.
Loved Morgan, undoubtedly the best midfielder I've ever seen play for us and one of my all time favourites. Still remember how excited we all got when he scored that screamer at Brizzle which was his first goal. Don't wish him any ill other his strop either as I thought he was in his rights to be upset, and he put in another superb season afterwards.
Very true mate. The season after his strop was class and professional.We can all throw our toys now and again, the more I think about Las reed, I can't help but feel he was justified. I know we're discussing it now but the strop is a minor blip in a great service for our club and its good that we all except that.
https://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/schneiderlin-reveals-portsmouth-approach-190820#popup-sso Seemed an honest bloke even then
Morgan was the closest I’ve seen to a Steve Williams at Saints. I can’t give a bigger compliment. I also had the pleasure of conversing with him in his native tongue. He is a humble gentleman who I admire greatly. bonne chance mon ami
His mistake was going to Utd, I believe he would have faired much better at Arsenal. But he was a good player for us and a joy to watch.
If I remember rightly (and I may well be wrong) his gripe was that he was told no after 5/6 years of service after players such as Lovren & Chambers were granted them after just a year. Quite right too imo.
Think it was just a matter of timing wasn't it. Morgan was at the world cup pretty late that year, so you can expect that if he'd come back earlier maybe, and there wasn't such a fan revolt at the time, he probably would have gone as well.
Whenever I'm asked to pick my best Saints XI (which for me means 98/99 onwards), it's always between Morgan and Niemi for first name on the teamsheet. No Saints players during my era, in those particular two positions, come anywhere close to them.
Funny. There were times standing on the Northam end I felt like I was in minority of one in my adoration for Morgan, so it's lovely to read these comments. Incidentally, I didn't object to his strop either. I acknowledged it in my original post to head off the moaners! FLT. Comparing him to Stevie? I'd agree, and also that it is as a great a compliment that any Saints fan could make.
The very lovely Mrs Godders thought the sun shone out of his arse. I just thought he was a great footballer and was really sorry when he left.
Well I never. I hadn’t seen that before. I had read an interview with him where he spoke about knocking Arsenal back in favour of us after speaking to his compatriots Arsenal. I can’t find it now but here’s another. He was clearly in demand.
