1. Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!

5 Best and 5 Worst Signings in Saints History

Discussion in 'Southampton' started by James G, Jun 8, 2013.

  1. James G

    James G Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    1,613
    Likes Received:
    172
    #1
  2. tomw24

    tomw24 Well-Known Member
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2011
    Messages:
    62,301
    Likes Received:
    30,850
    Before I look at the article I'd be amazed if the worst isn't Ali Dia. <laugh>
     
    #2
  3. tomw24

    tomw24 Well-Known Member
    Forum Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2011
    Messages:
    62,301
    Likes Received:
    30,850
    And it isn't! Although they do explain why.
     
    #3
  4. James G

    James G Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    1,613
    Likes Received:
    172
    Yeah, he states in the comments that he wanted to show the players' value, so took into account appearances and the time they were at the club versus the fee we paid and sale value.
     
    #4
  5. Khyras

    Khyras Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2011
    Messages:
    97
    Likes Received:
    0
    it appears mostly about value for money, that being the case Forecast has to be the worst seeing as Bale's worth is being suggested £50mill +... a hideous decision to swap our sell on clause for him!
     
    #5
  6. Saint Birdsnest

    Saint Birdsnest Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2012
    Messages:
    550
    Likes Received:
    25
    Tommy Forecast has to be up there with the worst, especially bearing in mind he was part of the Gareth Bale deal!

    I generally agree with those players though. However a case could probably be made for Chaplow. He only cost £50,000; you could buy 20 Chaplow's for the price of 1 Rickie Lambert. Or you could buy 700 Chaplows for the price of 1 Andy Carroll. The mind boggles.
     
    #6
  7. James G

    James G Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    1,613
    Likes Received:
    172
    Forecast is an interesting shout, but he's kind of a special case being a makeweight in a complex part ex. Not strictly speaking a signing we pursued but also nowhere near good value!

    Delap is another, large fee for nothing really that special. However he played a lot of games and was a decent utility man, I think he played in every outfield position for us.
     
    #7
  8. fran-MLs little camera

    fran-MLs little camera Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2011
    Messages:
    68,876
    Likes Received:
    24,070
    Forecast undoubtedly because we never played him...that makes him expensive at any price. Of the ones suggested, I voted for Iments Bleidelis. Went for Lambert for best buy...the return on the money we paid is immense, but was also torn with Schneiderlin and Marion.
     
    #8
  9. St. Luigi Scrosoppi

    St. Luigi Scrosoppi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2011
    Messages:
    11,726
    Likes Received:
    7,919
    5 best in order of importance:

    1. Ron Davies.
    2. Jimmy Case.
    3. Marion Pahars.
    4. Frank Worthington.
    5. Killer.
     
    #9
  10. fran-MLs little camera

    fran-MLs little camera Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2011
    Messages:
    68,876
    Likes Received:
    24,070
    They said in last 15 years I think.
     
    #10

  11. James G

    James G Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    1,613
    Likes Received:
    172
    Thought this would be interesting with a bit more information so I did me some numbers. Okay so first of all this post isn't really about opinion because value is something that should be numerically viable and something that can be calculated.

    Technically Claus would be our greatest value signing ever. He started 83% of games while with us in the Premier league (using just Premiership data for this). He was signed for 400k which adjusts to 1.1m or so in the current market. I think if we signed a CB this summer for 1.1m and he started 283 games we'd be over THE GODDAMN MOON.

    Interestingly enough our most expensive signing during the Premiership years (adjusted to current market) was DAVID HIRST. His 2m fee adjusts up to nearly 7m now. Doesn't seem great value.

    One outstanding player of value from that time was Dean Richards, signed for nothing then sold for 8.1m, adjusted to 10.7m.

    Kevin Davies is arguably the most valuable signing we ever made looking at the math. Davies was signed for 750k (2.5m) and then sold for 7.25m (adjusted this is a whopping 17.8m, because of changes in the market that year and since).

    It seems to me that the best manager we had regarding transfers in that period was Dave Jones, with neither Strachen nor Hoddle coming anywhere near as effective in spending.
     
    #11
  12. James G

    James G Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    1,613
    Likes Received:
    172
    Dave Jones' cost per point average was just 390k just in case you were all wondering (I'm sure you weren't).
     
    #12
  13. St. Luigi Scrosoppi

    St. Luigi Scrosoppi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2011
    Messages:
    11,726
    Likes Received:
    7,919
    Men don't do instructions!
     
    #13
  14. James G

    James G Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    1,613
    Likes Received:
    172
    My fault. Not in the thread title.
     
    #14
  15. Archers Road

    Archers Road Urban Spaceman

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2011
    Messages:
    53,854
    Likes Received:
    58,354
    Amazing that James Beattie scored 68 goals for us. He was quite limited as a striker imo (poor first touch, imobile, slow) but he hit a golden streak for us that he was never able to replicate anywhere else. WGS knew how to get the best out of him. Anyway, he wouldn't be on my list.
     
    #15
  16. Downthe36

    Downthe36 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2012
    Messages:
    4,005
    Likes Received:
    86
    Jelle van Damme <laugh> I remember being really excited when we signed him, and the only possible reason for that could have been his name! What a flop.

    Forecast has to be in the list for me, not just because he turned out so rubbish, but because he was a make-weight in the transfer for one of the most talented footballers in the world! The only reason he didn't make the list has to be because he is so crap he hasn't registered on the authors radar.
     
    #16
  17. rednright

    rednright Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2011
    Messages:
    842
    Likes Received:
    385
    1. David Armstrong
    2. Rickie Lambert
    3. Ron Davies
    4. Claus Lundekvam
    5. Jimmy Case
     
    #17
  18. BassettSaint

    BassettSaint Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2011
    Messages:
    969
    Likes Received:
    176
    Oh Neil McCann! Flash from the past. Or Neil McCunt as they used to cry.

    I've actually never heard of 2 and 3 for the worst.

    Can't say I'm too surprised with the top 5
     
    #18
  19. Qwerty

    Qwerty Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2011
    Messages:
    14,006
    Likes Received:
    3,515
    No mention of Crouch... plucked off Aston Villa's bench, he didn't complete the great escape for us but without him we would have been ten points away, and we turned a tidy profit.

    Interesting though that Thomas is in the worst 5 because we were in financial trouble, but Schneiderlin and Davis who were a year before and after are in the top 5, at similar cost. For a little bit before Markus and Nicola saved us, I thought that it would be those signings (Skacel was the standout one) that finished us off. Maybe that's controvertial... happy to be wrong anyway (or just used to it).
     
    #19
  20. James G

    James G Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2011
    Messages:
    1,613
    Likes Received:
    172
    There's a difference between signing a player for too much money when you're in trouble when he is old, and signing a player who is young, goes on to make a ton of appearances and has a high resale. Thomas was a terrible idea for many reasons, but chiefly it's his resale. If we'd been in dire trouble and not been bought, we could have easily recouped Morgans value. No bloody way we would have on Thomas. Like I said earlier, value is the key.
     
    #20

Share This Page