Sad - Ronnie Ekelund. Crikey, he was good. Why did he have to have a bad back..? And why did Saints insist he had risky surgery..? Of course, Keegan and Shearer leaving too, but we were paid off. Ronnie was unexpected and for free and he was just brilliant. Glad - Rory Delap. Jeez, was that man the emperor's new clothes or what..? The day he left I thought.. YES..! And Neil McCann [see worst signing thread]. AND, mentioning Shearer reminds me of his replacements who were going to score more goals than he, Speedie and Dixon.
Sad - Surman. That sucked. Glad - Most of the others from that era. McGoldrick, BWP, Rasiak and Saganowski were just massive drains on the wage budget. It wasn't that I didn't like them, but it was at a time when it was a massive relief to just get rid of the high earners.
Good post Joe. Actually better examples than mine. Seeing you mention Andrew Surman brought all that back. What a shame. He might even have grown with Saints and become a great player. At least he's with a southern based team. Really though he should still be part of a Saints squad, dammit..!
I'm convinced he'd still be good enough for our team had he never left. He ended up wasting crucial parts of his career and his ability probably suffered a lot. He had a ton of potential and was really intelligent on the pitch.
We got a good fee for Bridge when he left but at the time he was one of the most important players in that side and Le Saux was never going to be able to replicate the whole Marsden/Bridge axis down the left. I was just a little sad that even though we were finishing in our highest postion/cup final we were still selling. Agree with the Ronnie Ekelund one, brilliant signing for us. Pure class.
Everyone rightly loved Ekelund. Speaking of dodgy backs, poor David Hughes had a bad set of cards with the same at that time too.
David Hirst was another one that came here with a good reputation but was injured for most of it. 30 appearances in 3 years.
Steve Williams - when he left I was distraught My son cried the day Surman left, bless him. He had a signed Christmas card from him that season too as he was his favourite player.
Sad to see the likes of Chappers, Hammond, Harding, Richardson, Butterfield etc leave. Players who were so instrumental in our rise.
It has to be Steve Williams for me too although I also did not want to see Mick Channon or Mark Wright leave either. Although they were great players I was not as sad when Keegan and Shilton left as they did not feel as if they were "ours". I couldn't stand Speedy and Dixon or for that matter Branfoot so I was glad when they all left.
Trivial I know and he hasn't left yet...but Mayuka because he had a laughing face, swam like a shark and did somersaults. Also all the players involved in our resurrection who were then not good enough
I remember watching Ronnie Ekelund & Matt playing together against Everton. Great movement from the former Barcelona player with MLT playing almost as DM playing maker with perfect golf passes. Ronnie Ekelund didn't have to do much just stick both goals in the back of the net!
SAD: Danny Wallace - my first Saints 'hero' Kevin Keegan - how did we ever sign European footballer of the year! Laurie Mac - not a player, but gutted when he went to Sunderland Mick Channon - Great player Steve Williams - Midfield maestro Matt Le Tiss - Why retire... Wayne Bridge - we were just beginning to look good in 2003. Also, as others have said, those instrumental to our resurrection from League 1 who are now not deemed good enough...Hammond, Chaplow, Harding, Barnard, Sharp, (though some haven't left yet), etc. Glad: Rasiak - over-rated and over paid Kevin Philips - I'll get slated, but never rated him. To be fair, their aren't many I am glad to see go - most people once they pull on that Saints shirt have done us proud. No7
Danny Wallace Rod Wallace Mark Wright Alan Shearer Tim Flowers Jeff Kenna Actually looking back at these names, I really hated Blackburn back then for buying all our best players - who then went on to win the title. What if...
Surprised nobody has mentioned Chrissy Marsden who came to us as a real journeyman from Birmingham [I think]. I remember thinking at the time that he would be a fringe player and was bought to make up the numbers, but he became a really important player for us that had a special relationship with the crowd. Always gave 100%, nice bloke as well.
Yeah Marsden was a great team player and worked brilliantly with Bridge. May have been the bald head but I thought him and Chaplow were very similar. Great engines.
