Although I didn’t dislike him, I’d like to throw David Prutton into the mix for the needless 10 game suspension for pushing the referee. Losing a regular player for stupid reasons, at a time when we were fighting to stay in the league, was unforgivable.
1. that was ace. 2. it was the lino 3. pedant alert 4. I don’t bet very often but back then I was living in Wigan and only got to the odd game. I got to the Liverpool game that season at Home and put a fiver on Prutton first goal at 33-1
It was the linesperson, but I am with you there. Happened right in front of me and I couldn't believe it. EDIT: I am a twin EDIT2: I must be as a 10:27am post was answered simultaneously 19:38 lol
I hardly ever missed a match from the time I passed my driving test in 1984 but Branfoot's style of football so incensed me that I boycotted the Saints. Unfortunately, I did not have the will to tough it out and it only lasted one game because I could not bear listening to the game on the radio. I think the funny thing about Branfoot's appointment was that there was no honeymoon period. No one wanted him at the club especially after disgruntled Reading fans let it be known that he would be a disaster. He took up the rule having seen Saints sell Alan Shearer which meant the task was always going to be difficult. The signing of Speedie and Dixon added fuel to the fire and proved to be amongst a string of signings that either prompted disappointment or ridicule. When it became apparent what the style of football under Branfoot would look like, I think that these player's reputations were marked. It was always a case of being under-whelmed. It is therefore a bit of a surprise to see some of the names listed. I quite liked Jermaine Wright and I am scratching my head at some of the other suggestions in the poll. I wonder how much of a generational thing this is because I feel that the supporters never really behind the players Branfoot recruited. If this thread was broadened to "least favourite Saints team" I think the Branfoot team must win by a country mile. One memory I have of the ZDS final is of a supporter in from of me at Wembley trying to get an "Ugh, Terry Hurlock!" chant going and the people around his looking on in dismay. There were probably players like Frankie Bennett and Paul Moody who were totally out of their depth and who would have struggled to have made a first team appearance under anyone sensible. If I recall, there was a lot of hype surround Moody's signing at the time which the club put out as being a bit of a coup.. Tall and awkward target men were part of Branfoot's philosophy but so was the midfield enforcer in the guise of Terry Hurlock. I just find it strange that someone as uncultured as Hurlock ever featured in the Premier League and it shows you how far the game as developed with the likes of him at one extreme and the finesse of the likes of Aguerro at Man City. Different positions and a different generation but a start reminding that Branfoot's footballing brain more accurately envisaged the "ale house" mentality of a Southampton team than that bestowed on an earlier Saints line up by Shankley. Hurlock represented a non-footballing solution to playing football.
