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Your favourite Saints players that weren't popular?

Bad Wolf

By Bad Wolf,
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Badger

Badger

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Hugh Fisher.

 

Fisher deserves a mention here on behalf of my late father who rated him and admired his tenacious midfield aggression and cunning( I thought he lost much of that after his collision with Bob Wilson and a broken leg). He was part of the Alehouse midfield, but seldom got the recognition that perhaps O'Neil, and local hero Paine received at the time.

 

When Lawrie arrived he soon treated us to some big names, and Fisher became a bit of a scapegoat. I admit, I was not a great fan as a teenager, but my Dad supported Fisher - probably only to nark me - and of course he played his part in history with his last minute equaliser v Villa in Jan 1976.

 

October 76, and I had to admire how easily he put George Best in his pocket when the Fulham circus came to The Dell.

 

 

Mark Dennis, i can feel the pain now that he inflicted on many that thought it was a good idea to try and run past him!

 

Mark Dennis was never unpopular at The Dell, quite the opposite, he was a cult hero.

 

I always rated jim magilton , but there were two chumps who sat near me who moaned about him constantly. Every time he passed the ball backwards or sideways, which admittedly was most of the time, one of them would shout loudly"forward magilton" . After a few months i told the bloke to stfu, and support the team. This resulted in a round of applause and a few "well said mate" from the surrounding seats.

 

Upper East Stand by any chance ?

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St Michael

St Michael

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Another one for me is Andrew Davies. He was fantastic when he came in on loan from Middlesbrough. Injuries started to occur once signed after his loan.

 

Andrew Davies is now at Bradford. I work with a couple of Bantams fans who say he's their best player. They absolutely love him. I agree with you, he never got a decent run at Saints. I always thought he was decent.

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mitch01

mitch01

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Andrew Davies is now at Bradford. I work with a couple of Bantams fans who say he's their best player. They absolutely love him. I agree with you, he never got a decent run at Saints. I always thought he was decent.

 

He was great for us in the short time we had him, I thought he was going to end up in the PL.

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sotonist

sotonist

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Andrew Davies is now at Bradford. I work with a couple of Bantams fans who say he's their best player. They absolutely love him. I agree with you, he never got a decent run at Saints. I always thought he was decent.

 

Didn't he get voted our player of the season and bought by stoke?

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SFKA South Woodford

SFKA South Woodford

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I always liked David Hughes, I remember him at Dellhurst having an impact during the time he was on the pitch, also put in good performances in a number of other games too. He looked like he would go on to be a top player, such a shame that he got such bad injuries and we released him.

 

Having been a goalkeeper in my younger days, John Burridge was also a favourite of mine.

 

Jimmy Case was my absolute favourite though until Matt came along.

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Gemmel

Gemmel

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Believe it or not Bobby Stokes. In the run-up to the Cup Final he took a huge amount of stick for not being able to put the ball away. He was always on the spot but was going through a lean spell and the goal keeper would save with his legs or a shot would go agonisingly wide. I stuck with him.:) ...and the rest is...well you know the rest.

 

That's why I stick with this place. Had no idea about that and don't for one minute doubt it's true and the actual finish is actually WORLD CLASS,....I 'll get some stick for that but seriously think it was............ and now we know, it was on the back on of a lean spell....... He was saving it up :) :)

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Gemmel

Gemmel

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Paul Jones got loads of stick near the end of his time here and he was a great servant to the club. I felt sorry for him. Great keeper.

 

Off the original posters question, but I agree. He actually ended up playing for Liverpool (And doing very well, if my memory serves me right) but I would say Jones and Cockerill both stayed a season too long and both were very good for Saints.

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ericofarabia

ericofarabia

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Hugh Fisher.

 

Fisher deserves a mention here on behalf of my late father who rated him and admired his tenacious midfield aggression and cunning( I thought he lost much of that after his collision with Bob Wilson and a broken leg). He was part of the Alehouse midfield, but seldom got the recognition that perhaps O'Neil, and local hero Paine received at the time.

 

When Lawrie arrived he soon treated us to some big names, and Fisher became a bit of a scapegoat. I admit, I was not a great fan as a teenager, but my Dad supported Fisher - probably only to nark me - and of course he played his part in history with his last minute equaliser v Villa in Jan 1976.

 

October 76, and I had to admire how easily he put George Best in his pocket when the Fulham circus came to The Del

 

QUOTE]

 

Very good call!! Hughie certainly was singled out quite often by the boo boys.

He will always forever hold a special place in my footballing memory bank, for the oh so important last inute goal against Villa.

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edprice1984

edprice1984

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One for the oldies .... Jimmy Melia!!

 

Because of his bald head he really stood out, and was the whipping boy of the day.

 

I remember one cold wet midweek evening game where early on he headed the muddy ball and spent the rest of the evening with his gleaming bald head proudly displaying a muddy imprint of the ball, giving the impression he had some hair!!

 

I am distantly related to Jimmy Melia on my Grandmother's side.

 

Have to say I agree with the stuff about Telfer, thought he was a cracking player - but I always thought Rasiak was class, just unfortunate that he was here during that awful period in the clubs history. The goal v Derby in the playoffs alone still gives me goosebumps. Until Lambert scoring for England, the single biggest celebration ever watching football

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Sergei Gotsmanov

Sergei Gotsmanov

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I always rated jim magilton , but there were two chumps who sat near me who moaned about him constantly. Every time he passed the ball backwards or sideways, which admittedly was most of the time, one of them would shout loudly"forward magilton" . After a few months i told the bloke to stfu, and support the team. This resulted in a round of applause and a few "well said mate" from the surrounding seats.

 

I always heard that 'forward Magilton' shout - you must have been in the Upper West Stand near the middle - It always amused me and I cannot believe that you remember. We were all surprised that the transfer fee we got for him when he left though. As regards players I rated that nobody else did I would say Benali - statistics showed we did better with him in the team than not.

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OfnPanad

OfnPanad

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Tommy Widdrington!

 

Under-used I think and got a reputation as a utility man so was never allowed to settle into a position. Got to love him for scoring against Leeds...albeit from laying down, with his face and him not knowing much about it.

 

I would have got his name on my shirt but I wasn't rich enough so I went with Mr Benali.

 

Great days.

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Badger

Badger

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I always rated jim magilton , but there were two chumps who sat near me who moaned about him constantly. Every time he passed the ball backwards or sideways, which admittedly was most of the time, one of them would shout loudly"forward magilton" . After a few months i told the bloke to stfu, and support the team. This resulted in a round of applause and a few "well said mate" from the surrounding seats.

 

 

Upper East Stand by any chance ?

 

I always heard that 'forward Magilton' shout - you must have been in the Upper West Stand near the middle - It always amused me and I cannot believe that you remember. .

 

Perhaps you heard the bloke shouting it from the East Stand ?

 

It was often wrapped up, or pre-faced with a booming "Oh, Jesus Christ NO,....FORWARD Magilton ... for Christ sake..."

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SNSUN

SNSUN

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Jim Magilton gets another vote from me. He didn't cost much and yet chipped in with some important goals (especially against the Skates.)

 

More recently I also liked Chris Perry - for someone who was at the tail end of his career, he came in to a club in trouble and performed well. As people said at the time, his legs had gone but his reading of the game was what made him a good defender. Pearson signing him and Lucketti solidified us that season and kept us up, with Stern John's goals, even if it were just for one more season...

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beancounter saint

beancounter saint

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Jim Magilton gets another vote from me. He didn't cost much and yet chipped in with some important goals (especially against the Skates.)

 

More recently I also liked Chris Perry - for someone who was at the tail end of his career, he came in to a club in trouble and performed well. As people said at the time, his legs had gone but his reading of the game was what made him a good defender. Pearson signing him and Lucketti solidified us that season and kept us up, with Stern John's goals, even if it were just for one more season...

 

I agree on Chris Perry. The way he competed physically as a centre back was amazing given his small size and advancing years.

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Minty

Minty

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Two for me, because of their never-say-die attitude at the back:

 

Scott Hiley - who can forget his goal line clearance vs West Ham (and it wasn't his only one if I recall correctly?)... was often unlucky IMO to make way for Jason Dodd when he returned from whichever injury he had just been out with...

 

Alan Nielson - I am slightly biased as I knew and worked with his wife Claire, but like Hiley, Alan was one of those defenders who put everything on the line... the most memorable moment of his being to take a shot full in the face away at Newcastle which they even highlighted on MOTD at the time. I think it was the game we won 1-0 thanks to a MLT freekick.

 

Never the greatest footballers, but put in a shift every time and never shirked a tackle or block, and also bloody nice blokes too.

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saintadjg

saintadjg

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Tommy Widdrington!

 

Under-used I think and got a reputation as a utility man so was never allowed to settle into a position. Got to love him for scoring against Leeds...albeit from laying down, with his face and him not knowing much about it.

 

I would have got his name on my shirt but I wasn't rich enough so I went with Mr Benali.

 

Great days.

 

Widdrington is the only name ive had on a saints shirt . very underrated player.

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lifeintheslowlane

lifeintheslowlane

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Perhaps you heard the bloke shouting it from the East Stand ?

 

It was often wrapped up, or pre-faced with a booming "Oh, Jesus Christ NO,....FORWARD Magilton ... for Christ sake..."

 

Haha...the same as Duckhunter I bawled a f**kwit out whilst (really) standing under the east stand. He was a middle-aged-bearded-apoplectic-heart-attack-waiting-to-happen-kinda-tw*t. He had this red-faced-raging hatred of Alan Ball. Towards the end of his time at Saints in the late '70s early '80s Bally's performances could be variable...still a class act but his legs were going and Steve Williams was doing a fair bit of Bally's covering work.

 

Even when Bally was having a good game this tw*t would rush down the terracing when Bally came near to loudly berate him. Most of the time it was funny as the guy's face was purple with rage. In the end I said, "If you're having such a lousy time...why don't you FO home." The whole terrace supported with a collective, "Yeah why don't you F-O home.":)

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The9

The9

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Billy Sharp, Paul Telfer and KEN~!!!!wyne Jones for me. I don't understand why anyone would have a go at Sharp who was instrumental in our promotion and booted rather than given a chance (and now seems to be becoming unpopular as a result), Telfer was a model pro who always gave his all, and KEN~!!! never seemed to be as popular as his goalscoring transformation deserved. Never much into Jermaine Wright, thought he was average if more competent than some people gave him credit for. Oh, and I always thought Chris Makin should have been better than he actually was, so add him to the list. If anyone says Alan Bennett I'll have to "keel" them.

 

Oh, and I did like Jelle Van Damme for a bit at the start, when he was a hoofing at Crouch behemoth at left back who ran out of petrol in his yellow Hummer driving to London, as opposed to the d1ck who refused to play for us in the Championship.

Edited by The9
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Badvoc

Badvoc

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Colin Clarke. During his first season it seemed every touch he had would result in a goal. If he hadn't got injured at the back end of 86/87 I'm sure his goal stats would have been really good. Just a shame his weight became an issue and he wanted 'out' to a more ambitious club-QPR FFS!!!

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SnailOB

SnailOB

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At the time was a big fan of Andy Townsend.

 

Also Rod Wallace impressed me (was he 'popular' ?)

 

Also remember a young CB we had - think name was Steve Davis (?), only had a handful of games but at the time he reminded me of Mark Wright (comfortable on ball), unfortunately never made it here. Think he ended up at Burnley

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david in sweden

david in sweden

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Matt Oakley. Once suggested we make him skipper and build a team around him and got widely derided. Derby did just that and reaped the rewards. A very underrated player.

 

agree with that one.

he was out for a year with a knee injury and the manager of the day ( Hoddle ? Strachan ? ) decided to only offer him a 1 year extension. He left instead. Bad decision with hindsight to later events.

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Badger

Badger

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David Burnside and Tommy Mulgrew.

 

As for Hughie Fisher being unpopular, utter tosh! (Mind you, with a memory like mine....................)

 

In the post relegation era, 1974-6 Fisher was a scapegoat for many, and certainly ranked as 'unappreciated' even if he wasn't unpopular. I distinctly recall groans being heard when his name was announced in the starting eleven. He was in an unenviable position really as he was seen one of the 'old guard' who had seen better days, possibly one of those who coming to the end of their career had been partly responsible for us being relegated, and with age not on his side, did not offer much chance of promotion again.

 

I seem to remember our lowest ebb in Division 2, in which he and Lew Chatterley took the brunt of the backlash from fans.

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Norm

Norm

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In the post relegation era, 1974-6 Fisher was a scapegoat for many, and certainly ranked as 'unappreciated' even if he wasn't unpopular. I distinctly recall groans being heard when his name was announced in the starting eleven. He was in an unenviable position really as he was seen one of the 'old guard' who had seen better days, possibly one of those who coming to the end of their career had been partly responsible for us being relegated, and with age not on his side, did not offer much chance of promotion again.

 

I seem to remember our lowest ebb in Division 2, in which he and Lew Chatterley took the brunt of the backlash from fans.

 

If I'm honest, my opinion is clouded by the fact that I always liked Hughie as a person. I've known and met him many times over the years and found him to be a real gent.

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jawillwill

jawillwill

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Mario Licka- purely for that 'Licka paint' OS article.

 

Zoltan Liptak because I liked having someone called Zoltan in the team

 

Ryan Smith -because he was world class on his day

 

Tommy Forecast - because I was one of 8 Saints privileged to see him play for a Saints XI in Weymouth.

 

That guy we got on loan from Spurs for half a season in our Championship season.

 

And the Jon "sorry I ruin the party" Viafara.

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GAS

GAS

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Mark Hughes - or is that as a Manager?
Read this post again when sober (:rolleyes:) and obviously misunderstood the post. I dislike Mark Hughes. Anyway, I'll say Matty Oakley. I'm sure some will say he was liked etc, but much posting was very negative towards him. He joined all the dots in the team and was a very important player for us.
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