eelpie Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Converse to the ' Premier League Clubs record buys' thread, who were our best free signings, anyone? (Booby Prize goes to the first person who mentions Ali Dia)
Lallana's Left Peg Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Steven Davis ? I think Davis was 'free' but we paid Rangers £800k for him in the end as we didn't want to go through tribunals as I think they disputed that their players could leave for free when their club folded. We have signed plenty of decent players on a free but surely the best is Dean Richards?
SuperSAINT Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Steven Davis ? Think Cortese ended up paying a fee for him. I'm sure there are loads - but Dean Richards must be up there.
The9 Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 (edited) Going back to 1980 according to Soccerbase, your options are: (with *denoting if I'm not sure if they were free but no fee is listed) Pretty much anyone from the academy that we didn't pay for (and on that note I'll propose Gareth Bale as the winner with MLT a close second, Shaw, Walcott etc though I'm sure a few of them went for nominal fees somewhere along the line as kids). Steven Davis (arguable as we paid a fee of sorts due to the confused ownership and registration situation at Rangers) Artur Boruc Tadanari Lee Danny Butterfield Jonathan Forte* Richard Chaplow* Dan Harding Radhi Jaidi Dan Seabourne Jon Otsemobor Ryan Dickson Anthony Pulis Lee Molyneux Ryan Smith Jason Euell Lee Holmes Chris Perry Paul Wotton Jermaine Wright Chris Makin Dennis Wise Darren Powell Tomasz Hajto Djamel Belmadi Jim Brennan Jamie Redknapp Leandre Griffit Graeme Le Saux (swap) Kenwyne Jones* Marcus Hall Andrei Kanchelskis Darren Kenton Jacinta Ela Eyene Paul Murray (?!) Paul Williams Paul Telfer Uwe Rosler Jonathon Mills (?!) Bruno Leal Dean Richards - not a bad shout... Paul Hughes Scott Hiley Michael Stensgaard David Howells Russell Watkinson (?!) Bruce Grobbelaar (!) Peter Reid Despite that being only to 1994, Soccerbase doesn't have any frees but plenty of small transfer fees before that - but then that was pre-freedom of contract. Edited 16 October, 2015 by The9
The9 Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 I suppose we *could* judge it on profit made for most players which I'm fairly sure makes Dean Richards the winner ignoring Academy "frees".
sussexsaint Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Thought the fee for Davis that we paid was adjudged to have been unnecessary by the courts when Rangers were having their troubles and it was refunded - that was my understanding at any rate. Matthew Le Tissier didn't cost us much - he wasn't a bad player
Beckenham Saint Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Think we only payed compensation for Clyne because of his age, so not a transfer fee as such. He was OK(!) & we made a good profit on him
Saint Mikey Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 At a time when we were utterly woeful, Chris Perry did a fantastic job for us.
Lighthouse Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Harding was second only to Lambert in player of the season under Pardew, was an excellent free transfer at the time. If only we'd been able to pick a couple of players like that a year earlier we might not have gone down.
doddisalegend Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Dan Harding was a cracking free signing for where we were at the time. Clearly not the best player we ever signed or anything but starting in league 1 on minus 10 he was decent. Rahdi jaidi was another decent free during the post take over rebuild.
Baird of the land Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 My brain has for some reason blocked out that Jason Euell ever played for us.
beermatt1 Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Paul Telfer wouldn't make many "Top 5's" but would make it into our Top 5 free transfers based on that list and the time he spent playing in the Premier League for us.
Lighthouse Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 My brain has for some reason blocked out that Jason Euell ever played for us. I envy you.
sambosa75 Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Dean Richards, hands down. Great player and sold on for £8m.
SNSUN Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Ignoring the academy players which I don't think qualify as "free transfers", Dean Richards wins it hands down. Solidified our defence post Monkou, helped move us on from relegation battles to actually competing higher up the tables, and while he Left acrimoniously we got a hefty fee for him. My personal favourite free transfer was Harding.
saintmatt Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Dean Richards, hands down. Great player and sold on for £8m. which is about £25m in today's money!
The9 Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Richards, Connolly wasn't bad either. He was out of contract as opposed to a free transfer (nowhere to transfer from), which is why he didn't appear on the list.
david in sweden Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 (edited) Converse to the ' Premier League Clubs record buys' thread, who were our best free signings, anyone? (Booby Prize goes to the first person who mentions Ali Dia) "The 9 " has made a great list to study (on #6) and although I'd be quick I'd consider that Jaidi and Boruc were certainly worth the effort, it really is a no-brainer as Dean Richards (R.I.P) was quite outstanding in his seasons with Saints, and although it must have seemed a good deal at the time, his move (following Hoddle) to Spurs really marked a downturn in his career when many thought he would go onto greatness. In retrospect, Richards suffered the same fate as Lovren, who looked very good when playing alongside Jose Fonte, and in Deano's case he looked magnificent at times - (usually when playing the " aggressive CB role " alongside the more passive Claus Lundekvam), but he didn't really fit in at White Hart Lane, and Hoddle's departure and his later illness ruined that. Edited 16 October, 2015 by david in sweden
Chap in the Chapel Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Dean Richards, obviously. Should have won an England cap.
Appy Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 He was out of contract as opposed to a free transfer (nowhere to transfer from), which is why he didn't appear on the list. So we signed him for free? I didn't read the list for what it's worth.
Bad Wolf Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Dan Harding? Did his bit for the team, always put the effort in, played his part on our rise up the leagues.
Toadhall Saint Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Dan Harding? Did his bit for the team, always put the effort in, played his part on our rise up the leagues. And won't play for Pompey - [emoji106]
Badger Posted 16 October, 2015 Posted 16 October, 2015 Value for money it has to be Dean Richards. Peter Rodrigues is probably the happiest ending to any free signing we've ever made though.
david in sweden Posted 17 October, 2015 Posted 17 October, 2015 Value for money it has to be Dean Richards. Peter Rodrigues is probably the happiest ending to any free signing we've ever made though. ...a good call Badger, even my memory didn't go back enough decades for that one.
Bad Wolf Posted 17 October, 2015 Posted 17 October, 2015 And won't play for Pompey - [emoji106] That too. Wasn't Clyne on a free as well?
CB Fry Posted 17 October, 2015 Posted 17 October, 2015 That too. Wasn't Clyne on a free as well? No, he was out of contract but we had to pay compensation to Palace.
eelpie Posted 18 October, 2015 Author Posted 18 October, 2015 For fellow oldies. Was Don Roper a free signing? I remember, as a nipper, when he came into the team his experience alongside young Paine and Sydenham improved morale and helped Saints improve performances at a bad time for the club.
whizzpop Posted 18 October, 2015 Posted 18 October, 2015 Hassan Kachloul? made a big impact for 2-3 seasons in the Dave Jones years.
Whitey Grandad Posted 18 October, 2015 Posted 18 October, 2015 Hassan Kachloul? made a big impact for 2-3 seasons in the Dave Jones years. And let's not forget his two goals against Arsenal in the Last Game At The Dell which set up Matt's winner.
The9 Posted 19 October, 2015 Posted 19 October, 2015 (edited) So we signed him for free? I didn't read the list for what it's worth. But he wasn't a transfer - though I suppose it says "free signings", so yeah, ok. Edited 19 October, 2015 by The9
The9 Posted 19 October, 2015 Posted 19 October, 2015 And won't play for Pompey - [emoji106] Rumour has it Eastleigh offered him more money...
derry Posted 19 October, 2015 Posted 19 October, 2015 Terry Paine from Winchester City by a country mile.
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