Worst Individual Performance

[Sheaf Saint]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Another game where we let a lead slip, the worst that season being 2-0 going into injury time at home to Boro and drawing 2-2.

I seem to remember someone putting together a league table based on games finishing on 85 minutes instead of 90+ and it had us staying up quite comfortably.

[Chez]

44 minutes ago, Turkish said:

I think the story was at the time that the selling club (Burnley?) Would have taken less than half what we paid. Absolutely terrible signing.

Horrible. Killed us, for a couple of years.

I wonder how many other CBs we tried to sign before him? Maybe none. I suspect our scouting system was reduced to nothing and I doubt Burley brought much to the party other than half empty bottle of scotch.

[Lighthouse]

31 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I seem to remember someone putting together a league table based on games finishing on 85 minutes instead of 90+ and it had us staying up quite comfortably.

You’re probably right but we did also get late winners against Norwich and Blackburn and equalisers against Palace and West Brom.

[NorthLondonSFC]

46 minutes ago, Chez said:

Paul Wotton's best was pretty much everyone else's worst. Never fault him for effort though, just ability to play football. Almost became a cult hero at the Brentford game. "Paul Wotton football genius...." 

There's perhaps three categories here.

1. had a mare, made mistakes, possibly went out on the lash the night before

2. had a mare, made zero effort, probably went out on the lash the night before

3. had a mare, but was shit full stop and way out of their depth, possibly always on the lash, but if they weren't, they may as well have been. 

Glad someone else remembers the 20 mins of Paul Wotton football genius at Brentford away, that, Lee Barnard missing a sitter and it being a mid week game is all that sticks out in memory. 

[Sunglasses Ron]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

Paul Wotton's best was pretty much everyone else's worst. Never fault him for effort though, just ability to play football. Almost became a cult hero at the Brentford game. "Paul Wotton football genius...." 

There's perhaps three categories here.

1. had a mare, made mistakes, possibly went out on the lash the night before

2. had a mare, made zero effort, probably went out on the lash the night before

3. had a mare, but was shit full stop and way out of their depth, possibly always on the lash, but if they weren't, they may as well have been. 

Agreed.

Ali Dia would probably take the award for Category 3!

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

Horrible. Killed us, for a couple of years.

I wonder how many other CBs we tried to sign before him? Maybe none. I suspect our scouting system was reduced to nothing and I doubt Burley brought much to the party other than half empty bottle of scotch.

That summer was a strange one generally. We lost Baird, Bale, Jones, Pele and Claus (who i don't think played again).

So we got in Safri, Thomas for like £2.5 combined. Vignal on loan to replace Bale (jeez). John was signed to replace Jones. That Bennett bloke signed at the same time as Davies I think, to be fair to Davies the only decent spot in that season.

I think we got Euell that summer as well. Absolute disaster all round and not cheap, given our situation.

[Klaus Schwab]

Ralph crying on the touch line 

[northam soul]

Keith Cassels was pretty atrocious most of the time.

 

[Dusic]

Not one single performance but I remember seeing Neil McCann's first few appearances and quickly realising that he was woefully short of everything needed to play in the PL. Would be suprised if he even got passed the cones in training. Awful cheapo signing when Strachan supposedly wanted Steed Malbranque and Louid Saha and we ended up with McCann and Phillips.

[saintadjg]

Ali Dia

[sadoldgit]

Two words. Calum. Davenport. Not sure which his worst game was but you can probably chose any of the 7 he played for us.

[Lighthouse]

6 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Two words. Calum. Davenport. Not sure which his worst game was but you can probably chose any of the 7 he played for us.

I’ll go with Villa when we were 2-0 at half time and Jakobsson got injured. On came CD and… well we all know the rest. 

[Dr. Kucho]

Anthony Pulis and Tommy Forecast ‘playing’ in a pre season friendly. I wasn’t there, but remember other members on here questioning if they were actually footballers. 

[Chez]

13 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I’ll go with Villa when we were 2-0 at half time and Jakobsson got injured. On came CD and… well we all know the rest. 

that was a special performance. It was in the Prem though, so the Bennet show possibly tops it.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

That summer was a strange one generally. We lost Baird, Bale, Jones, Pele and Claus (who i don't think played again).

So we got in Safri, Thomas for like £2.5 combined. Vignal on loan to replace Bale (jeez). John was signed to replace Jones. That Bennett bloke signed at the same time as Davies I think, to be fair to Davies the only decent spot in that season.

I think we got Euell that summer as well. Absolute disaster all round and not cheap, given our situation.

The play off defeat certainly was a sliding doors moment. All our young and best talent departed, and replaced with any old shit.

Please tell me Safri didn't cost us £1.3m. It's not quite the `KLF art project £1.2m transfer fee for Thomas', but it was after the parachute payments had ended and we had buttons to play with. No way we should have spent that on him. A few hundred grand maybe.

[Appy]

9 minutes ago, Chez said:

The play off defeat certainly was a sliding doors moment. All our young and best talent departed, and replaced with any old shit.

Please tell me Safri didn't cost us £1.3m. It's not quite the `KLF art project £1.2m transfer fee for Thomas', but it was after the parachute payments had ended and we had buttons to play with. No way we should have spent that on him. A few hundred grand maybe.

Literally all I remember of Safri is him getting sent off twice. 

[Chez]

14 minutes ago, Dr. Kucho said:

Anthony Pulis and Tommy Forecast ‘playing’ in a pre season friendly. I wasn’t there, but remember other members on here questioning if they were actually footballers. 

I remember getting absolutely berated on here for completely writing Pulis off before he had played a minute for Saints. I said he was shit, would be shit for Saints and would continue to be shit long after that...and he was.

 

[Neef]

Because of the stakes, Yoshida + Stephens vs United at Wembley still irks me. Neither knew how to mark or defend a cross, and it cost us with that Zalatan goal in the last few minutes.

[Kenilworthy]

39 minutes ago, Chez said:

The play off defeat certainly was a sliding doors moment. All our young and best talent departed, and replaced with any old shit.

Please tell me Safri didn't cost us £1.3m. It's not quite the `KLF art project £1.2m transfer fee for Thomas', but it was after the parachute payments had ended and we had buttons to play with. No way we should have spent that on him. A few hundred grand maybe.

Not really fair to include Stern John in the list of failures. He scored 19 goals that went a long way to keeping us up, while Kenwyne Jones, who he replaced, took two seasons to score as many at Sunderland.

[rallyboy]

Kevin Friend playing for Liverpool is one of the worst performances I've witnessed - and it altered the table at the end of the season.

 

[Hatch]

17 hours ago, Chez said:

despite there being so many, the answer is of course Steve Baker.

But for flavour, the McQuashie abomination at QPR, Ian Andrews, also away at QPR and the Hungerford fat lad's display away at Fulham all deserve a mention. 

Soon as I saw the thread title,   Steve Baker came straight in my head.

[NorthLondonSFC]

Not seen this one mentioned, Danny Fox away at Arsenal season we went up and we lost 6-1, he scored our only goal but got absolutely ruined by Gervinho & OX all game and it was made clearly obvious he was not good enough for the Prem.  

[Chez]

49 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

Not really fair to include Stern John in the list of failures. He scored 19 goals that went a long way to keeping us up, while Kenwyne Jones, who he replaced, took two seasons to score as many at Sunderland.

Actually, I do include him. He scored those 19 goals, but he did absolutely fuck all else (yeah I know how that sounds), which impacted our all round game. 

I totally understand the counter argument to this - a headless chicken running around but not scoring would be worse, but I just had no love for Stern and don't feel he `saved us from relegation'. I felt he was very much part of the problem.

I guess it was similar to the Ronaldo situation at United last season.

I appreciate my view might not be shared, but I went to and suffered pretty much every fucking game for my sins, and that view has long since been burnt into my Saints supporting soul, so nothing is going to change my mind a decade or so later.

[Chez]

15 minutes ago, Hatch said:

Soon as I saw the thread title,  Steve Baker came straight in my head.

it was such as shame. Steve Baker was an absolute gentlemen. He always turned up at Tyro presentation evenings, charity events and the like. He seemed to love Southampton, gave everything when he played, but THAT game was not the game to have a nightmare. I'd be really interested to hear his thoughts on that game and the effect afterwards. I hope he is well. 

[Lighthouse]

5 minutes ago, Chez said:

Actually, I do include him. He scored those 19 goals, but he did absolutely fuck all else (yeah I know how that sounds), which impacted our all round game. 

I totally understand the counter argument to this - a headless chicken running around but not scoring would be worse, but I just had no love for Stern and don't feel he `saved us from relegation'. I felt he was very much part of the problem.

I guess it was similar to the Ronaldo situation at United last season.

I appreciate my view might not be shared, but I went to and suffered pretty much every fucking game for my sins, and that view has long since been burnt into my Saints supporting soul, so nothing is going to change my mind a decade or so later.

I completely agree. We could have just not bought him, started Rasiak every game and he’d have done exactly the same.

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

46 minutes ago, NorthLondonSFC said:

Not seen this one mentioned, Danny Fox away at Arsenal season we went up and we lost 6-1, he scored our only goal but got absolutely ruined by Gervinho & OX all game and it was made clearly obvious he was not good enough for the Prem.  

This was also the game that showed us Kelvin probably wasn't the keeper we needed either

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, Chez said:

The play off defeat certainly was a sliding doors moment. All our young and best talent departed, and replaced with any old shit.

Please tell me Safri didn't cost us £1.3m. It's not quite the `KLF art project £1.2m transfer fee for Thomas', but it was after the parachute payments had ended and we had buttons to play with. No way we should have spent that on him. A few hundred grand maybe.

He's listed as a £1.3m transfer on TransfrMrkt. I seem to remember us getting our fee back a year later though, he went off to a Saudi club from memory.

Pretty forgettable signing all told. I can't think of any 'bad' performances, i just cannot remember him. It was that forge table.

[Bad Wolf]

Alan Bennett against Palace is probably the worst I've ever seen. Came back into the team in a home game with Cardiff a couple of months later and played a blinder though.

[Lighthouse]

59 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

He's listed as a £1.3m transfer on TransfrMrkt. I seem to remember us getting our fee back a year later though, he went off to a Saudi club from memory.

Pretty forgettable signing all told. I can't think of any 'bad' performances, i just cannot remember him. It was that forge table.

He was so forgettable that Saints never even bothered to mention that he’d left. As you say, never terrible just an inconsequential player all round. Useless Safri some called him.

[Dr. Kucho]

Saganowski after he signed a contract with us. 

[Appy]

Niemi at Fratton Park in 2005 (sorry to mention it)

[Saint_lambden]

Valery in the first 9-0. They were all horrific that night but it was like he'd won his place in a competition. 

[Sunglasses Ron]

21 minutes ago, Saint_lambden said:

Valery in the first 9-0. They were all horrific that night but it was like he'd won his place in a competition. 

Just confirmed my thoughts on this by suffering another viewing of the highlights.

His defending for the 2nd and 4th goals was absolutely hideous, beyond terrible.

I forgot just how bad Gunn was that night too, utterly woeful.

[Dark Munster]

9 hours ago, Turkish said:

Calumn Davenport at home to Villa for the entire 2005 relegation season.

Corrected for you. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

Just confirmed my thoughts on this by suffering another viewing of the highlights.

His defending for the 2nd and 4th goals was absolutely hideous, beyond terrible.

I forgot just how bad Gunn was that night too, utterly woeful.

Just wanted to ask if everything's okay. I can't imagine anyone wanting to rewatch that. It was horrific first time. 🙂

[AlexLaw76]

Grobelaar at home to Spurs in the FA Cup.  But there may be a reason for that 🤔

[Sheaf Saint]

17 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Just wanted to ask if everything's okay. I can't imagine anyone wanting to rewatch that. It was horrific first time. 🙂

I was out at a gig that night and have still never been able to bring myself to watch it.

[Sunglasses Ron]

40 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Just wanted to ask if everything's okay. I can't imagine anyone wanting to rewatch that. It was horrific first time. 🙂

 

22 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I was out at a gig that night and have still never been able to bring myself to watch it.

Haha, first time round was a dark experience, but I kind of felt like I had to watch it to accept it had happened.

If you watch now, it’s more like vaudeville entertainment.

I have to confess, I watched the other 9-0 straight after and am now really on the fence as Bednarek was an absolute mess that night.

[Appy]

2 hours ago, Sunglasses Ron said:

Just confirmed my thoughts on this by suffering another viewing of the highlights.

His defending for the 2nd and 4th goals was absolutely hideous, beyond terrible.

I forgot just how bad Gunn was that night too, utterly woeful.

Don’t forget Yoshida, absolutely gutless. 

[Sunglasses Ron]

7 minutes ago, Appy said:

Don’t forget Yoshida, absolutely gutless. 

Yes, he was also notably bad on 2nd viewing. To be fair, not a single fuck was given by any of those players that night so they’re probably all equally culpable for that terrible blot on our history.

Edited 10 June, 2022 by Sunglasses Ron

[Mr X]

Callum Davenport? Seem to remember he let in a couple of goals both the same bounced and went straight over his head? 

[swannymere]

6 hours ago, Mr X said:

Callum Davenport? Seem to remember he let in a couple of goals both the same bounced and went straight over his head? 

THIS  Mr.Fifty Pence head, definitely the worst player i've seen in a Saints shirt, still wake up in a sweaty mess from the nightmares.

[Lighthouse]

I feel like this thread will always be geared towards defensive players because their nightmares are more memorable. Nobody remembers when an attacking player just has an anonymous game in a 0-0. Any of the 10 players who played in the front four for us this season could have been nominated for a handful of their individual performances.

[Colinjb]

Memories of Kelvin Davies up at Sheffield Wednesday in 2007. We got humped 5-0 by an astoundingly ordinary Owls side and Kelvin was heckled by the away end, leading to him turning around and screaming back at us.

I doubt he was solely to blame, none of our defenders covered themselves in glory that day, even Andrew Davis who conceded a stupid penalty.

[Saints foreva]

Les Reeds performance at the club from late 2016 till his departure deserves a mention imo. 

[Kenilworthy]

51 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

Memories of Kelvin Davies up at Sheffield Wednesday in 2007. We got humped 5-0 by an astoundingly ordinary Owls side and Kelvin was heckled by the away end, leading to him turning around and screaming back at us.

I doubt he was solely to blame, none of our defenders covered themselves in glory that day, even Andrew Davis who conceded a stupid penalty.

I was sat next to Andrew Davies' mum for that game. She couldn't believe the abuse the players were getting from their own fans.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Colinjb said:

Memories of Kelvin Davies up at Sheffield Wednesday in 2007. We got humped 5-0 by an astoundingly ordinary Owls side and Kelvin was heckled by the away end, leading to him turning around and screaming back at us.

I doubt he was solely to blame, none of our defenders covered themselves in glory that day, even Andrew Davis who conceded a stupid penalty.

oh dear god I had forgotten about that game. Horrible, but not sure who to pick out for special treatment. Utter utter shite.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, swannymere said:

THIS  Mr.Fifty Pence head, definitely the worst player i've seen in a Saints shirt, still wake up in a sweaty mess from the nightmares.

if we are talking Mr 50p heads, then I raise you a Darren Powell aka Mr Shit Footballer.

[Saint_clark]

On 10/06/2022 at 13:44, Lighthouse said:

I completely agree. We could have just not bought him, started Rasiak every game and he’d have done exactly the same.

I think that's nonsense. John scored some absolute belters out of nowhere, rasiak was only really capable of finishing well set up chances.

Really bizarre to revise history and start slating stern John. He is literally the only reason we stayed up that season.

[Greenridge]

On 10/06/2022 at 11:14, Dusic said:

Not one single performance but I remember seeing Neil McCann's first few appearances and quickly realising that he was woefully short of everything needed to play in the PL. Would be suprised if he even got passed the cones in training. Awful cheapo signing when Strachan supposedly wanted Steed Malbranque and Louid Saha and we ended up with McCann and Phillips.

Watched him in the pre-season game at Eastleigh. He was literally the worst player on the pitch.

The obsessive pursuit of him by Strachan was reflective of how WGS was losing it at that point.