The Sotonians view on the all-time best SFC XI

Southampton Football Club
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We’ve been going a year and we’ve not had one of these (or if we have I’ve missed it). There are lots of venerable posters on here, some of whom know something about football, so what’s the Sotonians view on the greatest players that we’ve seen?

With another turbulent summer possible it’s always good to look at the bigger picture - for a relatively small club we’ve had some tremendous players.

Plus it’s summer, there’s no footie (for a week) and I’m bored.

So - in a Bletch-style “my thread/my rules” (hmmm - Al Murray’s pub landlord just came to mind - wonder why?)

  1. Players are picked for their time with SFC. So, for example if you choose Gareth Bale that’s the teenage left-back in a Championship team, not the Real Madrid forward.

  2. we should have a minimum number of appearances. Fifty would rule out Alderweireld, Luke Shaw, Forster and VVD from recent teams. Bertrand would be ok though.

  3. please feel free to pick on reputation - you don’t need to be limited to players you’ve seen. I am old enough to have seen Terry Paine and Ron Davies - but if you didn’t then you might (or might not) think that being part of a World Cup winning squad while a second division player, or scoring 37 top division goals for a newly promoted team would be ample evidence of a very good player.

  4. The thread title says ‘best’ not ‘worst’. Answering with all-time duff players was only marginally funny the first time any Saints fans had this discussion (around a table outside the Cowherds in about 1890 probably). So please not Lee Todd, Lew Chatterley, Graham Potter or Dixon and Speedie.

  5. It is assumed that the imaginary Saints side would play other imaginary all-time teams from other clubs. Defenders would have to face George Best and Ronaldo if playing Man U for example, and thus be able to defend. This may (or may not) inform your judgement in the choice of right back.

So, pick your chosen 11 plus subs. Give reasons - however ill-informed or ridiculous. I’ll collate the replies (if we get enough. Or any) into an all-time Sotonians SFC team.

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Shilton
Saints’ goalie when I was a boy. Our representative in the England squad.

Bertrand
Because Gareth Bale only made 45 Saints appearances)

Fonte
No real explanation required, but the man that led us up the leagues and leads our team.

Lundekvam
He was there a lot when it counted.

Svensson
Superb when fit. Cruelly cut down by injury.

Clyne
Great first touch, great speed and a good shot on him. Was thrilling to watch on his day

Schneiderlin
Utter stat machine for us. A Lowe gamble that paid off.

Keegan.
The hype, The resplendent perm. I’d love him in our side.

Le Tissier
Flamboyant goals, penalties and set pieces. Great passer too,

Mick Channon
Great goalscorer. Decent bloke too.

Terry Paine
All time top goal scorer. How can you not?

Subs

Tommy Allen
Something of a legend in the 20s. Kept 26 clean sheets in one season and has more appearances than any other Saints keeper.

Alan Shearer.
Lethal bastard. Still says nice things about us.

Jason Dodd
Most appearances of any defender.

Nick Holmes
Huge association with the club. Cup winner.

Ron Davies
Lethal header of the ball. What you want if we’ve got to get it in the mixer.

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I’m going to go with players that I’ve actually seen live with any regularity

Shilton (best goalkeeper in the world playng for Saints - that was pretty cool)

Bridge (might’ve turned into a twat but was proper Saints while he was with us)

Mark Wright

Svensson

Mick Mills

Steve Williams (silk)

Jimmy Case (nails but had a great range of passing and could twat a ball too)

Steve Moran (proper local lad - taught by my Gran - would’ve been a bona fide legend if injury hadn’t intervened)

Le Tissier (easily the most talented I’ve seen play for Saints)

Channon (cos it’s Channon)

Danny Wallace (tough choice over Rodney but just that little bit livelier)

Subs:

Niemi (apart from the fact he was fucking good - hitting the bar at Loftus Rd in our Cup Final season on the way to coming back from 2 down and associated post match celebrations stopping the traffic on Shepherds Bush Green - fucking great memories)

Keegan

Nick Holmes (local legend - used to be on same school team as my Dad)

Ekeleund (sorry, SO5 - rules are there to be broken - a glorious cameo with MLT that hinted at what might have been if injury hadn’t come calling)

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This is so tricky. After 50 years of supporting Saints I have seen so many quality players. I will go for this one for now but it coukd all change tomorrow!

Shilton

Mills Wright Svensson Dennis

MLT Williams Armstrong

Paine Davies Channon

Subs

Keegan

Holmes

Lambert

Bridge

Pahars

Niemi

Ball

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Top thread, old chap. Are you going to set your own best XI out by the way?

Here’s mine. First things first - formation. The players I’ve picked played in various different formations, but I’ll go for a modern 4-2-3-1 as I like it. The best players adapt, so they’d be just fine.

Goalkeeper has to be Shilton. He was the best in world and widely regarded as the best ever. Onbody else comes close, not even Niemi.

Right back. Many of my vintage would be tempted to suggest Ivan Golac, I suspect; however, while he had great strengths going forward he really wasn’t a great defender (and SO5 clearly hinted at this in his opening post). For me it’s between Mick Mills and Nathaniel Clyne, and I’ll go for Clyne purely because he was in his prime when playing for us, plus he has pace that Mills never had.

Left back - Mark Dennis. We’ve had some excellent left backs - Peach, Bridge, Bertrand all spring to mind, and Nick Holmes was pretty bloody good when he filled in there too. But Dennis was just superb. Excellent going forward, quick, strong, skillful and a fine defender too. Plus, of course, he wound up opponents and opposing supporters a treat.

Centre backs - Mark Wright and Michael Svensson. They would have made a fantastic team.

Central (holding) midfield - Steve Williams and Jimmy Case. Very tough choice, as I’m leaving out (among others) Scheiderlin, David Armstrong and the great Nick Holmes. But I’d see these two as an excellent pairing; their games would complement each other perfectly.

Attacking midfield trio - Mick Channon, Matt Le Tissier, Sadio Mané. The first two won’t surprise anybody, the third pretty certainly will. But, when you see Sadio terrorising some of the world’s finest defenders, as he does when on form, you’d want him in your team. He also provides an element of unpredictability that can be so important. Channon and Le Tissier I don’t have to explain. As a trio, they’d be fucking great.

Striker - Ron Davies. His record speaks for itself. Regarded as the best striker in Europe while playing for us. No need for further comment.

On the bench:

Niemi - superb keeper

Nick Holmes - versatile and genuinely very good to excellent in pretty much any position bar goalkeeper or striker. Plus you couldn’t have a Saints best squad without him. As TCK says above, a local legend.

José Fonte - you need a specialist centre back on the bench, and he’s the man.

Mick Mills - can cover right back and midfield, Terrific player.

David Armstrong - great midfield cover, could slot into holding pair or attacking three.

Steve Moran - fantastic scoring record, would be a great impact sub.

Rod Wallace - better and more complete player than Danny. Shades it over Pahars but only just.

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Holy fuck, I have tried 4/5 times now and I just cannot do it! I have favourite Saints players, then I have the best Saints players imo.

I need longer!

Might do a first team and a reserves!

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Just read the rules… Makes it best players, makes it much easier!

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Ok - here’s my stab at this - and it’s a hard task

Not the first bit though. Shilton was far and away the best Saints GK. Actually he has a claim to be the best player in the history of the club, as the only one who was without doubt the best in the world during his time with us. Standing on the Milton then was like having a 45 minute goalkeeping class every other week. Niemi second best

(Actually, has any other club had the class of keepers we’ve had for so long? It;s been ages since our first choice GK was less than very good. Since the early 80s - Shilton/Burridge/Flowers/Beasant (Grobbelaar for a bit)/Paul Jones/Niemi/Kelvin/Boruc/Forster)

The two best SFC teams so far (current team may challenge this if players stay) were the Keegan team with Channon, Moran & Ball and the 83-84 runners up. Why were the later team better? Because they had a proper defence. The Keegan team had a 4-4 draw with Spurs and a 5-5 with Coventry, which often come up in columns on memorable Saints games. But they were as much about defensive inepitude as brilliant attack (something also true of the Real Madrid/Frankfurt 7-3 Euopean Cup Final, often said to be the greatest game ever. I watched a video of it once - a couple of decent keepers and it would have been 2-1).

Anyway - the 83-84 defence was based around my choice at right back, Mick Mills. Obviously signing Shilton helped too. Clyne might have been a contender had he stayed (I might be writing that line a few times…)

Ivan Golac was a wonderful footballer, great at the Dell with Williams and Channon down the right. However, I went to most of the away games around then and he was an ill-disciplined defensive liabilty. Not him then

At centre back, Mark Wright is an easy choice. The other one I’m going for is Dave Watson, despite what I said about the defence in the early 80s. He was England’s premier centre baqck of the period and was still close to his peak when with us. Svensson and Fonte very strong contenders. VVD very likely in the near future if he stays

The left back is Wayne Bridge. I think we forget how good he was. Very unlucky to play his career at the same time as the best-ever English left back, Ashley Cole (unfortunately true). Even when he went down the divisions at the end of his carreer he was class - he was in the Championship PFA team with Brighton a few seasons ago

Oh, and he did this

Having said that, another season like the last two and Ryan Bertrand will be in (yes, yes, if he stays)

Formation-wise I’m copying Fowllyd and going 4-2-3-1

My two defensive midfielders will be Alan Ball and Steve Williams. Ball’s time with us was spent going across the pitch instead of the perpetual motion up and down that he was known for at Everton & Arsenal. Not expecting him to get foward would be ideal. Dave Armstrong, Morgan Schneiderlin anfd Jimmy Case all close.

The attacking three would be the best three players in the club’s history (despite waht I said about Shilton) - Terry Paine, Mike Channon & Matt Le Tissier. They could swap around, play in the centre or on the wings. The only thing you wouldn’t get from these three would be a lot of defensive cover!

And to top it off Ron Davies, known for his heading ability but a great leader of the line as well. A large part of his time with us was spent playing balls through for Channon to run onto. Not including Keegan was a hard decision.

So:

Shilton

Mills M

Watson

Wright

Bridge

Ball

Williams

Paine

Le Tissier

Channon

Davies

Second XI/subs: Niemi, Clyne, Svensson, Fonte, Bertrand, Case, Schneiderlin, Lallana (I know - sorry. Mane if he stays), Keegan, Armstrong, Shearer

Phew!

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Nobody gone for Marsden yet ? He was a revalation

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JWP x 11 pls

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Best haircut 11 please

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Originally posted by @Sussexsaint

Best haircut 11 please

Easy - straight off the top of my head: (ho ho…)

Eric Martin (curls), Alex Ostlund (Jesus), David Webb (crew-cut), Russell Osman, Steve Mills (1970s lank feather cut), Glen Cockerill (Mullet), Marsden or Armstrong (none), Terry Paine (Elvis), Keegan (bubbles), Pelle (products), Osvaldo (ponytail)

The division betwen ‘Best’ and ‘Worst’ is possibly blurred in some cases

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How could you leave out Frank Worthington? For shame.

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:lou_facepalm_2:

I’m ashamed

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Sat down at lunchtime to try and do this and pretty much came up with exactly this. Was thinking of Rodney on the bench rather than Keegan.

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Thanks for reminding me of that Bridge@theBridge clip, SO5. For that alone he’s an absolute fucking legend. Fortunately he was good enough to get into my team on footballing merit too.

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Right I am going to do 2 teams. First a team from players I have watched, then one from which I have not had the pleasure.

Right, so since 1988/89 season - Present.

Paul Jones - G - My favourite goalkeeper. At the time Matty was saving us, Mr Jones kept clean sheets against the odds in his prime.

Wayne Bridge - D - A great left back who got forward with pace. Also had quite a good free kick.

Jose Fonte - D - What a star, from the bottom of league 1 to 6th in the premier league. Such a rock.

Dean Richards - D - This man used to win everything in the air, so composed/calm.

Jason Dodd - D - never forget his game in the 4-1 win over Liverpool, great bloke and servant.

James Case - M - The rock in midfield one of the last old style ball winners. Controlled the midfield.

Matthew Le Tissier - AM - Well what can I say, genius.

Morgan Schneiderlin - M - the modern Jimmy Case. No nonsense ball winner with excellent distribution.

Adam Lallana - M - much hated figure now, but was a great player and servant to the club. Shame, but his own fault.

Danny Wallace - F - This bloke was my favourite Saints player when a nipper. So much pace and control of a football. Should have scored more goals for his talent. Met him along with all the 1988/89 squad. Used to hang around the club shop and the players entrance and someone after training said 'do you want to go in and get autographs and in I went. Danny Wallace, Shearer, Matty, Budgie, Case… All sat around. Still got the book now!

Rickie Lambert - F - Sir Rickie, the goals, the great times, the gent. A true Saint!

Bench -
Kelvin Davis - G - great keeper and servant.

Francis Benali - D - a gent, not the greatest player, but heart on sleeve and all that!

Claus Lundekvam - D - controlled, calm, walked the ball out of defence and sometimes just kept going.

Matthew Oakley - M - not the most adventurous player, but did the simple things well and kept the ball moving. Scored the odd belter as well.

Glenn Cockerill - M - played over 300 games for us, but lost his way at the end of his career. Had a fantastic shot on him, but got unfair abuse at the end of his career ‘captain crap’.

Alan Shearer - F - was there for this debut hat trick and was such a good striker, not great, but developing player, but hat debut said ‘I’m here’.

James Beattie - F it was between him and super Mario, but I always liked Beattie and when he was on a streak, he was on fire and pretty unstoppable.