The Best and Worst Southampton Number 7’s since Le Tissier retired in 2002

Matthew Le Tissier celebrates his 48th birthday today, and here at SHOOT, we’d like to wish the Southampton legend a very happy birthday!

The midfielder scored 209 goals in 540 appearances in a 16-year spell for the Saints, and he became the first midfielder to score 100 goals in the Premier League.

He was also incredibly lethal from the penalty spot, and scored 47 times from 48 efforts from 12 yards, with Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley the only shot-stopper who can say that he saved a Le Tissier spot-kick.

As Le Tissier celebrates his birthday today, we thought it’d be right for us to celebrate (and indeed commiserate!) some of the best and worst number seven’s Southampton have had since Le Tissier retired from football back in 2002.

Here are the BEST and WORST Saints number seven’s…

BEST – Rickie Lambert

What Rickie Lambert did for Southampton during his spell between 2009 and 2014 was nothing short of sensational.

The England international, currently plying his trade at second-tier side Cardiff City, scored 117 times in 235 appearances for the Saints, and helped inspire them to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, where they have remained ever since.

He continued his rich vein of form into the Premier League years, netting 15 times in the first season to help keep Southampton up, and then scored 13 goals the following season to help then-manager Mauricio Pochettino’s side to an eighth place finish.

The 34-year-old earned himself 11 England caps in 2013 and 2014, and then earned himself a dream move to Liverpool in the summer of 2014.

The best number seven since Le Tissier’s retirement? Without a doubt…

WORST – Tomasz Hajto

There were a few candidates for this, with Andrei Kanchelskis proving that immediately replacing Le Tissier was a tough act to follow.

His two substitute appearances, and the subsequent move just five months later, was not what the Saints were looking for but, given he was the first to follow Le Tissier, let’s cut him some slack.

However, the same cannot be said of Tomasz Hajto.

The Pole joined Southampton in the summer of 2005 and, despite being a defender, he took over the number seven shirt from Kevin Phillips, who left for Aston Villa that summer.

The Saints had just been relegated to the Championship, and Hajto was brought in to solidify the backline but, just 20 appearances into his Southampton career, his contract was cancelled in January 2006.

He went on to join Derby County, where his contract was also cancelled just four months into his stay.

A poor Southampton number seven.

BEST – Kevin Phillips

A tricky decision this one, as Shane Long has done well since joining Southampton in 2014, but I’ve gone with fellow striker Kevin Phillips as another good Saints number seven.

Phillips moved to the South Coast from Sunderland, where he was hugely prolific, following the Black Cats’ relegation from the Premier League in 2003.

Nevertheless, the Englishman continued where he left off at the Stadium of Light, and netted on his Saints debut in their 2-2 draw at Leicester City.

He went on to score 13 more times that season, including a run of six goals in seven matches, to help the Saints finish 12th in the Premier League.

Although he couldn’t prevent the Saints from relegation the season after, in what was a turbulent season at St Mary’s, Phillips struck up a good partnership with fellow forward Peter Crouch, and netted 13 times in all competitions.

Although he left the club for Aston Villa that summer, he did pretty well at Southampton, especially given the difficult situation of playing under four different managers in the space of 12 months.

WORST – Rudi Skacel

Rudi Skacel took over the number seven jersey from Hajto in 2006, and had hardly the most difficult of acts to follow.

However, the Saints had spent £1.6 million on the Czech and, at the time, that was a lot of money for a Championship side to fork out.

He played a full first season at St Mary’s, netting just four times in 41 appearances, but then the midfielder asked to be loaned to Hertha Berlin in January 2008 in a bid to make the Czech Republic squad for Euro 2008.

He came back to Southampton and, although he made 29 appearances in the 2008/09 season, he was released at the end of the campaign as the Saints were relegated to League One.

It just didn’t quite work for Skacel on the South Coast.