Southampton are famous for creating players of the highest quality, with the likes of Matt Le Tissier, Alan Shearer, Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale all coming through the South Coast academy.
No club is perfect though, every side makes poor signings, whether they are youngsters who never quite make it or big names that don’t live up to their potential.
Saints have had their fair share of poor players over the years, Ali Dia, who will forever be a pub quiz answer and a recurring nightmare for Graeme Souness, is one that springs to mind.
The club’s transition from League One strugglers into one of the most upwardly mobile outfits in the Premier League has been nothing short of amazing.
Still, even the club with perhaps the best transfer strategy in the league hasn’t been without its blunders.
Now, the punters in the Transfer Tavern will take a rather painful trip down memory lane for Saints fans and take a look at their worst ever XI in club history, see if you agree…
GK: TOMMY FORECAST
Goalkeeper Tommy Forecast joined Saints from Tottenham in 2008 on a five year contract, he saw out his entire contract at the club without playing a second for the first team. The only football played by Forecast was in the reserve team and on a string of loan spells.
He was released by Saints in 2013 after finally being deemed surplus to requirements and the 29-year-old is now without a club after a spell at Chelmsford City.
RB: VEGARD FORREN
Not a natural right back but worthy of a place in this side nonetheless. Forren joined from Molde in January 2013 for an undisclosed fee, but failed to ever make an appearance for the first team.
Even though he stated that he was happy to stay and fight for his place at Southampton, the Norwegian returned to his former charges within a year.
Forren is still at Molde and has made 30 appearances for his national team.
CB: OLLY LANCASHIRE
This may seem a hard choice as Lancashire never really got the chance to prove himself at Saints after coming through the academy.
However, two red cards in 13 appearances for the Saints, including one on his professional debut for the club, is more than enough to make it into this team.
The Hampshire born 27-year-old has just signed for Shrewsbury after spending time with Walsall, Aldershot Town and Rochdale.
CB: TAHAR EL KHALEJ
The Moroccan defender signed for Saints from Benfica in 2000 for £350,000 and managed to score on his debut, although it was in a 7-2 loss to Tottenham.
From there, things didn’t get much better, El Khalej struggled to break the defensive pairing of Claus Lundekvam and Dean Richards.
After leaving Saints in 2003 the centre-half, who represented his country at two World Cups, returned home to Morocco and retired from professional football.
LB: JELLE VAN DAMME
Van Damme moved to the South Coast in 2004 from Ajax for a fee of £2.64m as a promising full-back but went on to only make six appearances under three separate managers, including Harry Redknapp.
After a season on loan at Werder Bremen, Van Damme was sold to Anderlecht for just £440,000.
The Belgian has just moved to the MLS and now plays alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole at LA Galaxy.
RM: IMANTS BLEIDELIS
After signing Marian Pahars from Latvia in 1998 Saints thought they would dip their toes in once more a year later and brought Bleidelis for £650,000.
The second foray into the Latvian market didn’t come off as well as the first as the midfielder went on to only make two appearances for the first team in three years.
Unlike his fellow countryman, Pahars, who now manages the Latvian side, Bleidelis retired from football in 2008, having made 106 appearances for his country.
CM: SAPHIR TAIDER
Taider joined Saints on loan from Inter Milan in the summer of 2014 but only went on to make one apperance for the club, as a substitute in a pre-season friendly.
His loan spell was ended after less than a month after he was described as not being up to the standards of a Southampton player,
The Algerian international now plays his football for Bologna after failing to impress at Inter Milan.
CM: NIGEL QUASHIE
Quashie followed Redknapp to St. Mary’s from South Coast rivals, Portsmouth in 2005 and was quickly made Saints captain after joining.
However, after a fee of £2m, the tenacious midfielder could manage to help keep his new side in the top flight and left the following season.
The Scotsman retired in 2015 after spells with West Brom and West Ham and then after a string of other clubs he moved to Iceland for the final seasons of his career.
LM: NEIL McCANN
The Scottish winger joined Southampton in 2003 from Rangers for £1.5m but never really got a good run in the side in his three years at the club as he struggled with injuries.
McCann’s only goal for the club came in a League Cup tie with Northampton Town.
After leaving Southampton in 2006 McCaan headed back to Scottish football where he would see out his career playing for Hearts, Falkirk and Dundee before retiring in 2011.
ST: ALI DIA
The story of Ali Dia is one that is almost impossible to believe.
In 1996, he managed somehow to convince then Saints manager, Graeme Souness, that he was the cousin of Ballon d’Or winner, George Weah and therefore he deserved a contract at a Premier League club.
Obviously.
Dia’s lie paid off and he was handed a one month contract by Souness and made his debut as a substitute for no other than Matt Le Tissier, but played so badly that Souness brought him back off again later in the game.
After having his contract terminated by Saints, Dia moved to Gateshead where he finished his career in 1997.
ST: DANI OSVALDO
Osvaldo has all the talent to be a top centre forward but his actions on and off the pitch have stained his career wherever he goes.
After joining saints for around £12m in 2013, he made a steady start, scoring a stunning goal against Man City.
Still, it wasn’t long before he ruined his time there after instigating a fight with club icon and captain, Jose Fonte, for which the striker was suspended.
Osvaldo spent the rest of his time at Southampton on loan to Inter Milan, Juventus and Boca Juniors before joining Porto after his contract was terminated by Saints.