NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH..
I suspect I may be in trouble with my neighbour, Mr. Slightly, the well known Gillingham devotee. You see, my own club, Southampton, have just inflicted something of a double whammy on the Gills, which could well lead a degree of neighbourly strife.
The story goes like this...... but first let me rewind a few years to the medieval days when the Saints were themselves floundering in the lower reaches of the football pyramid and when George Burley was manager. Try as we might we couldn`t shake off the inevitability of failure to return to the Premier League and a rapid decline towards Administration and relegation. Out of the blue, those who ran Scottish football at the time were in search of a manager for the Scotland national team and they set their sights on George. We Saints fans could hardly believe our good fortune that not only were we saying goodbye to Mr. Burley but also that the Scottish Football Association were paying a hefty chunk of compensation for taking him off our hands.
Now in similar vein, Saints have managed yet another management coup in signing one goalkeeper and loaning out another. The signing is Gillingham`s Argentinian custodian Paulo Gazzaniga and in return Saints have loaned Tommy Forecast to Gillingham for the season. We are pleased to get Gazza but equally pleased to provide Forecast with another opportunity away from the red and white heat of St. Mary`s.
Forecast came to Southampton on a four-year contract at an attractive salary as part of the deal that saw Gareth Bale move from St. Mary`s to Tottenham. During his time at Spurs, he failed to make a first team appearance and, in truth, has failed to make a first team appearance for Southampton during the past three years. He has been out on loan at Grimsby, Eastbourne Borough, Bromley and Thurrock and has amassed a total of 22 appearances between his visits to those clubs.
He made his full professional début for Grimsby in a 4-0 defeat against Crewe Alexandra, a performance which prompted the Crewe Chronicle to describe his début as "one of the most shockingly inept displays the Football League has ever seen" and thereafter saddling Forecast with the soubriquet `Tommy Fourpast.` His loan spell at Grimsby was thus cut short and he spent most of his time at the other clubs warming their respective benches.
So you can see why I have a tinge of guilt towards my good friend next door and the rest of the Gillingham faithful, for it`s one thing to snaffle their highly promising and talented goalkeeper but quite another for them to be lumbered with Mr. Fourpast in return. Pity we couldn`t have unloaded him on to Portsmouth.
Forecast came to Southampton on a four-year contract at an attractive salary as part of the deal that saw Gareth Bale move from St. Mary`s to Tottenham. During his time at Spurs, he failed to make a first team appearance and, in truth, has failed to make a first team appearance for Southampton during the past three years. He has been out on loan at Grimsby, Eastbourne Borough, Bromley and Thurrock and has amassed a total of 22 appearances between his visits to those clubs.
He made his full professional début for Grimsby in a 4-0 defeat against Crewe Alexandra, a performance which prompted the Crewe Chronicle to describe his début as "one of the most shockingly inept displays the Football League has ever seen" and thereafter saddling Forecast with the soubriquet `Tommy Fourpast.` His loan spell at Grimsby was thus cut short and he spent most of his time at the other clubs warming their respective benches.
So you can see why I have a tinge of guilt towards my good friend next door and the rest of the Gillingham faithful, for it`s one thing to snaffle their highly promising and talented goalkeeper but quite another for them to be lumbered with Mr. Fourpast in return. Pity we couldn`t have unloaded him on to Portsmouth.
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