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Southampton’s ideal January transfer window roundtable – by Alastair Case

By Alastair Case

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 14: Demarai Gray of Leicester City and Mesut Ozil of Arsenal in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 14: Demarai Gray of Leicester City and Mesut Ozil of Arsenal in action during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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(L-R) Fraser Forster, Jan Bednarek, Ibrahima Diallo and Stuart Armstrong of Southampton (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
(L-R) Fraser Forster, Jan Bednarek, Ibrahima Diallo and Stuart Armstrong of Southampton (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) /

Q4: If you were to choose between youngsters with long-term potential or older players who can provide quality now, which way would you go?

A: Despite the splinters from the fence I am perching precariously on, I would say Southampton are probably just getting the balance right currently. It has been exasperating in the past years when it has felt as if Southampton have deliberately gone out of their way to avoid experienced or established players in favour of youth. In many respects, it feels like the success of Walcott’s move has opened the eyes of those at Staplewood in terms of the benefits of recruiting an experienced player.

There have been times this season where Walcott’s know-how and experience have been useful, especially when trying to defend a lead. Although far from advocating cheating or foul play, he has known the right moments to drive the ball to a corner flag or to go down under a heavy touch to use up valuable time. Likewise, Danny Ings (as shown in the win over Liverpool) has demonstrated the value of a player who has played in top flight for a number of years.

Experienced players should never be a barrier to the first team for younger players, providing of course, that the younger player can play at that level. That said, having players of the calibre of Walcott, Forster, Ings and Bertrand around the first team squad can only be beneficial to the development of the younger members of the set up.