Southampton's search for a second striker picked up urgency this week after Tonda Eckert told the Daily Echo that Ross Stewart is still a live option, despite leaving St Mary's as a free agent when the club missed the deadline to trigger his one year extension.
That deadline mess grew out of the Spygate expulsion from the play off final in May, a technicality rather than a falling out.
Eckert did not hide his admiration. "There's no striker with a better goal ratio than him," he said, adding that Southampton "definitely" need a second forward before the season starts. Cyle Larin remains first choice up front for now.
What fans are saying now
Reaction on a Southampton fan forum thread beneath the story leans toward a reunion, with conditions attached. One fan said they would welcome Stewart back "as long as the deal is done very very soon," pointing out he needs to travel with the squad to Germany for the pre season camp.
Another went further, arguing that unless personal terms are wrapped up fast, the club should "forget him and move on to other options." A third framed it from Stewart's side, suggesting he would be foolish to turn down the financial security and medical care on offer at St Mary's rather than gamble on a bigger contract elsewhere.
Put together, the forum mood is not blind nostalgia. It is conditional support, with patience running out fast.
What Saints Marching's reporting shows
Saints Marching's coverage complicates the case for a quick reunion. A club legend's column, covered in detail when Saints Marching examined the fallout, described the exit in blunt terms, welcoming anyone who did not want to stay and pointing out that loyalty during three injury hit seasons was never repaid in kind.
A second voice quoted in that piece was more sympathetic, calling the fitness question a genuine dilemma rather than an easy call either way.
That framing lines up with his FotMob player profile for this season. Stewart started only 11 games in the league. Across all his Championship outings he managed just 980 minutes on the pitch, a stop start campaign by any measure.
In that time he scored 8 goals and added 2 assists. FotMob rated his form at 6.87 on average, a strong return for such limited game time.
It also explains why Saints Marching's shortlist of alternatives, drawn up before this week's comments, treated his departure as an opening rather than a loss. That piece named three younger, healthier forwards for Johannes Spors to consider and called Stewart himself "so injury-prone."
Fans are entitled to want the sentimental option. Saints Marching's own reporting suggests the smarter kind of urgency is landing a fitter alternative, not waiting on Stewart.
Add us as a preferred source on Google