Today we look at perhaps the most eagerly expected debutant since Kevin Keegan in Saints history.

In over four decades of following Saints i cant remember a player whose debut was so eagerly awaited by so many who had yet to see him play, Luke Shaw had a reputation to live up to even before he had kicked a ball in anger for the first team, the downside was that the person standing in front of Shaw playing first team football was going to be slaughtered.

In the clamour to proclaim Shaw as the king of St Mary's many forgot that here was a player who had only turned 15 in July and like 99.99% of player of his age he needs nurturing and allowed to develop rather that being put on a pedestal.

His first team debut at Stevenage was a little underwhelming and the 800 or so Saints fans present saw a player whose pace got him out of trouble but who was a little unsure, in fairness though he was exposed by having a forward in Tadanari Lee play in front of him.

His first team debut in the Premier League came in the final 8 minutes of the 2-0 defeat up at West Bromwich Albion, too late to influence a game where Saints were already 2-0 down, but those clamouring for his inclusion in the starting line up didnt have long to wait and a few days later he made his full debut in the 1-1 draw with Swansea City at St Mary's.

From then on he pretty made the left back spot his own and his pace was much needed and enabled him to get the side out of trouble, however the root cause of the problems down the left still remained, Adam Lallana a great player going forward, constantly leaves his left back exposed when the opposition counter attack and this was never more emphasised in the defeat at Anfield, when time and time again Liverpool rampaged down our left and ripped us to shreds, Luke stood firm but there was only so much he could do when double teamed against Sterling and Johnson on many occasions.

The Liverpool game perhaps showed why Saints needed to nurture Shaw, it was his fifth straight start in three weeks, a good run that saw Saints take 8 points out of the first four games of it, Nigel Adkins was alert to the fact that Shaw was so young though as he substituted Luke late on in all of them, not a reflection on his performance, but respecting that a 17 year old doesnt have the stamina and core fitness and indeed doesnt usually get it till 19/20 after several years of daily training.

There can be no doubt though that bringing in Luke Shaw changed Saints season, he offered something defensively that Danny Fox couldnt offer, Shaw is a natural defender and has the pace to get out of trouble and this is what Saints really needed back then when they were leaking goals in the first half of the season.

The only thing stopping Luke Shaw becoming one of the Saints legends apart from being poached by Arsenal or Chelsea, is the weight of expectation, the fans need to realise that he is still learning his trade, he will make mistakes, so far supporters have overlooked the ones he has made, but that might not always be the case, he needs to be allowed to develop and learn by his mistakes, because as good a start to his career as he has had, even the best of players will suffer from a lack of form and when you are in your teens its harder to overcome that than when you are more experienced and confident in your own ability.

So Lukes strengths are pace and a natural ability to defend, where he needs to improve his game, and from the brief glimpses so far i think he will, is going forward, on rare occasions that he has done so, he has shown he can get past his man and get a cross in, sadly at the moment thats an area he has to work on and Im sure it will come in time, indeed its not what we have him in the side for at the moment, he came in to add pace and defensive qualityies down the left, but if Saints are to genuinely become a top ten Premier side, he does need to add this string to his bow.

Saints fans should also remember that he has to learn from his mistakes, too many players in the past few years have gone from hero to zero and sometimes back again in the eyes of the fans and this doesnt help players when fans get on their backs, in the latter part of the season Luke looked tired and was prone to niggling injuries, this resulted in a few errors and this was entirely down to being over played, the clamour from the supporters for him to play every game,wont help him, he will need to be taken out of the firing line, sadly some take this as a personal affront and his replacement has been slaughtered even in games where he hasnt put a foot wrong, if we want Luke to be our left back for many years to come then he has to have a rest now and again, come off late in games and perhaps sit out a couple.

But there is no reason why Luke cant go on to improve on this great start to his career in the next season, as mentioned the only thing that can hold him back is the burden of being the golden boy, those who doubt this should look at the likes of Gareth Bale and how long it took him after leaving Saints to truly discover his form.

For his performances Luke deserves an 8/10 there were some good ones and a few errors along the way, indeed this was the view of the Echo who gave him this very rating for the season, however I think that he could be deserving of a 9/10, his arrival in the side at a crucial time was one of those season changing moments, as said his first four games saw 8 points gained against sides down there with us at the bottom and if we had lost them then we could have gone on to drop out of touch as QPR & Reading did.   

Photo: Action Images

saintandy11 added 11:19 - May 29 Good article. I think you are spot on about how Saints need to nurture him, remember how Liverpool kept taking Gerrard out of the firing line early on in his career. Personally I think we need to bring in an experienced left back as cover for him, someone like Wayne Bridge or Ian Harte. Good cover, played at the top level, can do the job for a game or two while Luke is rested and someone he can learn from. Above all we need to try and take some of the pressure of expectation from his shoulders, look at Bale at Spurs. He arrived with a big price tag and the fans expectation to match. When he failed to meet upto this they quickly got on his back and the demands to get rid of him soon mounted, so the management took dropped him from the team, allowed him to develop away from the limelight, brought him back and the rest is history (or a £60 million bid from Madrid if the rumors are true). We as fans need to be careful with our expectations of Luke and not get carried away with the media hype, yes he looks to be another gem but lets keep this one.

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slynch added 12:05 - May 29 The only other Saints player a top 6 side would want. If it wasn't for Shaw Saints would be in the Championship. And Crickey! He's still a minor! With better players around him he will have more opportunities to foray forward, we have seen glimpses of that and he has terrified down that touchline.
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SaintNick added 12:12 - May 29 I wouldn't say that Shaw has terrified along the touchline, however on the rare occasions he has got forward his pace has left some for dead, his weakness though is his final ball, if he works on that then he could develop into a player of Bale proportions
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