Jason Puncheon looks to have no future at Saints after returning.
If Jason Puncheon thought he might have a chance of resurrecting his career at St mary's those hopes were dashed when he returned to Staplewood and was ordered to train away from the first team squad.
Certainly it looked a tall order for Puncheon to be greeted as the prodigal son when after throwing his toys out of the pram after being dropped early in Nigel Adkins reign he spent time away from the club on loan at Millwall, Blackpool & QPR.
Ironically his last appearance for Saints came in last years FA Cup 3rd round when he featured in the defeat of his next loan club Blackpool, but since departing last January Puncheon has actually played little first team football, at Blackpool he only six games plus 5 fleeting appearances as sub, 3 goals perhaps making his spell appear a little more succesful than it actually was, and this season at QPR he has only managed two appearances as substitute, and they only comprised of 2 mins against Newcastle in September and then at the start of November 13 mins against Man City, so a quarter of an hour's total game time in eight months isnt making him match fit to boost Saints promotion hopes.
It seems most clubs have cottoned on to Puncheon's attitude problems, for Blackpool last season he was a cheap gamble and the same for QPR this, his relatively high wages for a player of his pedigree mean that few clubs at the level he is likely to be able to play comfortably at are willing to take a big financial risk and pay out good cash for a player that always seems to start well at a club then leave under a cloud.
From Saints point of view, although Puncheon would be an assett, in truth he is no better than some of the options they already have, including Guly who could be utilised on the right if Saints fin a striker so he no longer has to fill in up front.
So for Puncheon it will probably be another january of trying to find a loan move, for Saints they would like to be shot of him, but for his faults, Nicola Cortese does stand his ground on situations like this and is quite prepared to get back some of the transfer outlay through loan fees rather than let the player go cheaply and benefit financially through his distasteful behaviour and attitude.