Billy Sharp is due to sit down with Mauriccio Pochettino to learn whether he has a future at St Mary's.
The meeting which according to the Daily Echo is due to take place within the next fortnight will signal whether Pochettino has Sharp in his plans or whether he is deemed surplus to requirements.
Certainly there are many Saints supporters who feel that Sharp is worth a place in the squad, his departure on loan to Forest last August was swift and a shock and clearly politics were at play as Sharp, whose goals had fired Saints into the Premier League at the latter end of the season and whose form in pre season last summer had been prolific, was quickly despatched to make way for £3.5 Million aquisition Mayuka.
With the benefit of hindsight this looks a bad move, Sharp managed only 20 minutes of Premier League football for Saints in two games before being moved on, however in the following 36 games Mayuka managed only a shade over 2 hrs on the pitch without scoring a goal, certainly Mayuka has pace, but doesnt have Sharp's eye for being in the right place at the right time and timing his runs to perfection.
Billy Sharp was a victim of club policy, alongside Rickie Lambert in the second half of the season in the Championship he had formed a lethal partnership, 9 goals in only 11 starts plus 4 as sub was Billy's contribution and without it we possibly wouldnt be where we are today, but clearly club policy was to now play a lone striker and that left Sharp in the cold.
The problem now is that last August he was shipped out alledgedly against the wishes of a manager, but that manager has gone and the person implementing the policy is still in place, this isnt a rant against Les Reed, merely pointing out that having taken a course of action last August, he is hardly likely to backtrack and that being the case and with Pochettino probably knowing little about Sharp, Saints are likely to tell Sharp he can go, Saints wont be the first club to make a decision that in hindsight doesnt appear to have worked out and Im sure they wont be the last.
Personally I would prefer to keep Sharp and let Mayuka go, I think Sharp offers that something we lacked at times, however in our current formation Sharp is only likely, like Mayuka to be used off the bench and would he himself be happy with that at this stage of his career.
Likewise Tadanari Lee, given his high tempo game he would have been a good option off the bench, but like Sharp he appears to have been the victim of club politics, having paid so much for Mayuka, someone wants to see that fee justified, therefore he spent a lot of time as an unused sub, possibly on occasions when Sharp or Lee might have offered better options if they had still been at the club.
Mayuka's future at the club looks just as unclear, neither Nigel Adkins nor Pochettino seemed inclined to use him much, ideally I would love to see Sharp back and playing a part, but if he does or doesnt I feel Saints have to look beyond Mayuka to back up the lone striker next year.
So I think that once again Billy Sharp will be a victim of circumstance at St Mary's, he just isnt going to fit into what appears to be a fairly rigid formation and Saints will look