For some reason Billy Sharp took a little more time to play his way into the hearts of the fans at St Mary's and didn' get the adoration others did, but is that all set to change.

Saints seeminlgy chased billy Sharp long and hard last season, after failing to land him in the summer of 2011 they continued to be publicly linked with him right up to the moment that he signed, strangely though when he arrived he didnt find himself the man of the moment and struggled to get into the starting line up and sometimes even off the bench as Tadanari Lee took centre stage in the incoming list.

Many Saints fans suggested that it was because he wasnt as some put it, "Saints Fit"  whilst there is some mileage in that, the fact was, whatever his fitness he was still one of the leagues leading scorers even after being out for the first six weeks of the season with a broken leg sustained on the opening day.

In the meantime Tadanari Lee scored a wonder goal and attained a greater status than perhaps one goal should have given him, whilst Lee is a decent player, the fact is Saints needed that extra bit of firepower to push them towards the finishing line and once Sharp got his chance he took it and there was never any question that he should not be in the team, whether he looked a bit portly or not.

Sharp is one of those players that has a knack of scoring goals and a lot of them at that, they might not be spectacular, but he just has that talent of being in the right place at the right time and thats something that its hard to coach, in the past at Southampton perhaps the nearest comparison would be Steve Moran and in terms of build that probably as near to Billy Sharp as any Saints player from the past.

So whilst everyone mentions the likes of Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana as being the vital cogs for Saints, perhaps it might just be Billy Sharp, next season is not going to be as easy as the last, we wont dominate sides as we did in our build up and certainly wont create as many chances, last term although we scored a lot of goals, we needed to create a lot of chances to convert them, if you look at the goals against stats, our opponents always seemed to have a lot better ratio of goals scored against chances created.

In the premier League therefore we are going to need someone who can put it away when needed and in our current squad Sharp would certainly fit that bill, the spectacular we have always done well, its the bread and butter tap ins that we havent been so prolific at and thats where sSharp comes in.

So I dont expect him to win goal of the season next year, but players like Billy Sharp will score goals in any division and that might just be our saving grace next term, sometimes pretty football has to go out the window and an end product has to be produced, Sharp by name Sharp by nature !

Photo: Action Images

Butty101 added 13:01 - Aug 9 Nothing strange about it - he has said himself he wasnt fit when joined! Lee earnt his chance and took it up until his injury.
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pap added 13:10 - Aug 9 Sharp's pre-season form has been mightily impressive. Really looking forward to seeing all of our strike force in the Prem. With the players we've got jostling for position, they're all going to be hungry to be top dog. Really looking forward to Chun Lee getting back into contention too.
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ExiledSupporter added 13:49 - Aug 9 Agree with the views here but doesn't this raise issues about the formation that NA seems to be evolving in pre-season? As I understand it this is a 4-2-3-1 shape which relies on Rodrigues and Puncheon(apparently!) or Guly or Chaplow or Cork...or Lee playing a little wider than they might be best suited to, with Lallana in the centre. It doesn't seem to involve Sharpe other than as a replacement for RL or as a late substitute because we urgently need to change tactics to get something out of the game. Neither of these scenarios optimise the use of Sharpe. Indeed a replacement for RL (because of injury or, whisper it, a loss of form) would seem most naturally to be Rodrigues, surely? Sharpe's value is as the foil to a big striker who knocks the ball down in the area for just the sort of goal that the two of them contrived at Bristol City. This prompts the same old question that doesn't at present seem to be resolved ie. what is the priority... a system that suits the players or players that fit the system, I think we seem to be pursuing the latter without the players best suited to implement it. Perhaps new players still to be signed will alter that picture a little...

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tiptop added 13:56 - Aug 9 He is def showing potential to be saints primary goal scorer on the pre-season evidence. Lets hope he gives the prem opposition plenty to think about.
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BlackRod added 14:02 - Aug 9 A good analysis. Sharp isn't fast and doesn't appear to be particularly skillful but always seems to be in the right place at the right time to poke the ball into the net. Even what appear to be radom bounces of the ball or deflections off other players seem to land at his feet. I remember thinking the same of Ted MacDougall a few years back.
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Jesus_02 added 14:19 - Aug 9 Anyone that does well for saints will be a "suprise" to t he premiership. I think the majority of people expect us to turn up with Egil Ostenstad! I think Lee will be a revelation. The reason that fans too him to their heat is that. he is quick has a great first touch, a fantastic work rate and (as his "wonder goal" proved he has the final product
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JimmySteal added 16:25 - Aug 9 A Kevin Phillips in the making?
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thingummy added 02:06 - Aug 10 Another Steve Moran - that would be fantastic. Steve Moran is the most natural fox in the box we have had in my time of watching saints (Phil Boyer was another one). I am not going to mention the last minute goal at FP in 1984 but .... The question is whether BS has the pace to be effective when we are under pressure - someone has to be able to stretch opposition defences whereby they feel they have to drop off - or whether our wide players will provide that Exciting times

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SaintDownUnder added 05:48 - Aug 10 I couldnt agree more with ExiledSupporter, Both RL and BS benefit from playing alongside each other in a traditional 4-4-2. and if we play either of the formations we've been trialing in preseason the Billy wont play much. This leads us to the question about not only the shape but the attiude we take into this season. Are we defensively strong enough to feel comfortable setting up defensively and sneaking victories by the odd goal. Or are we better getting on the front foot and trying to outscore teams knowing that were likely to be a bit vunerable at the back at times? Personally I cant remeber the last time I felt comfortable watching saints defensively so I'd rather have us set up as offensively as possible and I have my doubts as to whether we'll get the best out of eitther of our two most natural goal scorers unless RL is partnered upfront BS. I've been wrong before though........

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Whatsforpud added 17:09 - Aug 12 Does anyone know when Chung will be up and running? His genuine pace is surely what we will be looking to use in the Premier. What little we saw of him last season, he seemed so eager to impress, feeding off Lambert's touches. Otherwise, if we play 433 he could be one of the wide men getting crosses in from the byline.
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