Billy Sharp is finally being treated properly by Saints after his deplorable treatment at the hands of those in charge of the club two years ago.

It could be said that Billy Sharp is the an who fired Saints to promotion to the Premier league, back in the spring of 2012 as Saints went into the run in it looked like West Ham and Reading would come in at the rails as our promotion bid started to falter slightly.

However it was Sharp who had joined from Doncaster in the January transfer window who hit form at the right time and scored the goals that kept us going and forced us over the line, Sharp hit 8 goals in the last 8 games, to put this in perspective Rickie Lambert his 3 in the same period, obviously Rickie had a great season and this cannot be denied, but as he struggled in the final run in, it was Sharp who made a telling contribution.

The reward for Billy was to be two fleeting substitute appearances in the Premier League in the opening couple of games and then to be forced out of the club for no apparent reason, yes Saints had signed Mayuka, but as the transfer window was about to close Sharp was pushed out of the door to Forest, this seemed to make little sense, we were short on firepower, we had places left in the squad, surely it would have been better to have kept Sharp in reserve.

Perhaps he is not a Premier quality player but one thing is for sure he is a predator in front of goal and a lucky player, in the first half of that season as we struggled with a new formation and what we now know were tensions in the club between manager and Chairman, there were many occasions in that season when we could have used Sharp off the bench to try and nick a goal or two in the dying moments of a game.

But for some reason the manager was not allowed to keep this option, Sharp was forced out as if someone was trying to justify why Mayuka had been signed, perhaps telling is that two years later that same person(s) still have seen no real justification why Mayuka was signed for a not insubstancial fee and Sharp sent to Coventry so to speak or more to the point, Nottingham, Reading & Doncaster.

For his part Sharp has been nothing other than professional, he has got on with it and when his loan spells ended returned to the club and got his head down.

This summer Ronald Koeman has been impressed by the way Sharp has worked hard in training and the friendly games he has played, however it is understood that he does not see Sharp as part of his long term plans, therefore at last Saints are doing the right thing by Sharp and are willing to let him leave on a free transfer should he be made an offer that suits him.

There is sure to be no shortage of offers for Billy and it is good that as he has a free transfer he can negotiate his own departure and therefore a larger chunk for a signing on fee than he would have got if Saints were to demand a fee.

It is good that the club has recognised the contribution that Billy Sharp made to it, it is possible that without him we would not be in the Premier league today, his treatment has been shoddy and it was pointed out by more than one journalist that how could Saints ask for loyalty from those that have now left, when those players have seen the loyalty shown to the likes of Sharp over the past two years and have probably realised that under the old board at least, there was no sentiment and therefore any player could be discarded when his usefulness ended.

So a big thanks to Billy Sharp, Im not going to try and pretent he was the greatest player that Saints ever had, but in many respects his short time here has been as important as many more illustrious names in our history.

Photo: Action Images

Santos added 09:34 - Aug 8 Well said and good luck Billy you deserved more from us. On a personal note thanks for that shinned first goal against Coventry that started the party and at 45-1 for 4-0 and first goal scorer made for a very great night. Cheers!!!
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kchick242 added 09:45 - Aug 8 Hope it works out for Billy been a good buy for us. Although I always felt he was second choice with the them management as they could not get J Rod till the summer. At least we are doing the right thing now and I agree he could have done a good job from the bench and still can if we need him to.
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CovSaint added 10:02 - Aug 8 Well said Nick, and agree with posters above. All the best to Billy Sharp, it's good to see RK giving him a run out in the pre season games. I honestly think we could have played him to good effect over the previous two seasons, he's a great poacher, and would have been suited to a manager who wasn't afraid to change things to mix it up a bit... something that certainly MoPo never really did given his 'small squad' style mentality. All the best Billy, hope it works out for you.

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darthvader added 10:09 - Aug 8 Two goals against those skates so will always be loved . Agree he still should have been a squad player even to come on for 10 mins at the end,we get the ball in the box. Sharp to nic an equaliser or winner .surely with Lambert gone its still on for this to happen ? If not then I hope he gets a good move for him
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Zambucco added 10:15 - Aug 8 I saw him play at Swindon and he looked really sharp (pardon the unintentional pun) very lean and fit, worked tirelessly and played some excellent football. I actually thought then that he could still do a job for us. Good luck to him
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law101 added 10:49 - Aug 8 I don't think Sharp was harshly treated. He was on a huge salary from us which in part still paid by us when he was loaned out. He was made surplus to requirements because he is (as you say) not a premier league standard player. That’s not poor treatment from the club, there’s no room for sentiment or giving a player a game because he ‘deserves it’ for getting us up. He failed to prove himself out on loan by dropping down a division either with spells at Forest, Reading and Doncaster.. Good luck to him, an important part of the promotion campaign and well worth the 1.8 million we paid for him.

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winchesterbob added 11:01 - Aug 8 When you consider the ratio of chances created and goals scored last season, Billy could definatly have done a job for us...... score goals!!! Good luck Billy and thank you.
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perazi added 11:11 - Aug 8 You've nailed it Nick. Billy Sharp delivered for Saints at a time when our promotion bid was wobbling. He is not a Prem League player but his contribution to Southampton has been great. Good gesture by the new regime to waive any fee; let's hope he gets a good club and many opportunities to ply his trade in the Championship.
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StGibbo added 11:26 - Aug 8 Considering the guy has had ample opportunity to move on (and I'm not talking about loan deals) I have no sympathy. I'm sure he's getting paid handsomely for doing very little at Saints. In my mind he's showing a lack of ambition and would prefer to sit on a larger contract at Saints and run it down. The sooner we get him off our books the better. I have absolutely nothing against the guy, in fact he seems like a lovely bloke but as a player, he's a waste of resource.

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thedelldays added 11:38 - Aug 8 Nick. All this was going to stop when cortese left. it was all his fault!!! programme prices would go dow fans forums everywhere.... oh
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ItchenNorth added 13:17 - Aug 8 Hardy shoddy when 3 managers have appraised Sharp and come to the same conclusions; not quite good enough for the Premier League. And one of those managers, Keoman; is not falling under the influence of the dark lord himself Cortese ! So that kind of blows your argument out of the water somewhat and yet again exposes your distain for our last chairman ! They must all be spotting something in training or his attitude that we as fans just didn't see when he graced the shirt in the Championship. Good luck to Billy though. It was sure fun while it lasted. I hope he does well wherever he ply's his trade next.

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SanMarco added 13:24 - Aug 8 I agree that he did his bit for the promotion but he is not a premier standard player and therefore hasn't played. I am no fan of NC but I cant see that he did much wrong in this case. There is no room for sentimentality in the big bad corporate world of English football. I wish Sharp the best of luck of course but his wages have been many times higher than mine over the past couple of years...so limited sympathy for his 'shoddy treatment'.

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brady100 added 14:01 - Aug 8 If your a fan who thinks Billy Sharp was good enough for Southampton in the Premier League...then you obviously don't know much about football. Agree that’s 3 managers now, all with the same opinion. Good luck to Sharp, I hope he finds his level again in the Championship.
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SaintNick added 14:14 - Aug 8 Some of you obviously did not read the articles and missed the point, no one has claimed that Sharp is good enough for the Premier league only that he was poorly treated, two years ago Sharp was not given the choice of staying and fighting for his place, Mayuka had been bought over Adkins head ( as we now know after what happened a few months after) and the manager had no say in whether Sharp stayed or went, he in my opinion was was a pawn caught between the manager and the chairman. Billy was obviousy well paid but that isnt his fault

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thedelldays added 14:47 - Aug 8 so, shipping sharp out this time is the fault ofthe dark lord, cortese?
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SanMarco added 15:44 - Aug 8 But there is no point giving him the chance to fight for his place if he isn't good enough. Wouldn't it almost be cruel? Better to send him out to play at the level to which he is suited. Mayuka wasn't good enough either. What we could perhaps try is buy some forwards that are good enough. I don't begrudge Sharp his wages but it does put these things into perspective. Also, he seems like a decent bloke so I am sure he doesn't expect (or need for that matter) our sympathy.

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thegeneral added 15:55 - Aug 8 Good enough for the prem or not he strikes me as a really decent bloke, far better than a certain person we all took to heart. Good luck Billy and wherever you play your football i hope you have a great season.
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RednWight added 06:42 - Aug 9 I wish him all the best but to say that players shouldn't show loyalty because the old board treated Billy badly is a nonsense The players have left under a different board but I guess any chance you have to slag off the old regime you'll take even if it's obviously just a personal gripe
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OwenTheSaint added 08:31 - Aug 9 Good luck to Billy but I have no sympathy. The reason the club are offering him on a free is that they want his large wage off the books, and they know that with a year left on his contract by offering him on a free this is the best way of achieving this. They also know that this affords any potential buyer the money they would have spent on a fee to instead put this money towards his wages, which I guess will have to be hefty enough to entice him off the one he's already on. This all adds up to a good chance of a deal happening. As for the journalists who argue we can't complain about lack of loyalty from other players because of the way we have treated Sharp, what a load of rubbish. We have just spent two years paying a large wage to Sharp despite it being made very obvious at the outset that he wasn't good enough for the Premier League and that we didn't want him to stay, I would say the club has been very loyal. As this summer has proved, the players you want to stay leave because they want more money, and will pretty much do anything to achieve this end, whereas they players you want to leave stay because they won't get the same money elsewhere. Either way, the players always win. Perhaps the journalists should write about that because for me, it's ruining the game.

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TeamCortese added 15:07 - Aug 9 All the best in the future Billy. Excellent contribution to our Championship promotion campaign. I hope we get a couple of really decent signings upfront and midfield so that JRod and Schneiderlin can get off their high-horse and realise they're not really that good and need focus on football rather than transfer speculation!
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PaulGutirrez added 09:47 - Mar 13 It's disheartening to see Sharp being rewarded despite the shoddy treatment they received from the Saints. It underscores the need for accountability and fairness in all interactions. Perhaps a reminder of the importance of integrity in every aspect of life, including business dealings. For those struggling with addiction, seeking help from programs like https://genesishouse.net/programs/drug-addiction-treatment-program/ can be a crucial step towards recovery and rebuilding a fulfilling life.

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