Blast from the past
1st September 1984 – the late George Michael was number one with ‘Careless Whisper’, Michael Douglas was in UK cinemas in Romancing The Stone and West Ham United were defeating Southampton 3-2 in front of 18,442 at The Dell.
The Hammers recorded their first win of the season at the third attempt with victory on the South Coast with Paul Goddard (pictured below) scoring twice and Alan Dickens once. Joe Jordan and David Armstrong replied for the Saints but it was the Hammers who took maximum points back to London.
West Ham United would finish the 1984/85 First Division season in 16th position, while Southampton would end up fifth in a campaign which saw Everton win the title and Manchester United win the FA Cup. Tony Cottee would finish as the Hammers’ top scorer with 24 goals in 50 matches; the young striker would finish runner-up to future Saint Paul Allen in the Hammer of the Year voting.
Southampton: Peter Shilton, Ivan Golac (Alan Curtis), Mark Wright, Mark Whitlock, Mick Mills, Reuben Agboola, Steve Williams, David Armstrong, Danny Wallace, Joe Jordan, Steve Moran.
West Ham United: Tom McAlister, Ray Stewart, Alvin Martin, Tony Gale, Steve Walford, Geoff Pike, Paul Allen, Alan Dickens, Paul Goddard (Paul Hilton), Bobby Barnes, Tony Cottee.
Club Connections
Jose Fonte and Michail Antonio are likely starters at the home of their former club. An array of West Ham United’s good, bad and ugly have also turned out for Southampton:
Goalkeepers: Richard Wright, George Kitchen.
Defenders: Richard Hall, Joe Kirkup, Wayne Bridge, Neil Ruddock, Bill Adams, Ian Pearce, Darren Powell, Albie Roles, Horace Glover, Calum Davenport.
Midfielders: Luis Boa Morte, Nigel Quashie, Eyal Berkovic, Robbie Slater, Paul Allen.
Strikers: Vic Watson, Justin Fashanu, David Speedie, Iain Dowie, David Connolly, Ted MacDougall, Henri Camara, Alex McDonald, Frank Costello, Fred Harrison, Walter Pollard, Arthur Wilson, Jimmy Harris, Jack Foster.
In addition, George Kay played for the Hammers and managed the Saints while Harry Redknapp and Alan Pardew have managed both clubs.
Today’s focus though falls on a Scottish player who had a loan spell with Southampton from West Ham. Christian Dailly was born on the 23rd October 1973 in Dundee and started his professional career at Dundee United. He moved south of the border to sign for Derby in 1996 before joining Blackburn. The 27-year-old signed for Harry Redknapp’s West Ham United in January 2001 for a fee of £1.75m and made his debut in a 1-1 draw at Charlton on the 22nd January 2001. His next game saw him play the full 90 minutes of the famous 1-0 FA Cup fourth round win at Manchester United and he recorded 15 appearances in total before the season’s end. The summer of 2001 saw Redknapp replaced by Glenn Roeder, with Dailly playing every minute of every game in every competition at centre-half as the Hammers finished seventh. 2002/03 was a total disaster though, the Hammers relegated with a Premier League record 42 points.
Dailly scored his first goal for the Hammers in a 1-0 home win over Reading on 13th September 2003, the third match of Sir Trevor Brooking’s second spell as caretaker manager. His second goal of the campaign was the winner in a 2-1 home victory over Rotherham on 31st January 2004, by which time Alan Pardew had taken over as manager. The most famous of his four Hammers goals was undoubtedly the tie-clinching strike over Ipswich in the play-off semi-final second leg, played in front of a raucous Upton Park. Dailly was winded as the ball struck him in the penalty area following a Matthew Etherington corner, but he regained sufficient composure to steer the ball in via a deflection before sinking to the ground, doubled over in pain, as Upton Park erupted around him. The Hammers would go on to lose the Final against Crystal Palace and miss out on an immediate Premier League return.
The Hammers captain would pick up a serious injury just two matches into 2004/05 and missed almost the entirety of the campaign. He returned as a substitute on the final day of the regular season at Watford after nine months out before appearing from the bench in the second lef of the play-off semi-final at Ipswich and in the Final itself, against Preston in Cardiff. The Irons would emerge victorious, club captain Dailly lifting the Championship Play-Off trophy alongside team skipper Nigel Reo-Coker.
Dailly started the 2005/06 Premier League campaign at right-back against Blackburn but most of his appearances that season were as a substitute in a holding midfield role. He scored his fourth and final goal for the club in a 4-2 League Cup second round win at Sheffield Wednesday on 20th September 2005. Dailly came off the bench in the 2006 FA Cup Final but could not prevent the Hammers agonisingly losing out to Liverpool in one of the greatest modern day Finals the competition has seen. The Scot would see more game time under Pardew’s replacement, Alan Curbishley, starting nine games in two months between the new manager’s appointment in late December 2006 and late February 2007. The 4-0 defeat at Charlton on 24th February 2007 would transpire to be the 33-year-old’s final appearance in a Hammers shirt. Dailly had scored four goals in 191 appearances for West Ham United, become the love of most fans’ lives and ensured everyone of a claret and blue persuasion wanted curly hair too-oo..!
After six and a half seasons in east London, Dailly joined Southampton on loan for two months in September 2007. He made his Saints debut in a 3-2 defeat to Barnsley on 22nd September 2007. Despite only making 11 appearances for the club, some impressive displays helped Dailly became a cult favourite at St Mary’s.
Dailly left the Hammers permanently in the winter of 2008, signing for Glasgow Rangers. After 18 months with the Ibrox club, he returned to London to spend two seasons at Charlton. Brief spells at Portsmouth and Southend followed before Dailly retired from the game in July 2012 at the age of 38. Now 43, Dailly also won 67 caps for Scotland, scoring six goals and captaining his country on 12 occasions. His son, 17-year-old Harvey Dailly, is currently on the books of Christian’s first club, Dundee United.
Referee
This Saturday’s referee is 48-year-old Graham Scott. The Oxfordshire-based official will be taking charge of only his tenth Premier League match. He was, however, the man in the middle for our 2-1 League Cup victory over Cheltenham in August 2013 but also sent off Callum McNaughton in the defender’s only Hammers appearance as the club were knocked out of the same competition by Aldershot in August 2011.
Possible line-ups
Southampton have James Ward-Prowse and Jay Rodriguez rated as doubts. Alex McCarthy, Virgil van Dijk, Matt Targett, Jeremy Pied and Charlie Austin remain sidelined. New signing Manolo Gabbiadini could make his Saints debut up front.
West Ham United could welcome back Cheikhou Kouyate from international duty, while Robert Snodgrass could claim a starting berth. Alvaro Arbeloa, Angelo Ogbonna, Arthur Masuaku, Havard Nordtveit, Gokhan Tore and Diafra Sakho remain out.
Possible Southampton XI: Forster; Soares, Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand; Romeu, Clasie; Redmond, Davis, Tadic; Gabbiadini.
Possible West Ham United XI: Randolph; Byram, Fonte, Reid, Cresswell; Noble, Kouyate; Snodgrass, Antonio, Lanzini; Carroll.
Enjoy the game – Up The Hammers!
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