![]() team members do their best to accommodate contactless, curbside and other instructions, but availability may vary and is not guaranteed. You must request contactless and/or curbside pickup. Additional charge for extra cheese, stuffed crust, pan, and extra toppings may apply. By then, Walcott will know the lay of the land and, more pertinently, if the land he once dreamed of returning to can still be called home.THE DELIVERY CHARGE IS NOT A DRIVER TIP. The window shuts on September 1, by which time the team would have played five Premier League games. Critically, the first month of the season will reflect whether the winds are changing. Walcott is understood to have approached this pre-season with an open mind and regular game time is likely to subdue any talk of a move elsewhere. Southampton, however, are open to proposals. It is thought he remains the quickest player at the club, even if there is increased competition from younger peers. Internally, Walcott remains well-liked and, despite limited involvement, was noted to have trained particularly well last season. In theory, the slate being wiped clean should lead to a fresh opportunity and help shape a broader view on team selection.īut the situation is nuanced. It is hoped Southampton’s decision to rewire Hasenhuttl’s coaching network will benefit Walcott, with incoming staff able to impart fresh ideas. His guidance to younger players remains keenly felt and as one of the senior figures, assumes the responsibility of being a conduit between players and coaching staff. Walcott’s return has fallen into isolation.Īlthough his influence on the pitch has diminished, the same could be said of several players in the squad, particularly those in the attacking positions. Even if Wayne Rooney’s return to Everton or Cristiano Ronaldo’s at Manchester United ultimately fell, or are set to fall, flat they both produced game-changing contributions at home. In contrast to the notable homecomings that soon dissolve into loose memory, there has been no crescendo or definitive moment of pure, albeit brief, adulation. It was the least he had ever played in a season and, for stark context, the second time in his career - the first being the 2014-15 campaign severely curbed by a cruciate ligament injury - he had played less than 1,000 minutes. Walcott made nine appearances in the Premier League, with no goals or assists in 378 minutes of football. The teenager who once captivated had come to personify Southampton’s state of drift. This, in itself, became a vignette of a player so distinctly removed from what was supposed to happen. ![]() ![]() Yet, he was entrenched on the bench and, increasingly so towards the end of the season, sat in the players’ box at St Mary’s, situated at the back of the Chapel Stand. Unlike previous seasons, he was not beset by injury, nor a victim of positional flexibility impeding him from a designated role in the team. With St Mary’s welcoming back supporters in their full capacity, a second season was supposed to provide the perfect, in some ways, wholesome, cyclical tale to his career.īut the story of nostalgia has turned flat. And this was the proper, long-awaited homecoming, the type of which he had yearned for. It has been over a year since Walcott returned on a permanent basis. It was felt he had absorbed the nuances of being a Ralph Hasenhuttl No 10 quicker than anticipated, before being trusted to replace Danny Ings up front when he was ruled out through injury. Walcott had vindicated the divergence in transfer strategy to soon become a regular starter. It even may have come as a pleasant surprise, given he was initially regarded by staff inside Staplewood as a player who could make an impact in the last third of matches. Walcott made 25 appearances across all competitions, chipping in with three goals and three assists. His face, that picture and all of the quotes were plastered across every paper and local TV programme in the city. Even the most dubious of supporters, perhaps tentative at the thought of bringing back an injury-afflicted winger who had doubled in age, found it difficult not to get swept away in the romanticism. In a savvy move from the club’s media team, pictures of him in the 2005-06 kit (above) were released online, offering an instant nostalgic snapshot. Supporters were confined to their homes and, very much like another Saints old boy Gareth Bale and his move to Tottenham, forced to watch the reunion on television. Walcott had been discarded by Everton and rejoined on a season-long loan. Walcott in 2020 (Photo: Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images) ![]()
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