Having guided them from the depths of League One to the holy land of the Premier League, Southampton now need their goal-scoring hero more than ever.
Rickie Lambert arrived at St Mary’s in 2009 for £1 million, going on to score 36 goals in all competitions during his first season at the club. He didn’t have such a successful strike rate in his second campaign, although he still racked up 21 goals, playing a massive part in the Saints’ promotion-winning season. After finishing second in the third division, Southampton went one better the following year by winning the Championship title, achieving impressive back-to-back promotions to return to the top flight.
Now that they are back in the Premier League, Nigel Adkins’ side are struggling and currently lie 19th in the table. They have won only one game in the league so far this season, with a leaky defence resulting in the Saints conceding too many goals. Whilst tightening up at the back may be their main priority, the south coast club could also do with their target man Lambert back firing on all cylinders. The big striker has netted twice as many goals as any other Southampton player in this year’s Premier League, with four goals in seven appearances.
Rickie Lambert has diligently worked his way up through the divisions, now finding himself at arguably the best league in the world. As well as proving himself at the highest level, Lambert needs to show why Southampton deserve their place in England’s top flight.