Southampton FC fell flat with £1.5m Rangers deal | OneFootball

The midfielder arrived at an exciting time for the Saints, but never lived up to expectations.

After an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League and an FA Cup final defeat, the summer of 2003 marked exciting times for Southampton supporters.

Despite losing to Arsenal in the final at the Millennium Stadium, Gordon Strachan's side qualified for the UEFA Cup, as the Gunners had already achieved a top-four finish, resulting in Champions League qualification.

With European football on the horizon for the first time in just under 20 years, the South Coast club needed to bulk out their squad and add quality in order to compete.

Indeed, Saints made some eye-catching deals, with Kevin Phillips the headline signing from Sunderland, but one man who arrived with trophies aplenty failed to live up to the hype.

Neil McCann arrived from Rangers with lofty expectations

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When Neil McCann signed for Southampton from Rangers for £1.5million in 2003, it felt as if the transfer would be a roaring success for several reasons.

Firstly, the midfielder was a serial winner, having won 10 major honours with the Light Blues and Hearts, including three league titles with the Gers.

Then, there was European experience as the Scotland international had represented the Bears in both the Champions League and UEFA Cup, providing the Saints with an ingredient their squad was lacking.

Perhaps the clincher was the fact that Strachan would have known plenty about McCann from his time managing Celtic, meaning he should have been able to integrate him into his team with ease.

However, for reasons mainly out of his control, the left-winger endured a torrid time at St Mary's.

Injuries hampered McCann in debut Southampton season

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McCann began that 2003/04 campaign as Strachan's first choice on the left-wing, playing in front of experienced left-back Graeme Le Saux, who signed from Chelsea that same summer.

However, the Scot's season was stop-start to say the least, as he was consistently in and out of the side due to an injury, meaning he was unable to compete in more than five successive league matches in his first campaign.

The midfielder missed the final nine Premier League games of his debut season on the South Coast and failed to register a single goal or assist in 18 appearances, with around half of those coming as a substitute.

Furthermore, his European experience counted for nothing as he made just one appearance as a sub against Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of their opening-round UEFA Cup tie as Saints were eliminated 2-1 on aggregate.

Premier League relegation sums up McCann's move to St Mary's

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To think that when McCann would have been eyeing European football at a stable Premier League side when he signed on the South Coast, he couldn't have foreseen how his time at the club would end.

The Scotsman made even less impact the following season due to fitness issues, making just 11 league appearances as Saints sacked Strachan in February 2004 and suffered relegation under Paul Sturrock, having finished bottom of the pile.

Despite the man who brought him to the club departing, McCann remained at Southampton in the Championship, making 11 league appearances before rejoining Hearts in the 2006 January transfer window after leaving by mutual consent.

The Scotland international departed St Mary's having managed just one goal and two assists in 50 appearances, which was nowhere near good enough after two and a half years at the club.