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Saints spotlight Lam up with best of the last decade ONLY two strikers have scored more goals in a League Two season in the past ten years than Rickie Lambert fired last season. Lambert and Simon Cox both struck 29 times in the league, though it was Leeds’ Jermaine Beckford and Leicester’s Matt Fryatt (who both scored two fewer) who grabbed most of the headlines. Only Robert Earnshaw and Billy Sharp have netted more in a third tier campaign since the start of the 1999/2000 campaign. Welsh international Earnshaw fired 31 goals for Cardiff in 2002/03, one more than Scunthorpe forward Sharp managed in 2006/07. Here are the third tier’s top league marksman for the last decade ...
Steve Brooker (Bristol City) . . . . . . . .21 James Hayter (Cherries) . . . . . . . . . .19 2003/2004 Leon Knight (Brighton) . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Stephen McPhee (Port Vale) . . . . . . .25 Paul Heffernan (Notts Co) . . . . . . . . .20 Tommy Mooney (Swindon) . . . . . . . .19 Sam Parkin (Swindon) . . . . . . . . . . . .19 2002/2003 Robert Earnshaw (Cardiff) . . . . . . . . .31 Luke Beckett (Stockport) . . . . . . . . . .27 Sam Parkin (Swindon) . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Mark Stallard (Notts Co) . . . . . . . . . . .24 Rob Hulse (Crewe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Steve Howard (Luton) . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Simon Haworth (Tranmere) . . . . . . . .20 2001/2002 Bobby Zamora (Brighton) . . . . . . . . . .28
2008/2009 Rickie Lambert (B Rovers) . . . . . . . . .29 Simon Cox (Swindon) . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Jermaine Beckford (Leeds) . . . . . . . .27 Matt Fryatt (Leicester) . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Gary Hooper (Scunthorpe) . . . . . . . . .24 Craig Mackail-Smith (Pboro) . . . . . . .23 2007/2008 Jason Scotland (Swansea) . . . . . . . .24 Jermaine Beckford (Leeds) . . . . . . . .20 Nicky Forster (Brighton) . . . . . . . . . . .15 Nicky Maynard (Crewe) . . . . . . . . . . .15 Rickie Lambert (B Rovers) . . . . . . . . .14 Joe Garner (Carlisle) . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Danny Graham (Carlisle) . . . . . . . . . .14 Steven Gillespie (Cheltenham) . . . . .14 Adam Boyd (Hartlepool) . . . . . . . . . . .14 Simon Cox (Swindon) . . . . . . . . . . . .14 2006/2007 Billy Sharp (Scunthorpe) . . . . . . . . . .30 Leon Constantine (Port Vale) . . . . . . .22 Chris Porter (Oldham) . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Lee Trundle (Swansea) . . . . . . . . . . .19 Luke Varney (Crewe) . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Chris Greenacre (Tranmere) . . . . . . .17 2005/2006 Billy Sharp (Scunthorpe) . . . . . . . . . .23 Freddy Eastwood (Southend) . . . . . .23 James Hayter (Cherries) . . . . . . . . . .20 Lee Trundle (Swansea) . . . . . . . . . . .20 Luke Beckett (Oldham) . . . . . . . . . . .18 2004/2005 Dean Windass (Bradford) . . . . . . . . .27 Stuart Elliott (Hull) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Pawel Abbott (Huddersfield) . . . . . . .26 Leroy Lita (Bristol City) . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Sam Parkin (Swindon) . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Adam Boyd (Hartlepool) . . . . . . . . . . .22
ROB EARNSHAW
2000/2001 Jamie Cureton (Reading) . . . . . . . . . .27 Neil Harris (Millwall) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Martin Butler (Reading) . . . . . . . . . . .24 Mark Robins (Rotherham) . . . . . . . . .24 Tony Thorpe (Bristol City) . . . . . . . . .19 1999/2000 Andy Payton (Burnley) . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Neil Harris (Millwall) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Peter Thorne (Stoke) . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Jon Macken (Preston) . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Jason Roberts (B Rovers) . . . . . . . . .22 Jamie Cureton (B Rovers) . . . . . . . . .22 Trevor Benjamin (Cambridge U) . . . .20
MATT Le Tissier officially launches his autobiography ‘Taking Le Tiss’ at St Mary’s next Thursday. The Daily Echo and Pink will be running exclusive extracts from the eagerly-awaited book (published by HarperSport priced £18.99) towards the end of next week. In the book Le Tissier talks at length about his whole Saints career – on and off the pitch – as well as revealing what he really thinks about characters such as Glenn Hoddle and Rupert Lowe. The book – written with the help of former Daily Echo reporter Graham Hiley – is
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2009
How Rickie stepped on Gas when in Bristol RICKIE Lambert has a shot you wouldn’t want to get in the way of. And on top of a this he has tremendous close control, plays well with the ball to his feet, is a key man in the air in both penalty areas, scores from set pieces, can be a target man and also acts well as a linkman for other players. Oh, and he is a fantastic finisher. On the whole, Saints have signed a player who has proved he will score goals at League One level. With those attributes you may well expect Lambert to have played at the highest level. In fact, the opposite is true. At 27 he is now coming into his prime after trawling through the lower leagues. As a schoolboy Lambert was on the books at his boyhood idols, Liverpool. But after being released it took him a while to find his feet in the professional game. He made little impact at first club Blackpool, who released him after his traineeship. His star first began to rise in the north-west at Macclesfield Town.
True potential
Lloyd Owusu (Brentford) . . . . . . . . . .20 Andy Liddell (Wigan) . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
THE DAILY ECHO
He was the Cheshire club’s first player to score a hat-trick since they achieved promotion to the Football League in 1997. After just two seasons such performances earned him a record £300,000 move to county neighbours Stockport County. The true potential of the 6ft 2in Scouser began to show at Edgeley Park. He finished the 2003/04 campaign as both top scorer and player of the season. But, when Lambert fell out of favour with manager Chris Turner, he soon moved to Rochdale, where he scored just under a goal every other game, before moving south to Bristol Rovers in 2006. And it is at the Gas that he really came to the fore.
WELCOME: Alan Pardew greets new arrival Rickie Lambert. By Simon Peach echosport@dailyecho.co.uk For up-to-the-minute sport – dailyecho.co.uk
He more than justified his £200,000 price tag, improving his goal tally in each of his three seasons at the Memorial Stadium. Last season was the pinnacle of his career so far, finishing joint top scorer in the Football League, grabbing 29 goals alongside Swindon’s Simon Cox. Cox completed a big money move to West Brom last month, whereas Lambert started the season at Rovers. But why were there no bids? One reason: pace. “The reason he didn’t go anywhere sooner is because of a perceived lack of pace,” said Chris Swift,
WIN a free copy of Matt Le Tissier’s autobiography and the chance to meet him! brought bang up to date with the final chapter detailing Le Tissier’s involvement in the Pinnacle takeover deal that collapsed prior to Markus Liebherr’s arrival. The Echo has teamed up with Harper to offer three lucky read-
ers a superb prize. Just by answering a simple question, you could be amongst the first in the queue to get your FREE copy of ‘Taking Le Tiss’ autographed by Le Tissier at the Saints Megastore at the stadium.
Rovers’ reporter for the Bristol Evening Post. “By his own admission, he is not quick, but he is a good player. “For a big bloke he has got tremendous close control. “He is not your typical lump target man.” The only enquiry made over the summer came from Huddersfield Town, but it never got as far as a bid – the Terriers chairman, Dean Hoyle, claiming he was too old and too expensive. Hoyle said: “A move for Lambert is a no-no. No disrespect to a very good player, but it’s a simple matter of economics. “Any deal would cost a minimum of £750,000 plus add-ons for a player who is 27 and who would want a three-year contract.
“Even if he scored 30 goals a season for those three years, by the time the contract is at an end, the player would be 30, and therefore there would be little or no resale value. “That means that even before meeting wage demands, the signing would cost £5,000 a week, and this club cannot do that kind of business. “If Rickie Lambert was 22 or 23, it would be a different matter, but he’s not.” Alan Pardew obviously disagrees. Lambert will bring more than just his football to Saints. He is fairly quietly spoken, not a big mouth, but he leads by example. And in a team that showed a chronic lack of leadership last season, Lambert seems the perfect addition.
Question: In what year did Matt Le Tissier score the final league goal at The Dell? All you have to do is email your answer and your name, address and daytime contact number to simon.carter@dailyecho.co.uk by midnight on Sunday, August 16. The book’s official launch takes place at 12.30pm at St Mary’s next Thursday. If you can’t get there, Le Tissier will be at WH Smith in Above Bar next Friday (12.30pm) and also at Waterstone’s in Festival Place, Basingstoke (4.30pm) the same day.
C M Y K