Southampton FC: Ronald Koeman hit the jackpot with £12m transfer at St Mary's: View | OneFootball

Highlights

If footballers were animals, Shane Long would definitely be a bee.

The Irishman made a successful career for himself across the top two tiers of the English game for his ability to consistently trouble defenders with his boundless energy; buzzing from player to player to force a mistake when his side were out of possession.

For all his unwavering enthusiasm for hounding down defenders, the frontman could play a bit as well when he got the ball at his feet, and Southampton proved to be the perfect habitat for him to showcase those abilities during his career.

Having made his name as part of the Reading side that took the top flight by storm in the noughties, the move to St Mary’s resurrected a career that started to look lost once he left the Madejski, and he scored some memorable goals for the Saints during that time.

Shane Long football journey: Reading, West Brom, Hull City, Southampton

After starting his career at Cork City, Long made the move across the Irish Sea to Berkshire in 2005, and became an integral part of a Royals side that won promotion in his first season in England, before continuing to excel in the Premier League in the following campaign.

While he was never one to consistently trouble the scorers, the frontman’s willingness to put in the hard yards was appreciated by both players, management and fans during his whole career, and especially so with a side that was punching above their weight in the top tier.

Long - with the help of compatriots Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt - revelled in the underdog status his side had at the time, and was a pivotal player as the Royals earned themselves an eighth-placed finish in their first campaign in the big time.

Although they couldn’t keep it up in the following relegation season, the striker continued to plug away at the top end of the field, just as he would do for six seasons in blue and white, with 44 goals coming from his 174 league appearances before a move to West Brom.

His £6.5 million price tag proved just how well he was regarded at that time in his career, before Hull City paid a similar fee for his services two-and-a-half-years later to take him to Humberside.

His time with the Tigers was short-lived though, with the Tigers making an immediate £5 million profit in selling their striker to Southampton the following summer; but it would be the Saints who got the best part of that deal in the long run.

Shane Long revels in Southampton role

Ronald Koeman’s purchase of the Irish international proved to a masterstroke from the Dutchman, with the new boss taking the reins from Mauricio Pochettino in the summer, following the Argentinian’s move to Tottenham Hotspur.

With the likes of Sadio Mané, Dusan Tadić and Morgan Schneiderlin all in the side, the Saints were a match for many top flight teams in those days, with a seventh-placed finish secured in Long’s first season with the club.

Right from the off the St Mary’s faithful could see exactly what Long was about: with his endless running and quick-thinking mind creating time and space for his teammates to thrive in further up the pitch, while his pace could always damage teams on the break.

WIth goals never seemingly at the forefront of his mind, it took ten games with his new side to get on the scoresheet, with a brace against Leicester City enough to earn his side all three points in a 2-0 victory, before claiming the winner in the FA Cup third round against Ipswich Town.

Three more league goals followed before the end of the campaign, but to judge Long on his goalscoring ability would do a disservice to everything else he gave to a team packed to the rafters with superstar quality.

Graziano Pelle, James Ward-Prowse, Victor Wanyama, Toby Alderweireld; we could be here even longer just naming the stars that Koeman had at his fingertips during that time by the Solent, with Long’s feverish character emanating throughout his teammates, and the desire to get all three points oozing out of every single one of them.

Seventh in his first year and sixth in the next; Long was continuing to thrive alongside his teammates, with a brace in a 4-0 win over Arsenal one of the highlights of that second year at St Mary’s, as well as the opener in a 4-2 win over Manchester City.

As the stars came and went, Long remained an ever-present for a whole host of managers during his time in red and white, with the likes of Claude Puel, Mark Hughes and Ralph Hassenhuttl all relying on his wily behaviour in the final third.

Although their capability of challenging at the top of the Premier League came to an end, the Irishman went on to embody a side that were soon left fighting for their Premier League status for a number of seasons, with his never-say-die attitude being tested to the hilt during a tricky time for the club.

Four goals in five games near the end of the 2018/19 campaign earned his side valuable points in the battle against the drop, and who can forgot his real claim to fame during that time; the Premier League’s fastest ever goal.

That particular achievement came in a visit to Vicarage Road to face Watford on a Tuesday night in April, as the Irishman charged down a Craig Catchart clearance in typical fashion, before lofting the loose ball over Ben Foster with just 7.69 seconds on the clock.

The striker would almost become synonymous with that Southampton side during his eight years with the club, with his energy lending himself to the style of play under Hassenhuttl; with high-pressing a necessity with the Austrian in charge.

All good things come to an end though, and it wasn’t until 2022 that Long called it a day on his time at St Mary’s, with over 200 appearances and 37 goals to his name after proving himself to be a loyal servant to the club.

It is no coincidence that the Saints fell on hard times once the hard-working frontman had left the club, with relegation coming the following season after struggling to find consistency both on the field and the manager’s dugout.

£12 million spent