Dan arrived at the club in January 2001 and impressed when he appeared '00/01 season..
Saints had tried unsuccessfully to sign him before but were pipped by Bradford. When Bradford were relegated, Dan's wages were deemed excessive and he finally moved on to Saints. Dan wanted £14 000 per week but Saints preferred to pay a lower wage to fit in with the current wage structure and pay Dan the balance of the difference.
Dan, however simply couldn't adapt to being part of our squad and fight or a first team place. He felt that he should automatically be selected and this did little to endear him to Dave Jones, Glenn Hoddle or Gordon Strachan. As a result Dan has played only eleven times in the eighteen months he has been with the club.
Dan's departure frees up an impressive part of the wage bill, as did the retirement of Matthew Le Tissier. The club and player have reached a settlement over the last year of the contract. Dan said: "I cannot say yet which club I will be joining and whether it will be as a player or coach, or both, but it should be sorted out in the next few days and I am very happy to be going home." Three clubs are already said to be interested. Dan added, "It is an exciting challenge and opportunity for me. I have always wanted to go into management and now is the right time.
"I cannot say yet which club I will be joining and whether it will be as a player or coach or both but it should be sorted out in the next few days and I am very happy to be going home.
"All my family still live there, my wife, children, parents, brother and a lot of friends and I have missed the country.
"I have felt at home in England and still do - but I think you always want to return to the country where you were born.
"Southampton have been very good to me and I am grateful to them for giving me this chance. I cannot say a bad word about them," After the amount of money we've paid him to sit in the reserves, I should bloody well hope not.
It's a real shame that more couldn't have been made of Dan's time at the club. He was a classy player and impressed when he first appeared. But life's not like championship manager and the personalities involved meant that we would never see him at his best.