Kevin Davies has returned to Southampton after being released from his loan spell at Millwall. Davies failed to reproduce his earlier form and Millwall boss Mark McGee has decided to opt for his own youngsters.
Davies' contract expires at the end of the season. With Southampton not prepared to extend his stay and with his failure to make an impact in the nationwide, the future looks bleak for the player once sold for £7.2 million.
McGhee said: ''It was becoming a waste of his time and our money because I could not offer him a regular place. He needs regular football and we could not offer it to him.''
McGhee said: ''It was becoming a waste of his time and our money because I could not offer him a regular place. He needs regular football and we could not offer it to him.''
Having had such a promising start, Davies has just went steadily downhill. Whether his goal run for Saints before his Blackburn transfer was just a one off or whether he started to believe his own press, Davies time at the Saints is soon to come to an end. Since his return to Blackburn, Davies has done nothing and fans will be left wondering where it all went wrong, if not particularly missing his performances.
There's better news for Neil Moss, whose loan spell with Bournemouth has now been extended into it's third month.
Moss' contract also expires at the end of the season, and Saints won't be offering him a new deal. Moss is an excellent 'keeper and could easily settle into a first division side. However he has failed to hold down a first team spot with the Saints over the years and a change is required.
Strachan said: ''The reserve side is a stepping stone for young players and it is unfair to deny them opportunities to find out of they are good enough.
''There is no point in filling up the reserves week-in and week-out with players who are only ever going to be good enough at that level.''
Moss would like to stay at Bournemouth, where he made his first impact, but wages could be an issue with local businessmen paying his wages while he's on loan.
Saints forgotten man, Mark Draper has suffered yet another injury which will see him out for another four weeks. Draper's spell at Saints can only be described as disastrous in terms of football, although Mark will have been financially well rewarded for sitting on the treatment table in the last couple of seasons.
Even when fit, Draper has failed to impress and he will be another player who Saints could afford to offload. However Draper's injury troubles and wage packet will make him unattractive to many clubs.
Draper told the official site: "It has been stop-start for me almost since I got here. It has been a frustrating time. I had a knee operation a year ago which put me out for three months and that effectively wrote off much of the season.
"I had a couple of injury-free months at the end of the campaign and then got hurt in a pre-season friendly at Exeter so I have not really had much chance to show the gaffer what I can do."
"The gaffer has been fine with me. I have had a chat but I am not thinking too much about the future right now. My priority is to get myself fit and playing and then see what happens.
"Every time I try and look ahead, something else happens. If I can get myself 100% and back in action then I can make a definite decision."
Scott McDonald has been called up to the Australian Under 20 squad. McDonald returned to the Saints recently after a mixed loan spell at Huddersfield and will be looking to stake a claim for a first squad place in the next year if he wants to remain at the club.