After Billy Sharp arrived it looked like he might be consigned to a place on the bench for the rest of the season as the manager seemed to prefer just about every other forward before him, but in recent weeks he has shown just why we signed him.
The signing of Billy Sharp looked like turning into a strange situation shortly after he signed for a fee believed to be just shy of £2 million in January, Nigel Adkins had seemingly been chasing his man since the summer, but when he eventually got him didnt exactly push him to the top of the pack, after initially starting in the team Sharp found himself behind not only Lambert, but Guly, Tadanari Lee, David Connolly and even Steve De Ridder, all of whom at some stage were played in a forward role in preference to Sharp.
Just why this was the case was puzzling as although Sharp hadnt exactly set the World alight at this stage he had played reasonably well and scored.
Some Saints fans spoke of the phrase "Saints Fit" claiming that Sharp wasnt fit enough for Adkins, but in fairness the manager would have been aware of Sharp's fitness levels, he wasnt buying him for that, he was buying him because Lambert aside, he was one of the best goalscorers in the Championship, of course if Adkins got him fitter he would be a better player, but even at his level when he signed he was still a man who had scored 10 goals in 20 appearances for Doncaster, not a shabby figure.
So Sharp looked out in the cold, consigned to a few cameo roles off the bench and even then he wasnt even the first name Adkins called on to play up front, the good form of Tadanari Lee of course blocked his path, but it was more than that, when Steve De Ridder is being asked to play up front ahead of you, you know somethings afoot.
Perhaps the turning point came at Millwall, with 25 mins left on the clock and Saints 2-1 down, Lee and Connolly out injured, Adkins had no choice but to throw on Sharp, it paid dividends, with 7 minutes to go Sharp made a great run and was played through, he laid the ball to lambert who with an open goal was scythed down, Saints and Sharp were back in the game.
From then on Sharp has been back on the money, in the six games since he has hit six goals and is showing just why we paid so much money for him, but perhaps more than just the goals, he looks an excellent foild for Lambert.
Sometimes in football things work out more by luck than judgement and this could be one of those cases, Lee played well before his injury, but the truth is he isnt the natural goalscorer that Sharp is, compare the Japanese man's 1 goal in 4 starts and 3 off the bench to Sharp's 7 from 9 starts and 4 from the bench and you can see why perhaps the injury to Lee was one of those fortuitous happenings that change the course of a season.
So the fat lad from Sheffield as Sharp refers to himself on his twitter account is fast becoming the player who will make the difference between success and failure, when Saints got promoted that man was Tony Funnell who came in late in the campaign and hit some vital goals and now its Sharp, it doesnt matter what lead up to his inclusion in the team and whether he would have got the chance had both Lee and Connolly not seccumbed to injury, the fact is that Nigel Adkins perhaps got lucky and had a decision made for him, but better to be a lucky manager than not one.