At time of writing Dani Osvaldo's future at Saints looks very uncertain however every cloud has a silver lining and events might just have saved Rickie Lambert's future at the club.

Back in September I warned that the arrival of Osvaldo might well spell the end of Rickie Lambert at St Mary's at least as first choice striker, I felt then that the formation Saints employed would mean there wasn't room for both of them and that with a World Cup year looming, neither would be happy with a supporting role, that being the case you don't pay £15 million for a player as back up.

The problem since then though is that Mauricio Pochettino has sat on the fence a little, initially trying to play both men in the side which had the effect that neither played to their potential, we were winning games at the times so it was overlooked by the fans , but the problem was that neither was scoring goals and eventually there would be confrontation.

Rickie Lambert has been great during the whole saga, he must have been concerned about his future in the club, let alone his chances of making the England squad for Brazil, but there were no complaints, he just got on with things even though the roles he was being asked to play for the most part didn't suit or utilise his talents.

Osvaldo on the other hand went pretty much down the road his history suggested it would, although in fairness to him it took several months for that to happen, I do have some sympathy for him here, clearly when he came he was given assurances about what his role would be in the team and clearly he like Lambert hasn't been used in the way he would have have insisted upon before agreeing to join us, it took us many months to persuade him, of course money would have been the sweetener, but he had made it clear to Roma that he wanted to play as the central striker and no one else, he would not join a club unless they were prepared to offer him that role, so I can understand why he would fell frustration and now that frustration has turned to violence twice, at Newcastle and on the Saints training ground.

So what happens next, well according to the Daily Echo before he left Nicola Cortese was on the verge of selling Lambert to West Ham, when you look at Saints signings over the , past 18 months a big signing coming in has usually meant the player in his position has been left out in the cold, think Sharp when Mayuka signed, Cork when Wanyama arrived, with Rickie Lambert someone felt that he was too big in the eyes of the fans to do this whilst he was at the club, if Osvaldo had arrived well before the end of the August transfer window then it would have perhaps happened then, so it was on the cards for January.

I would imagine that the player himself would have, if not welcomed a move, been relieved, over the past three months or so Rickie's name has slipped out of the frame a little for England, like Osvaldo he needed to be playing as a lone central striker for Saints to force his way into his country's squad in that role. If Osvaldo is frustrated then Rickie must be ten times more, Osvaldo's signing has set the pace, Rickie has just had to like it or lump it.

So the events of the past week or so will undoubtably open the door for Rickie, Osvaldo's suspension puts in doubt his future at the club, but Nicola Cortese's departure makes the Italian's chances of being offloaded much more likely to happen, with Cortese still here the pressure would be on to keep the club record signing and ditch Lambert, to sell Osvaldo with Cortese here that would cast aspersions on the wisdom of signing him and the buck would stop with the Chairman, most Chairmen in this position would stay on the path of hoping that time would see the signing working out, after all some take longer than others and in football terms half a season isnt a long time.

With Cortese gone though it is a lot easier for those now in charge at the club to write Osvaldo off as an expensive mistake that ultimately sees questions asked about who signed him and strengthens the case as to why Cortese had to go.

So it could be Rickie that reaps the benefit, a fortnight ago he was probably 90% certain to go, now he is probably nearer that percentage to stay, Saints cannot afford to risk Osvaldo for the rest of the season not blowing up again and leaving us very short up front.

But the question will still remain long term for Rickie, the formation that Pochettino plays is very fluid and requires mobility from the players and the ability to rotate positions, this is not Rickie's game, he is an out and out striker, yes he can pass a ball but in the Premier League you cant afford to carry someone in a midfield role who hasn't got that pace and mobility needed, it doesn't suit Rickie and to be blunt although it can work for short periods in a game, it isn't ideal for either player of the good of the team.

Next season might be different though in that after the World Cup Rickie might be happy to be in a more squad role and he could be very effective doing that, but in the next few month's with Brazil looming that will not help his England chances.

So if Saints decide to cut their losses with Osvaldo then the main beneficiary will be Rickie Lambert, it will not be the way he would have wanted to see things happen, but he will be relieved for the opportunity and will look to take it with both hands.

Photo: Action Images

montecristo added 10:05 - Jan 27 I cant help thinking that Saints may try to rehabilitate Osvaldo. His fee is a lot to write off, he had been showing signs of improved form up to the Newcastle incident.His suspension may have shocked him too, and while Italian clubs would be prepared to take a punt on him would they be prepared to shell out 10 million or so to get someone so volatile. Osvaldo s stock is very very low right now, even Osvaldo himself must realize this. its a case of make or break where his career is concerned , he might do well to eat humble pie, say sorry and make a huge effort to integrate with the rest of the squad . Or he could be finished at the ripe age of 28.

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slynch added 10:06 - Jan 27 I reckon that Gallagher guy's gonna push 'em both onto the bench?
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SaintNick added 10:26 - Jan 27 I Think Gallagher is still too raw, on Saturday too often he didnt make the right runs and looked a bit lost as to where he should go, this is all down to age and needing to learn is trade a bit, he showed with the goal he can finish if he can get on the end of a ball
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halftimeorange added 11:50 - Jan 27 You're entitled to your opinion about Gallagher's positional play but he appears to have twice the pace of either Lambert or Osvaldo plus a powerful shot which the Yeovil goalkeeper couldn't hold and an element of trickery as shown by his goal and his saved effort at the very end of the game. I wonder what he'd have made of the numerous chances Rodrigues has wasted over the last couple of months. I think he'll be in the first-team before very long. Rickie should coach him.

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Zambucco added 12:08 - Jan 27 oh to be Pocchetino, with those problems too many strikers. Total agreement that Osvaldo's behaviour will have put Rickie back in the spotlight and hopefully he can get back to doing what he does best, score goals. Although he played the part well dropping off and becoming a talented playmaker, we missed his goals, we are missing goals full stop. As for Gallagher, I'm in disagreement, of course he's raw, so was JayRod, but was given the chance. As for his positional sense, of course he has it, he's been a striker for at least 10 years, and will instinctively know, where to be. He just needs time to play in the team, to get used to the other players style in full games, just to adapt to them, they also need to find out how adaptable he is. By now they all know how Rickie and Jay like the ball to arrive. But as good as his performance was on Saturday, "one swallow does not make a summer" But great to have him on the bench pushing Rickie and Jay. Where does that leave Osvaldo? on the transfer list!

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SaintNick50 added 13:10 - Jan 27 You have summed it up re Osvaldo "an expensive mistake". There is far more to Ricky's game than you suggest. When allowed his positional play is superb and I love his little touches and lay offs, he should be nurtured. Gallagher useful in a supporting role but perhaps we should invest in a more proven youngster rather than a risky big money signing?
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ExiledSupporter added 15:16 - Jan 27 Our record with big money signings has at times been really poor recently. Osvaldo has turned out to be a big gamble that doesn't seem to be likely to work out (not so different from his own gamble in joining us as it happens) unless we give him an extended run instead of Rickie which doesn't seem very likely. Not only has his value gone down but his salary must have been hugely inflated to persuade him that living in Hampshire was a better prospect than residing in Rome! In my view this seems to be largely Pochettino's misjudgement and subsequent mismanagement of the Osvaldo/Lambert selection issue. Ramirez now seems likely to add a second season of non achievement to his first season of marked underperformance. Add Mayuka and Forren as unmitigated disasters and Reed has to hold his hand up for wasting large sums of cash. Even Wanyama who I belatedly recognise as a valuable component of our defensive arrangements was a questionable buy in the sense that a further centreback would have been a greater priority and would not have cost us the loss of Cork for most of the first half of the season. I don't think that Wanyama adds all that much more if Cork is banished to the bench once he is fit to return. They should both be in the team going forward, but I think Pochettino thinks differently! Add to that the highly questionable release of Puncheon who had squad value in terms of providing width which we seem to have almost completely forsaken. Makes our selection of who comes and who goes very questionable. Only Lovren seems to be an unarguable success (due credit to Reed here, I assume) Perhaps both Reed and Pochettino will henceforward be subject to more scrutiny in terms of their transfer target selection before more money is thrown away

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Boris1977 added 18:42 - Jan 27 I agree with many of the points made by Exiled. Saints have been united for the past few years, the club spirit has been second to none. We can't risk this for an over rated, over paid ego like Osvaldo - sell him to west ham - they like injury prone trouble makers with pony tails. Hopefully with Cortese gone , another Italian with a misplaced sense of ego, we will stop buying and being linked with everyone and anyone from Italy. Reed is a lucky man - the amount of money he has persuaded the club to part with for dead wood/ mediocrity is shameful. Is he a p**pey fan?

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landsdownsaint added 11:29 - Jan 31 Wanyamas positional play is highly important to us , I love Jack cork but Wanyama gives us great structure. ,guy is worth every penny IMHO , really excited about his return from injury
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