When France U-21 international Fabrice Fernandes arrived at St Mary’s, Southampton became his fourth club in the calendar-year, 2001. He had burst upon the English soccer stage, on loan from France, to play regularly in Fulham’s push for promotion to the Premiership. But he left before the Division I title was clinched to play a few times as a loanee in Scotland and then back in France.

After which, Rennes decided to cash in on their much-borrowed asset and accepted £1.2m from Southampton for this left-footed, wide-midfield player. Gordon Strachan, who had recently taken over as manager, played Fabrice spasmodically in the remaining half of the 2001-02 season, but used him regularly, the following season, when

the fans got to see how his feinting, shielding and dummying could wrong-foot Premiership defenders.

They also got to witness, though, an early demonstration of a new vogue, whereby wide men would be positioned on their “wrong” flank. As that tactic developed over the decade, spectators would come to savour some dangerous in-swinging free-kicks from the “wrong” foot and to thrill to wide-men scuttling inwards to score with that stronger foot. What Fabrice would so often attempt, however, was to cross, from deep on the right, with his left foot: a low-percentage option, as he was invariably aiming at a lone striker – or, at best, two. Yet the manager persisted in this tactic, while Fabrice, for his part, would pirouette endlessly – earning himself the unflattering nickname of “Crop Circles” – before deciding that he had the angle from which to deliver a looping cross that invariably missed the solitary team-mate at the far post.

James Beattie reckoned he had the best left-foot than anyone else he played with but also thought “Fab was an enigma, I remember Strachan really shouting at him because he kept beating his man and he’d be in the perfect position to cross, but then he’d go back and beat him again”!

Then came the bombshell. Having played in every Premiership game bar one of the 2002-03 season and every round of the run to the FA Cup Final, Fabrice was the surprise-scapegoat for the 6-1 defeat at Highbury in the penultimate League match. Gordon Strachan opted to shore up his right flank for the Final v Arsenal by dropping Fabrice, moving Paul Telfer forward and playing Chris Baird, who had only just made his first start, at right-back.

Fabrice featured less regularly in the next season, but still started more than half of the League games. He was in favour with the first two managers – Sturrock and Wigley – of 2004-05, but was discarded by Harry Redknapp in the unsuccessful struggle to avoid relegation. It suited all parties for him then to leave, with a year left on his contract, for Premiership Bolton. But without ever starting for them at that level, he embarked on an international tour – interspersed with trials in the UK – that ended in Le Havre. He then retired, but had a fruitless come-back trial with Doncaster in 2012.