Not many people will care who the current Latvia manager is but it just happens to be former Southampton player Marian Pahars who turns 38 today.
While Southampton are busy selling off all of their players Pahars is concentrating on his role as the national team manager but he will surely be keeping an eye on developments at his old club as one day he may want to come back and manage the club. He is still highly regarded by the fans and they definitely enjoyed his performances and will go down as one of their greatest players.
Pahars started his career at Pardaugava Riga at the age of 18 where he scored three times in 17 games before moving onto Skonto in 1995. He started out as a midfielder but then was moved upfront where he scored eight times in just nine games and then followed this up in the next season with 12 goals in 28 games which led to him being dubbed the ‘Latvian Michael Owen’. He continued developing at Skonto and after another impressive season in which he scored 19 goals in just 26 games he was linked with moves to some of the bigger clubs in Europe.
The Southampton manager at the time Dave Jones was told about his skills by the then Latvia manager Gary Johnson and he was given a trial in which he scored a perfect hatrick (left foot, right foot and header) in a 7-1 victory over Oxford United. The clubs then agreed a fee of £800,000 for the striker and after some initial work permit problems he became the first Latvian to play in the Premier League. He made his debut on the 5th April 1999 away to Coventry City and on his home debut against Blackburn Rovers he came off the bench to score the equaliser in a 3-3 draw.
The Saints were involved in a relegation battle which went to the last day and with Southampton needing a win on the last day of the season it was Pahars that held his nerve and scored twice against Everton in a 2-0 win to keep the club in the top flight.
The 1999-00 season was one of his best as he played 33 times and ended it as the club’s top scorer with 13 goals but by this point the manager that signed him Dave Jones had been replaced by Glenn Hoddle who moved him into a wide position to utilise his dribbling skills and pace. But he started the next season as a striker and he scored six times early on but after moving back to his deeper role his form became inconsistent.
Pahars is also a fan favourite at Southampton because he was the first home player to score a winning goal at the new St Mary’s Stadium which was one of many highlights throughout the season as he ended the campaign with 16 goals in all competitions. Afterwards he stayed at the club for four more years and because of injury problems his appearances were limited and after 156 appearances and 45 goals he left the club.
His next club was Anorthosis Famagusta in Cyprus but his injury problems remained and he did not play much for them and then rejoined Skonto before finally finishing his playing career at FK Jurmala.
The final word can go to former teammate Claus Lundekvam. “Marian is a similar player to Michael Owen. They’re both fast and very good finishers. It’s very difficult for a defender to mark him because he’s on the move all the time. As long as he scores goals for us we’re happy.”
Footballers on this day 