After a great performance after coming on as a sub at Old Trafford, Florin Gardos will now get the chance to start his Saints career in earnest.

After joining Saints from Steau Bucharest for a fee believed to be in the region of £6 million it could have been expected that Florin Gardos would step straight into the Saints side to replace Dejan Lovren, however things didn't quite pan out for the Romanian and he found himself a squad player after Toby Alderweireld arrived at the club.

The first few months at St Mary's did not see him play a lot, after a last minute Premier League debut as sub against Newcastle he put in a good 45 minutes in the win at Swansea after replacing Yoshida and then followed that up with a full game in the Capital One Cup win at Arsenal.

But if he though that would lead to more games he was wrong, Ronald Koeman seemed to prefer Yoshida and although he would make another sub appearance as well as Start the Stoke game in the league cup these would be the only sighting of him in two months.

Indeed it would be Boxing Day and the trip to Crystal Palace before he would make his full debut, a strange situation given his fee and the fact that having just turned 26 and with 14 caps for his country to his name he was no youngster to be nurtured.

The Christmas period though saw him come more to the fore, he followed up his sound display at Palace by a good half an hour against Chelsea and his first home start against Arsenal, these three displays suggesting that he had something.

But his Premier league experience is still somewhat limited so to have to bring him on at Manchester United with only 20 minutes gone was a worry and not something that most Saints fans were celebrating especially as it was Toby Alderweireld he was having to replace.

But Gardos stepped up to the plate and put in a great performance and part of the thanks for that must go to his fellow defenders for being so well organised and making sure he knew where he had to be and when he needed to be there, Jose Fonte especially stepped up to the plate in this respect.

Now with Toby Alderweireld set to be out for a few weeks and Yoshida away on duty with Japan for a couple of weeks, Gardos has the chance to stake his claim as being the back up to the first choice duo of Fonte and Alderweireld.

Gardos is despite his age and experience still raw in Premier League terms as to be blunt the Romanian League isnt the strongest, however with a few games under his belt there is no reason why having got the pace of the Premier he shouldn't give us a quality option to step into the team when called upon.

Another good signing for Saints and Gardos is the last of the summer signings to really prove his worth to the side, given that we signed six players on a permanent basis and another two on loan in the summer window and that all of them have now made good positive contributions its a measure of how we have built a squad and when we compare that with the players we have signed previously for big fees who have contributed little, Ramirez, Mayuka, Forren and Osvaldo who between them cost in the region of £35 million, it shows what can be done when a good manager works with a good system

Photo: Action Images

BaselSaint added 11:13 - Jan 12 He really kept a cool head yesterday and did a fantastic job. I could never understand why Yoshida got the games ahead of Gardos. Maybe Yoshida looked better in training? I assume Ron had good reasons.
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Zambucco added 12:49 - Jan 12 I always thought he looked class in his videos. I believe having a player of his calibre in the background is the reason why Fonte, Alderweireld and Yoshida have had to 'up' their game. Now he has the opportunity, I think he will be hard to shake from that position. Fonte needed to up his game, because after a blistering start, his last few games have (in my opinion) been a bit shaky, the same old mistakes abd his tendency to flirt with giving away penalties! This all bodes well for Saints as we now seem to be building a squad with real depth.

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andyandrew added 13:06 - Jan 12 In a rather bizarre twist of events on boxing day with train problems I ended up getting a lift from Balham to Crystal Palace with a Steau Bucharest fitness coach who is over here doing his FA badges. He said that Gardos got signed here based on the results from his various psychometric tests but fell well short on fitness level. The Romanian league is way behind the top leagues in that respect. As such he did not really expect to get regular football in the first team this season! He seems to be adapting very well now and I am pleased he looks more than good enough now.

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TimSaint added 13:36 - Jan 12 Great showing after his woeful display away to Sheff Utd !! He is growing in confidence and with a little work on his distribution, he is a potential rock in our defence over the next few seasons. He is a more than capable deputy for Toby and perhaps will take over from Jose in the next season or so. Any news on Toby's injury and how long he is expected to be out for ?

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stmichael added 14:15 - Jan 12 Starting to like him a lot. he can play too which is important in our possession passing system. I wonder if ultimately his form will be decisive in whether we sign or at least attempt to sign Toby at the end of the season.
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GeordieSaint added 16:24 - Jan 12 When is Yoshida back? Bit short on numbers now at centre back, who would play if we had an injury or a suspension? Maybe Ronald could stick his boots on. Loved it yesterday.
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WestSussexSaint added 07:40 - Jan 13 I for one was unconvinced because I felt he was relying too much on Fonte to direct his positioning. I still think he takes his lead from the skipper too much but fair play to the lad for a gutsy display against United. Hopefully this run of games will help improve his positional sense and give RK a headache for when Toby is fit. The only concern now is that we only have two fit CBs in the squad. Possible loan signing?

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