Josh Sims Joins an Illustrious Group of Impressive Debutants; and Some Less so

At 4:31 on Sunday afternoon, Josh Sims’ first-team record for Southampton stood at one assist every 41 seconds of play and, but for a scuffed effort from three yards out that by his own post-match admission was an effort on goal, might have read even more illustriously.

That awkward scoop of the ball inside the six-yard box dropped to Charlie Austin, who greedily tapped in what turned out to be the winner in Southampton’s 1-0 victory against Everton. But 19-year-old Sims’ Saints debut will not be remembered for the scratchy goal to which he contributed inside the first minute of his Premier League career.

The academy graduate, whose afternoon lasted a breathless 84 minutes before being hooked for his under-23 team-mate Sam McQueen, played with all the spirit and adventure of a young colt cut from the leash for the first time, but that was a long way from being the full story.

This was a performance marked by a maturity and efficiency of application that defied his young years, and on this evidence, there is every reason to believe that another diamond has been chipped out of the rough down on the south coast. For all that his performance was electrifying, Sims’ career will doubtlessly go on to eclipse the memories he gave Saints fans on this opening afternoon at St Mary’s.

"

Over the moon! Unbelievable experience, delighted to get MOTM on my debut and to get 3 points...dreams come true!

— Josh Sims (@simsjosh12) November 27, 2016"

The debut is a phenomenon all on its own in football. Often the bearers of false promise and omens that never pay off, we as spectators have a habit of overinvesting in the snapshot event that is a player’s first game.

Some new arrivals raise the levels of anticipation to near-climax before going on to have plodding careers that peter out into a forgettable haze. Likewise, great debuts that raise the curtain on great careers tend to be quickly forgotten, too, forced down the page and into the footnotes of legacies and legends. Sometimes remarkable careers begin with barely a whimper, just as some whimpers begin with a bang.

Thierry Henry made his debut in English football on August 7, 1999, against Leicester City at Highbury, but the man with the World Cup winners’ medal who within six years would go on to break the club’s goalscoring record had not brought his shooting boots with him from Juventus.

Henry lacked any sort of composure on his Arsenal bow, lashing three more-than-decent chances off target as the Gunners laboured to a 2-1 win courtesy of a last-minute Frank Sinclair own-goal.

It was Henry’s header across goal from an Emmanuel Petit corner that led to Sinclair planting past his goalkeeper Tim Flowers under seemingly little pressure, but it wasn’t to be until the eighth week of the season that fortune smiled on Henry again, and he finally opened his account with an exquisite curling strike against Southampton.

Robin Nowacki/Associated Press/Associated Press

This, remember, was Henry the winger, cutting in from the flanks and occupying full-backs with raw speed. It would be some months before Arsene Wenger began to seriously experiment with his acquisition from Serie A in a central role, but the errant finishing that pockmarked those early weeks in England beggars rationalisation.

As a signing, it wasn’t easy to unpick the thinking behind it either, coming at a time when Arsenal’s channels were crowded by Marc Overmars, Freddie Ljungberg and a rock-steady Ray Parlour. The Leicester game gave fans the uneasy impression that their £11 million acquisition was a misfiring roadrunner; all style but no finish.

Notwithstanding stock explanations to the tune of confidence and unfamiliar surroundings, it’s the adaptability to a new, more frenetic style of football that probably contributed to softening the ground between Henry’s feet in an age when the disparity in style between the English and European games was more glaring than today.

Dennis Bergkamp also flopped on his Arsenal debut, a dour 1-1 Highbury draw against Middlesbrough in 1995 upon which the Dutchman made next to no impact, and he was drawing scathing reviews from the press well into his second month in England.

Other foreign imports have been more impactful from the start. Sergio Aguero was named among the substitutes when Manchester City hosted Swansea City on the opening weekend of the 2011/12 season, but within 10 minutes of his second-half introduction, he had opened his account in England, adding a late second as City won 4-0.

It was one of the most symbolic debuts the Premier League era has seen. Certainly it has proved to be in hindsight, but equally so back in the summer of 2011, when City were embarking on a new era; a first season in the Champions League and for the first time sincerely taken to be title challengers. Aguero’s signing was the gilded edge to City’s blade at a time when, three years into the Abu Dhabi revolution, the owners were looking to reap tangible reward on their investment.

Aguero’s unforgettable debut was a microcosm of the City project in that it radically altered the landscape at the top of the Premier League. It blew away any lingering questions surrounding the ambitions of the owners and threw down the gauntlet to Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

It was the first time arguably since Ruud van Nistelrooy had announced his arrival in England with two goals on his league bow for United against Fulham at Old Trafford that a ready-made, world-class centre-forward had pitched up at one of the Premier League’s top clubs, and the dye was cast from day one.

City and Aguero have been for each other what Van Nistelrooy and United were, and it has been a key condition in the changing of the guard in that part of the north-west—and in English football.

Surely the most explosive, if perhaps not the most lingering, debut made by a foreign import in the Premier League came from Fabrizio Ravanelli, a hat-trick hero against Liverpool on his first run out for Middlesbrough in 1996.

Ravanelli was another signing that rocked up and shook the dust from his new side, but once the rush of opening weekend had dissipated, Boro went on to slip out of the top-flight that season. Special mention also goes to Leeds United’s Alan Smith, who scored with his first touch of the ball in professional football, also against Liverpool, in November 1998.

On the other side of fortune’s scales, Stan Collymore bagged a treble on his home debut for Leicester City in 2000 shortly before breaking his leg and, within a year, was farmed out.

UWE LEIN/Associated Press/Associated Press

It’s actually fairly common for players who have been brought in primarily to score goals to do exactly that on their debuts. Alan Shearer got two on his Blackburn Rovers bow against Crystal Palace in 1992, though this didn’t eclipse the three he bagged for Southampton on his first professional start against Arsenal in 1988.

Ian Wright was another to help himself to a hat-trick on his league debut when he helped the Gunners dispatch Southampton in 1991. More recently, Wayne Rooney became the youngest Champions League hat-trick scorer when he put Fenerbahce to the sword on his United debut in 2004.

What does any of this mean for Josh Sims? The answer is probably nothing, since the whole point is that debuts are just as likely to be prophetic as they are a red herring.

It speaks more to our own obsession with predictions and forecasts that we try to tease as much data as possible from a career that currently stands at 84 minutes, but there is no doubting that Sims can play.

His next challenge, paradoxically, is to make St Mary’s forget about this blistering start by having a season to remember.