8:08am Thursday 22nd March 2007
By Simon Walter
A MAN considered one of Britain's leading sculptors today joined the row over the controversial statue of Saints legend Ted Bates, describing it as "a missed opportunity."
Philip Jackson, the man widely acclaimed for a statue of Manchester United hero Sir Matt Busby at Old Trafford, drove to St Mary's to see the bronze statue after being caught up in the furore following its unveiling at the weekend.
The Chichester-based sculptor said: "It is still my opinion that if Southampton want a good sculpture and wish to avoid further embarrassment, they must bite the bullet and start again."
Artist Ian Brennan from Warsash has promised to make amends to the statue by adding five inches to the legs and pay for the changes himself.
But Mr Jackson said he believed the Ted Bates Trust should have commissioned a different artist to create the full-length model of the Saints legend, insisting that 18 months should have been long enough to produce a life-sized art work.
"One seldom gets 18 months to do a job like this. Most start with a completion date and can be done in a year," said Mr Jackson.
"But £112,000 is about right for a slighter larger than lifesize statue, to include the plinth."
Apart from sculpting the statue of Manchester United legend Busby at Old Trafford, the West Sussex sculptor has also crafted the "Champions" statue near West Ham's ground of their World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Sir Geoff Hurst. He has also completed a larger than lifesize statue of Bobby Moore, which will be unveiled outside the new Wembley Stadium.
Mr Jackson said: "There are an awful lot of good sculptors that could do a better job, so this is a missed opportunity. A few fundamental mistakes were made and to start with whoever chose the sculptor should have made sure he'd done similar work before."
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