HE was in the St Mary's stands far more than on the pitch, so it is somewhat apt that Agustin Delgado will always remain a huge fan of Saints.

"We get Fox Sky TV so I will be able to follow the Premiership games and the highlights from Ecuador - I hope Saints go all the way next year," he says from his home in Ecuador.

Rarely can so much have ever been written about a player who actually did so little, but at a cost of £3.2m as well as wages in the region of £10,000 a week, Delgado remains right up there with the club's most expensive signings.

He will also be remembered as among the most colourful, controversial and, yes, comical of Southampton players.

News earlier this month that Delgado's contract had been cancelled came as little surprise given his availability in the past three years, but there is a certain irony in the fact that, just as the curtain comes down on his Saints career, he is fully fit and back in the goals.

"I am back 100 per cent, finally," he says. "We won the championship at Aucas and I scored six goals. I also scored two good goals to give Ecuador six points in the World Cup elimination."

Delgado's spell at Saints was nothing short of a disaster: 540 first-team minutes and two goals at a cost of more than £6,000 for every 60 seconds of action.

Yet the 29-year-old, who is a national hero back home in Ecuador, insists he has nothing but good feelings about his time in England.

"My best memories are arriving at St Mary's as a spectator and receiving a standing ovation from the crowd," he says.

"Then beating Arsenal 3-2 with my winning goal, also scoring against Liverpool. There were many good moments for me there.

"I would like to thank all the fans for their great support of me and thank Rupert Lowe for bringing me to England in the first place. That was a great moment for me."

Serious knee and back injuries were certainly a major factor, but few could deny that Delgado's own attitude was also a serious problem, not least when he returned late for pre-season training prior to the 2002/3 season and then disappeared for a week in February, 2003.

The contrast between a laid-back, unreliable South American and a feisty, hugely motivated Scot could hardly be greater.

So it was little surprise that former manager Gordon Strachan and Delgado didn't exactly gel.

Strachan felt he constantly stretched his principles far enough to give Delgado a chance, while the Ecuadorean thought he and fellow South Americans Kleber Chala and Federico Arias could have been given more opportunities. There was no conspiracy, though.

Reserve team games showed that Chala and Arias weren't good enough for the Premiership, while Delgado was often played when he was available.

"When I was fit, I got chances to play but wish I had gotten more. But I have no bad feelings for Saints. The team was great towards me," says Delgado.

"I like the pace and high balls of English football, the atmosphere, the professional ability of my teammates. I felt the football suited me there."

Delgado is now prepared to take some of the blame for his failure in English football, but is unwilling to dwell too much on the past.

"I wish I had not had the first operation on my knee. I think if I had had it in the US I might have recovered much earlier.

"I also wish I had learnt English faster. But these are things one can only know in hindsight.

"I regret not contributing more to the team, playing in more games and scoring more goals.

"But that's football. Now I have to contribute to my team Aucas and concentrate on that.

"It's always a new day in football and you have to always look ahead and not behind."

So at 29, how does Delgado see his future? A World Cup campaign with Ecuador clearly looms and it is difficult to see him wanting to take on the challenge, however lucrative, of another competitive and intense European League.

"There are many teams that have asked for me, but right now I feel I am enjoying my football in Ecuador," he says.

So will he ever be seen again in Southampton? Yet another chance perhaps? You can sense the groans already in the St Mary's boardroom.

"I would always be ready to return to St Mary's, I felt at home there," he says.

Delgado will, of course, never be allowed to don the red and white stripes in a competitive match again.

But maybe, just maybe, he will return to the stands in that familiar role as spectator.

His cult status will probably guarantee a huge ovation as well.

There wasn't much malice about Delgado, after all. What's more, Saints fans do have a decent sense of humour.