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Mark Dennis signed from Birmingham for a nominal fee, due mainly to
the fact he had the reputation for being one of the game's hot-heads
with an awful disciplinary record. However, underneath lurked a defender
of immense talent, not to mention panache, and under the canny guidance
of McMenemy Mark re-established his reputation as one of the countries
best full-backs, thrilling the fans with a combination of pulsating
overlaps down the left touchline and tenacious tackling. He arrived in
November 1983 and although Saints lost in his debut game at Leicester
the club soon embarked on a memorable run in both the League and Cup.
With Mark playing a huge part Saints eventually finished the 1983-84
season as runners-up in Division One and FA Cup semi-finalists, knocked
out by Everton in the last minute of extra time.
The following year Mark
made 41 League and Cup appearances and again Saints enjoyed another
successful year, qualifying for Europe by finishing fifth. Unfortunately
it was all about to go wrong for this exciting but ultimately flawed
player as McMenemy, who had carefully nurtured Dennis's talents and
successfully harnessed his temperament, left to manage Sunderland. His
replacement was Chris Nicholl who lacked his predecessor's famed 'man
management' skills and Mark's disciplinary problems were soon allowed to
resurface. He and his manager had a very public falling out which led
to him joining Queens Park Rangers in May 1987. Extremely popular with
the Dell crowd, Mark was one of the most talented of all Southampton
full-backs but in the final analysis, his career at the Dell, which had
started so auspiciously, should have been longer and far more
productive. (Duncan Holley)
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