Blackburn Rovers v Southampton - Peter White assessing the changing times at The Dell

BUILT like a brick outhouse, he has clocked 10.4 for the 100 metres and, with a name like Ulrich Van Gobbel, sounds perfect material to be cast as the bad guy in the next Bond movie, if not for a role in Gladiators.

But Van Gobbel's destiny lies elsewhere - for the foreseeable future in the red and white stripes of Southampton.

Affectionately known to his new team-mates as "The Beast", the record £1.3 million signing from Galatasaray is the sign of vastly-changing times under Graeme Souness at The Dell.

And the trans-continental transformation has been so dramatic that even ex-Rover Robbie Slater, an Australian international hoping his World Cup prospects will improve under the leadership of one-time Ewood target Terry Venables, feels almost home-grown in comparison!

Slater has his own claim to fame amid the Dell's own version of Jeux Sans Frontieres.

Born in Ormskirk, brought up in Australia as a soccer-mad youngster who followed Liverpool's fortunes, he has the distinction of being signed by not one Anfield legend but two - Kenny Dalglish at Ewood and Souness for Southampton.

But, for all Slater's world-wide experiences, even his breath was taken away by the sudden deluge of foreign talent which descended on The Dell earlier this season. "It was unbelieveable. All of a sudden we had got Norwegians, a Dutchman who was playing in Turkey, and an Israeli," he said, omitting the Australian!

"I was one of the first signings and made my debut at the same time as Claus Lundekvam.

"Then all of a sudden, the Foreign Legion came in. But it's worked out well. They are good lads and everyone has settled in nicely.

"Claus is a quality player and the manager has likened him to Alan Hansen. So what more do you need to say.

"He's a Scandinavian like Egil Ostenstad and they seem to do particularly well in English football.

"Egil's very strong, and not unlike a typical English centre forward.

"I think Norwegians adapt very well to the game in this country. You only have to look at Henning Berg.

"Then we have Eyal Berkovic from Israel. He's only a little fella but he's got a big talent. He's full of energy and a good passer of the ball."

And what about Van Gobbel?

"Ah 'The Beast', but I mean that in the nicest possible way," smiled Robbie, clearly wary of upsetting his team-mate!

"I'm glad he's on our side. He's so quick and very, very strong." Slater too has a prominent role to play in the new Saints who, despite their influx of new blood and startling wins over Manchester United (6-3) and Middlesbrough (4-0), are still very inconsistent, to the continuing frustration of their supporters.

Earlier this season, Souness described the ex-Rover, picked up from West Ham for £250,000, as "the bargain buy of the season" and Slater is certainly enjoying life on the South coast. It's a good club and things are going very well for me," he said.

"We've settled in the area and it's been the stuff of dreams to be signed by two Anfield legends, especially with me being a Liverpool supporter since I was a kid."

Slater, of course, notched his first Premiership goal for West Ham against Rovers - and, it should be noted, he hasn't yet scored for Saints.

The midfielder celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week but he still aims to play a part in helping Australia reach the 1998 World Cup finals which will, of course, be held on familiar territory for him in France.

"It was a bit of a scoop for us to get El Tel and all the top Aussie players are in Europe so he will be able to keep tabs on us," he added.

And if the day comes when Slater's still-strong "Strine" accent is struggling to be heard among the multi-national tongues which now reverberate around The Dell, he has the perfect answer.

He just needs to put his championship medal on the table.

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