Despite being one of the players of the Championship in recent seasons, it is fair to say that Idiakez hasn't lived up to the hype in his first season with Saints.
Such a cultured player for Derby, he looked an excellent signing for Saints to add quality to a side that struggled to retain possession and open up opposition teams. Add to that his expertise at free kicks and the ingredients are there.
However, the signs have been that he is coming towards the end of his career, with more mobile players coming to the fore in the battleground that is the Championship. Lacking fitness and out of favour, QPR were still delighted to get him on loan, even more so when he scored to drag them away from the drop zone and added his quality on the ball to their midfield.
Despite another injury, he is a lot nearer to full fitness than when he left us and can come back into the side with games under his belt. But why has he gone from out of favour to back at St. Mary's?
Yes, there are plenty of options in the centre of midfield, but Pele's form in the centre of midfield has dipped of late and even the undroppable Wright was subbed in his last game, more likely a sign of injury.
Viafara was picked on the right of midfield in the last game leaving only Danny Guthrie as an in-form and fit central midfielder. Idiakez's recall then starts to make more sense.
More important though is the absence of our regular free kick taker, the boy prodigy that is Gareth Bale. He has forced dead ball specialists Idiakez and Skacel to take a back seat to his talents, reducing their impact on the game.
With Bale out and Skacel out of favour, Idiakez adds valuable free kick expertise, as well as the ability to find the killer pass, freed from some of his midfield donkey work by the huge energy of Guthrie and Viafara.
With Saints reverting to type with a host of missed chances against Birmingham, Burley will also be hoping that Idiakez's experience will make the difference in both creating and taking chances.
Put it all together and an unexpected decision could be one of the shrewdest moves Burley has made.
(Saints being Saints though, what's the betting he injures himself missing a last minute penalty?)