Players who never fulfilled their potential

Tango1953 said:
What don't you rate about Grealish out of interest? Carries the ball, crates chances, requires 2 men to mark him?

Are you annoyed he isn't winning headers or something? Because he does absolutely everything a good forward in a Guardiola team should.
Click to expand...
And he defends
 
Cable Cat said:
Tom Ince - should have played in the Premier and maybe knocked on England's door had it not been for his taxi driver Father.
Click to expand...
I honestly thought he was going to get an England cap whilst with us, he was on fire until his dad came.
I remember Talk💩 FM asking Kevin Phillips whilst he was at Palarse who was the best player out of Zaha, Ince and Sterling, KP said Ince was ahead of them both.
Funny how their careers turned out.
Still some crackers in amongst this lot. X2 late wonder strikes v Donny, probably his best goal v Watford and of course his Wembley equaliser.

 
Mcewans Mullet said:
I honestly thought he was going to get an England cap whilst with us, he was on fire until his dad came.
I remember Talk💩 FM asking Kevin Phillips whilst he was at Palarse who was the best player out of Zaha, Ince and Sterling, KP said Ince was ahead of them both.
Funny how their careers turned out.
Still some crackers in amongst this lot. X2 late wonder strikes v Donny, probably his best goal v Watford and of course his Wembley equaliser.

Click to expand...
Was my favourite Blackpool player up until his Dad took over and ruined his career. Not only did KOKO employ a duff manager, he saw his star players value depreciate considerably!
 
Fr33jack said:
Not sure if Jamie Burns did. I use to knock around with his cousin back when he was a nipper and use to baby sit him and his twin siblings with her. His mum use to talk him up as the next big thing she was proper proud of him.
Move on to adult life and I was working the front door of a particular night club in Poulton and a shit faced Jamie Burns turned up giving it the big I am with a dose of I’m better than you attitude because it was to late to let him. Sent him away with his entourage he got in his car drove about ten metres up the road and the police had been watching he was stopped and arrested and eventually banned from driving. I think he’s a painter and decorator now working for his dad Stuart.
Click to expand...
Some aspects of this story true but defo got his charicter wrong. Never give it the big i am. Could of been great but fortunatly doing fantastic now. Love this forum.
 
Duncan Edwards would have become one of England`s all time greats and been a star of our World Cup winning side. Tragic along with all the others who lost their lives in Munich.
 
Last edited:
Matesrates said:
I’ll start with Wilfred Zaha and I’ll compare him to Jack Grealish. I could never understand why neither were courted by one of the top clubs and Grealish eventually moved to City and got the rewards. Zaha is still stuck at Palace, yet if he’d moved, he could well have had the success Jack has had.

Harry Kane of course has fulfilled his potential, but because he has stuck by spurs, he’s never won anything, he must regret that.

Any others?
Click to expand...
Zaha moved but he stayed way too long at Palace. Grealish will win medals but for his game City was not the best club. Now he's admonished every time he dribbles the ball and creates some excitement. As a player I don't think he's progressing under Pep.
 
For us. Alan Suddick. Ten times the player Hoddle ever was and way too good for most of our teams—the kind of player you build a team around. Jeff Chandler won England under 21 honors and was by all accounts phenomenal in training but it never really transferred to match days. Same with Alan Ainscow. Stan McEwan should have gone higher, but it was at the time of Narey and Gough, and he never got a look in at the international level. I felt he hung around at BFC to look after his brother Billy. The best non-Blackpool player I ever saw was Vince Hilaire, who got England under 21 honors and then fell by the wayside at Palace. Never seen anything like him before or since. He beat our eleven on his own. I also think if he'd had someone to mentor him, Keigan Parker could have gone further. His play at Wembley was first-rate, and no doubt DJ had the skills. Sometimes, the difference is mental between those who fulfill their potential and those who fall by the wayside.
 
Also Kevin Moore. Had the skills but strangely unless he was told by his boss not to very rarely used them on the left wing. One of the Moore's builder's children. I also think Billy Ronson with better coaching at a young age could have gone further. His attitude and application were always top-notch and should have been built upon.
 
Gary Shaw of Aston Villa. His very promising career was effectively ended by a serious knee injury at the age of 22 in 1983. Still, he had won the First Division and then the European Cup the year before.

He stayed with Villa for a few more years and eventually Villa loaned him to us in 1987 when he played a handful of times. A probable great loss to the national team too.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Gary Shaw (footballer, born 1961) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
Alfie Conn said:
Controversial but Wayne Rooney in the sense that he never turned up in the crucial big knockout stages of tournaments when England really needed that touch of world class talent to win a trophy or even a quarter final.
Messi eventually did it,Ronaldo did,but not Rooney.
Click to expand...
Messi and Ronaldo had their international teams set up around them, Rooney never did and according to everyone England was a toxic atmosphere during that time.

You could say the same about Scholes, rated as the best by his peers but played out of position for England to accommodate Lampard and Gerrard.
 
Theoneandonly said:
Also Kevin Moore. Had the skills but strangely unless he was told by his boss not to very rarely used them on the left wing. One of the Moore's builder's children. I also think Billy Ronson with better coaching at a young age could have gone further. His attitude and application were always top-notch and should have been built upon.
Click to expand...
Kevin Moores sister Elaine went to our school. He occasionally picked her up in a convertible with his tan. All the fanciable girls swooned over him.
 
Tango1953 said:
What don't you rate about Grealish out of interest? Carries the ball, crates chances, requires 2 men to mark him?

Are you annoyed he isn't winning headers or something? Because he does absolutely everything a good forward in a Guardiola team should.
Click to expand...
Very good player but he was better at Villa. The way Pep plays him he never goes to the goal line to put in a cross. Always cuts back on his right foot.
 
Superbretty said:
Very good player but he was better at Villa. The way Pep plays him he never goes to the goal line to put in a cross. Always cuts back on his right foot.
Click to expand...

Odd timing to quote this, mainly because I was at the City game on Wednesday and he was utterly infuriating. He's perfectly capable of doing what you say though, so suspect it must be Guardiola's instruction. He's not helped by having no one helping to create overloads on his side, instead, the player who could do that waits on the corner of the box for the check back and short pass.
 
Jack willshire and aron ramsey at arsenal.... Never became the worldbeaters that they were predicted to be
James quinn for pool in 90s and maybe matty phillips..... Had a good career but maybe could have had a better one?
 
Last edited:
Charlie Adam.
Absolutely smashing player for us of course.

I really thought he would uproot trees after he moved away.
But struggled in that Gerrard-focused Liverpool team.
 
Theoneandonly said:
For us. Alan Suddick. Ten times the player Hoddle ever was and way too good for most of our teams—the kind of player you build a team around. Jeff Chandler won England under 21 honors and was by all accounts phenomenal in training but it never really transferred to match days. Same with Alan Ainscow. Stan McEwan should have gone higher, but it was at the time of Narey and Gough, and he never got a look in at the international level. I felt he hung around at BFC to look after his brother Billy. The best non-Blackpool player I ever saw was Vince Hilaire, who got England under 21 honors and then fell by the wayside at Palace. Never seen anything like him before or since. He beat our eleven on his own. I also think if he'd had someone to mentor him, Keigan Parker could have gone further. His play at Wembley was first-rate, and no doubt DJ had the skills. Sometimes, the difference is mental between those who fulfill their potential and those who fall by the wayside.
Click to expand...
Jeff didn't play for any England team but played for Ireland U 21s and had full Ireland caps. Suddick was the best player I have ever seen in a tangerine shirt.
 
69skin said:
Jeff didn't play for any England team but played for Ireland U 21s and had full Ireland caps. Suddick was the best player I have ever seen in a tangerine shirt.
Click to expand...
You’re right born in England played for Ireland. Once for under 21 and twice at full international level. He and Brett used to get the most glowing reviews . I think Brett would have had a bigger career if not for Southampton
 
Ockers said:
Played with Dickinson in a celebrity match recently

If I tell you he was handing out the half time 'pick me ups' in small gram bags this will tell you why he never made it !!
Click to expand...
Not that Andrews liver salts stuff? Used to love that as a kid
 
Mcewans Mullet said:
I honestly thought he was going to get an England cap whilst with us, he was on fire until his dad came.
I remember Talk💩 FM asking Kevin Phillips whilst he was at Palarse who was the best player out of Zaha, Ince and Sterling, KP said Ince was ahead of them both.
Funny how their careers turned out.
Still some crackers in amongst this lot. X2 late wonder strikes v Donny, probably his best goal v Watford and of course his Wembley equaliser.

Click to expand...
That clip reminds you of just how good he was in a Blackpool shirt and just how my any good goals he scored
 
Saw Jamie Allen at Fleetwood, Poulton a time or two . He could get you out your seat even at non league level .
Not the brightest tho and was regularly picked up by whatever manager after a heavy night on the town. Only way they could get him to training ..or matches half the time.
Oh to have had half the talent of some mentioned in this thread
 
mull said:
That clip reminds you of just how good he was in a Blackpool shirt and just how my any good goals he scored
Click to expand...
Brilliant player for us. Remember walking from the Bloomfield towards the ground behind 2 Watford fans as the teams were announced. Everyone thought Ince would be missing due to an injury and they said "shit Ince is in their squad"
He came off the bench and scored a wonder goal for a 1-0.
Career ruined by dad.
 
I watched David Tong in our reserves a few times and thought he would go all the way.
He had a decent career in the end, but not as good as I thought it would be.
Maybe I only saw his best games!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top