ex players - what could have been (4 Viewers)

[Adge]

He looked really decent alongside Fleck.

Anyone know what happened with him?

Did Fleck make him look better than he was?

Think that was definitely the case. People ran away that he was a good player because he got the gig at Liverpool for a period. The new Stevie G………,.

 

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[Terry_dactyl]

Jeez! Andy Pearce-the best/worst own goal I’ve ever seen against QPR I think. Nothing more than a hod carrier. Bit of a cult hero though at Sheff Wed by all accounts.

I was so chuffed when we sold him. £500k too if I remember right. Not bad back then.

 

[stevefloyd]

Yes their carriers took a bit of a knowsdive afterwards

Hermes, Ark Royal?

 

[JimmyHillsbeard]

Mark Mcnulty had a fantastic spell here under MR, he jumped ship at the first opportunity to that fantastic club Reading, and that was basically the end of his career (at any reasonable level at least)

Now I get the argument that he grabbed the chance of Premier league wages, and you can understand that, fair play for taking the money, but ..... what might of been if he'd stayed another year under MR who understood him, got the best out of him, gave him confidence and played to his strengths.

Another successful season here and his value "could" of rocketed, he "could" of got a move to a proper Premier league team and made even more money, and who knows what may of happened to his career.

As it is, he's now at the mighty Shamrock Rovers of all places, and not even guaranteed a start!

He tripled his wages, went on loan to his childhood club, got to play for his country and then a few more loans at clubs of various sizes. He moved on to play in California before returning to Scotland and now Ireland to see out his career. He’s not regretted any of it tbh.

 

[wingy]

Yes their carriers took a bit of a knowsdive afterwards

Nosedive?

 

[Skybluekyle]

Disagree about Bayliss. Though he had something.
Didn't go to the cup game against Stoke and listened on 5live, Chris Waddle was raving about him.
Think he should have done better than ending up at Shrewsbury, no disrespect to them.

I think Bayliss was very good at progressing the ball, seemed to glide past players with ease.

Shame it never worked out for him, thought he had good potential, but probably a good bit of business when we sold him.

 

[skybluegod]

He looked really decent alongside Fleck.

Anyone know what happened with him?

Did Fleck make him look better than he was?

He never looked decent, think Fleck looked very good and pretty much did the job by himself.

Thomas was never actually a good player and given he was meant to be the ball winning/defensive midfielder in the two weeks conceded an ridiculous amount of goals that year. He had the physical attributes to be a good player but never the technical ones.

 

[JimmyHillsbeard]

I think had McNulty stayed, he would’ve continued to score goals in league one and perhaps got a better move than Reading who were a basket case at the time. At the very least, his fitness levels wouldn’t have plummeted like they did.

Whether he regrets it or not is up to him.

This is all true but within 8 months of leaving us he was starting as centre forward for his country. That would never have happened if he was in League One and he regards it as the pinnacle of his career.

 

[baldy]

Nosedive?

How do you not get what I was doing?

 

[alexccfc99]

Hard to feel any sympathy for Bright tbh, yes he had bags of natural ability but the only person responsible for his own downfall is himself

Not saying he would have gone on to an amazing level but I liked Issac Osbourne before he kept getting injured, also think Willis would have gone on to be an established Championship footballer had he been able to stay fit

 

[alexccfc99]

He was massively overhyped and his move to Newcastle was pretty much engineered on the club's inability to bring in any replacements for those that departed that summer.

If he'd stayed he might've had a more established career (illness aside), but I very much doubt he would've played consistently above L1 level.

He was actually getting in the Newcastle side when he first went and ending up starting in a European 1/4 final against Benfica so there was quite clearly something there

 

[alexccfc99]

Mark Mcnulty had a fantastic spell here under MR, he jumped ship at the first opportunity to that fantastic club Reading, and that was basically the end of his career (at any reasonable level at least)

Now I get the argument that he grabbed the chance of Premier league wages, and you can understand that, fair play for taking the money, but ..... what might of been if he'd stayed another year under MR who understood him, got the best out of him, gave him confidence and played to his strengths.

Another successful season here and his value "could" of rocketed, he "could" of got a move to a proper Premier league team and made even more money, and who knows what may of happened to his career.

As it is, he's now at the mighty Shamrock Rovers of all places, and not even guaranteed a start!

When you look at the money Reading put him on, when no disrespect as good as he was he was never a Championship player is it any wonder that they are now on their arse financially

 

[alexccfc99]

Recent years it's definitely Bayliss for me.

He just looked so much quality. Shame the move didn't work out for him, Preston was the wrong club but we told him he wasn't wanted here and he funded the promotion squad.

I think George Thomas is a sign that moving sometimes works.He always looked L2 for me but he managed to get 3 years on PL wages and 3 years on Championship wages. set himself up nicely to then settle playing lower league football.

I know the club was not in the position to turn the money down at the time but it's a massive shame we couldn't cling on to Bayliss for another season, would have been in his element in that side that won League 1 and was a comfortably better footballer than Westbrooke

Could have developed him in the Championship ourselves without him having to go and sit on PNE's bench and who knows what would have happened then

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

He was actually getting in the Newcastle side when he first went and ending up starting in a European 1/4 final against Benfica so there was quite clearly something there

His first season at Newcastle followed the same pattern as his breakthrough season here, relatively bright start but quickly his performances fell off a cliff. I think it says a lot he barely featured again for them after his first year.

His game time probably should be taken with a pinch of salt as well. That Newcastle squad was incredibly thin beyond its starting XI - similar to us the season prior. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but he didn't even make the bench in that QF did he?

No doubt he had promise, but the hype was utterly ridiculous given his actual ability. Like I said it was engineered by a heartwarming backstory, key personnel leaving and not being replaced, and Thorn / large sections of the fanbase making out he was the second coming when in reality his performances, beyond pre-season and less than a handful of league games, were genuinely dire.

Christie in that relegation season was the much more promising player yet he didn't seem to get all that much recognition in comparison.

 

[alexccfc99]

His first season at Newcastle followed the same pattern as his breakthrough season here, relatively bright start but quickly his performances fell off a cliff. I think it says a lot he barely featured again for them after his first year.

His game time probably should be taken with a pinch of salt as well. That Newcastle squad was incredibly thin beyond its starting XI - similar to us the season prior. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but he didn't even make the bench in that QF did he?

No doubt he had promise, but the hype was utterly ridiculous given his actual ability. Like I said it was engineered by a heartwarming backstory, key personnel leaving and not being replaced, and Thorn / large sections of the fanbase making out he was the second coming when in reality his performances, beyond pre-season and less than a handful of league games, were genuinely dire.

Christie in that relegation season was the much more promising player yet he didn't seem to get all that much recognition in comparison.

History: Newcastle 1-1 Benfica | UEFA Europa League 2012/13

Newcastle vs Benfica 2012/13. All UEFA Europa League match information including stats, goals, results, history, and more.

www.uefa.com

Started the second leg

Newcastle's centre mid options that season were Tiote, Cabaye, Sissoko, Dan Gosling and Vurnon Anita, not bad players

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

History: Newcastle 1-1 Benfica | UEFA Europa League 2012/13

Newcastle vs Benfica 2012/13. All UEFA Europa League match information including stats, goals, results, history, and more.

www.uefa.com

Started the second leg

Newcastle's centre mid options that season were Tiote, Cabaye, Sissoko, Dan Gosling and Vurnon Anita, not bad players

Ah okay thanks.

Sissoko didn't join until the January and Gosling was most likely injured for the majority of that season as he didn't feature much.

Once Sissoko came in Bigi barely got on the pitch again.

 

[SkyBluePower]

I think we have done well not to have very many players that "are the ones who got away"- other than exceptional talent like Vic, Gus, Maddison and C Wilson who we knew would be PL players then the L1/2 bunch - Baylis, Willis, Harries, JCH etc have all had careers but none really at Champ or above level.
Obviously the Loans make you think - Maatsen, Doyle etc but they were just great loans

Maybe Chaplin is one that has had a better career than we may have thought. We certainly wouldnt have got rid of Hyam as we all know and maybe Fadz went too early but hard to think of many others recently who would have improved OR improved our side

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

I think we have done well not to have very many players that "are the ones who got away"- other than exceptional talent like Vic, Gus, Maddison and C Wilson who we knew would be PL players then the L1/2 bunch - Baylis, Willis, Harries, JCH etc have all had careers but none really at Champ or above level.
Obviously the Loans make you think - Maatsen, Doyle etc but they were just great loans

Maybe Chaplin is one that has had a better career than we may have thought. We certainly wouldnt have got rid of Hyam as we all know and maybe Fadz went too early but hard to think of many others recently who would have improved OR improved our side

You say that but, Chaplin, like JCH, just wasn't utilised correctly and forced to play in a system/style that wasn't at all suited to his strengths. It was clear ability wise he was a talented player.

Not getting a tune out of JCH was the more bizarre, especially as he hit the ground running so quickly after leaving.

 

[alexccfc99]

You say that but, Chaplin, like JCH, just wasn't utilised correctly and forced to play in a system/style that wasn't at all suited to his strengths. It was clear ability wise he was a talented player.

Not getting a tune out of JCH was the more bizarre, especially as he hit the ground running so quickly after leaving.

Chaplin deal was a good move for all parties

He flourished elsewhere and we got Godden in who scored some vital goals for us in his time

 

[fernandopartridge]

Disagree about Bayliss. Though he had something.
Didn't go to the cup game against Stoke and listened on 5live, Chris Waddle was raving about him.
Think he should have done better than ending up at Shrewsbury, no disrespect to them.

I listened on 5Live too, I distinctly remember Chris Waddle saying "Best player on the park"

 

[SlowerThanPlatt]

Disagree about Bayliss. Though he had something.
Didn't go to the cup game against Stoke and listened on 5live, Chris Waddle was raving about him.
Think he should have done better than ending up at Shrewsbury, no disrespect to them.

He’s at Lincoln now side going for top 6, Tyler Walker’s there too but permanently injured

 

[wingy]

Ah okay thanks.

Sissoko didn't join until the January and Gosling was most likely injured for the majority of that season as he didn't feature much.

Once Sissoko came in Bigi barely got on the pitch again.

Yet didn't look out of place!

 

[blunted]

His first season at Newcastle followed the same pattern as his breakthrough season here, relatively bright start but quickly his performances fell off a cliff. I think it says a lot he barely featured again for them after his first year.

His game time probably should be taken with a pinch of salt as well. That Newcastle squad was incredibly thin beyond its starting XI - similar to us the season prior. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but he didn't even make the bench in that QF did he?

No doubt he had promise, but the hype was utterly ridiculous given his actual ability. Like I said it was engineered by a heartwarming backstory, key personnel leaving and not being replaced, and Thorn / large sections of the fanbase making out he was the second coming when in reality his performances, beyond pre-season and less than a handful of league games, were genuinely dire.

Christie in that relegation season was the much more promising player yet he didn't seem to get all that much recognition in comparison.

I was ITK at the time. Cyrus said he only ever saw Andy Thorn on match days. Was very upset with the treatment he was getting as a young professional by opposing players with no protection from the refs. Think a match at Bristol was particularly horrendous.
Of course, Cyrus now dishes it out with the best of them.
Clearly, Tatsu is getting the same treatment now with similar indifference from the refs.

 

[KenilworthSkyBlue]

I was ITK at the time. Cyrus said he only ever saw Andy Thorn on match days. Was very upset with the treatment he was getting as a young professional by opposing players with no protection from the refs. Think a match at Bristol was particularly horrendous.
Of course, Cyrus now dishes it out with the best of them.
Clearly, Tatsu is getting the same treatment now with similar indifference from the refs.

Was another in a long list who's contract the club let run down inexplicably by not being proactive enough during that period.