which team have dropped the most clangers re: youth

[The Octagon]

Wednesday had a good 'un -

Young frenchman thinks he's coming to us to sign, turns out Trevor Francis wants to give him a trial and the club ums and ahs for so long that the player decides to bugger off and sign for Leeds.

Eric sodding Cantona.

Thanks Trev.

 

[CyberRose]

Don't know how old he was (probably not youth) but for me the greatest clanger of all is when Cantana was about to sign for Sheffield Wednesday and apparently they wanted to look at him on trial on an astroturf pitch (or 5 a side or summat). This didn't go down to well with the trawler following nutter so he drove up the M1 and signed for Leeds!

Biggest youth clanger was probably Sheff Utd who considered £200k (or was it £1m?) too much money for a 17 year old unknown Argentinian player, who went by the name of Maradona!

 

[tommers]

I think it has to be West Ham in the last few years, having so much talent come through and letting them go rather than building a team around them is outstandingly short sighted, they would be a formidable force had they have kept their youth.

do you reckon? blimey, if only somebody high up at the club had realised.

 

[bluestreak]

Oooh, that's a good set of stories. Definitely high clanger value there.

 

[bluestreak]

do you reckon? blimey, if only somebody high up at the club had realised.

 

[Artie Fufkin]

Ryan Giggs was originally signed by Man City. never understood what made him choose Utd

 

[isitme]

Wednesday had a good 'un -

Young frenchman thinks he's coming to us to sign, turns out Trevor Francis wants to give him a trial and the club ums and ahs for so long that the player decides to bugger off and sign for Leeds.

Eric sodding Cantona.

Thanks Trev.

Leeds were divs selling him to man utd as well, they would never have won so many trophies without eric

 

[Artie Fufkin]

Leeds were divs selling him to man utd as well, they would never have won so many trophies without eric

and that allegedly only came about when Leeds enquired about Dennis Irwin and Fergie then made a cheeky bid for Cantona in return (while also keeping Irwin)

 

[JohnnyOrange]

Forest decided not to hang onto Wright-Philips because he was 'too short' iirc.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

I think it has to be West Ham in the last few years, having so much talent come through and letting them go rather than building a team around them is outstandingly short sighted, they would be a formidable force had they have kept their youth.

That's not so much not recognising the talent (we all did) but having a Board who were so totally unambitious; the players practically always thought they had to leave as they would have no chance of getting anywhere whilst at west ham.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

do you reckon? blimey, if only somebody high up at the club had realised.

 

[tommers]

That's not so much not recognising the talent (we all did) but having a Board who were so totally unambitious; the players practically always thought they had to leave as they would have no chance of getting anywhere whilst at west ham.

and we got relegated.

and had to sell players and funnily enough other clubs were more interested in cole, carrick and defoe than they were in don hutchison and gary breen.

 

[bluestreak]

Just look at last night's team, I mean, I think there were seven players on the pitch at one time or another who had been on our books.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

and we got relegated.

and had to sell players and funnily enough other clubs were more interested in cole, carrick and defoe than they were in don hutchison and gary breen.

We got relegated after already selling rio and lumpard.

Imagine if we'd had a board in place back when all those were at the club, who were prepared to say "Right, we want to genuinely contend" and maybe sign a few top players to go along side all the youth players.

 

[Red Faction]

ipswich

giving their squad to charlton

 

[1927]

Leeds were divs selling him to man utd as well, they would never have won so many trophies without eric

But didn't he HAVE to move after shagging wife of colleague. or is that an urban legend? Atleast he shagged her while she was still worth having a pop at before she fucked herself up with surgery mind!!

 

[strung out]

But who let him go to you in the first place?

If he had stayed with us I think we might just have turned him into a very decent player!

still don't get what cardiff had to do with bobby zamora

 

[1927]

still don't get what cardiff had to do with bobby zamora

Nothing!

I'm one of them two club supporters innit!

 

[strung out]

aha!

 

[steveo87]

you know, letting a player go as not being up to standard only to be facepalming as he goes on to greater things for someone else?

IIRC we had John Terry as a youth but never took it any further, and didn't Crouch start at Tottenham but was released... more like this please.

Wayne Rooney was given a trial be Liverpool, Gerrard Houllier said he didn't think he was up to much.....

Then again he said the same about Anelka.

And thought the sun shind out of Diouf's arse....

 

[stavros]

When Shearer tried out for Newcastle the coach played him in goal all day cos he didn't like the look of him

Newcastle also missed both Charltons and Michael Carrick.

Ruud Gullit, John Barnes and Gazza all had trials at Ipswich, but most famous of all was Sheffield United thinking a 17 year-old Diego Maradona wasn't worth £200,000. Ooops.

 

[Sunray]

Newcastle also missed both Charltons and Michael Carrick.

Ruud Gullit, John Barnes and Gazza all had trials at Ipswich, but most famous of all was Sheffield United not thinking a 17 year-old Diego Maradona wasn't worth £200,000. Ooops.

Probably wasn't worth 200k going there. Would have been the end of that talent.

 

[big eejit]

Story about Joleon Lescott and how Villa turned him down at schoolboy trials:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/feb/13/everton-astonvilla

 

[stavros]

Probably wasn't worth 200k going there. Would have been the end of that talent.

You might have thought the same of Napoli; two Scudetti, a Coppa Italia and a UEFA Cup whilst he was there, breaking the Northern-Rome stranglehold.

 

[Sunray]

You forget about the English evil talent demon.

Soon as any player puts their foot on English soil, they become just a bit shitter than they were when they left where ever they were coming from.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

You forget about the English evil talent demon.

Soon as any player puts their foot on English soil, they become just a bit shitter than they were when they left where ever they were coming from.

Yep. Obvious egs being veron, ballack, shevchenko, rebrov,...

 

[tommers]

Yep. Obvious egs being veron, ballack, shevchenko, rebrov,...

although zola, di canio, cantona, henry contradict it...

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

although zola, di canio, cantona, henry contradict it...

But none of those were huge 'names' a la shevchenko, ballack etc when they came over here, were they?

 

[Maurice Picarda]

didn't Crouch start at Tottenham but was released....

Not sure whether that qualifies for enormous facepalm. He took a very long time to become moderately okay.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Not sure whether that qualifies for enormous facepalm. He took a very long time to become moderately okay.

Yeah he was pretty much seen as a bit of a donkey/joke player for years IIRC...