[Archived] Players Who Never Fulfilled Their Potential

[BiggusLaddus]

David Dunn

[Reedy You're A Star]

Got to throw Freddy Adu into the mix.

He's no Cherno Samba..

[DE.]

He's no Cherno Samba..

Or Mark Kerr, for that matter

[roverandout]

Riquelme? Never really showed his true potential when he came to europe

[Blue Cabbage]

Or Mark Kerr, for that matter

Kennedy Bakircioglu?!

Kim Kallstrom had a decent career

[DE.]

Kennedy Bakircioglu?!

Kim Kallstrom had a decent career

I remember reading an interview with KB where he said he'd always sign himself on Champ Manager just to see how his career would go if he joined a big club. It was kind of sad.

Tonton Zola Moukoko was another one. Plummeted into oblivion after leaving Derby.

[roverandout]

Takes me back, spending hours on champ manager 01/02, zlatan was a pretty good player on there too as an 18 year old at ajax

[Dean]

A bit of an obscure one, but does anyone remember Ciaran Donnelly?

The local team I was playing for at the time took us to watch England vs Brazil schoolboys somewhere around 1999/2000. England lost 2-1, but he scored our goal and played Brazil off the pitch. Glen Johnson also played that day, no idea if any of the Brazilian lads made it.

We were all talking about him on the coach home, didn't realise he was a Rover until I did some further investigation. I kept waiting for him to break through but it never happened, he's spent most of his career in non-league since.

From what I remember, he was quite small but technically excellent. He was probably 10 years too early, I remember a few saying our academy used to put a lot of focus on physical attributes. Hard to imagine how he'd fit into a 4-4-2 formation but might have thrived in the more fluid systems used today (thinking about the likes of Adam Lallana, or even Alan Judge!).

[BlueMonday]

Maceo Rigters i spoke to one of Barnsleys coaching staff when he was on loan there and he said he was the most gifted player he had ever worked with but his attitude was the worst he thought he had made it

Thats the man. He apparently was the star at one of the Toulouse U21 Tournaments when we bought him and getting him was a bit of coupe. Cant even remember him making the first team.

Just goes to show, talent isn't a guarantee of success.

[Tom]

Wasn't Seth Johnson one of the next big things?

[sambo]

Thats the man. He apparently was the star at one of the Toulouse U21 Tournaments when we bought him and getting him was a bit of coupe. Cant even remember him making the first team.

Just goes to show, talent isn't a guarantee of success.

Think I remember him playing v Coventry (either the 2-2 or the 1-4) and he was really poor.

Didn't seem like he was particularly keen on fitness training either, put on a right belly as he got older.

[Dean]

Wasn't Seth Johnson one of the next big things?

Injuries cut his career short I think. You can probably throw Dean Ashton in there as well.

[BlueMonday]

I disagree with most fans it seems in that I don't understand how a player would not want to move up from Rovers if they were good enough. You don't even get to Rovers level as a footballer unless you've shown considerable determination in your life to keep progressing and keep moving up. Its unrealistic to expect anyone to just abandon that philosophy when they're at Rovers if they don't have to. Surely its far better to try and reach the top and fail than to not even try. If Duff had stayed at Rovers he wouldn't have 2 PL winners medals in his cabinet at home.

As long as a player has given us a decent stint and done right by the club contract wise to make sure we can get decent money, they always go with my blessing personally. Bentley gave us 3 years and we sold him for £15m, Duff 7 years and £17m, Shearer 4 years and £15m, then there's Warnock, Samba, Sutton, Rhodes, N'Zonzi etc. No problem at all with these guys. The blokes I do have a problem with are those who don't even give us a few good seasons, like Jones and Santa Cruz, and those who won't sign any contract to allow us to get some money for them, like Hoilett and Neill. I'm sure agents would disagree but I just feel as though its the decent thing to do to pay back the club that gave you the chance, especially in the PL.

Purely in terms of ambition though, why wouldn't they move on. The only case where I can't understand that is when you know for a fact that they're gonna be sat on the bench every week, like Solskjaer at Man U.

I actually don't disagree with you in a general sense. I was really being specific to Bentley, with the benefit of hindsight in this instance. From a football point of view it didn't work out. The only thing he really had to show for it was a bigger bank balance, didn't really enhance his career. If he'd carried on progressing like he was at Rovers he could have been an England regular.

[G Somerset Rover]

Who was our young lad who Kean tipped to be the next Steven Gerrard? Robbie Cotton wasn't it? Guess he isn't going to be the next Gerrard then, Steve.

[roversmillsy]

Most of them have been mentioned already but from a Rovers point of view, the players who stand out who I don't think fulfilled their potential are:

David Bentley - potential to have played 80+ games for England

Sergio Peter - remember his debut against QPR, 3 assists and MOM. Thought we had the next big thing

Junior Hoilett - Should have been in a top 6 side in the PL

Phil Jones - Remember seeing him in his first season and a half at Rovers in the PL. I'm sure everyone of us thought he was a future England captain and the perfect replacement for John Terry

David Dunn - Top class servant to the Rovers but feel that if it wasn't for his fallout with Souness, he would have been a regular for England

Matt Derbyshire - Remember him being brilliant under Hughes, don't understand how he just went off the boil. Was great for Olympiacos in the beginning as well.

[Torgeir]

Adriano

Marlon Broomes

[K-Hod]

Adriano

Marlon Broomes

Never under achieved for me on Pro Evo- 99 Shot Power! BOSH!

[Blue blood]

A bit of an obscure one, but does anyone remember Ciaran Donnelly?

The local team I was playing for at the time took us to watch England vs Brazil schoolboys somewhere around 1999/2000. England lost 2-1, but he scored our goal and played Brazil off the pitch. Glen Johnson also played that day, no idea if any of the Brazilian lads made it.

We were all talking about him on the coach home, didn't realise he was a Rover until I did some further investigation. I kept waiting for him to break through but it never happened, he's spent most of his career in non-league since.

From what I remember, he was quite small but technically excellent. He was probably 10 years too early, I remember a few saying our academy used to put a lot of focus on physical attributes. Hard to imagine how he'd fit into a 4-4-2 formation but might have thrived in the more fluid systems used today (thinking about the likes of Adam Lallana, or even Alan Judge!).

I remember watching him in the reserves. Him and that very short forward (Jemal Johnson?) always looked a cut above the rest of the reserves and looked like a good solid pro career beckoned.

Interestingly Derbyshire was also in that team and looked nowhere near as good as those two; but of the three he's had the most success.

Football can be a funny old game.

[speeeeeeedie]

Some good names here. A constant seems to be injuries blighted progress.

Bentley was excellent for Rovers. It was when he left he went downhill. His ability to get a cross in without beating his man was top notch.

Lee Makel was another. He got MOTM on his debut but never kicked on.

Keith Gillespie? The next Giggs. I once saw him worse for wear being carried out of the Cav.

Phil Jones should have stayed with Rovers for 1 more season, but I understand him leaving with the "manager" we had. He should have also gone to Liverpool They needed a central defender. He would have played there every week unlike him being shunted everywhere by Ferguson.

Joe Cole played in a World Cup, and won a Premier League medal. Hardly a flop, but based on what he was supposed to be I can see the rationale.

Shaun Wright -Phillips played like he was on the playground. He went to Chelsea and from what I heard he was too thick to understand what Mourinho was telling him to do so got dropped.

Then you have players who start well and get greedy; Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell, and Junior Hoilett spring to mind.

Lads like Billy Kenny and Michael Johnson missed the boat.

Another one I remember is Darren Caskey. He was captain of the England u18 team that won the Euro's in 1993.

[Stonesrick]

Franz Carr - when I first saw him I thought he was the real deal, so much so that Brian Clough took him to Forest as a youngster. Cloughie once said of him, "he's the best bloody corner flag hitter in the country, if only that was where the net was"

[K-Hod]

I remember watching him in the reserves. Him and that very short forward (Jemal Johnson?) always looked a cut above the rest of the reserves and looked like a good solid pro career beckoned.

Interestingly Derbyshire was also in that team and looked nowhere near as good as those two; but of the three he's had the most success.

Football can be a funny old game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jemal_Johnson- playing in the league below the MLS in the US.

Some good names here. A constant seems to be injuries blighted progress.

Bentley was excellent for Rovers. It was when he left he went downhill. His ability to get a cross in without beating his man was top notch.

Lee Makel was another. He got MOTM on his debut but never kicked on.

Keith Gillespie? The next Giggs. I once saw him worse for wear being carried out of the Cav.

Phil Jones should have stayed with Rovers for 1 more season, but I understand him leaving with the "manager" we had. He should have also gone to Liverpool They needed a central defender. He would have played there every week unlike him being shunted everywhere by Ferguson.

Joe Cole played in a World Cup, and won a Premier League medal. Hardly a flop, but based on what he was supposed to be I can see the rationale.

Shaun Wright -Phillips played like he was on the playground. He went to Chelsea and from what I heard he was too thick to understand what Mourinho was telling him to do so got dropped.

Then you have players who start well and get greedy; Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell, and Junior Hoilett spring to mind.

Lads like Billy Kenny and Michael Johnson missed the boat.

Another one I remember is Darren Caskey. He was captain of the England u18 team that won the Euro's in 1993.

Thought he'd have had a better career than he did as well. Think his lad plays for Brighton now (Jake Forster-Caskey), Nicky Forster is his Step Dad.

[T J Hooker]

Joey Barton! if he had'nt wasted most of his 20s being an stupid egotistical tit on & off the field and picking up injuries he could have been a brilliant all round centre midfielder and leader at club and international level(a slightly lesser version of roy kean)

Also Darren Anderton, had a great start to his career before becoming massively injury laden, Initially i could never understand why Beckham was given what was Andertons place on the right of the England midfield as I just thought Anderton was a class above, At his best id say he was like a right sided Bale

[roversoutsider]

Off the top of my head:

Phil Jones

Junior Hoilett

Stuart Holden

Illaramendi

David Bentley

Benni Mac

Balotelli

Ledley King

Jonathan Woodgate

Robinho

[koi]

Was disappointed when Jay McEveley didn't seem to kick on after an impressive start. Seem to recall he had something of an attitude in training and caused some injuries?

Don't forget one of out finest strikers ever to grace the Ewood turf; Francis Jeffers. He was amazing for those few weeks at Everton before he moved to Arsenal.

[JAL]

Hyugo Tanner ?