Players that underachieved or what could have been

[Oldgregg86]

Continuing a theme of stuff to talk about during these boring and difficult times I started thinking about jay mcevelelys performance away at man united where he played unbelievably well against a good united side and I came away from OT thinking we had a real player in our hands yet he never really produced after that. 

more of a thread for the older lads who can tell us young ones tales of players we won’t of seen or heard of along these lines. The parsons of the world have any stories of under 21 players who should and didn’t make it for various reasons etc
 

any lee makel fans etc

[matt83]

Patrick Andersson. Ordinary player for us briefly who went on to play for Bayern and Barcelona. 

[Oldgregg86]

Just now, matt83 said:

Patrick Andersson. Ordinary player for us briefly who went on to play for Bayern and Barcelona. 

Kalinic could fall into that bracket I suppose. Always rated him yet never really suited our style of play 

[matt83]

As a teenager I thought Phil Jones would go on to captain England for a decade. Arguably a career that hit its peak at 17-19 years old

[Oldgregg86]

I remember watching o Connell for our youth team saying he should have been given a chance. Same sort of feeling when I saw travis. Couldn’t believe we let him go

[frosty]

Adam Henley was another one who burst onto the scene, playing very well away at Liverpool and United over Christmas the season we went down as a 17 year old. Salgado was just about still here at the time and he thought a lot of him, which speaks volumes.

Never properly kicked on after that and, despite occasional good performances such as playing very well against Raheem Sterling in the FA Cup quarter final games, he's now in League Two at Bradford.

[MarkBRFC]

Harry Chapman will be on this list in a few years.

Remember James Thomas bursting onto the scene relatively early in our 2001 promotion campaign and scoring a few goals, think he played most of his time in the 4th/3rd division after that season.

Jimmy Corbett was another one who came in around 1998 from Gillingham for a million quid and never did anything, hampered by injuries.

Maceo Rigters arriving after being top goalscorer in the 2007 Euro U21 championships is another, think he scrored a ridiculous overhead kick against England. I don't even know what happened to him after he left.

 

 

[oldjamfan1]

Franz Carr. I honestly thought he would be a world-beater having watched him play alongside my younger brother for a couple of years for Lancashire schoolboys and Rovers reserves in the very early 80s. I think the  transfer at such a young age to Cloughy's Forest went to his head a bit.

[K-Hod]

22 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

Harry Chapman will be on this list in a few years.

Remember James Thomas bursting onto the scene relatively early in our 2001 promotion campaign and scoring a few goals, think he played most of his time in the 4th/3rd division after that season.

Jimmy Corbett was another one who came in around 1998 from Gillingham for a million quid and never did anything, hampered by injuries.

Maceo Rigters arriving after being top goalscorer in the 2007 Euro U21 championships is another, think he scrored a ridiculous overhead kick against England. I don't even know what happened to him after he left.

 

 

He found comfort in food by the looks of things.

[rigger]

1 hour ago, oldjamfan1 said:

Franz Carr. I honestly thought he would be a world-beater having watched him play alongside my younger brother for a couple of years for Lancashire schoolboys and Rovers reserves in the very early 80s. I think the  transfer at such a young age to Cloughy's Forest went to his head a bit.

I think it was as much that his dad got to his head.

[rigger]

John Omara

[Commondore]

A few days back I was reminded that Souness briefly used Jonathon Douglas in the team when we were struggling at the tail end of his tenure, Douglas even scored in that 4-3 win against Fulham that Stead clinched. Must be rare for one of our own products to have taken a place in central midfield, in the Premiership no less, only to completely go off the radar in just a season's time.

Then there's Dunny... Had a decent career as a whole, but he looked so damn good in the promotion season and first season in the PL before getting on the wrong side of Souness and all the injuries.  

[Proudtobeblue&white]

David Bentley had it all, should have stayed and had a glittering career, instead of moving back to the bright lights and the booze.

[simongarnerisgod]

33 minutes ago, Proudtobeblue&white said:

David Bentley had it all, should have stayed and had a glittering career, instead of moving back to the bright lights and the booze.

think he thought he was a bit above rovers tbh and saw us as a stepping stone back to the big time though maybe if ince was`nt such a **** he might have stopped

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Eamon Rogers, Malcolm Darling. Dwight Yorke, Martin Dahlin.

[rigger]

1 minute ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Eamon Rogers, Malcolm Darling. Dwight Yorke, Martin Dahlin.

I don’t think Eamon Rogers underachieved at the Rovers 

[speeeeeeedie]

 

8 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Eamon Rogers, Malcolm Darling. Dwight Yorke, Martin Dahlin.

 

4 minutes ago, rigger said:

I don’t think Eamon Rogers underachieved at the Rovers 

Dwight Yorke too. He was on his way down when he signed. He was in his prime at Man U, and showed it.

Dahlin knackered his back about a week into his stint.

Grabbi?

[Proudtobeblue&white]

22 minutes ago, simongarnerisgod said:

think he thought he was a bit above rovers tbh and saw us as a stepping stone back to the big time though maybe if ince was`nt such a **** he might have stopped

Agree, he wasn't handled right. And yes, Blackburn wasn't trendy enough, but he crashed and burned very quickly, thereafter.

[Claytons Left Boot]

James Thomas was a good call, earlier in the thread. He was equally as good as James Beattie when they played up front together for the youth teams, usually causing havoc, as we had a first class youth team back then. You could probably include Beattie in the list of under achievers as well. He had a reasonably decent career but never really reached the expected heights once he made the first team. He had the confidence and cockiness (which you need) but I think he thought he had already made it when there was clearly much more work to be done. I used to regularly watch the youth teams down at Brockhall and that team, with Thomas and Beattie up front with Duff and Johnson out wide, was a joy to watch.

[Dreyski]

Martin Taylor had all the physical attributes, but lacked the mentality. (He had a decent career but maybe should have been better)

Sergio Peter flattered to deceive.

[Oldgregg86]

Marlon broomes was tipped for big things when he first burst through. Don’t even know what happened to him after he left rovers 

[Bohinen 22]

Sergio Peter had a blinder on his debut. Got an assist I think. Didn't do anything after that. 

[Bohinen 22]

Barry Ferguson. Was a class act footballing wise but let us down big time.

[simongarnerisgod]

keith gillespie,on song a full backs worst nightmare,one of the most gifted players iv`e ever seen,he made the game look so easy,just a shame he did`nt have it up there in the mind dept,some days he looked like he`d rather be anywhere other than a football field

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

13 hours ago, simongarnerisgod said:

keith gillespie,on song a full backs worst nightmare,one of the most gifted players iv`e ever seen,he made the game look so easy,just a shame he did`nt have it up there in the mind dept,some days he looked like he`d rather be anywhere other than a football field

I went to a pre-season friendly years ago - Rochdale v Man Utd Reserves. They had all the kids playing , Beckham , Scholes, Butt, the Nevilles. Gillespie was head and shoulders better than all of them. He was unplayable that day. Real pace and he could go either way. He reminded me of George Best on a good day !

Eamon Rogers should have gone on to be an all time great at Rovers.

Edited April 3, 2020 by Tyrone Shoelaces