Grand old team

by Les Green | 01/06/2016

45 Comments [Jump to last]

After reading the recent praise on here for Gareth Barry, I was wondering if there were any other players that came to us late in their career that people would like to have had earlier — and further to that, could we get a team out of them?

I'll start by nominating a keeper. For me Nigel Martyn was an excellent signing and I would've loved to have seen him with us earlier in his career...

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Reader Comments (45)

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Dan Davies
1 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:02:45

Samuel Eto!

Tony Abrahams
2 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:09:49

Richard Gough

Chris Williams
3 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:14:31

Paul Power
Peter Beardsley

Kevin Jones
4 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:15:54

Nigel Martyn, Mark Hughes, Gazza, Ginola, Paul Power, Gareth Barry and loads more

Chris Williams
5 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:16:49

Yakubu?

Chris Williams
6 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:18:18

Tommy Ring

Charlie Lloyd
7 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:20:54

Andy Gray.

Carlo Nash!

Colin Glassar
8 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:23:02

Gareth Barry

Alan Humphreys
9 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:23:10

Kanchelskis and Limpar in their pomp.

Mark Frere
10 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:23:15

Blomquist

Simon Harris
11 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:25:16

Paul Power

Chris Williams
12 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:25:56

Colin Todd
That left back from Arsenal
Bruce Rioch

Mark Frere
13 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:27:46

Terry Phelan

Colin Glassar
14 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:27:52

Oumar Niasse

Kunal Desai
15 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:31:13

Louis Saha and Sylvain Distin. Possibly even Kevin Campbell.

Ste Traverse
16 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:34:16

I will go for Paul Gascoigne. Ok, he was a fruit loop, but what a player. He was the most talented English player of his generation by miles. Always thinking a second ahead of everyone else on the pitch.

Just 57 caps for England? What a joke, even more so considering Beckham, who had about a 10th of Gazza's talent, got nearly twice as many.

We could well have got him in his prime too as Colin Harvey was said to have been very interested in him when he left Newcastle in the summer of 88.

Chris Williams
17 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:37:42

David Ginola

Mark Frere
18 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:38:22

Thomas Hitzelsperger and a younger more sober Andy Van der meyde.

Mark Frere
19 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:41:40

Oh and Barry Horne ,maybe.

Dominic Tonge
20 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:47:12

Saha

Patrick Murphy
21 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:47:16

Peter Reid, Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne and Pat Jennings

Matt Williams
22 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:49:33

Duncan Mckenzie and Brian Kidd. Could also do a thread on players we let go far to soon.

I won't state the obvious with the granny shagger from Croxteth. How about Alan Ball and dare I say Steve McMahon?

Chris Williams
23 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:50:43

Royston Drenthe

Joe McMahon
24 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:56:37

Saha, Martyn, Limpar and Paul Power.
Also a manager we failed to get twice - Bobby Robson.

Andy Crooks
25 Posted 01/06/2016 at 19:57:41

It is disturbing how many came late to us. At their peak, Gough was top class, as was Rioch. However, Paul Gascoigne under the right coach and with a mentor who kept him right could have been the best England player ever. He was THAT good.

David Hallwood
26 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:02:14

Mark Hughes

Andy Crooks
27 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:03:43

Joe, #24, I can recall the first time we were interested in Bobby Robson. We were offering £600 per week and the press thought the world had gone fucking mad.

Super thread, by the way. What might have been. Could I add Norman Whiteside ?

David Hallwood
28 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:04:11

BTW what IS Royston Drenthe up to these days

Colin Glassar
29 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:09:43

Reid, Gray, Martin, Gazza, Ginola, Hughes.

Joe McMahon
30 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:12:11

Andy (27). I heard from a fellow Evertonian who can remember back then that Bobby agreed terms with Everton but wanted to inform the Cobbold brothers himself. But somehow when he met them they already knew, so Bobby pulled the plug on Everton thinking they can't be trusted.

Back to the thread Wayne Rooney.

Terry White
31 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:15:48

Like the Tommy Ring suggestion and will add Bobby Collins who was all set to join us as a lad but got homesick.

Chris Williams
32 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:21:11

I remember seeing Gazza playing in the FA cup against Leyton Orient who I think we're then in Div 1. He was absolutely brilliant on the day, a real flashback even against a lower league side. I took my son and we both saw just a glimpse of his quality in a blue shirt.

A real pleasure.

Paul Jones
33 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:22:37

Kenny Sansom!

Thomas Surgenor
34 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:28:46

Stubbs and weir.

Mick Davies
35 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:47:55

Espen Baardsen

Clive Rogers
36 Posted 01/06/2016 at 20:56:23

Wayne Rooney. He was even better when he was 15.

Sue Brown
37 Posted 01/06/2016 at 21:54:30

Yes Gazza for me too, what a waste of talent.

Damian Wilde
38 Posted 02/06/2016 at 00:13:44

Greame Jones.

Steve Barr
39 Posted 02/06/2016 at 00:18:58

All great shouts. Norman Whiteside and Brian Kidd from ManUre

Martin Faulkner
40 Posted 02/06/2016 at 03:13:48

David,
He's playing for the mighty Baniyas in the UAE

Andy Osborne
41 Posted 02/06/2016 at 04:42:29

Gary Speed

Ste Traverse
42 Posted 02/06/2016 at 13:22:53

Andy #41.

Gary Speed was 26 when he signed for us. Hardly past his best.

Alan Humphreys
43 Posted 02/06/2016 at 20:00:03

Vinnie Samways

Nick Entwistle
44 Posted 02/06/2016 at 21:44:15

I've still got me boots...

Andy Osborne
45 Posted 03/06/2016 at 12:27:22

Ste, maybe I read the OP to mean something a bit different. I was thinking players I would have like to seen earlier, rather than players I would have liked to have seen before they had past their best. Both Gary Speed and Peter Reid, would be my two. Coincidentally both 26 when they joined us, but would love to have seen what impact they would have had on the team if they had joined a bit younger.

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