Players you were especially loyal to ...

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Footy thread time! Inspired by Air_raids tear inducing nostalgia thread. Who's the players who you felt such a loyal connecting to during their undoubted hour of hatred. Like someone who hadn't scored a goal in forever and everyone was dishing out the "LOLs", but you were still holding onto hope that they'll come good and tell Alan Green to fuck off. Violently.

 

Here's the man.

 

Started off really well after signing for a fee that was treated with more shock that when Ronaldo left for

[Arch Stanton]

Ian, did you start putting this thread together before my Andy Cole post in the other thread??

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I am not that fast of a typer, Arch . It was all based on my Ipswich post which got my love of all things Andy racing enough to start a thread on him. But I'm always glad to see more love for the man.

[Arch Stanton]

Haha. One minute I'm apologising for going off on a bit of a tangent and having an Andy Cole nostalgia wank in a thread about scoring braces, then all of a sudden a thread pops up that couldn't have been more perfect for me to have posted the same tribute in!!

 

Anyway, without saying it all over again- I loved Cole for pretty much all the same reasons. Initially it was the super-excitement of the record transfer and United signing the Premiership's goal machine, then as Cole's United career stuttered, it became a defiant love. I was desperate for him to prove the doubters wrong.

 

For similar reasons, I always loved Diego too. Wish he had been given longer to have proven himself. What might have been!

[PunkStep]

Emmanuel Eboue for me. His lowest point was when he came on as a sub, was really shit, and was subbed off. Around that time he was booed more than anyone (including opposing players) from our fans. I felt for the guy, he clearly loved (still does) the club and always tried hard. Sometimes too hard, and sometimes dived a bit, but he always meant well for the team. Always smiling too.

 

Eventually he won the fans back and became a cult hero, which I'm glad because during that point he really needed the fans behind him, not jeering at him. I'm actually gutted we got rid of him.

[air_raid]

Hmmm....

 

 

 

When Arry dropped David Bentley after a few games in charge, I was convinced it was a temporary issue, or some squad rotation going on. I couldn't believe that you wouldn't want a man with his crossing ability slinging balls in for Super Pav - in fact, a Bentley cross for a Pavlyuchenko header was the first goal we scored under Redknapp. Bentley for crossing and Lennon for pace, swapping flanks as and when required. That was the dream. It was a good year til Dave got another look in, scoring a couple of free kicks against Wigan and Fulham and providing all the crosses for JD and basically running the game at Elland Road in a cup replay. I assumed he might be in with a shout when Lennon and then Kranjcar got injured, but quick as you like Arry stumbled upon the Lennon-Huddlestone-Modric-Bale line up that carried us through to the end of the season. Bentley got his face on the screen to soak Redknapp and do a little jig after we qualified for the Champions League, but other than the league cup he's barely kicked a ball for us since. Stunned that he didnt play more of a role during the Crouch seasons, and a remarkable comedown for the man who started Capellos first England game in "David Beckhams spot." I still think he could do a job, when we play Adebayor leading a line I think "Jesus, if only we had Bentley slinging it in." No doubt, I'm the only one.

[Maverick]

Shola Ameobi Mackem Slayer. There was a time when he was absolutely hated by most Newcastle fans and everyone wanted rid, I remember loads being gutted when moves to Stoke and Ipswich broke down and we were stuck with him but I always liked Shola despite his short falls. Local lad who did his best and obviously loved the club, scored some important goals too highlights including his many goals v the Mackems and he's even scored against Barca in the Nou Camp which is always nice to point out when the black cats give him stick. Most's opinons have changed on him now though and he's become abit cult, people don't mind him coming on for the last 15 minutes to keep the game ticking over. It is a miracle he's lasted this long though, he's never really been good enough despite my like of him and how he's been here 13 years makes the mind boggle.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

When I worked at B&Q one of the Newcastle fans put a sticker on the mirror in the toilets which was a picture of Ameobi's smiling face which read "if Shola Can Score Against You, You Must Be Shit".

[WU LYF 4 LYF]

I hated Andy Cole. He was alright with Yorke in 98/99 (while still missing tons of sitters), but he just fucked up chance after chance after chance. I shudder to think how many someone like Shearer would have scored with the kind of service Cole used to get, no wonder Cantona hated him.

 

Personally;

 

 

Hard working, passionate, full of desire and determination. When he smashed seven in his first seven games for the club I thought we were onto a winner. Even when he didn't reproduce the form (and was written off by most as ever being a top goalscorer) I wanted him to be given a chance, and was dismayed as Fergie tried to shoehorn him into central midfield where it was clear he never fitted. I was sure that if he got a run in the team he'd do really well.

 

In 2007 when he came back from his horrific injury he looked promising again, starring in the majestic 7-1 win over Roma, playing in the title securing win against Manchester City and bagging a couple of goals and assists in other games, not to mention a few crunching tackles. Sadly he was sold in the summer, and has been shit ever since, but I firmly believe he was a confidence player, and could certainly have done a job as a backup striker. He was better than Welbeck at least, much better in fact on his day. He may be a sub in League 1 now, but the memories remain. For you smudger.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

playing in the title securing win against Manchester City and bagging a couple of goals and assists in other games

Did he? I remember he scored against Roma and didn't score another goal until a match for MK Dons last season. After he broke his leg, he was pretty much finished. I remember he only played in the 2006-2007 season because after February, United only had about 13 fit outfield players. I remember that last month or so United were dragging themselves over the finish line. The away leg against AC Milan and the FA Cup final were the performances of a team who were absolutely spent.

[Devon Malcolm]

Alan Smith was absolutely shit. A poor man's Craig Bellamy. One of Fergie's worst signings, completely inexplicable.

[I Bent My Wookie]

Chalk me down as another of the David Bentley fans, if only because my Dad would always tell me how he worked with his uncle.

 

Strange one for me, but even though at the time I had some unknown hatred for Chelsea I would defend Bolo Zenden to the death. General playground stuff of him being one of the weaker signings the summer he came in and just being dreadful at times for Chelsea and yet I would always back him up and say that he'd eventually come good. Technically he did...at Middlesborough.

[Maverick]

Not from my club but for some reason I always loved the rather average Benito Carbone as a kid. I put it down to their not being many foreigners in the league at the time and he seemed exotic or whatever but for whatever reason I thought he was class and followed his career till he retired in 2010.

[Nexus]

 

I'm not a Spurs or Man Utd fan, but I absolutely love this fine stallion. I find his lackadaisical style a joy to watch, and I'd have him in the team sheet over Rooney any day of the week. I tend to consider anyone who doesn't think Berbatov is good/Rooney is better is a Neanderthal who doesn't understand good football. He always seems lazy to the casual observer, yet if you watch his play, more often than not it's really good.

 

Now he's gone to Fulham, I'm officially taking them on as a second team. Hooray for Dimi.

[Magnum]

 

I fucking loved Djibril Cisse. He's still one of my favourite three Sunderland players ever (along with Kevin Phillips and Eric Roy), despite only being at the club for a season. I think it was because, after Phillips left, we had nothing but a string of uninspiring journeymen and outright planks leading the line for us - Kevin Kyle, Andy Gray, Jon Stead, Michael Chopra, David Connolly. It was particularly galling during this era, when the mags were making a Hollywood signing every summer.

 

Then, all of a sudden, we had Kenwyne Jones - who was good, but not exactly a world famous name - and then this guy. I couldn't remember him being quite so mental or larger than life when he was at Liverpool, but his signing seemed completely out of the blue, and from there, the legend grew. He was the fastest player I'd seen since Bellion, but he could actually do things with the ball. He dyed his hair red to show his support for the team. Our fans made up a song about him that was one of our most inspired efforts since 'Johnny Hall has only got one ball'. When rumours grew that he wasn't settling in the area, he opened a mad clothes shop in Newcastle (I know, but nobody who shops in Sunderland could afford the prices) where the entire ground floor was filled with hats and expensive underwear. He scored on his debut against Spurs, and, best of all, he scored in our first home victory over the mags in twenty years.

 

Then things started to turn. We went on a disastrous run of form after christmas, and fans started to label him as lazy, and lose patience with his tendency to shoot from the byline. That was part of his charm for me. He got bundled in with Diouf and Chimbonda as a disruptive influence in the dressing room, and he was in and out of the team after Niall Quinn made it pretty clear we weren't going to sign him at the end of his loan deal. I still loved him. The fans who labelled him 'lazy' were the same wazzocks who voted Danny Collins player of the year 3 seasons in a row, and his lack of goals was due in no small part to playing under a 'manager' whose trademark battle cry before a home game was 'I'll be happy with a point', as well as having to rely on a Whitehead/Leadbitter midfield axis for service. Even though it was long known that we weren't going to sign him in the summer, I was gutted when we didn't. He had a 100% scoring record in two matches against the mags, and I think he could've gone on to be our derby version of Ameobi, but without the 'shit against everyone else' thing. I was pleased we gave him a good reception and even a chorus of his song when he helped us to victory against QPR with a mental red card, even though the 'we'll never send him back to France' line now sounds as hollow as 'Frazier Campbell will always score goals'.