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Footballers / Athletes who failed to fulfill their potential


John Matrix

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A combination of meeting Mark Wright (ex footballer, not TOWIE prick) and thinking about football back when I used to follow closely, then hearing a familiar surname yesterday during the Europa League final last night got me thinking about footballers, and I guess athletes in general who were revered as the next big thing before seemingly going on to achieve very little.

 

Ciriaco Sforza springs to mind, probably because I remember Tony Adams referring to him at

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Helder Postiga, played out of skin for Portugal during 2003 and was bought by Spurs. Came to Spurs for the 2003-4 season and scored 2 goals, one in the league against Liverpool and the other in the League Cup against Man City.

 

Basically did fuck all of any use.

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Helder Postiga, played out of skin for Portugal during 2003 and was bought by Spurs. Came to Spurs for the 2003-4 season and scored 2 goals, one in the league against Liverpool and the other in the League Cup against Man City.

 

Basically did fuck all of any use.

 

Not for me.

 

Postiga was never a prolific striker when Spurs signed him. He's more of a link forward. He's now scored 25 goals in 60 appearances for Portugal, is seen as a vital part of that team, and has won three league titles and a Europa league. He's also had a really good season with a struggling Zaragoza and his goals may well keep them up. I think he's achieved what could be reasonably expected of him.

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Mark Lewis- Francis, sub 10 secs for the 100 metres in his teens and tipped for greatness, but has never really delivered on his own. Indeed has got progressively slower. Chuck in failed drugs tests and you have a recipe for failing to reach potential

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I may seem racist by this, but I'm really not. I wish I were black, so I could have an oak tree parked between my legs, for the record.

BUT, from an Everton standpoint, I'd say Bakayoko, Amokachi and Nyarko, all came into Everton under a cloud of promise but were fucking septic.

Amo, I'll have a soft spot for coz of the FA Cup semi against Spurs in 1995, but besides that...

I could say Joe Max-Moore, but I love Joe Max-Moore despite everything.

Per Kroldrup and Steve Simonsen are two whiteys I can think of to balance the books.

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Most people to play at Ashton Gate in the last 7 years.

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I may seem racist by this, but I'm really not. I wish I were black, so I could have an oak tree parked between my legs, for the record.

BUT, from an Everton standpoint, I'd say Bakayoko, Amokachi and Nyarko, all came into Everton under a cloud of promise but were fucking septic.

Amo, I'll have a soft spot for coz of the FA Cup semi against Spurs in 1995, but besides that...

I could say Joe Max-Moore, but I love Joe Max-Moore despite everything.

Per Kroldrup and Steve Simonsen are two whiteys I can think of to balance the books.

 

Weren't Danny Cadamartari, Michael Branch and Nick Chadwick tipped for greatness before slipping into severe mediocrity? Also the former twohad a brush with the law. Oh and not forgetting the chief overhyped underachiver Franny Jeffers! Made you boys a cool ten million though.

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On the footy front, I always felt Nick Barmby and Darren Huckerby could have achieved more, especially when it came to playing for England.

 

Fucking hell PunkStep, I remember hearing about that lad. That's a memory I totally didn't know I still had stored away somewhere. I went through a phase of fucking loving Ajax and particularly Edgar Davids for some reason, around the time he was snapped up I believe.

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Was he the natural talent that was Hick? A man in 1983 knocked everyone about everywhere for Zimbabwe as a child. Took 5 wicket hauls in ODIs while banging 50+? To this day just pissing about in Beach Cricket smacks them out of the ground. The most respected player by the Australians of the 90s....

 

But Fletcher, Illingworth and Dexter happened to him.

 

He should have been the best Batsman/All Rounder in English cricket history. He's only second to Jonty Rhodes in the field. Fuck, his off-spin as a part timer was better than the majority of wastes we had slow bowling and his average shows that, and it's not as if he wasn't pitching many. In the subcontinent his off spin was superb. People forget how decent a bowler he was. But people fucked with his head. Imagine a prime Hick playing 20/20, or under the modern ECB coaching structure. We'd be discussing a real legend of the game.

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Many of the original group of Fergie's fledglings:

 

Lee Martin - scarcely made it past 100 games in his league career

Tony Gill - Brian Laws knocked his leg off

David Wilson - Sweden beckoned him, and he answered

Russell Beardsmore - I think more was expected of him than a bunch of appearances for Bournemouth

Deniol Graham - is Deniol Graham

Mark Robins - I always liked Mark Robins, he was cracking for Norwich, but it all started to slide after that

Lee Sharpe - Very confusing post-Utd career

Giuliano Maiorana - Leg fell off, very enigmatic

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