rohpete Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Michael Branch   "The most natural goalscorer to emerge from Everton's ranks for years," it said in the programme at Goodison Park in February 1996. Michael Branch had never kicked a ball for the first team at that point  He was touted as Evertons Michael Owen long before he kicked a ball for the first team and never lived up to the hype. he played only 41 times for Everton before moving to Man City and Wolves. He is now serving a seven year prison sentence for drug dealing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 He's the only Englishman to have won the Ballon D'Or in the past thirty years, he played for three of the biggest clubs in the world and by the age of 28 he was within only nine goals of England's all-time goal scoring record. But look where Michael Owen ended up, quietly retiring after a season at Stoke City where he couldn't buy a game despite Stoke being the second lowest scoring team in the division after QPR. Couldn't get in ahead of Cameron Jerome. Â Michael Owen is my nomination for the thread. He could have been England's greatest ever striker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Goldberg Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 He's the only Englishman to have won the Ballon D'Or in the past thirty years, he played for three of the biggest clubs in the world and by the age of 28 he was within only nine goals of England's all-time goal scoring record. But look where Michael Owen ended up, quietly retiring after a season at Stoke City where he couldn't buy a game despite Stoke being the second lowest scoring team in the division after QPR. Couldn't get in ahead of Cameron Jerome. Michael Owen is my nomination for the thread. He could have been England's greatest ever striker.  Going to Madrid might have been a mistake for Owen. He never really fitted in.  His goal scoring record wasn't all that bad while at Real when you look at his starts to goals ratio but he wasn't the same when he returned.  If going to Real was fair enough signing for Newcastle on his return was a shocking move.  Injuries, frustration and a lack of desire contributed in his career coming to a dead end early.  David Hirst and Robbie Fowler like Owen had great early careers in the 90's and if not for injuries would have had many more years at the top of English football in the Prem and playing for England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 David Hirst and Robbie Fowler like Owen had great early careers in the 90's and if not for injuries would have had many more years at the top of English football in the Prem and playing for England. Â I'd totally forgotten about David Hirst - totally no memory that he went to Southampton, that could have been a nice bit of business for them, had his leg stayed on for a few more seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 You get many people saying that if United had signed Hirst that it would have saved his career, but the reason Ferguson eventually gave up on him in the first place was because he was the original Sicknote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 Poor bloody Justin Fashanu. You got to blame manager's homophobia for that one. You know Cloughy would be in other boss's ears about him. Â He had a lot of clubs, but he only stayed few months at a time. I remember him having a brilliant spell at Airdrie right at the end of his career. They had a decent side at that time. Â His Wikipedia Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callum1993 Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Francis Jeffers is another one. Touted as the "Fox in the box" that Arsenal needed he now plays for Accrington Stanley after spells with Charlton, Rangers, Blackburn, Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle Jets, Motherwell, Floriana and another one with Everton. 52 goals in 284 career games. 1 goal in 1 appearance for England as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 Everyone abandoned that poor bastard - of course, his means of coming out wasn't the best, and it was career suicide pretty much, but then his career was knackered by then anyone. I place a slice of blame on this nasty, inept, dirty, cheating cunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SiMania Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 Franny Jeffers, the cunt up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Fox Piss Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 Prince Naz. Â Up to debate if he was but could've been a worldwide Boxing/sports superstar. Â Lost a superfight but was plenty more to come had he continued. Different rumours on why but seems like he didn't fancy training camp. Â Naz was money before prettyboy was money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Sergio Mendacious Posted May 16, 2013 Paid Members Share Posted May 16, 2013 Nottingham welterweight Jawaid Khaliq was someone who was seemingly buggered around for his entire career, never getting any notable fights but managing to be a prospect for a few years. I remember that he was a taxi driver back home whilst he was a boxer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJames Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Kevin Davies, David Bentley and Richard Wright. All touted to be future England superstars and they just ended up wallowing in mediocrity and bench warming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Naz is a great shout. Lost to Barrera, had one more fight (an unconvincing win against someone who's name escaped me) and then nothing. Smashed his BMW into someone in Sheffield who now can't walk, went to prison and ate a lot. Â Good shout on Michael Johnson early on too. Unbelievable player. Sven said he would captain England one day. Slightly off the mark. Â I love Butch's passion for Hick. You forgot to mention he had the greatest pair of hands since I.T Botham too. A serious slip fielder (always second slip). Â If you're talking real childhood prodigy though, then I'm nominating Nicky Peng. Scored runs for England age groups all the way through the years, from Under 13s to Under 19s. I spent many a year bowling at the bastard as first for Northumberland and then for Durham he dispatched various attacks to all parts. But he didn't have the hunger for the game because basically his parents were loaded. Seriously. Had a couple of years at Durham, one at Glamorgan then packed instead. Gordan Muchall currently plays for Durham instead of him - they were best mates as kids - and Muchall couldn't lace Peng's jock. Look him up on cricketarchive.com - it all should be there. Â David Duval is also worth a mention. Won the Open in 2001 ( I think), and finished top ten if every major that year. One of a handful of guys to shoot a magical 59. He then developed serious yips, through injury/mental softness and now can't play. Scrapes around the PGA tour occasionally, and updates twitter with how good he's playing. Â Wasn't Sonny Pike on Fantasy Football League one year? Â Great thread by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Stan Collymore was as talented as they come before his career nosedived and he became a dogger who liked to treat the ladies right. You could pick about 10000 Brazilians from the last 20 years as well, a combination of overhype and weak mentality usually spells disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L_E_T_H_A_L Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Celtic have had a fair few over the years. Gerry Creaney, Mark Burchill and Simon Donnelly could all have been really great players. Â Add Liam Miller and Brian McLaughlin to this list. Both were incredible talents at Celtic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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