Lost Opportunities

[bedwetter2]

Two of our old boys scored in the Premiership this weekend - Marcos Alonso and Aaron Mooy.
Both discarded by useless managers who couldn't find their own arse without the aid of Ordnance Survey maps?
Marcos Alonso - a man among boys in the Freedman team. Freedman wouldn't play him and didn't try to keep him signed.
Mooy, less of a standout at the time but played well in the reserves and would have cost next to nothing to retain.

Pathetic managers, both team wise and club board. Not a clue. The decision making doesn't appear to have improved significantly even now.

[Harry Genshaw]

Alonso was playing quite regularly in his last season with us wasn't he? It wasn't realistic that we could keep him when he was out of contract and Fiorentina were sniffing around.

Mooy has just done well after taking several backward steps. Who was manager when we let him go?

If Dougie had had his way we'd have no Vela either

[Prufrock]

Alonso was absolute shite for all but the last six months of his time here. From memory we wanted to keep him at that point (he certainly wasn't worth it before then, and was a real Madrid signing on premier league wages in the championship) but he got a better offer.

I think both him and Mooy (who never got near the first team? Feel like I saw him in the league cup?) benefited from hitting their twenties and developing physically. It's hard to predict, and also hard to mitigate before they get there.

Alonso should also be in jail, so there's always that.

[BWFC_Insane]

As much as I'd like to blame Coyle for Alonso, it's one of those things. He was awful here for most of his time. Which is probably because defensively in a struggling team he wasn't the right sort of player to have.

Mooy, left us for St Mirren. And the bummed around a bit at relatively weak levels of football. He's blossomed. But to blame the club is ridiculous. Nobody had a magic ball, and we weren't the only club to pass. One of those things. To avoid it you'd have to keep every reserve player who isn't good enough for the first team till they retire, just in case.

[LeverEnd]

Every single club in professional football has a 'one that got away' or two.
Nothing to see here.

[Nicko58]

It just isn't true that they were discarded. We offered both of them new contracts but they turned them down.

[bedwetter2]

Every single club in professional football has a 'one that got away' or two.
Nothing to see here.

I would say we have had more than our fair share:- Recently Danny Ward springs to mind. Who was that guy who went to Arsenal?

If we signed someone like Marcos Alonso on sustainable terms it would have been because we were fairly convinced that he would cut the mustard. Not necessarily immediately but one for the future, as the saying goes. Stick with the decision. The changing of managers often brings about wholesale revamps at considerable cost to the club, i.e. you and I, thus often throwing out the baby with the bathwater. We know that some decent players who could have helped the club stay up were discarded because certain managers consistently left them out of the team pursuing some sort of childish vendetta. That is the time that the Chairman should remind the manager that these players are club assets and should be treated with respect.

At least Parkinson appears to know what he is doing and I would say that restricting a manager of a cash-poor club to freebies and loans is not necessarily a bad thing. He has worked with existing players to improve them. Obviously Pratley and Amos would have to go irrespective of their poor performances purely due to their high cost.

[bedwetter2]

It just isn't true that they were discarded. We offered both of them new contracts but they turned them down.

Is that so? Having been consistently been left out of the inner circle prior to that is it any wonder they wished to leave.

[bedwetter2]

As much as I'd like to blame Coyle for Alonso, it's one of those things. He was awful here for most of his time. Which is probably because defensively in a struggling team he wasn't the right sort of player to have.

Mooy, left us for St Mirren. And the bummed around a bit at relatively weak levels of football. He's blossomed. But to blame the club is ridiculous. Nobody had a magic ball, and we weren't the only club to pass. One of those things. To avoid it you'd have to keep every reserve player who isn't good enough for the first team till they retire, just in case.

No. Just the ones who were tagged as ones for the future and for whom we had actually paid folding money.

[bedwetter2]

Alonso was absolute shite for all but the last six months of his time here. From memory we wanted to keep him at that point (he certainly wasn't worth it before then, and was a real Madrid signing on premier league wages in the championship) but he got a better offer.

I think both him and Mooy (who never got near the first team? Feel like I saw him in the league cup?) benefited from hitting their twenties and developing physically. It's hard to predict, and also hard to mitigate before they get there.

Alonso should also be in jail, so there's always that.

Judge and juror, eh?

[Dr Hotdog]

Mooy did absolutely feck all for...get this... St Mirren... before he went back to Aus to begin his transformation.

Scouts got a good one in Dzemaili but he failed to get a look in and got disheartened in England (cheers Megson).
Scouts got a bad one in Cid who turned out to be the long lost cousin of George Weah's cousin.

If we wern't such a fecking feck up we'd still have Holding and Clough in the match day squad LOL

[BWFC_Insane]

As much as I'd like to blame Coyle for Alonso, it's one of those things. He was awful here for most of his time. Which is probably because defensively in a struggling team he wasn't the right sort of player to have.

Mooy, left us for St Mirren. And the bummed around a bit at relatively weak levels of football. He's blossomed. But to blame the club is ridiculous. Nobody had a magic ball, and we weren't the only club to pass. One of those things. To avoid it you'd have to keep every reserve player who isn't good enough for the first team till they retire, just in case.

No. Just the ones who were tagged as ones for the future and for whom we had actually paid folding money.

There are countless, countless young lads released every year who fans will moan at the club and say "you got that wrong". Those players will never be heard of again. Jamie Thomas springs to mind as one example.

Alonso was offered a deal and turned it down. Not sure what the club could do?

Mooy, I just think is one of those late developers. But he left here and still didn't set the world alight. Just have to accept that sometimes players need certain clubs to flourish and certain situations.

Kevin Davies a prime example, on the scrap heap at Southampton, to a key target man here. The move just worked for him.

[Prufrock]

Alonso was absolute shite for all but the last six months of his time here. From memory we wanted to keep him at that point (he certainly wasn't worth it before then, and was a real Madrid signing on premier league wages in the championship) but he got a better offer.

I think both him and Mooy (who never got near the first team? Feel like I saw him in the league cup?) benefited from hitting their twenties and developing physically. It's hard to predict, and also hard to mitigate before they get there.

Alonso should also be in jail, so there's always that.

Judge and juror, eh?

Just judge.

He killed someone doing 70 in a 30 whilst nearly 4x the Spanish drink driving limit. He should be in jail. I don't think that's a very Daily Mail position to take.

[jonnybwfc]

When we signed Alsono, Coyle said openly that he was a future left-back for Spain. Sounded quite absurd at the time, especially after seeing his first few games.

Mooy's been very good the last 4 years. Think he's been player-of-the-year for his clubs in the last 4 years. Seemed to get good words when he was at ours. Perhaps St Mirren was too cold for him.

[Bruce Rioja]

May abiding memory of him, sadly, is an absolute shocker he once had down at Fulham away.

Were the rumours surrounding Jonathan Walters ever proven? He's another one that we let go of who's gone on to do very well for himself.

[officer_dibble]

Alonso got torn a new one by Damien Duff in his 80s at the reebok. Earliest I have left a game that one, was in one of the eateries on Middlebrook downing Sam Adams by 430. He came good under Dougie eventually but we couldnt get a new deal for him.

Mooy, frustrating. Several managers largely ignored the youth set up once we were established premier league. Chris Basham is one that came through (and we sold for actual money) about the same time?

Can anyone remember the young lad who played in the second uefa cup run at right back / righ mid? James Sinclair? What happened to him?

[Nicko58]

It just isn't true that they were discarded. We offered both of them new contracts but they turned them down.

Is that so? Having been consistently been left out of the inner circle prior to that is it any wonder they wished to leave.

Alonso was our first choice left back by the time that he left. There aren't many players who would then have turned down Fiorentina if they came knocking.

Mooy was a promising teenager and we were a Premier League team fighting relegation each year. He wanted to play in our first team and we, perhaps understandably, told him that we couldn't garauntee him that at that stage. We offered him a contract to stay and continue his development with us but he choose to leave to try and find first team football elsewhere. He went to St Mirren, failed to establish himself there, and left on a free transfer. He then signed for Western Syndney Wanderers where over time he's worked his way up. Fair play to him for that, and I applaud him turning down a probably more lucrative contract with us in favouring of playing football, but all the signs point to him being a late developer. I'm not sure that there's anything to criticise the club for here.

[Lord Kangana]

I was going to say Dzemeli, but someone beat me to it, so I'll settle for Vaz Te.

I remember the pair of them ripping Newcastle's ressies a new one in a (ISTR) 3-0 victory.

But in all seriousness, whilst all clubs allow talent to slip through their fingers to a greater or lesser degree, I always think it's indicative of where a club is in it's boom-bust cycle as to how many 'what ifs?' are floating around.

Can you imagine if Bogdan had fulfilled his potential, playing behind Alonso, Holding and Cahill, whilst Stuey H, Fabrice, Mooy and Dzemelli ran the middle and Clough...

I need to stop, it's a little depressing.

[bristol_Wanderer3]

Have to say Mooy is an absolutely outstanding player now. I enjoyed watching him last season when Huddersfield were on TV. I reckon he is one of the best in the world just now, and will go to a top club for silly money soon.

[Bruce Rioja]

Have to say Mooy is an absolutely outstanding player now. I enjoyed watching him last season when Huddersfield were on TV. I reckon he is one of the best in the world just now, and will go to a top club for silly money soon.

Dan, you're back.