Wonderflops!

Where fellow sufferers gather to share the pain, longing and unrequited transfer requests that make being a Wanderer what it is...

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William the White
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Post by William the White » Sun Sep 26, 2010 12:02 am

Bruce Rioja wrote:
CAPSLOCK wrote:
William the White wrote:Was Len Cantello more disappointing than Terry Wharton?

Was Henry Mowbray the worst full back we ever had?
Wharton is before my time as I'm just a young pup - wasn't the problem with Wharton mostly about the fact that the money used was from the sale of a crowd favourite?

I've heard bad things about Mowbray but I can't believe he was much worse than Snookes and Deakin....and Samuel
Or Brown or Nicholson.
Henry Mowbray worse than all of the above - and in Division 3...

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Post by bw@bw » Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:42 pm

William the White wrote:
Bruce Rioja wrote:
CAPSLOCK wrote:
William the White wrote:Was Len Cantello more disappointing than Terry Wharton?

Was Henry Mowbray the worst full back we ever had?
Wharton is before my time as I'm just a young pup - wasn't the problem with Wharton mostly about the fact that the money used was from the sale of a crowd favourite?

I've heard bad things about Mowbray but I can't believe he was much worse than Snookes and Deakin....and Samuel
Or Brown or Nicholson.
Henry Mowbray worse than all of the above - and in Division 3...
Age affects memory - but I don't recall him being that bad


Not as if all our full backs have been wonderful....

Even back to Syd Farrimond
What goes around may still come around

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Post by bw@bw » Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:47 pm

William the White wrote:

Who was the bigger stump - Brian Pilkington or Gordon Taylor?
no contest

Pilkington

Good player in a top team (Burnley 1960)

Useless elsewhere
What goes around may still come around

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Post by TANGODANCER » Mon Sep 27, 2010 12:25 am

bw@bw wrote:
Even back to Syd Farrimond
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Post by bobo the clown » Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:21 am

Worst players ... and Biggest Disappointments are different things.

We can hardly call Henry Mowbray a huge flop as he came. with Peter Nicholson, on a free when we took Jimmy Armfield on as manager.

HM was crap, of that there's little doubt, but not a 'wonderflop'. That Nico is mentioned in this is pretty amazing. He helped us progress up the divisions and the club routinely bought new, more prestigious alternatives (suggesting he lacked something) yet he knuckled down, worked hard and always won his place back. Must have played over 200 games all told & on a freebie. Some flop.

In the Sky-era, which I understood to be the original basis of this, most have been mentioned already.

I never quite believed that Jardel would come off (his problems surrounded his astonishingly gorgeous wife buggering off & him having a brakedown following that. Drugs, no-training, overeating etc., etc. all took there toll.. I was more amazed that he had a wife, given that he ran like a mincer at Mardi Gras). The so-called free cost a fortune. But a wonder-flop ? ... again, not really.
Akin Bullent, if only for the hype surrounding getting him. Went on to play half a game, get sent off v Bury, sent off in a couple of reserve games, get injured and threaten a player (can’t recall who) with a knife after training at Euxton.

Holdsworth was never the free-flowing forward we hoped he’d be. A bit of a character of course, but the semi-final miss at Wembley takes some getting over. But again, a disappointment, but ‘wonderflop’ ? Not sure of that.

Elmander would certainly have been in there until this season ... which is only 6 matches in. So the jury is out on him ... though till now there’d have been no need for a jury, he’d have been ‘guilty as charged’.

Shittu ? Massively overpaid for him, and over-waged as well. But bought as a reserve & performed as a reserve ... & a poorly performing one at that.

So really I’m struggling to think of someone who really fits the bill.

On the longer game however, the aforementioned Terry Wharton gets there, but as said by others, his real crime was being ordinary and overpriced when we were spending the Frannie Lee money on him. If my memory is working we got about £90k for Lee & spent £60k on Wharton from Wolves& £30k on Gareth Williams the ‘is he, isn’t he a Welshman’ from Cardiff City (he wasn’t, btw).They proved to be OK, but hardly astonishing players & the two together couldn’t have filled one of Lee’s boots.

At the same period we had to replace Eddie Hopkinson ... we got John Boswell from Port Vale. Had to replace Wyn Davies ... & got John Manning from Norwich. In each case we replaced high quality players with lower quality & our downward slide was assured.

My vote, overall, along with others, goes to Len Cantello. At that time we had Peter Reid in midfield. We bought Neil McNab from Spurs as they’d got Ardiles & Villa & so two of the midfield that had got them promoted with ourselves were displaced. We swooped and signed McNab ... as opposed to Hoddle. ..... answers on a postcard please.

We had the option of signing Gary Owen from Citeh. The guy BEGGED to stay in the North-West. But we chose Cantello as he had greater experience. He was a class act & had helped WBA to be a very solid outfit. He joined us for a club record fee .... WBA went on to use some of that money to buy .......... Gary Owen !!

Cantello barely played a decent game for us, tho when I looked I see he appeared 90 time in 3 seasons. I’d love to know his issues, but whether it was head, heart or ability he was a waste of a place & of money. He drifted to Hereford & then Bury, then to the USA.
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Post by Hoboh » Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:06 pm

bobo the clown wrote:Worst players ... and Biggest Disappointments are different things.

We can hardly call Henry Mowbray a huge flop as he came. with Peter Nicholson, on a free when we took Jimmy Armfield on as manager.

HM was crap, of that there's little doubt, but not a 'wonderflop'. That Nico is mentioned in this is pretty amazing. He helped us progress up the divisions and the club routinely bought new, more prestigious alternatives (suggesting he lacked something) yet he knuckled down, worked hard and always won his place back. Must have played over 200 games all told & on a freebie. Some flop.

In the Sky-era, which I understood to be the original basis of this, most have been mentioned already.

I never quite believed that Jardel would come off (his problems surrounded his astonishingly gorgeous wife buggering off & him having a brakedown following that. Drugs, no-training, overeating etc., etc. all took there toll.. I was more amazed that he had a wife, given that he ran like a mincer at Mardi Gras). The so-called free cost a fortune. But a wonder-flop ? ... again, not really.
Akin Bullent, if only for the hype surrounding getting him. Went on to play half a game, get sent off v Bury, sent off in a couple of reserve games, get injured and threaten a player (can’t recall who) with a knife after training at Euxton.

Holdsworth was never the free-flowing forward we hoped he’d be. A bit of a character of course, but the semi-final miss at Wembley takes some getting over. But again, a disappointment, but ‘wonderflop’ ? Not sure of that.

Elmander would certainly have been in there until this season ... which is only 6 matches in. So the jury is out on him ... though till now there’d have been no need for a jury, he’d have been ‘guilty as charged’.

Shittu ? Massively overpaid for him, and over-waged as well. But bought as a reserve & performed as a reserve ... & a poorly performing one at that.

So really I’m struggling to think of someone who really fits the bill.

On the longer game however, the aforementioned Terry Wharton gets there, but as said by others, his real crime was being ordinary and overpriced when we were spending the Frannie Lee money on him. If my memory is working we got about £90k for Lee & spent £60k on Wharton from Wolves& £30k on Gareth Williams the ‘is he, isn’t he a Welshman’ from Cardiff City (he wasn’t, btw).They proved to be OK, but hardly astonishing players & the two together couldn’t have filled one of Lee’s boots.

At the same period we had to replace Eddie Hopkinson ... we got John Boswell from Port Vale. Had to replace Wyn Davies ... & got John Manning from Norwich. In each case we replaced high quality players with lower quality & our downward slide was assured.

My vote, overall, along with others, goes to Len Cantello. At that time we had Peter Reid in midfield. We bought Neil McNab from Spurs as they’d got Ardiles & Villa & so two of the midfield that had got them promoted with ourselves were displaced. We swooped and signed McNab ... as opposed to Hoddle. ..... answers on a postcard please.

We had the option of signing Gary Owen from Citeh. The guy BEGGED to stay in the North-West. But we chose Cantello as he had greater experience. He was a class act & had helped WBA to be a very solid outfit. He joined us for a club record fee .... WBA went on to use some of that money to buy .......... Gary Owen !!

Cantello barely played a decent game for us, tho when I looked I see he appeared 90 time in 3 seasons. I’d love to know his issues, but whether it was head, heart or ability he was a waste of a place & of money. He drifted to Hereford & then Bury, then to the USA.
Wash yer mouth out!!! Gareth Williams was a God!! Terry Wharton had one of the hardest shots I've ever seen on a player............unfortunatly most landed on the roof of the Leverend :mrgreen:

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Post by TKIZ! » Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:22 pm

bw@bw wrote:
William the White wrote:

Who was the bigger stump - Brian Pilkington or Gordon Taylor?
no contest

Pilkington

Good player in a top team (Burnley 1960)

Useless elsewhere
My dad mentions this guy. Then promptly swears under his breath. That's usually not a good sign
Pfffft.

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Post by Il Pirate » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:55 am

but the semi-final miss at Wembley takes some getting over


You bast*rd Bobo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You've got me back big style.............................I'd almost, almost, got over it, erased it from memory, with help of psychoanalysis, drugs and electro convulsive therapy treatment. But now!!! Oh the nightmares begin again...................

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Post by Bruce Rioja » Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:00 am

bobo the clown wrote:Holdsworth was never the free-flowing forward we hoped he’d be. A bit of a character of course, but the semi-final miss at Wembley takes some getting over.
Not at all.

TOP-TIP TIME

Simply - Grind open your skull with an angle grinder, thus creating a flip-top head, and simply remove said memory from one's brain by spooning it out.

It's a feck site easier than having to live with it, that's for sure.
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Post by Il Pirate » Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:31 am

Bruce Rioja wrote:
bobo the clown wrote:Holdsworth was never the free-flowing forward we hoped he’d be. A bit of a character of course, but the semi-final miss at Wembley takes some getting over.
Not at all.

TOP-TIP TIME

Simply - Grind open your skull with an angle grinder, thus creating a flip-top head, and simply remove said memory from one's brain by spooning it out.

It's a feck site easier than having to live with it, that's for sure.
Tried the above; bent best spoon.............................Also Bruce, wrote about Kloot on 'where tonight thread'. Should have included that the guest trumpet player was excellent, and the extra guitarist, who I'd not seen before. Certainly filled the sound out tho'. And how can he drink lemsip and cherry vodka?

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Post by Zulus Thousand of em » Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:51 am

Anybody old enough to remember Arthur Marsh? :shock:
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Post by Bruce Rioja » Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:53 am

Il Pirate wrote:
Bruce Rioja wrote:
bobo the clown wrote:Holdsworth was never the free-flowing forward we hoped he’d be. A bit of a character of course, but the semi-final miss at Wembley takes some getting over.
Not at all.

TOP-TIP TIME

Simply - Grind open your skull with an angle grinder, thus creating a flip-top head, and simply remove said memory from one's brain by spooning it out.

It's a feck site easier than having to live with it, that's for sure.
Tried the above; bent best spoon.............................Also Bruce, wrote about Kloot on 'where tonight thread'. Should have included that the guest trumpet player was excellent, and the extra guitarist, who I'd not seen before. Certainly filled the sound out tho'. And how can he drink lemsip and cherry vodka?
Aye, read your report thanks, fella. Sounds like they're on top form. Such a shame that your evening didn't go quite to plan. The new album is absolutely superb, isn't it?

Wrong thread, I know. Sorry all - as you were.
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Post by bobo the clown » Tue Sep 28, 2010 11:14 am

Il Pirate wrote:but the semi-final miss at Wembley takes some getting over


You bast*rd Bobo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You've got me back big style.............................I'd almost, almost, got over it, erased it from memory, with help of psychoanalysis, drugs and electro convulsive therapy treatment. But now!!! Oh the nightmares begin again...................
... sorry !
Not advocating mass-murder as an entirely positive experience, of course, but it had its moments.
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Post by bobo the clown » Tue Sep 28, 2010 11:15 am

Zulus Thousand of em wrote:Anybody old enough to remember Arthur Marsh? :shock:
Not even Arthur Marsh remember's Arthur Marsh !!

http://www.justcatnaps.com/collection/teamsbolton.html

Image
Bolton Wanderers 1970-71
Left to right:
Back row: Ron Phillips, Alan Boswell, John Ritson, Peter Clarke, John Hulme, Paul Jones..
Middle row: Eddie Hopkinson (Trainer), Charlie Hurley, Roy Greaves, Gareth Williams, Don McAllister, Paul Hallows, Arthur Marsh, John Manning, Jim Conway (Coach).

Front row: Warwick Rimmer, John Byrom, Paul Fletcher, Garry Jones, Jimmy Meadows (Team Manager), Jim Redfern, Ian Seddon, Chris Duffy, Roger Hunt.

Picture by from 'Football League Review' 1970-71, issue 538.

RED !!! Fecking RED ?!?!
Not advocating mass-murder as an entirely positive experience, of course, but it had its moments.
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Post by Lord Kangana » Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:42 pm

I never knew Charley Hurley had ever played for the Wanderers.
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Post by Mar » Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:00 pm

Wonderflop...

Only one is springing to mind and to me its gotta be Florent Laville.


He was wonderful, had a glittering reputation with the whites during his loan move and then once we signed him permanently he flopped. Granted it was more due to the horrendous knee injury but still its a case of great player signed for about £2.5m for only four games.

Once the signing was made permanent we shipped 10 goals in the first three games (4-0 to Man Utd (A), 2-2 Blackburn (H) and 4-0 to Pompey), a clean sheet later at Charlton and a dodgy knee injury 28 minutes into the next match against Middlesbrough (2-0 win) and that was that.


The what-if scenarios of that season really have to make you think. We got to the League Cup Final with that team and finished just outside of the European places. If Florent Laville was playing that season, as opposed to Thome we might have won the final or finished in Europe. We might also have been relegated. Who knows. I'd've put money on him being a first choice CB that season.

(We also tried getting Bergsson out of retirement after the knee injury but it wasn't to be. Bergsson himself admitted he'd made a mistake after watching Bolton playing in the League Cup Final, sadly I doubt we'd've made it to the League Cup final that season if Bergsson was playing but it would've been great to have him as an option on the subs bench).

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Post by Lord Kangana » Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:31 pm

Did we really pay £2.5m for him?
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Post by General Mannerheim » Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:38 pm

is that picture taken on a squash court?

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Post by CAPSLOCK » Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:41 pm

I think its the gym behind the Burnden Stand
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Post by Zulus Thousand of em » Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:22 pm

bobo the clown wrote:
Zulus Thousand of em wrote:Anybody old enough to remember Arthur Marsh? :shock:
Not even Arthur Marsh remember's Arthur Marsh !!

http://www.justcatnaps.com/collection/teamsbolton.html

Image
Bolton Wanderers 1970-71
Left to right:
Back row: Ron Phillips, Alan Boswell, John Ritson, Peter Clarke, John Hulme, Paul Jones..
Middle row: Eddie Hopkinson (Trainer), Charlie Hurley, Roy Greaves, Gareth Williams, Don McAllister, Paul Hallows, Arthur Marsh, John Manning, Jim Conway (Coach).

Front row: Warwick Rimmer, John Byrom, Paul Fletcher, Garry Jones, Jimmy Meadows (Team Manager), Jim Redfern, Ian Seddon, Chris Duffy, Roger Hunt.

Picture by from 'Football League Review' 1970-71, issue 538.

RED !!! Fecking RED ?!?!
Bloody hell - the memories!! Talk about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly! :D
God's country! God's county!
God's town! God's team!!
How can we fail?

COME ON YOU WHITES!!

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