norwaysaint Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 For every Walcott, Bale and Oxlade Chamberlain, there are very very many who seemed like the next big prospect, but ended up either languishing in lower leagues or out of football altogether. Not including players currently on saints books, who were the ones you really thought would be something, but weren't? For me I was certain Leandre Griffit was going to be a huge star. One bad performance against a rampant Arsenal and he was pretty much done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skintsaint Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Griffit never came through the academy I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwaysaint Posted 9 December, 2018 Author Share Posted 9 December, 2018 True, but you know what I mean, I imagine. Young prospects may be a better word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 There was a lad, Jamie White I think. Had a horrible leg break but recovered to score for fun at non-league level for Winchester and Salisbury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyinthesky Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 There was forward by the name of Peters who scored goals for fun in the youth teams. He never made the grade with us and then went to Brentford and onward to obscurity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobysaint Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Always thought Andrei Pereplyotkin “Shevvy” could have achieved more if he had got a work permit while in the academy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheaf Saint Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Who was the young Italian lad who scored shedloads for the reserve team a few years back but never got a chance in the first team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Who was the young Italian lad who scored shedloads for the reserve team a few years back but never got a chance in the first team? Cosimo Sarli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfahaji Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Who was the young Italian lad who scored shedloads for the reserve team a few years back but never got a chance in the first team? Cosimo Sarli? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheaf Saint Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Cosimo Sarli? Yeah that was him. Just had a look at his record on Wiki, and he really didn't go on to great things. Biggest club he ever played for was Nice, where he got 2 goals in 14 appearances. After that, there's not a single club I've ever even heard of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norwaysaint Posted 9 December, 2018 Author Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Matt Mills doesn't really qualify for this as he played quite a few first team matches and even somehow got signed by City, before finding his place in the championship. Didn't realise he now plays in the Indian league, odd place to end up. His brother Joseph "Fish" never really played a bad game for us, but fell by the wayside as we looked to get better players for our rise. He's still only 29, but never really went on to a higher level than he played at with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Kucho Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I remember Jake Sinclair was quoted as being the next Walcott, didn’t really happen for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Lej Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Wasn’t there a young lad of 18 by the name of Mark Paul who was signed in The late 90’s when Dave Jones was boss , and was quoted by one of our Scots to be “The new Michael Owen”. He never made a first team appearance and ended up playing non league football for Kings Lynn less than a year later. Still makes me laugh now, Les Reed would’ve been proud of that statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trousers Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Ryan Seager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Kucho Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Ryan Seager Struggling for game time at 16th places Telstar, a team that would struggle in league 2 and where an average of 2500 people come to watch. Sadly don’t expect Seager to make it at Saints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Wasn’t there a young lad of 18 by the name of Mark Paul who was signed in The late 90’s when Dave Jones was boss , and was quoted by one of our Scots to be “The new Michael Owen”. He never made a first team appearance and ended up playing non league football for Kings Lynn less than a year later. Still makes me laugh now, Les Reed would’ve been proud of that statement. I think we bought him from Kings Lynn as part of a package that included Saints playing a game at 'The Walks'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintwbu Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Often think of the lads who were thrown in and got relegated from League 1 for us. Most were so obviously not ready and can’t help but think it probably didn’t help them in their careers as many have gone on to have pretty mediocre careers at best, which given our academy record is a bit of an anomaly. One I really felt for was Kanye McLaggon who was breaking into the team and doing well at the end of that season but ruptured his achilles, and then the Liebherr’s took over during his injury and we never saw him again. Was in the Welsh leagues last I saw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stknowle Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Often think of the lads who were thrown in and got relegated from League 1 for us. Most were so obviously not ready and can’t help but think it probably didn’t help them in their careers as many have gone on to have pretty mediocre careers at best, which given our academy record is a bit of an anomaly. One I really felt for was Kanye McLaggon who was breaking into the team and doing well at the end of that season but ruptured his achilles, and then the Liebherr’s took over during his injury and we never saw him again. Was in the Welsh leagues last I saw. Scored against Reading IIRC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintwbu Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Scored against Reading IIRC Norwich I think? Midweek evening game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Cosimo Sarli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSAINT Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 There was a lad, Jamie White I think. Had a horrible leg break but recovered to score for fun at non-league level for Winchester and Salisbury. He's the one I thought of immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKD Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 There was a lad, Jamie White I think. Had a horrible leg break but recovered to score for fun at non-league level for Winchester and Salisbury. He’s currently playing in Hampshire league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Tim Sparv was overshadowed by being in the U18's with Lallana, McGoldrick, Dyer, Walcott etc but has gone on to have a decent career. Currently playing for Midtjylland and has a load of caps for Finland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Just shows that we may rate the players watching them in the acadamy but if they dont make it here , they dont make it elsewhere and perhaps the professionals at the club do know a good player when they see one. If the names mentioned went onto stardom perhaps we could point the finger but they didnt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stud mark of doom Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Often think of the lads who were thrown in and got relegated from League 1 for us. Most were so obviously not ready and can’t help but think it probably didn’t help them in their careers as many have gone on to have pretty mediocre careers at best, which given our academy record is a bit of an anomaly. One I really felt for was Kanye McLaggon who was breaking into the team and doing well at the end of that season but ruptured his achilles, and then the Liebherr’s took over during his injury and we never saw him again. Was in the Welsh leagues last I saw. Reminded me of the Reading away game that season. Reading top of the league and unbeaten at home. The youngsters had a great day. One of the best performances I’d seen for years. Won, 2-1 if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinjb Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Tim Sparv was overshadowed by being in the U18's with Lallana, McGoldrick, Dyer, Walcott etc but has gone on to have a decent career. Currently playing for Midtjylland and has a load of caps for Finland. Didn't he score against us in the Europa league for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I remember being told that Steve Neville was a great prospect as a traditional type winger who (as it was described to me) could put in a Terry Paine quality cross. Saw him come on as a sub once, he had a turn of pace but little else. Spent his career at Bristol City, Exeter etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rooney Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 I remember being told that Steve Neville was a great prospect as a traditional type winger who (as it was described to me) could put in a Terry Paine quality cross. Saw him come on as a sub once, he had a turn of pace but little else. Spent his career at Bristol City, Exeter etc. His corners were quite terrible when at the Grecians, so much so we my son and I still call poor corners "Steve Neville" corners at St Mary's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 Tim Sparv was overshadowed by being in the U18's with Lallana, McGoldrick, Dyer, Walcott etc but has gone on to have a decent career. Currently playing for Midtjylland and has a load of caps for Finland. Yep, I thought Sparv would have become a first team regular for us. Never understood why we released him. Going back many years the one player who seemed destined for the top was Paul Masters, captain of the Shearer era youth team and looked to have it all. Now owns a cleaning business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectisSaint Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 Martin Cranie. Played for England at all youth levels, captained the u21s but never really broke into the 1st team, and then suffered with the "management" of Jungle Redknapp and George Burley. Ended up forging a career for himself in lower leagues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfahaji Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 Didn't he score against us in the Europa league for them? Yep, in the game at St Mary's, bit of a long range effort if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miltonaggro Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 I remember being told that Steve Neville was a great prospect as a traditional type winger who (as it was described to me) could put in a Terry Paine quality cross. Saw him come on as a sub once, he had a turn of pace but little else. Spent his career at Bristol City, Exeter etc. Neville a real blast from the past - he’s spent the last 30 years coaching in Oz, still there -https://www.sorrentofc.com.au/steve-neville-technical-director/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 His corners were quite terrible when at the Grecians, so much so we my son and I still call poor corners "Steve Neville" corners at St Mary's. From the early promise of a "Terry Paine" type cross which was high praise, to putting his own name of a p!ss poor corner. Quite a fall from his potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 (edited) Yep, I thought Sparv would have become a first team regular for us. Never understood why we released him. Going back many years the one player who seemed destined for the top was Paul Masters, captain of the Shearer era youth team and looked to have it all. Now owns a cleaning business. I was also going to say Paul Masters. Shearer was the school year above, but in his age group Paul was the outstanding talent despite it including Paul Tisdale, Ncky Banger and Geoff Kenna. Lee McCrmack was another talent in that same youth team having attended Lilleshall. In the year below I always thought Abdul Kamara would make it. I wonder what he's up to the days? Edited 10 December, 2018 by Chez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted 10 December, 2018 Share Posted 10 December, 2018 I was also going to say Paul Masters. Shearer was the school year above, but in his age group Paul was the outstanding talent despite it including Paul Tisdale, Ncky Banger and Geoff Kenna. Lee McCrmack was another talent in that same youth team having attended Lilleshall. In the year below I always thought Abdul Kamara would make it. I wonder what he's up to the days? Some great players there. Abdul was a potential star, such a talented lad. Followed Ray and Rod Wallace to Leeds along with Bob Higgins. Faded after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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