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Most overrated players we signed that never became good


WhiskeyJar
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3 hours ago, Jordy Brouwer said:

There was more hype around Le Tallec - "Le Talent" some people around here called him as I recall. However it was actually Sinama Pongolle or "stinky" as I heard him described who actually showed far more on the pitch. Sinama Pongolle was actually a handful and surprisingly physical for a small player. Neither were great but if either could have gone on to do more it was probably him. 

Whenever I think of Pongo, I think that without his sub appearance against Olympiakos there would be no Istanbul and without his sub appearance against Luton there would be no Gerrard Cup Final. 

 

He and Le Tallec were touted as massive stars of the future. Pongo achieved the status of decent support act; Le Tallec was never even that good. 

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I think Robbie Keane was a good player but we signed him about 5 years late! The biggest problem was that Rafa didn't want to sign him, and certainly didn't want to play him! Keane was never going to turn us down, but in hindsight he should have recognized that he wasn't wanted and stayed at Spurs!

 

He scored too many goals to be a bad player!

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On 11/08/2020 at 17:46, TheDrowningMan said:


I’ve long harboured the suspicion that Houllier was serving up a prime cut of horseshit with his insistence that Diouf was always on the cards that summer. I don’t recall any sort of link prior to the World Cup and, to be quite honest, nothing about him as a player suggested he was what that team needed in order to kick-on.

Now I’m always ready to knock Houllier, as aside from him moving the club forward and giving us that 2001 season, I think he’s a tit, but I do remember watching the first Senegal game and looking out for Diouf as we were chasing him.

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7 minutes ago, cloggypop said:

He should have but didn't. Drenthe went right through him. 

Might be a different thing I’m thinking of - agger boots the ball off his head after he was fouled and then there is a melee and Gerrard gives him a dig. Wait there, I’ll try and find it...

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4 minutes ago, Istvan Kuntstain said:

Don't know if it was Drenthe but remember this

 

gerrardpunch.JPG

That’s it. Just found it - was a mixture of both. Drenthe goes through gerrard, then the bit with agger, then Stevie digs that lad in the photo, Drenthe comes over and Stevie swings for him too, but misses.

 

 

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Yeah, Drenthe went through him and it ended up in a bit of a mass scuffle with a few yellows given out. He didn't smack Drenthe who deserved it to be fair. I was in De Kuip, in the Feyenoord fans, and the atmosphere for a pre season mini tournament was boss. First time Dirk had been back and he got cheers and songs all match. Babel got booed and jeered throughout for being ex Ajax. 

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3 minutes ago, cloggypop said:

Yeah, Drenthe went through him and it ended up in a bit of a mass scuffle with a few yellows given out. He didn't smack Drenthe who deserved it to be fair. I was in De Kuip, in the Feyenoord fans, and the atmosphere for a pre season mini tournament was boss. First time Dirk had been back and he got cheers and songs all match. Babel got booed and jeered throughout for being ex Ajax. 

Must have been great that mate. I remember being in the Park End in the late 90s and the only time I could shout was when Robbie was scrapping with Unsworth - was electric. Not sure why that one was any different as I’ve sat all over Goodson with my blue dad and never had issues for the derby, but that one was strange. Hardly any reds showing around me at all.

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1 hour ago, belarus said:

The standout in that clip for me is how good Heskey was when he had “it”. What happened to him? He was an animal that 2001 season.

It's a long story beginning with Dave wrecking H*sk*y's confidence and ending with someone on YNWA threatening to run Dave over. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/08/2020 at 17:46, TheDrowningMan said:


I’ve long harboured the suspicion that Houllier was serving up a prime cut of horseshit with his insistence that Diouf was always on the cards that summer. I don’t recall any sort of link prior to the World Cup and, to be quite honest, nothing about him as a player suggested he was what that team needed in order to kick-on.

Diao was announced before the WC, and Diouf said he was joining him after the France opener when he was named man of the match and being interviewed for French television.

 

The deal was definitely agreed prior to the WC.

 

He was pretty damn good in that game too.

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32 minutes ago, m0e said:

Diao was announced before the WC, and Diouf said he was joining him after the France opener when he was named man of the match and being interviewed for French television.

 

The deal was definitely agreed prior to the WC.

 

He was pretty damn good in that game too.

This, the links started after the ACON

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I actually feel sorry for some of these players who were never that good and were given foolish hype - Biscan, Cheyrou, Pongolle. The obvious disasters would be Cisse and Carroll. What I never understood about signing Carroll was that we had already signed Suarez. Did we ever envisage them playing together? What was the plan to use him?

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10 minutes ago, RoyHodgeGone said:

I actually feel sorry for some of these players who were never that good and were given foolish hype - Biscan, Cheyrou, Pongolle. The obvious disasters would be Cisse and Carroll. What I never understood about signing Carroll was that we had already signed Suarez. Did we ever envisage them playing together? What was the plan to use him?

Carroll seemed like a panic buy from FSG (who'd not long taken over). After Torres going, signing the current flavour of the month was more about PR than anything else- they didn't want to be seen as asset strippers like Hicks and Gillett.

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35 minutes ago, RoyHodgeGone said:

I actually feel sorry for some of these players who were never that good and were given foolish hype - Biscan, Cheyrou, Pongolle. The obvious disasters would be Cisse and Carroll. What I never understood about signing Carroll was that we had already signed Suarez. Did we ever envisage them playing together? What was the plan to use him?

It was an insane amount of money to waste on him. Particularly as we could have bought Aguero for the same amount or even Falcao who was brilliant when he signed for Atletico Madrid from Porto. 

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1 hour ago, Arnaud said:

Wasn’t Carrol’ signing a Dalglish wish ?

I can’t speak for that, but he definitely had a soft spot for having a big lad or two up front after he left us in 91.

 

Apart from the fact that he was an unproven player, who turned up to lack the fitness and dedication to justify his fee, Carroll’s issue was that we had to player a certain way to get the best out of him. He wasn’t actually a bad player, and there have been plenty of managers still willing to take a punt on him since. Compare him with, say, Charlie Adam, who was crap for us and nobody was really fussed about once he flopped at Anfield. 

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