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Players that never lived up to the promise

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Zatman Grand Master

Zatman

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11 hours ago, Michael118 said:

I rated Laursen highly. I would have loved to have seen Laursen and Vlaar paired together. For me, Vlaar was seriously underrated. If he was around during the MON era he would be remembered as a different player. Clark and Okore also ridiculously underrated and neither have come close yet to reaching their full potential.

29 and 26 years old, they arent going anywhere in the careers

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Michael118 Newbie

Michael118

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16 hours ago, tomav84 said:

mellberg is a strange choice indeed...as is abraham?? not just goal scoring, ability to hold the ball up and roll defenders to create chances for himself...the guy is class.

besides, this is players not lived up to their potential thread, not overrated thread...not sure how much 'potential' the likes of jenas and whelan had when they came to us. and think it's rather unfair to say jack hasnt lived up to his potential when he's still only 23

I based it relative to their reputations. Mellberg has an overwhelmingly positive reputation among fans but I was never overly impressed when I watched him play. 

Jenas and Whelan both came over with reputations but I never rated either based on what I saw of them at their previous clubs. 

Abraham and Grealish - both lack some fundamental qualities I look for in players who feature in such key roles. I struggle seeing either forming part of the core of a successful team at Premier League level. That's not to say they won't go on to have successful careers at 'big clubs', but they're anything but safe bets and not players I would have invested heavily in.

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sheepyvillian Grand Master

sheepyvillian

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15 hours ago, baldivisvilla said:

Going back a bit Tommy Craig. One of Sir Ron's few duff signings.

I was going to mention him but then I remembered a great free-kick he scored .

Andy Blair never quite lived up to his potential, I'm sure he was signed by Saunders.

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Michael118 Newbie

Michael118

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20 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

I disagree with all of those. 

Delph, regardless of how he left us, is now playing pretty regularly for a team winning the league (easily) and playing in the CL.

Mellberg, came here when Aston Villa weren't great to be honest - we were on a steady decline, leading up to the end of Ellis's reign as chairman, we saw little investment, and Mellberg was one of the first names on the team sheet, alongside Barry and Angel.

Stewart Downing - I sort of get this, but he was at his best for us, and he would get assists and goals.  Defensively, he's always been poor, because he's not brave.  But him one side, Young the other is as exciting winger partnership I've seen down the Villa. 

James Chester - He could easily play PL.  Not a CL player, but he's dependable most of the time, and in his 100-odd appearances for us, he's only really played poorly in about 10 games.  He grabs a few key goals too, he has 4 already this season.  

Jack Grealish - I find it hard to fathom how anyone can say he's overrated, unless they are talking about the money he might be worth - but that's today's market unfortunately.  He's a good player now, and will become a great player soon.  

Tammy - hasn't cut it in the PL in a poor Swansea team, but you don't get any better than him in the Championship - silly to say he's overrated. 

 

I also don't think Vassell, Davies, Veretout, Gestede, Jenas, Lansbury, Whelan, Adomah or Whelan have been "overrated" by anyone either :lol:  

I'll give you Moore and maybe Ayew though.  

Still, 2 out of 17 names is alright :lol: 

Delph for me was a weak link in Lambert's teams. Anything but solid, wasn't overly composed or great in possession, wasn't great offensively or defensively, frequently gave away possession cheaply, was captain but hardly displayed any 'captain-like' qualities.

Never rated Stewart Downing. 

James Chester - Not the worst CB I've seen but he's not Premier League quality. Lacks size and presence for a CB and doesn't make up for it enough in other areas. Pulis used him as a RB at West Brom and I can see why. 

Jack Grealish - Not a fan of his mentality or style of play to be honest. I can't think of a player less suitable for 'building a team around'. The end product of the club's poor decision making and misplaced investment of recent times. Hopefully something can be salvaged from it but I'm not holding my breath. When you compare the way I view him to the hype surrounding him I have no other choice but to include him in the list.

Abraham - If he "hasn't cut it in the Premier League for a poor Swansea team", why are there fans calling for us to sign him permanently even if it costs £100m?

The rest are still rated by some and if not were rated reasonably highly when they joined or at some point.

 

Edited by Michael118
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mikeyp102 Grand Master

mikeyp102

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6 hours ago, Michael118 said:

I based it relative to their reputations. Mellberg has an overwhelmingly positive reputation among fans but I was never overly impressed when I watched him play. 

You can’t have seen him play then.

How can you not rate Mellberg but rate Bacuna and Kodak? 

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Stevo985 Grand Master

Stevo985

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13 hours ago, Junxs said:

Fabian Delph also mentioned by a couple of people, they need to give their heads a wobble. It's no surprise we got relegated as soon as he left - was holding us together.

He's one of those players who, because he left us the way he did, people like to pretend he wasn't very good.

He was excellent for us.

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Vive_La_Villa Grand Master

Vive_La_Villa

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On 05/12/2018 at 20:13, VillaChris said:

Cooke was at Walsall for a bit before fading into non league. Danny Jackman played for a few clubs in league 1 (Gillingham and Stockport) so made a decent enough career. No idea on the first two. Michael Standing became Gareth Barry's agent in the end.

Used to play at local park with Cooke as a kid. I always thought I was just as good.

Just didn’t have the same support as others at that age.  

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Vive_La_Villa Grand Master

Vive_La_Villa

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25 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

He's one of those players who, because he left us the way he did, people like to pretend he wasn't very good.

He was excellent for us.

He was young when we signed him so not ready. Then bad injury problems. When he was finally fit the team had transformed from the one he has signed for. He was surrounded by shit. 

Suprised we managed to keep him as long as we did to be honest. I think he wasted a few of his footballing years with us and was right to jump ship. The owners had given up on the club.  

It was the manner that he did it that was poor. 

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briny_ear Veteran

briny_ear

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Savo Milošević?

I’m always surprised at how many goals he actually scored for Villa (about 1 every 3 games I think) but, as Brian Little’s big international signing, somehow he never became the spearhead for our attack he should have been. Too much of a stop-start player.

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Zatman Grand Master

Zatman

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10 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Savo Milošević?

I’m always surprised at how many goals he actually scored for Villa (about 1 every 3 games I think) but, as Brian Little’s big international signing, somehow he never became the spearhead for our attack he should have been. Too much of a stop-start player.

People forget he was so young when he joined Villa especially in a time when probably harder to adapt to English game and culture

 

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NurembergVillan Grand Master

NurembergVillan

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On 05/12/2018 at 09:41, Michael118 said:

Players I rated who never got the best out of themselves while with us: Crouch, Davis, McCann, Sorenson, Cahill, Angel, Solano, Baros, Warnock, Makoun, Lichaj, Daniel Johnson, Albrighton, Guzan, Vlaar, Okore, Clark, Gil, Kozak, Westwood, Lowton, Sylla, Gueye, Traore, Amavi, Bacuna, Cissokho, Gabby.

 

It's a big list.

I've bolded the players who went on to have a stellar career after leaving us.

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rodders0223 Grand Master

rodders0223

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1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

He's one of those players who, because he left us the way he did, people like to pretend he wasn't very good.

He was excellent for us.

A lot of waiting, a lot of rubbish teams played in, a lot of injuries and a lot of thinking it will never happen for him.

Then he just kicked on. Would have been good to see him play in a good Villa team built around him (not just playing in a shit Villa side and being a utility man in a great City side)

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MrDuck Newbie

MrDuck

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32 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Savo Milošević?

I’m always surprised at how many goals he actually scored for Villa (about 1 every 3 games I think) but, as Brian Little’s big international signing, somehow he never became the spearhead for our attack he should have been. Too much of a stop-start player.

So much talent, so hot and cold. That goal against Leeds in the cup final was sweet 🤩

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