Unfulfilled Expectations

[sligoman]

Mark Rossiter should be there too. Moving form Sunderland to Finn Harps is a bit of a come down in fairness. Although to be fair he was released by them cos he was plagued with injuries

[carnstien]

Personally I still think O'Shea, Miller & Reid could come good. Less so Thornton despite all his talent. Healy - who knows?

I can definately see O'Shea and Healy coming good, they both seem to have what it takes in all departments, maybe even an Irish central midfield partnership of the futre there? It would certainly beat Kinsella and Holland!

Stephen Reid in my opinion just doesn't have the talent to play in midfield although I could see him being a someway decent right back. He is an ordinary player and ordinary players generally look more comfortable in corner back positions.

Miller has all the talent in the world but he lacks physical and mental strenght which is why I don't see him making it at international level.

[tetsujin1979]

I can definately see O'Shea and Healy coming good, they both seem to have what it takes in all departments, maybe even an Irish central midfield partnership of the futre there? It would certainly beat Kinsella and Holland!

Stephen Reid in my opinion just doesn't have the talent to play in midfield although I could see him being a someway decent right back. He is an ordinary player and ordinary players generally look more comfortable in corner back positions.

Miller has all the talent in the world but he lacks physical and mental strenght which is why I don't see him making it at international level.

Reid played right full early in his Rovers career and wasn't any great shakes at it. Hughes seems to have settled him on the right side of central midfield and I'd excpect him to still be there at the start of next season.

[Lionel Ritchie]

and Stephen McPhail. Also, perhaps, James O'Connor and Gary Doherty, in the sense that their careers appear to have gone downhill.

desperate pity with McPhail. I remember he was being tipped in the UK press (as opposed to ours) as the most exciting young player to emerge in Britain since Gascoigne.

[ciaran76]

You could add to the list Gareth Farrelly and Jason Gavin - these guy played quite a few times for Permiership clubs, Farrelly even scored the goal that kept Everton up. Somehow neither could hack it in the Championship and ended up in the the eL. What happened? neither player was great but if they were as ordinary as their careers now seem to suggest, why did Everton and 'Boro keep them so long?

The reality I suppose is that few players really make it, so maybe it is more like 'unfulfilled unrealistic expectations'!

Farrelly was very injury prone which didn't help his cause at all.Everton didn't keep him for long at all. I seem to remember him going to Bolton then Wigan i think and now player manager at Bohs.

Jasin Gavin is still playing in Scotland i think.

[pineapple stu]

Jason Gavin is still playing in Scotland i think.

He's with Shamrock Rovers! How'd you miss that?!

Looks like he's heading for Hartlepool next month though.

[Thomo]

Stephen McPhail-ure as i saw him dubbed at least once by the british press

[Eirambler]

Henry McStay was another that I had high hopes for. On trial at Aberdeen at the moment. Hope he wins a contract.

[youngirish]

Others include Mark Kennedy and Phil Babb.

People generally forget there were high hopes for Babb after Paul McGrath made him look good in the 1994 WC but Mc Grath could make Paul Butler look good.

Kennedy was never good enough for the top despite the amount Liverpool paid Millwall for him as a teenager.

They were both good at jumping on cars though.

[monutdfc]

I've always maintained McPahil isn't suited for English football. If he moved to Spain he could be a star, a la Vinny Samways. Both similar players in style.

[sadloserkid]

Mark Rossiter should be there too. Moving form Sunderland to Finn Harps is a bit of a come down in fairness. Although to be fair he was released by them cos he was plagued with injuries

Are both Rossiter brothers at Finn Park now then? Or is (as I suspect) Ian the brother currently playing with Harps? And if so what's happened to Mark (I currently have him on loan in Championship Manager 03/04 as I storm towards the Conference title with the mighty Exeter City (my team is currently reading like a who's who of unfulfilled expectations also including Danny Murphy, Warren Kenna, Sean Devine, Kwame Ampadu, Renier Moor and Andy Myler!)

[CraftyToePoke]

at my local dr. martens league team,stamford town,in the last couple of seasons,i've seen andy turner playing for banbury or burnham (cant remember which),and renier moor lining out for team bath,and niall inman(who i think was part of kerrs side who made the semis of the world youth championships),lining out for grantham town,and hes no longer even at grantham,the last i heard was that he was at eastwood town,a couple of divisions further down.

and none stood out in any way when i saw them,a sure sign that potential doesnt guarantee a thing.