Midfielders you never really liked?

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I can't believe nobody has mentioned Ian Hamilton!! Fucking hell he was shite. My heart used to sink when his name was on the team sheet. Most players have the odd good game or even good spell, not Hamilton, complete shite.
 
Another vote for Tonge.

Interesting fact... He was the one who taught Callum Robinson the art of pulling a face like you're really trying to get to the ball but running slow enough that you don't have to get involved in a physical tackle.

Some people consider it "closing down" an opponent. It isn't, it's fear.
 
CrookesBlade said:
Mikel Leighterwood - Old “legs of wood”. A championship level midfield enforcer signed to play in a bank of 5 to sneak the odd point away from home in the Prem.
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We tended to play 4141 that season with Legs of Wood sitting in front of the back 4 and Hulse up top on his own.

I actually really like it as a formation TBH as it should switch to 433 when attacking and then revert back to 4141 when defending.

Unfortunately Warnock didn't have the knowledge or players to play it properly so ended up being a defensive borefest most of the time.
 
Flatulent_Bob said:
Michael Tonge. Never understood the fuss and thought he was wildly inconsistent and only played for 10-15mins when he fancied it, yet fans seemed to think he was the second coming of Whitehouse.
Plus he ran like his knee caps had been put on backwards.
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I sort of agree and disagree with this. When he 1st burst on the scene in the triple assault season he was incredible and looked like the ball was glued to his feet when he had it. He was far from inconsistent that season and looked like he would turn out to be an absolute superstar.

Unfortunately though he turned out to be a one season wonder and became everything you've described him as and I still can't quite believe Warnock caved in when he demanded to play as a centre mid.
 
Probably get slated for this, but I always thought Tonge was overrated, obviously had talent but just didn't cut it for me, and he ran funny, however tin hat on as I expect to be in a very small minority


And I'm an overrated poster for not reading back 2 fucking messages and seeing he had already been mentioned
 
dazzlingblade said:
Probably get slated for this, but I always thought Tonge was overrated, obviously had talent but just didn't cut it for me, and he ran funny, however tin hat on as I expect to be in a very small minority


And I'm an overrated poster for not reading back 2 fucking messages and seeing he had already been mentioned
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Tonge peaked too soon. Never recaptured the 02/03 form. He was very effective in the promotion season but was the ultimate confidence player. Had the ability to win games on his own but never really showed it. Needed to be in a good team to stand out.
 
I think someone mentioned Ray Lewington. Lewington's problem (not saying he was any good) was due to the fact we were chasing his team mate Ray Houghton (supposedly). Typically & unsurprisingly £150 000 was too much for us so we spent £45 000 on the 'lesser unknown' Ray.
The Blades board/manager sold it as "we believe we got the better player for less".....
Result: Houghton becomes a Liverpool legend & Lewington, did f##k all for us or anybody& contributed to him being described as crap.

A down sized Maradonna/Sabella scenario & just one of the many examples of an unambitious board.
 
Cerberus Blade said:
Terry Paine - Southampton for example. Billy Bonds - West Ham United. Franny Lee - Man City. Alan Woodward - Sheffield United. Perennial performers, mostly for the same club throughout their careers.
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Now Bert isn't wanting to come all Silent Blade with you, but Francis Lee played just over half his games with Bolton and Derby.
 
Bert said:
Now Bert isn't wanting to come all Silent Blade with you, but Francis Lee played just over half his games with Bolton and Derby.
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That's true. I remember him finishing his career at Derby. Although I can't remember him playing at Bolton. I do remember him being a perennial figure for Man City though, for many years, from late 60's to mid 70's.

This is one of the problems of posting things based on impressions or memories. They are sometimes not totally accurate. Although I imagine that I was pretty near the mark with most of the others, so from a reader's perspective, one has to decide whether to accept what is posted, in the general spirit of what is intended, or to debate it.

And from a poster's perspective, one has to decide whether to reference check everything before posting it, or just to go with what feels right and springs from memory.

I am grateful to Bert for pointing this out in a polite and helpful way.

Of course, I am conscious there are people out there that excel and delight themselves by finding some minor point to try and unravel and discredit the entire post. I do not include Bert in that category. And to those people I say, get a life you sad twats!

Excuse my French! ;)
 

haich1889 said:
Really??

I thought KMac was brilliant the season under Danny Wilson. Home & away that season, the football which flowed through him, was excellent.
When he got injured & missed the play off final it was as big a miss as Ched in my opinion.
I thought he was superb & would have been a legend if he hadn't jumped ship as he did.
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If anyone couldn't see what a good footballer Kevin McDonald was I think they don't understand the game of football tbh. He was capable of running the show and pulling all the strings from midfield. I really liked him and thought he was a big miss for us too.

There were some dissenters. Radio Sheffield ran an article about KMcD in which they'd questioned his "aggression", suggesting he could perhaps be better at tackling and winning the ball. This quickly became a stick with which to beat him, for some fans. But what those fans fail to acknowledge is that you are not going to get all those qualities in one player - very rare. Some players are aggressive tacklers and ball winners, some are able to dictate the pace of the game and creatively link play. KMcD was the latter.

Did he go missing on occasions? Yes, I think he probably did. Did he have a mercenary attitude? Yes, I think he probably did, again. But was he an excellent footballer who made a huge contribution to the club - Yes definitely.
 
Cerberus Blade said:
If anyone couldn't see what a good footballer Kevin McDonald was I think they don't understand the game of football tbh. He was capable of running the show and pulling all the strings from midfield. I really liked him and thought he was a big miss for us too.

There were some dissenters. Radio Sheffield ran an article about KMcD in which they'd questioned his "aggression", suggesting he could perhaps be better at tackling and winning the ball. This quickly became a stick with which to beat him, for some fans. But what those fans fail to acknowledge is that you are not going to get all those qualities in one player - very rare. Some players are aggressive tacklers and ball winners, some are able to dictate the pace of the game and creatively link play. KMcD was the latter.

Did he go missing on occasions? Yes, I think he probably did. Did he have a mercenary attitude? Yes, I think he probably did, again. But was he an excellent footballer who made a huge contribution to the club - Yes definitely.
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Agree with that - a very talented player and we missed him massively when he buggered off to Wolves.

But point of the thread (as you know, you made it ;) ) is midfielders you never liked and on that score I agree with PeterNdlovu081 - never liked K-Mac, seemed to ooze not giving a shit.

I also found his hair irritating but that is admittedly pretty irrational and not a great reason for disliking him...
BC09C27B-F9DB-4CB8-9F36-034F90C18B51.jpeg
 
Teddy said:
Agree with that - a very talented player and we missed him massively when he buggered off to Wolves.

But point of the thread (as you know, you made it ;) ) is midfielders you never liked and on that score I agree with PeterNdlovu081 - never liked K-Mac, seemed to ooze not giving a shit.

I also found his hair irritating but that is admittedly pretty irrational and not a great reason for disliking him...
View attachment 89191
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I think you've explained that very well mate - and this qualifies for "midfielders you never really liked". Good example!
 
I can’t believe it. Over 100 posts and no one has mentioned John Gannon!

Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. He was certainly a marmite type player. The number of times you’d hear him referred to under a different name at the start - Bloody John Gannon!

He had a bit of skill about him but my abiding memory is him missing a penalty at the Bramall Lane end. He skied it. I think it was against Southampton.
 
John Gannon
I just never got what brought to the team, he just seemed to treat the ball like a hot potato. He never looked composed on the ball just used to get rid of it quickly with flick ons more often than not to opposition players.
 
Kuwaiti_blade said:
Michael Twiss
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I agree with that one. Yes he was billed as being potentially something special because he'd come from Man U. I remember The Star referring to him as, "The Twiss Kid" - he was more like "The Milky Bar Kid" to me. Another ineffectual player. Facts are though, it's tough to make it in the game at professional level. It seems that Twiss spent most of the rest of his career bouncing around the non-leagues, although he had a long spell at Morecambe who reached League status, before ending his career in non-league.
 
Broomhall Blade said:
John Gannon
I just never got what brought to the team, he just seemed to treat the ball like a hot potato. He never looked composed on the ball just used to get rid of it quickly with flick ons more often than not to opposition players.
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Watch the season review clips from 89-92 and see how many goals he set up or was majorly involved in.
It was his pass that sent Bryson away after the two pigs collided together and Dane knocked in the rebound in.
 
Ladies and gentlemen of a certain age, I give you......
Steve f'kin Ludlam
He made Dennis Longhorn look like Gazza.
 
Sithblade said:
Watch the season review clips from 89-92 and see how many goals he set up or was majorly involved in.
It was his pass that sent Bryson away after the two pigs collided together and Dane knocked in the rebound in.
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Go to Davison day. Gathers the ball from throw in, rh side, looks up and floats ball to Davo who nods past England's no1.

Probably all wrong that. Easily proved/disproven.
 
haich1889 said:
Quinny was another excellent player for us. Always wanted the ball & not afraid to make a mistake. Think his willingness to try something different & maybe make a mistake or 2 was why he got stick from some parts (the same parts that slagged Couttsy when he was stuck out on the right).

Thought Quinny, Williamson & KMac were superb that 1st Yr under Wilson.
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Stephen Quinn was a case of "you don't know what you've got til it's gone" with a lot of fans. I always said he did one good thing for every bad thing, tidy little player who always put effort in.
 
YorkBlade said:
100% agree with this, I remember Alan Brazil saying on co-comms 'The one thing lacking in Patterson's game...goals' the ONE thing?!?
Also Ian Hamilton (the second one) was awful and (tin hat time) I didn't rate Nick Montgomery.
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Monty? 399 games for us under multiple managers. Had his faults but had plenty of qualities which he shown on innumerable occasions IMHO.
 
Cerberus Blade said:
If anyone couldn't see what a good footballer Kevin McDonald was I think they don't understand the game of football tbh. He was capable of running the show and pulling all the strings from midfield. I really liked him and thought he was a big miss for us too.

There were some dissenters. Radio Sheffield ran an article about KMcD in which they'd questioned his "aggression", suggesting he could perhaps be better at tackling and winning the ball. This quickly became a stick with which to beat him, for some fans. But what those fans fail to acknowledge is that you are not going to get all those qualities in one player - very rare. Some players are aggressive tacklers and ball winners, some are able to dictate the pace of the game and creatively link play. KMcD was the latter.

Did he go missing on occasions? Yes, I think he probably did. Did he have a mercenary attitude? Yes, I think he probably did, again. But was he an excellent footballer who made a huge contribution to the club - Yes definitely.
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Is this the same Radio Sheffield that used to argue "... every team needs a Nick Montgomery" .....

I went home & away that 1st year in League 1 & I don't remember KMac going missing much at all. As I've already stated in this thread, if he hadn't jumped ship he would have been a legend on a par with Couttsy. When Fulham got promoted, KMac was the senior part of the MacDonald/Norwood midfield.

Bit like those folk that used to say Glenn Hoddle doesn't tackle enough.
In my book Hoddle was a genius (best English player in last 40 yrs very closely followed by Gazza) & should have had far more than his 49 caps.

Anyway, I'm off to have Kevin MacDonald's babies.
 
Sithblade said:
Watch the season review clips from 89-92 and see how many goals he set up or was majorly involved in.
It was his pass that sent Bryson away after the two pigs collided together and Dane knocked in the rebound in.
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Really can't be bothered to look at clips on UTube, I'm sure there will be some clips that make Dean Hammond look good.
Sorry but thats how I remember him, to be fair he did make a fair few appearances for us so maybe it is just me.
He wouldn't make my top 100 Blades midfielders that I have seen anyway.
 

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