The Best 50 players in the Football League - FourFourTwo

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... as voted for by fans of other clubs.
 
That seagull bit must be a journalist struggling to complete his word content on a player he's never heard of. I bet his nickname is Doney when the formal Matty has been dropped.
 
The clue to Baxters problem is in that summation. Why would you quit the game at 21 years old ? Most people would do anything to play football for a lot less than these guys earn. His heart doesn't seem to be in it and his career has taken an alarming nosedive from on a par with Rooney to benchwarmer in Division 3. He really needs to have a look at himself if he has any ambition ,otherwise his path is on course for non league or an alternative profession ,which if you have a talent is a terrible waste.
 
He definitely needs a kick up the backside, and a reality check.
 
Murphy not in that list?! :confused:

The story I read about Baxter was he turned down another contract with Everton to go in search of first team opportunities. When the phone didn't ring all summer and the season started he found himself watching Soccer Saturday and wondering if he needed to find another career. Good decision? Don't know really, but I wouldn't question his attitude because he made a decision about his future. I think one of his old coaches heard he didn't have a club so set him up with a trial at Oldham.

I don't think it's his ability holding him down in League One, I think it's his consistency. Which is probably true of half our first team.
 
Agree with Punk Blade - Murphy is better than both of them.

Done has been a great signing.
 
Punk Blade said:
Murphy not in that list?! :confused:

The story I read about Baxter was he turned down another contract with Everton to go in search of first team opportunities. When the phone didn't ring all summer and the season started he found himself watching Soccer Saturday and wondering if he needed to find another career. Good decision? Don't know really, but I wouldn't question his attitude because he made a decision about his future. I think one of his old coaches heard he didn't have a club so set him up with a trial at Oldham.

I don't think it's his ability holding him down in League One, I think it's his consistency. Which is probably true of half our first team.
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Agreed, it's just his consistency - which is the same for most talented players in League 1 and the Championship. There probably is very little between them and the Premier League players from a technical perspective - other than being able to do it on a consistent basis and athleticism /fitness.

As for his attitude - I've never really understood that criticism of him. Thought he was one of our best players last year and although he's been hit and miss this year, he's never struck me as not giving his all or having a bad attitude. I think it's just his style that makes people think he doesn't care.

Also he's only 23! It took Michel Brown until he was 25/26 to have this season that really took his career to the next level.

Murphy should definitely be in that list!
 
sitwell said:
The clue to Baxters problem is in that summation. Why would you quit the game at 21 years old ? Most people would do anything to play football for a lot less than these guys earn. His heart doesn't seem to be in it and his career has taken an alarming nosedive from on a par with Rooney to benchwarmer in Division 3. He really needs to have a look at himself if he has any ambition ,otherwise his path is on course for non league or an alternative profession ,which if you have a talent is a terrible waste.
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When was he ever on par with Rooney?
 
PeterNdlovu081 said:
When was he ever on par with Rooney?
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I have no stats to back this up (mainly because I'm not anal) but someone on the Internet said he beat the junior goal scoring record that had previously been set by Michael Owen. Who until his hamstrings betrayed him - which was at least ten years later - was the mutts nuts. And not even Darren v walthy can argue otherwise because he was (Owen). ....but yes, as a youth, apparently our portly midfielder cum attacker was "the future".

I like Baxter. But he pisses me off. Either his choices have taken 20% off his game or sadly he's not as good as he looked five years ago. I have no evidence or knowledge of the lad, so will stand to be corrected, but either he can't be arsed or he's lost the pace he had as a kid and can't play up front any more which leaves him as an enigmatic third division midfielder.

His free kick v Oldham (I think) was one of the best goals I've seen in the flesh
 
Punk Blade said:
Murphy not in that list?! :confused:

The story I read about Baxter was he turned down another contract with Everton to go in search of first team opportunities. When the phone didn't ring all summer and the season started he found himself watching Soccer Saturday and wondering if he needed to find another career. Good decision? Don't know really, but I wouldn't question his attitude because he made a decision about his future. I think one of his old coaches heard he didn't have a club so set him up with a trial at Oldham.

I don't think it's his ability holding him down in League One, I think it's his consistency. Which is probably true of half our first team.
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I don't pretend to know why some red hot prospects as teenagers, fail to make progress. They have shown that they have the ability and skills tho compete.
May be it is a confidence thing or the fear of making a mistake in front of a large crowd. A pity but some are not cut out tho be centre stage.
 

Sirius said:
I don't pretend to know why some red hot prospects as teenagers, fail to make progress. They have shown that they have the ability and skills tho compete.
May be it is a confidence thing or the fear of making a mistake in front of a large crowd. A pity but some are not cut out tho be centre stage.
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We used to have a lad working at our place who was on the books of Derby and also Plymouth. He was apparently a very good player, but on the small side and that's apparently why they released him. He also played in Scandinavia, and until recently was doing okay in non-league. He has chosen to drop down to play for his village side. His main problem isn't his skill or size, it's that he can't be arsed putting the effort in. He would rather be getting drunk at the weekend, and I mean properly pissed, so pissed that he is totally incapable. He's been in trouble with the police on a few occasions, and been found almost unconscious in a Sheffield alleyway having been badly beaten. He's also been robbed a few times, because he's been so pissed all his judgement has been left far behind at the bottom of a glass.

I suspect many layers fall by the wayside not due to their abilities but due to their lack of commitment. This lad is a prime example, and he's perfectly headed towards being the village drunk.
 
shorehamview said:
We used to have a lad working at our place who was on the books of Derby and also Plymouth. He was apparently a very good player, but on the small side and that's apparently why they released him. He also played in Scandinavia, and until recently was doing okay in non-league. He has chosen to drop down to play for his village side. His main problem isn't his skill or size, it's that he can't be arsed putting the effort in. He would rather be getting drunk at the weekend, and I mean properly pissed, so pissed that he is totally incapable. He's been in trouble with the police on a few occasions, and been found almost unconscious in a Sheffield alleyway having been badly beaten. He's also been robbed a few times, because he's been so pissed all his judgement has been left far behind at the bottom of a glass.

I suspect many layers fall by the wayside not due to their abilities but due to their lack of commitment. This lad is a prime example, and he's perfectly headed towards being the village drunk.
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Nigel Williams who was an outstanding prospect in the youth team between 1971 and 1974 was one. Two first teamers )who often went to the same bookmakers as my dad) told my dad in 1972/73 that Williams was always impressive in the 1st team v reserves training matches. Then in 1974 the same two first teamers told my dad that the club were fed up of Williams' lifestyle. In 2001 at my work I was talking to someone who was from a recruitment agency and he played a few games for Sheffield United youth team in 1972/73. I was asking him about the players he played with at that time and then when we talked about williams, he said all the youth players were always drinking Cola except for Williams who was always boozing!
 
I had a good friend growing up who was an unbelievable player. Broke all the school goalscoring records and had people wanting him on trial left right and centre but he just didn't really like football enough!

Yes he played and was bloody good but didn't really support anyone, his passion was art rather than sport. It just shows that what goes on in the head is as importnant as your talent.
 
Bladepicker said:
I had a good friend growing up who was an unbelievable player. Broke all the school goalscoring records and had people wanting him on trial left right and centre but he just didn't really like football enough!

Yes he played and was bloody good but didn't really support anyone, his passion was art rather than sport. It just shows that what goes on in the head is as importnant as your talent.
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Reminds me of Assou-Ekotto saying a few years back that football was just his job and he wasn't particularly bothered about it. That attitude didn't stop him having a decent career.

It seems strange to me that if you have a talent that could put you in a very well paid job working fewer hours than most people you would turn it down as a career because you're not really passionate about the game. As if most of us are really passionate about sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week.
 
Punk Blade said:
Reminds me of Assou-Ekotto saying a few years back that football was just his job and he wasn't particularly bothered about it. That attitude didn't stop him having a decent career.

It seems strange to me that if you have a talent that could put you in a very well paid job working fewer hours than most people you would turn it down as a career because you're not really passionate about the game. As if most of us are really passionate about sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week.
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I remember Denis Clareborough telling me that he had a conversation with Tommy Sampy (who according to many Blades from the 1920s was unlucky not to be selected for the 1925 FA Cup Final) and he told him that his football career "was a waste of time". Not sure if it was because it was cos he missed the chance of getting a medal or that he didnt enjoy being a professional footballer. Peter Dornan, who came to us from Linfield in 1976 and was supposed to have "a good future" decided to quit professional football a few weeks later and went back to Linfield because he didnt enjoy thinking about football 24 hours a day. Gordon West, the Everton keeper in the 1960s said on tv that he was badly affected by nerves when playing in front of crowds – "Nine times out of 10 he used to go and be sick before the game," according to the Everton central defender John Hurst – and faced a chronic battle to keep his weight down
 
Punk Blade said:
Reminds me of Assou-Ekotto saying a few years back that football was just his job and he wasn't particularly bothered about it. That attitude didn't stop him having a decent career.

It seems strange to me that if you have a talent that could put you in a very well paid job working fewer hours than most people you would turn it down as a career because you're not really passionate about the game. As if most of us are really passionate about sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week.
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Agree, very annoying when I would have given anything to have an ounce of that talent. I love the game but I am absolutely beyong useless.

In the case of my mate there is always no telling how far you will go and ended up going to art school and working in graphic design, so chosen a career he loved.
 
Silent Blade said:
I remember Denis Clareborough telling me that he had a conversation with Tommy Sampy (who according to many Blades from the 1920s was unlucky not to be selected for the 1925 FA Cup Final) and he told him that his football career "was a waste of time". Not sure if it was because it was cos he missed the chance of getting a medal or that he didnt enjoy being a professional footballer. Peter Dornan, who came to us from Linfield in 1976 and was supposed to have "a good future" decided to quit professional football a few weeks later and went back to Linfield because he didnt enjoy thinking about football 24 hours a day. Gordon West, the Everton keeper in the 1960s said on tv that he was badly affected by nerves when playing in front of crowds – "Nine times out of 10 he used to go and be sick before the game," according to the Everton central defender John Hurst – and faced a chronic battle to keep his weight down
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I was told by a work colleague who was at Ipswich that ex United centre forward Mick Hill was another who was sick with worry before a game, and if his first touch in a game was good he was ok but if the ball bounced off him his game would go to shit.
 
There used to be a sign in the SUFC dressing room that said Hard Work Beats Talent if Talent Doesn't Work Hard which just about sums it up for me.

I'm no fan of Joey Barton but what he said about Rooney and Ronaldo was spot on. Both fantastically gifted footballers but polar opposites with regard conditioning and training. Both will go down in history don't get me wrong but only one of them will be remembered as one of the greatest ever to don a pair of boots.
 
metalblade said:
I was told by a work colleague who was at Ipswich that ex United centre forward Mick Hill was another who was sick with worry before a game, and if his first touch in a game was good he was ok but if the ball bounced off him his game would go to shit.
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Early in the Blades v Ipswich match in Nov 1971, Ipswich had two chances to open the scoring and one of them was Mick Hill's but he took an air shot. We then went on to score 7!
 
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