Ones that got away

[BensGrandad]

Trevor Stevens who was at Burnley as a 15 year old was reccomended to the club but the then Chief Scout George Aitken talked Mullery out of chasing it up as he said he was too small and would nevcer make it ion the pro game. He went on to play for Everton, Rangers and Marseilles and of course Engalnd.

Also Mullery was told about a 17 year old player at Blackpool by Peter Suddaby whose wife one of the Nolan sisters , I think it was, lived in Blackpool and had heard a lot about him but Bamber said if he was any good one of the big North West clubs would have been after him Paul Stewart was his name and Malcolm Allison signed him for Man City.

 

[honey boy zimba]

mullery had the chance to get frank wothington long before he sighed for us but changed his mind and got maybannk instead ,what a waste!

 

[BigGully]

I remember a big Argus headline proclaiming we were in for KEEGAN.

I think after his German escapade.

Does anyone else remember this ?

 

[KNC]

Didn't Paul Jewell do pre-season with us, only to decide to stay up north.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

I remember a big Argus headline proclaiming we were in for KEEGAN.

I think after his German escapade.

Does anyone else remember this ?

Yep. I also remember rumours about Les Ferdinand after the 91 Play Off Final.

And Souness!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Kolo Toure.

Offered by Wenger to Martin Hinshelwood for a season's loan in 2002/03. Not taken, on the grounds that Hinsh was confident the squad was good enough to flourish without him.

 

[paulclark]

chris iwelhoumo dk
steven hunt dk
dean saunders who lloyd y put on the bench and played richard tiltman instead bl
john robinson who was comin back thanks mghee
tony burns









QUOTE=Harty;3528402]Obviously the Ian Wright trial saga of 1983 has been well documented on here and elsehwere, as well as the Roy Keane cancelled trial of 1988, but talking at the end of last week a mate recalled the legendary Tony '0898' Millard speaking at the first Gulls Eye dinner in Jan 1989 and recalling how Alan Mullery missed out on two transfer targets in the late 1970's.
Two youngsters, Peter Reid from Bolton and John Aldridge from Newport County, both not pursued by the manager due to 'board refusal'.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe both went on to play in World Cup quarter finals!

Any other names we missed out on from yesteryear spring to mind?[/QUOTE]

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Kolo Toure.

Offered by Wenger to Martin Hinshelwood for a season's loan in 2002/03. Not taken, on the grounds that Hinsh was confident the squad was good enough to flourish without him.

That's the funniest one

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

Ray Houghton was supposed to be signing before he became famous

Chris Cattlin decided to go for Justin Fashanu instead, when we already had Saunders and Terry Connor, who were both banging in the goals. Houghton went to Oxford instead I think, and then on to Liverpool for £900,000. Wasn't he at Fulham at the time?

 

[Billy the Fish]

Ade Akinbiyi.

I heard at the time that we had the option to sign him after his loan but be**oti wouldn't pay £50,000.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Trevor Stevens who was at Burnley as a 15 year old was reccomended to the club but the then Chief Scout George Aitken talked Mullery out of chasing it up as he said he was too small and would nevcer make it ion the pro game. He went on to play for Everton, Rangers and Marseilles and of course Engalnd.

Also Mullery was told about a 17 year old player at Blackpool by Peter Suddaby whose wife one of the Nolan sisters , I think it was, lived in Blackpool and had heard a lot about him but Bamber said if he was any good one of the big North West clubs would have been after him Paul Stewart was his name and Malcolm Allison signed him for Man City.

Suddaby played for us

 

[bhaexpress]

mullery had the chance to get frank wothington long before he sighed for us but changed his mind and got maybannk instead ,what a waste!

The reason he signed Maybank was that it bailed out his old club Fulham. They were about to go under.

 

[sammy g]

Yep. I also remember rumours about Les Ferdinand after the 91 Play Off Final.

And Souness!

I definitely remember the Souness rumour. Circa 1985. Backpage banner headline. I am sure the Argus blamed Catlin for not being quick off the mark. I think this was my first taste of football transfer speculation, 25 years on and I still get carried away by any old twaddle!

 

[Jam The Man]

Chris Waddle states in his autobiography that Newcastle arranged with us to have him on loan when he was 17/18... but he declined to come down

 

[Jam The Man]

Anyone remember in 1990 after the world cup we were supposed to get the Cameroon captain Stephen Tataw?
I think lloyd arranged a trial and he didn't turn up. I remember hearing about it on the Seagull Line.

Tataw played two reserve games for us

 

[Harty]

I definitely remember the Souness rumour. Circa 1985. Backpage banner headline. I am sure the Argus blamed Catlin for not being quick off the mark. I think this was my first taste of football transfer speculation, 25 years on and I still get carried away by any old twaddle!

But Souness was in Italy then? And weren't there tax problems regarding his then wife and her family, which is why he left Liverpool in the first place.

Great story, but probably, along with Bonhof, the one that was way out of our price range.


No one has mentioned Wilfred Schafer, the long haired German who manged Cameroon at the 2002 World Cup, allegedly blew Dick out at an Heathrow Hotel on the day he was to be unveiled as Albion boss, hence why perhaps Hinsh was annouced as the new boss at the Grand Hotel rather than Withdean.

It all turned out okay in the end though, Hinsh still does a great job with the youth, and our first non British manager could end up being one of our best ever.

 

[Jesus Gul]

Garry Nelson left before he should have

 

[matt]

Peter Withe - was a done deal when Peter Taylor was manager, but ex-Albion boss Freddie Goodwin went over to the States can got him to sign for Birmingham instead. Withe went on to win eleven England caps, league titles with Forest and Villa, and scored the winning goal in the 81/2 European Cup final.

Tony Woodcock - after Taylor went to Forest he called Mike Bamber to recommend that he sign a young Forest reserve player (Woodcock). Bamber didn't return the call. Woodcock went on to play 42 times for England, won the league and European Cup with Forest, and was PFA Young Player of the Year in '78.

Withe, Woodcock and Ward would have been a pretty handy attacking threesome in the Third Division

 

[Storer68]

Oh good thread!

I don't suppose letting Dean Saunders go for a pittance qualifies but did he or Barry Lloyd push for the transfer? If the latter then that's a bigger scandal!

Barclays Bank are the ones to blame for that.

They wanted a bill of around £50,000 paid and at a creditors meetings asjed BL if he had any offers for any of our players. Mark Lawrenson (then manager at Oxford) had put in a tentative enquiry about Saunders and followed it up with an offer that he fully expected to be the opening bid.

When barclays were told about it, they told lloyd to do the deal and send the cleque straight round to them as payment for the outstanding debt (which is my memory serves me right) was for an instalment payment on a second mortgage taken out on the Goldstone..........

I seem to recall BL using the word "brassic" during our conversation........

 

[Storer68]

Peter Withe - was a done deal when Peter Taylor was manager, but ex-Albion boss Freddie Goodwin went over to the States can got him to sign for Birmingham instead. Withe went on to win eleven England caps, league titles with Forest and Villa, and scored the winning goal in the 81/2 European Cup final.

Tony Woodcock - after Taylor went to Forest he called Mike Bamber to recommend that he sign a young Forest reserve player (Woodcock). Bamber didn't return the call. Woodcock went on to play 42 times for England, won the league and European Cup with Forest, and was PFA Young Player of the Year in '78.

Withe, Woodcock and Ward would have been a pretty handy attacking threesome in the Third Division

So why didn't Forest play all three together?