[Albion] Ian Wright

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Not sure it was them.

He said he was on trial here at the age of 19. That would put it as probably 1983. Fashanu and Saunders didn't arrive for another couple of years. More likely Terry Connor, Alan Young and Gordon Smith.

The story I heard was that we couldn't afford to sign Wright and Steve Penney and we went with Penney as he was considered to be more ready for the first team.

 

[drew]

As I remember, the reason for not signing Wright was that we already had Fashanu and Saunders and weren't in the market for strikers.

Nothing to do with Saunders and Fashanu as they were both signed in 85, a few years after Wright's trial. Cattlin was manager from 1st Oct 83 so his trial must have been shortly after that based on the fact Wright says he was a teenager! At that time I think we had Connor, Smith, Alan Young and Ian Muir on the books plus a heap load of debt! Things might have been different had Wright signed for us but c'est la vie!

Edit: TLO beat me to it.

 

[piersa]

If true, Chris Catlin is a shit judge and a shit person.

 

[Ernest]

Foster went to Villa in March 1984 so it was in the 6 months before then from October 83

 

[Doc Lynam]

I guess the prescient question is would a star slip through our fingers today? You’d like to think not, but it’s a funny old game!

 

[BN9 BHA]

Obviously....

Steve Penney
Hans Kraay
Dean Saunders
Danny Wilson

Working for a board and regime that utterly shafted him. Yeah, utterly clueless.

Fair point, but Ian Wright turned out better than all of the players you have listed.

 

[The Large One]

Fair point, but Ian Wright turned out better than all of the players you have listed.

But he wasn't at the time, and it seems to be enough for you to condemn Cattlin outright.

Name a manager - even those at the top of the game - who hasn't missed out on a particular signing, or let someone go.

 

[BN9 BHA]

But he wasn't at the time, and it seems to be enough for you to condemn Cattlin outright.

Which is basically what I said, so you are in agreement.
I said obviously Cattliin wasn't that good at spotting what a good player Ian Wright turned out to be.

The Rock shop comment meant Cattliin didn't continue to work in football management.

 

[BigGully]

Which is basically what I said, so you are in agreement.
I said obviously Cattliin wasn't that good at spotting what a good player Ian Wright turned out to be.

The Rock shop comment meant Cattliin didn't continue to work in football management.

You are assuming that if Wright had signed for Brighton he would have turned out the Ian Wright Arsenal version, doubt that.

 

[BN9 BHA]

You are assuming that if Wright had signed for Brighton he would have turned out the Ian Wright Arsenal version, doubt that.

He wasn't too shabby at Palace

 

[drew]

But he wasn't at the time, and it seems to be enough for you to condemn Cattlin outright.

Name a manager - even those at the top of the game - who hasn't missed out on a particular signing, or let someone go.

Top three candidates for Footballer of the year last season, De Bruyne, Salah and Lukaku all once on Chelsea's books..

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Denis Law - we certainly know how to turn 'em down!

I'm sure other clubs have similar stories to tell. The ones that got away.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

For what it’s worth, the story I got was that George Petchey was responsible for triallists at the time and didn’t rate him. I am not convinced that it was all down to Cattlin.

 

[AZ Gull]

Did Wright’s rejection coincide with us giving Dean Saunders a contract?

Don't think so. Wright signed for Palace when he was 22 in 1985, the same year we signed Saunders. His trial with us was when he was a teenager so about 3 years earlier.

As I remember, the reason for not signing Wright was that we already had Fashanu and Saunders and weren't in the market for strikers.

Not sure it was them.

He said he was on trial here at the age of 19. That would put it as probably 1983. Fashanu and Saunders didn't arrive for another couple of years. More likely Terry Connor, Alan Young and Gordon Smith.

The story I heard was that we couldn't afford to sign Wright and Steve Penney and we went with Penney as he was considered to be more ready for the first team.

Nothing to do with Saunders and Fashanu as they were both signed in 85, a few years after Wright's trial. Cattlin was manager from 1st Oct 83 so his trial must have been shortly after that based on the fact Wright says he was a teenager! At that time I think we had Connor, Smith, Alan Young and Ian Muir on the books plus a heap load of debt! Things might have been different had Wright signed for us but c'est la vie!

Edit: TLO beat me to it.

Foster went to Villa in March 1984 so it was in the 6 months before then from October 83

Wright was here on trial in November 1983, at the same time that Penney was also here as a trialist. They both started in reserve matches at Swindon on Tuesday November 22 (Wright scored in a 1-1 draw) and two days later at home to Reading in a 4-1 win (as shown here from the programme for the match against Cardiff City on December 3 1983). The amazing thing was, Penney was signed......and started for the first team in the 3-1 defeat at Oakwell on Saturday November 26 - his third start in 5 days!!!

 

[DavePage]

That's an understatement. How crap do you have to be to have him on trial for that long, scoring goals (because he always did, it's not like he was a late bloomer) and let him go?

Even BG would have kept him on.

As a left back

 

[Brovion]

As I remember, the reason for not signing Wright was that we already had Fashanu and Saunders and weren't in the market for strikers.

Indeed. I do believe from the triallists we had at the same time as Wright we went for Steve Penney. Younger fans will go 'Who?' but in fact he did really well for us - as those of us who DO remember him will testify. Yeah sure in retrospect it we should have signed them both (or maybe just Wright), but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Good spot AZGull. It reminded me that Steve Palmer was here as a youth at the time (a member of John Shepherd’s brilliant youth team). He left to go to uni and when he finished he came back looking for a contract. Lloyd didn’t want him so he had a tremendous career of over 500 matches elsewhere.
A winger, Danny Carter also played and had a good career at Orient when they were half decent.

 

[symyjym]

Outrageous behaviour by Cattlin and the club. Was never a big fan of Foster, seemed a bit of an arrogant Billy big bollocks, but he's gone up in my estimation after hearing this.

 

[BigGully]

Wright was here on trial in November 1983, at the same time that Penney was also here as a trialist. They both started in reserve matches at Swindon on Tuesday November 22 (Wright scored in a 1-1 draw) and two days later at home to Reading in a 4-1 win (as shown here from the programme for the match against Cardiff City on December 3 1983). The amazing thing was, Penney was signed......and started for the first team in the 3-1 defeat at Oakwell on Saturday November 26 - his third start in 5 days!!!

View attachment 102501

I was looking at the same, but it belies the general story of him playing and scoring loads of goals whilst here, also begs the question where are the six weeks that Wright confirmed was how long he was here for (of course I am not saying it's wrong) but if you look a little closer that November he started 3 games from a total of 10 games that month and he scored one.

I also noticed perhaps another 4 triallists that were never signed around this time not including Wright, Penney or Howlett, so there was an active conveyor belt of young hopeful players around this time, mostly not signed.

 

[Albalbion]

Water under the bridge, no need for recriminations.

Always liked Wrighty, even more so when Arsenal became my glamour club during our war years. Seems to know how to be humble and opinionated at the same time, good mix. Well done SF too.

Now about Mark Bright............

Having a 'glamour' club...