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leon jeanne







sydney

tinky ****in winky
Jul 11, 2003
17,965
town full of eejits
everyone deserves a break/second chance , most of us have probably done stuff we regret in our lives , don't/wouldn't know this guy if you dropped him in front of me but if he has found the motivation to get back into professional football and has the ability and dedication then i would say give him a chance.
 




Brian Fantana

Well-known member
Oct 8, 2006
7,539
In the field
You've been painting a very romantic picture of Leon Jeanne for our friends in Brighton. As a Cardiff City season ticket holders since the mid-Seventies and a resident of Cardiff all my life, my recollections of Jeanne (and those of the people I've spoken to who remember him, which isn't many) are somewhat different to yours.

It's all about balance. They way you've been describing him, it's as if the lad was destined to be the next Maradona if he'd stayed on the straight and narrow, but the fact of the matter is that he was unable to get a starting place in an average Championship side while he was at Cardiff and he very rarely got a seat on the bench either.

I watched him play on a number of occasions. Talented, no doubt about that, but he really wasn't that great.

It's always good to have a bit of balance, especially from someone who has seen him play a few times.
 


Jul 5, 2003
3,245
Cardiff
So how would you compare him to Robin Friday TLB?

Robin Friday is another player whose talent is greatly romanticised given his background, but he was some player when he was on his game. He put in a couple of outstanding performances for City in the old Second Division, but he was hopeless for most of the time that he was here, which is hardly surprising given his drink and drugs binges.

Totally different type of player to Jeanne, but for all his faults at least Friday showed what he was capable of in the first team.
 






number9

New member
Jun 8, 2011
54
Laughing Bluebird - Leon Jeanne was called "the black George Best" by The Sun when he was 17! The Echo did an article on him in 2002 tipping him to be the brightest Welsh star of that year! Craig Bellamy himself admits Leon has more talent than him! You're entitled to your opinion but lots of people in football rate him very highly
 


Brovion

In my defence, I was left unsupervised.
NSC Patron
Jul 6, 2003
19,856
Robin Friday is another player whose talent is greatly romanticised given his background, but he was some player when he was on his game. He put in a couple of outstanding performances for City in the old Second Division, but he was hopeless for most of the time that he was here, which is hardly surprising given his drink and drugs binges.

Totally different type of player to Jeanne, but for all his faults at least Friday showed what he was capable of in the first team.
Completely off-topic but like others have said it's great to see you posting on here again, hopefully you'll be a regular once more - especially as I now no longer have any warm feelings for Cardiff since they sacked Dave Jones!
 




Kumquat

New member
Mar 2, 2009
4,459
Talking of Robin Friday, love the story about when he used to travel from his home in London to Cardiff by train. Instead of buying a ticket he'd get on the train without one, wait for someone to go to the toilet, give it enough time to ensure they were having a number two and then bang on the door, say he was the ticket inspector and get them to pass their ticket under the door to check and then pick it up and merrily stroll back to his seat.
 








number9

New member
Jun 8, 2011
54
Ps laughing bluebird - if you come to Brighton for the away game you'll be very impressed with their new stadium! Definitely one of the best outside the premier league!
 




Driver8

On the road...
NSC Patron
Jul 31, 2005
16,204
North Wales
Laughing Bluebird - Leon Jeanne was called "the black George Best" by The Sun when he was 17! The Echo did an article on him in 2002 tipping him to be the brightest Welsh star of that year! Craig Bellamy himself admits Leon has more talent than him! You're entitled to your opinion but lots of people in football rate him very highly

And Palace were tipped to be the "Team of the 80's"
 






Jul 5, 2003
3,245
Cardiff
Laughing Bluebird - Leon Jeanne was called "the black George Best" by The Sun when he was 17! The Echo did an article on him in 2002 tipping him to be the brightest Welsh star of that year! Craig Bellamy himself admits Leon has more talent than him! You're entitled to your opinion but lots of people in football rate him very highly

The less said about the quality of journalism that appears in the South Wales Echo the better, but are you seriously claiming that the Echo was tipping Jeanne to be the brightest Welsh talent of 2002 when the likes of Robert Earnshaw, Danny Gabbidon and James Collins were regulars in the Cardiff City first team and Jeanne couldn't even get on the bench? As a matter of interest, Gabbidon is about four months older than Jeanne, while Earnshaw and Collins are both considerably younger.

By the end of the 2001/02 campaign, Gabbidon had already played almost 100 first team games for Cardiff and had made his debut for the Wales senior side, while Earnshaw had scored 44 goals for the first team. Nevertheless, you expect me to believe that the Echo hacks were tipping a player who had managed a grand total of 40 minutes of league football for the Bluebirds as the brightest star of the lot?
 


number9

New member
Jun 8, 2011
54
I have the article mate! At that stage leon had won qpr young player of the year in the championship!! Earnie, Collins and Gabs had done very little! I don't think you quite know the whole story about Leon! When he came to Cardiff his social life was out if control, that is why he hardly played! You ask qpr fans about him and they say he was like Taraabt!
 


number9

New member
Jun 8, 2011
54
Guys I'll leave it at that and hopefully leons ability will do the talking! His potential in the past was very well documented, whether he can get back to that level is another matter! It's been a pleasure, all the best for the new season! There's no doubt in my mind that Leon will be I'm the football league next year, fingers crossed it's with you
 




severnside gull

Well-known member
May 16, 2007
24,824
By the seaside in West Somerset
Guys I'll leave it at that and hopefully leons ability will do the talking! His potential in the past was very well documented, whether he can get back to that level is another matter! It's been a pleasure, all the best for the new season! There's no doubt in my mind that Leon will be I'm the football league next year, fingers crossed it's with you

Home for the weekend?
Hopefully the circularity of this argument won't put you off returning and continuing to keep us up to date next week. I've read some of the old reports, especially the early stuff when he was at QPR. I for one hope he makes it and we get to read the book. (I'm guessing he needs to come through to make it a seller) :) edit: sorry if that sounds nasty - certainly not meant to be!
 
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theonesmith

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2008
2,337
Home for the weekend?
Hopefully the circularity of this argument won't put you off returning and continuing to keep us up to date next week. I've read some of the old reports, especially the early stuff when he was at QPR. I for one hope he makes it and we get to read the book. (I'm guessing he needs to come through to make it a seller) :) edit: sorry if that sounds nasty - certainly not meant to be!

Can I second the notion of you returning, I find this all really interesting. If it's not too much trouble, just a daily update on how things are going, what preseason is like would be amazing- it's rare for fans to really have much knowledge of what's going on, the added surprise and romance of Leon's story adds well to it. Plus you're a rather optimistic, upbeat sorta fella and I enjoy reading your posts!
 


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