Players we've let slip through the net in the past...

[HalifaxSeagull]

Saw this item on Seagulls site and got me thinking... Who did we come close to signing but missed out on? I'll start with Roy Keane (for being too small according to his biog)

Brighton Mobile - Article - Football League Paper: Near Misses

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

Ian Wright

 

[Storer 68]

To be fair , altho Wright scored a hat trick in his trial game for us , it was a straight choice between him and Steve Penney. Apparently we couldn't afford both so sent Wriight back to s. london and took Steve Penney who three years later was playing international football at the World Cup Finals in Mexico. So an understandable decision at the time.

and my understanding of keane is that at the time we knew about him but he never wanted to come to us as he knew by that time that bigger clubs than us were looking at him

 

[BigGully]

To be fair , altho Wright scored a hat trick in his trial game for us , it was a straight choice between him and Steve Penney. Apparently we couldn't afford both so sent Wriight back to s. london and took Steve Penney who three years later was playing international football at the World Cup Finals in Mexico.

and my understanding of keane is that at the time we knew about him but he never wanted to come to us as he knew by that time that bigger clubs than us were looking at him

A good friend of mine was a young pro at the time Wright came down for his trial.

He can hardly remember him and doesn't remember him making any kind of impact whilst here, he was surprised when I told him he supposedly scored a hat trick whilst here !!

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Both John Aldridge and Trevor Steven, had unsuccesful trials with us. In the tunnel at the Goldstone, there were a set of black and white photos of the players running up hills in pre-season training. Aldridge and Steven were in them.

 

[leigull]

Why has no one mentioned Michael Owen, Wayne Bridge, Owen Hargreaves or Kevin Phillips yet?!

 

[Storer 68]

A good friend of mine was a young pro at the time Wright came down for his trial.

He can hardly remember him and doesn't remember him making any kind of impact whilst here, he was surprised when I told him he supposedly scored a hat trick whilst here !!

Well, didn't impress anyone obviously whether e scoreda hattrick or not. I recall that he was very unhappy at havng blown another opportunity at professional football to

 

[Storer 68]

Johann Cruyf, Pele, Bobby Moore, gary Lineker, Diego maradonna, Michel Platini, Franz beckenboauer - ALL missed by us!

 

[JonathanLivingstonSeagull]

Johann Cruyf, Pele, Bobby Moore, gary Lineker, Diego maradonna, Michel Platini, Franz beckenboauer - ALL missed by us!

I know... Shocking. BLOOM OUT.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Andrei Kanchelskis

 

[The Large One]

Frank McAvennie (St Mirren) and Ray Houghton (Fulham). Both on the cusp of signing for Chris Cattlin, but then the board wouldn't put up the dosh. £25,000 in the case of the latter.

Kolo Toure on loan. Shaun Wilkinson was the preferred option.

 

[Storer 68]

Andrei Kanchelskis

no... just spotted in Village Way South

 

[northstandsteve]

Neville Southall board wouldn't pay signing on fee

 

[Lady Whistledown]

These sort of debates wind me up- people suggesting that a club somehow screwed up by not signing a particular individual at a given time. Bournemouth with Charlie Austin being another example.

Clubs only have a limited time to assess players, and if they happen to have a poor game on the day, then they're not going to get signed. The clubs can't keep giving people chances. The other point is that some players genuinely don't start to show their true ability until they're a bit older and have physically matured. Not all lads are strong enough for the professional game at 16-17 years of age. On the mental side, you also get players who lack the application and think they can just wing it, until the experience of being rejected gives them the motivation they need to really put the effort in and come back older and stronger.

There are all sorts of reasons why players get overlooked as youngsters, it's not necessarily down to the clubs' bad judgement. Ian Wright came from London, so presumably a whole host of clubs closer to him than the Albion declined to even offer him a trial (one would assume that included Palace, as his local side).

 

[BigGully]

These sort of debates wind me up- people suggesting that a club somehow screwed up by not signing a particular individual at a given time. Bournemouth with Charlie Austin being another example.

Clubs only have a limited time to assess players, and if they happen to have a poor game on the day, then they're not going to get signed. The clubs can't keep giving people chances. The other point is that some players genuinely don't start to show their true ability until they're a bit older and have physically matured. Not all lads are strong enough for the professional game at 16-17 years of age. On the mental side, you also get players who lack the application and think they can just wing it, until the experience of being rejected gives them the motivation they need to really put the effort in and come back older and stronger.

There are all sorts of reasons why players get overlooked as youngsters, it's not necessarily down to the clubs' bad judgement. Ian Wright came from London, so presumably a whole host of clubs closer to him than the Albion declined to even offer him a trial (one would assume that included Palace, as his local side).

I agree.

I think its worth noting that opportunity is an essential part of a players progression, there may have been times when a player that isnt necessarily tagged up as future first team player but has for any number of reasons then been handed a first team start and then thrives within that environment.

I feel this is a critical reason why our national side is effected so heavily by the foreign imports, it may not be effecting the obvious talents, but many of the hidden potential stars are being denied an opportunity to shine.

This is bound then to effect our overall talent pool.

 

[ken tiler]

To be fair , altho Wright scored a hat trick in his trial game for us , it was a straight choice between him and Steve Penney. Apparently we couldn't afford both so sent Wriight back to s. london and took Steve Penney who three years later was playing international football at the World Cup Finals in Mexico. So an understandable decision at the time.

and my understanding of keane is that at the time we knew about him but he never wanted to come to us as he knew by that time that bigger clubs than us were looking at him

I saw his trial game for the reserves at the Goldstone he was utterly brilliant and i was raving about hime afterwards. He didn't score as far as I remember but was much better than Steve Penney who also played. Don't think he ever scored a hat trick for any of our teams. I think he got a goal in a youth team game.

 

[BigGully]

I saw his trial game for the reserves at the Goldstone he was utterly brilliant and i was raving about hime afterwards. He didn't score as far as I remember but was much better than Steve Penney who also played. Don't think he ever scored a hat trick for any of our teams. I think he got a goal in a youth team game.

Do you remember who this game might have been against, I think he might have already been too old for the youth team by then.

I am assured that Penney had an advantage of an ally in Sammy Nelson, who took him under his wing and supported him during his time on trial, who knows whether Nelson ultimately effected the decision to sign him, seems plausible as an experienced and highly influential figure at the club at the time.

Opportunity is key.

 

[mccraque]

Zsombor Kerekes

We sgned Molango instead, I think!

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Russell Martin is currently playing in the Premier League for Norwich, having been released by our youth system. As Edna said, I don't think it's a case of letting players slip through the net so much as them not being ready for us at that time, Martin is a good example because he went to Lewes where he did well and was spotted by Wycombe, who then sold him for decent money to Peterborough, and then he cost the best part of £800,000 when he joined Norwich. Arguably, he wouldn't be having the career he is had we not released him and forced him to work his way back up.

[MENTION=4675]Frutos[/MENTION] mentioned once that Lionel Messi could have been signed by a lower league Italian club, but they passed up the opportunity. That's amusing.

 

[kevo]

Roy Keane.

He was playing in Ireland for Cobh Ramblers. We sent a scout over to check out both Keane and his team-mate, defender Paul McCarthy. We decided to go for McCarthy instead