[Albion] The Greatest Player to pull on an Albion shirt (to date)

[Bold Seagull]

...

 

[Baldseagull]

We are in our greatest ever period, with our greatest ever team. Likely one of the current squad is our greatest ever player, but it also depends on how you want to measure it.
Unlikely that Mark Lawrenson was any better than Ben White in reality and we all thought White was our 3rd best CB when we sold him.
Peter Ward is a great, and he is our great alone, Lawrenson is thought of as a Liverpool player by everyone except a few older Brighton and Preston fans.

Vicente had unbelievable vision and was a very gifted footballer, probably the most gifted ever in our team, but not a great for us, and we are a footnote in his career.

Murray is up there, but loses a bit of ground for scoring goals for Palace against us, and being a bit of a legend there too.
Peter Ward has to top Murray for reasons already mentioned.
But I would go for Bruno if we are selecting players that can't improve their greatness for us, his first touch was 99% perfect, even with balls coming at him at a difficult height or pace, his leadership was fantastic, his beard was bigger than Cucurella's massive hair, just a class act all round, and he is always a seagull, Lawro, for instance, has very little attachment to us it seems.

However, we have a squad of players currently that has some obvious contenders, Caicedo could be if he stays a long while, Dunk and Gross already have a good shout, Bissouma if he stays and matures.

 

[Baldseagull]

The question is the greatest player to pull on an Albion shirt, not the greatest player for the Albion - 2 different questions I feel.

The greatest player to pull on an Albion shirt for me was Vicente. A mercurial talent. Poetry on a football pitch. Only player I've seen recently that comes close to having his fluid balance is Mo Salah, and even he doesn't look quite as natural as Vicente did. In fact, Vicente was so naturally gifted, I don't think he actually wanted to play football, just happened to be so good at it it was effortless.

He's a long way off being the greatest player for the Albion though, but that clearly wasn't the question.

If we go literal, we might include Gareth Barry, for either a BHA youth shirt or a WBA first team shirt.

 

[kevo]

https://youtu.be/XqNl6aq-OrA

 

[wellquickwoody]

Number 12, Gerry Ryan!

 

[The Fits]

It’s difficult isn’t it?
My all team great team would currently be:

Kuipers
Dunk Cullip Cucu
Biss
Gross Minton Mac Bridge
Buckley Zamora

In a kind of 2 2 4 in attack 3 5 1 1 in defence. I’m backing Minton to be a standout performer here with the better players around him and in a more professional environment.

 

[Lenny Rider]

Only one n in Vicente.
I'm in the Lawro camp because Vicente only played a few games in the Championship.

I'm part of the NSC (mis) Spelling Bee

 

[Is it PotG?]

Lawrenson easily.

Loan wise, both Bridge and Upson showed obvious class.

 

[Is it PotG?]

Lewis Dunk. He's a better footballer than Lawro ever was. Maybe not relative to the other players of their eras, but in the absolute, Dunk is better.

All subjective I guess but Dunk better than Lawrenson?

Nah, not a hope.

 

[rippleman]

Didn't Hoddle play as well, or am I going mad?

The other team was:

James (Stensgaard), R. Jones, Harkness, Scales, Ruddock, Mølby, Redknapp, McManaman, Barnes, Clough, Fowler.
Came on as subs: Charnock, Matteo, L. Jones.

 

[Seecider]

That's very debatable. Lawrenson had the abliltiy moving forward with ball at feet to shred the opposition in a way that I hoped we would see Dunky develop, but he never has.

 

[Baldseagull]

https://youtu.be/XqNl6aq-OrA

The passes he saw and made that I couldn't even see were on from the West Upper were incredible, Caicedo has once or twice shown to have a similar knack of seeing and making a pass that just didn't appear to be on from the position he was in. Can't remember the game but Vicente looked to have run into a dead end with 3 defenders round him, but came through them with the ball, only to be tripped and fouled.

 

[kevo]

Lawrenson scored one of the greatest Albion goals ever - v Wolves in the FA Cup, January 1979. Ran, Beckenbauer-like, with the ball from his own penalty area to score. As with the Garry Nelson goal v Brentford, a shame no footage exists.

 

[kevo]

The passes he saw and made that I couldn't even see were on from the West Upper were incredible, Caicedo has once or twice shown to have a similar knack of seeing and making a pass that just didn't appear to be on from the position he was in. Can't remember the game but Vicente looked to have run into a dead end with 3 defenders round him, but came through them with the ball, only to be tripped and fouled.

An astonishing player - it was a privilege to see him play for us. A shame he was so scuppered by injury and had a massive falling out with Poyet (he later described Gus as the worst person he'd met in football).

 

[Questions]

I can think of a whole bunch of players who from an Albion point of view were streets ahead of what Vincente gave us. I didn’t even know who he was because unlike the last two generations of football fans I rarely bother with what’s happening in Spain.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Based some kind of product of impact and time spent at The Albion, including only players I have watched in the flesh, I can't decide between@

Peter O'Sullivan
Gary Hart
Bobby Zamora
Glenn Murray
Lewis Dunk.

In terms of quality, our present squad probably features 15 of the best 20 players who have ever worn the stripes.

 

[Questions]

It would be interesting to get to the best team from the two spells we have played in the top flight

Who would partner Lawrenson ?

Who would partner Robbo ?

 

[Blue3]

The dictionary says that the superlative greatest means of an extent, amount, intensity, ability, quality, or eminence considerably above average.

So based upon that explanation being considerably better that those around you makes for greatness a number of players would be in that category for example Bobby Zamora playing in division 2 was head and shoulders above the rest.

I do not think greatest Albion player to pull on the shirt is what Lenny really means when he said that greatest Albion player to pull on the shirt is an understatement.

Our greatest player must be far bigger that the word implies, it’s not just about abilities it’s got to do with pride, wants before needs, grit, determination, love and dedication therefore I am going to put forward John Crumplin anyone who turns down a move for more money a higher level of football for his love of the club and it’s fans is the greatest of football geniuses in my eyes

 

[Stato]

Jimmy Case won the First Division 4 times and 3 European Cup medals.

He has a case (no pun intended) for being among the greatest players to pull on an Albion shirt.

Incredible that England never capped him.

 

[Ethelwulf]

From players I saw live has to be Bobby Zamora