We just used to sign anybody released by TWS acadamy, they didnt even play reserve level and we signed them!
From memory Wharton was a victim of circumstance. He was signed towards the end of Dolans second relegation season and played really well for us. We tried playing some good passing football in the final days of that season with Wharton pulling the strings in the middle of the park. The following season in the bottom division, Dolan reverted to utterly dreadful hoofball. The diminutive Wharton never had a chance. I think the boot up the arse was more frustration than anything else. To think at some point we could have had a central midfield pairing of him and Mike Quigley - certainly plenty of height there! (by the way, in answer to the fixure poser I put in earlier on, one was the 1-0 defeat at Doncaster when their only remaining kids beat us - the other was a 2-0 home defeat to 9-man Brighton where despite them being down to 9, we still persisted with 5 at the back)
ive just noticed david brown got a few mentions, bit harsh imo..seem to remember he scored some important goals, jason harris was miles worse, i sat at the back of the south stand seats, and feared for my safety when he was shooting..
Alf Wood...... You could hear the howls of laughter rolling down the terraces like the on-rushing waves of a tsumani. He was gash..53 games. 10 goals. Most of them hit his backside and deflected in.
The thing i remember about Alf Wood was that he came with a great scoring record from Millwall.His best game was when he was played at centre half, cant remember who against but the crowd applauded , at least in the Well they did., at the end of the game. Dont like deriding City players but for some reason i could never take to Vinny Grimes, for those who remember he resembled like his name a Dickens character. And for the record defended to the hilt Mally Lord who was subject to a lot of scapegoating for a while but won most people over in the end.
You've all missed one player who should definitely be up there. If we're talking about it relative to the team's position at the time, there is not one player I can recall in my time (I'm only 18 so that's limited to 13 years I'm afraid) who has made such an enormous negative contribution to the team as Anthony Gardner. I could never ever express in words how absolutely ****e he was for the entire of the 09-10 season and the first few games of last season (see all 4 goals from Milwall away). He rarely ever marked forwards, his aerial presence was a joke, especially given he was usually the tallest player on the pitch, he was weaker than any other defender I've ever seen both in the tackle and shoulder charges, and his ability to control a ball at any height above the ground was shocking and usually led to him looking like a giraffe and falling over. I know I'm in a tiny minority on him, (due to the ridiculously exaggerated poorness of Sonko and Zayatte where everyone jumped on the bandwagon because Alan Hansen (FFS) told them to) but to anyone who disagrees I would challenge you to watch a goals montage of 09/10 and pick out one goal that wasn't his fault. To save you time, there isn't one.
wharton had a lot of potential. one of the other players - might have been mann or maybe linton brown - reckoned he was the most skilful player at the club.
