the LAST jerome sinclair

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-fc-first-team-bottom-11033961

take not Sincliar, take note.

 

That's quite a good read I'll post it up on here.

 

It's not perhaps the goal Nathan Eccleston dreamed of scoring when he joined the Liverpool Academy at the age of 14 or when he made his first team debut away at the Emirates as a substitute for Rafa Benitez in a League Cup tie as an 18-year-old in 2009.
But just over a week ago, he rounded the Paksi goalkeeper and slotted in his first goal for Békéscsaba, the bottom club in the Hungarian league.
It is the latest stop-off in a career which has taken him to many clubs both on loan as he tried to make it at Liverpool and since he departed Anfield.
“I didn’t play a competitive game for seven months, so I’ve got to get used to playing again. I got my first start as a striker on Saturday and scored in a good win against the team who are sixth in the league. Wins have been few and far between here this season so it was good to get on the scoresheet and help the team win,” said Eccleston in an interview with ITV.
The 25-year-old striker made just one start at Anfield, in a dead rubber in the Europa League under Roy Hodgson against Utrecht with another eight appearances as a substitute, perhaps best summed up by his penalty miss in the infamous defeat to Northampton Town in the League Cup in September 2010.
Eccleston had loan spells at Huddersfield, Charlton and Rochdale before a permanent move to Blackpool on the last day of the transfer window in summer 2012.
The briefest of loan spells to Tranmere was interrupted by injury before time at Carlisle in 2013 and Coventry in 2014.

Next it was the Scottish Premier League with Partick Thistle from August 2014 until release the following February. He stayed north with Kilmarnock, scoring once in 10 appearances but there was no deal on the table for this season, hence his move to Hungary.
Eccleston explained: “One of my former team-mates at Liverpool and Kilmarnock got approached by an agent asking if he knew of any players who wanted to move abroad. It’s something I’d wanted for a long time, so he got in touch with the guy and he made me aware there was interest in me from a team in Hungary.
“I did some research on Google and looked up the team to see what I could find out about them, and it was better than the other options I had at the time, so I thought ‘why not’?
“I think a lot of people were surprised, even my only family were. I’m the type of person who thinks life is for living so if the type of opportunities come about and I think I can benefit from them, then I take them.”
Eccleston has been with his new team for six weeks now and has played in the two games since his opening goal, one a narrow 1-0 loss to table-toppers Ferencvaros although he was substituted after 41 minutes yesterday.
“The people at the football club have made me feel very welcome. It’s completely different way of living from back home; they don’t have some of the luxuries we take from granted, but I’m adjusting pretty well, I’d say. I’m enjoying it.

 

“I’ve had a long time off and I’ve started thinking about football differently. I’m not the same nine-year-old boy who played in the park with no responsibility - this is people’s lives. It got to the stage with me and football where it wasn’t making me happy; I’d train Monday to Friday and it would come to the weekend and I wouldn’t always start so my game time wasn’t regular, which was frustrating.
“There were times where I was under contract at Blackpool and my two previous clubs where I considered not playing and that’s coming from the heart. I was there doing something I loved but at the end of the week I wasn’t playing. There are players who are happy to pick up their wages when they’re not playing, but I’m not that type of person, I’m very ambitious.
“Being away from it has allowed me to re-evaluate my life. Even in times when I’ve had offers I was still going to play five-a-side with my mates, people I went to school with, putting in your five pound to play, as I’ve always loved football.”
Eccleston seems to have rekindled his love for the game in a professional sense in his new environment, some three hours from Budapest, and is hoping some of the coaching at Liverpool will help him settle in.

“As a youngster there were a lot of foreign coaches and managers at Liverpool, so we were often taught how Spanish and Dutch players were taught, which should help me now playing in Europe.

“I’ve come here to play here to play football, as once you’re not playing no amount of money can bring you that feeling that football brings you, the feeling you had as a kid on the park.”

 

the thing is in case he missed it... he's playing in the equivalent of sunday league .

The lad has a few attributes but needed 5 chances to get one goal.

He got greedy and didn't think he had to work hard. He could have made a left wing type slot in a kuyt type work level work for him but he blew it.

Sinclair... that free money now.. that'll be your best contract of your career and when you look back in 5 years like this bloke... well if you've been smart you might have your mortgage paid but you'll end up having a long life to live with little other prospects.

 

Sinclair may well be making a mistake I agree with that part.

I thought the article was quite interesting though on how sometimes you have to changer and adapt to the level you are at if you still want to play the sport you love.

 

suppose... but you'd wonder how he failed to adapt several times and if he's really adapted now.

the other part of this is looking at a stellar rise like jamie vardy.

I honestly wonder how much f it is mental, putting in the hours and being ready, how much of it is just having someone back you (we hear about managers not fancying players lots) and finally how much of it is work rate. you can have the right mentality but look like balotelli, lazy as **** on the pitch.

I do think blackpool as a complete disaster zone and cost him hugely. but was his attitude really right?

I frankly could see sinclair go to watford but form there? well lets just ay he's picke dup his ideas lately in u21s so look like he is playing for his big contract.

He was VERY VERY VERY lucky to get game time in FA cup for us. i think klopp was quite generous there. I nthat he didn't look ready for it so my view is the guy has to up the work levels wherever he goes.

.....................

another contrast.

anthony Le Tallec and Sinama Pongolle.

Le tallec wa sif anyhting better than pongolle... for all of 6 months. His attitude absolutely stunk

Pongolle went to recreativo then got his move to atletico and on from there to many clubs.

We immediately loaned out le tallec to get his attitude gone and he went back to france after 4 laons and did feck all.

Neither the best player... big rep as kids signed by houllier. one made more of a carrer for himself. Was it luck? was it work rate? was it reputation for being a solid guy?

I dunno.

 

He's getting an interesting insight into the world, go to lots of places that are 'off the map' of the game at the top level, like Hungary, through playing football ... way different to the PL luxuries that players who make it at that high end are accustomed to

Depends on your perspective and mindset whether that's a satisfying thing for you over the money and material stuff

I'd rather travel the world and play in different interesting cities than get stuck in ****ing Huddersfield, Rochdale or Charlton

 

Maybe so.

Theres the US league, china, australia as well.. all possible if he's getting paid.

However, will it make him a millionaire like one contract in the prem would have?

tom ince is now 24. after he ****ed over Blackpool to go to hull and failed, well he's not got to derby and has done ok. He could be in prem next year if all goes the way derby would like.....

It will be interesting to see if his attitude has changed.

 

From the article I got the sense that he understood his limitations and that he wasn't going to make it at a certain level but his love of the game has meant that he's kept at it and kept playing as a pro no matter where it takes him.

I thought it a good news article one that shows that if you stick with it you may not be a millionaire but if you really love the game you can be a pro footballer and make a living out of it. I wonder how many drop the game once they are not signed to a big club?

 

I said I'm not talking about the ridiculous, astronomical amounts of money that players receive in the PL. Not for him anyway. He'll be getting a very decent, 'normal' (probably still well above average) salary to travel the world, having an interesting time, doing the thing he loves (I think). Those places you mention would all be excellent locations to live and play for a while for a player who knows he's not gonna make it in the PL or even Champs.

 

I agree, there's a local lad that played a year behind me as we were growing up he got picked up by Cardiff and it didn't work out but he's been all over the country as a pro at lover level deams like Rotherham and Doncaster I don't know where he is now but he's spent 15 years as a pro.

The big club, big money scenario isn't the only one in footy.

 

well I put the context of remembering exactly the game the guy played with LFC on his contract that ended his chances here to the story and thought hmmm lesson to any kid.

he ended up going to blackpool which was a disasterous choice of club.

If he'd signed up with us with no fuss he'd have got more chances i thought. i never thought he was good enough to take them but i thought he'd a bit of physique and pace about him to make a role for himself and from there the move can be made better.

I think sinclair is making the same error as he's clearly nowhere near the level needed to play senior football right now so he's decided to move. maybe he is right that at anfield there'll be 20 others coming form the youths and being bought and he might be better off elsewhere and maybe thats coming from him moving form bradford to us and his experience but there's a big element of.... well plain greed in there too.


If we thin kthat typcially every pro clu bwould have say 30 kids at each age bracket then the fact is maybe 1% max make it so for every stelring there are 100 ecclestons.

E.G.

tony silva. he was a decent player. we moved him on to free space for stelring and ibe. he went to barnsely then to CSKA sofia and has moved on from there.

David Amoo.. real pace but had the power to dominate u18s and u21s so never ever got his hea dup and passed it. something ibe was accused of at derby by mccarlen. he wnet to preston and is now at partrick thistle in scotland

Steve irwin. different play as i've said about tom ince already. Irwin was a better player IMO than spearing. He went to aberdeen on trial then telstar in holland and then finland and then vanished form the footballing world.

Nemeth from us to olypiakos to Roja to kansas city and now onto qatar with al-gharafa. fun career i suppose. he is now 27 so has seen the sights i suppose..

So... basically yeah you can try and travel but you've got to perform. If eccleston fails to before at this hungarian outift he's toast.

 

sure but did he get a missus and get to settle down anywhere, have a house..

whats his prospects now?

At that level he should have got a good living out of it.

 

All true but maybe he'll end up at a Conference team or something like that, nothing to stop you from keeping at it as long as there's enough money to earn a living.

I suppose it's down to that self awareness, how good are you? Can you make it at the highest level or do you have to be honest and look at a level where your ability matches the football. Ecclestone may well have made bad choices along the way but he's still a pro footballer and I'd swap with him in a heatbeat.

 

He made a living out of it from what people tell me and he's got a nice but modest house all paid for and works in a normal job now. I suppose the only thing that footballers should be aware of is that the money may well run out so save and make sure you put enough away so that if you don't ever get that big contract you've had a brilliant time playing footy and you've got some money put away to show for it.

 

I always liked Pongolle. I felt he could have been even better... He had lots of natural skill and ability. He was just missing that little extra ruthless edge.

I think he didn't live up to his full potential.

 

maybe.

he did give a bit of effort though.. the lallana of yesteryear?

 

Well if you get out of it with your health and mobility. Have your mortgage paid and have a job that you'd have gotten anyway great.

If you never went to uni or whatever and come out only able to push a broom or sack shelves not so good.

That's the way i look at it anyway.

If kicking about while getting paid is great and you end up at 35 where you would have been anyway then sure it certainly makes sense.

 

I think in general that awareness is the question, i'm sure these days now its worse cos frankly a kid now can be pulling in 5k a week for doing nothing and you are going to piss it up against a wall cos we all would wouldn't we?

I'd not swap with him though... not unless i knew how much he had i nthe bank and what pension he'd get. once he's done... **** it lifes very long after the ability to kick a ball around runs out.