We all have heroes from the past, we also all have memories of players who looked great but never quite made it, injuries, drink, bad decisions, a whole host of reasons but they are there, you know the nearly men....Lita, Brooker or Noble... Mine are.. Gerry Sharpe, he used to excite me going down the wing and then we heard the crack of a shattered leg, career over.. Kevin Mabbutt, we all thought he was going right to the top, believed in his own reputation but never quite made it.. Paul Cheeseley, came back to us from Norwich, a striker had a fierce shot with either boot, great header of the ball, great goal against the Arsenal, then that injury by Peter Shilton and career over.. Three players that used to excite me and became my nearly men, who are yours......?
Cheesley an obvious one for me - injury not his fault Second choice would be Jacki - sounds a bit controversial, but how good could he have been but for the drink/women etc? Third choice - Leroy - I think he had the tools to be a top Premiership player
Cheesely is of course obvious one, but really liked David Noble, but drink, food , women not in that order maybe, lack of fitness was a shame, but will always remember that goal against palarse in play off 1st leg.
Think leory made it as far as he could mid to bottom of premier league Maynard could be the biggest one in recent years
might sound strange to some,but chris garland great touch and pace, when he moved to chelsea i really thought he'd crack it, but just seem to lose it there.
Wizered, I would disagree with you about Cheesley's injury being caused by Shilton. Paul had had problems with that knee in the promotion season and missed some games because of it. I remember he came off at Blackpool in April because of it.
I have three nearly men, all of whom promised so much as youngsters but never made it as senior players. Maybe a timely warning about our current crop. John Giles 1966 ish John Bain 1976/7 Billy Menmuir 1970
Injury ' Just three days after the victory at Arsenal, City were playing again, at home to Stoke City. It was during this game that, in one brutal moment, Cheesley’s promising career was ended. A cross came into the box and he rose to challenge England 'keeper Peter Shilton for the ball, getting there first and heading over. It was a harmless-looking clash but he landed badly, ripping his cartilage, tearing ligaments and chipping a bone in his knee. At the age of 23, and with a blossoming career ahead of him, he was taken off and never ran back onto the pitch in a City shirt again. Despite an attempted comeback he was forced to retire from league football with just one more appearance to his name [3]. He went on to have spells with non-league clubs, including Yeovil Town. He is currently the landlord of The Knowle Hotel [4], Leighton Road, in Bristol.' Cider, I just lifted this off of Wiki, not always right I know but normally a good indicator...
Surely in recent seasons Lee Trundle has to be up there? After that debut I thought he was going to rip the league apart. Didn't score many more after that but still one of my favourite city players, had a ridiculous level of skill. Not a nearly man in that he was a promising youngster, just in that I thought he could've had a much bigger impact.
Yes I know what happened as I was there with a good view in the Dolman. I thought wrongly that you were repeating what many said at the time that it was Shilton's fault. Cheesley did a lot of damage then but he was already having problems with the same knee the season before. But definitely one of City's top nearly men considering his age, performances and potential.
'that you were repeating what many said at the time that it was Shilton's fault' Shilton knew what he was doing landing on Cheese, keepers fought back a bit in those days. Ok he wouldn't have tried to put him out of the game forever, but he did.
Another name that springs to mind is Jennison Myrie-Williams - I thought he was going to make it when he first came into the team Maybe Craig Woodman?
Damien Spencer played around the 99/00 season. When he started, he terrified Stoke City. Just flopped after and we released him.
Myrie williams scored, or at least set up a goal, on Monday for someone else i think. He is still playing, but not at a decent level. Always seemed a bit headless to me, but exciting when we brought him on to liven up the forward line. Leroy Lita looked decent in the early days. Shame he turned out to be a fat twat. I had high hopes for Ivan Testamantato (can't spell it). He looked hard as nails and scored a great goal once. But it didn't last for long enough.
