Players who started off terrible but became good

[Clyde1998]

I think it's a little unfair to say youth players coming through started off terrible, as they do usually need a little bit of time to adapt to first team football and may not be 100% ready, but are being used to cover a hole in the first team.

I tend to find the players signed for the first team being poor as more problematic, even when they may be better than the alternative youth player - the former should be (mostly) ready for regular first team action and the latter should learn, develop and improve as a result of their experience.
.

You didn’t say we had to be ‘fair’ !
For me the progress made by Williams from looking like he’d gone straight from Woodley Wanderers U15 to our first team to playing 350 games and being one of our top defenders of all time is what is remarkable. After that first game I never expected to see him wear the shirt again !

You can be as 'fair' as you like! I'm merely stating I wouldn't include younger players; others can if they like.

[Snowflake Royal]

I think it's a little unfair to say youth players coming through started off terrible, as they do usually need a little bit of time to adapt to first team football and may not be 100% ready, but are being used to cover a hole in the first team.

I tend to find the players signed for the first team being poor as more problematic, even when they may be better than the alternative youth player - the former should be (mostly) ready for regular first team action and the latter should learn, develop and improve as a result of their experience.
.

You didn’t say we had to be ‘fair’ !
For me the progress made by Williams from looking like he’d gone straight from Woodley Wanderers U15 to our first team to playing 350 games and being one of our top defenders of all time is what is remarkable. After that first game I never expected to see him wear the shirt again !

You can be as 'fair' as you like! I'm merely stating I wouldn't include younger players; others can if they like.

I think they're fair game if we're talking over a more prolonged period like Richards.

[Crusader Royal]

You didn’t say we had to be ‘fair’ !
For me the progress made by Williams from looking like he’d gone straight from Woodley Wanderers U15 to our first team to playing 350 games and being one of our top defenders of all time is what is remarkable. After that first game I never expected to see him wear the shirt again !

You can be as 'fair' as you like! I'm merely stating I wouldn't include younger players; others can if they like.

I think they're fair game if we're talking over a more prolonged period like Richards.

On the basis that the first time I saw Olise come on as a sub for the u21 side I thought he’d be a star I’m happy to have seen Adi come on as a sub and me think he looked shocking - and be proved wrong ! Those instant judgements can come back to haunt you.
I recall seeing Doyle play in a preseason at Farnborough just after we signed him and being totally unimpressed.

[Snowflake Royal]

You can be as 'fair' as you like! I'm merely stating I wouldn't include younger players; others can if they like.

I think they're fair game if we're talking over a more prolonged period like Richards.

On the basis that the first time I saw Olise come on as a sub for the u21 side I thought he’d be a star I’m happy to have seen Adi come on as a sub and me think he looked shocking - and be proved wrong ! Those instant judgements can come back to haunt you.
I recall seeing Doyle play in a preseason at Farnborough just after we signed him and being totally unimpressed.

Whilst you can certainly have snap judgments and they can even be reliable, I don't think you can say a player 'started terribly' based on one game. Whatever the age, but especially a young player.

Each to their own though.

[stealthpapes]

I went to one preseason game, Summer 2006, and we had this burly Australian striker. Worked hard, scored a goal.

Wonder what ever happened to him?

[blythspartan]

Sonko looked pretty kamikaze to start off with.

[ham]

I remember thinking Stephen Hunt must be shite when we got him. He wasn’t convincing in his first few months but then came good.

[bakerlou]

Great shout on Adrian Williams - IIRC he started up front, then was a utility player before setting at CB.

Regarding Murty, we signed him (for £750k) as an attacking right midfielder / winger, that's where he was playing at York City (for example when York won 3-0 at Old Trafford in a League Cup game). He played a couple of times, looked abysmal, and then was out injured for 6 months. He signed the same time as Sean Evers - anyone remember him?

[Clyde1998]

My Dad reckons Glen Little was fairly poor when we had him on loan, but became good once he signed him permanently. Apparently, he played in a different position when he was on loan (centre-mid?), so that's probably a factor for his improvement.

[leon]

My Dad reckons Glen Little was fairly poor when we had him on loan, but became good once he signed him permanently. Apparently, he played in a different position when he was on loan (centre-mid?), so that's probably a factor for his improvement.

I would agree on Glen Little. I was kind of unimpressed during the loan bearing in mind his reputation from Burnley but when he signed he was off the scale.

[SCIAG]

Cummings, Blackman, Long (with the asterisk that he started pretty well), Kebe, Mola, all good shouts.

Carrico did improve a lot between that awful first half against West Brom where Lukaku bullied him and that famous cameo against Liverpool where he came on for half an hour and was excellent. Memory may be deceiving me but I remember him consistently controlling the ball well and playing perfectly crisp passes. If he'd been fully fit, firstly I don't think we'd have signed him, and secondly I think he'd have made a huge difference.

Actual suggestions - Kalifa Cisse? Went from not being a good enough replacement for Sidwell, to a solid Championship midfielder, to a very reliable centre back.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Saied Ezatolahi - looked OK, blighted by injuries, went on to play (very well) in the World Cup Finals for Iran.

[From Despair To Where?]

Cummings, Blackman, Long (with the asterisk that he started pretty well), Kebe, Mola, all good shouts.

Carrico did improve a lot between that awful first half against West Brom where Lukaku bullied him and that famous cameo against Liverpool where he came on for half an hour and was excellent. Memory may be deceiving me but I remember him consistently controlling the ball well and playing perfectly crisp passes. If he'd been fully fit, firstly I don't think we'd have signed him, and secondly I think he'd have made a huge difference.

Actual suggestions - Kalifa Cisse? Went from not being a good enough replacement for Sidwell, to a solid Championship midfielder, to a very reliable centre back.

I remember Cisse having some decent games at CB in the Premier League.

[Royal Ginger]

Wasn’t Federici pretty dreadful as a regular understudy then suddenly excellent as a number 1?

[Sutekh]

Good shouts on Cummings, Kebe, Blackman and Mola. Probably fair to include both Knibbs and Campbell from the current crop.

I'll add in Leigertwood and Little. Leigertwood played just a few days after joining and had one of the worst debuts I can remember. Little looked bang-average in his 6 game loan spell. Massive underwhelment when we signed him permanently the following year.

Cummings utterly god awfully useless right back signed by Rodgers from Chelsea. Then McDermott (was forced to) put him in at left back (I think) v Cardiff in the play offs and he was the best player on the pitch and never looked back. He’s 35 now and not been in the game since leaving Donny in early 2019.

[Clyde1998]

Good shouts on Cummings, Kebe, Blackman and Mola. Probably fair to include both Knibbs and Campbell from the current crop.

I'll add in Leigertwood and Little. Leigertwood played just a few days after joining and had one of the worst debuts I can remember. Little looked bang-average in his 6 game loan spell. Massive underwhelment when we signed him permanently the following year.

Cummings utterly god awfully useless right back signed by Rodgers from Chelsea. Then McDermott (was forced to) put him in at left back (I think) v Cardiff in the play offs and he was the best player on the pitch and never looked back. He’s 35 now and not been in the game since leaving Donny in early 2019.

Had a check and Cummings played on the wing in that play-off semi as Kebe, Robson-Kanu and Antonio were both missing from the squad (certainly the first two were injured).

[Royal Rother]

David Crown.

[traff]

David Crown.

Agreed,
The Gary Byrd version the same year was far superior.

[Royal Rother]

David Crown.

Agreed,
The Gary Byrd version the same year was far superior.

[traff]

David Crown.

Agreed,
The Gary Byrd version the same year was far superior.

Sure this was used as an attempted song for him at somepoint
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/r ... &FORM=VIRE