Where did my career go (the Francis Jeffers Story)

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Michael Owen surely worth a mention.

gnfnrhead

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Michael Owen surely worth a mention.

Liverpool, Real Madrid and Man United. Why would he get a mention? He has faded in later years but has achieved quite a lot. By my count he has about 150 Premier League goals to his name.

flyswatter

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Michael Owen surely worth a mention.

No way. He had huge trouble with injuries. Very unfair to put him here. Was even scoring for R Madrid when he was on the bench all the time.

Leiva

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Michael Owen surely worth a mention.

WTF ?

EdenHazard

flyswatter wrote: »

No way. He had huge trouble with injuries. Very unfair to put him here. Was even scoring for R Madrid when he was on the bench all the time.

Owen was finished as a top player by 28. He defo deserves a mention. He's not exactly a Francis Jeffers case but his plight just seemed out of nowhere. He was an England regular and then suddenly, never appeared again.

flyswatter

EdenHazard wrote: »

Owen was finished as a top player by 28. He defo deserves a mention. He's not exactly a Francis Jeffers case but his plight just seemed out of nowhere. He was an England regular and then suddenly, never appeared again.

Are you even taking into account his injuries? He was a wonderkid who delivered on his promise and developed into a top class striker with many Premier League goals. He's not far off a 1/2 strike rate at International level. 40 goals.

He should be nowhere near this thread.

Ironman76

padd b1975 wrote: »

Alex Manninger.

Had some great performances for Arsenal in the late '90s then vanished.

He was immense for Arsenal, never understood why they sold him. One of the better keepers Ive seen play. I think he went to Fiorentina.

dreamers75

Amazed the thread lasted this long before the Pool ****e

Club
Liverpool
FA Cup (1): 2000–01
League Cup (2): 2000–01, 2002–03
FA Community Shield (1): 2001
UEFA Cup (1): 2000–01
UEFA Super Cup (1): 2001
Manchester United
Premier League (1): 2010–11
League Cup (1): 2009–10
FA Community Shield (1): 2010
[edit]Individual
Ballon d'Or (1): 2001
BBC Sports Personality of the Year (1): 1998
Premier League Golden Boot (2): 1997–98, 1998–99
Premier League Player of the Season (1): 1997–98
PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 1997–98
PFA Premier League Team of the Year (1): 1997–98
Premier League Player of the Month (1): August 1998
FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award (1): France 1998
Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1): Domestic Team of the Decade

yes indeed Michael where did it all go wrong.

Arsenal
Premier League Runner-up (1) : 2002–03
FA Cup Winner (2) : 2001–02, 2002–03
FA Community Shield Runner-up (1) : 2003
Arsenal won Premier League 2001–02, but Jeffers did not play enough games to receive medals
Motherwell
Scottish Cup Runner-up (1) : 2010–11

EdenHazard

Come on its not a criticism of Owen but at his age now he could still be a top class striker, as it is he plays as reserve for Stoke.

BrownBear11

Frannie Jeffers? He grew a beard and changed his name to Stevie Fletcher

http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://img.skysports.com/09/10/218x298/Francis-Jeffers-Sheffield-Wednesday_2369961.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.skysports.com/football/player/0,19754,11703_35860,00.html&h=298&w=218&sz=17&tbnid=LTrxUVuTeRn_4M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=66&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfrancis%2Bjeffers%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=francis+jeffers&usg=__Y2-KbjiPOKw5WVgiRIwbZ3YJqjg=&docid=E535hDJ7_NIlsM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tWrKUM3uLcuIhQeeqoDgCA&ved=0CIsBEP4dMBA

http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=stevie+fletcher+sunderland&um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&tbm=isch&tbnid=zpMZdXC4ZfbDqM:&imgrefurl=http://www.click-sports.com/transfers/sunderland-announce-the-capture-of-adam-johnson-and-steven-fletcher&docid=yrJbmDDz9QNV2M&imgurl=http://www.click-sports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Steven-Fletcher-Sunderland.jpg&w=1056&h=594&ei=CmvKUNOtF9GChQe8g4HADw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=703&vpy=144&dur=340&hovh=132&hovw=242&tx=136&ty=46&sig=105319215629230975004&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=242&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:89&biw=1241&bih=584

Equium

Tomas Brolin springs to mind. After impressing as an adventurous midfielder for numerous sides in his native Sweden, newly promoted Parma snapped him up. Brolin helped his side to a combined 4 domestic and European titles in just 5 years. He also achieved a third place finish with the national team at USA 94. The ambitious Italians, however, brought in players like Stoichkov and (the apparently gun-toting) Faustino Asprilla which forced the Swede towards an exit to Leeds.

That was the start of a meteoric fall from grace. He and manager Howard Wilkinson never saw eye to eye, and several clashes saw him shipped off, without pay, to Zurich and then Parma. He failed to make an impression at either club. A mutual cancellation of his contract saw him leave Yorkshire with the dubious honour of being ranked at #2 in The Times' poll of the 50 Worst footballers to grace the Premier League.

A season at Crystal Palace didn't fare much better for all parties involved. At just 29, Brolin returned to Sweden for one last adventure - He played the last 15 minutes of a game, in goals, for hometown club Hudiksvall in the lower echelons of domestic football. Last seen plying his trade on the world poker stage.

flas

Francie Barrett wrote: »

People used to talk about Bojan in the same sentence as Messi. To me at least, he always seemed brainless. Eamonn Dunphy looks to have been proved right.

Bojan plays with ac milan!?am i completely missing the point of this thread,michael owen was mentioned for God's sake?!

Francie Barrett

flas wrote: »

Bojan plays with ac milan!?am i completely missing the point of this thread,michael owen was mentioned for God's sake?!

5 years ago, Bojan was probably the most hyped player in Europe. He had broken most of Messi's records at Barca and it was pretty much a given that he was going to be a huge player for them.

Muff_Daddy

flas wrote: »

Bojan plays with ac milan!?am i completely missing the point of this thread,michael owen was mentioned for God's sake?!

He's hardly setting the world alight at Milan is he?

Fact is he scored a ridiculous number of goals at Barca youth level (something like 500 goals) and was touted as the best young player in the game around 2008/09, but his career so far hasn't come close to the hype that surrounded him.

Giovani Dos Santos was another product of that Barcelona youth team who's career has floundered.

Francie Barrett

Muff_Daddy wrote: »

He's hardly setting the world alight at Milan is he?

Fact is he scored a ridiculous number of goals at Barca youth level (something like 500 goals) and was touted as the best young player in the game around 2008/09, but his career so far hasn't come close to the hype that surrounded him.

Giovani Dos Santos was another product of that Barcelona youth team who's career has floundered.

Scored 10 goals in 30 games in his first season when he was only 17. He was supposed to be even better than Messi.

Leiva

EdenHazard wrote: »

Come on its not a criticism of Owen but at his age now he could still be a top class striker, as it is he plays as reserve for Stoke.

Nope.

you have just totally missed the whole gist of this thread .

that is all .:)

EdenHazard

Leiva wrote: »

Nope.

you have just totally missed the whole gist of this thread .

that is all .:)

Nahhhhhh nahh not at all. I get the point of the thread, its more reserved for the likes of promising youngsters who ended up at obscure far reaching clubs.

Owen is just a really high profile example, relatively speaking I think him warming the bench for Stoke at 31 is a bigger fall from grace than Jeffers playing for Floriana!

srfc19

EdenHazard wrote: »

Nahhhhhh nahh not at all. I get the point of the thread, its more reserved for the likes of promising youngsters who ended up at obscure far reaching clubs.

Owen is just a really high profile example, relatively speaking I think him warming the bench for Stoke at 31 is a bigger fall from grace than Jeffers playing for Floriana!

Hes just turned 33 and hes been injured since he joined them, just coming back to fitness now so shouldn't be judged on this season.

Hes played with some of the biggest teams in the world and is now winding down his career but still trying to play at a high level.

A bigger fall from grace than a highly rated player being signed for serious money, becoming an international and ending up playing in Malta 10 years later??

You my friend, have COMPLETELY missed the point of the thread.

LuckyLloyd

Placeholder: James McClean

Guy:Incognito

srfc19 wrote: »

Hes just turned 33 and hes been injured since he joined them, just coming back to fitness now so shouldn't be judged on this season.
.

At 29 Utd signed him as a back up/ break glass in case of emergency player. He should have been in his prime.

He should have be away and clear as the all time top scorer for England a long time ago.

Not a great example of what the thread is about but worthy of an OT mention.

Guy:Incognito

EDIT Double post.

EdenHazard

So apparently Jeffers played for 2 games, scored a goal and was let go?

Andersonisgod

Alan Smith. Remember that performance against Roma? Went to Newcastle, ended up really far down the pecking order and I no longer know who he plays for.

EdenHazard

NO NO NO NO YOUVE COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT OF THE THREAD! think of the INJURIES!


*only joking yeah i seen him on ssn the other day, big old lad now with MK Dons!

srfc19

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Alan Smith. Remember that performance against Roma? Went to Newcastle, ended up really far down the pecking order and I no longer know who he plays for.

Lads, there is a huge difference here....Both Alan Smith and Michael Owen have been and still would be unbelievable players if it wasn't for injuries.

Players like Franny Jeffers, Keith Foy, Michael Branch, Michael Johnson.....these players had it all and p1ssed it up against the wall.

Think about this, Michael Owen has 162 goals in 358 club league appearences (almost 1 every 2) Francis Jeffers has 39 goals in 237 (a goal every six games).

After Liverpool, Owen played for Real Madrid, Newcastle, Man Utd and Stoke City. After Arsenal, Jeffers played for Charlton, Newcastle Jets and Floriana.

If you think they are even slightly comparable you are downright barking.

Crackle

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Alan Smith. Remember that performance against Roma? Went to Newcastle, ended up really far down the pecking order and I no longer know who he plays for.

He's with MK Dons now.

gnfnrhead

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Alan Smith. Remember that performance against Roma? Went to Newcastle, ended up really far down the pecking order and I no longer know who he plays for.

Bar one really good season for Leeds, I don't think he was ever really that good to begin with. For a striker, his goals to game ratio is shocking. Especially one who spent three seasons at Man United.

Andersonisgod

srfc19 wrote: »

Lads, there is a huge difference here....Both Alan Smith and Michael Owen have been and still would be unbelievable players if it wasn't for injuries.

Players like Franny Jeffers, Keith Foy, Michael Branch, Michael Johnson.....these players had it all and p1ssed it up against the wall.

Think about this, Michael Owen has 162 goals in 358 club league appearences (almost 1 every 2) Francis Jeffers has 39 goals in 237 (a goal every six games).

After Liverpool, Owen played for Real Madrid, Newcastle, Man Utd and Stoke City. After Arsenal, Jeffers played for Charlton, Newcastle Jets and Floriana.

If you think they are even slightly comparable you are downright barking.

Ye I get that Smith's descent into obscurity wasn't as profound as Jeffers (not many are) but I thought he was worth a mention given that he seemed to be a fairly important player at Man Utd only to end up at Newcastle and barely kick a ball in the end for them and now MK Dons, all in a relatively short space of time.

tallaghtmick

Dont know if Anthony La tellec and the other French lad Pongolle have been mentioned,those 2 had a class underage record when Pool signed them.

ASOT

EdenHazard wrote: »

So apparently Jeffers played for 2 games, scored a goal and was let go?

They couldnt afford to pay his wages....

klose

tallaghtmick wrote: »

Dont know if Anthony La tellec and the other French lad Pongolle have been mentioned,those 2 had a class underage record when Pool signed them.

I remember pongolle scoring goals in the champions league the year we won it and in the fa cup when we won that too, earned his 2 medals and moved for first team football. Fair play to the lad

Wexfordboy89

Wexfordboy89 wrote: »

owen garvan seems to have lost his way a bit ok hes only 24 and at crystal palace but 4 or 5 years ago he was being talked about being the next bit thing in irish football.and the young lad from dublin who was team mate at Ipswich town played in goal think he retired to be a chef or some thing.think the dublin senior football team wanted him to play for them this year.

Garvan could well play Premier League with Palace next season here's hoping. Looks a tidy footballer. Comes from a bit of a footballing dynasty with Con Martin his maternal granddad and Con jr and Mick Martin being his uncles

Trevor Molloy looked a good prospect in the 1997 u20 world cup where Ireland finished 3rd. A good question would be what happened to the bulk of that team. Only Duffer and Robbie seemed to have progressed from it.

starviewadams

starviewadams wrote: »

Good article about Ronnie O'Brien:

http://www.wsc.co.uk/the-archive/31-Players/2428-bad-breaks

Apparently has a decent MLS career. The Juve thing was bizarre.

ben.schlomo

tallaghtmick wrote: »

Dont know if Anthony La tellec and the other French lad Pongolle have been mentioned,those 2 had a class underage record when Pool signed them.

Both have had solid careers in top division football in Spain and France. Sinama-Pongolle has also played top division in Russia and Portugal so again not in the same class as the meaning of the thread.

dreamers75

Deleted User wrote: »

Trevor Molloy looked a good prospect in the 1997 u20 world cup where Ireland finished 3rd. A good question would be what happened to the bulk of that team. Only Duffer and Robbie seemed to have progressed from it.

http://greenscene.me/2011/02/republic-of-ireland-at-the-1997-fifa-world-youth-championship/

Article on them there.

Played for Pats(twice) ,Rovers (twice), bohs and few others and now is player coach at Bluebell. We sold him twice

token101

Bosko Balaban. Playing in Malaysia now. 9 appearances in nearly three years at Villa. Good return on 6 million!

Ulysses Gaze

Mateja Kezman.

tallaghtmick

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Both have had solid careers in top division football in Spain and France. Sinama-Pongolle has also played top division in Russia and Portugal so again not in the same class as the meaning of the thread.

Solid but not what was expected of them.

Ken.

Stan Collymore. Wasted talent.

Aenaes

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

Mateja Kezman.

Didn't really agree with this so just checked Wikipedia.

"Kežman has played top-flight football in Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, England, Spain, Turkey, France, Russia, Hong Kong and Belarus and has won league championships in five of these countries."

"Kežman went to score 81 goals over the following three seasons with PSV. His best season in terms of both goals and appearances was 2002–03 when he played 33 out of 34 of PSV's matches and scored 35 goals to help them win the title."

He was Serbia and Montenegro's top scorer in 2006 World Cup qualifying. Club career appearances: 334 Goals: 238.

ben.schlomo

tallaghtmick wrote: »

Solid but not what was expected of them.

Hardly a wasted career a la Jeffers though.

tallaghtmick

Adrian Mutu? Hows he doing now after snorting away his Chelsea career?

ben.schlomo

tallaghtmick wrote: »

Adrian Mutu? Hows he doing now after snorting away his Chelsea career?

Dont mean to pick on just your selections but he has had a relatively successful career, top flight in Italy and Frnace, has played for Juve, Fiorentina and is currently in the French top division with Ajaccio, he has 191 in 496 career club games, not bad really.Also has 34 international goals.

ohyesthefinest

Anyone remember Mads Timm? Played CL for Man Utd against Maccabi Haifi when he was 17. He was meant to be the next big thing. Then he got 12 months in jail for dangerous driving coming home from training. He then went to a few Danish teams and retired around 24 due to lack of motivation. Going by Championship Manager he'd be the best player in the world by now. A true waste. Anyone else remember him?

tallaghtmick

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Dont mean to pick on just your selections but he has had a relatively successful career, top flight in Italy and Frnace, has played for Juve, Fiorentina and is currently in the French top division with Ajaccio, he has 191 in 496 career club games, not bad really.Also has 34 international goals.

I know you're not I was just asking because I haven't heard anything about him since Fiorentina,how much did Chelski sue him for?

tallaghtmick

ohyesthefinest wrote: »

Anyone remember Mads Timm? Played CL for Man Utd against Maccabi Haifi when he was 17. He was meant to be the next big thing. Then he got 12 months in jail for dangerous driving coming home from training. He then went to a few Danish teams and retired around 24 due to lack of motivation. Going by Championship Manager he'd be the best player in the world by now. A true waste. Anyone else remember him?

Yes he won me many trophies

Fergie even gave the lad a chance after the jail time.

Thatsfootball

Remember Carlos Alberto? Think he was the lad who scored in the Porto CL winning final game. Was supposed to be the next big thing too!

dreamers75

ohyesthefinest wrote: »

Anyone remember Mads Timm? Played CL for Man Utd against Maccabi Haifi when he was 17. He was meant to be the next big thing. Then he got 12 months in jail for dangerous driving coming home from training. He then went to a few Danish teams and retired around 24 due to lack of motivation. Going by Championship Manager he'd be the best player in the world by now. A true waste. Anyone else remember him?

Played vs Pats for Odense in 2007, last i seen or heard from him.

EdenHazard

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Dont mean to pick on just your selections but he has had a relatively successful career, top flight in Italy and Frnace, has played for Juve, Fiorentina and is currently in the French top division with Ajaccio, he has 191 in 496 career club games, not bad really.Also has 34 international goals.

I was gonna disagree with this, but then I looked at his stats. he did have an above average career. I presumed playing for Ajaccio was a sign of his plight but he's 33 now so suppose where else would he be?

I've noticed tho people seem to object to any player who enjoyed good careers in their early career, like Alan Smith, but he is definitely an example of where someones career went. The last time he performed really was at Man Utd, and despite early promise (as a striker) from what I can see hasn't scored over 50 goals in his career. That's absolutely terrible like.
It be like if Torres moved from Chelsea, and then struggled again at his next club, it would also be an example of where someones career went, even more so than some 15 year old who everyone thought was gonna be amazing and ended up in Tesco.