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Player You Thought Would Make It, But Never Did


fizoxy
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Forbes for me, aye.

 

His passing is unreal and has a beauty of a shot on him.

 

However it takes more than that to even be a solid and lasting top level player in Scotland.

 

Overall lack of pace and ability/lack of want to put a decent tackltacklunfortunately meant he didnt make it with us or Thistle.

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Ross Forbes defintely looked like he had talent, but it wasn't quite enough. It one thing not being able to get about the park like a young PhIl O'Donnell but he looked like he was towing a caravan and whilst I agree there should and is a lot more to being a footballer than their engine if he'd had the talent required he'd have got past that impediment and thrived regardless. As it was he could on a good day brighten up a game but he wasn't a Scottish Pirlo lost to the game. Seems to be doing pretty well for Morton now so least he making a living.

 

Mark Fitzpatrick I genuinely thought would be at least the next Lasley, seemed really similar when he came through, never looked a superstar but commited, seemed to have no fear and was decent at everything. Never seemed quite as confident in himself after an illness, was it glandular fever?

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Given the overemphasis on speed and power we have in Scottish football, I'm surprised Forbes couldn't find a coach to add a yard or two to his game. I know you can't create natural speed from nowhere, but you look at the training a team like Arsenal does to build their players athletically as well as their ball skills, and you wonder if something like that could have helped him out.

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Given the overemphasis on speed and power we have in Scottish football, I'm surprised Forbes couldn't find a coach to add a yard or two to his game. I know you can't create natural speed from nowhere, but you look at the training a team like Arsenal does to build their players athletically as well as their ball skills, and you wonder if something like that could have helped him out.

It definitely would have. Wether he wanted to do it or not would be a different story.

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I'm sure it was Dundee utd , wishart was set to sign for before his 'glamour' move to st mirren.

 

 

Yes, I thought it was Dundee United he was lined up to go to. I thought it was reported the club had accepted a £400k bid but he didn't want to go there as he wanted to go to St. Mirren as he supported them and the club were miffed as they were only offering £275k. We had to accept the lower fee as he had his heart set on going there.

 

Somebody mentioned Greg Denham and his horror show against Ayr - he was one I really had high hopes for until then.

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Remember Dougie Ramsay? Looked a decent prospect and scored an absolute belter at Dunfermline one day. Vanished without a trace shortly afterwards.

Ramsay came into the team at the same time as Lasley and I remember thinking he looked a much better prospect than Keith. Shows what I know!

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Although he went on to haver a fairly decent career sadly cut short by injury, always thought Stevie McMillan was destined for great things. Same can also be said about Hammell to an extent - while he has had a solid career with us, when he first burst through he stood out for me and thought he go on to be an International.

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A name that I doubt few will remember but is ingrained in my memory as my pals used it as a stick to beat me with when it came to judging players potential is paul shepstone. If I remember right wee tam signed him from Blackburn rovers and I'm sure we had a football manager style inter squad friendly in the pre-season and this guy ran riot.

 

I went to a few reserve games that season and he always did the same. I don't think he ever made an appearance (I can't be bothered checking on Wikipedia) but as I say I told everyone who'd listen this guy was the next big thing.

 

In my defence I must have been about 12 at the time.

 

Eta he did make one appearance and was never seen again. He also had an England youth cap so he must have had something about him at one point

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Two guys I used to watch in the reserves in the 80's that I thought were great but never made it were Jim Gardiner and Mark Caughey. I remember Caughey scoring a hat-trick against Celtic and he was on fire that day. I spoke to Jim Gardiner years ago when he was playing for Swansea and he wasn't very complimentary of wee McLean. Said it was him that never really give him a chance in the first team,

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I'd contest that Gardner has a fair deal to thank McLean. He might have had one of two outings beforehand but he had the faith on him to throw him into the Cup winning team and be involved in Europe.

 

Gardner had pace to burn but at times he looked like a frightened rabbit when possession of it.

 

I agree there was unfulfilled potential there but would argue Jim didn't make the most of his opportunities.

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