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Player You Thought Would Make It, But Never Did


fizoxy
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I can mind thinking we had signed a cracking striker in Derek Adams. Came with a great scoring record at Ross County and then showed sublime technique to score a consolation on his debut (I think) against Celtic. He went on to be a good servant for Motherwell but not the striker I expected.

 

There have been numerous young players on the fringes who showed brief glimpses of promise before quickly disappearing down the leagues and/or out the game. I fear Craig Moore is about to join that group. The only one the club wrongly let go was Lawless.

 

When I was young, two players I quickly latched onto in the early 90s were McGrillen and Burns. Again both went on to have decent careers but neither notched up the number of goals for Motherwell that I envisaged.

 

And finally, Ross Forbes, I've rarely seen such technique and composure in a young Motherwell player. Evidently he didn't have the engine but surely with the right coaching, he'd have played at a high level.

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Adam Coakley

Shedloads of goals

Followed by a cracking rabbit in headlights impression

Shaun Fagsn

Whose entire career was a header v Celtic.

Stephen Craig

Who left for a bigger club, FC Oblivion I think, where he teamed up with Brian Kerr

Did Fagan not score a bit of a belter against Falkirk?

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I mind Adams first goal, he brought it down on the edge of the six yarder and finished from a tight-ish angle. From then on in he was pretty much used in midfield, where he did a decent job.

 

Toastie had a decent career, with some good seasons at the top level. What's the story with junior burns? I've heard a lot about him being a hard luck story.

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Andy Ritchie, a great natural talent, however, he never quite fulfilled his potential.

 

AndyRitchie.jpg

The Ambling Alp

Best memory of him at FP. Midweek game, we were making our way out and stopped to watch him take a corner at the corner next to what was the terracing exit under the far end of the main stand. Game was shit,lot of abuse getting hurled at Andy, who stops in mid kick and shouts" Gonny keep the noise down, there's people tryin' tae sleep here"

Superb

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It would be Fraser Wishart for me. You might argue that playing the bulk of his senior career in the top flight and having spells at both Rangers and Hearts he did pretty well but there was always a feeling that his career never reached the heights it should have.

 

His crossroads came when he decided to move on from Fir Park in 1989 after two or three excellent seasons at Motherwell, when he was reckoned to be one of the most promising full-backs in the country. As I recall there were rumours that a move to Celtic was being lined up as his contract wore down but when that didn't materialise he was left in something of an awkward situation. His way out was a face-moving move to St Mirren. Aye! St Mirren!!

 

Instead of the talked of Scotland caps he suffered relegation with both St Mirren and Falkirk.

 

He did well to get a gig at Ibrox for a spell and then Tynecastle but I recall him as being a bit-part player with both and he was never the same player he had been when he returned to Motherwell for a season towards the back end of his career.

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It would be Fraser Wishart for me. You might argue that playing the bulk of his senior career in the top flight and having spells at both Rangers and Hearts he did pretty well but there was always a feeling that his career never reached the heights it should have.

 

His crossroads came when he decided to move on from Fir Park in 1989 after two or three excellent seasons at Motherwell, when he was reckoned to be one of the most promising full-backs in the country. As I recall there were rumours that a move to Celtic was being lined up as his contract wore down but when that didn't materialise he was left in something of an awkward situation. His way out was a face-moving move to St Mirren. Aye! St Mirren!!

 

Instead of the talked of Scotland caps he suffered relegation with both St Mirren and Falkirk.

 

He did well to get a gig at Ibrox for a spell and then Tynecastle but I recall him as being a bit-part player with both and he was never the same player he had been when he returned to Motherwell for a season towards the back end of his career.

I remember my dad telling me a version of that story.

 

His version was he (wishart) thought he was getting a big move to Celtic, it never materialised, and hell mend him...

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Andy Ritchie, a great natural talent, however, he never quite fulfilled his potential.

 

AndyRitchie.jpg

He was quite happy, though. Loved his day job and just played football for fun.

 

I remember reading an article about him after he 'retired'. I think he had moved to London as his job, from memory, was working with troubled and underprivilged kids - basically Social Work.

 

He was still playing for his local amateur team and nobody had a clue who he was. So they were always amazed when this overweight Scottish guy turned on his ball skills.

 

Amazing talent. Arguably the most naturally gifted Scottish player I have ever seen. Could curl a 40 yard free kick with no run up and could literally beat defenders without moving.

 

And loved chatting to the fans - mostly in the middle of games.

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I remember my dad telling me a version of that story.

 

His version was he (wishart) thought he was getting a big move to Celtic, it never materialised, and hell mend him...

Aye, he definitley thought a Celtic move was guaranteed. I don't know if it was his agent the misled him or Celtic were messing with him, but the St Mirren move was definitely not a career progression at that time.

 

Great player, though.

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I remember watching Stevie Hammell in the Scotland U21 team that beat Germany away in 2003 thinking he would go on to be Scotlands left back in the big team for years to come. Been a great servant to our club but cant help but think he should have more Scotland caps.(He is in good company in that regard right enough).

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I remember watching Stevie Hammell in the Scotland U21 team that beat Germany away in 2003 thinking he would go on to be Scotlands left back in the big team for years to come. Been a great servant to our club but cant help but think he should have more Scotland caps.(He is in good company in that regard right enough).

Was at that game too...Ahlen, near Dortmund!!

 

Cannae believe it was over 12 years ago right enough...Think from memory, the under21s had a smashing team at that point.

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