Impact players
Following on from the departures of Caleb Taylor and Aaron Morley, I got to wondering (this is how my brain works) about other players who have made a similar impact on the team despite playing relatively few matches.
Consequently I have come up with a top XI. Players who I think made the most impact in the quarters.
The rules: must have made at least ten appearances, and no more than 50.
My team: 4-1-2-1-2 (appearances in brackets)
Tom HEATON (16)
Nico YENNARIS (17) - Josh KNIGHT (39) - Caleb TAYLOR (20) - Nigel LONWIJK (13)
Aaron MORLEY (23)
Eberechi EZE (22) - Peter MURPHY (47)
Noel ASHFORD (50)
Nicky EVANS (41) - Peter LOWEN (21)
I must admit it was pretty tricky. There are some fantastic players I've left out of my team.
What say you?
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Comments
Nice idea, and list!
Essandoh would be a good one! Sub as an honourable mention?
Freddie Potts also won POTS with 42 appearances.
Freddie Potts and Roy Essandoh both qualify. I couldn't get them in my team though.
Trotta so close to qualifying
I’ll start you off with three
Jordan Ibe
John Akinde
Kortney Hause
I’m most disappointed you’ve started the criteria at 10 games.
Barry Richardson would be first on this list having played once for us. What an afternoon that was!
Adrian Mann burned brightly but briefly, not sure how many appearances though.
If Luke Moore had made four more appearances, he'd have made the list (and we might have stayed up that season).
Interesting question.
I immediately thought of Ben Townsend and Martyn Lee as ex youth teamers who made their impact on the semi final FA cup run but checking the appearance stats on COTN looks like Lee wouldn’t qualify (51) so would just be Townsend (22), but would have him in over Yennaris.
I’d also have Rob Lee over Peter Murphy for his performances in ill fated 2005-06 season. The job he did for that team at 39 or however old he was was incredible.
I think any less than ten appearances and it's difficult to justify the impact.
I had Kortney Hause on my shortlist, Ibe and Akinde were really memorable of one game, much like Richardson. They could be included in a one-game wonders category maybe.
Adrian Mann made eight appearances so misses the cut.
Cyrille Regis…
The rules exclude Steven Taylor and yet he seems almost the prime example for single handedly changing the team with a small number of appearances.
If we’re sticking to the rules, I’m a huge fan of Josh Knight but Darius Charles has got to be in there instead.
Is it cheating to suggest Richard Kone?
He’s played too many games already
@Commoner Yep, it was between Cyrille and Nicky for me. I have a soft spot for the latter and the former did struggle a little in the second half of 1994/95.
@Chris Haha! If I’d seen it I might’ve chosen Richard. I guess they have to have moved on though.
I really struggled to choose between Josh and Darius and kept changing my mind. They’re so close. Josh really was classy for us though.
if you cheat wildly, Paul Hayes (first spell only)
Didn't Ben Townsend play right through the FA Cup run?
Then completely disappeared.
Yes, about three/four years after the Cup semi he stopped playing.
Still lives in Reading and is in the building trade. One of the other Dads on my son’s footy team knows him well and says he never had any regrets giving up as he felt he could make a better career elsewhere.
* He continued to play after 2004/5 but part time and found full time employment.
Darius Charles for me. He made such an impact in terms of the vibe and story of a squad that was all about vibe and story.
Only made 35 league appearances for us, feels impossibly low.
I also had Frankie Fielding, Tony Craig, Dennis Adeniran, Nicky Reid, Kadeem Harris and Uche Ikpeazu on my list.
I didn’t realise what a varied journey Kadeem Harris had been on since leaving us.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadeem_Harris
I knew up to the Sheff Wed bit (where I think he played against us) but not the part where he went to Ukraine, then a string of Turkish clubs, then ending up with L2 whipping boys Carlisle.
It’s a long time since I’ve seen him play, and I have an inkling that professional scouts may know a leeeetle bit more about football than I do, but still surprised that he dropped that low.
Have we ever done a team of the worst players to have made more than, say, 50 appearances?
50 is a lot of appearances to not be very good
That’s what makes it interesting. I’ll knock up an XI when I get the chance.
Probably a few who did really well in short periods but also had longer spells with less impact, Mawson second time round was great, Guppys short return, PCH, Fred etc.
Could include Scotty Kashkets initial period too before injuries took their toll.
Really struggling for centre backs but here are my first thoughts - I’m sure I’m missing some obvious ones, and there are some decent players in there too.
Talia
McCoy Rogers Foster Beeton
Harkin Kretzchmar Horgan Roberts
Stonebridge Faulconbridge
This feels very mean spirited to me
Surprised at you Chris
Kretzschmar was not bad at all. However, all of the players I'm thinking of made just 15-30 appearances so its quite tough (e.g. de Havilland, Phillips, Parker, Southwell, Sellers)
Had to do a double check to see this was you posting this.
Danny Rowe made 54 appearances
And was pretty good at times, shouldn't be anywhere near a worst players eleven, although why we need one at all for players who've by definition given a year or mores service is questionable.
Scott Davies’ first loan in the 2009/10 season was pretty good - more disappointing after that