Players we should never have sold

[Baggio]

We never sold Distin, we tried almost everything we could to keep him.

 

I'm not too sure about that. I think once Robson secured the Bramble deal he wasn't that fussed about signing Distin.

 

The thing about Bramble was put out by Shepherd when Souness wanted to sign Distin because they knew his transfer wouldn't be popular.

 

The truth is Distin chose to sign for Man City for the money rather than sign for us and play in the CL.

[Taylor Swift]

Sir Les is up there with the Bellamy sale since Shearer's injury pretty much set us back a couple of seasons until he returned fully and SBR took over. We lost the initiative at that point but still hung in there until Souness came and sold Bellamy.

 

Just consider that, at the time of Bellamy's fallout with Souness, we had an aging and slow Shearer up front, Ameobi who hasn't developed since bursting onto the scene (though can it really be called a burst ) at 20 and the perenially injured Kluivert. Selling Bellamy costed us that season (finished 14th), and of course we looked like we had no clue in attack in the season after. We had no pace and then of course there's the Fred--Souness transfer thingy-majingy where he wanted the 4-3-3 Luque Anelka Boa Morte, but ended up with the 4-4-2 Owen Shearer thing. Selling him, even though he was a little troublemaker, is one of the moments that will be looked back on in the future with great disappointment. All he needed was someone to manage him well like SBR did. Some people will always be troublemakers but that doesn't mean that they're shite footballers. Too bad Souness was such a dumb fuckwit that he never realized this.

 

Edit - his sale might even be significant enough (if we do not recover from the position we're in now) to be compared with the sale of Gazza and them lot in the past though I'll let NE5 explain since he knows a lot more about that decade

[Rich]

Sir Les is up there with the Bellamy sale since Shearer's injury pretty much set us back a couple of seasons until he returned fully and SBR took over. We lost the initiative at that point but still hung in there until Souness came and sold Bellamy.

 

Just consider that, at the time of Bellamy's fallout with Souness, we had an aging and slow Shearer up front, Ameobi who hasn't developed since bursting onto the scene (though can it really be called a burst ) at 20 and the perenially injured Kluivert. Selling Bellamy costed us that season (finished 14th), and of course we looked like we had no clue in attack in the season after. We had no pace and then of course there's the Fred--Souness transfer thingy-majingy where he wanted the 4-3-3 Luque Anelka Boa Morte, but ended up with the 4-4-2 Owen Shearer thing. Selling him, even though he was a little troublemaker, is one of the moments that will be looked back on in the future with great disappointment. All he needed was someone to manage him well like SBR did. Some people will always be troublemakers but that doesn't mean that they're shite footballers. Too bad Souness was such a dumb fuckwit that he never realized this.

 

Decent post, but we got Luque instead of Boa Morte, from what I recall.

[Baggio]

If it wasn't the fall out with Souness it would have been something else.

 

He even fucked up his dream move to Liverpool by being a tit.

 

But he was our tit.

 

He was a petulant child who needed to be kept in line, but he'd die for this club, and he had a talent too.

 

Sometimes you can forgive as long as it doesn't go too far, i don't think it ever went too far when he was here, or at Liverpool, Liverpool saw a chance to make some money and put it towards Torres, can't blame them.

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

[Dokko]

If it wasn't the fall out with Souness it would have been something else.

 

He even fucked up his dream move to Liverpool by being a tit.

 

But he was our tit.

 

He was a petulant child who needed to be kept in line, but he'd die for this club, and he had a talent too.

 

Sometimes you can forgive as long as it doesn't go too far, i don't think it ever went too far when he was here, or at Liverpool, Liverpool saw a chance to make some money and put it towards Torres, can't blame them.

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

He had a mouth on him, but even Shearer (IIRC) said he's a player you want playing with you not against you.

 

Dyers disrespect took on all new levels, Bellamy was petulant, Dyer was a total cock end.

 

SBR lost the dressing room for one reason, FS coming out and telling the world this was Bobbys last season, after that the players went akka.

 

 

[Mick]

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

I might have missed something but I can't remember his losing the dressing room before he became a lame duck.

[Baggio]

If it wasn't the fall out with Souness it would have been something else.

 

He even fucked up his dream move to Liverpool by being a tit.

 

But he was our tit.

 

He was a petulant child who needed to be kept in line, but he'd die for this club, and he had a talent too.

 

Sometimes you can forgive as long as it doesn't go too far, i don't think it ever went too far when he was here, or at Liverpool, Liverpool saw a chance to make some money and put it towards Torres, can't blame them.

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

He had a mouth on him, but even Shearer (IIRC) said he's a player you want playing with you not against you.

 

Dyers disrespect took on all new levels, Bellamy was petulant, Dyer was a total cock end.

 

SBR lost the dressing room for one reason, FS coming out and telling the world this was Bobbys last season, after that the players went akka.

 

 

 

Dyer, Bellamy, Robert, Jenas and the rest of them were as bad as each other you could see that Sir Bobby was losing the dressing room before Shepherd said anything, he let these players get away with anything and eventually it came back to haunt him.

[Dokko]

If it wasn't the fall out with Souness it would have been something else.

 

He even fucked up his dream move to Liverpool by being a tit.

 

But he was our tit.

 

He was a petulant child who needed to be kept in line, but he'd die for this club, and he had a talent too.

 

Sometimes you can forgive as long as it doesn't go too far, i don't think it ever went too far when he was here, or at Liverpool, Liverpool saw a chance to make some money and put it towards Torres, can't blame them.

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

He had a mouth on him, but even Shearer (IIRC) said he's a player you want playing with you not against you.

 

Dyers disrespect took on all new levels, Bellamy was petulant, Dyer was a total cock end.

 

SBR lost the dressing room for one reason, FS coming out and telling the world this was Bobbys last season, after that the players went akka.

 

 

 

Dyer, Bellamy, Robert, Jenas and the rest of them were as bad as each other you could see that Sir Bobby was losing the dressing room before Shepherd said anything, he let these players get away with anything and eventually it came back to haunt him.

 

Its a fine line he walked, he knew it but FS pulled on the line when saying SBR was in his last season.

 

Robert was crying when SBR announced he'd been sacked, that's the mark of a man with no respect for him isn't it?

[Baggio]

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

I might have missed something but I can't remember his losing the dressing room before he became a lame duck.

 

The season before his last was poor compared to what we had seen before, we may have finished 5th but performances on the pitch were not up to standard and plenty wanted Robson to leave that Summer, including myself.

 

The more he let people get away with the worse they got.

[Baggio]

If it wasn't the fall out with Souness it would have been something else.

 

He even fucked up his dream move to Liverpool by being a tit.

 

But he was our tit.

 

He was a petulant child who needed to be kept in line, but he'd die for this club, and he had a talent too.

 

Sometimes you can forgive as long as it doesn't go too far, i don't think it ever went too far when he was here, or at Liverpool, Liverpool saw a chance to make some money and put it towards Torres, can't blame them.

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

He had a mouth on him, but even Shearer (IIRC) said he's a player you want playing with you not against you.

 

Dyers disrespect took on all new levels, Bellamy was petulant, Dyer was a total cock end.

 

SBR lost the dressing room for one reason, FS coming out and telling the world this was Bobbys last season, after that the players went akka.

 

 

 

Dyer, Bellamy, Robert, Jenas and the rest of them were as bad as each other you could see that Sir Bobby was losing the dressing room before Shepherd said anything, he let these players get away with anything and eventually it came back to haunt him.

 

Its a fine line he walked, he knew it but FS pulled on the line when saying SBR was in his last season.

 

Robert was crying when SBR announced he'd been sacked, that's the mark of a man with no respect for him isn't it?

 

There's a difference between not respecting someone's authority and not caring when they leave.

 

You can't tell me those players I mentioned didn't take the piss towards the end, the more Robson let them get away with the worse they got.

[Dokko]

If it wasn't the fall out with Souness it would have been something else.

 

He even fucked up his dream move to Liverpool by being a tit.

 

But he was our tit.

 

He was a petulant child who needed to be kept in line, but he'd die for this club, and he had a talent too.

 

Sometimes you can forgive as long as it doesn't go too far, i don't think it ever went too far when he was here, or at Liverpool, Liverpool saw a chance to make some money and put it towards Torres, can't blame them.

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

He had a mouth on him, but even Shearer (IIRC) said he's a player you want playing with you not against you.

 

Dyers disrespect took on all new levels, Bellamy was petulant, Dyer was a total cock end.

 

SBR lost the dressing room for one reason, FS coming out and telling the world this was Bobbys last season, after that the players went akka.

 

 

 

Dyer, Bellamy, Robert, Jenas and the rest of them were as bad as each other you could see that Sir Bobby was losing the dressing room before Shepherd said anything, he let these players get away with anything and eventually it came back to haunt him.

 

Its a fine line he walked, he knew it but FS pulled on the line when saying SBR was in his last season.

 

Robert was crying when SBR announced he'd been sacked, that's the mark of a man with no respect for him isn't it?

 

There's a difference between not respecting someone's authority and not caring when they leave.

 

You can't tell me those players I mentioned didn't take the piss towards the end, the more Robson let them get away with the worse they got.

 

I think they did, but most of it was after FS comments. Before then it was being dealt with, maybe not perfectly, but balanced out towards their contribution.

 

 

[Baggio]

If it wasn't the fall out with Souness it would have been something else.

 

He even fucked up his dream move to Liverpool by being a tit.

 

But he was our tit.

 

He was a petulant child who needed to be kept in line, but he'd die for this club, and he had a talent too.

 

Sometimes you can forgive as long as it doesn't go too far, i don't think it ever went too far when he was here, or at Liverpool, Liverpool saw a chance to make some money and put it towards Torres, can't blame them.

 

But he couldn't be kept in line, Robson's attitude of letting him and the rest of the young lads get on with it as long as he performed on the pitch caused his eventual downfall, none of them respected him in the end and it was the main reason for him losing the dressing room.

 

He had a mouth on him, but even Shearer (IIRC) said he's a player you want playing with you not against you.

 

Dyers disrespect took on all new levels, Bellamy was petulant, Dyer was a total cock end.

 

SBR lost the dressing room for one reason, FS coming out and telling the world this was Bobbys last season, after that the players went akka.

 

 

 

Dyer, Bellamy, Robert, Jenas and the rest of them were as bad as each other you could see that Sir Bobby was losing the dressing room before Shepherd said anything, he let these players get away with anything and eventually it came back to haunt him.

 

Its a fine line he walked, he knew it but FS pulled on the line when saying SBR was in his last season.

 

Robert was crying when SBR announced he'd been sacked, that's the mark of a man with no respect for him isn't it?

 

There's a difference between not respecting someone's authority and not caring when they leave.

 

You can't tell me those players I mentioned didn't take the piss towards the end, the more Robson let them get away with the worse they got.

 

I think they did, but most of it was after FS comments. Before then it was being dealt with, maybe not perfectly, but balanced out towards their contribution.

 

 

 

We'll have to agree to disagree.

[Mick]

 

The season before his last was poor compared to what we had seen before, we may have finished 5th but performances on the pitch were not up to standard and plenty wanted Robson to leave that Summer, including myself.

 

The more he let people get away with the worse they got.

 

We hardly lost a game in his last full season, we drew too many games which needed addressing and we would have been back in the top 3 if he'd been given the chance and pulled it off.

 

As for him losing the dressing room, what exactly happened?

 

Bellamy got into trouble when in Wales on international duty, Dyer crashed his car on the way to training and was rumoured to burn money and had a sex film out.  Robert wrote stupid articles on his website and always backed down when Robson questioned him, he always came back and said he'd been misquoted which suggests that he had some respect for Robson.  We also had players accused of rape but nothing came of it.

 

[Rich]

 

The season before his last was poor compared to what we had seen before, we may have finished 5th but performances on the pitch were not up to standard and plenty wanted Robson to leave that Summer, including myself.

 

The more he let people get away with the worse they got.

 

We hardly lost a game in his last full season, we drew too many games which needed addressing and we would have been back in the top 3 if he'd been given the chance and pulled it off.

 

As for him losing the dressing room, what exactly happened?

 

Bellamy got into trouble when in Wales on international duty, Dyer crashed his car on the way to training and was rumoured to burn money and had a sex film out.  Robert wrote stupid articles on his website and always backed down when Robson questioned him, he always came back and said he'd been misquoted which suggests that he had some respect for Robson.  We also had players accused of rape but nothing came of it.

 

 

You also can't underestimate the Thursday-Sunday (sometimes Saturday) nature of our big UEFA Cup Campaign that season, as well, from what I remember we only won something like 2 out of 11 league games which directly followed a European game (2 in 13 it would be including the Partizan fixtures). There has to be more to it than simply saying "we didn't perform to the same level we had done previously", there has to be some rhyme and reason for it.

 

Partizan finished Robson and that squad/era, for me, more than anything else. Much like Spurs and Jol missing out on CL qualification on the last day after "lasagne-gate", they never recovered from it and the fans weren't the same afterwards either.

[Baggio]

 

The season before his last was poor compared to what we had seen before, we may have finished 5th but performances on the pitch were not up to standard and plenty wanted Robson to leave that Summer, including myself.

 

The more he let people get away with the worse they got.

 

We hardly lost a game in his last full season, we drew too many games which needed addressing and we would have been back in the top 3 if he'd been given the chance and pulled it off.

 

As for him losing the dressing room, what exactly happened?

 

Bellamy got into trouble when in Wales on international duty, Dyer crashed his car on the way to training and was rumoured to burn money and had a sex film out.  Robert wrote stupid articles on his website and always backed down when Robson questioned him, he always came back and said he'd been misquoted which suggests that he had some respect for Robson.  We also had players accused of rape but nothing came of it.

 

 

Bellamy got arrested for kicking some girl while out on the piss, he also threw a chair at Carver.

 

The players on the whole were losing focus because Robson was far too soft with them, Dyer refusing to play out of position highlighted how little authority he had at the end, you can blame it on Shepherd as much as you want but it was a slow building process rather than everyone turning on him once Shepherd opened his mouth.

 

As for the season we finished 5th, the football was poor but luckily for us everyone else behind us was too, the fans were turning on Robson because of it and it was made clear after the game against Wolves, it wasn't just a simple case of people moaning at finishing 5th as the club was clearly heading in the wrong direction on the pitch.

[Dave]

What's he up to these days btw?

[GM]

What's he up to these days btw?

 

Who?

[Mick]

 

Bellamy got arrested for kicking some girl while out on the piss, he also threw a chair at Carver.

 

The players on the whole were losing focus because Robson was far too soft with them, Dyer refusing to play out of position highlighted how little authority he had at the end, you can blame it on Shepherd as much as you want but it was a slow building process rather than everyone turning on him once Shepherd opened his mouth.

 

As for the season we finished 5th, the football was poor but luckily for us everyone else behind us was too, the fans were turning on Robson because of it and it was made clear after the game against Wolves, it wasn't just a simple case of people moaning at finishing 5th as the club was clearly heading in the wrong direction on the pitch.

 

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Carver threw a punch at Bellamy before Bellamy threw the chair, not that he should have thrown it.

 

As for what everybody else did the season we finished 5th, it's irrelevant how others do, going by that logic I could say that Bobby finishing 5th was better than when we finished 2nd under Dalglish because we gained more points.  I wouldn't say that though because you compare teams season by season.

 

13th under Roeder was better than 14th under Souness even though Souness got an extra point over Roeder.

[Dave]

What's he up to these days btw?

 

Who?

 

Bellamy.

[Baggio]

What's he up to these days btw?

 

Who?

 

Bellamy.

 

Injury prone.

[Mick]

What's he up to these days btw?

 

He's currently injured with a groin strain or something, his third injury this season.

[Baggio]

 

Bellamy got arrested for kicking some girl while out on the piss, he also threw a chair at Carver.

 

The players on the whole were losing focus because Robson was far too soft with them, Dyer refusing to play out of position highlighted how little authority he had at the end, you can blame it on Shepherd as much as you want but it was a slow building process rather than everyone turning on him once Shepherd opened his mouth.

 

As for the season we finished 5th, the football was poor but luckily for us everyone else behind us was too, the fans were turning on Robson because of it and it was made clear after the game against Wolves, it wasn't just a simple case of people moaning at finishing 5th as the club was clearly heading in the wrong direction on the pitch.

 

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Carver threw a punch at Bellamy before Bellamy threw the chair, not that he should have thrown it.

 

As for what everybody else did the season we finished 5th, it's irrelevant how others do, going by that logic I could say that Bobby finishing 5th was better than when we finished 2nd under Dalglish because we gained more points.  I wouldn't say that though because you compare teams season by season.

 

13th under Roeder was better than 14th under Souness even though Souness got an extra point over Roeder.

 

But the standard of football had clearly dropped from previous seasons, you could tell Robson had taken us as far as he could and we were going backwards, his petty vendetta against Solano and refusal to drop Jenas were two of his biggest downfalls.

 

Liverpool had the right idea when they moved Houllier on, they had their eye on Rafa for a while and in the Summer they made their move, we should have done the same that Summer and moved Robson on.

[Mick]

 

But the standard of football had clearly dropped from previous seasons, you could tell Robson had taken us as far as he could and we were going backwards, his petty vendetta against Solano and refusal to drop Jenas were two of his biggest downfalls.

 

Liverpool had the right idea when they moved Houllier on, they had their eye on Rafa for a while and in the Summer they made their move, we should have done the same that Summer and moved Robson on.

 

I agree about Nobby and Jenas, I still think he could have turned things around and should have been given the chance and support, look at the transfer policy towards the end. 

[Baggio]

 

But the standard of football had clearly dropped from previous seasons, you could tell Robson had taken us as far as he could and we were going backwards, his petty vendetta against Solano and refusal to drop Jenas were two of his biggest downfalls.

 

Liverpool had the right idea when they moved Houllier on, they had their eye on Rafa for a while and in the Summer they made their move, we should have done the same that Summer and moved Robson on.

 

I agree about Nobby and Jenas, I still think he could have turned things around and should have been given the chance and support, look at the transfer policy towards the end. 

 

Shepherd's interference at the end was a complete fuck up and plays a big part in the position we find ourselves in now, I don't think Robson would have turned us around though although he would still of been better than Souness.

[fredbob]

 

But the standard of football had clearly dropped from previous seasons, you could tell Robson had taken us as far as he could and we were going backwards, his petty vendetta against Solano and refusal to drop Jenas were two of his biggest downfalls.

 

Liverpool had the right idea when they moved Houllier on, they had their eye on Rafa for a while and in the Summer they made their move, we should have done the same that Summer and moved Robson on.

 

I agree about Nobby and Jenas, I still think he could have turned things around and should have been given the chance and support, look at the transfer policy towards the end. 

 

Shepherd's interference at the end was a complete f*** up and plays a big part in the position we find ourselves in now, I don't think Robson would have turned us around though although he would still of been better than Souness.

 

I'd of liked to of found out if he could of turned things around rather than sack him and never know. Relegation was never gonna be an issue and we still had the UEFA cup to look forwardto.