Who are they? What are the 'big' names in tier three ?
The question was prompted by the thread about Sodje playing for Leeds, which set me wondering how many players in tier three I've even heard of...
That then got me thinking that a list of the best/best-known/most valuable players currently plying their trade in the division will gve us an idea of who we can realistically keep and ask to play in tier three next season.
Clearly, the captain of the largest nation in the world (ZZ) is not going to be prepared to turn up at Northampton and Hartlepool. But are there players in tier three of the same stature/value as, say, Gray, Fortune, Shelvey, Hudson - or even Racon or Semedo?
The list of top scorers suggests not. I'm familar with Beckford and Fryatt but very few of the others...
Cox Swindon 25
Lambert Bristol Rovers 25
Beckford Leeds United 24
Fryatt Leicester 24
Hooper Scunthorpe 24
Mackail-Smith Peterborough 21
Mclean Peterborough 18
Porter Hartlepool 16
Graham Carlisle 15
Hayes Scunthorpe 15
Wilbraham MK Dons 15
Guinan Hereford 14
Becchio Leeds United 13
Howard Leicester 13
Akinfenwa Northampton 12
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Yeates at Colchester
Whitbread at Millwall
Delph at Leeds
Porter at Hartlepool
That being the case perhaps we could sign him for the same amount we thought he was worth when we let him go. I'm sure Posh will be happy for him to go ona free.
Wasn't Pardew meant to be chasing McLean at Posh a year ago?
And AA, how long ago was Boyd at Charlton in the youth team? I can't place him now .
And Mackail-Smith, I vaguely know his father and he confirmed it. He also told me that while Mackail-Smith loves his football etc that the criticism of him from inside Peterborough is that he doesn't put enough chances away and at a higher level he might get found out.
If we kept half our team together we would have the best 6 or 7 in the division (strikers excepted)
I was watching the game with a pal of mine who swears he is from Chatham, not so sure myself but.....
We need some more bite and guile!
I guess one seldom thought about consequence of the mega-wages on offer in the Premier League, is the scarcity of middle-to-top ranking players ending their playing days with a spell at their local club. If you have spent 10+ years in The Premier League, there would be now be little need to move down the road to your local Div 3 or Div 4 cloggers to top up your wages for a couple of years in your mid-30s.
I also suspect that if you are a foreign import, there would be no appeal whatsoever in the above.
If you look at the top teams & players of the 70's/80's & further back - most of those players would end up in a backwater at the sunset of their playing days.
Liverpool 78 Euro Cup winning team....and where they ended up.
Clemence - Spurs (technically crap)
Neal - Bolton (3rd div)
Thompson - Sheff Utd (2nd Div)
Hansen - Liverpool
R Kennedy - Hartlepool
E Hughes - Rotherham
Dalglish - Liverpool
Case - Halifax
Fairclough - Tranmere
McDermott - Newcastle (2nd Div)
Souness - Rangers
Can you see any of the current Liverpool starting eleven ending up at Tranmere, Hartlepool or Halifax???
That was partly what I was getting at when I started this thread. I looked at the names in div one/three, and hadn't heard of any of them ! Yet, like you, I grew up in an era when great players ended their careers in the lower leagues. It just doesn't happen any more, does it?
If say, Matty Holland stays next season, he's probably going to be the biggest 'past star' in tier three ! There ued to be a cycle... Start off with a lower division side. If you're good you work your way up to a top club. And then when the legs and lungs start to go a bit, back to Hartlepool and Halifax - like half of that Liverpool 78 side.
That's all gone forever now. The lower leagues are somewhere players try to escape from , never to return. It's in that context you probably have to see the comments of someone like Bailey on going down, discussed at length elewhere on the forum.
Cox - have you seen his goal on YouTube! Never heard of him until recently but certainly seems like a good player
TBH it's often the same old names on these lists with a couple of new ones breaking through each year - it's like a merry-go-round in the lower leagues and contracts tend to be short so players play for a lot of clubs.
Bizarrely - whilst we may be "potless" our pot still contains a lot more than some of the teams in our division
If he was surplus this season now that they have been promoted he might not get a look in. Obviously on League one wages so would he be any good/ better than our current strikers at that level if no Championship clubs snap him up or was he just a flash in the pan?
They signed him when they were in the championship so I imagine he was earning pretty substantial wages for tier 3, same with that scumbag who scored yesterday
Whoever scouts strikers for Scunny we need to get hold of. Last few years they have had some good uns. Billy Sharp, Martin Paterson and Gary Hooper this season. Maybe we can get them to turn Kelly Youga into a full back again
That's why Shelvey and Racon have got to stay.
And Sam to an extent. Gives us width and if he can really step up he could set up and score goals in League One.