Len Finsbury Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 I'm going to have to say Mark Draper too. Our first million pound signing and you could just tell. We had a terrible team that first time in the Prem under Brian Little but whenever Drapes was on the ball, I was confident of him not only keeping it but doing something with it. Who can ever forget the Draper Turn too! I never felt as though he ever reached his potential at Villa. He was certainly international quality but other than a squad call up, he never got a cap, did he? Such a shame. What a player he could have been in the right team, not necessarily ours, but had he gone to a top side things may well have been different for him. Still one of my all time favourite players despite only being with us for one season. A bit like Cambiasso too!
Bryn Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Would be delighted to have Gradel, Knockaert, McAuley and Nugent right now, and Dyer last season. Fulop
bluebeau Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 In the past there have been many players that we should not have sold, but let us not forget that until fairly recently we have always been a 'selling club' & that is the reason that most of the players named left City. Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton, Emile Heskey, Mark Draper, Alan Clarke, Julian Joachim, Junior Lewis etc etc A change of subject, but one player from not too long ago that we definitely should have signed was Mark Davis. What a terrific midfielder he was, he controlled play brilliantly & is still playing well in a crap team i.e. Bolton.
urban.spaceman Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Heskey for me. That Sunderland game showed so much promise for the club (having just won the cup a week earlier); Collymore and Heskey worked so well together and looked to be a very promising era for us. Heskey left that week, but if he'd stayed until at least the summer I reckon we could have finished even more strongly, MON might have decided to stay for another year and so would have Lennon and we would have progressed even more from there. Too many what ifs; besides if any of that had happened then we might not be where we are now! STILL can't believe we got £11m for him.
themightyfin Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Mike Newell (Got bloody Wayne Clarke in part-ex) David Kelly (By far the best of a bad bunch) Steve Corica(Injury after he left cut short his playing days) Mark Draper(Playmaker way to good for us!) Spider Kalac(Was never given a chance again after a couple of howlers) Kevin Campbell (Could have got him for £300,000 when he first came here) Max Gradel (So much talent) Knocky(Don't sell Knockaert...Bloody gave him away!)
deep blue Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Neil Lennon. That was the beginning of the end to O'Neill's team and led to 10 years of struggle. Taylor has a lot to answer for. No, the beginning of the end was the sale of Heskey, which triggered O'Neill's departure. This set in train Taylor's appointment and Lennon's eventual departure, which was the nail in the coffin.
Leicester_Numan Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Heskey for me. That Sunderland game showed so much promise for the club (having just won the cup a week earlier); Collymore and Heskey worked so well together and looked to be a very promising era for us. Heskey left that week, but if he'd stayed until at least the summer I reckon we could have finished even more strongly, MON might have decided to stay for another year and so would have Lennon and we would have progressed even more from there. Too many what ifs; besides if any of that had happened then we might not be where we are now! STILL can't believe we got £11m for him. I still can't believe they paid £11m for such a talented, dangerous player and turned him into Michael Owen's target man doing all the donkey work, a job he was exceptionally good at but what a waste.
Aus Fox Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Julian Joachim was bloody brilliant and had the potential to go on and play for England and be a top striker. Until The move to Villa which ruined him, always hated villa for this and Brian Little.
Haydos Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Knockaert - think he could of done well this season under Ranieri. Letting him go on a free is a mistake. Hobbs - basically what others have said Gradel - could of fitted in very well with our side Waghorn & Marshall - a little different because they let them selves down. They both had massive portenital when they first joined us and could of gone on to better things. But they sort of just went crap in the end. Even though Waggy is scoring! I agree with Knockaert. He could do some great things with a football. He wasn't without his weaknesses but he was young enough to work on them and he had a hell of a lot of natural ability. Unfortunately at his age he wanted and needed playing time. He was a great player for us but it was fair to let him go. If he was happy to sit around and wait for his chance then different story but I don't think that was the case. He clearly still has a soft spot for us based on social media.
shen Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Yakubu, 11 goals in 20 games spoke for itself, no matter how lazy he was. Gelson Fernandes, thought he was a decent player at the time. These were never ours to sell. Knockaert and Gradel are obvious ones that should have at least commanded a much bigger fee. I never understood why we sold the latter for peanuts to bloody Leeds who got to enjoy him as well as sell him on for a very neat amount! In Knockaert's case I believe it was out of respect for what he had done for the club, which is fine by me. Letting Callum Davidson and Taggart leave on frees as well was rather criminal...
Oxfordfox83 Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 For me, the two that stand out are Draper (as people have said, our outstanding player for that first season in the top flight in my lifetime). Feel like he deserved a better club than Villa, maybe a big Italian club like Barcelona. The other one was Joachim. He was breaking into the England set up when that injury hit him, and just as we got him fit he went to Villa and again never quite fulfilled his potential. A real live wire and instinct player, like a more direct Mahrez, his partnership with Walshy was fantastic to witness. Think with a tiny bit more luck he'd have been one of the best.
Nick Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 This thread is a bit weird - like people pining for lost love.... Knocky and Nugent were fan favourites but we are top of the league now without them - time to let go. It's not like we sold either of them to big clubs for a profit... there's reasons for that.
AKCJ Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Would loved to have seen Knocky in this squad. Think he would have flourished under Ranieri as I think he would have given him free reign to express himself and not coached all of the flair out of him like Pearson did. I know people banged on about his lack of pace but by being able to play with both feet I personally don't think it was as big a problem as some made out. Some people really do talk absolute bollocks about Knockaert.
Strokes Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 This thread is a bit weird - like people pining for lost love.... Knocky and Nugent were fan favourites but we are top of the league now without them - time to let go. It's not like we sold either of them to big clubs for a profit... there's reasons for that. I'd say say it's perfectly normal swan, I don't think I've ever been down the football without someone talking about players gone by with affection. We invest such a lot of emotions in these players, it's natural to still reminisce when they're gone. Nugent and knocky should go down in folklore with some of the other greats. One of my favourite ever City players was Scotty Taylor, it still upsets me that his time here got cut short, despite what we went on to achieve.
ian_marshall Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Some people really do talk absolute bollocks about Knockaert. Really?!? If you're going to have a pop at least do us the courtesy of explaining why. I thought this forum was about opinions. You may not agree and you're more than entitled to your own views but is there really any need to lower the tone of the thread with offensive language?
DB11 Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Maxi Gradel is the only player that springs to mind. Sentimentally I liked Lloyd and Knocky though
Bryn Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 I'm thrilled there are players in our recent history that I miss. It shows how the club has been reborn. In those dark years from 2004-2008 where we had a high turnover of shit players I had absolutely no affection for any of them and that's sad.
surrifox Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Frank Mclintock. Crapper even than taylor as a manager but a player to build a whole team around - nowhere near his full potential when he left the club
shen Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Really?!? If you're going to have a pop at least do us the courtesy of explaining why. I thought this forum was about opinions. You may not agree and you're more than entitled to your own views but is there really any need to lower the tone of the thread with offensive language? Pearson coached out the flair of Knockaert? Behave man. The way Mahrez is tracking back these days, does that mean Ranieri is coaching out the flair of him too?
oldbluefox Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Ally Brown - left City as a young lad of just 20. Went to West Brom and had a good career there.
Wymsey Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Lloyd Dyer - I thought he had another year or so in him. He was immense in his last season with us, and not to be seen at Watford now.
ithuriel Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 Already mentioned but Matt Piper, looked a real gem in our final season at Filbert in the Prem, then we went and sold him to Sunderland and an injury ruined his career before it really took off.
Collibosher70 Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 So many but Gary mcallister for me...what a player
HighPeakFox Posted 9 December 2015 Posted 9 December 2015 For me, the two that stand out are Draper (as people have said, our outstanding player for that first season in the top flight in my lifetime). Feel like he deserved a better club than Villa, maybe a big Italian club like Barcelona. The other one was Joachim. He was breaking into the England set up when that injury hit him, and just as we got him fit he went to Villa and again never quite fulfilled his potential. A real live wire and instinct player, like a more direct Mahrez, his partnership with Walshy was fantastic to witness. Think with a tiny bit more luck he'd have been one of the best. You're all very kind to have failed to mock this
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