Geo V Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Im sure between us we have read hundreds of footballing autobiographies and were suprised with some of the transfers that some players nearly made or some managers almost got. Maybe it wasnt from a book but from a rumour or local paper. I`ll start mine with an article in the Merc about 15 years ago.. Ally Mauchlen - Leicester to Glasgow Rangers for £750k - If only we had a nutter like this in defence today . To those who are too young to remember him (Im sure you would have heard the stries ) he was a totally commited "proper" defender who always gave all for the club. He was Scottish (you would never have guessed from the name) and Ranger apparently bid £750k for him which was a hefty fee for us but for some reason we turned it down and also didnt tell him until after the event and reports from a mate fo mine working at the club at the time said he went beserk The main ones that spring to mind involve Fergie and Man Utd. Its quite common knowledge that he has chased Alan Shearer for years but when he was about to leave Southampton they wanted him but he held talks with Fergie and Dalglish but King kenny tempted him to Blackburn. Apparently Shearer has a hatred for the club! Another funny one was Graham Taylor calling Fergie up not long after he took over at Man Utd and offered him John Barnes for £900k because Barnes wanted to leave Watford. Fergie turned it down because he wanted to stick with his then squad the prat and he admits he didnt know much about Barnes. What an error that was. Another player who played for Liverpool was Peter Beardsley but before he went there, Fergie called Newcastle and told them of his interest. His chairman at the time said he would allow him £3m to spend on Quasimodo but the Newcastle boss at the time (I forget his name) said he wasnt for sale. Fergie went on his hols and got a call telling him that Beardsley signed for the Scousers for £1.9m!! There are such fine lines in footy and this one typifies who fine those lines are because the difference between success and failure at times is miniscule. Ferguson was a fan of then Sheff Weds striker David Hirst. He wanted to buy him but the chairman said he was too expensive. Fergie persuaded him to make an offer so the chairman who I think was Martin Edwards went over to watch the game with Sheff Weds and he was due to table a bid after the game. It all went wrong though for Hirst but ultimately right for United. Hirst suffered a serious injury and I think hsi career virtually ended because of the injury so Ferguson, needing a striker with tiem running out mentioned Leeds Eric Cantona. The lucky barsteward!
Koke Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 One that sticks out for me is the Ronaldinho - Man Utd saga. Had he signed for United, they'd have conquered Europe at least once. But apparantly Peter Kenyon & Co. were too greedy to pay up those extra 4 million quid to PSG (as the deal was). PSG got offended and felt disrespected by United and straight away sold him to Barca.
Shum Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 When Leicester were to sign either Ade Akinbiyi or Eidur Gudjonsson... oh how things might have been different!
Ric Flair Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 I heard from a mate of mine that about 10+ years ago, Coventry agreed to sign David Trezeguet when he was very young for about £1 million. But it fell through. Hahaaaaa couldn't of happened to a nicer club.
Mort Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 When Leicester were to sign either Ade Akinbiyi or Eidur Gudjonsson... oh how things might have been different! Is that true? :pinch:
Geo V Posted 15 May 2007 Author Posted 15 May 2007 When Leicester were to sign either Ade Akinbiyi or Eidur Gudjonsson... oh how things might have been different! I havent heard that one to be fair!
The People's Hero Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Johann Cruyff to Leicester nearly happened - I've heard.
Geo V Posted 15 May 2007 Author Posted 15 May 2007 Johann Cruyff to Leicester nearly happened - I've heard. You havent been subscribing to the LCFC text service again have you mate ??
davieG Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Johann Cruyff to Leicester nearly happened - I've heard. It did, it did, well nearly - Jock Wallace
City Fan Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 I havent heard that one to be fair! Yeah its true, Peter Taylor chose Akinbiyi instead so Eidur Gudjohnsen went to Chelsea.
davieG Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Yeah its true, Peter Taylor chose Akinbiyi instead so Eidur Gudjohnsen went to Chelsea. I don't think Taylor ever considered Eidur, this 'myth' has evolved because they were both available at the same time and around the same transfer fee.
Geo V Posted 15 May 2007 Author Posted 15 May 2007 Yeah its true, Peter Taylor chose Akinbiyi instead so Eidur Gudjohnsen went to Chelsea. I`ll be back in a sec, just gonna go and slit the wrists.
mancunianfox Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 I don't think Taylor ever considered Eidur, this 'myth' has evolved because they were both available at the same time and around the same transfer fee. I thought that Gudjohnsson was a longstanding target of Martin O'Neill's but Taylor chose not to continue interest and signed Akinbiyi instead. Don't have a source for that but thats how I understood it. The most famous I can think of is the Maradona/Sheffield United story. In 1978, the Sheffield United manager Harry Haslam saw the 17-year-old Maradona in action on a scouting trip to Argentina and was so impressed he immediately arranged a £200,000 deal.But that deal fell through when United, then in the Second Division, failed to stump up the cash. So Haslam signed another Argentine instead, River Plate midfielder Alex Sabella for a club-record £160,000. The same article mentioned that Ipswich turned down both Ruud Gullit and Gazza after they had trials at Ipswich.
davieG Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 I thought that Gudjohnsson was a longstanding target of Martin O'Neill's but Taylor chose not to continue interest and signed Akinbiyi instead. Don't have a source for that but thats how I understood it.The most famous I can think of is the Maradona/Sheffield United story. The same article mentioned that Ipswich turned down both Ruud Gullit and Gazza after they had trials at Ipswich. Well that just proves the point just because MON had an interest has no bearing on Taylor, all managers have their own preferences and Taylor was never even close to sign Eider.
City Fan Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 I don't think Taylor ever considered Eidur, this 'myth' has evolved because they were both available at the same time and around the same transfer fee. This is an extract from the Leicester v Chelsea programme in the season 03/04 (The 'Todays Visitors' Page). "Eidur Gudjohnsen spend two years with Bolton Wanderers before joining Chelsea at the same time as Hasselbaink. He was linked with a move to Leicester when Peter Taylor became manager but Taylor opted to sign Ade Akinbiyi"
Father Ted Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 It did, it did, well nearly - Jock Wallace Ive heard that aswell, him and Wallace were best mates but he was stolen at the eleventh hour
davieG Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 This is an extract from the Leicester v Chelsea programme in the season 03/04 (The 'Todays Visitors' Page)."Eidur Gudjohnsen spend two years with Bolton Wanderers before joining Chelsea at the same time as Hasselbaink. He was linked with a move to Leicester when Peter Taylor became manager but Taylor opted to sign Ade Akinbiyi" We've been linked with everyone and anyone doesn't make any of it remotely true. Bullshit is bullshit even if it's in writing.
BigGibbo Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 I don't think Taylor ever considered Eidur, this 'myth' has evolved because they were both available at the same time and around the same transfer fee. well surely he would have known about gudjohnsen then they both went for 5 million something at the same time peter taylor needs sh@@ting
davieG Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 well surely he would have known about gudjohnsen then they both went for 5 million something at the same time peter taylor needs sh@@ting Can't argue with that, the argument about Eider & Aki.... falls flat on it's face. Anyone who even considered the possibility of signing Aki... wouldn't, couldn't possess the intelligence to know that Eider even existed. Case proven, case closed.
dandannieldanok Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Hardly a great transfer saga but a few years ago we very nearly captured Marlon Harewood. West Ham pinched him from under our noses and he has proved to be a good signing.
Tommeh Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Obviously Ronaldinho Barca as opposed to Man you also Gerrard to Chelsea which fell through, I think this may have been the end of Liverpool competing in the top 4 and would have seen Chelsea raise the bar even more.
Jordan Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Alfredo Di Stefano's transfer to Spain, where he was to alternate seasons between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Di Stefano never played for Barcelona due to reasons that have never been confirmed--did Barca give up the deal on their own, or did Franco meddle with the deal? Anyway, Di Stefano stayed with Real Madrid and the rest is history--five European Cups and eight league titles.
Joe. Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 Obviously Ronaldinho Barca as opposed to Man youalso Gerrard to Chelsea which fell through, I think this may have been the end of Liverpool competing in the top 4 and would have seen Chelsea raise the bar even more. Yeah that's a good one to pick out. Liverpool would be in trouble without Gerrard in terms of winning silverware. He is Mr. Liverpool...
Father Ted Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 How about Reo-coker, we almost got him when wimbledon went bankrupted, same with another player, a striker, can't remember his name though
City Fan Posted 15 May 2007 Posted 15 May 2007 We've been linked with everyone and anyone doesn't make any of it remotely true. Bullshit is bullshit even if it's in writing. Its not like bullshit made up in the tabloids, it is from our own programme. But no, you must be right!
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