Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content
davieG

Greatest Leicester City XI - Midfielders

By davieG, in Leicester City Forum

Greatest midfielders  

136 members have voted

  1. 1. Midfielders as in a 433 - you can vote for 3

    • Hugh Adcock
      1
    • Davie Gibson
      26
    • Lenny Glover
      15
    • Muzzy Izzett
      112
    • Neil Lennon
      65
    • Steve Lynex
      4
    • Kevin McDonald
      0
    • Gary McAllister
      33
    • Garry Parker
      17
    • Don Revie
      6
    • Mike Stringfellow
      7
    • Keith Weller
      75

Recommended Posts

davieG

davieG

Posted
Posted

This'll be a toughie!

 

You can Vote for 3

 

In our search for the greatest Leicester City team of all time, we now move our focus to the engine room of the side – the midfield. We are looking for those players with vision and attacking flair, with the ability to make as well as score goals, but also those crunching ball-winning powerhouses who will keep possession in the heart of the pitch.

As with the goalkeepers and the defenders, please keep sending in your thoughts and selections on who would make your all-time midfield. Here is our shortlist.

 
  1. ​5071716.jpg

    Mike Stringfellow

  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •
  • •

 

 

Hugh Adcock

Position: Right wing

Appearances: 460

Verdict: While Arthur Chandler holds the record for the most number of goals for City – we will come to him tomorrow – he may not have scored half as many had it not been for Adcock’s pin-point service. After signing for £200 from Loughborough Corinthians in 1923, Coalville-born Adcock played a key role in City’s promotion to the top flight by clinching the Division Two title in 1925 and the Division One runners-up spot just four years later. Recognised for his wonderful delivery, Adcock was awarded five full England caps.

Davie Gibson

Position: Central midfield

Appearances: 339

Verdict: One of the most naturally-gifted footballers ever to grace the Filbert Street turf, Gibson was signed from Hibernian for £25,000 in 1962 – and what a bargain it turned out to be. With graceful control and sublime passing skill, Gibson was influential in City’s journey to Wembley in both 1963 and 1969. He was no slouch when it game to finding the net, either, scoring 53 goals for the club, including strikes in both legs of the triumphant 1964 League Cup final. He picked up the scandalously low total of seven full Scotland caps, bagging three goals to boot.

Lenny Glover

Position: Left wing

Appearances: 305

Verdict: Glover became the most expensive winger in English football when he was signed by Matt Gillies in 1967 for £80,000. Division Two defences simply had no answer to his blistering pace and skillful trickery as Frank O’Farrell’s side clinched the title in 1971. In the top flight, Glover continued to show his class, flair and vision as he frequently laid chances on a plate for City’s star striker Frank Worthington to slot home.

Muzzy Izzet

Position: Central midfield

Appearances: 319

Verdict: The jewel in the crown of Martin O’Neill’s Premier League side that continually punched above its weight. Originally a season-long loan signing from Chelsea before agreeing terms on a permanent deal worth £800,000 in 1996, Izzet struck up a formidable partnership with Neil Lennon. Blessed with wonderful close control and majesty on the ball, the Turkey international was the playmaker in a side that clinched promotion to the top flight, as well as winning two League Cup titles during his time at Filbert Street.

Neil Lennon

Position: Central midfield

Appearances: 208

Verdict: His prodigious work-rate and dogged resilience as a ball-winning holding midfielder often overshadowed the superb vision and play-making skills that Lennon also possessed. A mainstay of City’s play-off winning side in 1996, he also won two League Cups during his time at the club. His leadership qualities saw him handed the Northern Ireland captaincy, with whom he won 40 caps. Martin O’Neill’s first purchase during his tenure at Filbert Street, for £750,000 from Crewe, Lennon eventually left to rejoin O’Neill at Celtic for £5million more than City paid for him.

Steve Lynex

Position: Right wing

Appearances: 240

Verdict: His pace and trickery down the flank caused defenders nightmares, while also exciting City fans, throughout the early-80s. Signed from Birmingham City for £60,000 in 1981, Lynex, pictured above, was influential in City’s charge to the 1982 FA Cup semi-final and the promotion in the year that followed. He was clinical from the penalty spot, racking up 23 during his time at Filbert Street. He even famously turned his hand to goalkeeping in the 1982 FA Cup clash against Shrewsbury, when Mark Wallington and stand-in Alan Young both got injured.

Kevin MacDonald

Position: Central midfield

Appearances: 155

Verdict: A combative ball-winning midfielder with excellent vision, MacDonald breathed confidence, verging on cockiness, in everything he did. He was more than capable of turning his hand to defensive duties when required to fill in for the injured Larry May during the 1983 promotion season. Sometimes, MacDonald’s temperament could be called into questions – he became the first City player to be sent off twice. He moved to Anfield for £400,000 in 1984, where he collected an FA Cup winner’s medal two years later. He returned to Filbert Street on loan the following year but only made three appearances, a shadow of his former self.

Gary McAllister

Position: Central midfield

Appearances: 225

Verdict: A classy playmaker, McAllister was one of the few shining lights in a City side that found themselves relegated to Division Two in 1987. McAllister flourished under the managerial tenure of David Pleat and was soon attracting the eye of bigger sides. While he was moulded into a fine player during his time at Filbert Street, McAllister’s finest days arguably came once he had moved to pastures new at Leeds and then Coventry. Also capped 57 times for Scotland.

Garry Parker

Position: Central midfield

Appearances: 147

Verdict: There has arguably never been a better reader of the game in the middle of the park than Garry Parker. The former Nottingham Forest man always seemed to have so much time on the ball, while his vision and distribution were truly second-to-none. His ice-cool temperament under the most immense of pressures was typified in his effortless slotting home of the penalty in the 1996 play-off final. Not only was he named man of the match, he also went on to be awarded the player of the season gong.

Don Revie

Position: Attacking midfielder/deep-lying centre-forward

Appearances: 143

Verdict: Taken under the wing of Sep Smith on his arrival at the club, Revie was calm and collected on the ball, a change to the direct style of play the fans were used to, and it took a while for them to warm to him. But he became a club hero as his two FA Cup semi-final goals against Portsmouth in 1949 sealed City’s place in the final. Broken blood vessels in his nose a week before the final not only cost Revie his place at Wembley, but almost his life. He was named Footballer of the Year in 1955 while at Manchester City, and also scored four goals for England in the six full caps he earned, before going on to manage the national side.

Mike Stringfellow

Position: Left midfield

Appearances: 370

Verdict: Phenomenally quick and strong, Stringfellow was regarded as one of the most feared attacking forces in the country. Signed for £25,000 from Mansfield in 1962, his looping header against Liverpool secured City’s place in the 1963 FA Cup final the following year. For the next five seasons, he took his goal tally into double figures. In an odd sense, he was almost a victim of his own ability as opponents resorted to simply hacking him down as the only way to curb his pace and strength. That resulted in the latter part of his City career being marred by several crippling injuries, although Stringfellow never stopped giving his all until a move to Nuneaton in 1975.

Keith Weller

Position: Right wing

Appearances: 297

Verdict: A match-winner in every sense of the term, Weller exuded talent and class from every pore. Oozing skill and panache, his two mazy FA Cup goals against Luton and Norwich – in his famous white tights – encapsulated the breathtaking ability that saw him earn four England caps. Sometimes temperamental, Weller infamously refused to take the field for the second half of a league game against Ipswich in 1974. For all his endless talent, his only club honour came in the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Chelsea in 1971, before his move to City in the summer.

Also considered, but failed to make the shortlist:

Alan Birchenall (1971-77) was a hugely flamboyant and entertaining part of the Jimmy Bloomfield side of the 1970s, playing 183 times for City. However, as a member of our final judging panel, City’s club ambassador is ineligible for selection.

Laurie Cunningham@ (1985-86) was a classy, skillful winger who made 15 appearances for the club and was hugely influential in helping City survive relegation from the top flight in 1986.

Steve Guppy (1997-2001, 2004) made 189 appearances for the club, and his cultured left foot made him one of the most prolific crossers in the Premier League, even winning one cap for England.

Roberto Mancini (2001) made just five appearances for the club while on loan from Lazio, but claimed his time at City made him fall in love with English football. If our greatest team was based on how good each player was during their whole career, this European great would be one of the first names on the sheet.

Ali Mauchlen (1985-92) played for City 273 times with his non-stop dogged terrier-like approach in the centre of the park. Loved by fans for his determination and commitment to the cause.

Paul Ramsey (1980-91) was a versatile ball-winning midfielder who often filled in at full-back. He captained the side under David Pleat, making 322 appearances as well as winning 14 caps for Northern Ireland.

Bobby Roberts (1963-70) was City’s record signing when he was purchased from Motherwell for £41,000. He was primarily an attacking playmaker but thrived as a side’s holding anchorman in the late 60s, making 281 appearances for the club.

Jon Sammels (1971-78) was a classy, elegant central midfielder who always played the game on the patient side with the ability to pick a pass, and with an eye for a long-range goal. He helped City win the Charity Shield in his first of 271 games in the shirt.

Ian Wilson (1979-87) was a combative player and key member in both Jock Wallace’s and Gordon Milne’s promotion-winning sides, making 318 appearances.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Leicester_Numan

Leicester_Numan

Posted
Posted

Bloody Mercury and their stupid 4-3-3. I'd have picked Lennon, McAllister, Weller and Glover in a 4-4-2. As it is, Weller and Glover in a 4-3-3 would be a weak midfield. So, simply because of the formation, I went for Lennon, Izzet and McAllister. That's a strong midfield with a lot of skill

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tontolcfc

tontolcfc

Posted
Posted

I chose David Gibson because he and Gordon Banks were worth the entrance fee alone.

 

Second was Neil Lennon who was the best midfield general we have ever had.

 

Below is the best midfield we have ever had.

 

Guppy          Izzet          Lennon          Savage

 

Third was Richie Wellens a true legend

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fazzyfox

fazzyfox

Posted
Posted

I went for Gary Mac, Weller and Lennon, and like the balance as well as the ability, never saw Weller play but heard so much about him then finally got to see him on City history DVD's and was left jaw dropped that he graced our cotton with his sweat. Tell a teenager that we had Ryan Giggs during the O'Niell era, see his reaction, well that's how I fealt when I saw the Weller footage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ScouseFox

ScouseFox

Posted
Posted

Went Izzet because he's (possibly) the best player I've seen play for us. 

 

From reading threads on here, seeing clips and hearing people talk in the pub etc I added Weller and Gibson because from what I've heard they were both superb. 

 

Would've voted Sav but he's been completely ignored :( Not even because he was particularly good, he was just a hero of mine growing up. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aus Fox

Aus Fox

Posted
Posted

Garry Parker was simply the best passer and dead ball player I have ever seen.. Pure class and my favourite Leicester player of all time, however Izzett and Lennon is the best partnership I have seen, complimented each other perfectly, in 433 Lennon Parker and Izzett would be class...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tielemans63

Tielemans63

Posted
Posted

Garry Parker was simply the best passer and dead ball player I have ever seen.. Pure class and my favourite Leicester player of all time, however Izzett and Lennon is the best partnership I have seen, complimented each other perfectly, in 433 Lennon Parker and Izzett would be class...

 

I'd agree with that. I loved watching Garry Parker play - absolute class.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Zingari

Zingari

Posted
Posted
I tend to think of Weller and Glover as forwards but I have to go for both of those if that's how it is.

 So it's a toss up between Izzet and Gibbo , with Gibbo just shading it 

 

Surprised  Roberts didn't make the cut and TickTock not mentioned .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...