Players who owe their careers to you

[fleckneymike]

This is a thread for all those players whose careers or defining moments rely not on their own hard work and skill, but rather tenuous coincidence and happenstance for which you take all the credit.

Way back in season 1994/5 I dutifully entered the Leicester Mercury's amazing fantasy football style game whereby you bought a teams goalkeeper, an entire teams defence and pitted them against 5 or so strikers of your choosing. This being a premier league season a whole host of exotic names were available to me; Kiwomya, Milosovich, Roy, but finding my £10m budget swallowed up I was left scratching around for a player to complete my squad. I had to lower my expectations and was ready to start again when the hand of fate struck. Paul Rideout, at 0.4 million, was squeezed into the squad and my team mailed to Mercury Towers amidst much derision from friends, family and later an Everton supporting school teacher.

Rideout's career up until that point had been one blighted by injury and unfulfilled potential, but his selection in my Leicester Mercury side would see him experience an unbelievable renaissance. He would plunder a remarkable 14 league goals in 29 matches as well as scoring the winner in the FA Cup final (though that goal was largely a waste of time as the mercury didn't count cup goals).

The following season with our relegation from the Premier league, I was left to select more prosaically named players from the first division and Rideout's career petered out until once again I intervened. Flicking through the channels I saw Tranmere had been selected for a televised cup game against Southampton, and that Rideout himself was in the squad having returned from adventures in China and the USA. That night Paul would score a hatrick as Tranmere rallied from 3-0 down at the break to win 4-3 and my part in his career would come to a close.

Can anyone else lay claim to having 'made' a player?

[One Legged Beaver]

My Dad saw Knockaert after the first leg of the play offs against Watford and wished him well for the second leg. The rest is history.

[Jimothy]

I saw Matt Elliott in Sainsbury's (Fosse Park) a few days before the League Cup final against Tranmere. He seemed happy to stop for a quick chat, even got something off a high shelf for me (not a porn mag) because I'm a short arse. Anyway I wished him good luck for the final and he went on his way. I suppose Matt Elliott had already made his name by then, but still I won us the league cup, you can all thank me sometime.

[Finnegan]

I generally have the opposite effect. Whoever I put in my dream team gets crocked. Without fail.

To the extent I've not bothered this year, as tempting as it was to pick all of Burnley.

[Durnerz]

Met Phil Gilchrist the day before his one and only goal for us away at Liverpool in a 2-0 win back in the nineties.

[GLC]

During the relegation season, I met Martin Allen, Gary Megson and Ian Holloway, they all left the club within 2 weeks of meeting me.....

 

So i believe Leicester got relegated because of me 

[Finnegan]

During the relegation season, I met Martin Allen, Gary Megson and Ian Holloway, they all left the club within 2 weeks of meeting me.....

So i believe Leicester got relegated because of me

Stay the **** away from Nigel.

[GLC]

Stay the **** away from Nigel.

I met Nigel at an Al Murray gig in Loughborough, that was before the play offs with Watford.......

 

 

Oops

[TrentFox]

When I first started working millions of years ago, it was as a teacher and I remember having a young lad in footie club called Hayden Mullins. His success is completely down to my rantings and coaching. Absolutely nothing to do with him being the most astonishing athlete, a genuinely lovely lad and having a superb attitude / family!!!