The 'where are they now?' files

[truefan999]

For the older users

http://www.where-are-they-now.co.uk/

And more specifically for us

http://www.where-are-they-now.co.uk/liverpool/

[Shaggy]

Richie Partridge. Remember the name? There was a time when it was a statement rather than a question. It should ring a bell. He was the teenager who had it all, the next big thing for Liverpool and Ireland when he burst onto the scene as a member of Brian Kerr's golden generation in the late 1990s. Greatness was predicted.

Life is rarely that straightforward. This afternoon, 30-year-old Partridge will be fighting for glory away from the bright lights.

The Dubliner is an integral part of The New Saints team which will travel to Bangor in search of a point to secure the Welsh Premier League title. For only the second time this season, more than 1,000 spectators will turn out to watch a game at this level.

But this isn't a tale of an embittered pro down on his luck, blaming everybody else for his misfortune as he stares at the bottom of a glass.

This is the story of a sanguine individual who picked himself up and started all over again. The clairvoyants were half right. He is on the way to enjoying a long career at Liverpool, albeit in a different sphere.

Injuries could have broken him. Instead, they made the man.

**********

We sit down to chat on the veranda of the TNS clubhouse. It's late on Good Friday night and, an hour earlier, the league leaders have suffered a shock 3-2 defeat to Neath, a result which set up today's drama.

It was entertaining fare, played in an unusually convivial atmosphere for a crucial game of a title run-in. The football was intense, but the occasion was more golf club than football club.

Bohemians fans will have grim memories of 'The Venue', the scene of their Champions League humiliation last July. TNS people still speak of that victory fondly, believing that the Irishmen underestimated the task at hand, perhaps getting lulled into a false sense of security by the tranquil surroundings of Oswestry.

Certainly, it's easy to see why Bohs struggled on a rock-hard plastic pitch against a side with a refreshingly positive approach.

On Good Friday, TNS pummel Neath from the outset, before somehow conceding two soft goals from simple crosses to end up with nothing.

It is disappointing for the 400 or so home fans in attendance -- the majority watching from a balcony outside a recreational centre that features a bowling alley and a playpen for the kids -- yet there is no anger. One punter hurls abuse at Neath's star Lee Trundle, a former Championship maestro who once harboured Irish ambitions, and a club official goes over to have a quiet word. Corinthian spirit is the order of the day.

Afterwards, it is equally civilised. The two teams go for a meal together upstairs, and politely applaud as the sponsors' man of the match award is presented. It happens after every Welsh League game, home and away.

"I found it strange at first," admits Partridge, outlining the contrast between this welcoming environment and the cut-throat lower echelons of the English ladder.

On the pitch, it has been one of his quieter nights, but overall he has thrived since his arrival last September. Partridge had reached a dead end in England, having fallen out of favour at Stockport, a club on an unstoppable slide out of League Two. The relationship was going nowhere for either parties; a termination of contract and pay-off was the happiest solution for the player.

"It was win-win for me," he admits. "I knew the physio here, Pete Talbot, so I gave him a shout. Within a few days, I was signed."

He'd never watched a Welsh League game and, Trundle aside, knew nothing of the managers and players.

Moving to a couple of Conference outfits was the alternative, a prospect that was ruled out as it would have involved relocation from his home in north Wales. The standard has pleasantly surprised him, with the exception of some away games where the set-up is particularly "non-leagueish" as he describes it.

It's all part of the gig, though. He's a married man -- his wife Lesley is the younger sister of none other than Michael Owen -- and the priority is putting bread on the table.

The reality is that Owen will be able afford a leisurely retirement, spending money on his string of horses.

Partridge may once have anticipated a life of similar comfort, particularly in his youth where the tricky Dublin winger's name was often preceded by the words "future star."

Fate had different ideas.

The left cruciate went at 18. The right when he was 22. In between, he was on the brink of a senior Irish cap, and the coming man at Liverpool. It was only a matter of time, they said. Three Carling Cup appearances were supposed to be the tip of the iceberg. Instead, the second knee problem froze him in time.

"I don't know about regrets," he muses. "Because there was nothing I could have done. My first knee injury, I was too young to understand the implications. The second one, I sort of knew when I got injured that the likelihood of me playing at the top level -- especially for Liverpool -- was going."

He was realistic enough to identify the barometer. To further his education, Gerard Houllier had sent a 21-year-old Partridge on loan to Coventry, where he shone at Championship level and returned with high hopes. After the second setback prompted a release from Liverpool, he made his way to Sheffield Wednesday and quickly learned that something was missing.

"I'd been at Coventry before at that level and did really well. But I realised I couldn't play at that level anymore. I knew I'd just lost a bit of sharpness," he sighs, clicking his fingers to emphasise.

"So I came down to League One/ League Two, which was probably my level after the injuries, and I hung around there for the rest of my career."

From Wednesday, he moved onto Rotherham, Chester and MK Dons. Getting by.

"I made a living from it," he continues. "Look, I'm not saying that I would have gone on and played in the Premiership for the rest of my career. But I'd shown I was able to do it in the Championship at least. So I'd like to think that if I hadn't had that injury, I'd have been able to have a career at that level, if it makes sense."

It does, of course, but rather than feeling down about it, his inquisitive nature demanded that he made sense of just why it was happening.

A pal at Sheffield Wednesday was doing a course in physiotherapy at the University of Salford. Partridge was struck by the idea, went for an interview and secured his place.

"I didn't know what I was getting myself in for," he recalls. "But I soon became very interested. I got hooked.

"It had become apparent that I was never going to make enough money to have four, five, six years out of work when I retired. I knew I had to have something once I retired from football."

Four years later, he was the holder of a first-class degree. In tandem with his football, he has forged another source of income. Now, he is the silent partner in a practice outside Chester, a project he would like to devote more time to.

However, the most significant offshoot of his education is that it has opened the door back to where it all started, to Liverpool FC where he oversees the medical department from U-9 to U-16 level.

"I had worked with great physios at Liverpool, and when I was injured, I always looked up to those lads, realising what a great career it was and how you can be well respected within a football club. It sounds daft, but you are well respected in society with a physio degree.

"That's what prompted me to do it. I was starting a family (his wife is expecting their second child this week), and I needed to have security."

The job is all-consuming. He speaks frequently about it with his brother-in-law, unsurprisingly given Owen's track record. "Michael is a very clever fella," he says. "He's the most interested of any footballer I've met in what's going on. When we were at Liverpool together, he was always quizzing the physios about what was going on.

"If he's ever injured, I'll always have a chat with him. And he'll always tell me what's going on ... and let me know what the Man U physios are saying, which is good for me to learn from."

He laughs when asked if there was any way he could adapt his talents to Owen's racehorses.

"They've got four legs and tail. That's all I know," he grins. "I was looking into what it took to be an equine physio, but it's not something I'm interested in. He can't get his head around it though. I'm Irish, I'm probably the right size for a jockey, and I've got no interest in horses whatsoever."

**********

Domestic bliss has diverted his life plan. He always thought he'd go to England, make his money and come home, but it didn't work out that way. This part of the world is where he expects to spend the rest of his days.

The memories of his youth are cherished. Every time he comes back to Dublin, he looks through the two scrapbooks that his mother keeps. One for his exploits at Home Farm and Stella Maris that had all sorts of English clubs knocking on his door, the other for the clippings that surrounded his move to Liverpool, and the headlines he garnered as part of the Irish U-18 team that enjoyed European Championships glory in Cyprus.

It's a treasured medal, a reminder of the special bond in that group which was nurtured by Kerr and Noel O'Reilly. On his travels, he bumps into other members of that team. They don't keep in touch so much; they've got different responsibilities now. He met Alan Quinn in Portugal on holidays that year before last, and they were both on parenting duty. "We were gangly 17-year-old kids back then, and now everyone's grown up into dads."

Now, in some way, it's turned full circle. Watching the youngsters coming in to train at Liverpool brings on bouts of nostalgia. "I love being back," he says. "It's a different perspective now. Watching the younger lads, just seeing the raw talent. Half the time, you look at a kid and you're thinking, 'surely I could never have been as good as him when I was his age?' and they haven't a clue they're that good."

Is he envious of the young lads getting the chance for Liverpool? He takes a philosophical stance. "The way I look at it now, I made three appearances for Liverpool and I'll be very proud to tell my little lad that when he grows up. As I am of my career in general.

"I was speaking to someone about this recently. We were just talking about how many lads, even at Liverpool, just drift away from the game. So few make a career from it.

"Obviously, mine might have been a little better, given a bit more luck, but I would never be bitter about it."

He's still living the dream, even if it's not the one he imagined.

[Icon]

Can you summarise that it's almost 2 here..?

[Frenchie]

never made it big time, no regrets, still loves footie..

[RedReet]

Can't beleive he's near 30 although is does seem like a lifetime ago when all the hype was.

[Tatterdemalion]

Just found this on Daniele Padelli.

‘Padelli made his Liverpool bow in the final home game of the season, against Charlton. It was a catastrophic display and he was sent back to Sampdoria by manager Rafa Benitez soon afterwards.

Padelli made one appearance in pre-season for Sampdoria, a performance so disastrous that it made his Liverpool debut seem like a walk in the park. In a friendly against Crotone, Padelli received a tame backpass from team mate Attillio Fibba, trod on the ball, fell over and the ball squirmed into the back of the net.

Two minutes later, Padelli came to claim a corner and inexplicably headed the ball into his own net.

He he now on loan at Pisa, where he has failed to make a first team appearance and looks set to have his contract terminated after a training ground bust-up with coach Flavio Bullio. After punching a corner into his own net, Bullio pulled Padelli aside to discuss his technique. Padelli, distinctly unimpressed, headbutted Bullio, ran back to the dressing room where he took a sledgehammer out of his bag and smashed the place to pieces before driving home. He is currently being investigated by the Italian Football Association.’

Who will buy this bull****, I wonder!

Wow. I thought I was the only person who took a sledgehammer to work.

[ChesterDave]

Nicky Tanner came up in conversation when talking about screamer own goals with a work colleague (always remember when he hit his own bar from about 20 yards out). Think he is now managing somewhere in the middle ranks of the non-league

[anfieldanfield]

never made it big time, no regrets, still loves footie..

[red g]

‘Liverpool could be an option’ – FC Twente keeper Nikolay Mihaylov refusing to rule out Anfield return & would consider Premier League move

The Bulgarian shot stopper found his chances few and far between under Rafa Benitez, and believes he made the right choice to move to the Eredivisie outfit

EXCLUSIVE
by Guus Hetterscheid

FC Twente keeper Nikolay Mihaylov has admitted that he would consider a return to Liverpool, or another Premier League club, despite a disappointing tenure at Anfield.

The Bulgarian joined Twente from Liverpool in the summer of 2007 and has since developed into a key player at the reigning Dutch champions. His good performances have not gone unnoticed elsewhere, and Mihaylov has already caught the attention clubs from bigger leagues.

"That is the most important thing for me [playing regularly]," Mihaylov told Goal.com. "I could have stayed at Liverpool, but I would only have been third-choice goalkeeper there. I am first-choice here and have even played in the Champions League."

He added: "There is some interest from bigger leagues, but I feel very well at Twente. I have a contract that runs two more years and I do not want to leave the club. [Michel] Preud'homme has a lot of faith in me and I am happy at Twente.
And Mihaylov admits the he would be open to a move to Germany or England, conceding that he does not think the Spanish league suits him.
"Obviously every young player wants to make steps forward," he continued. "I think that I would fit in pretty well in the Bundesliga or Premier League. Spain is nice as well, but they play a different kind of football there. They play very attacking football in England.

"Germany is a very competitive league and the stadiums are always packed. The fans are very passionate and I like that. A return to Liverpool could be an option, but they still have Pepe Reina, meaning that I would again warm the bench."

Closer to home, a draw in Sunday's Eredivisie title decider against Ajax will be enough for Twente to clinch their second consecutive league title. However, unlike last year, Mihaylov has been a key figure at the Tukkers this season and the Bulgaria international is eagerly anticipating the title celebrations.

"It is not like I was walking around with a sad face at last year's celebration. You don't really care whether you got a lot of playing time as it is a party for everybody within the club. Obviously, it will feel completely different if we win the title again this year. I really feel like I played a big role in this year's success," Mihaylov added.

New head coach Michel Preud'homme opted to give Mihaylov the nod ahead of last year's first choice Sander Boschker, and he continued: "That was largely because Boschker returned to the club pretty late after the 2010 World Cup. I knew that I would get my chance as Twente are always looking toward the future. Sander is already 40 and I am only 22.

"I really made the best of it as I kept a number of clean sheets and won the Johan Cruyff shield. Things continued to go pretty well from there on."

"I would fit in pretty well in the Bundesliga or in the Premier League. I love the passionate fans."

Mihaylov joined Twente from Liverpool in the summer of 2007 and has since developed into a key player at the reigning Dutch champions. His good performances have not gone unnoticed elsewhere, and Mihaylov has already caught the attention clubs from bigger leagues.

He added: "There is some interest from bigger leagues, but I feel very well at Twente. I have a contract that runs two more years and I do not want to leave the club. Preud'homme has a lot of faith in me and I am happy at Twente.

"That is the most important thing for me. I could have stayed at Liverpool, but I would only have been third-choice goalkeeper there. I am first-choice here and have even played in the Champions League."

The Bulgaria international would be open to a move to Germany or England as he doesn't think the Spanish league suits him.

"Obviously every young player wants to make steps forward. I think that I would fit in pretty well in the Bundesliga or Premier League. Spain is nice as well, but they play a different kind of football there. They play very attacking football in England.

"Germany is a very competitive league and the stadiums are always packed. The fans are very passionate and I like that. A return to Liverpool could be an option, but they still have Pepe Reina, meaning that I would again warm the bench.".

The days ahead are all about the away match against Ajax for Mihaylov and his team-mates, and the goalkeeper has made it clear that Twente won't be playing for a draw in the Amsterdam ArenA.

"We have to go out and go for the win. You never know what can happen if start the game to play for a draw," Mihaylov says.

"Ajax might not be in superb form, but they have the advantage of playing at home. The Ajax fans have not been able to celebrate a league title since 2004 and they will support Ajax with all their heart.

"The match can go either way, but I think that we have a good chance to win the title. We are very strong as a team. Ajax perhaps have better individual players with Miralem Sulejmani and Siem de Jong. They can make the difference. We really have to watch out for Sulejmani. He's fast and has a great technique. Our defenders face a difficult task and we have to be fully focused."

The young goalkeeper also explained that the current Twente squad is not too different from the team that won the Eredivisie last year.

"We lost players like Blaise N'Kufo and Kenneth Perez, but we got plenty of quality in return. Theo Janssen is very important for us and and Luuk de Jong has developed a lot.

"Additionally, players like Roberto Rosales, Wout Brama, Denny Landzaat, Nacer Chadli and myself have all proven their worth."

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/05/13/2484448/liverpool-could-be-an-option-fc-twente-keeper-nikolay

[Shaggy]

Just looking at the players we released in the summer - Steven Irwin, Nikola Saric and Alex Cooper.

Saric signed for Hajduk Split in the summer and according to Wiki has played 3 times for the first team without scoring.

Can't find anything on Irwin or Cooper - any ideas?

[Daniel 7]

See Cooper had a trial at Hartlepool, that would have been through his old man. Doesn't look like they took him on though.

[Resu]

Cooper is back ar Ross County, where he started.
Irwin is at the famous Telstar, in the dutch "championship".

[Shaggy]

Cooper is back ar Ross County, where he started.
Irwin is at the famous Telstar, in the dutch "championship".

Jesus

[Liverpool]

Irwin wasnt getting a game so cancelled his own contract, hopefully trying to get a trial for Birmingham

[Shaggy]

David Raven is now plying his trade at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He's 27. Look at him.