Apologies if this has been posted already (can't see anything though). Found this really good article on TLW.
Stan Collymore... such a ridiculous talent. A real waste.
I HAVE been thinking about Stan Collymore quite a bit in recently. It started when I was sorting out the wardrobe and came across my replica Liverpool shirt from the 1995/96 season. You know the one; cricket-like collar, large colour-tinged badge, suffocatingly thick material. A classic in my eyes and a top I will always associate with Collymore and his wild celebrations in front of the Kop following that goal in that 4-3 winner against Newcastle.
In the following days came other triggers to get me musing over Stan. First, an interview on LFC TV with Steve Harkness during which the ex-defender spoke about his run-in with the Staffordshire-born striker during our league defeat to Aston Villa in February 1998. And then an episode of BBC One’s surreal chat-show Shooting Stars, when one glimpse of team-captain Ulrika Johnson brought back memories of France ‘98 and the beating she took at the hands of our one-time No8.
It’s hard to recollect Collymore without wandering what might have been. Rarely in the 20 years I have been following Liverpool has a signing excited me as much as his did in the summer of 1995. Like many Reds I felt convinced Liverpool had just captured the most exciting English forward of his generation and combined with Robbie Fowler, would prove an unstoppable force en route to our capture of the league title. But it was not to be. Collymore actually did well in his two years at Anfield, scoring near 30 goals in 68 appearances, but his appalling off-the-field attitude left Roy Evans with no option but to unload the player to Villa in 1997. His was a wasted opportunity.
Liverpool’s recent history has been a long tale of wasted opportunities, littered with players that came amidst much anticipation but ultimately failed to deliver. Then there have been those who did prosper in red but, for whatever reason, did not go on to become Anfield legends, as had been predicated.
With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to supply a ‘What could have been’ Liverpool XI, a selection of players who should have but did not shine for our club, or who did shine but failed to leave a lasting mark. The players come from the Premier League era, purely because that is the period during which this 28-year-old has been following the club to a degree sufficient enough to make such analysis possible.
GK: Chris Kirkland (2001-2006) - Signed on the same day as Jerzy Dudek but in no way went on to have the same impact. Kirkland, we were told, would prove to be the best English goalkeeper of the past 25 years and during his five years at Liverpool, did impress on occasion. But it was only on occasion as the 28-year-old spent most of his time on Merseyside injured. We may never have heard of Pepe Reina had he remained fit.
RB: Rob Jones (1991-1999) - Liverpool supporters are justifiably getting excited about Glen Johnson but for me, Jones remains the best right-back the club has had since Phil Neal. An absolute snip at £250,000, the Wrexham-born defender made a near immediate impact at Anfield, proving defensively sound as well as a threat going forward. Again injury curtailed this career and, agonisingly, allowed Gary Neville a route into the England side.
CB: John Scales (1994-1996) - It remains a personal source of confusion that of three centre-backs Roy Evans deployed in his 3-5-2 formation, it was Scales that was sold first. He was more mobile than Neil Ruddock and far less hapless than Phil Babb and had he been kept, could have provided crucial security during the calamitous final months of Evans’ reign at the club.
CB: Zak Whitbread (2003-2006) - Whitbread was probably never good enough to make it at Liverpool but he holds a special place in my thoughts. I was at the New Den on the night we played Millwall in a league cup tie in October 2004 and felt the vile abuse the home supporters chucked at us, for no apparent reason, immediately from kick-off. As chants about Jamie Bulger and Ken Bigley filled the air, I looked down upon our much changed side, made up of fringe-players and young hopefuls, and willed them to shut the crowd up. They did, thanks to a commanding display and three goals, the first coming from the most unlikely of sources; Salif Diao. Whitebread played particularly well that night and I left south London encouraged that he could breakthrough. But he didn’t, which for me, is a shame.
LB: Christian Ziege (2000-2001) - It is still puzzling that one of the finest full-backs-come-wingers of the past 15 years was such a failure at Liverpool. Ziege’s paucity of success could not even be put down to a lack of experience in the Premier League as he had impressed at Middlesbrough before signing for us in the summer of 2000. A combination of knee strains and the emergence of Jamie Carragher at left-back partly explain Ziege’s sooner-than-expected departure to Tottenham but, nonetheless, it should still grate with Gérard Houllier than he was unable to coax more out of this clearly talented footballer.
RW: Jermaine Pennant (2006-2009) - Pennant is the boy many of us went to school with, the one who was blessed with immense footballing talent but would rather bunk of at lunchtime for a quick fag and a snog than display his gifts on the playground. He showed in fits and bursts the thinking behind Rafael Benítez’s decision to spend £6m for his services in the summer of 2006 – that soaring, dipping volley against Chelsea being the most obvious example – but overall, was a resounding failure. Pennant is apparently doing well at his latest club, Real Zaragoza, but you get the sense that too will end in frustration.
CM: Danny Guthrie (2005-2006) - In my role as a sports journalist I saw a fair amount of Guthrie during his season loan-spell at Bolton and regularly ended my duties impressed with the midfielder. Decisive in the tackle and confident with the ball, the 22-year-old seemed a level above the bulk of youngsters that have come through Liverpool’s youth ranks and gave hope that following on from Steven Gerrard, the club had finally nurtured another midfield gem. But,alas, Guthrie joined the also-rans after Benítez’s deemed the player not talented enough to compete with arguably Liverpool’s greatest set of central players; Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Javie Mascherano and, at different times, Momo Sissoko and Lucas Leiva. With Alonso now gone and Lucas yet to fully convince, one can only wonder if Guthrie could have broken through after-all.
CM: Don Hutchison (1990-1994) - Whenever a former colleague of Hutchinson speaks about him, the words ‘totally’ and ‘mad’ are not too far away. The Scotland international, it seems, was not quite there, which is a shame considering the potential he showed during Liverpool’s bleak and baron spell in the early 1990s. Hutchinson often shone when those around him continued to falter and there was hope among some Reds that he would go on to become the creative force through which Liverpool would eventually find their way. But he was, as we’re told, a bit nuts and as such allowed an promising career to drift.
LW: Ryan Babel (2007-present) - Marco van Basten described Babel as the ‘new Thierry Henry’ shortly after he joined Liverpool for £13m in the summer of 2007. In the proceeding two and a bit years, the Dutchman has done a better job of resembling Colin Hendry rather than Henry and only the most overly optimistic Kopite would argue that the part-time rapper could yet prove to be a hit at Anfield. Babel is clearly talented but his lethargic demenaour reflects a lazy temprement and only a sledgehammer to the 22-year-old’s backside will provoke him into making the changes necessary to justify his sizeable transfer fee.
CF: Stan Collymore (1995-1997) - As mentioned, Collymore prospered at Liverpool but there could have so much more from the man Evans signed for £8.5m from Nottingham Forest Powerful, quick, comfortable in possession and lethal from almost anywhere in the final third, Collymore is perhaps the most complete centre-forward to have represented Liverpool. But what he had in talent, the now radio-presenter lacked in mental strength, as highlighted over and over again during his career. Stan committed professional suicide where others would have flourished into legends.
CF: Jari Litmanen (2001-2002) - Why did Houllier sell the Finn? My mind may be playing tricks on me but from what I remember, Litmanen was awesome every single time he played for us. His touch and awareness was Dalglish-like while his finishing had the whiff of Rush about it. A truly awesome talent who could have, should have, become an Anfield great. But as quick as he came, Litmanen was gone, with the only explanation for his departure being a newspaper interview he gave in which he criticised the manager. A mistake, yes, but enough for Houllier to sell arguably his best attacker at the time? Surely not. Remarkably, Litmanen is still scoring at international level at the age of 38. Who knows the impact he could have had on Liverpool had Houllier not reacted so harshly.
Stan Collymore... such a ridiculous talent. A real waste.
I HAVE been thinking about Stan Collymore quite a bit in recently. It started when I was sorting out the wardrobe and came across my replica Liverpool shirt from the 1995/96 season. You know the one; cricket-like collar, large colour-tinged badge, suffocatingly thick material. A classic in my eyes and a top I will always associate with Collymore and his wild celebrations in front of the Kop following that goal in that 4-3 winner against Newcastle.
In the following days came other triggers to get me musing over Stan. First, an interview on LFC TV with Steve Harkness during which the ex-defender spoke about his run-in with the Staffordshire-born striker during our league defeat to Aston Villa in February 1998. And then an episode of BBC One’s surreal chat-show Shooting Stars, when one glimpse of team-captain Ulrika Johnson brought back memories of France ‘98 and the beating she took at the hands of our one-time No8.
It’s hard to recollect Collymore without wandering what might have been. Rarely in the 20 years I have been following Liverpool has a signing excited me as much as his did in the summer of 1995. Like many Reds I felt convinced Liverpool had just captured the most exciting English forward of his generation and combined with Robbie Fowler, would prove an unstoppable force en route to our capture of the league title. But it was not to be. Collymore actually did well in his two years at Anfield, scoring near 30 goals in 68 appearances, but his appalling off-the-field attitude left Roy Evans with no option but to unload the player to Villa in 1997. His was a wasted opportunity.
Liverpool’s recent history has been a long tale of wasted opportunities, littered with players that came amidst much anticipation but ultimately failed to deliver. Then there have been those who did prosper in red but, for whatever reason, did not go on to become Anfield legends, as had been predicated.
With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to supply a ‘What could have been’ Liverpool XI, a selection of players who should have but did not shine for our club, or who did shine but failed to leave a lasting mark. The players come from the Premier League era, purely because that is the period during which this 28-year-old has been following the club to a degree sufficient enough to make such analysis possible.
GK: Chris Kirkland (2001-2006) - Signed on the same day as Jerzy Dudek but in no way went on to have the same impact. Kirkland, we were told, would prove to be the best English goalkeeper of the past 25 years and during his five years at Liverpool, did impress on occasion. But it was only on occasion as the 28-year-old spent most of his time on Merseyside injured. We may never have heard of Pepe Reina had he remained fit.
RB: Rob Jones (1991-1999) - Liverpool supporters are justifiably getting excited about Glen Johnson but for me, Jones remains the best right-back the club has had since Phil Neal. An absolute snip at £250,000, the Wrexham-born defender made a near immediate impact at Anfield, proving defensively sound as well as a threat going forward. Again injury curtailed this career and, agonisingly, allowed Gary Neville a route into the England side.
CB: John Scales (1994-1996) - It remains a personal source of confusion that of three centre-backs Roy Evans deployed in his 3-5-2 formation, it was Scales that was sold first. He was more mobile than Neil Ruddock and far less hapless than Phil Babb and had he been kept, could have provided crucial security during the calamitous final months of Evans’ reign at the club.
CB: Zak Whitbread (2003-2006) - Whitbread was probably never good enough to make it at Liverpool but he holds a special place in my thoughts. I was at the New Den on the night we played Millwall in a league cup tie in October 2004 and felt the vile abuse the home supporters chucked at us, for no apparent reason, immediately from kick-off. As chants about Jamie Bulger and Ken Bigley filled the air, I looked down upon our much changed side, made up of fringe-players and young hopefuls, and willed them to shut the crowd up. They did, thanks to a commanding display and three goals, the first coming from the most unlikely of sources; Salif Diao. Whitebread played particularly well that night and I left south London encouraged that he could breakthrough. But he didn’t, which for me, is a shame.
LB: Christian Ziege (2000-2001) - It is still puzzling that one of the finest full-backs-come-wingers of the past 15 years was such a failure at Liverpool. Ziege’s paucity of success could not even be put down to a lack of experience in the Premier League as he had impressed at Middlesbrough before signing for us in the summer of 2000. A combination of knee strains and the emergence of Jamie Carragher at left-back partly explain Ziege’s sooner-than-expected departure to Tottenham but, nonetheless, it should still grate with Gérard Houllier than he was unable to coax more out of this clearly talented footballer.
RW: Jermaine Pennant (2006-2009) - Pennant is the boy many of us went to school with, the one who was blessed with immense footballing talent but would rather bunk of at lunchtime for a quick fag and a snog than display his gifts on the playground. He showed in fits and bursts the thinking behind Rafael Benítez’s decision to spend £6m for his services in the summer of 2006 – that soaring, dipping volley against Chelsea being the most obvious example – but overall, was a resounding failure. Pennant is apparently doing well at his latest club, Real Zaragoza, but you get the sense that too will end in frustration.
CM: Danny Guthrie (2005-2006) - In my role as a sports journalist I saw a fair amount of Guthrie during his season loan-spell at Bolton and regularly ended my duties impressed with the midfielder. Decisive in the tackle and confident with the ball, the 22-year-old seemed a level above the bulk of youngsters that have come through Liverpool’s youth ranks and gave hope that following on from Steven Gerrard, the club had finally nurtured another midfield gem. But,alas, Guthrie joined the also-rans after Benítez’s deemed the player not talented enough to compete with arguably Liverpool’s greatest set of central players; Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Javie Mascherano and, at different times, Momo Sissoko and Lucas Leiva. With Alonso now gone and Lucas yet to fully convince, one can only wonder if Guthrie could have broken through after-all.
CM: Don Hutchison (1990-1994) - Whenever a former colleague of Hutchinson speaks about him, the words ‘totally’ and ‘mad’ are not too far away. The Scotland international, it seems, was not quite there, which is a shame considering the potential he showed during Liverpool’s bleak and baron spell in the early 1990s. Hutchinson often shone when those around him continued to falter and there was hope among some Reds that he would go on to become the creative force through which Liverpool would eventually find their way. But he was, as we’re told, a bit nuts and as such allowed an promising career to drift.
LW: Ryan Babel (2007-present) - Marco van Basten described Babel as the ‘new Thierry Henry’ shortly after he joined Liverpool for £13m in the summer of 2007. In the proceeding two and a bit years, the Dutchman has done a better job of resembling Colin Hendry rather than Henry and only the most overly optimistic Kopite would argue that the part-time rapper could yet prove to be a hit at Anfield. Babel is clearly talented but his lethargic demenaour reflects a lazy temprement and only a sledgehammer to the 22-year-old’s backside will provoke him into making the changes necessary to justify his sizeable transfer fee.
CF: Stan Collymore (1995-1997) - As mentioned, Collymore prospered at Liverpool but there could have so much more from the man Evans signed for £8.5m from Nottingham Forest Powerful, quick, comfortable in possession and lethal from almost anywhere in the final third, Collymore is perhaps the most complete centre-forward to have represented Liverpool. But what he had in talent, the now radio-presenter lacked in mental strength, as highlighted over and over again during his career. Stan committed professional suicide where others would have flourished into legends.
CF: Jari Litmanen (2001-2002) - Why did Houllier sell the Finn? My mind may be playing tricks on me but from what I remember, Litmanen was awesome every single time he played for us. His touch and awareness was Dalglish-like while his finishing had the whiff of Rush about it. A truly awesome talent who could have, should have, become an Anfield great. But as quick as he came, Litmanen was gone, with the only explanation for his departure being a newspaper interview he gave in which he criticised the manager. A mistake, yes, but enough for Houllier to sell arguably his best attacker at the time? Surely not. Remarkably, Litmanen is still scoring at international level at the age of 38. Who knows the impact he could have had on Liverpool had Houllier not reacted so harshly.
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