Rooney for a few days with a selection of United fans
Owen was never really that big a fans favourite at Pool though. He was always overshadowed by Fowler.
While he didn't go from ZERO to hero, Luis Garcia after the latter stages of the CL 05 became a Pool legend all of a sudden with those massively important goals!
Owen's two goals in the 2001 FA Cup Final against Arsenal was heroic, but that has been clouded now by his desision to join MU.
Hero to zero: Mike Walker - from triumph in the Munich Olympic Stadium to the worst Everton manager of all time.
Even Howard Kendall in his second and third spells and certainly at Sheffield United.
Zinedine Zidane went from hero to zero in the space of 30 seconds.... to have the most wondeful career remembered for that!
A number of Dutch players - Babel, Roy, van der Meyde spring to mind. The Dutch are always getting hyped up because of their history.
What about teams? Luton Town and Oxford were always impressive when I was a kid, especially Luton. It doesn't seem right to see em down there somehow.
If you are talking teams, surely it doesn't come any more "hero to zero" than Wimbledon? From FA Cup winners in 1988, to being non-existent a decade or so later?
Keith Gillespie was another. When he went to Newcastle as part of the Cole deal he really could have been a big big player i think.
Do you remember Willy Morgan? He was a summarizer on radio in the 90s, and I distinctly remember him commenting on the transfer in his Scottish accent, really serious:
"Listen - Keith Gillespie is going to be one of THE. GREAT. PLAYERS."
He was talking as if Gillespie was a new kind of George Best, he thought he'd be better than Giggs - I never saw him, was there really enough there to suggest that he would be, or was Morgan just saying outrageous stuff to get a reaction?
Hero to zero: Gabriel Heinze, for me. I absolutely loved that guy, at United, until he foolishly tried to force a move to Liverpool. What an absolute berk.
Great shout.
I echo what you have said too.
I was a fan of his, but his angling for a move to Liverpool (of all places) was unforgivable IMO.
Saying that, he did admit a few years later that it was the wrong thing to do & regretted doing it.
I was a fan of his, but his angling for a move to Liverpool (of all places) was unforgivable IMO.
Saying that, he did admit a few years later that it was the wrong thing to do & regretted doing it.
Yes, now that you've said that, I do recall something along those lines. I have no doubt that his agent had a lot to do with it. Still, he should have had enough about him to realise the implications of what he was doing.
Rooney for a few days with a selection of United fans
Owen was never really that big a fans favourite at Pool though. He was always overshadowed by Fowler.
While he didn't go from ZERO to hero, Luis Garcia after the latter stages of the CL 05 became a Pool legend all of a sudden with those massively important goals!
This really shocks me, especially considering how many goals Owen scored for LFC.
I wonder if this is the reason why Owen appears not to have that affinity with LFC that you would expect & was lot to do with him moving to Real Madrid & proclaiming them as the best team in the world, only to see LFC lift the European Cup at the end of the season.
I was a fan of his, but his angling for a move to Liverpool (of all places) was unforgivable IMO.
Saying that, he did admit a few years later that it was the wrong thing to do & regretted doing it.
Loyalty works both ways. He broke his leg and we replaced him. He went from first team regular to bit part player. In those circumstances i wouldnt expect him to show us any loyalty or consideration in terms of the club he wanted to join next.
Do you remember Willy Morgan? He was a summarizer on radio in the 90s, and I distinctly remember him commenting on the transfer in his Scottish accent, really serious:
"Listen - Keith Gillespie is going to be one of THE. GREAT. PLAYERS."
He was talking as if Gillespie was a new kind of George Best, he thought he'd be better than Giggs - I never saw him, was there really enough there to suggest that he would be, or was Morgan just saying outrageous stuff to get a reaction?[/QUOTE]
I started supporting NUFC about the time he signed and tbh I thought he was a good player (nothing outstanding but good).
I guess you could say though when he twatted one of his team mates on a plane it could have been a hero to zero moment though.
Zinedine Zidane went from hero to zero in the space of 30 seconds.... to have the most wondeful career remembered for that!
It's a minor footnote. French fans will always respect Zidane for 1998 and 2000, and Real Madrid fans for 2002. Personally I think that Italian got what he deserved.
It's a minor footnote. French fans will always respect Zidane for 1998 and 2000, and Real Madrid fans for 2002. Personally I think that Italian got what he deserved.
Plenty of other players would have dearly loved to have done what Zidane did to that particular player. Even Shevchenko elbowed him and got away with it. Also worth noting that in 1998 he missed games through red cards.
I know a few Irish Arsenal supporters who said Henry went from hero to zero after a certain handball.
Salif Diao went from zero to hero back to zero in one match for Senegal in 2002. Conceded a penalty, then equalised, then got sent off!
Plenty of other players would have dearly loved to have done what Zidane did to that particular player. Even Shevchenko elbowed him and got away with it. Also worth noting that in 1998 he missed games through red cards.
I know a few Irish Arsenal supporters who said Henry went from hero to zero after a certain handball.
Salif Diao went from zero to hero back to zero in one match for Senegal in 2002. Conceded a penalty, then equalised, then got sent off!
Those Irish fans need to get over themselves.
I'm Irish and was as upset as the next man, but honestly fair play to Henry, his team were having a mare he saw an opportunity to create a winner and took it. It was up to the ref/linesmen to punish him and they didn't. If Kevin Doyle or anyone on the Irl team did the same thing he would have been deemed a hero by the Irish fans
Roy Keane summed it up well, (paraphrase) the ball should never have got near Henry, it should have been cleared by McShane (who evidently went from hero to zero himself in his Irish international career!) beforehand.
I'm Irish and was as upset as the next man, but honestly fair play to Henry, his team were having a mare he saw an opportunity to create a winner and took it. It was up to the ref/linesmen to punish him and they didn't. If Kevin Doyle or anyone on the Irl team did the same thing he would have been deemed a hero by the Irish fans
Roy Keane summed it up well, (paraphrase) the ball should never have got near Henry, it should have been cleared by McShane (who evidently went from hero to zero himself in his Irish international career!) beforehand.
Personally I think if it hadn't been for Kilbane having a rush of blood in TWO games against Italy France wouldn't have happened so I blame him.
Owen hargreaves hero to zero
Carlos tevez hero to zero
Paul ince hero to zero
Gazza hero to zero
Maradonna hero to zero
Solskjaer zero to hero and a bloody legend too
Well in many ways it WAS wasted. What would be the average goal return for an average striker playing in the team Chelsea has currently? I dont think 17 goals would be an unreasonable tally for Lukaku for example. I think the purchase of Torres was really to be the difference between "average" and "great" and thats what the 50m was for. In that respect its been a complete failure because he hasnt scored the goals that the average striker wouldnt have.
For me if the topic was about "Players that weren't worth as much as the club paid for them" then Torres would make perfect sense. But as you say, his goal return is equivalent to that of an average player (not a p*ss poor one) - so that for me doesn't really make him a 'zero'. I guess it's all down to how you interpret the concept though so I think we'll just have to disagree on this one.
From a purely Liverpool point-of-view though then I'd say he did go from hero to zero, but the same could be said of a lot of players that move from one club to another, e.g. RvP, Ashley Cole etc with Arsenal fans.
Comments
Hero to zero: Mike Walker - from triumph in the Munich Olympic Stadium to the worst Everton manager of all time.
Even Howard Kendall in his second and third spells and certainly at Sheffield United.
Zinedine Zidane went from hero to zero in the space of 30 seconds.... to have the most wondeful career remembered for that!
A number of Dutch players - Babel, Roy, van der Meyde spring to mind. The Dutch are always getting hyped up because of their history.
What about teams? Luton Town and Oxford were always impressive when I was a kid, especially Luton. It doesn't seem right to see em down there somehow.
I never really thought that Gillespie was that much of a loss, I was soooooo happy though that we signed Cole at the time!
If you are talking teams, surely it doesn't come any more "hero to zero" than Wimbledon? From FA Cup winners in 1988, to being non-existent a decade or so later?
Do you remember Willy Morgan? He was a summarizer on radio in the 90s, and I distinctly remember him commenting on the transfer in his Scottish accent, really serious:
"Listen - Keith Gillespie is going to be one of THE. GREAT. PLAYERS."
He was talking as if Gillespie was a new kind of George Best, he thought he'd be better than Giggs - I never saw him, was there really enough there to suggest that he would be, or was Morgan just saying outrageous stuff to get a reaction?
Great shout.
I echo what you have said too.
I was a fan of his, but his angling for a move to Liverpool (of all places) was unforgivable IMO.
Saying that, he did admit a few years later that it was the wrong thing to do & regretted doing it.
Yes, now that you've said that, I do recall something along those lines. I have no doubt that his agent had a lot to do with it. Still, he should have had enough about him to realise the implications of what he was doing.
This really shocks me, especially considering how many goals Owen scored for LFC.
I wonder if this is the reason why Owen appears not to have that affinity with LFC that you would expect & was lot to do with him moving to Real Madrid & proclaiming them as the best team in the world, only to see LFC lift the European Cup at the end of the season.
Loyalty works both ways. He broke his leg and we replaced him. He went from first team regular to bit part player. In those circumstances i wouldnt expect him to show us any loyalty or consideration in terms of the club he wanted to join next.
It's a minor footnote. French fans will always respect Zidane for 1998 and 2000, and Real Madrid fans for 2002. Personally I think that Italian got what he deserved.
I didn't say they were INTELLIGENT Man Utd supporters.
Just because he tried to take out as many players on his way off.
Plenty of other players would have dearly loved to have done what Zidane did to that particular player. Even Shevchenko elbowed him and got away with it. Also worth noting that in 1998 he missed games through red cards.
I know a few Irish Arsenal supporters who said Henry went from hero to zero after a certain handball.
Salif Diao went from zero to hero back to zero in one match for Senegal in 2002. Conceded a penalty, then equalised, then got sent off!
'Take out'
Makes him sound like he had an assault rifle and bullet belts round him! :eek:
It just looked like the biggest flounce ever, and Aguero won the Oscar for best dramatic performance in 'Being Assaulted By Joey Barton'.
Those Irish fans need to get over themselves.
I'm Irish and was as upset as the next man, but honestly fair play to Henry, his team were having a mare he saw an opportunity to create a winner and took it. It was up to the ref/linesmen to punish him and they didn't. If Kevin Doyle or anyone on the Irl team did the same thing he would have been deemed a hero by the Irish fans
Roy Keane summed it up well, (paraphrase) the ball should never have got near Henry, it should have been cleared by McShane (who evidently went from hero to zero himself in his Irish international career!) beforehand.
Personally I think if it hadn't been for Kilbane having a rush of blood in TWO games against Italy France wouldn't have happened so I blame him.
Carlos tevez hero to zero
Paul ince hero to zero
Gazza hero to zero
Maradonna hero to zero
Solskjaer zero to hero and a bloody legend too
Hero to zero among Liverpool fans.
Bit late there Barry, I have already mentioned him!
Well, now your post has the official Big Boy Barry seal of approval too, which makes it even more valid.
Still a hero to Liverpool fans.
For me if the topic was about "Players that weren't worth as much as the club paid for them" then Torres would make perfect sense. But as you say, his goal return is equivalent to that of an average player (not a p*ss poor one) - so that for me doesn't really make him a 'zero'. I guess it's all down to how you interpret the concept though so I think we'll just have to disagree on this one.
From a purely Liverpool point-of-view though then I'd say he did go from hero to zero, but the same could be said of a lot of players that move from one club to another, e.g. RvP, Ashley Cole etc with Arsenal fans.