Players who never made it but.........

[3spirit]

The Dobbo thread got me thinking about ex players we've had in the past, who were excellent at one part of the game but were often overlooked by the manager and often unused. 4 players off the top of my head,come to mind, firstly Dwain Clarke, he played under Steve Bateman. He was supposed to have been a nightmare to handle, from a manager's point of view, as he messed about and didn't take things seriously and would wind up, Steve and would act as nutty as a fruitcake but gee could he get down the wing and deliver the perfect low cross.Best I've ever seen in a Slough shirt for that.

Secondly, who remembers Simon Ullathorne, a real maverick player, bloody talented creative central midfielder but another who didn't fit into the team harmony.Clever passer and his vision and delivery was excellent. Think he had played higher but didn't last long at Slough,which was a pity from my point of view.Another player who looked lazy but his other atributes/merits got wasted imo, and was another whose face didn't seem to fit at the time. 

Thirdly, Michael Putman, played under Alan Davies,tall 6ft 5 centre half, played in the  Vauxhall Conference for a handful of games. Looked a real find when he came into the team from nowhere but was supposed to the worst trainer and wouldn't turn up when asked. He played with aplomb but got the elbow and disappeared off the football radar, if memory serves me correct. I might be wrong but I think he may have played for Marlow for a short while, too. Shame as the bloke could have been good but wasted his chances.

Fourth one is from the Bakes/Unders era, that of Chris Henry, little bloke but lightning quick. Not sure why he left us but for me he left us too early.

As there's not much happening Slough wise on the forum, any Slough fans got any others?

[3spirit]

Well that's caught everyones imagination ! ?

[RebelVilla]

I'm surprised that Reading Rebel doesn't have a long list, perhaps he is still busy typing it out!!!!

I would say Colin Fielder. He came to us with a proven reputation however never seemed to click within the team. He did not last too long with us, though he cost a lot of money to buy as I recall.

[Irishadrian]

47 minutes ago, RebelVilla said:

I'm surprised that Reading Rebel doesn't have a long list, perhaps he is still busy typing it out!!!!

I would say Colin Fielder. He came to us with a proven reputation however never seemed to click within the team. He did not last too long with us, though he cost a lot of money to buy as I recall.

£18000. He'd be 55 now

[Scarborough Rebel]

I'd agree with the Colin Fielder shout - still our most expensive transfer. Captained Farnborough to Southern Prem championship, then looked distinctly disinterested with us before moving to Woking and winning the FA Trophy (twice?) while always prepared to give Slough fans a load of verbal whenever he came back.

[3spirit]

Colin Fielder was distinctly average for Slough, yet at Farnborough and Woking he excelled. What was bizarre with him, was it was hard to pinpoint what he was good at. Coming with that price tag I was expecting something really special but what we got was ordinary at best and yet you talk to a Farnborough or Woking fan and most will sing his praises.

Who remembers David Lay, who we got from Marlow?  He was hyped up that he was going to be a top player at Slough, as he came to us with the ringing endorsement of our manager Dave Russell at the time,that it was a steal getting Marlow's best player. He turned out to be a right flop in the same vein as Colin Fielder!

When I put the topic up, I was thinking more on the lines of players that had something about them, or that they had a particular element of their game they excelled at but for whatever reason never made it at Slough ie off the top of my head, from the recent past, Charlie Moone. Prolific goalscorer until he got to Slough ! After us, his football career went down the pan. Wonder what he's up to now?

 

[RebelVilla]

I recall David Lay as a reasonable player for us, although he did not play for us for too long. If i remember correctly, he was asked to leave the club after playing local Sunday League football when this was forbidden in his contract. 

On a side issue, I recall that he scored for Marlow against Tottenham in the FA Cup at White Hart Lane, another ex Slough player Gary Lester was in goal for Marlow that day. 

[Reading Rebel]

27 minutes ago, 3spirit said:

Colin Fielder was distinctly average for Slough, yet at Farnborough and Woking he excelled. What was bizarre with him, was it was hard to pinpoint what he was good at. Coming with that price tag I was expecting something really special but what we got was ordinary at best and yet you talk to a Farnborough or Woking fan and most will sing his praises.

Who remembers David Lay, who we got from Marlow?  He was hyped up that he was going to be a top player at Slough, as he came to us with the ringing endorsement of our manager Dave Russell at the time,that it was a steal getting Marlow's best player. He turned out to be a right flop in the same vein as Colin Fielder!

When I put the topic up, I was thinking more on the lines of players that had something about them, or that they had a particular element of their game they excelled at but for whatever reason never made it at Slough ie off the top of my head, from the recent past, Charlie Moone. Prolific goalscorer until he got to Slough ! After us, his football career went down the pan. Wonder what he's up to now?

 

I think Charlie Moone came to us at the wrong time in his career to see the best of him.

I think some players excel at certain clubs because of the way they play/system they use.

One player I remember coming to us who banged in the goals for his previous club but nowhere near as many for Slough was Matt Miller.

I know Yeading had a lot of pacey players in their team at the time and possibly set up a lot of chances for him.

 

Edited June 23, 2019 by Reading Rebel

[3spirit]

We have had a curse with strikers over the years. I thought Matt's first season with us was a good one but after that he found goals harder to come by but I think the team in general was struggling then. As a goal poacher I liked Matt Miller and I thought he was a nice guy off the field,too. He's now a leg-end,...... I mean Slough Legend !

[Mark44]

Agree with the Matt Miller shout....scored loads for Yeading and then joined us and started scoring with over 10 by Christmas....then found it hard as he was pushed out of the team by the formidable partnership of Hodges and Boot...….

Another striker who came to us having scored a lot was Danny Jordan but he looked average at best with us. Also springing to mind was the team we had in our lowest ever finish in history. Nick Roddis and Lee Charles, although getting on a bit had come in from St Albans and had quite a bit of experience, Lee Charles had even made a first team appearance for QPR at one stage....anyway, they were terrible

 

[epicrebel]

9 hours ago, 3spirit said:

We have had a curse with strikers over the years. I thought Matt's first season with us was a good one but after that he found goals harder to come by but I think the team in general was struggling then. As a goal poacher I liked Matt Miller and I thought he was a nice guy off the field,too. He's now a leg-end,...... I mean Slough Legend !

He scored 2 at the latest Slough Legends game.

[Reading Rebel]

Can't remember the name of the former Scottish International who flew in by helicopter for the game against Winchester which I think we lost and we never saw him again.

Not sure who the manager was. The Chairman might have been Martin Deaner but again I could be wrong.

[Mark44]

2 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Can't remember the name of the former Scottish International who flew in by helicopter for the game against Winchester which I think we lost and we never saw him again.

Not sure who the manager was. The Chairman might have been Martin Deaner but again I could be wrong.

That was Paul Telfer.....I believe he knew our assistant Darren Salton from their time at Luton together...I believe Telfer was in the car when they crashed which ultimately led to Darren having to retire early

Incidentally, after his solitary appearance for us he went to Sutton and played in their National South side

[Reading Rebel]

9 minutes ago, Mark44 said:

That was Paul Telfer.....I believe he knew our assistant Darren Salton from their time at Luton together...I believe Telfer was in the car when they crashed which ultimately led to Darren having to retire early

Incidentally, after his solitary appearance for us he went to Sutton and played in their National South side

I think the manager might have been Eddie Denton.

[Mark44]

I assumed you were talking about this game which was just after Bateman took over.

https://sloughtownfc.net/reports/4586

[GarySTFC]

3 hours ago, Mark44 said:

That was Paul Telfer.....I believe he knew our assistant Darren Salton from their time at Luton together...I believe Telfer was in the car when they crashed which ultimately led to Darren having to retire early

Incidentally, after his solitary appearance for us he went to Sutton and played in their National South side

No, it was Dylan Kerr who was rumoured to have been flown down during our time at Wexham Park 

[Reading Rebel]

7 minutes ago, Mark44 said:

I assumed you were talking about this game which was just after Bateman took over.

https://sloughtownfc.net/reports/4586

Thanks for that Mark.

[Reading Rebel]

2 minutes ago, GarySTFC said:

No, it was Dylan Kerr who was rumoured to have been flown down during our time at Wexham Park 

Are you sure Gary?

Pretty certain that when we played Winchester we were at Beaconsfield and Paul Telfer flew in by helicopter.

Perhaps Dylan Kerr did as well.

[Nathan]

If I remember correctly Paul Telfer lived in Winchester at the time and agreed to appear for us for that game only. Long time ago though so could be wrong. 

[Matt]

I would certainly put Mo Shariff in this category. He looked an amazing prospect when he broke into Steve Bateman’s team and scored his first goal for us in an FA Trophy game at Boreham Wood at the age of 16. He was signed by QPR but didn’t progress, and ended up back in the non-league game. Last seen at Hemel Hempstead or Kings Langley a few years ago, I believe.