Youth player(s) you had high hopes for?

[Blake Griffin]

Of course he’s gutted and he has every right to be. My only issue is that but for Spurs, he’d likely not even be a professional footballer at a decent level right now, and has we clung into him for longer then that could’ve been the death knell, so comments like that from the previous poster saying that this reflects badly on us and we should have done right by him just rankle with me, I don’t see what we’ve done particularly wrong.

he'd been with us from the age of 12. in his first season as an u18 he does well and establishes himself as a promising young player. year 2 he really pushed on and is now considered to be amongst the best in his group. year 3 starts and he injures himself in a car crash leaving him not only unable to play but also with complications in his day-to-day life. year 3 ends and spurs say we know you've had a really tough year nick, oh by the way, we're releasing you, bye.

just imagine how devastating that news would have been to him, getting back and playing for spurs would have been the main thing driving(no pun intended) him on to get through all the problems he was having to deal with. you don't think spurs could have at least been a little more compassionate and given him another season to help get him back on his feet and playing? i've moaned more than most about the mediocre players we've kept on in the academy seemingly out of good will yet for some reason this wasn't extended to tsaroulla - a player that actually did have and show a lot of ability and was going through a really tough time in his life.

 

[edson]

Nick Barmby was the one for me, came to us and was one of the hottest youngsters coming through at the time, and was formidable playing amongst Anderton, Sheringham and Klinsmann. Unfortunately decided to go back up north, and his career faded out.

Others for me, Gerry McMahon, Terry Dixon, Dean Parrott, Jon Bostock, Coulibally, Marcus Edwards, Reto Ziegler, Kevin Prince-Boateng, and finally Mounir El Hamdaoui who was such a skillful player and did pretty well afterwards in Holland.

Barmby was one of the best I have seen and I liked El Hamdaoui a lot.

 

[DJS]

Completely agree with KWP. Badly managed by Poch. Should have been given a longer run in the team when he first got in as he had some decent performances. One of his early bad games was Newport away in the cup. Could never understand why Poch played him at left back and a senior international Trippier at right back

Yep he got us PEH a for a good fee but if we could have kept KWP I would have much rather done so.

Althougn KWP is a massive spurs fan I think (?) so maybe a chance we can buy him back in future but will be costly.

 

[Annabel]

OK, obscure one here - Paul Moran, nicknamed 'sparrow', was only 5'8. Was such a quick and exciting winger. Bad injuries ruined his career.

Also Guy Butters, thought he was gonna be a defensive rock for us.

 

[TheBlueRooster]

The youth player I had highest hopes for did actually break through but, sadly, not for long.

Garry Brooke wasn't the most svelte player we ever had on our books. Indeed, the Swedish club who took him on loan as a kid called him 'Buddha'. Yet for a couple of seasons in the early eighties, he really didn't look out of place in what was a very fine midfield indeed.

Sadly for him, and indeed for us as I think he'd have gone on to be a very decent player, he was involved in a really bad car crash in the 1982-83 season. He'd just turned 22 and, although he came back the following season and played a few more games for us, he never truly recovered his form or fitness. Bloody shame.

Came on for Ricky Villa in the 1981 F A Cup Final if I remember correctly. Great little player, could have gone further.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Nick Barmby was the one for me, came to us and was one of the hottest youngsters coming through at the time, and was formidable playing amongst Anderton, Sheringham and Klinsmann. Unfortunately decided to go back up north, and his career faded out.

Others for me, Gerry McMahon, Terry Dixon, Dean Parrott, Jon Bostock, Coulibally, Marcus Edwards, Reto Ziegler, Kevin Prince-Boateng, and finally Mounir El Hamdaoui who was such a skillful player and did pretty well afterwards in Holland.

Barmby had more talent than any of Beckham, Anderton, McManaman etc who had more successful careers as English flair players of the time (though his career wasn’t bad). Had he stayed with us he’d have triple the caps for England I reckon.

he'd been with us from the age of 12. in his first season as an u18 he does well and establishes himself as a promising young player. year 2 he really pushed on and is now considered to be amongst the best in his group. year 3 starts and he injures himself in a car crash leaving him not only unable to play but also with complications in his day-to-day life. year 3 ends and spurs say we know you've had a really tough year nick, oh by the way, we're releasing you, bye.

just imagine how devastating that news would have been to him, getting back and playing for spurs would have been the main thing driving(no pun intended) him on to get through all the problems he was having to deal with. you don't think spurs could have at least been a little more compassionate and given him another season to help get him back on his feet and playing? i've moaned more than most about the mediocre players we've kept on in the academy seemingly out of good will yet for some reason this wasn't extended to tsaroulla - a player that actually did have and show a lot of ability and was going through a really tough time in his life.

I’ll accept the argument you and Edson make happily as you have far more insight into the working of our academy than I do or ever will. I just don’t feel that the ‘keep him or let him go’ is an issue if compassion, and I’d suggest that there’s a strong argument that if he’d stayed with us in those circumstances it might have prevented what appears now to be an upward trajectory. Just the exposure of that Leeds match will probably get him scouted and watched my clubs at L1 and even Championship level with a view to signing him this summer I imagine. A cat A academy player for a relative pittance.

 

[GMI]

OK, obscure one here - Paul Moran, nicknamed 'sparrow', was only 5'8. Was such a quick and exciting winger. Bad injuries ruined his career.

Also Guy Butters, thought he was gonna be a defensive rock for us.

Paul Moran was the first one that came to mind. It always looked like his kit was three sizes to big for him. You never saw his hands as the sleeves were too long.

Another more recent one is Rodrigo Defendi, the young Brazilian Centre Back. I though a defender call Defendi was destined for the top. Alot of Frank Arnesons early signings were quite exciting (Spase Divelski, David Limberski etc)

 

[Geyzer Soze]

Got him on my sky blue away shirt the summer we signed him. that went to the charity shop. I still watch the news hoping it to spot it in a war torn country or refugee camp, like a depressing Where’s Wally

I live in one of those countries and I did see an old blue away Sandro shirt a year or 2 ago ? not quite the same thing... But similarly bizarre

 

[edson]

Barmby had the lot at a young age clever with good movement off the ball, worked hard for the team but also had a lot of talent that other top player love to play with and he was such a joy to watch when he first got into the first team and he should not have left Spurs.

 

[theShiznit]

I was at one of the Spurs end of year Dinner/ Dances that Nick Barmby was at and there were stories of him being home sick and wanting to leave, so we asked him if the stories were true, he replied "don't believe everything you read" he was gone a few months later due to homesickness (I've believed everything I've read since then )

That aside; Steve Slade, Rory Allen, saw a couple of youth/reserve games where Peter Gain stood out...
And old Mooney El Hamdoui after that pre-season tourny.

 

[Barmby Army]

The three that immediately spring to mind for me are Bostock, Edwards and Taarabt, the buzz around the three of them was bonkers.

I think in retrospect, as someone mentioned, Bostock was a case of being a man in a kid's game at youth level, his physique masked his flaws and once he got to the men's game those flaws were exposed.

Edwards was almost the opposite, in that his ability with the ball was undeniably excellent but there were major doubts over his size and, later, his attitude (although that has been questioned). The move to Portugal was a smart one IMO, as it suits his game more - I'm not sure if he came back over here he would have the impact people assume he would.

Taarabt...oh man. I still remember his debut (I think?) away to Chelsea. He came on as sub and what stunned me is that the entire team immediately looked for him to create something whenever we got the ball, everything went through Taarabt (small edit: just remembered this was two days after the UEFA Cup game in Sevilla, so half the team was out...but still!). We lost the game, but I remember coming away so excited because of the reverence that the rest of the side clearly had for him. At the time it felt like he was another Rooney, a ready-made world class player just waiting to be given a chance. Around the same time I read an interview with Berbatov where he gave Taarabt huge praise, which only cemented the view further, that this guy was a superstar. Unfortunately, for whatever reason he never learned how to consistently put his incredible talent to good use, although he seems to have at least achieved some sort of consistency as a slightly less exciting player at Benfica.

Interestingly, I think there was a point where Kane would have been a valid answer in this thread - he had a weird trajectory in his youth, going from very highly-rated 17 year old, to pretty much written off (in terms of ever being a Tottenham regular) by 20, and then an established world-class player by 22. It's a mark of his character that he recovered from that impression of having failed to live up to his potential, kicked on and became one of the world's elite strikers in such a short space of time.

 

[eddiebailey]

KWP. Mishandled criminally. Making it elsewhere and may rise to England status yet

Others seem to fall into 2 broad categories.
1) Players that were misjudged by many who never really had what we thought they had.
2) Players that may well have had it but through circumstances, events, , or their own personal failings got side-tracked.

In practice it is quite difficult to distinguish between those categories...

 

[Japhet]

Caulker should have done much better. Similarly Taarabt wasted his talent. Phill Ifill disappeared without trace and Anthony Gardener started well but got injured a lot and crashed.

 

[Graham Minshall]

Caulker should have done much better. Similarly Taarabt wasted his talent. Phill Ifill disappeared without trace and Anthony Gardener started well but got injured a lot and crashed.

Anthony Gardener, was signed from Port Vale for £1 million was never actually a spurs youth player.

 

[newbie]

The three that immediately spring to mind for me are Bostock, Edwards and Taarabt, the buzz around the three of them was bonkers.

I think in retrospect, as someone mentioned, Bostock was a case of being a man in a kid's game at youth level, his physique masked his flaws and once he got to the men's game those flaws were exposed.

Edwards was almost the opposite, in that his ability with the ball was undeniably excellent but there were major doubts over his size and, later, his attitude (although that has been questioned). The move to Portugal was a smart one IMO, as it suits his game more - I'm not sure if he came back over here he would have the impact people assume he would.

Taarabt...oh man. I still remember his debut (I think?) away to Chelsea. He came on as sub and what stunned me is that the entire team immediately looked for him to create something whenever we got the ball, everything went through Taarabt (small edit: just remembered this was two days after the UEFA Cup game in Sevilla, so half the team was out...but still!). We lost the game, but I remember coming away so excited because of the reverence that the rest of the side clearly had for him. At the time it felt like he was another Rooney, a ready-made world class player just waiting to be given a chance. Around the same time I read an interview with Berbatov where he gave Taarabt huge praise, which only cemented the view further, that this guy was a superstar. Unfortunately, for whatever reason he never learned how to consistently put his incredible talent to good use, although he seems to have at least achieved some sort of consistency as a slightly less exciting player at Benfica.

Interestingly, I think there was a point where Kane would have been a valid answer in this thread - he had a weird trajectory in his youth, going from very highly-rated 17 year old, to pretty much written off (in terms of ever being a Tottenham regular) by 20, and then an established world-class player by 22. It's a mark of his character that he recovered from that impression of having failed to live up to his potential, kicked on and became one of the world's elite strikers in such a short space of time.

The funny thing about Adel is Jol really rated him and Rednapp was raving about him at a dinner once, and yet he still couldnt make it

 

[EireYid]

we had an english number 9 who was setting records in the u21's and reserves. it was before Kane and was around the time the likes of niel mellor banged that goal in for the pool. i thought we had a better version in the ranks and thought he would be a solid striker at england level. think we relaesed hiim at 22 and he floated around the lower leagues.

it will come to me.

Wouldn't be Jonathan Obika would it? ?

 

[SpursSince1980]

Pretty sure Samways is at least 5 years older than Sol and Caskey.

My bad!

 

[C0YS]

For me the big ones are Edwards and actually, Tom Carroll, who I thought would make it at Spurs. Though both Carroll and Edwards have done well in the broader sense of things. A big one is Oduwa as well, I didn't necessarily think he'd make it at Spurs, I did think he'd have a decent professional career, but so far he hasn't established himself anywhere and is currently playing in Ireland. For me, that's a letdown.

What's surprising in this thread is just how unrealistic some expectations are of young players a lot actually are big successes yet people expect more. I don't even think you should include KWP here because there is no reason to not have continued high hopes for him, but I guess people are interpreting the question to mean 'for Spurs' which I guess is fair enough.

My #1 for that is Harry Winks for sure. I thought he would be twice the player by now. And yes, also Caulker, but knowing more of his full story now no wonder that didn't work out. Wasn't for lack of ability though.

Ok, Winks I don't understand, because when he was actually a youth player, he didn't seem to have the level of hype that surrounded, say, Onomah or Edwards. I think Winks has been a massive success, he is a full England international and has made over 150 appearances for us, and has managed to establish himself as N.1 first team scapegoat. For a youth player, that's a massive success, and honestly, considering his relatively modest hype he's done very well.

Maybe some people expected more from when he was beginning to break into the team, which I think is fair, but that's confirmation bias at play, we tend to see players more positively when they aren't established, see what they do well rather than what they do badly. Right now the opposite is true for Winks. But, Winks right now is the third most successful youth player out of our team in the last 10 years (after Kane and Rose, and some would argue Rose doesn't count) and he hasn't been anywhere near the 3rd most hyped.

Some would use that to show our failings to promote youth, I think it has much more to do with the fact that people find it hard to accept even the most talented of players don't make it to the top-level. For example, the best youth academy in the world, their two biggest hyped youth prospects of the 2010s were Bojan and Deulofeu, these two players were at some point the most hyped in the world, neither reached close to those heights. And that's normal, plenty of other examples (McEachran, Kakuta and Halilovic just out of my head), the fact is most wonderkids fail to live up to expectations, and most youth players, even the hyped ones, will not become top level footballers. We judge success too harshly, not just here but in general in football.

Bentaleb. Had so many tools in his locker and such precence.

Bentaleb, again, I get if you mean for us, but he is a full international and has played 200 games or so at the top level. That is an exceptional outcome for a youth player, like Winks, even the hypest of all hyped youth players are lucky to match what Winks and Bentaleb have done, both which are among the biggest successes of our youth club.

Another obvious one is Taarabt, had all the skill in the world but just never put it to good use.

Taarabt I've got understanding for, his early game, it really did look like he could have been whatever he wanted to be. The reason I comment is he has put his skill to good use. He has had almost 300 appearances in his career, almost all in the top tier, he's 31 and playing as a defensive midfielder for Benfica. Yes, he did have the ability to play for Barcelona, and probably this ability got him through to actually do quite well despite the fact he didn't have any idea of how to play for a team and not as an individual. As he's matured he has actually got better at this, took responsibility etc. So he is actually a very interesting case.

Danny Rose. Yes he had some good seasons for us, but nothing quite matched his debut goal against the scum. I know he has his demons, but I think with the right manager at the right time, he could really have made the England LB position his own. Had he hit his potential, we probably would have lost him to Real Madrid!

I would say that he had some more than good seasons for us and he did make the England LB position his own. Including two PFA team of the year awards. Injuries hurt him and he didn't come back the same player, but that is something that happens in football. The injuries also occurred more or less at 26/27, I think we saw the best of Rose, I don't think there was some hidden extra level to him. He was fantastic for us for two seasons.

To add to this, no one who knew anything about Rose expected him to explode after Arsenal. Firstly, he played ok that game, but didn't look ready, goal aside. He also played a few games before in the cups, like against leeds. Now in none of those games did you think we had a future spurs starter. In fact, I think if Rose didn't convert into a fullback he'd have spent his career in the championship if that. Again, his hype wasn't that strong, he achieved above expectations and above what most players do with his reputation at youth level.

 

[punkisback]

I think you can say the likes of Mason, Pritchard, Townsend and KWP have made it as they have all had decent careers or having decent careers in the top level. KWP still far from his peak. But other than players like Stephen Kelly, Adam Smith I can’t really think of any players from say 10-15 years ago who actually came from our academy and did much. Even smiths and Charlie Daniels have only recently played top flight football. But Marney was the one who really exploded but didn’t really hit the heights he had shown on his debut. Possible the best I’ve seen out of any youngster.

 

[peter_the_yid]

Anyone remember Darren Caskey?

A very young version of myself put my Darren Caskey sticker in the wrong place in the album back in the day. I never got the actual sticker to go over the top, so I forever had 2 Darren Caskey's.