Unsung Tottenham hero players

[Gassin's finest]

If memory serves Carr was highly rated by many, apparently Man Utd came in for him at one point, and then he went to Newcastle which was weird as he was probably our best player for a time.

Michael Brown annoyed me, he'd scored 20+ goals as an attacking midfielder in the championship before we signed him and when he came to us he just went around kicking people, it's like his footballing talent disappeared when he signed for us and turned into David Batty.

I had a lot of time for Brown... the ying to Carrick's yang. A blunt weapon but he gave it the bollocks every game. I think as much as we Spurs fans like to equate ourselves with elegant, champagne footballers, we really just love someone who get's stuck in.

 

[Gassin's finest]

Not seen him mentioned yet but Micky Hazard was a good player. Lacked pace but had a great eye for a pass and loves the club. Story goes that he was playing for Chelsea and Micky was taking a throw in. Someone shouted out 'Why don't you fuck off back to Tottenham' and he turned round and said 'I'd crawl back there over broken glass to get away from this shit hole'.

I went to that Legends game against Inter, to open the new stadium, and Hazard and Howells were, in my opinion, by far the better performers in that match.

 

[GMI]

Richard Gough​

That’s a bold choice.

And I fully agree. Great player.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

Frank Saul

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Can I nominate Jamie Carragher? He scored more own goals for Spurs against Liverpool than he scored FOR Liverpool against other teams

 

[agrdavidsfan]

Benoit Assou Ekotto

 

[Terry & Terry]

It’s a long time ago and memories can deceive, but I always thought of Kinnear and Knowles as an equal partnership, and equally celebrated at the the time, until that song came along anyway!

Yes, I’d give Cyril the edge, but Soppy Joe was a brilliant and popular fullback .

It is my recall as well. But when I look, in 10 years Joe played 200 games for us. In 12 years Cyril played 400 games for us. Am I right in thinking Joe had a bad injury?

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

It is my recall as well. But when I look, in 10 years Joe played 200 games for us. In 12 years Cyril played 400 games for us. Am I right in thinking Joe had a bad injury?

I don't recall a major injury. And I didn't realise Cyril played twice as many games for us either.

I know that Joe had later in his career at Spurs to compete with the youngster Steve P which may have reduce his appearances but I'm still surprised he played half the number that Cyril played. Hr still managed to win a few medals with us though!

 

[riggi]

Gallas

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Maybe not ‘unsung’ but for a long time I don’t think our fans appreciated just how good Michael Carrick was.

It’s no coincidence that Man.U hadn’t won the league for a good few years and then when Carrick came in they won it straight away and went on a very dominant run where they won pretty much everything including the CL.

Carrick was a huge reason for our transformation and rise up to nearly 4th under Jol and Fergie saw what a good player he was and nabbed him.

 

[spursgirls]

Not seen him mentioned yet but Micky Hazard was a good player. Lacked pace but had a great eye for a pass and loves the club. Story goes that he was playing for Chelsea and Micky was taking a throw in. Someone shouted out 'Why don't you fuck off back to Tottenham' and he turned round and said 'I'd crawl back there over broken glass to get away from this shit hole'.

The horse's mouth says not true!

 

[Japhet]

The horse's mouth says not true!

Probably trying to avoid having his house fire bombed.

 

[wlhatwhl]

I don't recall a major injury. And I didn't realise Cyril played twice as many games for us either.

I know that Joe had later in his career at Spurs to compete with the youngster Steve P which may have reduce his appearances but I'm still surprised he played half the number that Cyril played. Hr still managed to win a few medals with us though!

Joe Kinnear broke his leg against Leeds in Jan 1969 and didn't return to the team until the following season, making only 10 appearances in 1969-70. In the last few years at the club, he and Ray Evans were both fighting for the right-back spot with Evans eventually becoming first choice.

 

[PCozzie]

Another blast from the past.

Nico Claesen

Both this and the Terry Venables threads are bringing all the memories back. I remember his last minute winner v Chelsea at WHL in 1987. My 8th birthday present and only my second game at the Lane. Seem to remember it then all kicking off in the Park Lane end and us making a hasty exit.

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

Joe Kinnear broke his leg against Leeds in Jan 1969 and didn't return to the team until the following season, making only 10 appearances in 1969-70. In the last few years at the club, he and Ray Evans were both fighting for the right-back spot with Evans eventually becoming first choice.

Ah yes, thanks for reminding me of the broken leg. I’d completely forgotten that!

 

[Terry & Terry]

Joe Kinnear broke his leg against Leeds in Jan 1969 and didn't return to the team until the following season, making only 10 appearances in 1969-70. In the last few years at the club, he and Ray Evans were both fighting for the right-back spot with Evans eventually becoming first choice.

Thanks. I had a vague recollection something happened. All my recollections are a bit vague these days.

 

[JamieSpursCommunityUser]

Gica Popescu.

Never mentioned but every bit as good as Klinsmann and remains one of the greatest players to ever wear our shirt.

For the younger generation he was a number 8. A number 6. A sweeper. A ball playing CB.

Anything he was asked to do he could do and make it look easy.

A brilliant brilliant footballer.

 

[14/04/91]

Gica Popescu.

Never mentioned but every bit as good as Klinsmann and remains one of the greatest players to ever wear our shirt.

For the younger generation he was a number 8. A number 6. A sweeper. A ball playing CB.

Anything he was asked to do he could do and make it look easy.

A brilliant brilliant footballer.

He was a class player but I wouldn’t call him a Spurs hero, overall I think his time here was a bit disappointing.
Not sure he truly wanted to be here in all honesty and his performances didn’t match his talent imo.
Great winner against Arsenal in Jan 95 (I think) so would always have a soft spot for him!

 

[JamieSpursCommunityUser]

He was a class player but I wouldn’t call him a Spurs hero, overall I think his time here was a bit disappointing.
Not sure he truly wanted to be here in all honesty and his performances didn’t match his talent imo.
Great winner against Arsenal in Jan 95 (I think) so would always have a soft spot for him!

I thought Popescu and Howells were the absolute epitome of unsung heroes that season.

We went from relegation form with the Fab 4 to title challenging form with Popescu and Howells as a defensive double pivot.

In fact had we started the season with them then you could make the case that we would have been title challengers.

He was given a more conservative midfield role than he had at PSV, with very little licence to get forward, but he performed it brilliantly.

The perception of him not wanting to be here is probably because Cruyff was on the phone to him every other week talking about his role next season to replace Koeman as Sweeper. Also his mate Dumi was loaned out and he didn't speak a word of English.

He came out of communist Romania after the '89 revolution and turned down Real Madrid for PSV because there had been a media black out and nobody in his country knew Real were the bigger team.

Once he understood the wider football world there was no chance he was going to turn down Cruyff and Barca at the age of 27.

I can't blame him for that.

 

[ParklaneDazza]

Mark Falco 68 goals in 174 games