[Archived] What A Waste Of Talent

[falzer]

He did perform the two greatest showboats ever though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc7y2Zr91FI

Never seen that... Brilliant! Maybe he didn't waste his talent after all!

[joey_big_nose]

I used the word "Country" to mean UK. If I wanted to refer just to England I would have used the word "Nation" - sorry for any confusion.

Interesting. I would use nation to describe the UK and countries in reference to Scotland, England etc.

Real gray area I suppose: ie. the Six nations, but then the BBC news at 6 and 10 which is homogenous across the UK say it is broadcast "across the nation".

For me, while I fully support the four seperate sports teams, I always thinks of Scots, NI, Welsh and English - and even to a certain extent ROIrish - as peas in roughly the same pod despite obvious cultural differences. We are all more bound up with each other, for better or for worse, than we care to admit.

[mattjansen]

Biggest waste of talent I've seen is probably Kanchelskis. Used to frighten the league with his pace for a few years, but then lost his way with dodgy agents and never became the legend he could have been...

My god, calling players like Kanchelskis "a waste of talent" is to really a bit to much for me. A man who has two premier league medals, fa cup, about 60 caps for Russia and some trophies in Scottish league, is that a waste of talent?? Im pretty sure his bank account speaks another language to him.

[Guest shoppybrfc]

There are a handful of players over 50 years who possess remarkable skills that take them onto another level from being simply great to being blessed with genius - this country has produced four IMO:

Duncan Edwards

George Best

Wayne Rooney

Paul Gascoigne

Now, when you put it in that context there really can only be one contender for the all-time wasted talent stakes.

I am of an age that I was able to watch Gascoigne make his debut for England in the same way I watched Rooney do likewise - both of them made you smile with their effortless ability to make the outrageously difficult look simple and their total unpredictability.

There ends the similarity, unfortunately for Gascoigne - what happened to, or if we are being honest, what he allowed himself to become, saddens me as an Englishman, a football fan and reasonable human being.

If only ......................

Rooney is not a genius, the guy misses far too many chances, Hes hyped up by the media and the public buy into it.

[The Dart]

For me, while I fully support the four seperate sports teams, I always thinks of Scots, NI, Welsh and English - and even to a certain extent ROIrish - as peas in roughly the same pod despite obvious cultural differences. We are all more bound up with each other, for better or for worse, than we care to admit.

All I can say is we in ROI consider the UK to be our European neighbours, exactly the same as France or Italy.

[falzer]

My god, calling players like Kanchelskis "a waste of talent" is to really a bit to much for me. A man who has two premier league medals, fa cup, about 60 caps for Russia and some trophies in Scottish league, is that a waste of talent?? Im pretty sure his bank account speaks another language to him.

Whether someone was a waste of talent shouldn't be judged on what they acheived, it should be based on what they could have potentially could have become. George Best had countless international caps, domestic honours, a European cup and a euro player of the year award, yet still he could have achieved so much more.

In my opinion, Kanchelskis could really have become a legend, instead of being thought of as a man who turned it on for a few years and lost his way after that.

[Kai]

A couple that spring to mind are David Hirst and Mark Robbins, but I think that they were probably more the victims of cruel luck more than anything else.

I think in a few years time we could be talking about Glen Johnson (he of toilet seat stealing fame) if he doesn't get his act together.

[bluebruce]

He did perform the two greatest showboats ever though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc7y2Zr91FI

Whilst they were definitely very INVENTIVE, frankly I could do the last one (Maybe not the taking the top class player on after part though). And I bet a lot of players could also do the first one if they practised. The great thing about that one though is how it leads onto him picking the ball up later and then setting up a goal.

[neekoy]

Whether someone was a waste of talent shouldn't be judged on what they acheived, it should be based on what they could have potentially could have become. George Best had countless international caps, domestic honours, a European cup and a euro player of the year award, yet still he could have achieved so much more.

In my opinion, Kanchelskis could really have become a legend, instead of being thought of as a man who turned it on for a few years and lost his way after that.

Ah someone who gets the point of the thread.

[soul boy]

John Bond,A good guy had a good clear out of the scum but got the sack before he could finish the job (struggled for years them dingles after that).

[david_daft]

Surprised Beattie at Everton hasn't done better