Adam Wharton

[oneandycrawford]

24 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

Anyone finding this thread a bit cringe, any chance of you crying about it somewhere else?

Maybe a support group of your own?

There's a choice to be made about entering this thread, you don't have to make it, you can always do the unthinkable and just keep scrolling and go onto the next thread.

I'm interested in how he does but it's no more than that. Wish the lad well but ultimately he chose to move. I get that the owners wanted to sell and therefore the pressure was on Wharton but he had a contract and could have stayed.

The lad is clearly ambitious and believes in his own talent and (I'm guessing here!) probably realised the move was an opportunity to fast track his development by being exposed to regular first team Prem football. Judging by what has happened since his move hard to say he was wrong.

A lot of the arguments at the time from Rovers fans was that he'd have been better to stay and develop with Rovers and then move to one of the big clubs. Might have been better for Rovers but I suspect to that might not have better for Wharton.

 

[47er]

1 hour ago, oneandycrawford said:

I'm interested in how he does but it's no more than that. Wish the lad well but ultimately he chose to move. I get that the owners wanted to sell and therefore the pressure was on Wharton but he had a contract and could have stayed.

The lad is clearly ambitious and believes in his own talent and (I'm guessing here!) probably realised the move was an opportunity to fast track his development by being exposed to regular first team Prem football. Judging by what has happened since his move hard to say he was wrong.

A lot of the arguments at the time from Rovers fans was that he'd have been better to stay and develop with Rovers and then move to one of the big clubs. Might have been better for Rovers but I suspect to that might not have better for Wharton.

 

I wonder if he thought it was his responsibility to help save the Club?

[oneandycrawford]

15 minutes ago, 47er said:

I wonder if he thought it was his responsibility to help save the Club?

I bloody well hope not. And if it was, I'd hope he was advised that it shouldn't be!

[Mike E]

9 hours ago, bluebruce said:

Sorry I'm gonna have to diverge a bit here and say I do think him having a Palace shirt is a bit cringe. I've never understood why any Rovers fan would own another club's shirt. Rovers shirts, England shirts, maybe a Darwen shirt if you're a local and like to check out a bit of lower league football. Anything else, absolutely not.

You could give me a signed Zidane Real Madrid shirt, or a signed match worn Wharton Palace shirt and the only thing I'd be interested in doing with it would be selling it. I wish him well but another club's paraphernalia is a hard pass from me.

I still don’t get it. Part of loving football is idolising players. I have R9, Ronaldinho, Zidane, and Buffon shirts from when I was a lad. I also have Duff and Friedel international shirts. Don’t see anything odd about it.

I sort of get why the Palace Wharton shirt might be odd, but when it’s one of our own, I can easily accept a 12yo idolising them wherever they go in addition to his love of Rovers.

[Mattyblue]

Going on holiday to Spain and coming home with a Barca shirt is standard 12 year old behaviour (often a knock off one from a market stall 😄).

But a Crystal Palace shirt? Hmm…

[roverandout]

I watch every Palace game I can just because of Wharton and the fact they give English players a chance. I think Palace had the most players from one club at the last euros 

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

I still don’t get it. Part of loving football is idolising players. I have R9, Ronaldinho, Zidane, and Buffon shirts from when I was a lad. I also have Duff and Friedel international shirts. Don’t see anything odd about it.

I sort of get why the Palace Wharton shirt might be odd, but when it’s one of our own, I can easily accept a 12yo idolising them wherever they go in addition to his love of Rovers.

I can easily accept him idolising Wharton too. But he has a Rovers shirt with him on, and an England shirt with him on. I don't get what he wants a Palace one for.

I can sort of see why people might collect signed memorabilia in glass displays too, maybe I was slightly harsh on that count. But I can't imagine why you'd go to another club's website and give them money to plonk a player's name on it, and then, presumably, wear it. It's always been bizarre to me to see Rovers fans in another team's shirt.

And yes idolising players is part of football, but not idolising the teams they play for too, which is what the vast majority of a shirt is about. The main thing about being a football fan, if you're not a neutral, is loyalty to your club. The main reason for buying what are now obscenely overpriced shirts is that loyalty.

Edited 9 hours ago by bluebruce

[Forever Blue]

People telling young kids how they should think about football shirts and club loyalty is very funny. 
 

I had a white West Ham away kit when I was 10 cos my mum got it cheap in the sale from a sports shop. I loved that shirt. I also had the Southampton away shirt around the same time. This was the early 80s. Football kits are fascinating to football obsessed young lads. &nbsp

Lighten up 😉

 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

I still don’t get it. Part of loving football is idolising players. I have R9, Ronaldinho, Zidane, and Buffon shirts from when I was a lad. I also have Duff and Friedel international shirts. Don’t see anything odd about it.

I sort of get why the Palace Wharton shirt might be odd, but when it’s one of our own, I can easily accept a 12yo idolising them wherever they go in addition to his love of Rovers.

I used to idolising Alan Shearer and Alessandro Del Piero as young boy growing us. Shearer is the best striker I've ever seen live and seeing him as my idol and what I wanted to become a pro footballer, but never going to make it, not good enough a striker. I used to always watch Football Italia on channel 4 every week and I used to follow Juventus and Del Piero is my idol and one of my all time favourite footballers. I used to loved watching Barcelona as I was growing up and players like Xavi and Iniesta. Over the pass 10/12 years my passion for watching La Liga has gone, and following Italia Football isn't the same as it was growing up. 

[Eddie]

19 hours ago, Mattyblue said:

How is the ‘reasoning poor’?

He was brought up a five minute drive from me, he’s a fan of my club. Can’t say I remember any other Blackburners since Bryan Douglas who have had the career he will.

I will follow his career and make no apologies for it. You have no connection to the area, so don’t get it, not really my problem.
 

I don't have no connection to the area. Don't let my accent fool you just because my family moved to the US when I was 1 or the fact that my career has me based in Paris. But, either way, that isn't particularly relevant. 

We're all from somewhere and there's nothing unique to Blackburn that means a non-local couldn't imagine a similar relationship with an athlete/musician/actor/politican/etc from their local area. 

We will have to wait and see just how good of a career he goes on to have, but Phil Jones left here with a bigger reputation and higher expectations. He didn't any of the same tracking or fascination that Wharton gets. Why? Because we were a Premier League side and had better things to focus on. He was also probably hurt by the fact that he joined United, but this messageboard was certainly not filled with members talking about local-boy-done-good.

There's no two ways about it. This is a reflection of the downfall of this club.

That isn't me - or any other poster on here - telling people to not follow his career or to not have a soft spot for him. But it doesn't change the fact that it makes us look small-time. 

 

 

[Eddie]

12 hours ago, Mike E said:

I’d be interested to know that long list of talented academy products who were alleged Rovers fans that went on to do better than Rovers.

I can think of Phil Jones, and…

Well maybe Dunny, but he was established and moved sideways. Derbyshire? Gally? Who else?

Nobody on Wharton’s level, that’s for sure, and nobody that went up the ladder so easily.

It's still a pretty long list of players from the last 15 years that have represented the club in the Premier League, played Premier League football elsewhere, played international football (in the case of Jones and Dunn), and played for significantly bigger clubs (in the case of Jones).

It's not like we are Stocksbridge and we now have a soft spot for Leicester because of Jamie Vardy. 

As I said in my previous post, the level thing is too early to judge. He looks set to have a fantastic career that will see him move beyond Crystal Palace and represent England for years to come. But it could also not happen.

I'll put it this way. If I were a Birmingham City supporter, I wouldn't give two f*cks about Real Madrid (or Dortmund before them). Nice to see Bellingham doing well and it's a credit to their academy and a nice story that maybe helps the club recruit local players, but he chose to leave and best of luck to him. 

 

[Mattyblue]

Obviously not ‘a fact’, is it, just Eddie’s opinion.

It’s a thread on a message board with a few dozen regular posters. It’s akin to a few folk in a pub having a chat.. and guess what in the pubs around Wilpshire the smalltime folk will have a chat about Adam Wharton.
 

[47er]

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

 

I watch every Palace game I can just because of Wharton 

 

Same here but I fear it's because I still can't let go! 😭

[Mike E]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

It's still a pretty long list of players from the last 15 years that have represented the club in the Premier League, played Premier League football elsewhere, played international football (in the case of Jones and Dunn), and played for significantly bigger clubs (in the case of Jones).

It's not like we are Stocksbridge and we now have a soft spot for Leicester because of Jamie Vardy. 

As I said in my previous post, the level thing is too early to judge. He looks set to have a fantastic career that will see him move beyond Crystal Palace and represent England for years to come. But it could also not happen.

I'll put it this way. If I were a Birmingham City supporter, I wouldn't give two f*cks about Real Madrid (or Dortmund before them). Nice to see Bellingham doing well and it's a credit to their academy and a nice story that maybe helps the club recruit local players, but he chose to leave and best of luck to him. 

 

Completely agreed. But I wouldn’t think it weird to watch Madrid games and hope he wins or for younger fans to buy Bellingham Madrid shirts.

[M_B]

4 hours ago, Forever Blue said:

People telling young kids how they should think about football shirts and club loyalty is very funny. 
 

I had a white West Ham away kit when I was 10 cos my mum got it cheap in the sale from a sports shop. I loved that shirt. I also had the Southampton away shirt around the same time. This was the early 80s. Football kits are fascinating to football obsessed young lads. &nbsp

Lighten up 😉

 

Always liked the yellow and green West Brom, Bomber Brown away strip in the 70s

[Eddie]

29 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Completely agreed. But I wouldn’t think it weird to watch Madrid games and hope he wins or for younger fans to buy Bellingham Madrid shirts.

Do I want Wharton to do well? Sure. If I turn on and see Crystal Palace playing, I hope he plays well (although I couldn't care less about how they do). If anything I sort of want them to do badly. They got a potential bargain from us and many of their supporters speak as if they 'discovered' him. That's annoying.

I'm sure there are other fanbases who have felt the same way about players that we have taken as our own or treated like we plucked out of nowhere, but I have no interest in fueling that particular mindset by supporting them as if they did us some favour by signing him. 

 

[oldjamfan1]

18 hours ago, Mike E said:

 

I can think of Phil Jones, and…

Well maybe Dunny, but he was established and moved sideways. Derbyshire? Gally? Who else?

Nobody on Wharton’s level, that’s for sure, and nobody that went up the ladder so easily.

Damien Duff.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I’ve got a couple of Rovers shirts but I’ve also got about a dozen Rugby League shirts from the team I support. When you sponsor a player you get to keep their match shirt at the end of the season. Next time I need to sponsor one of the prop forwards as the shirts of the guys who we sponsor are too small given RL shirts are a shrink fit to prevent the player being grabbed by the loose shirt.

[DeeCee]

I'm very much interested in his further development, very much so but I think I'd only lose connection if he signed for Manure (I know he wouldn't sign for Dingles).

[bluebruce]

6 hours ago, Forever Blue said:

People telling young kids how they should think about football shirts and club loyalty is very funny. 
 

I had a white West Ham away kit when I was 10 cos my mum got it cheap in the sale from a sports shop. I loved that shirt. I also had the Southampton away shirt around the same time. This was the early 80s. Football kits are fascinating to football obsessed young lads. &nbsp

Lighten up 😉

 

You say 'lighten up' as if we're absolutely furious. It's just an opinion.

In fact it's an opinion I was more vociferous about when I was the age in question. I called my mates out on it plenty of times when they came back from hols sporting a Barca shirt or something.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, bluebruce said:

You say 'lighten up' as if we're absolutely furious. It's just an opinion.

In fact it's an opinion I was more vociferous about when I was the age in question. I called my mates out on it plenty of times when they came back from hols sporting a Barca shirt or something.

100%. Don't care what anyone does, but I'd still poke at my friends if they'd 'diehard' supporters of one club but throw on a shirt from another in the same country. 

My nephew lives in London, 'supports' City, but also has a soft spot for United, Liverpool, and Arsenal...🙄

Taking him to watch Portsmouth v Rovers this season didn't do a lot to convert him.