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Player Thread: Martin 'Buster' Phillips (1995/96)
- Thread starter kas_tippler
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gordondaviesmoustache
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Like I said.....
Big Swifty
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I was quite excited by the arrival of a new star left-winger. I also remember the moment when I realised that he was no star. (Forget our opponents).
Someone (Kinky?) teed him up, 6 or 7 yards out, no one near him and just the keeper to beat, so he shot.......and hit the post. It was a defining moment. He started off poorly and went downhill.
Reminds of when I knew instantly that Adie Mike would never make it. I forget who we were playing, but he was about ten yards out, the ball sat up nicely on his favourite foot, and he shot, but missed. Now anyone can miss. But it wasn't just a miss - he booted the ball upwards almost vertically into row Z like the kid at school who always got picked last. No decent footballer could have hit the ball that way. Goodnight Adie.
I associate that with the worst player I ever saw at City, a dwarf called Chris Shuker. I looked at him and just KNEW.
Anyone else have a defining moment of doomed lack of ability?
Someone (Kinky?) teed him up, 6 or 7 yards out, no one near him and just the keeper to beat, so he shot.......and hit the post. It was a defining moment. He started off poorly and went downhill.
Reminds of when I knew instantly that Adie Mike would never make it. I forget who we were playing, but he was about ten yards out, the ball sat up nicely on his favourite foot, and he shot, but missed. Now anyone can miss. But it wasn't just a miss - he booted the ball upwards almost vertically into row Z like the kid at school who always got picked last. No decent footballer could have hit the ball that way. Goodnight Adie.
I associate that with the worst player I ever saw at City, a dwarf called Chris Shuker. I looked at him and just KNEW.
Anyone else have a defining moment of doomed lack of ability?
Big Swifty
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- Joined
- 8 Nov 2011
- Messages
- 4,251
I forgot to include one of Malcolm Allison's most inspired signings - Anyone else recall Paul Sugrue? He literally looked as though he had no idea how to even kick a ball. One sight of him and you began to wonder what the management was up to.
My Gawd, he was utterly, utterly dreadful.
Some of us criticise Fernando & Mangala, but Sugrue was beyond incompetent....even typing the name brings me out in a cold sweat.
My Gawd, he was utterly, utterly dreadful.
Some of us criticise Fernando & Mangala, but Sugrue was beyond incompetent....even typing the name brings me out in a cold sweat.
Big Swifty said:I forgot to include one of Malcolm Allison's most inspired signings - Anyone else recall Paul Sugrue? He literally looked as though he had no idea how to even kick a ball. One sight of him and you began to wonder what the management was up to.
My Gawd, he was utterly, utterly dreadful.
Some of us criticise Fernando & Mangala, but Sugrue was beyond incompetent....even typing the name brings me out in a cold sweat.
I remember him. He resembled kids at my primary school playing rounders who would just leg it from base to base with no idea of where the ball was!
Googoo said:Big Swifty said:I forgot to include one of Malcolm Allison's most inspired signings - Anyone else recall Paul Sugrue? He literally looked as though he had no idea how to even kick a ball. One sight of him and you began to wonder what the management was up to.
My Gawd, he was utterly, utterly dreadful.
Some of us criticise Fernando & Mangala, but Sugrue was beyond incompetent....even typing the name brings me out in a cold sweat.
I remember him. He resembled kids at my primary school playing rounders who would just leg it from base to base with no idea of where the ball was!
We got him from non-league (Nuneaton Borough, IIRC). I used to watch the reserves quite a lot in those days and he was pretty dire even at that level. I looked him up and he played fewer than 100 league games in total for several clubs, 69 of them for Boro after Big Mal later took him there. Mal obviously saw something in him that no one else did. I suppose the best that can be said is that he didn't cost a fortune, like many of Mal's flops.
We also signed another guy from non-league at the same time - Dave Wiffill, who came from Bath City according to the Internet (I misremembered that he and Sugrue had come as a pair from Nuneaton). He was actually worse in the reserves than Sugrue. He made the bench for the first team for a game against Liverpool in October 1980 (the one that features in the City! documentary) but never actually got on the pitch for the senior side. I remember being torn between feelings of absolute horror that we could be forced to draw upon the services of such an inept player against a great side like Paisley's Liverpool and a desire to see the comedy that would have ensued if we had.
I was 12 when Buster signed. I remember being at the game when he came on against Blackburn and we equalised late on. I was really excited and believed he would be the first £10m player.
I even wrote him a letter to say how good I thought he would become. He sent me a really nice letter back with a signed photo. Thinking back it was probably the only bit of fan mail he ever got.
I even wrote him a letter to say how good I thought he would become. He sent me a really nice letter back with a signed photo. Thinking back it was probably the only bit of fan mail he ever got.