Right. I wanted to talk about Ebanks-Blake and maybe even track him a little bit, but didn't want it to get incinerated in the furious fires of the other teams thread. What I thought is that we could talk about ex-players who are still held dear here or those we hate, even. I dunno, do as you will.. Anyway, Ebanks-Blake is now joint top-scorer in the Colaship with 20 goals and he is showing the same form and a little less ability than he had before that terrible ankle break. I find it an incredible achievement on his side to have gotten himself back to such a level after a break that some wondered if he'd ever recover from (myself included) he is playing at that level that made the Rossi-Campbell pairing so lethal, and like Rossi, he is a top-flight footballer at the very least and as I understand it, we had so much doubt whether he'd ever get his game back that we didn't put any percentage sell-on fees for him when he was sold to Plymouth for a pittance (given the break and the doubts around him coming back, we couldn't have dreamt of more than the £800k [iirc] that we got) he was sold to Wolves for £1.5m and his next sell-on is going to be quadruple that. I would not be surprised in the slightest if Keano went in for him should they stay up and Wolves not get promoted. His goals and game are getting sharper and sharper and I had hopes Frazier would be able to make a late run at top scorer in that division, but think Blake (who was always more of a goal-scorer) will run away with it now. Those two could even meet in the play-offs should Wolves and Hull get there. I am really proud of him and what he has achieved. It takes a lot of heart and self-belief to comeback like that when you've been written off and to have the same game he had before with the same boldness and courage as well as that knowledge he will get clattered a lot with the pace he runs at reminds me of that Utd-type character our players tend to have. Look out for him in the future. He should be in a Premiership near you, soon. --- Oh, and Paul McShane.... fill in the space! Is he still an Ireland international?
Cool - Good idea DS! A short update on Mark Howard. I can't give a very detailed version as I haven't seen him play much. Howard was sold to Brøndby IF (Denmark) a few seasons ago when Rene Muelensteen (very unsuccesfully) lead the team. He didn't start off very well - getting a couple of red cards within the first few months and didn't strike most fans as the most intelligent footballer. He got his real breakthrough last season getting lots of playing time and was awarded Brøndby Player of the year. He is still a starting 11 and does a lot better than in the beginning. I doubt very much that he'll return to United - he is not in that class at all, but Brøndby is probably a good club for him now.
I have been very impressed with Ebanks-Blake, and I check on Wolves results or listen up when they're mentioned on 606 out of curiosity. Glad to see him doing well - I had high hopes for him, but considering how rare our kids get a shot with us these days, combined with that horrid break, I can't say I was too angry/shocked/etc when we sold him. Sunderland paid 6 mill for Michael Chopra, so Ebanks-Blake will go for at least that I'd think. Ryan Shawcross - played for us in the U-17s through 03-04 and the U-18s in 04-05. Did the whole Antwerp route, then joined Stoke City on loan at the beginning of this season. Scored a bundle of goals for them, and they made the deal permanent this past winter transfer window for 1 million pounds, with another million based on performances. Obviously this move had to happen - guys like Pique and Evans couldn't get a minute here, so Shawcross had no shot. Good to see him succeed though, got an England U-21 callup this past January.
Thanks for that! There's a lot of players that just disappear and leave you wondering just where they got to. Shawcross! Good call! He is doing very well in the Colaship very solid, sensible defender. He was never MUQ, but he was never an embarassing player like a McShane. He'll eventually end up at a mid-table PL club I think. Very sensible player, limited by not having top class ability. --- Does anyone know what happened to Fox, Neumayr and how danny Rose is doing? Haven't heard anything about Rose since he went to Oxford. Nor the other two, come to think of it.
David Fox? He's been at Blackpool since 2006, came up with them into the Championship, and is a pretty regular starter. EDIT: Just checked, Soccernet says he's started 16 games and came on in 10 so far this season. 1 goal 4 assists. They are 16th in the Coca Cola, and look safe for the season. Damn, I have no idea what happened to Neumayer. Tried searching and found f**K all - I just have the memories of him holding all those trophies when our Reserves did the Quadruple. EDIT (again): Markus is with MSV Duisburg. However, he's only made 1 substitute appearance this entire season, and they are in danger of relegation.
wow... just saw the highlight of the goal that SE-B had against Charlton that was something special the way he beat the defender and his shot on goal was full of power. good stuff. [youtube]xQ4sB-PHlgk[/youtube]
Brilliant freaking goal. I love to see it when our youngsters carve out good careers for themselves, whether with us or someone else. I hope he makes it up to the prem and becomes prolific there. I also hope Eagles goes to a good prem team.
Blake is a very prolific player and was a joy to watch with Rossi partnering him. He's not actually 100% of what he was, I'd say it's about 85% or so, but he's well on the way to getting there. He's getting better and better and I think he'll be in the Prem soon, I expect he'll score there as well as long as he gets supply. He is nothing without supply, unlike a Campbell or so. I think it's a shame he got that break when he did, he was on the cusp of getting his shot and that was all taken away from him in one fell swoop.
Only beef I have is that he's playing for that tosser McCarthy Either way, I hope that some of these teams with our kids (Hull, Stoke, Wolves) make it up to the big time. Stoke is actually in an automatic promotion place, though it's very very tight up top. Hull and Wolves are 3rd and 6th respectively, meaning they all have a good chance of making it up. And our former youth products are all major contributors in all those teams.
Wolves have told them to go away, but there's no way they will be able to keep him if Everton make an offer. Huge leap for him if he gets the move. Huge.
That's quite a strange question. He is nothing like either and if he is seen as someone who will score goals for them he'll leapfrog them. There's every reason for them to pursue him, or another striker who will actually score goals and make the penetrative runs of a poacher. As 'Arry says 'them who are like gold dust'
I meant more in terms of having another young striker on their books while they already have 2 who they rate pretty highly. I would be surprised and it has nothing to do with how dissimilar they are. Everton are more likely to spend money to keep Pienaar and Fernandez imo.
Everton fans of my acquaitance have said they're severly short in the forward positions. Johnson doesn't score anymore, Vaughan is always injured, Anichebe is far from the finished article. Only leaves Yakubu, and he's one of those players that has lean patches throughout the season.
Ebanks-Blake Wolverhampton 23 Beattie Sheff Utd 22 Phillips West Brom 22 John Southampton 17 Lisbie Colchester 17 Campbell Hull 15 1 more game to go.. it's up in the air whether Wolves will even make the play-offs. I cannot see Blake being anywhere other than the PL next season. Goals in the Colaship aren't worth what they used to be, but it's definitely a platform for young strikers on the up and that tally of his will have alerted a fair few PL clubs to him. Campbell is too unselfish to have wracked up, unfortunately.
Its always good to see United or former United players in the top of the scoring charts. We ususally have two in our team, but to have two in the CL as well this season, just speaks highlly of the club, staff etc.
Ryan Shawcross who left in the January window for Stoke City was named in the PFA team of the season for the Championship.
Shawcross will definitely play in the PL one day even if Stoke don't go up this season. He's the type you see break through the ranks at places like Middlesbrough and he'll get better and better with age. Was never United class, but he's a solid, sensible, no-nonsense CB who will reach his full potential without a doubt. He'll be far, far better at 26 or so than he is now.
Well done to Ryan Shawcross and Jonathon Greening on getting to the PL. Stoke will go straight back down... but I wonder if Shawcross will do enough to get himself a move. Ebanks Blake was confirmed Colaship top scorer also although Wolves didn't make the play-offs. Can't see him being in the Colaship next season. A PL club will snatch him up, imo.
Greening has been class at West Brom since he joined, happy to see him back in the Prem. Wonder if Keano will have a look at Ebanks-Blake, or if he's had enough of high-scoring Championship strikers after how poorly Chopra and Stokes have been this season. Hope he hasn't - Ebanks Blake has more talent than those 2 combined.