Ellis Simms all set for big Wembley game

Michael - have you got a time machine? If so, can you tell me the winning numbers in tomorrow's Lotto, please?

But in all seriousness - best of luck to Ellis (show us what you can do) and to Blackpool.

Best of luck, Ellis. We can all have a look at the type of player Davey Unsworth is developing.

“On the training ground, he's really helped teach me a lot of new things that I might not have learned back at Everton"

Ooofff. Not a great inditement of our coaching setup.

“Obviously, coming here to Blackpool was a massive challenge – I'm playing against men, with different styles of play. So it's all part of the experience and the main objective was just to improve my overall game.

“Some of the centre-backs might not be as quick as in the Under-23s, so they might try to use their weight more. They're so much stronger than what I was used to! They'll also be a bit cleverer and block your runs and your movements".

Wise words from the young man. He is appreciating the difference between, and recognising the step up from, U23s to competitive football. And most importantly, learning from it. Excellent stuff.

Good luck on Sunday. I'll be watching and rooting for you and Blackpool.

“On the training ground, he's really helped teach me a lot of new things that I might not have learned back at Everton."

Dont like the sound of that. Not the best testimonial for Unsy.

Not subtle, was it? But probably not meant totally like it sounds. This exposure to the real world seems to have been very good for Simms, sounds like he is very willing to learn and it's paying off. Long may his development continue on an upward curve.

Interested to hear opinions on whether he could be used next season as a backup striker to Calvert-Lewin?

Very best of luck to Ellis for Sunday .

Ellis apparently said off the record:

"The coaches at Finch Farm didn't tell me I could run with the ball and occasionally take a shot at goal plus it isn't always necessary to play the ball back or sideways and it can move forward from time to time"

Seriously, good luck to Ellis on Sunday, and may he be a useful asset to Everton during his career.

Great, something to look forward to watching. Wouldn't it be nice to promote him to the first team for next season

Would love to see him score in this one.

Danny #3 "He is appreciating the difference between, and recognising the step up from, U23s to competitive football."

Yes, which is why I think we need to be careful about pushing for U23 players to be given game time with the first team.

Good point Brent.
And thats for a team playing in league one.
The step up to Premier League is obviously magnified.

In the header photo it looks like he's just kicked his ball over the fence and it's hit Arthur Grumpsville who lives next door

I think in another article I read last week, Neil Critchely, the Blackpool coach, was saying he had watched Ellis quite a lot when he was playing for Everton and had noticed that Simms switched off a lot in games, seemed to lose concentration. So he made him aware of this, something most of us have seen in games, particularly when he playing for Everton U18s.

Critchely has taken a very keen interest in Simms and I would say the improvement in Ellis has a lot to do with the former Liverpool U23 coach. Gordon also had the same tendency to have brilliant spells while in Everton's U18s and U23s teams and then go missing in games; Kieran Dowell also could be accused of playing in fits and starts.

I hope Ellis Simms continues his improvement and comes back to us a much better player after his spell at Blackpool.

Maybe Mr Brands could also go to Blackpool and bring Neil Critchely back with him and add him to Everton's coaching staff.

Some key points there Dave.

Young players do lose concentration. They will switch off. They will make mistakes.

We have to let them learn, often from mistakes as much as success. That's life right? Reading his words, this lad seems willing to listen and learn. That's a positive sign.

I'm glad it seems a good coach has spotted the room for improvement and that the player has taken the coaching advice on board, which will help him improve and develop.

Maybe keep an eye on this coach too?!!

With ability, desire and consistency you have the ingredients to make a player. Many players have ability. Many have desire. But its the ones who demonstrate all 3, particularly consistency, that go on to achieve success.

David, Danny, good posts, I agree this coach is one to keep an eye on. ‘One of only 16 coaches worldwide to get the UEFA elite coaching badge'. Left Liverpool as U23 coach last year and is doing very well at Blackpool. His ideas and good communication of them with Ellis Simms is definitely bringing the player on.

With his good experience at Liverpool , now improving Blackpool as head coach and excellent coaching qualification at only 42 it sounds like the guy has a very bright future. He's northwest based, makes me think whether we could tempt him with a top coaching role at EFC.

https://trainingground.guru/articles/where-are-they-now-the-16-graduates-of-fas-elite-coaches-course

Here are the other 15 with elite badges.

Great experience for the young man, and lets hope he is on the winning side on Sunday and bags a goal.

Thomas, it's like a who's who of elite football coaches ! As in Who?

Thomas (14). Reading that, - as of now, Neil Critchley seems to be te only one that has really moved on and mad an impact in the Senior game at a professional level.
Certainly worth keeping an eye on.

I have seen a bit of blackpool this season, just to check on Simms but also to have a look at Garbutt who they got the start of season,(a very good league 1 player, should be in championship), Simms can create as well as score and looks to have quite a good all round game. What I think would be best for him is if Blackpool go up he should stay and then it would be better to judge him in the championship which would be a much bigger challenge. As for Neil Critchley, he has them playing good football and really does talk sense, comes across as a student of the game. Definately a far better coach than anything we have and I think the future looks bright for him

Sometimes they are just pieces of paper Hugh.
Looking at the list, none of them have made an impact at top level.

Tony, excactly mate.

Hi Danny, [12] as a self confessed Dinosaur, I will ask the question once more, 'Who coaches the coach?' to me it's like the 'Chicken or the Egg' poser, and do you think that if todays coaches had been around in the 30s and 40s that they would have improved Tom Finney, Stanley Matthews, Len Shackleton etc. You may think that this is the rambling of a confused old man, and you may well be right.

My son is a Blackpool supporter and he is worried that a bigger club will come in for Critchley.

I too hope that they will be promoted and that Critchley and Simms will be there for another season.

Dave #11, indeed, Simms' tendency to switch off and drift out of the game was a common fault of his.

I'm not sure why people always feel the need to have a dig at our coaches re his remarks about “ things I might not have learnt at Everton”. He's quite clear in his analysis of the two levels : “ “Some of the centre-backs might not be as quick as in the Under-23s, so they might try to use their weight more. They're so much stronger than what I was used to! They'll also be a bit cleverer and block your runs and your movements". That's what loans are about, getting experience of playing against wily old lags, you can't coach that at U23s by saying “ Imagine that's a 30 year old not a 20 year old you're playing against”.
I'm looking forward to seeing him on Sunday, another step in his journey, and hopefully another step up again next season

Yes, I too will watch this with particular interest in Ellis, I have watched him live in quite a few games at various Academy levels and the lad does seem to have that rare goal-scoring ability. Which he has proved is not only restricted to playing against less experienced opposition but has now made the step up and has again proved he can do it.

Like I have said before, I just hope that we have him tied down to Everton for the foreseeable future, as I am pretty sure this lad is going to be a massive success. Only a matter of time, if there isn't already, a host of clubs trying to get him, either on loan, or on a permanent!

As others have said, the best thing would be for Blackpool to win and Simms to have a season with them in the Championship.

If he could score 10+ goals with them in the Championship, then he'd be able to return to Everton aged 21 and really ready to push for a place in the first-team squad.

Hopefully wins them promotion, stays the season Gordon joins him for a season.

They both return to Everton in a year ready to take on the world.

Has been a great loan for the lad. He seems to have his head in the right place and that is just as important as talent.

Blackpool have been good now with him, and Coleman a decade ago. So hopefully we start using them more.

And if Reading ever ask for a player on loan, after the 'experiences' of Virginia and Gibson, they can do one.

Sam,

hat you describe is the ideal trajectory for almost all our young lads. Exit the U23s at about 19; show your stuff on loan at increasingly challenging levels; join the first-team squad as a genuine contender age 21 or 22.

Promotion with Blackpool would be a brilliant experience for him. Here's hoping.

You're no Dinosaur John Senior! I don't like that phrase as we should never dismiss experience and wisdom.

Really good question. "Who coaches the coach?"

I don't even know if I have an answer for that but I'll give it a Saturday morning ramble as I'm up with the dogs!!

I think it's a knack, not something you teach. I've been on the FA courses and, in all honesty, it didn't teach me a lot that I hadn't learned from being a player. Unless they've changed dramatically, they were check-box courses.

Admittedly, I learned some great training sessions that I could go on to use but it didn't teach me to be a coach. And I do value the importance of coaching qualifications in the game. I think you've hit on a good point; improve the standard of coaching training rather than it just being an ex-player / old boys club based on reputation as a player, which often sets many up for failure.

Some are destined and natural to it. They can impart their footballing knowledge onto others, get them to play and develop them.

Others just don't have it in them to be a coach. I generally believe that ironically, the better players are mostly like that. Because they don't know how to explain things. For them, things come natural and just happen; they don't know how to explain it.

There are exceptions to that like Cruyff. But mainly I always think the top, top players struggle with coaching.

I'll finish with one of our own to also counter that view. Colin Harvey. By all counts (I never watched him), a top player. But he made the difference as a coach when it mattered most.

The very best of luck to Ellis. I hope he sees his future at Everton and gets to a very high standard at Everton.

Unfortunately, although the U23 team has been successful, all I mainly see coming from the set-up are players that have glaring weaknesses and that is due to poor coaching. Success comes from within and this side of Everton needs to improve a lot.

He's done really well. Looks a far more confident and developed player than the one who left Everton.

Good look, Ellis, let's hope this will be the springboard to a very successful career and if it's with Everton then all the better.

Tony @28, I'm curious.

For some reason (and maybe I'm wrong here), I believe that innate abilty is the primary quality a good player needs, along with a host of other factors: personality, determination, etc – we've seen them all listed countless times – but these reside within the individual to a crucial extent, surely?

Yes, good coaching may have an important role in bringing these things out, making sure they develop and coalesce, getting them to the point of creating a player who can be excellent in the Premier League.

So how do you decide it's not down to lack of innate ability and other qualities? How do you decide, so definitively, that the glaring weaknesses you see are due to poor coaching, and not simply limitations in the player's innate abilities?

If I may Michael, I'll have a go at answering that one, but I doubt I will do so with much conclusion as I don't think there's an answer to that one. It's a great discussion point in its own right that is open to much interpretation.

It's all about the mix of ingredients, and I agree, the most important one is ability, although talent can be developed with the right coaching. A good coach will spot ability and talent and try to nurture it, not discount because there are a few faults. Anyone can be improved with good coaching, and it's how you get people to go beyond what they believe they are capable of.

As you say, aspects such as desire and commitment will determine whether that natural ability can be taken that step further. Very few of those, even those with the best ability, will succeed on ability alone. I say very few, as there are exceptions, but even if they get there, many of those types leave us with a feeling of what could have been if they don't have the desire and commitment and they aren't coached correctly. A recent Everton example of this in my opinion is Ross Barkley. I don't think he was coached properly in his younger years.

Conversely, a decent player with ability can take themselves that bit further with the right desire and commitment and be seen to overachieve in terms of their ability. And the right coaching.

The coaching aspect is the final ingredient that can make the difference as to whether the player with ability, desire & commitment develops accordingly. No guarantees as in any walk of life, but that's where the coaching comes in.

Back to Tony's point. I have to agree that I too get the (unqualified & not informed) impression the coaching in our U23s isn't the best. I look at the Blackpool coach Ellis is talking about and credit him for moving on from U23s to progress and develop his coaching career. Just as young players like Ellis make a decision to take the step to professional, competitive football. I think that is the mistake Unsworth has made. He's stayed in his comfort zone, in terms of his coaching position and with the same club.

I could probably think and talk about this one all day without conclusively answering, so thanks for leaving that one on my mind!!

Personal view : the Everton coaches have done a tremendous job with Simms, getting a natural finisher to learn how to play football. His development at Blackpool is no accident, it's the culmination of what good coaches at Everton have been working to. Is there room for improvement? Certainly, but the handling of Simms has been spot on since we got him from Man City.

I hope the Imps win and take him on loan next season! Non league just a few short years ago, now knocking on the door of the championship. Have also given Everton something to think about on two occasions along the way.

A bit like yesterday Danny Baily, I have split loyalties today. I want to see Ellis do well, but I also lived just outside Lincoln and spent quite a bit of time there over the years, so have (yet another) soft spot for Lincoln City. I have a lot of mates who settled in the area and follow them so will be talking them through the emotion of today!

Yes, thanks for amplifying what good coaching might achieve, Danny.

I'm sorry but I have zero evidence to support this much-promulgated concept that Unsworth is in his comfort zone and the coaching of the U23s is lacking. Does that apply to everyone who stays in a job they presumably like for what 2 years, 5 years, 10 years?

Unsworth may be the perfect person for the job, he may be a fantastic coach, and a tremendous inspiration to Everton's Academy players. Or he may be dreadful, holding everyone back. Wouldn't that perhaps lead to a pattern for players going out on loan with better coaches that they would all progress better?

Which is the exact opposite of what we generally see from the loans, with so many failing? But of course, that failure could be down to poor coaching so, yes, let's blame Unsworth.

I'm still curious how Tony knows that our U23 players have glaring weaknesses that are due to poor coaching and not limitations of their innate abilities that no amount of coaching could rectify. It seems to be such a lazy conclusion to draw that happens to fit a pre-existing narrative.

I'm still curious how Tony knows that our U23 players have glaring weaknesses that are due to poor coaching and not limitations of their innate abilities that no amount of coaching could rectify"

Could that same logic be used for the first team Michael? ,"I'm still curious how Tony knows that our U23 players have glaring weaknesses that are due to poor coaching and not limitations of their innate abilities that no amount of coaching could rectify"

Could that same logic be used for the first team Michael? ,,,1,11:58:48,,213.205.242.98,ok,23848,05/30/2021 11:58:48,Tomrichards2@outlook.com,reader,,,no 1159435,40875,toffeeweb,30/05/2021,Tony Abrahams,,"You can't please everyone, especially when people can say a manager is only great for winning leagues, but tends to get found out in one-off cup games!

I know you get most things right when it comes to Everton managers Darren, but if people are prepared to give Ancellotti time, surely it doesn't mean they're nailing their rotten masts to a post mate, because maybe not everyone can see the wisdom of getting rid of another manager just yet?

I was thinking about Unsworth telling us how much of an Evertonian, Marcel Brands is (sounding just like Bill Kenwright), just after reading about how Neil Critchley has tried to improve Ellis Simms. I was thinking if Unsworth really wanted the Everton job, then surely he'd have gone and managed a league team, and was wondering if he's maybe got it way too easy at Everton?

Michael 35,

I think your question to Tony in your last paragraph sums up perfectly what's wrong with our Academy coaches. You said "you were curious as to how Tony knew our U23 players have glaring weaknesses that are due to poor coaching?" A fair enough question. Then you suggest that maybe it's due to their innate abilities that no amount of coaching could rectify, again a good point.

So shouldn't these coaches who have worked with these players since they were young have worked out that their limitations, as you call it, would prevent them ever being good enough for the first team? Surely they should have been released or moved on, and not be taking up spaces for the young up-and-coming players that didn't have those limitations.

Hi Danny [36] I have long been of the opinion that footballers are instinctive in their play, the better players displaying this more significantly in their performances. I can't imagine that Jimmy Greaves, George Best, etc, were coached in positional play, it's my believe that it was more of what Michael Kenrick suggests, innate ability. Players no doubt, can be made fitter enabling them to reach their destination quicker, but I don't see how their skill levels can be improved by any amount of coaching. It may well be that my interpretation is way off the mark, but I'll stick to my guns as it gives me a certain amount of satisfaction.

I think we're all saying similar things John. Ultimately it's about ability; absolutely.

Discussions like this are great as other people's view make you think.

I suppose it's worth distinguishing between coaching players who have already proven that ability and youth coaching. Different beasts and different tasks. One is about fine tuning based on the players you have to get a result, one is about development.

So to Michael's point, maybe Unsworth sees himself as a youth / development coach and is better suited to that and why he's stayed where he is.

On the coaching side, if anyone is interested, watch the Alex Ferguson documentary "Never Give In".

Listen to him talk about the difference in managing established players versus young developing ones like Giggs.

It's a very different skill and very few can combine that.

Sorry Michael, I haven't been paying attention to this thread mate, but I don't see enough drive, I don't see enough movement, and it never looks like the players are taught to really enjoy the ball (something you can't play without) imo mate.

It might be the players, but because it doesn't seem to be something that ever really changes, I'm starting to look at the people who are coaching these footballers now, and it's why I've gone anti-academy, because I don't always like what I'm seeing, and personally think the standards should be getting set higher, especially considering how young, many clubs take on these players nowadays.

Unsworth hasn't sounded much like a youth coach to me these last few days Danny, because he's sounded more like Bill Kenwright, when he's been talking about Marcel Brands and Leighton Baines.

I've nothing against Everton being full of ex-players coaching, just as long as they are good enough and they get results, which is the only thing that anyone in these positions should be judged on.

Gutted for the lad.. he's picked up a knock and will miss out.

A massive shame for him.

Circle back to what I said earlier about the standard of coaching at our U23 level, but then I'm one who believes that system is flawed and needs an overhaul anyway.

I do think Unsworth should have moved on for his own career progression.

Gutted for Simms. Would have been nice to see him perform on the big stage in a big game, all the more so given how well he has played during his loan spell.

Cummon you Tangerines!

John #39] I'm sure you are correct. I recall one of the Liverpool coaching staff making the same comment about Robbie Fowler knowing, intuitively, where to be.

I see Blackpool have a James Husband playing for them, is any relation to Jimmy?

According to the commentators, Ellis injured himself with the last kick of the training session yesterday, taking a penalty.

He must be sick. Talk about bad luck. I was really looking forward to watching him play.

I also think Unsworth should move on. Anyone that fat will not inspire sporting confidence in anyone.

Like one year I was told to just take ibuprofen when I cracked my hip by an obese doctor

No malice against fat people, I am one myself but do you really accept advice from someone who cannot even take their own?

Luke Garbutt had a decent game for Blackpool.

Michael #35,

The knee jerk reaction, of many, after a few bad results is to criticise the lack of Academy players coming through and then to go on to lambasting the coaches as being useless, time-serving, "jobs for the boys" wasters. Ancelotti's son has now been added to this list.

Overseeing this total waste of money is Marcel Brands, our highly paid DoF, who obviously isn't worth a carrot.

Yes, there is a dearth of young talent coming through and yes, this may be because all the above is true and our Academy coaches are crap.

Equally, it could be the players are crap and we have the best coaching staff in the Premier League. We just don't know and anyone who professes to know differently is talking out of their backside.

Nice one, Bill. I think you captured the essence of the debate with unerring accuracy.

As mother used to say, "If you can't say anything nice about someone..."

Danny @45,

Remind me to ask you whether I should stick with my current job, that I might actually be pretty good at, or if I should look for something that you think would be more challenging for me.

Sometimes I wish Jerome would come on and join this thread, he'd tell us exactly what's been going on at Finch Farm...

Michael.

Keep your options open. 😁

On the Champions League Final thread, I posted that one thing stood out for me and that was the way that the Chelsea players could stay touch-tight to Sterling, Mahrez, Gundogan etc because they had great pace. Ours don't, so have to stand off to give themselves a chance.

The modern game is based around pace yet we continue to buy players without the basic attributes – you can coach tactics, ball control etc but you can't coach pace into a player.

Some of the players we buy or develop lack the basic physical attributes needed in the modern game. If they have those basic physical attributes, then the rest of the skill set can be coached in to them to a large degree.

Look at Calvert-Lewin – fantastic physical attributes and the rest is being coached into him to good effect. Same with Ben Godfrey. Then look at Bernard; skills but not the right physical attributes for the Premier League. Look at Iwobi; can't run properly, no speed, too weak. The same thing with Gordon; cant run, no stamina, too weak.

We need good athletic footballers who have pace, stamina and strength that we can then coach into better footballers.

Dean,

I have always liked Unsworth, but that post made me laugh.

Reminds me of the day when lockdown rules were relaxed and hairdressers were allowed to open. I spotted an empty barber's in town, I walked in thinking I had had a proper result. I took one look at the barber and spun round and left.

You should have seen the fucken head on him!

Hi Mike [47],

I don't claim to be an expert on any aspect of football but, over a considerable time of watching games, I believe that I know the fundamentals that the more gifted players possess. Goalscorers don't arrive in scoring positions by accident, any more than defenders deny any danger to their goal. In my youth, we used to refer to it as "Reading the Game".

That was at the time that Harry Cooke was a one-man band, trainer and coach. Many a time he would enter the pitch to attend to an injured player with his magic sponge. Football was played probably not so well on mudheaps, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Our problem is the lack of young talent, not Unsworth.

In any sport, any level, a Manager/Head Coach winning his league twice in 3 years with significantly different rosters, would be considered to be doing a first-rate job. Unsworth is one.

As to the wide variety of comments on here around the themes, "Jobs for the boys" and that one's little brother, "No ambition, otherwise he'd look for a manager position elsewhere."? Red herrings.

He's doing good work in an important job, at the Club he loves, in the city he loves. He should leave that chasing a gypsy life of a manager or assistant coach, who knows where? Why on earth would he do something so stupid?

Whatever the team or sport, you don't have the talent, you rarely win. When Unsy had talent (especially that 2016-17 team), he won.

Right now, there is every reason for me to think Unsworth is doing a fine job.

However, Brands has re-structured our youth scouting, if we're not seeing a significant number of teens we can feel excited about in the next couple years, he'll need replacing.

Thank you, Thomas. That seems more nuanced advice that I can absorb for when the time comes.

Apologies to Brian @38, as I missed his post saying the Academy coaches should ditch those players they think are limited in favour of making room for up-and-coming youngsters to get a game.

I thought we had this point made and largely refuted the other day on a different thread; I recall someone answered it very well. I'll paraphrase from memory, with my own twist.

Everton need to maintain a sufficient number of players to form a squad at both U23 and U18 levels. Those are going to be the best players they can find who want to be at Everton. But I don't think they are all going to be superstar proteges, so it is inevitable that some 'limited' players are retained to ensure that the club's competitive commitments can still be met.

Through the course of each season, injuries notwithstanding, the rosters for the two squads do show a progressive rollover. I've tried to document this progression every season here on ToffeeWeb with webpages tracking those appearance records, advancements and disappearances as players are sold or released.

We could do the same for the senior squad as a way to tackle the recent argument about whether or not it's the same players who are embarrassing successive managers with their incompetence and lack of spirit... but I digress.

What I am lacking is a constancy statistic I could calculate for each squad, that quantifies how much the personnel change or stay the same from one season to the next. Although we would have no way of assessing such a statistic except by how it has varied with time.

If a good player appears at a lower level, he is accelerated through the system in double-quick time. Wayne Rooney is the classic example. He spent barely a season (2000-01) with the U17s before stepping up to the U19s and was hardly in the Reserves (we still had the then) in 2001-02 before his breakthrough season in 2002-03. In total, he played only 6 games for the Reserves over 3 seasons.

On the other hand, if a squad player is good enough to retain, he can take years to progress through the system and then be sent out on loan to gain more competitive experience on the off chance that he's a late developer. Connolly and Pennington are recent (failed?) examples of that strategy.

And of course there's everything in-between. But I'm just puzzled how we as fans can be so convinced the system is failing through bad structure or bad coaching, when in reality, the quality of young players with the innate ability to challenge the foreign Premier League superstars – who have been cherry-picked from clubs all over the world – is simply just not there.

Michael,

I agree. Over the years, I've been waiting / hoping for certain players to make the grade like Branch, Kissock, Green, Baxter, Baningime, Dowell etc. Did we fail them? Did they just not quite have what it takes?

Who knows, but every club has players like this and some sink and some swim. I don't think the individual failures proves the coaching is bad.

Ravel Morrison might well have been the most talented player of his generation and is currently without a club, I think. Were the Man Utd coaches the problem? Very much not in his case.

What I can say with some confidence is that we have not had a world class academy because the output has been so patchy (although not at all bad by Premier League standards which are appallingly low). We are not up there with the likes of Rennes, Lyon, Bilbao, Ajax, PSV and the very productive academies of Barca and Real, for example.

However, the structure Brands has now put in place looks much improved and, for the first time in ages, there are lots of academy players who I think might make the first-team squad on a regular basis – Simms, Gordon, Branthwaite, Whitaker, Warrington, Price, Onyango, Small, Mallon, Welch and Leban – possibly amongst others. If we can have that volume of that quality coming through regularly, that's a start – with the odd real star like Saka, Greenwood etc coming through now and again to put the icing on the cake.

Morning Michael. You're old enough and wise enough to make your own career decisions, just as I am, just as Unsworth is. If he's happy doing what he's doing then he can keep doing what he's doing. It was just an opinion that most coaches who what to progress move on to other things. Just a view.

That's a fascinating post at 61 by the way. I need to give that another read and come back, but right now the dogs want to go out!!

You need to consider the angry youth syndrome, you know a 17 year old passes his driving test and is immediately the fastest most capable and safest driver on the roads. I should imagine that 99% of young footballers are the same and think the should be the first name on the team sheet.

Very few turn out like that for every George Best / Michael Owen (sorry)/Brian Kidd there are hundreds no thousands of players like those listed above by Robert #62 who look good but they can't play against same age teams for ever.
Being from Southport I remember Stuart Rimmer playing for the first team against Forest and Kenny Burns gave him a welcome he'd never forget he kicked him all over the pitch whether it was a psychological lesson he never forgot but he was transferred PDQ.