Players you thought would make it...who didn't

[1874]

Vassell and Daley? The pair of full-England international playing losers.

I did say I expected him to have a better career then he has had. Not that he was a loser.

[peter w]

Well quite. But better than playing for club and country? maybe a Booker Prize?

[thick_mike]

Vassell always played better for England than for us, sort of the anti-John Barnes.

[1874]

Well quite. But better than playing for club and country? maybe a Booker Prize?

From what I saw in his early seasons with us, I didn't think he would be spending his prime being a squad player at Man City (when they were average), at an average Turkish club and in the Championship.

[SoccerHQ]

Luke Moore.

Well in as so much as I rated him a lot more than his brother.

He was doing o.k anyway until his shoulder went at Chelsea and MON never really played him much after that.

[pooligan]

Always thought the young winger Dave Farrell would make it big time. Bobby Campbell and Tony Betts are also a couple from the past who i thought would go on to be Villa regulars

[villan from luton]

Bobby Campbell is a great shout pooligan, really thought he could be a better Sammy Morgan

[eric woolban woolban]

Is Vassell still at Leicester?

 If so, let's hope he scores a last minute winner this afternoon.

[barrysleftfoot]

 I remember when we signed Mark Burke as a 15 yr old, he was the Wayne Rooney of his generation, and was the headlines on the back of the Evening Mail.Never really done it at VP, was ok at Wolves.Like Luke Moore, seemed to have it all, but not enough of anything to be a really good player.

 Mark Blake rings a bell but i can't remember a great deal about him.Glover, Farrelly, and Walker were all touted as the next big thing, but unfortunately never quite made it

[willywombat]

Luke Moore for me, knew his Mum and followed his and Stef's rise to the 1st team. Really thought he was going to be the next big thing on the international stage

[Gareth]

 I remember when we signed Mark Burke as a 15 yr old, he was the Wayne Rooney of his generation, and was the headlines on the back of the Evening Mail.Never really done it at VP, was ok at Wolves.Like Luke Moore, seemed to have it all, but not enough of anything to be a really good player.

I remember watching Burke score a hat trick at Wembley in a schoolboy international vs Holland I think - thought he was gonna be a superstar at the time

[Hoppo]

Andy Comyn

[dave shelley]

 I remember when we signed Mark Burke as a 15 yr old, he was the Wayne Rooney of his generation, and was the headlines on the back of the Evening Mail.Never really done it at VP, was ok at Wolves.Like Luke Moore, seemed to have it all, but not enough of anything to be a really good player.

I remember watching Burke score a hat trick at Wembley in a schoolboy international vs Holland I think - thought he was gonna be a superstar at the time

My sister-in-law taught Mark Burke as a five-year old on Castle Vale.  When we moved here to Ireland I met a man who supported Wolves, Mark Burke was playing for them at the time. My sister-in-law was also living here at the time too.  This man was the father of twin boys who had also been taught by my sister-in-law and when I told him this he approached my sister-in-law who gave him a photo.  On his next trip to Wolves he managed to get to speak with Mark Burke and show him the photo.  Mark remembered my sister-in-law with fondness and the bloke and his sons had a nice memory.  It's a small world.

[Virgil Caine]

Going back a bit but one who failed to live up to the early promise( albeit for Wolves and Liverpool) was Alun Evans who was really quite crap for the Villa. For a forward he seemed to spend a lot of his time with his back to goal in the wrong part of the pitch. Don't know what his Villa stats were but I can only think they were phenomenally ordinary. Can't remember what happened to him but if memory serves he was the first £100,000 teenager when Liverpool bought him from Wolves ( where he was very good with the soon to become Jehovah's Witness, Peter Knowles).

[VancouverLion]

 I remember when we signed Mark Burke as a 15 yr old, he was the Wayne Rooney of his generation, and was the headlines on the back of the Evening Mail.Never really done it at VP, was ok at Wolves.Like Luke Moore, seemed to have it all, but not enough of anything to be a really good player.

I remember watching Burke score a hat trick at Wembley in a schoolboy international vs Holland I think - thought he was gonna be a superstar at the time

My sister-in-law taught Mark Burke as a five-year old on Castle Vale.  When we moved here to Ireland I met a man who supported Wolves, Mark Burke was playing for them at the time. My sister-in-law was also living here at the time too.  This man was the father of twin boys who had also been taught by my sister-in-law and when I told him this he approached my sister-in-law who gave him a photo.  On his next trip to Wolves he managed to get to speak with Mark Burke and show him the photo.  Mark remembered my sister-in-law with fondness and the bloke and his sons had a nice memory.  It's a small world.

Small world indeed, Mark Burke lived in the flat next to me on the vale, used to play footy all the time on the green growing up, he was always brilliant he used to run rings around us all. Then when I moved to Castle Bromwich and went to smiths wood comp, Dave farrell was our star player for our school team, he too went on to play for the Villa.
Wish I could have had an ounce of their talent!!!!!