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

[Oscar Arce]

And I'm sure he made his debut at Old Trafford......

[tomd2103]

Does anyone remember us signing a kid from Fulhams reserves called Terry Bullivant for a daft price for a reserve at the time,(i think it was about £200K, a huge amount for a reserve) apparently, he was going to be the bollox, that was just before he faded into obscurity.

I recognise the name but I can't think why.

Something to do with photography?

[Oscar Arce]

One of the best home debuts I've ever seen was from a young boy from Liverpool called Frank Pimblett, who ran the game from centre midfield.
That game, I think against Sheffield United, I was sure I'd seen the birth of a new Villa star, such was his dominance in the middle, outshing experienced pros and wanting the ball in all positions.
He went on to play only a handful of games under Ron Saunders before being released and decided to emigrate to Oz, where he became somewhat of a cult figure.

[Astral Weeks]

Does anyone remember us signing a kid from Fulhams reserves called Terry Bullivant for a daft price for a reserve at the time,(i think it was about £200K, a huge amount for a reserve) apparently, he was going to be the bollox, that was just before he faded into obscurity.

I recognise the name but I can't think why.

Something to do with photography?

I saw Terry Bullivant play a couple of times. I'm not sure why I even remember though, as he was utterly anonymous.

[nicardinho]

Those who said Isaiah Osbourne clearly weren't alone:

http://fourfourtwo.com/interviews/boysabitspecial/119/article.aspx

Looking at some of the other articles down the side is fascinating. I don't recall Bradley Wright-Phillips ever looking like setting the world alight though... Interesting to see Fabian Delph in there - the jury's still out on that one, I feel.

[curiousorange]

Those who said Isaiah Osbourne clearly weren't alone:

http://fourfourtwo.com/interviews/boysabitspecial/119/article.aspx

Looking at some of the other articles down the side is fascinating. I don't recall Bradley Wright-Phillips ever looking like setting the world alight though... Interesting to see Fabian Delph in there - the jury's still out on that one, I feel.

I find it spooky how young everyone in those pictures looks. Shaun Maloney looks about 9.

[Big Dick Edwards]

I think we bought Terry Bullivant from Charlton for around £220,000. He never established himself as a first team regular and only got a sniff of a game when we had injuries or suspensions in midfield.

[ez]

Does anyone remember us signing a kid from Fulhams reserves called Terry Bullivant for a daft price for a reserve at the time,(i think it was about £200K, a huge amount for a reserve) apparently, he was going to be the bollox, that was just before he faded into obscurity.

Saunders signed a small number of duffers - Bullivant, Joe Ward, Tommy Craig spring to mind.

We would probably only sign 1-2 players a season  so a poor signing would stand out if they ever made the first team ( only Craig of the above was a regular) but he generally was a very astute judge of players.  I saw Bullivant play but can remember nothing of him.

I remember Tommy Craig (abrasive midfielder) who looked very good indeed at Newcastle . Bullivant was nothing to talk about but Joe Ward! not a thing. Where did he play Pat?

Tommy Craig got injured after just a few games for us, a bit like Mike Pejic. Joe Ward, was he the guy at Brighton who briefly made headlines back in the 80s?

[PeterWithesShin]

I remember, and still have somewhere, the programme with Tommy Craig on the cover. And although I was only a nipper my memory tells me I was at a game where he hit the crossbar with a thunderbolt. No idea why it's stuck in my mind as I was only about 8 at the time, or indeed if it even happened. Anyone able to remember if it did actually happen or not?

[Matt C]

Has anyone mentioned Stephen Cooke yet? I thought he was going to be a real talent. Superstar for the youth team/reserves for a while, eventually got a game in Sir Graham's second tenure (I think) but wound up at Bournemouth and then into lower leagues. 

[Pat McMahon]

I remember, and still have somewhere, the programme with Tommy Craig on the cover. And although I was only a nipper my memory tells me I was at a game where he hit the crossbar with a thunderbolt. No idea why it's stuck in my mind as I was only about 8 at the time, or indeed if it even happened. Anyone able to remember if it did actually happen or not?

PWS, I remember him scoring an absolute cracker from about 30 yards against Everton (I think) in a 1-1 home draw around 1978. It may have gone in off the bar, so that may be the one you are thinking of.

If you can remember, it was quite similar to Pat Heard's winner at Albion a couple of weeks before Rotterdam.

[Big Dick Edwards]

I remember that goal. Tommy Craig was an earlier incarnation of Thomas Hitzlsberger. He had a fantastic left foot and a rocket of a shot but was pretty anonymous overall.

[PGW]

We signed Joe Ward from Clyde for pea-nuts - i was up in Glasgow for a stag do and this stag do coincided with his. He had his stag approx 3 weeks before his wedding because he was signing for us. I met him on this stag night and it was if he put his stag on hold to talk to me for a couple of hours on all things Villa and Ron Saunders - the gulf between Clyde, where he was a fairly prolific scorer and Villa proved too much unfortunately and i think he only made 2 or 3 starts for the first team.....but a really nice guy.

[claretandbeer]

3 goalies.Kevin Keelan who I first saw in the youth team and was so agile and featured in the first team at 19. Another 15 years later, after being released into non- league football,he was playing in a LC final against us for Norwich.In a similar vein was Colin Withers who admittedly was a hero of the Holte for a while but somehow lost confidence when he was at the best age for a keeper. Lastly,one who didn't achieve anything was Mark Kendall,schoolboy and youth international ,who seemingly just couldn't be bothered .

[PeterWithesShin]

I remember, and still have somewhere, the programme with Tommy Craig on the cover. And although I was only a nipper my memory tells me I was at a game where he hit the crossbar with a thunderbolt. No idea why it's stuck in my mind as I was only about 8 at the time, or indeed if it even happened. Anyone able to remember if it did actually happen or not?

PWS, I remember him scoring an absolute cracker from about 30 yards against Everton (I think) in a 1-1 home draw around 1978. It may have gone in off the bar, so that may be the one you are thinking of.

If you can remember, it was quite similar to Pat Heard's winner at Albion a couple of weeks before Rotterdam.

You could well be right Pat. My memory isn't the greatest as it is so trying to remember something from when I was that young and that far back means I could be easily out on some details.