regiment wrote:wouldn't surprise me to see him back in a management role sometime in the future, but i think it was always a romantic notion to see him back at the club, and probably not the right time for him or the club when you look at it properly. he'll always be welcome at plainmoor, whenever that may be.
Absolutely right it would be great to see him back in the future but not a second time as a player as when that happens it can often tarnish the memories of how good the player was the first time round.
I always remember Robin Stubbs. On his first spell with us he was our top league scorer in 5 of his 6 seasons (the only time he missed out was our promotion season when he got 17 but Tommy Spratt notched 2 penalty goals to push him one ahead on 18). Whilst his 5 goals against Newport County and 6 goals against Cheltenham Town were memorable he regularly hit 3 or 4. A brilliant entertaining player who scored goals for fun! He had several top clubs interested in him but in the end he was surprisingly transferred to Bristol Rovers who were in the same division as us and had finished 10 places below us the previous season.
3 seasons with Rovers then all United fans were delighted when he returned with Rovers still in the same division as us. His second spell was a different story though. In his first season 10 appearances and 0 goals, in his second season 11 appearances and 1 goal (perhaps romantically it was against Newport), and that was it. Game over!
Whatever Rovers had done to ruin such a brilliant player in only 3 seasons remains a mystery but the lesson is there, don't return for a second spell to a club where you were a hero the first time around!
[quote="regiment"]wouldn't surprise me to see him back in a management role sometime in the future, but i think it was always a romantic notion to see him back at the club, and probably not the right time for him or the club when you look at it properly. he'll always be welcome at plainmoor, whenever that may be.[/quote]
Absolutely right it would be great to see him back in the future but not a second time as a player as when that happens it can often tarnish the memories of how good the player was the first time round.
I always remember Robin Stubbs. On his first spell with us he was our top league scorer in 5 of his 6 seasons (the only time he missed out was our promotion season when he got 17 but Tommy Spratt notched 2 penalty goals to push him one ahead on 18). Whilst his 5 goals against Newport County and 6 goals against Cheltenham Town were memorable he regularly hit 3 or 4. A brilliant entertaining player who scored goals for fun! He had several top clubs interested in him but in the end he was surprisingly transferred to Bristol Rovers who were in the same division as us and had finished 10 places below us the previous season.
3 seasons with Rovers then all United fans were delighted when he returned with Rovers still in the same division as us. His second spell was a different story though. In his first season 10 appearances and 0 goals, in his second season 11 appearances and 1 goal (perhaps romantically it was against Newport), and that was it. Game over!
Whatever Rovers had done to ruin such a brilliant player in only 3 seasons remains a mystery but the lesson is there, don't return for a second spell to a club where you were a hero the first time around! :nod:
