Old Sod's Army.

[CorkedHat]

We have had a few ropey one have'nt we? Have to say though, whilst he never set the world alight, I always had a soft spot for Joe Stapleton but like Lampe and Brice, his career was dogged by injury. I suppose CH will say that Lampe was only getting injured because he kept getting trampled by the speedy carthorse.

I'd forgotten about Gordon Brice - God help us. I think you must be one of the most forgiving people on this planet Mr P. You must have seen something in these blokes that I never saw. Honestly, you could have gone to Hackney Marshes any Sunday and find ten better centre halfs than them and that was in the Under 10s

[Peabody]

Well, they were all Fulham Players CH and in that case reality is suspended. Except in the case of Vic Buckingham, who got everything he deserved.

[CorkedHat]

Well, they were all Fulham Players CH and in that case reality is suspended. Except in the case of Vic Buckingham, who got everything he deserved.

Of course you are quite right Mr P. The less committed than I was used to give Johnny Key some stick but the old Corked Hat would defend him with the last breath in his body. The only player I had trouble in finding anything good to say about (other than Reg) was Frank Large, but even with him I felt more sorrow than anger. Yes - they took on a different aspect when they donned the white shirt

[ron]

The thing about Dear Frank was the glaring contrast between him and the player we got him as part-payment for...

Allan Clarke valued at £150,000 then...and we only got the £100k plus Frankie valued at £50K when the more accurate valuation was about fifty bob.....Leicester must've laughed themselves silly to get a world class striker for a knock-down price and offload Large at the same time!

...and then they made a £15K profit when they sold Sniffer on to Leeds !

[bog]

Our Frank could not have been more the opposite of Clarke. Whereas the latter was a rather elegant looking player Frank was quite the opposite. Poundstretcher to Harrods? Already there was a lot of bad feeling about the deal and then when he failed to score out came the knives. Mind you he always gave 100%.
Funnily enough after all this posting about CHs I think he was switched to the number 5 shirt for few games but it was not long before he was moved on. Apparently he was very nice bloke.
I find that I have dislike for those plyers who spout off about leaving the club if they go down even before the club does. So, being rather thick, they fall foul of the fans with good memories. Obviously Clarke left because of our relegation although he was still banging in goal after goal up until we did, and I don't recall any bluster about getting the arse if we went down.
Kamara was never top drawer however he made it quite clear that in the event of relegation he would be looking to play elsewhere. Mind you he did score those two at City! I still never really took to he.
Thank you and good night.     

[Peabody]

Poor old Frank, I am right in thinking it took him a whole season to score his first for. Ironically he was scored quite freely at other clubs. Think of Kuqi and you have Frank Large.

[cmg]

Aaaaargh! Frank Large. Probably the biggest disappointment of them all, amazingly qualifies for this thread as he did, once, wear the no. 5 shirt (they'd probably hidden the no. 9 one to prevent him getting his hands on it).

As you say, the contrast with his predecessor couldn't have been more marked. He wowed us with 3 goals the whole season (2 at Birmingham and one when we were already relegated) which included a big fat ZERO at home.

A glance at Wiki reveals that yes, he did find the net more readily elsewhere (particularly at Northampton, which was about his level). He died aged only 63 in Ireland, having, at least according to Wiki, played cricket for Co. Mayo - which, if true, forgives him a lot in my book.

I've just had a sudden memory flashback, which sees him scoring at the Cottage (header? Hammersmith End?) - must have been in some pre-season semi-friendly. Watney Cup? Or perhaps I'm hallucinating and should put away my "I saw Frank Large score" t-shirt.

[TonyGilroy]

The two goals he scored at Birmingham were in a 5-4 defeat.

I seem to recall an inside forward trio of Frank Large, Brian Dear and Johnny Byrne which was, quite literally, immense.

[LBNo11]

The two goals he scored at Birmingham were in a 5-4 defeat.

I seem to recall an inside forward trio of Frank Large, Brian Dear and Johnny Byrne which was, quite literally, immense.

...Dear, Large and Byrne would have made a good front row, certainly Brian Dear and Budgie Byrne would qualify for the Jan Molby fat footballers of the century award!  For all of Frank's faults, he tried desperately hard to score, and was at times just unlucky with the bounce. A very likeable guy but as a hapless replacement for Allan Clarke he was always going to be on a hiding for nothing...