Steve Marlet: how bad?

[LBNo11]

...to be honest Tony I thought woeful was being understated, but we all see things differently: I wonder how Etuhu is getting on these days.. 086.gif

[TonyGilroy]

Not too well presumably but he was a bloody good partner for Danny Murphy for 2 or 3 years.

[TonyGilroy]

We were told we were getting the French Michael Owen and on that basis and for the money we paid he was a real let down.

So... like a French Michael Owen? ;)

Ah but there was a time. In his brief prime Michael Owen was exceptional.

[alfie]

...alfie, I have often seen that same counter view, and of course he didn't create the price tag, but the fact is that even irrespective of the price tag his performances were on the whole woeful. I don't base my summary on the media reports, it is based on what I saw with my own eyes...

I understand your view of him and that of course is your right, personally i thought he had a few reasonable performances, but the point is, the price tag is the thing that most people get at, saying "not living up to the price", i just like to say that he did not create the price, it was the sellers and the buyers fault for paying it.

anyway old hat now, whats gone has gone.

[SouthfieldWhite]

Have to agree with Tony, I think the price tag and what people expected of a player with such a high price tag did him no favours with the fans

Tigana wanted a big signing and a striker at that, he went for Jan Koller and another which I can't remember and think when we didn't get the first two choices, toga a panicked and paid over the odd for Marlet,

He was no where near one of the worse players to ever play for us, maybe one of the worse bits if business we did though

[God The Mechanic]

We were told we were getting the French Michael Owen and on that basis and for the money we paid he was a real let down.

So... like a French Michael Owen? ;)

Ah but there was a time. In his brief prime Michael Owen was exceptional.

Oh absolutely, then he was bought for big bucks an did pretty badly.  Then was bought for big bucks again and did... pretty badly.

[Burt]

He was no where near one of the worse players to ever play for us, maybe one of the worse bits if business we did though

That's it in a nutshell.

[cmg]

We were told we were getting the French Michael Owen and on that basis and for the money we paid he was a real let down.

So... like a French Michael Owen? ;)

Ah but there was a time. In his brief prime Michael Owen was exceptional.

Oh absolutely, then he was bought for big bucks an did pretty badly.  Then was bought for big bucks again and did... pretty badly.

Footballers come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and categories. It's the ones like Owen, little blokes with blinding early pace, deadly acceleration over the first few yards (AJ might be another, although lesser, example ) that wear out the quickest. Once the early pace has fallen victim to age or injury, these types have little or nothing left to offer, except their reputation (which makes them dangerous to buy). Big, less moble, bustling, non-spectacular, 'hold-up' types can keep doing a job for years despite the punishment they take.