Early Doors - Your morning briefing blog

Journeyman's end

Tue Aug 05 08:47AM

Desperate for its daily dose of Sky Sports News lovely Georgie Thompson - who is currently, inexplicably being overlooked in favour of the decidedly less comely Vicky Gomersall - Early Doors turned to Sky's 'Premiership Years' programme yesterday and quickly found itself caught up in the thrills and spills of the 1997/98 season.

'Was it really 10 years ago that Darren Huckerby sliced through the Manchester United defence while playing for Coventry or that Derby were an exciting top-flight team featuring the myriad attacking talents of Paolo Wanchope, Stefano Eranio and Francesco Baiano?' thought ED, as Georgie purred over footage of Bill Clinton blinking in front of the world's hacks and skirting over the precise role of that cigar in his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky.

And that's when it struck ED. Firstly, why would you want to do that with a cigar in the first place? And secondly - and more pertinently - where have all the English journeymen gone?

In next season's Premier League the only genuine home-grown journeyman of note will be Hull City's Dean Windass (pictured), whereas in the 1997/98 season there was Neil Redfearn, Ashley Ward, Steve Claridge, Neil Shipperley, Tony Cottee, Dean Holdsworth, Noel Whelan, Andy Linighan and Kevin Richardson to name but nine.

Granted, a few of the aforementioned players didn't actually become proper journeymen until after they left the clubs they were playing for back then, but which of the current Premier League crop can you imagine hauling their wares around the lower leagues in a desperate bid to eke out every last ounce of their football-playing careers?

The journeyman used to be one of the great sights of English league football, a hulking, mono-paced and occasionally bearded carthorse who inspired equal amounts of admiration for his bottomless reserves of pluck and pity for his complete lack of footballing ability.

In some homes the journeyman assumed a Bogeyman-like role, and many's the time ED was warned to check underneath its bed and behind its curtains in case Mickey Thomas was hiding there waiting to pounce.

Better wages combined with the relative lack of home-grown players and the higher pace of an increasingly athletic game mean the top-flight journeyman is now probably a relic, condemned to wander the lower leagues like a lost soul; clinging to the past, fearful of the future, a one-man testament to what English football used to be.

ED for one will be glad to see the back of him.

- - -

Retro kits are nothing new. Who can forget Manchester United's yellow and green halved Newton Heath tribute of the early 1990s, or the red away shirt that England persist in wearing despite the fact its continued presence in the public eye serves only to highlight the glaring anomaly that is their 1966 World Cup triumph and the depths to which they have plummeted since?

Quite a few Premier League teams will be sporting commemorative kits this season, but not all are particularly well-advised.

Fulham's away shirt is a tribute to the strip they wore in the 1974/75 FA Cup final (which they lost), while Manchester City's red and black-striped away kit is a nod to the glorious side of the late 1960s which won the league, FA Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in successive seasons from 1968 onwards.

Which begs the question: why would you want to remind your long-suffering supporters about how much better you used to be?

Liverpool have won precisely zero league titles since 1990, but with the pressure on them to do so hanging more heavily around their necks than ever before they've opted to clad themselves in a grey away shirt with red trim almost identical to the one worn by the last Liverpool side to win the league 18 years ago.

Liverpool is a club wreathed in its own past glories more than any other, and the last thing their fans will want to see when yet another league campaign hits the skids amid the usual lame excuses about fixture congestion and lack of spending power is the sight of Gerrard, Carragher, Torres and co skulking around in the shirt worn with such trophy-laden distinction by the likes of John Barnes, Alan Hansen and Ian Rush.

It'll be like a stranger turning up on your doorstep wearing the clothes of a cherished and not-quite-forgotten ex-girlfriend and claiming to be her when you know for a concrete fact it is not.

Mind you, it could be worse. Any away-from-home ineptness from Sunderland and Middlesbrough (and on the basis of last season there's likely to be quite a lot) will be compounded by the fact that both sides will be resplendent in the colours of Internazionale, who are to football in the north-east what caviar is to pork scratchings.

- - -

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We will look into the facts of what happened. I haven't had a chance to speak to Craig myself. We take such allegations seriously." A West Ham spokesman responds to accusations that Craig Bellamy verbally assaulted a female fan in the Hammers' 5-3 friendly win over Ipswich last night. Good to have him back, isn't it?

TALKING POINT: Yesterday's request for amusing footballer's names spawned some superb responses, including Freddie Crack (g_hine), Raphael Scheidt (kevin1985kane), Bongo Christ (cansofswine) and Argelico F***s (matt_smith2002uk), who once inspired the legendary headline 'Argelico F***s off to Benfica' on this very website.

Today - What is your all-time favourite football kit? Or, what is your all-time least favourite football kit?

Alternatively, who do you prefer out of Georgie Thompson and Natalie Sawyer (if, indeed, you have a preference at all)? You wouldn't believe how much debate this has provoked at Eurosport HQ.

COMING UP: Struggling to pick your Yahoo! Fantasy Football team? Then fear not, help is at hand in the form of some key stats which will be winging their way onto the homepage shortly after lunchtime.

And if you've had quite enough of meaningless pre-season friendlies, you'll be heartened to learn there's some live competitive football on tonight. The bad news is it's Rangers v FBK Kaunas, but at least there's a Champions League place at stake. Join us for live commentary from 18:00 BST.

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Morning Everyone
Wow WHUFC managed a win against Ipswich without their new goalkeeper and without Michael Ballack
Have fun I am on a course for the next three days
Bok Hugz
From arttidesco on Tue Aug 05 08:55AM
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All time favourate footy kit WHUFC, Mufulira Wanderers & Germany
All time least Favourate Football Kit Real Madrid, Man United, Austria.
From arttidesco on Tue Aug 05 09:00AM
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first
From lordisraelrules on Tue Aug 05 09:01AM
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notthistimemrisrael
From arttidesco on Tue Aug 05 09:04AM
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Georgie Thompson is awesome!
From sav46e on Tue Aug 05 09:05AM
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Turns out Natalie Sawyer is pretty awesome too!
3sum please!
From sav46e on Tue Aug 05 09:05AM
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shame on you e.d. ~ you forgot the most recent mercenary turned journeyman, robbie 'real estate' fowler! nothing says you're trying to drain out every last drop of talent better than a season at cardiff city, though i understand the housing market in wales is starting to pick up. i have a feeling if his 'trial' for rovers doesn't work out, hull, stoke and west brom are all on his speed dial.
From jcpotvin on Tue Aug 05 09:11AM
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Worst Football Kit, it has to be the Grey Man United one. Saved up my money to go out and buy the full kit, realising about 2 hours later it was awful but i suppose it's better than realising it at half time at the dell.
From ima_fat_tw on Tue Aug 05 09:12AM
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on the favorite kit front, i've always been fond of the classic throwback liverpool shirt, a plain red adidas ringer shirt, small golden liverbird & lfc lettering, no sponsor, no bullshot.
From jcpotvin on Tue Aug 05 09:15AM
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the man u shirt that Fergie made them change at half time casue he says they were blending in with the crowd. I liked that cause of the awful excuse for his team getting beat
From sav46e on Tue Aug 05 09:21AM
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Coventry had a brown away kit in the 80's which has never been surpassed in it ridiculousness. They also (speaking of hulking, mono-paced and occasionally bearded carthorses) had Mickey Quinn.
From khsnowball on Tue Aug 05 09:22AM
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Spurs had a dodgy brown kit and the afore-mentioned Man U grey but the truly dreadful Leeds all yellow kit of the Seventies? with the tassles on the socks takes some beating I reckon..
From bingo85uk on Tue Aug 05 09:32AM
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I like fiorentinas shirts....mainly because puple is diferent. Worse kit ever is definatly that grey united away kit. Georgie Thompson all the way
From raulpeeves on Tue Aug 05 09:35AM
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Didn't Man Utd have a Tesco blue stripe inspired away kit??! That was pretty awful... And Chelsea's grey and orange number in the 90's, yummy. Oh and upon Googling Natalie Sawyer (I'm a Virgin Cable out-cast!) I have to say that Natalie gets my vote all day long!
From jamieasims on Tue Aug 05 09:35AM
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Georgie beats Natalie but the clear winner must be Kirsty Gallagher ??
From bingo85uk on Tue Aug 05 09:36AM
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Worst kit, the Everton one from the 80's that made it look like they were wearing polo neck jumpers under their shirts, Best Kit Watford with black tape over the sponsors logo because TV companies didnt like shirt sponsorship in the early days.
From mistermanaman on Tue Aug 05 09:41AM
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some worst kit nominees: the liverpool all-yellow-submarine of 06/07 ... the chelsea electric yellow-green away shirts ... the 'azteca' german national kit with the native "v" in fancy colors ... the last everton blue "candy" shirt, which they bought from a guy with a van in an alley, got a great deal on bulk pricing though.
From jcpotvin on Tue Aug 05 09:50AM
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Definately Georgie out of the two.
I loved a blue Man Utd away strip from the early nineties.
From danieljbull77 on Tue Aug 05 10:02AM
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you forget what a good laugh or moan you could get out of the journeyman now all we have are peening prima donnas
From concjim on Tue Aug 05 10:05AM
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I like the home kit of Feyenoord , and i also loved that dark red Arsenal kit with the golden design , was it '05?
Schalke's away kit some years ago , bright blue combined with muddy-looking orange , a load of Ballacks , I'd say
From marcus7aurelio on Tue Aug 05 10:07AM
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more and more convinced editor has some deep rooted problem with sunderland.he/she just cant get through a day without having a dig at the team or the area.
deeply abused as a child perhaps? a closet newcastle supporter even?
its amazing how he/she managed to call the north east without mentioning newcastle but managed to have a go at m'bro which is a small town in yorkshire anyway..........
plenty of journeymen left....robbie fowler,mark crossley,keiron dyer,craig bellamy,nobby solano,robbie keane ha ha ha
From geordieprince1 on Tue Aug 05 10:08AM
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the sheer volume of matches in a given season is putting a lot of miles on all the players, in addition to the sudden rash of knee, ankle and foot injuries, you don't see many players getting past 30 with much left in the tank at all. teddy sheringham was still productive for art's beloved hammers just two years ago and the aforementioned fowler is still prowling for rovers, albeit on a trial basis. things on the horizon look pretty good though ~ jermaine defoe and peter crouch are getting early starts on their "journeys", michael owen is set for a move (the 83% of him that's still human), andrew johnson is looking to play for half of england, darren bent is probably going to bounce around a little, and you just know dean ashton is gonna play till he's 50, even if the last ten years are in league one.
From jcpotvin on Tue Aug 05 10:30AM
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worst kit , remeber hull city's kit from 92 that tiger print shirt .... oh and that mexican goalkeeper jorge campos he use to be one flashy keeper. the 90's had to been the worst era for football fasion.
best kit , italy they have always been europe's best turned-out national team
From noli_nakis on Tue Aug 05 10:38AM
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I know he's a bit of a tw/at, but would Robbie Savage now be classed as a journeyman??
From brybart69 on Tue Aug 05 10:40AM
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Top journeymen in order of rubbishness - Marcus Bent, Mark Crossley, Jimmy Flloyd Hasselbaink, ED, Robbie Fowler, Teddy Sheringham.
And I would take Georgie everyday (twice on Sundays ;) ) over Vicky!
From adamcroft83 on Tue Aug 05 10:42AM
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my all time favorite is real madrid's old kit with no sponsor logos, no nonsense like that, just plain white with the badge
From knoxx_06 on Tue Aug 05 10:43AM
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worst kit in use for me is chelsea's awful 'health and safety compliant' away kit. I think they wear it to pretend they are on the buliding sight for their new ground.... What? they're not getting a new ground?? but i was told they were a global brand...???
From nam_ssob_12 on Tue Aug 05 10:45AM
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I used to love the Norwich kit of the early 90's - it looked like they'd been in a horrific explosion of yellow, white and green paint
From g_hine on Tue Aug 05 10:49AM
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Vasco Da Gama has the best strip. And Georgie for me.
From johnhennessey7 on Tue Aug 05 10:56AM
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does dion dublin still play? he's got to count as a journey man by now.
From martsssss on Tue Aug 05 11:13AM
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