Footballers whose career has nosedived

[Loafer]

Anybody had a bigger fall from grace then Dele Alli?

Not long ago he was tearing it up and its all gone downhill from there

[Sanguine]

Must admit that I'm struggling to think of a player who has fallen so far, so quickly.

I seem to remember Andrei Kanchelskis being brilliant at United and Everton and then just disappearing, in his 20s.

[From Despair To Where?]

Bit harsh on Kanchelskis. Went to Fiorentina then Rangers.

How about Francis Jeffers?

[Sanguine]

Bit harsh on Kanchelskis. Went to Fiorentina then Rangers.

How about Francis Jeffers?

Maybe a little harsh, I guess he is more in the Owen bracket, where his best stuff was at the start of his career.

Jeffers a good shout. Just three Premier League goals after he made his only (goalscoring!) start for England.

[Hendo]

Not at the same level as others mentioned, but the one close to home would be Tshibola.

[Loafer]

Not at the same level as others mentioned, but the one close to home would be Tshibola.

What happened to him? And (name forgotten) the one we let go to Munich?

[Dirk Gently]

Not at the same level as others mentioned, but the one close to home would be Tshibola.

On a similar theme, Aaron Kuhl. Seemed to have so much potential, turned down Man City (ISTR) and then went on loan to struggling Dundee where he was played out of position and it seemed to wreck him. Now at Dorking Wanderers.

[Hendo]

Not at the same level as others mentioned, but the one close to home would be Tshibola.

On a similar theme, Aaron Kuhl. Seemed to have so much potential, turned down Man City (ISTR) and then went on loan to struggling Dundee where he was played out of position and it seemed to wreck him. Now at Dorking Wanderers.

Think he got 2 major knee injuries as well, which can't have helped!

[Hendo]

Not at the same level as others mentioned, but the one close to home would be Tshibola.

What happened to him? And (name forgotten) the one we let go to Munich?

Went to Villa, wasn't played, bounced around on loan, now playing in Cyprus.

Richards was at Bayern, now at Forest but hasn't played due to injury - think he broke his leg.

[Sanguine]

Not at the same level as others mentioned, but the one close to home would be Tshibola.

What happened to him? And (name forgotten) the one we let go to Munich?

Amongst others clubs, Tshibola has taken the well trodden path via Scotland to Turkey and then Cyprus. Currently at Limassol.

Omar Richards left Bayern, was signed by Forest for £8.5m, but has been injured all season.

[Sutekh]

Joey Beauchamp
James Lambert
Theo Walcott never quite managed to get to the very top
Danny Drinkwater
James McCarthy
Loic Remy seemed to be really something about a decade ago
Freddie Adu?
Nicholas Bendtner
Denilson
Royston Drenthe
Any experienced player moving to Reading in the last decade

[Loafer]

Joey Beauchamp
James Lambert
Theo Walcott never quite managed to get to the very top
Danny Drinkwater
James McCarthy
Loic Remy seemed to be really something about a decade ago
Freddie Adu?
Nicholas Bendtner
Denilson
Royston Drenthe
Any experienced player moving to Reading in the last decade

Freddie Adu

Champ manager legend alongside Cherno Samba and Supat Thangatsume (spelling is wrong but some random youth player at Portsmouth)

[AthleticoSpizz]

Still playing (still scoring) but his Premier League came to an abrupt halt, Freddie Sears

[URZZZZ]

Alex McCarthy

[AthleticoSpizz]

Alex McCarthy

(not sure if serious) the current Premier League player?? (not for much longer tbf)

[Loafer]

Alex McCarthy

(not sure if serious) the current Premier League player?? (not for much longer tbf)

Yeah that was a weird one to say, he will probably be number 1 when they go down

[URZZZZ]

Alex McCarthy

(not sure if serious) the current Premier League player?? (not for much longer tbf)

Yeah that was a weird one to say, he will probably be number 1 when they go down

Dunno, I thought he had a big career ahead of him around the time he left us (touted for an England call up I believe) but from bench warming at QPR, to struggling to cement a place at Southampton, don’t quite think he’s had the career he (or we) would have envisaged

Saying that, even from the ‘06 team, very few went on to have good sustained careers in the Prem after leaving us!

[Sutekh]

(not sure if serious) the current Premier League player?? (not for much longer tbf)

Yeah that was a weird one to say, he will probably be number 1 when they go down

Dunno, I thought he had a big career ahead of him around the time he left us (touted for an England call up I believe) but from bench warming at QPR, to struggling to cement a place at Southampton, don’t quite think he’s had the career he (or we) would have envisaged

Saying that, even from the ‘06 team, very few went on to have good sustained careers in the Prem after leaving us!

Might have been very different if he'd opted to stay with Reading (he left in 2014 of QPR) as think he would have cemented himself as a proven no. 1 then attracted interest as a no.1 rather than the bloke you get in to cover others. His career has so far amounted to 1 England cap and 296 appearances with 4 permanent clubs and 8 loan clubs (though he hasn't been loaned anywhere since 2012). He will be 34 in December this year.

Wasn't there some talk of him going to join Rodgers at Liverpool at one point, not sure if that was ever serious though.

[Silver Fox]

I met Ray Clemence at the 2012 FA Cup semi final, the day after we had played Southampton away, and suggested to him that McCarthy was a future England regular and he was happy to agree. Mind you he also said Harry Redknapp was nailed on to get the then vacant England manager's job so take his opinions with a pinch of salt I guess

[Dirk Gently]

Yeah that was a weird one to say, he will probably be number 1 when they go down

Dunno, I thought he had a big career ahead of him around the time he left us (touted for an England call up I believe) but from bench warming at QPR, to struggling to cement a place at Southampton, don’t quite think he’s had the career he (or we) would have envisaged

Saying that, even from the ‘06 team, very few went on to have good sustained careers in the Prem after leaving us!

Might have been very different if he'd opted to stay with Reading (he left in 2014 of QPR) as think he would have cemented himself as a proven no. 1 then attracted interest as a no.1 rather than the bloke you get in to cover others. His career has so far amounted to 1 England cap and 296 appearances with 4 permanent clubs and 8 loan clubs (though he hasn't been loaned anywhere since 2012). He will be 34 in December this year.

Wasn't there some talk of him going to join Rodgers at Liverpool at one point, not sure if that was ever serious though.

He didn't want to leave, he was sold to pay a tax bill, as about the only saleable asset we had. It was a toss-up between him and Federici for first-choice 'keeper, but no-one else wanted to buy Federici (or at least pay him what he and his girlfriend thought he was worth) so McCarthy was cashed in on to keep HMRC from the door.

Not sure about talk of joining Liverpool, but when we played at Anfield in 12/13 McCarthy was absolutely immense, and Rodgers was immensely complimentary.