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Wasted Talents?

glasgow sheep

By glasgow sheep
in Football Chat

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glasgow sheep

glasgow sheep

Posted
Posted

Worth a punt or neds you wouldnae touch with a barge poll?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20838427

 

Garry O'Connor and Derek Riordan become free agents

By Colin Moffat BBC Scotland

 

Former Hibernian strikers Garry O'Connor and Derek Riordan find themselves without clubs as the January transfer window approaches.

 

O'Connor, 29, has been released by Russian club Tom Tomsk after scoring one goal in six appearances.

 

Capped 16 times for Scotland, O'Connor moved to Siberia in the summer after a second spell at Easter Road.

 

Riordan, also 29 and capped three times, has left Bristol Rovers after his short-term contract expired .

 

He was signed in late September by Mark McGhee, who was sacked as Pirates manager earlier this month , but failed to score in 12 appearances for the League Two side.

 

Both players started their careers with Hibs and made their debuts for the club in 2001.

 

Both spent brief periods on loan in the lower divisions, O'Connor with Peterhead and Riordan with Cowdenbeath.

 

And both scored goals. Riordan found the net 64 times for Hibs, while O'Connor was not far behind on 59, with the duo dovetailing well in season 2004/05 under manager Tony Mowbray when the club finished third in the Scottish Premier League.

 

The symmetry continued in 2006 when the pair moved on; O'Connor to Lokomotiv Moscow in March for £1.6m and Riordan to Celtic in a cut-price £150,000 deal, with his contract running out.

 

O'Connor was soon back in Britain and spent four injury-troubled years at Birmingham City and an unhappy time at Barnsley before embarking on a second stint with Hibs for season 2011/12, scoring 16 goals.

 

Riordan's Easter Road return was swifter, with the forward enjoying another three seasons in Edinburgh from 2008, adding a further 40 goals, after failing to make an impact in Glasgow.

 

Prior to O'Connor's homecoming, Riordan left as a free agent to sign for Shaanxi Chan-Ba but played less than 10 games for the Chinese Super League club and finished last season as a bit-part player for St Johnstone.

 

Now both men find themselves as free agents, while another less fortunate link between the pair has been the propensity to generate off-field headlines for a variety of indiscretions.

 

Amazing to think both are 29.  Both seemed to have so much potential but have continually pissed it away.  I wouldn't have them any where near our current team but seems unbelievable that neither will have a top flight side come Feb

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manc_don

manc_don

Posted
Posted

Sorry I disagree bearsden, I wouldn't touch them at the moment. The only striker I want out is fallon. We have such a good team morale at the moment which (as far as I can see) doesn't have any bams in it. They would only rock the boat unnecessarily.

 

Could Dundee take a punt on them? Lord knows they need something.

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maverick sheep

maverick sheep

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Wouldn't touch Riorden under any circumstances. O'Connor almost certainly not either, but in an ideal world where he cleaned up his act immediately he might have one or two more years in him. Can't see Brown signing people like that anyway.

 

Could Dundee take a punt on them? Lord knows they need something.

 

This would be a decent shout. When you look at how unfairly Dundee were fucked around til the last minute by the SPL and oldco, it emphasises how stupid the transfer windows are. They really deserve a chance to build a team for the top-flight.

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sheepheid

sheepheid

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Posted

Two sad little neds who could have achieved so much in the game and been regulars in the national team but instead they've never grown up, pissed off so many and have almost made themselves unmarketable.  Any manager would have to be nuts to sign them.  At least with a mad man like Joey Barton, you're likely to get hard graft out him for 90% of the season (admittedly 10% of the season, he's likely to flip his lid).  With O'Conner and Riorden, you're taking on players that will only give you a handful of performances throughout the season and the remainder of the time, they're either running the streets in a shellsuit carrying an air gun or are coked up to the gizzard.

Nile Ranger at Newcastle might be clone of Riorden/O'Conner!!!!

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mizer

mizer

Posted
Posted

Last week

 

I’ve offered to play for nothing and nobody’s taken it up. I’ve changed agents a couple of times and' date=' whether you’re getting the right information back, I don’t know.[/quote']

 

Since then Kenny Sheils offers him a chance of a contract at Morton, but today

 

Kenny Shiels' has admitted he is no longer interested in signing Derek Riordan' date=' after the striker did not show up for training.[/quote']

 

 

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  • 1 year later...
Guest kiriakovisthenewstrachan

Guest kiriakovisthenewstrachan

Posted
Posted

Saw this on Youtube.  Interesting to see how so few young players actually make it to the top.  Includes James Wilson.

 

 

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