RFC "Legends"

[leon]

Come on, we all give players the "legend" tag - but who is the actually not a legend but actually massively overrated?

I'll start with a sacred cow - Parky.

We all know who was the best midfielder of the mid nineties was - and it wasn't Parky, and it wasn't Osborn (how long did he hang around for?) it was Mick Gooding. Phil Parkinson was a limited defensive midfielder who basically scored a cracking goal against Wolves.

[Focher]

i will raise thee

Paul lemon

[Mintymurray]

Leave off! Parky is a god. Every time he pulled the shirt on he made a difference! Yes he was limited as a player, but he played in some god awful teams and always gave 110 per cent. On the pitch at wembley and we would have won! LEGEND!

[RepressedRoyal]

Kerry Dixon's heir to the throne Trevor Senior.....slow as an Ox and the turning speed of Kennet & Avon narrow boat.....and yet somehow, he always scored. After seemingly endless years of singinging "Don't go Trevor dont go" he eventually did leave for bigger things at Boro and Watford (yes that's right younger fans, bigger things). A brief few moments of heroics kept Boro in the top flight then he came back (via Watford?) to score quite a few more for the Royals in a really shit long ball team.

One of my fondest moments of Trev is from around 1985-86 when the Blackpool tannoy announcer called him Trevor Senor in a Spanish accent thinking he was one of our imported players.....or maybe he was just taking the piss?

[RepressedRoyal]

Sorry just checked Wikipedia, it was Watford then Boro, sentiment remains the same

[soggy biscuit]

Sir Walter Winterbottom

[Barry the bird boggler]

Didn't Dick Turpin spend a night or two in the Spread Eagle once upon a time?

[leicsRoyal]

Terry Hurlock.

Never a footballer in the football sense but a bad challenge on any RFC player was followed by the 'Terry's gunna get ya' chant from the Southbank.

I'm sure many an opposition player felt a million miles from safety at this point.

[hutch]

Parky for me was a true legend, always gave 100% every game, geed his team mates up, geed the fans up and just bust a gut every single game for us. I was lucky enough to be in the crowd at Brentford when he slipped the ball through to Cureton to score, cue pandimondium, . For me the ultimate was the Brighton pitch invasion in 94, I jumped over the Southbank wall, legged it onto the pitch milling around aimlessly until a sea of fans parted and stood before me was only Parky!!! I ran up to him gave him a massive Man hug (no homo!!) then promptly legged it back to the Southbank chuffed as f**k with myself. So there you have it- Parky-a true legend.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Phil Parkinson was a limited defensive midfielder who basically scored a cracking goal against Wolves.

Shocking for a defensive midfielder not to have Osborn-like creative skills, isn't it?


Overall, maybe he wasn't the very best, but he was a genuine 100% player who made a difference on the pitch, and was here for a decade. If Osborn had been here for a decade he'd be a legend too, but he announced on arriving that he'd treat the club as a stepping stone to a higher division, and duly buggered off at the first opportunity a year later.


I think you are just having a little trouble understanding what a legend is.

[super darren caskey]

Even just having the thought of phil parkinson not being a legend is Ridiculous


We all know parky is a true reading legend! fact!

[floyd__streete]

but who is the actually not a legend but actually massively overrated?

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

but who is the actually not a legend but actually massively overrated?

Was he overrated? He was thought of as a championship level striker, which probably was his level. Again, the "legend" tag for him is more about coming through the ranks, as well as being part of the squad that took us from the utter dross of the early 90s to the brink of the premier league.

Legend status isn't purely about ability. Man for man, the current team is probably at least the equal of the 93/94 team, but is unlikely to be remembered with the same fondness.

[SpaceCruiser]

Mmmm, Archie, overrated? He scored a shedload of goals, which is more than Paul Brayson ever did.

[Hugo Boss]

Billy Whitehurst.

[percy_freeman]

How do you determine "Legend?"
IMHO Phil Parkinson is undoubtedly a RFC legend based on his length of service and the fact he always gave 100%
Archie is almost there, based on his goals to games ratio and ironically, he will always be remembered, making him a legend. for the penalty miss at Wembley. In my 43 years as a Reading supporter I could name many "Legends" including Evans.Chapple, Hicks. Friday,Death, Smee, Senior,Dixon, Dwovjech ( can't write Polish) Hartenberger, Gilkes, Williams and even Jamie Cureton, but I will no doubt get shot down by the Hob Knobends out there.

[AthleticoSpizz]

My overrated would be

Cureton


yes he scored "that" goal


yes he was a poacher, but as the team stepped up the ladder, he offered less and less to it.


Still love the guy....still look out for him in the papers every Sunday morning...........not doing lot at Orient at the mo' tho'

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

My overrated would be

Cureton


yes he scored "that" goal


yes he was a poacher, but as the team stepped up the ladder, he offered less and less to it.
'

I think he was a victim of the change in style of play. Pardew began to favour the 4-5-1, and there was no place in the line-up for him. It's much harder to make much of an impact when you only come on with 15 minutes to go.

[leon]

My overrated would be

Cureton


yes he scored "that" goal


yes he was a poacher, but as the team stepped up the ladder, he offered less and less to it.
'

I think he was a victim of the change in style of play. Pardew began to favour the 4-5-1, and there was no place in the line-up for him. It's much harder to make much of an impact when you only come on with 15 minutes to go.

interesting point. Cureton got 50 goals in 108 appearances - that's quite a return.

A lot of people thought/think Forster was a Reading great - whenever I watched him, yes he could play the lone striker running the channels (very similar to Doyle) but he was dreadfully selfish, to the detriment often, of the team. Unlike Doyle who was an absolute team player.

[FiNeRaIn]

I don't really think forster was selfish, I think a big flaw in his game was his vision and awareness and the fact he never looked at whats around him enough, if he had those attributes he would have been playing regularly in the prem.