StapleHillPhil Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Stevenage Borough have signed experienced striker Tony Thorpe and Cambridge City winger Craig Dobson on two-year contracts. Thorpe joins after being released by Championship newcomers Colchester. The 32-year-old has commanded transfer fees of close to £2 million during a career which has included spells with Luton Town and Bristol City. Stevenage have paid a four-figure fee for Dobson, 22, following a successful stint training at Broadhall Way. What a waste of a once promising career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adze Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 yup, just saw the news and was going to post it, but you beat me to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazareth Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 You have to sympathise with him really. He gave us years of loyal service and always gave 100%...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordofthebling Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I would like to agree with Gazareth and wish him all the very best in his money-grabbing career... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Red Rich Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Where would be have been now if he had stayed with us?! I would hazard a guess and say we would be playing the likes of Leeds this season..................Like him or loathe him, he scored goals and plenty of them when he played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rednready Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Some players are washed up by 30, others can hang around and perform at 35+. There is however another factor which many fans do not grasp, its the love of the game. Plenty of professionals are happy to drop a division or two as their speed declines. Its their love for the game, and there are plenty of ex pro's in their 40's and 50's running around, still enjoying the game they love to PLAY, not watch, they have to be out there. Good for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swindlered Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Some players are washed up by 30, others can hang around and perform at 35+. There is however another factor which many fans do not grasp, its the love of the game. Plenty of professionals are happy to drop a division or two as their speed declines. Its their love for the game, and there are plenty of ex pro's in their 40's and 50's running around, still enjoying the game they love to PLAY, not watch, they have to be out there. Good for themYour point is? Thorpe can hardly be said to have performed the last two seasons? He's traded on his reputation for far too long and there will be few people who miss him when he finally hangs up his boots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Batman Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I liked Thorpe, i thought he had it tough when we signed him and didn't play him for 2 years, he certainly proved that he could score goals.Shame he's a money grabbing gimp, ah well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betelgeuse Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I remember when we signed him, i thought £1m was alot, i really wish we invested in defence rather than another striker that season, Akinbiyi and Soren Anderson were great up front, with Cramb and Torpey as cover, that £1m on thorpe could of brought a few defendrs then we'd of stayed up that year, oh well, thats City life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhyde Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Thorpey saved us in the cup in the 95th minute of 94.For that i'll always be eteranlly grateful as it was one of the best moments i've ever witnessed at the gate in terms of emotion.There were plenty of good things about Thorpe too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
port marine red Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I bet he finishes top scorer in the conference this coming season. Worth a punt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Batman Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 I bet he finishes top scorer in the conference this coming season. Worth a punthow many people said that about Stewart / Bridges and Brooker last year???it's all well and good having the finishing ability, but if he don't get the service, who's to say he'll score any?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
port marine red Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 how many people said that about Stewart / Bridges and Brooker last year???it's all well and good having the finishing ability, but if he don't get the service, who's to say he'll score any??What odds will you give me then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Batman Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 none, because i got a horrible feeling that you'll be right now that i've questioned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whale Eye Beef Hooked Posted July 14, 2006 Report Share Posted July 14, 2006 Brought me a couple of pints in the Royal Oak, Nailsea.Good enough for me !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rednready Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Your point is? Thorpe can hardly be said to have performed the last two seasons? He's traded on his reputation for far too long and there will be few people who miss him when he finally hangs up his boots. Just for you, lets try again. His best years are behind him, but he still wants to play rather than watch on the weekends. Conference level may be a comfort zone for him, he can still play football, and not have to push himself too hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Red Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Conference level may be a comfort zone for him, he can still play football, and not have to push himself too hard.To be fair, I can't recall Thorpe ever pushing himself too hard at any stage in his career, and therein lies his problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Ian M Posted July 15, 2006 Admin Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 none, because i got a horrible feeling that you'll be right now that i've questioned it. You wouldn't be that foolish to accept the bet.Thorpe at 32 isn't that old and if he's around the leading scorer in the Conference come January window time there will be a few relegation threatened sides in the division above that might take a punt on him, thus preventing him being top scorer in the Conference come May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotusman Posted July 15, 2006 Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Sadly most of our fans developed a viewpoint of Thorpe confused by his renumeration package. In reality he was perhaps the single most important player of our last decade.His career with us of course only really took off when the 3 wise men came to the helm, immeadiately summonsed back from a near transfer to Burnley he duly scored goals and raised the spirits in a flagging,demoralised club.Vanquishing the Pulisite period he then became Wilsons saviour for 3 seasons by buying time for him to bring through half a dozen youngsters while the expensive Pulis injury prone non performers watched on.The biggest disappointment in our clubs recent history was that Aklinbiyi & Thorpe were paired together for just 45', a very different time could have evolved.Was he partly to blame? Absolutely,yet the real challenge of management is to extract the very best from your resources.Ward,Lennartson & Pulis failed.Some managers shy away from awkward complex situations and prefer to surround themselves with honest journeymen conformers,but the great ones those that operate at the top level work in the interest of the club and hone their skills so as to maximise what a talented temperamental Cantona,Bellamy,Viduka,or Cole can bring to the table.Leading scorer for 3 seasons indicates he did do his job.If he can prove his injury plagued last few years are behind him then he could well notch up some more league goals.Someone like Leroy at Brentford I'm sure will be pretty alert to his situation,likewise Thorpe is smart enough to have inserted a league club buyout option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StapleHillPhil Posted July 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2006 Some players are washed up by 30, others can hang around and perform at 35+. There is however another factor which many fans do not grasp, its the love of the game. Plenty of professionals are happy to drop a division or two as their speed declines. Its their love for the game, and there are plenty of ex pro's in their 40's and 50's running around, still enjoying the game they love to PLAY, not watch, they have to be out there. Good for them I think you're painting far too nice a picture of Tony. He's not an old romantic who loves the game but instead somebody who is ruled by his wallet. He hardly left us on good terms and he well and truly screwed Luton over when he got his move to QPR. I imagine that if he wanted to play league football then there would have been league one//two clubs who would have taken a punt on him but as he's gone to Stevenage I'd hazard a guess that they've offered him the best terms and he's gone for the money again.The likes of Thorpe and his ilk are one of the reasons why football is going down the pan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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