The Trialists
Posted: 26 Jun 2013, 19:36
Thought this was worth a separate topic given that we know three of those due to attend on Friday and in the hope and expectation that there might be a few more over the coming weeks.
Personally, I think the three names we have so far are pretty encouraging.
Jordan Robertson - what we saw of him in his brief loan spell back in 2006-7 suggested that this was a young striker that was destined to play at a much higher level than League 2. Sadly, his career has constantly faltered at every turn since then not least through his own (well documented) actions but also through his injuries. At just 25 he is already pretty much at the last chance saloon and yet who better to give him that chance than a Manager who supported him through his trial and was the first to offer him an opportunity to rebuild his career when he came out of prison. Without question, a fit and healthy Jordan Robertson is more than good enough for League 2.
Aristote Nsiala - at one time considered a very exciting prospect at Everton he failed to make the grade there (but so did Eunan O'Kane!) and yet he did have a very promising loan spell at Accrington Stanley which subsequently led to them signing him on a permanent basis last summer. By all accounts, he seemed to be well received by the Accy fans when he first signed and all the talk was of his great potential, athleticism, pace and physique (he is 6'4" I believe). On the downside, his discipline was very poor, racking up a yellow card on an almost every other game basis and his concentration levels occassionally let him down with the odd mistake costing his team goals. It all eneded disappointingly with him leaving Accy 6 months ahead of schedule in January of this year by "mutual consent", but from what I can gather he is still considered to have undoubted potential and with all the other natural attributes he possesses he could still go far in the game it would seem. Quite an interesting character too ... http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/fo ... la-3352917
Steven Leslie - spent several years at Shrewsbury under Graham Turner who rated him highly for most of his time there. He appears to be a player blessed with an awful lot of natural ability, great left foot, good delivery from set pieces, ability to pick a pass and weighs in with his fair share of (often spectacular) goals but it seems a lack of consistency and confidence, perhaps even a lack of application at times, let him down. Again, he appears to be someone who is in danger of throwing his undoubted talent away unless he pulls it all together pretty quickly, but he still has youth on his side and again maybe a spell at Plainmoor - which often seems to have the effect of revitalising some players careers - might just be all that he needs at this stage of his career.
The overwhelming opinion I have got from my limited "research" of these trialists is that all undoubtedly have some ability at this level and maybe, just maybe, they could find a "home" at TQ1 to finally achieve something, which admittedly has been missing so far, in their professional careers.
Personally, I think the three names we have so far are pretty encouraging.
Jordan Robertson - what we saw of him in his brief loan spell back in 2006-7 suggested that this was a young striker that was destined to play at a much higher level than League 2. Sadly, his career has constantly faltered at every turn since then not least through his own (well documented) actions but also through his injuries. At just 25 he is already pretty much at the last chance saloon and yet who better to give him that chance than a Manager who supported him through his trial and was the first to offer him an opportunity to rebuild his career when he came out of prison. Without question, a fit and healthy Jordan Robertson is more than good enough for League 2.
Aristote Nsiala - at one time considered a very exciting prospect at Everton he failed to make the grade there (but so did Eunan O'Kane!) and yet he did have a very promising loan spell at Accrington Stanley which subsequently led to them signing him on a permanent basis last summer. By all accounts, he seemed to be well received by the Accy fans when he first signed and all the talk was of his great potential, athleticism, pace and physique (he is 6'4" I believe). On the downside, his discipline was very poor, racking up a yellow card on an almost every other game basis and his concentration levels occassionally let him down with the odd mistake costing his team goals. It all eneded disappointingly with him leaving Accy 6 months ahead of schedule in January of this year by "mutual consent", but from what I can gather he is still considered to have undoubted potential and with all the other natural attributes he possesses he could still go far in the game it would seem. Quite an interesting character too ... http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/fo ... la-3352917
Steven Leslie - spent several years at Shrewsbury under Graham Turner who rated him highly for most of his time there. He appears to be a player blessed with an awful lot of natural ability, great left foot, good delivery from set pieces, ability to pick a pass and weighs in with his fair share of (often spectacular) goals but it seems a lack of consistency and confidence, perhaps even a lack of application at times, let him down. Again, he appears to be someone who is in danger of throwing his undoubted talent away unless he pulls it all together pretty quickly, but he still has youth on his side and again maybe a spell at Plainmoor - which often seems to have the effect of revitalising some players careers - might just be all that he needs at this stage of his career.
The overwhelming opinion I have got from my limited "research" of these trialists is that all undoubtedly have some ability at this level and maybe, just maybe, they could find a "home" at TQ1 to finally achieve something, which admittedly has been missing so far, in their professional careers.
Thanks for that CPGull, good luck to them all.