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Forgotten Men
Written by wadey on Wednesday, 12th Dec 2012 12:55

I bought the 200 goals from 2002 to 2012 DVD, because that was when I first became a season ticket holder (2002).

I just wanted to bring back the memories of Shefki Kuqi and Darren Bent bombarding the net, Gio's runs, Danny Haynes against Nowrich, Pablo's backheel against Charlton and his 98th minute winner v Coventry.

Then I saw a fellow called Jimmy Juan scoring a couple of freekicks and the thing that crossed my mind was 'Bloody hell I forgot about this bloke, whatever happened to him?'.

So, I've compiled a list of 20 so called forgotten men. Now I know some of you would add others and some would probably know the ins and outs of their career but this is just from my point of view so enjoy.

Goalkeeper

James Pullen

At Ipswich 1999-2003

Two appearances

Always a bench warmer apart from his debut against Middlesbrough in the cup and a 2-2 draw v Grimsby.

After leaving Ipswich, he went slowly down the leagues and ended up in non-league [has been working at the club as a masseur of late - Phil H].

Defence

Pim Balkestein

2008-2010

33 appearances

Originally on trial, Super Jim forked out £180,000 for this Dutch youngster from Heerenveen. I thought he was a decent up and coming player but in 2010, was snapped up by Brentford. He is currently playing for AFC Wimbledon.

Daniel Karbassiyoon

2004

Six appearances

Signed on loan from Arsenal in November 2004 as a left back. Played a handful of matches then went back to Arsenal. He was released at the end of the season and signed for Burnley. A serious knee injury meant he had to retire and is currently working as a North American scout for Arsenal.

Matt Elliott

2004

12 appearances

Joined on loan from Leicester in early 2004 to help our promotion push, became the rock of our defence. He retired in January 2005 due to injury.

Thomas Gaardsøe

2001-2003

49 appearances, seven goals

Signed from Danish club AaB in 2001 for £1.3 million, scoring seven goals, most notably a looping header v Leicester whilst falling backwards. He was sold to West Brom and was their Player of the Year in his first season. He announced his retirement in December 2006. In 2009 he returned to AaB but has since retired again having been unable to find a new club.

Jay McEveley

2005-2006

19 appearances, one goal

An aggressive tackler, signed on loan from Blackburn. Currently plying his trade at League One side Swindon. Has since played for Derby, Preston, Charlton, Barnsley.

Matthew Bates

2006

Two appearances

So much potential, but spent most of his career on the sidelines thanks to four serious knee injuries. Signed for us on loan from Middlesbrough, but injury in his second match, forced the loan to be cancelled. Bates also joined Norwich on loan in 2008 making three appearances. Currently on a short-term contract with Bristol City until January 2013.

Mark Fish

2006

One appearance (45mins)

I know he isn't really a forgotten man. Who could forget the wonderful 45 mins against QPR.... Ha ha!! Retired after this match because of a knee injury. Although he had a wonderful club career for Lazio, Bolton and Charlton, as well as winning 62 caps for his country, it was a disaster at Ipswich.

Midfield

Vemund Brekke Skard

2005-2006

Three appearances

A teacher, keen at skiing, billed as 'the fittest player at the club' by Joe Royle. But couldn't kick a ball! Went back to Norway after his contract was terminated.

George O'Callaghan

2007-2008

13 appearances, one goal

Never really set the world alight after signing from Cork City, the same team he rejoined briefly after his spell with the Tractor Boys. Has been back and forth between the Irish leagues and the lower English leagues. Briefly emigrated to Brunei to play for DPMM FC before joining Dover Athletic in 2012.

Alan Mahon

2003

12 appearances, one goal

Great little winger on loan from Blackburn, having previously played for Tranmere and Sporting Lisbon! We really wanted to sign him permanently but there were no funds available. Joined Wigan the following February, and went on to play for Burnley, Blackpool and Tranmere again. He retired in 2011.

Simon Walton

2006-2007

19 appearances, three goals

A tough tackling centre midfielder, signed on loan from Charlton, formed a good partnership with Mark Noble. Has since played for a host of clubs including Cardiff, QPR, Hull, Plymouth, Blackpool, Crewe, Sheffield United and Hartlepool.

Martin Brittain

2006-2007

One appearance

A youngster signed from Newcastle after a successful trial, we sent him out on loan to Yeovil. Released at the end of the season, he played two games for new club Carlisle an was then released and played for multiple clubs and ending up in non-league, currently playing for Bedlington Terriers.

Veliche Shumulikoski

2008-2009

43 appearances, one goal

Having played for Zenit St Petersburg in Russia and Turkish side Bursaspor and labelled as the 'Macedonian Steven Gerrard', Jim Magilton snapped him up for £600,000. He scored a cracker from the edge of the box against Blackpool on his first home start (fourth appearance). Roy Keane sold him to Preston for £400,000 the following year. Having played over 80 times for his country, he is now playing in the Chinese Super League for Tianjin Teda FC.

Tony Dinning

2004

Nine appearances

Joe Royle signed him on a short term loan from Wigan in 2004 and the only thing he will be remembered for is his huge shorts! In his career he has played for an amazing 16 clubs.

Jimmy Juan

2005-2006

36 appearances, five goals

We signed a player from Monaco, so he can't be that bad. Damn right! When he first signed, he looked lanky, clumsy. And silly with his long hair. But he had a haircut and became an instant hit. Brilliant freekick taker and very skilful. I was so gutted that we never signed him permanently and he went back to France. He came back to England five years later to play for Chesterfield and now plies his trade at Chamois Niortais in the French League Two.

Strikers

Stern John

2009-2010

Nine appearances, one goal

Past his best. Really just wasn't good enough. After he left us, dropped into non league and in the summer was playing for Solihull Moors.

Jon Macken

2006-2007

14 appearances, three goals

Another player past his best. After a great career at Preston and Manchester City, he joined Crystal Palace who so kindly loaned him to us! Has since played for Derby and Barnsley. Now at Northwich Victoria.

Adam Proudlock

2005-2006

Nine appearances, 0 goals

Joined initially on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, he played in seven matches, need really doing anything. Wednesday then terminated his contract due to a breach of discipline. Signed a short-term contract with us until the end of the season and was then released. Currently on loan at Newport Town from Market Drayton Town.

Dean McDonald

2005-2006

15 appearances, one goal

Signed after being released by Arsenal, the tiny frontman was like lightening and had great skill. The only goal he scored was against Crewe. He was out wide, beat his marker for speed and curled a great shot into the corner from outside of the box.

I remember one game where Joe Royle brought him and Jaime Peters on as subs and they terrorised the defence for pace and skill. Sadly it didn't really work out for him and he was released. He went into non-league and whilst at Farnborough he scored 45 goals in 90 games. Currently playing for Carshalton Athletic.

So there are my 20 forgotten players from the past 10 years. I could easily have added Paul Taylor and Bilel Mohsni but let's see what the future brings.

In Mick we trust!




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georgelamming added 14:22 - Dec 12
Good blog. Nicky Forster is another i remember.. if it wasnt for his injuries, he would have been a 20 goal a season striker. Civeli also comes to mind..
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essexitfc added 14:27 - Dec 12
Great read, I remember Chris Bart-Williams, joined from Charlton at same time as Alan Mahon did. Also Ian Westlake?! Great player for us in the Joe Royle days, now plays for Montreal Impact in Canada according to Wikipedia. Always seemed like he had lots of potential.
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wadey added 14:32 - Dec 12
Well others I was debating about included Chris Bart Williams, Nicky Forster, Sam Parkin, Liciano Civelli but didn't want to put any others in otherwise this blog would have dragged on even more than it has haha
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wadey added 14:39 - Dec 12
And we have had 22 goalkeepers in match day squads in that time
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King_of_Portman_Rd added 15:13 - Dec 12
Great read, like you say there are a few others that we could all add to that list.

But, in all honesty a couple of those name I had no Idea who they were... Such was our turnover of players coming in on Loan but I remember most. Also can anyone enlighten me who it was we signed on loan from Celtic many years ago, he was (relatively) young and was a short and speedy centre forward...
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wadey added 15:16 - Dec 12
That was Mark Birchill in 2001
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wadey added 15:17 - Dec 12
Burchill**
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Edmunds5 added 17:12 - Dec 12
good blog, interesting stuff looking back, in a way its quite funny seeing some players but it just shows kind of why we haven't had great success, too many players on our books to many let go easily without really stamping any authority on the team. It was all going swimmingly until Mark Fish came up, didn't he fall through a coffee table once? haha. Some players who come on loan do end up doing well which is always good to see, just at other clubs! Asmir Begovic for example and Mark Noble who I believe refused to celebrate when he scored against us so he must of enjoyed it a bit here.
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Wickets added 17:14 - Dec 12
What year was Le-pen, not even sure of his name. Ever manager signs a few that dont last long,Robson signed a Keeper in a panic 'cos we where short for Europe, Barrett or Bennett i think,never played a game.
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Wickets added 17:16 - Dec 12
Burchill was the goalscorer when Herman dived into North stand. great memories.
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wadey added 18:30 - Dec 12
Le pen was 2001 in our second season in the premier
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gazzmac4 added 19:54 - Dec 12
Great blog!

I'm sure Ulrich Le Penn was touted as something ridiculous when he signed. Like the new French Beckham or something!? I was there when he came on as a sub in Luxembourg where he played marvellously for all of his 4 minutes!
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cooper4england added 22:18 - Dec 12
I always remember us signing Adrian Paz (After the Star reckoned we were in for Batistuta ho ho!!). Paz was supposed to be the next big thing and we also brought in a nobody called Taricco to keep him company!
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warbeat78 added 22:19 - Dec 12
Broke his leg, or was it his ankle and that was the last we saw of the new murhen if iremember anyone know what happened to him etc
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DurhamTownFan added 08:20 - Dec 13
Well I agree that some of these guys are actually quite well-known, like pim and fish. What you can say isbthat clubs have a huge turnover of players these days. If you watch 'ipswich town crossbar challenge' on youtube from 2006, I had to get Wikipedia out to look them all up! The only ones I knew for sure were Alex Bruce, dean dowditch and Fabian Wilnis.

I think this happens everywhere though. Remember djemba-djemha at man utd?!
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BlueBrittania added 11:05 - Dec 13
This seems to quite relevant here http://www.sporcle.com/games/alanlee/itfc2000s its damn impossible, just completely forgot that some those players even existed.
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sirbenofmorlingshire added 16:56 - Dec 13
Ulrich Le Penn... was there the game he broke his leg. Very sad and I think he never really recovered. Finidi George anyone (played one good game against Derby I remember, think he got a hat-trick), there was also a great article some months back on here about Sixto Perelta (clearly spelt wrong - sorry). One player who didn't last too long (I think) was Marcus Bent, wonder where he is now. I never liked him, I saw him on his debut go bloomin' nuts at one of the team (can't remember who) after we had a corner and the taker failed to find Bent, he then ran over to the guy and just went nuts (was right in front of me as well). I'll never forget that or him. Just remember thinking arrogant, attitude problem, you won't last long and I'm pretty sure he didn't - thank goodness!
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NoCanariesAllowed added 18:42 - Dec 13
Interesting read. Always makes me laugh when you think back about old squads - there's always so many players that you don't only forget played for us, but frankly, you forget they ever existed.

Something reminded me of Luis Sito Castro / Luis Castro Sito / Whatever-the-hell-order-it-was the other day. Remember him? Only thing I can actually remember about him was I believe he got two red cards in two successive league appearances...!
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bluethroughnthrough added 20:21 - Dec 13
Dean Bowditch?? I remember his debut against Watford where he scored 2 goals? I thought he was meant to be the next big thing...
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SouperJim added 07:48 - Dec 14
Amir Karic. Looked good at Euro 2000, so Burley paid £700k for him and he turned out to be utter pony. According to wikipedia, Palace signed him after we released him and "he only played 30 minutes of football, before being substituted. Widely regarded by Palace fans as the worst player ever seen at Selhurst Park.".
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wadey added 09:43 - Dec 14
Dean bowditch scored a hat trick against Watford. I think his first goal bobbled over the goalies foot and he tapped it in. And jermaine wright scored a screamer from the edge of the box to make it 4 that day
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JWM added 15:00 - Dec 14
Sixto Peralta what a fantastic player he was.
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JWM added 15:16 - Dec 14
Kevin Horlock, Ivan Campo, Sylvan Legwinski, Maurice Voltz, Danny Sonner, Matt Richards, Gus Uhlenbeek... those names just trip off the tongue!
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bradforblues added 22:53 - Dec 14
Manuel Thetis was my fave, guaranteed to be booked in every match ! Louie donowa - remember him !
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wickfordtractorboy added 21:33 - Dec 18
I actually had a conversation about Ulrich le Penn a few months back with a town fan mate, so we looked into it. Apparently after his leg-break with us he never recovered, felt homesick because he hadnt enjoyed his time here and ultimately just wanted to go 'home' to France. After being released by us, he joined someone in the second div over there and got some form back and got a decent money move to a mid-table Ligue 1 club and last I heard was getting a lot of plaudits! I would say we should look into signing him again but I doubt he'd even consider it again, probably still has nightmares.

Some great names on the list though, Jimmy Juan caught my attention last season when he scored a trademark freekick for Chesterfield - I actually had to rewind it (sky+ is a wonderful thing!) and make sure I'd heard it correctly!

I will add Gary Croft to the list... wasn't he the first professional footballer to play whilst on bail from prison whilst with us or something?!
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