Matt Ritchie

[Kent JCL]

Bournemouth 1-4 up at Fulham and Matt Ritchie has a brace. Makes me mad that we let him go although I concede it would have been bad for his development to have stayed.

[Pompey1985]

At the time we were I. The championship. He went to a league one side.

He wasnt a championship quality player when we sold him.

We move.on.

[pompeygunner]

At the time we were I. The championship. He went to a league one side.

He wasnt a championship quality player when we sold him.

We move.on.

How could you've known that though? Hardly played in his right position (left back once ffs) & the idiot that was Cotterill back then criticized his positional sense after it.
Given the right encouragement he may well have been a champs player back then, after all in admittedly a different position we had Carl Dickinson who wasn't even a league player imo plying his trade with us.
However as much as I despised SC & his football philosophy I do seem to recall that Ritchie's contract had a clause about a certain number of games & we'd have to upgrade his pay-we couldn't afford it & off he went. So you're right we move on but not for the reasons you state imo.

[Pompey1985]

[quote="pompeygunner"][quote="Pompey1985"]At the time we were I. The championship. He went to a league one side.

He wasnt a championship quality player when we sold him.

We move.on.[/quote]
How could you've known that though? Hardly played in his right position (left back once ffs) & the idiot that was Cotterill back then criticized his positional sense after it.
Given the right encouragement he may well have been a champs player back then, after all in admittedly a different position we had Carl Dickinson who wasn't even a league player imo plying his trade with us.
However as much as I despised SC & his football philosophy I do seem to recall that Ritchie's contract had a clause about a certain number of games & we'd have to upgrade his pay-we couldn't afford it & off he went. So you're right we move on but not for the reasons you state imo.[/quote]

At the time how could you tell he was going to become what he's become? You couldnt. The manager made a choice. That's what he was paid to do. Some come off. Some don't. Everything is easy in hindsight.

[Selsey Bill]

Ritchie is an awesome player - one who has slipped through the net

[pompeygunner]

At the time we were I. The championship. He went to a league one side.

He wasnt a championship quality player when we sold him.

We move.on.

How could you've known that though? Hardly played in his right position (left back once ffs) & the idiot that was Cotterill back then criticized his positional sense after it.
Given the right encouragement he may well have been a champs player back then, after all in admittedly a different position we had Carl Dickinson who wasn't even a league player imo plying his trade with us.
However as much as I despised SC & his football philosophy I do seem to recall that Ritchie's contract had a clause about a certain number of games & we'd have to upgrade his pay-we couldn't afford it & off he went. So you're right we move on but not for the reasons you state imo.

At the time how could you tell he was going to become what he's become? You couldnt. The manager made a choice. That's what he was paid to do. Some come off. Some don't. Everything is easy in hindsight.

As I said iirc it wasn't SC's choice in the end, but I'll never agree with your assessment, unless we are prepared to give youngsters time to develop then its a recipe for losing a lot of money. As Selsey Bill says for whatever reason we lost out on him. Players like that are hardly 2 a penny, he showed massive commitment when he played & a very decent 1st touch & pace.
our loss big time.

[Kent JCL]

Interesting debate and I can see both sides. I agree he was weak in the championship and inconsistent but others a right in that he played out of position. We were so desperate at the time for numbers that it didn't suit youth. Personally I always want to see us stand by a local lad and Marlon Pack is another I would put in this camp. Academic debate in many respects as I'm sure they would have been sold under administration but Jed is still here so you never know.

[Pompey1985]

The reason he has become the player he has is because of regular first team football. We couldn't give him that at the time.

Jed is developing because he is playing games, he wouldn't have kicked on as much being a bit part player at a championship club.

[rumourmonger]

I was told a story about Matt Ritchie some time ago. He was playing for Swindon at the time and starting to make a name for himself. Appleton was the manager here. My friend was in a David Lloyd fitness centre at the time and quite a few of the Pompey players and staff were there as well. They had a big TV screen on the wall with Sky Sports on and the programme at the time was the round up of weekly goals from the Football League. Onto the screen came Ritchie scoring a screamer for Swindon . Apparently Appleton and Stuart Gray (his assistant) looked and one another and you could read their faces "If only we still had him here" They both shook their heads and then carried on with whatever they were doing. My friend was in total agreement with them.

[dickinson]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, i know it's an easy thing to say after the event- I told you so, but I did think at the time that we should have kept him and as Pompeygunner previously said, he was not given a proper opportunity here to shine. It was clear the home grown player had ability.

I know money was a problem in keeping Matt Ritchie. - We had to pay for Ben Haims wages, a player who was about as useful to our club as a eunuch in a harem!

What a bl**dy mess!

[Weybridge]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, i know it's an easy thing to say after the event- I told you so, but I did think at the time that we should have kept him and as Pompeygunner previously said, he was not given a proper opportunity here to shine. It was clear the home grown player had ability.

I know money was a problem in keeping Matt Ritchie. - We had to pay for Ben Haims wages, a player who was about as useful to our club as a eunuch in a harem!

What a bl**dy mess!

It was a tough situation. At the time, Ritchie wasn't quite good enough for the 1st team, and we had no reserves back then either. Like it or not, his progression was being stifled at the club - and for his own sake, it was better for him to move. Too many careers have been lost by hanging on too long and watching any potential dissipate. We've had more than our fair share - Micky Ross, Russell Perrett (we rejected £2m from Leeds for him!), Stuart Doling etc etc.

To my mind, Ritchie became a great player because he moved from us.

[Pompey1985]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, i know it's an easy thing to say after the event- I told you so, but I did think at the time that we should have kept him and as Pompeygunner previously said, he was not given a proper opportunity here to shine. It was clear the home grown player had ability.

I know money was a problem in keeping Matt Ritchie. - We had to pay for Ben Haims wages, a player who was about as useful to our club as a eunuch in a harem!

What a bl**dy mess!

It was a tough situation. At the time, Ritchie wasn't quite good enough for the 1st team, and we had no reserves back then either. Like it or not, his progression was being stifled at the club - and for his own sake, it was better for him to move. Too many careers have been lost by hanging on too long and watching any potential dissipate. We've had more than our fair share - Micky Ross, Russell Perrett (we rejected £2m from Leeds for him!), Stuart Doling etc etc.

To my mind, Ritchie became a great player because he moved from us.

Agreed, and let's not forget he is currently still only plying his trade at the level where we were at the time. Its not like we have let someone go who has gone on to be better than where we were at the time.

In fact how many youngsters who haven't made the grade with us over the years are playing regularly at a higher level?