Loads would argue he joined at 16 and made his debut at 17 so he didn't count as an academy product
Which is a fair comment. But if we're claiming him as one of our own - the OS certainly are and I'm happy to go along with it, then I think he is largely underrated by our fans.
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
I think that part of it, " out of site, out of mind" and he has not played for a Euro or UK giant yet, plus he was with us during our decline so while playing for us, whilst he stood out, any half arsed footballer would, so he has probably not been judged as highly as he should have been. The three quoted above all had good premiership careers and been high profile. Even Gomez's goal scoring prowess gets mentioned frequently now.
I personally count him as an academy product as like many have said that's where he was scouted for and where he started, it just turned out that he was bloody good so we fast-tracked him to the first team.
I personally count him as an academy product as like many have said that's where he was scouted for and where he started, it just turned out that he was bloody good so we fast-tracked him to the first team.
He played for our U18s... thats part of the Academy... Is good enough for me
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Also think people value performance at Charlton rather than looking at overall career.
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Also think people value performance at Charlton rather than looking at overall career.
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
I think Parker had a pretty good career . Gomez should have been the England regular for a decade and would have been bar injury .
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Also think people value performance at Charlton rather than looking at overall career.
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
I think Parker had a pretty good career . Gomez should have been the England regular for a decade and would have been bar injury .
Parker's best season is probably his 2011-2012 one for Tottenham where he made it into the England squad for the Euros and finished 4th with Tottenham as a starting player.
Lookman scored a hat-trick to win a European Final, scored 3 times in the ACON for Nigeria to help them into the final and finished 4th in the League.
Parker and Gomez both had good careers but judging they started out as better players than Lookman (arguably) you'd say they didn't hit their full potential.
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Also think people value performance at Charlton rather than looking at overall career.
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
I think Parker had a pretty good career . Gomez should have been the England regular for a decade and would have been bar injury .
Parker's best season is probably his 2011-2012 one for Tottenham where he made it into the England squad for the Euros and finished 4th with Tottenham as a starting player.
Lookman scored a hat-trick to win a European Final, scored 3 times in the ACON for Nigeria to help them into the final and finished 4th in the League.
Parker and Gomez both had good careers but judging they started out as better players than Lookman (arguably) you'd say they didn't hit their full potential.
I think Parker more than matched his potential . He took a long time to come through to being regular and only really did when he learnt to be physical on loan at Norwich - he didn’t have a spectacular technical range to fall back on . He was outstanding for us and West Ham when he was the main man - he was energetic , dynamic and all action, with loads of pace . Not many midfielders playing for top sides have ever needed to be like that . Still, he had a 10 year plus premier league career and played for England - more than good .
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Also think people value performance at Charlton rather than looking at overall career.
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
I think Parker had a pretty good career . Gomez should have been the England regular for a decade and would have been bar injury .
Parker's best season is probably his 2011-2012 one for Tottenham where he made it into the England squad for the Euros and finished 4th with Tottenham as a starting player.
Lookman scored a hat-trick to win a European Final, scored 3 times in the ACON for Nigeria to help them into the final and finished 4th in the League.
Parker and Gomez both had good careers but judging they started out as better players than Lookman (arguably) you'd say they didn't hit their full potential.
I think Parker more than matched his potential . He took a long time to come through to being regular and only really did when he learnt to be physical on loan at Norwich - he didn’t have a spectacular technical range to fall back on . He was outstanding for us and West Ham when he was the main man - he was energetic , dynamic and all action, with loads of pace . Not many midfielders playing for top sides have ever needed to be like that . Still, he had a 10 year plus premier league career and played for England - more than good .
Parker is a great product of our academy, but I think I’d take what Lookman has already achieved over everything Parker managed in his career. Lookman:
Club level
Europa League winner (scored a hat-trick in the final!) 4th & 5th place finishes with Atlanta in Serie A
International
27 caps for Nigeria AFCON runner up 1:3 goal record
Individual
African footballer of the year 2 x Atlanta player of the year (at a high point in their history) AFCON team of the tournament Ballon d’or longlist
Scott Parker had a career that 99% of players would kill for, but he never came close to anything like the above.
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Also think people value performance at Charlton rather than looking at overall career.
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
I think Parker had a pretty good career . Gomez should have been the England regular for a decade and would have been bar injury .
Parker's best season is probably his 2011-2012 one for Tottenham where he made it into the England squad for the Euros and finished 4th with Tottenham as a starting player.
Lookman scored a hat-trick to win a European Final, scored 3 times in the ACON for Nigeria to help them into the final and finished 4th in the League.
Parker and Gomez both had good careers but judging they started out as better players than Lookman (arguably) you'd say they didn't hit their full potential.
I think Parker more than matched his potential . He took a long time to come through to being regular and only really did when he learnt to be physical on loan at Norwich - he didn’t have a spectacular technical range to fall back on . He was outstanding for us and West Ham when he was the main man - he was energetic , dynamic and all action, with loads of pace . Not many midfielders playing for top sides have ever needed to be like that . Still, he had a 10 year plus premier league career and played for England - more than good .
Parker definitely had a good career.
I'm more saying that if you polled people Lookman would likely come 3rd in 'best Charlton player at 17/18' compared to the other two. So did he develop fantastically later on, or did the other two just not reach the promise they had at that early age?
Felt like Parkers natural game was stimied at Chelsea trying to turn him into a holder. Was completely the wrong role for him. Probably similar to Jonjo who I thought was way better in the advanced midfield role he broke through playing.
I wonder if Sakas injury is more long term he could make his way to arsenal
Hope he stays where he is. He’s thriving and has a decent chance of winning Serie A. Coming 2nd in the Premier League isn’t the be all and end all.
I do too but financially for him and his family it could be life changing. I also suspect Atalanta wouldn’t sell him until the Summer. Seems he has good people around him to decide what he does next
Based on what he's done and the awards he's been nominated for/won it's hard to argue against the idea that he is our best ever academy product.
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Also think people value performance at Charlton rather than looking at overall career.
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
I think Parker had a pretty good career . Gomez should have been the England regular for a decade and would have been bar injury .
Parker's best season is probably his 2011-2012 one for Tottenham where he made it into the England squad for the Euros and finished 4th with Tottenham as a starting player.
Lookman scored a hat-trick to win a European Final, scored 3 times in the ACON for Nigeria to help them into the final and finished 4th in the League.
Parker and Gomez both had good careers but judging they started out as better players than Lookman (arguably) you'd say they didn't hit their full potential.
I think Parker more than matched his potential . He took a long time to come through to being regular and only really did when he learnt to be physical on loan at Norwich - he didn’t have a spectacular technical range to fall back on . He was outstanding for us and West Ham when he was the main man - he was energetic , dynamic and all action, with loads of pace . Not many midfielders playing for top sides have ever needed to be like that . Still, he had a 10 year plus premier league career and played for England - more than good .
Parker definitely had a good career.
I'm more saying that if you polled people Lookman would likely come 3rd in 'best Charlton player at 17/18' compared to the other two. So did he develop fantastically later on, or did the other two just not reach the promise they had at that early age?
Gomez and Lookman were better than Parker was at 18, as was Shelvey. Parker arguably went by all of them by 20/21 , but Lookman has developed superbly , showing the rare quality of going abroad for the right opportunity .
I worry for Lookman that if he goes to a 'big' club his career might stall. Atalanta has given him regular football in a well managed side.
While he might not be as well paid as if he was a first team regular at Real Madrid, AC or Inter Milan, I expect that he is getting paid really well (and, from what i can see, he seems to be both very level headed and happy in his current lifestyle).
I honestly can see him maximising his income and staying in Bergamo (provided that the club has the ability to continue challenging).
At one of the obscenely massive clubs he'd be one of many, at a club like Atalanta he can be a legend (not just for Atalanta fans), because, you know, the romance of sport...
Felt like Parkers natural game was stimied at Chelsea trying to turn him into a holder. Was completely the wrong role for him. Probably similar to Jonjo who I thought was way better in the advanced midfield role he broke through playing.
Not sure about that . He wasn’t a holder in the modern sense - he made himself into an all action box to box player - a bit like Roy Keane was when he first started, but his best attributes were his defensive qualities , in my view . A wonderful player - him and Jensen together in the middle were absolutely brilliant- certainly my favourite time as an Addick .
I agree, Parker wasn't a holding midfielder. People thought he was, because of the number of crunching tackles he made, however...
I went to a lot of academy games, at places like Welling, and all those Kent Senior Cup games, and there's not a doubt in my mind, our best academy prospect, ever, was Joe Gomez
Lookman should stay at Atalanta for this season, then in the summer decide what's best for him. He's 27 and in his prime, if he keeps this up the world is his oyster. I can see a move to nearby Milan or Juventus for big money and he won't have to move family etc and is already used to the Italian way. However if he ventures further afield I'd veer away from the top Spanish sides where he'll be vilified for every poor performance and probably called some very racist things by rival fans. I'd also avoid PSG as whilst you'll probably win the league it's an absolute farmers league in reality and he won't get anywhere in Europe. Germany he tried before at Leipzig, maybe Bayern or Dortmund would be different but I doubt it, so if he doesn't stay in Italy I think the Prem is the only logical place. Arsenal seems a safe bet
Comments
Samuel Eto’o
Yaya Toure
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Riyad Mahrez
Mohamed Salah
Sadio Mane
Victor Osimhen
Ademola Lookman
Oddly though if you asked 100 fans the question I imagine he would only get named by a small chunk. Most would say Parker/Bowyer/Gomez.
Is it that success in other countries is just less visible than success in the prem?
Lookman goal Atalanta top at Christmas
Best academy player ever (if you count him) is Lookman by a distance now. Mostly because with Parker his full potential wasn't realised because of Chelsea and Gomez was hampered by injuries.
Lookman scored a hat-trick to win a European Final, scored 3 times in the ACON for Nigeria to help them into the final and finished 4th in the League.
Parker and Gomez both had good careers but judging they started out as better players than Lookman (arguably) you'd say they didn't hit their full potential.
Club level
Europa League winner (scored a hat-trick in the final!)
4th & 5th place finishes with Atlanta in Serie A
International
27 caps for Nigeria
AFCON runner up
1:3 goal record
Individual
African footballer of the year
2 x Atlanta player of the year (at a high point in their history)
AFCON team of the tournament
Ballon d’or longlist
Scott Parker had a career that 99% of players would kill for, but he never came close to anything like the above.
I'm more saying that if you polled people Lookman would likely come 3rd in 'best Charlton player at 17/18' compared to the other two. So did he develop fantastically later on, or did the other two just not reach the promise they had at that early age?
I honestly can see him maximising his income and staying in Bergamo (provided that the club has the ability to continue challenging).
At one of the obscenely massive clubs he'd be one of many, at a club like Atalanta he can be a legend (not just for Atalanta fans), because, you know, the romance of sport...
I went to a lot of academy games, at places like Welling, and all those Kent Senior Cup games, and there's not a doubt in my mind, our best academy prospect, ever, was Joe Gomez