Who was better

[DTS]

Big debate on the train on Saturday. Stan I think was 22 at the time he played for us and Freddy is of course 22 now. But who was best.

Stan could make a goal from nothing. He was in a poor team and yet single handily score 15 goals in 30 games for the Blues. Whilst he didnt maybe make the most of his career his ability was undoubted.

Freddy of course needs no explanation. A goal machine.

For me its Freddy for his overall team play. I think Stan scored a lot of similar goals where as Freddy dosent for my mind have a set goal. I also think he works harder than Stan in tracking back.

Both are total heros in their own right...But who was the best.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Surely this is the mother of all no-brainers?

Freddy has bags of ability and quality... he could and should become a very solid Premier$hite forward in a couple of years' time.

If Stan had had a better brain and work-ethic, then Stan would and should have become one of England's all-time greats.  As it is, he still played for his country a couple of times... can you see Freddy doing that?

Stan wins this battle for me - no contest.  Freddy is a superb forward.  Stan is the most talented Englishman I've ever seen in the flesh (and I've been to Wembley to see England play a couple of times), and he comes close in quality to some of the Brazilian footballers I witnessed at first hand in my youth (notably Zico, Junior and Socrates - the former two being my Flamengo heroes).

 

[SUFCFARAWAY]

I would like to asses this in 10 years time! Too close to call!

 

[canveyshrimper]

Collymore - no contest.
Stan was the finished article when he arrived at Roots Hall, just needed games & experience. He was ready for the Premier$hite when he left us, although he had another season in Div 1 with Forest.

Freddy has come a long way in a very short time, IMO he will be a success in the next divison but whether he is good enough to play Premier League now is doubtful. I am sure that he will get the chance.

 

[Slipperduke]

Freddy is a great little player and deserves all of the praise that he's receiving right now.

Stanley, on the other hand, was something else entirely. Younger readers won't believe this, but he was like Thierry Henry when he was at Roots Hall. Difficult to imagine now, when all you can see is a hulking great bulk of a man who can't keep out of the tabloids.

He was so quick and skillful that opposing teams didn't know what to do with him. They couldn't kick him because they couldn't get near him. Matt's right, he was sublimely talented and should have gone on to represent England for years.

That said, for all of his latter misbehaviour, I've been told that he was an example to everyone when he was at Southend. A great trainer, a regular visitor to schools and hospitals and no trouble at all in the dressing room.

Oddly enough, I should be interviewing him on Thursday. It's going to be hard to maintain professionalism, I fear!

 

[SW12 Shrimper]

Freddy is obviously superb - but Colly did his stuff at the higher level. So it really is no contest at the moment.

Stanley is still the best player I have seen in a Southend shirt.

 

[Westcliff Shrimper]

Stanley still number one - but who is to say that Freddy can not emulate him? (In a football sense, not always in the papers for the wrong reason sense, I hasten to add).

 

[Soton Blue]

Stan without a doubt. Quick, superb in the air, great running at defenders with a lethal right and left foot. Sorry Freddy, no contest for me.

 

[Fish]

Quote[/b] (SW12 Shrimper @ April 03 2006,16:46)]Freddy is obviously superb - but Colly did his stuff at the higher level. So it really is no contest at the moment.

Stanley is still the best player I have seen in a Southend shirt.

Spot on. Let's revisit this debate this time next year, we'll have exactly the right comparison to make then.

 

[Upminster Blue]

Two months ago this would have been an absolute nonsense poll - Stan all the way.  Now, it required a few seconds of thought but is still Stan by a big distance.

Stan was playing at a higher level, in a truely awful team and yet still managed to average more than a goal a game, most of them amazing individual goals (forget Freddy's recent outstanding goals - not a patch on Stan's best).

However, the gap is closing.  Freddy has a better goals per game ratio, has scored more goals for us and is definitely the better finisher (the amount of chances Stan missed was incredible for a player of his quality - should have scored double the number of goals).

If Freddy carries on as now for another year, hopefully in the Championship, he will IMHO have overtaken Stan based solely on his Southend performances.

 

[C C Csiders]

Quote[/b] (Soton Blue @ April 03 2006,17:01)]superb in the air

That was quite a weakness in his game IMO

 

[number11]

Stan was possible the most talented forward of his generation....He he had has the dedication to football (and mindset) of a Shearer, Sheringham or Ferdinand he would have played many times for his country, and in world cups...etc.

The comparisons with Henry are by no means frivelous....he had the pace, with or without the ball, and the ability to score from silly distances.....though he had more strength and could give it a whack with either foot.....see his goals on debut for Liverpool as examples.

Im no psycholigist (cant even spell the word) but I do wonder how it may have turned out had Ferguson bought Stan rather then Andy Cole...I cant help thinking that Liverpool Spice Boys era was not the best of places for someone like Stan....similar to Gazza opting for Spurs when you feel someone like Ferguson could have really honed his ability....

Freddy is a great goalscorer in the lower leagues, a la Crown or Angell....I look forward to finding out whether he can make it to the next level...

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Quote[/b] (Upminster Blue @ April 03 2006,17:09)]If Freddy carries on as now for another year, hopefully in the Championship, he will IMHO have overtaken Stan based solely on his Southend performances.

Yep Stan at the moment but Stan only played 30 league games for us scoring 15 goals. Freddy has played 62 league games and scored 40 goals. If we keep Freddy and he plays at least 30 Championship games for us then we can compare the two.

 

[Jonny_Stokes]

Decisions, decisions...Collymore was a more talented player, but Eatswood's name is easier to take the mickey out of. I'm calling a dead heat.

 

[number11]

Quote[/b] (C C Csiders @ April 03 2006,17:11)]

Quote[/b] (Soton Blue @ April 03 2006,17:01)]superb in the air

That was quite a weakness in his game IMO

I agree...only one headed goal for us I think (Grimsby), and remember Craig Short having him in his pocket whenever we lumped it up to Stan.....but again...similar to Henry in that neither scores many headers for a 6 foot plus striker....

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Quote[/b] (Slipperduke @ April 03 2006,16:39)]Oddly enough, I should be interviewing him on Thursday. It's going to be hard to maintain professionalism, I fear!

You're going to be like a babbling school-girl, I bet. I would be!

 

[* ORM *]

Quote[/b] (Jonny_Stokes @ April 03 2006,17:41)]Decisions, decisions...Collymore was a more talented player, but Eatswood's name is easier to take the mickey out of. I'm calling a dead heat.

Collymore's name must be easier to spell though

No debate, Colly all the way. The third best player ever to wear an SUFC shirt after Maher and Donut.

If Freddy continues to work hard there is no doubt he can become a great player but I've lost count of the number of lower division players over the years that haven't cut it at the highest level, and not just from SUFC (though it is a very good time to mention Cadette and Angell).

 

[Beefy]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ April 03 2006,16:08)]As it is, he still played for his country a couple of times... can you see Freddy doing that?

I said after Freddy's debut hat-trick that he would be playing International Football by the 2010 World Cup and I've seen nothing since to make me challenge that belief. The distinct lack of any decent English strikers beyond Rooney & Owen certainly does him no harm.

Overall I'd vote for Collymore because whilst Freddy has the potential to be one of the best, Stan was one of the best. Eastwood is a more polished footballer, but Collymore had the combination of pace, power and raw ability that made him unplayable for defenders of all levels.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Difficult question. Eastwood has been better for Southend, goals to games, over a longer period, however Stan was probably the better player.

Also the game has changed in 10 years. The level we are at now is probably not too different from the old Division 1

Very veryhard one to call, but I just went for Stan.

 

[bring-back-N'Diaye]

I think 'who is better: Cadette or Eastwood' would be a more interesting question.