General Overrated/Underrated Players

[Isle of Wight Yellow]

The thread on Players since 2015/16 got me thinking about Overrated and Underrated Oxford United players (when they were at Oxford), a subject I find interesting.

To be clear, by ‘Overrated’ I mean that you don’t think they’re quite as good as the general view of them seems to be - it doesn’t at all mean they’re a bad player. In the same way, ‘Underrated’ doesn’t mean that they’re a great or even good player necessarily, just not as bad as most people seem to think.

For me, some random examples would be:

Underrated:

Marcus McGuane, Dan Agyei, Johnny Mullins, Ryan Ledson, Brandon Barker, Phil Trainer, Craig Davies, Rob Atkinson, Mide Shodipo, Djavan Anderson

Overrated:

I cant bring myself to put who I want to put on this list as I know it will cause outrage

 

[m]

Underrated: Matt Murphy [list ends]

 

[Paul Cannell]

The thread on Players since 2015/16 got me thinking about Overrated and Underrated Oxford United players (when they were at Oxford), a subject I find interesting.

To be clear, by ‘Overrated’ I mean that you don’t think they’re quite as good as the general view of them seems to be - it doesn’t at all mean they’re a bad player. In the same way, ‘Underrated’ doesn’t mean that they’re a great or even good player necessarily, just not as bad as most people seem to think.

Is this after a win or a defeat?

 

[MJB]

Underrated:

Marcus McGuane, Dan Agyei, Johnny Mullins, Ryan Ledson, Brandon Barker, Phil Trainer, Craig Davies, Rob Atkinson, Mide Shodipo, Djavan Anderson

I’d say that McGuane, Mullins and Rob Atkinson are near universally rated by the vast majority of our fans.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

Underrated:

Dan Agyei, Ryan Taylor (a little), Tyler Goodrham, love the Phil the Power Trainer shout, Mark Sykes (due to way he left maybe), Josh Ruffels, James Henry (ultimate pro), Ahmed Kashi, Ryan Williams, Ciaron Brown, Tcham Ntoya

Overrated:

Alex Rodriguez Gorrin, Malachi Napa, Ben Woodburn, Jamie Mackie (once legs went) can't think of anyone else

 

[tonto]

I remember a french centre half a few seasons ago who used to ping really accurate passes into midfield and then got a bad injury and we never saw him again just as he was getting really popular. Any body remember his name?

 

[Finlandia]

David Smith, Martin Gray, Stuart Massey,

 

[isibuko]

Underrated:

Dan Agyei, Ryan Taylor (a little), Tyler Goodrham, love the Phil the Power Trainer shout, Mark Sykes (due to way he left maybe), Josh Ruffels, James Henry (ultimate pro), Ahmed Kashi, Ryan Williams, Ciaron Brown, Tcham Ntoya

Overrated:

Alex Rodriguez Gorrin, Malachi Napa, Ben Woodburn, Jamie Mackie (once legs went) can't think of anyone else

Not sure anyone really rated Mackie particularly highly did they? Having said that he’s worth it for the Bradford goal.

 

[Followtheox1]

Underrated
Kerri Evans, Anton Rogan, Paul Powell (not sure he was underrated by Oxford fans but could have achieved so much more), Josh Ruffels

Overrated
Chrissy Allen (sure some will disagree), Dave Savage, Tommy Mooney,

 

[SteMerritt]

Underrated: Mike Salmon. Kept it in single figures.

 

[Symp59]

Briggs and Shotton

 

[Peterdev]

Garry Smart
that striker who scored three in 46

 

[TailsWeWin]

Overrated: some of the players who come through our youth system and are then lauded because they are “one of our own.” Tyler and Shandon are exceptions to a general rule.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Overrated: some of the players who come through our youth system and are then lauded because they are “one of our own.” Tyler and Shandon are exceptions to a general rule.

Neither from Oxfordshire sadly.

 

[JayOx88]

Underrated: Lee Molyneaux

And then I'm doing to do it. I'm going to say it.

*takes deep breath*

Overrated: Kemar Roofe

Absolutely not because I don't think he was a fantastic player for us - he undoubtedly was - and not because I'm not grateful for his contribution, or that I don't remember his time fondly.

It's because I don't, in my opinion, think he was our best player for us in that promotion season. I think his performances in the cups - obvious one being Swansea - masked a few average performances in big league games where I felt he went missing a bit.

I felt he could and should have been even better than he was.

 

[Jster]

Under-rated: Nigel Jemson (in his first spell with us). Thought he was a really clever forward, but there seemed to be quite a few fans that were a little unimpressed by him.

Also under-rated: John Byrne. I think pretty much everyone rated him at the time tbh, but he seldom seems to get mentioned by anyone these days. Absolute class.

 

[WE Yellow]

Underrated: Marvin Johnson, Joe Rothwell, Liam Sercombe, Asa Hall, Rob Hall (permanent spell), Paul Mclaren, Matt Green, Alex Mowatt

Overrated: Sam Long, Alex Gorrin, Rob Hall (loan spells), Luke Mcnally (great potential, but still shaky defensively for us), Josh Ruffels, Dan Agyei

 

[Followtheox1]

Neither from Oxfordshire sadly.

Why does that matter, both came to us as part of the youth system?

 

[Berliner]

Underrated: Brian Wilsterman. He shat the bed against Swindon yes, but everyone seems to forget we played in the current Championship and he himself played at a high enough level through his career. And he was IMMENSE in the surprise win away at Birmingham (same season as the 0-7). Leo Roget and Andy Whing were both actively booed by our fans in their first season, but eventually grew into decent players.

Overrated: Sam Long dines out on one good season for us, if he wasn't local he'd be given pretty short shrift here. Luke Garbutt didn't impress me like he promised to. Also that big-headed pr*ck from Arsenal who was sent home pretty swiftly.

 

[MJB]

Underrated: Lee Molyneaux

And then I'm doing to do it. I'm going to say it.

*takes deep breath*

Overrated: Kemar Roofe

Absolutely not because I don't think he was a fantastic player for us - he undoubtedly was - and not because I'm not grateful for his contribution, or that I don't remember his time fondly.

It's because I don't, in my opinion, think he was our best player for us in that promotion season. I think his performances in the cups - obvious one being Swansea - masked a few average performances in big league games where I felt he went missing a bit.

I felt he could and should have been even better than he was.

I don’t think there’s anything too controversial about saying that you don’t think Roofe was our best player in 15/16 when you look at that squad. What a team.

One caveat might be that Roofe was a bit broken in the last third of the season. A mixture of injury and playing so many games (including the last half of the previous season) for us when he was still relatively new to mens football.

We’ve seen since that his body isn’t perhaps the strongest, given the amount of injuries he’s had at other clubs.

But you’ve said he was both an important and fantastic player for us, so think your view on the matter is completely fair even if folk don’t necessarily agree.

 

[Morris Oxford]

Underrated; Matin Foyle.

 

[Osei Yaw]

Underrated: Jamie Mackie

A brilliant player for us behind the scenes, setting standards and keeping others in check.

Work those thighs, sanitise.

 

[Marked Ox]

Under-rated: Nigel Jemson (in his first spell with us). Thought he was a really clever forward, but there seemed to be quite a few fans that were a little unimpressed by him.

Also under-rated: John Byrne. I think pretty much everyone rated him at the time tbh, but he seldom seems to get mentioned by anyone these days. Absolute class.

On Nigel Jemson, I think most rated him as a player but were unimpressed as he was a bit of a c*ck.

 

[SteMerritt]

Underrated; Matin Foyle.

Oh for a Martin Foyle now...

 

[MJB]

On Nigel Jemson, I think most rated him as a player but were unimpressed as he was a bit of a c*ck.

He annoyed Joey by wanting to take set-pieces too which was never going to go down well!

 

[JayOx88]

I don’t think there’s anything too controversial about saying that you don’t think Roofe was our best player in 15/16 when you look at that squad. What a team.

One caveat might be that Roofe was a bit broken in the last third of the season. A mixture of injury and playing so many games (including the last half of the previous season) for us when he was still relatively new to mens football.

We’ve seen since that his body isn’t perhaps the strongest, given the amount of injuries he’s had at other clubs.

But you’ve said he was both an important and fantastic player for us, so think your view on the matter is completely fair even if folk don’t necessarily agree.

That's absolutely a fair caveat, and will agree that it definitely contributed to part of it.

I think it stems from the fact that I only really watched us at home that season (only made two league away games, and it was our away form that was really stellar). Our home form that season wasn't actually that great - I think we only won 10 games and lost/drew against some bang average teams. In some of those games I felt he tried too hard to do it all himself when there was quite often a better option.

But as you say, what a team. And what an overall contribution he made to it. Delighted for him he's gone on to have the career he's had, just a shame the injuries have held him back a bit.

 

[North Wales Yellow]

Joe Rothwell easily the most underrated player in recent history. Used to glide past players and was far too good for this level as he's gone on to prove.

 

[JayOx88]

Joe Rothwell easily the most underrated player in recent history. Used to glide past players and was far too good for this level as he's gone on to prove.

Agreed, he's my serious shout for most underrated player. I actually thought the team wasn't set to accommodate him enough during his time here.

 

[Followtheox1]

Agreed, he's my serious shout for most underrated player. I actually thought the team wasn't set to accommodate him enough during his time here.

He also had a few injuries here which just didn't help him in terms of rhythm.

 

[Jason N]

Underrated: Ciaran Brown, Agyei, Les Robinson, Johnny Byrne, Ceri Evans, Mark Watson, Andy Crosby, John Durnin, Luke Foster.

Overrated: Josh Ruffels, Sam Long, Phil Whitehead, Callum O'Dowda, Paul Kee, Jamie Cook, Arendse, Chris Allen.