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Posted

Berger seals Stoke loan switch

 

Nov 24 2006

 

 

 

 

STOKE have beaten the clock to secure the services of former Liverpool and Portsmouth midfielder Patrik Berger on-loan until January 4.

 

The Czech Republic international completed his move from Barclays Premiership outfit Aston Villa just before the end of the emergency loan deadline last night.

 

He will go straight into the side to face West Brom on Saturday.

 

Berger, 33, has made just two appearances for Villa this season and he will now link up with team-mate Lee Hendrie in the heart of the City midfield.

 

Here

Posted

What happened to Lee Hendrie. Granted he was no world beater but the was deffo good enough for the prem. Kinda like Barmby. Never nnderstood his fall either.

Posted

What happened to Lee Hendrie. Granted he was no world beater but the was deffo good enough for the prem. Kinda like Barmby. Never understood his fall either.

 

I think Barmby's situation was a bit different, he just went and played for his home town club and well that was that! Decent player Barmby, but then the old injury troubles started and it all went a bit pear shaped.

 

Hendrie said recently he has ambition to go back to Villa, just that he needs to play games now after a spell out. He is a decent enough prem player I think, for a sort of mid table team, maybe no long term future at Villa, but he'll be back in the prem in time I'd think.

Posted

What happened to Lee Hendrie. Granted he was no world beater but the was deffo good enough for the prem. Kinda like Barmby. Never nnderstood his fall either.

 

 

Sounds like O'Neil is happy with his progress and wants him back

 

From the Grauniad

 

Hendrie's Potteries renaissance offers a glimpse of times past

 

 

Richard Williams

Tuesday November 21, 2006

The Guardian

 

 

It was eight years ago last Saturday that Lee Hendrie began and ended what should have been a significant international career. He came on with 14 minutes to play during Glenn Hoddle's final match as England's manager, enchanted all who saw him, and then disappeared for good.

Put up for interview at the Bisham Abbey training centre a few days before the friendly against the Czech Republic, the Aston Villa midfielder had seemed younger than his 21 years but showed himself to be a sparky character. When he replaced Paul Merson, the scorer of one of the goals in a 2-0 victory, the impression was confirmed. Seldom has an England debutant shown such a lack of self-doubt, such an instinctive readiness to express himself. Operating on the left of midfield, he looked an absolute natural and almost scored a brilliant goal.

 

 

Article continues

 

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The abrupt departure of Hoddle and Hendrie's own eventful life off the field - a bit too much sparkiness, perhaps, resulting in tabloid tales of dented Porsches and combustible relationships - ensured that his one international cap would be his last. Not even the endless problems on England's left flank could win him a recall, despite the willingness of Hoddle's successors to force some very square pegs into a round hole as they tried out just about every English midfield player in the Premiership.

Ron Atkinson and Brian Little had nurtured Hendrie's fledgling career at Villa Park, and looked on in sadness as his career developed a recurrent misfire under the regimes of John Gregory and David O'Leary. When Martin O'Neill arrived at the start of this season, he gave Hendrie seven minutes as a sub against Arsenal in the opening game and then sent him out on loan to Stoke City. It looked as though he had been banished from the Premiership, possibly never to return.

 

But at Stoke, under Tony Pulis, he has been thriving, scoring three goals in nine Championship matches and helping to lift the club to seventh place in the table. His performances have drawn approving noises from O'Neill, who has rebuffed approaches from other Premiership clubs and indicated that he expects to welcome Hendrie back to Villa Park at the beginning of December.

 

A few days ago the prodigal son reaffirmed his desire to regain the claret and blue shirt of the club he supported as a boy. O'Neill, however, is said to be displeased by reported suggestions that Hendrie will not settle for anything less than a place in the starting line-up of a team reborn since the new manager's arrival.

 

Meanwhile Hendrie is reminding some of us of the days when Tony Waddington's Stoke provided a haven for an earlier generation of talented but misunderstood or undervalued midfield players in the autumn of their careers. The two who come most readily to mind are George Eastham and Alan Hudson, both of whom enjoyed the warmth of an Indian summer at the old Victoria Ground.

 

Now that Premiership clubs retain such vast first-team squads, their members often rewarded beyond the dreams of avarice simply for occupying a seat on the bench, such sights are becoming rare in the lower divisions. Players reaching the end of their careers in the top flight no longer need the remuneration offered by clubs below the top level, depriving supporters of clubs at Stoke's level of the pleasure of welcoming famous players happy to squeeze out a final season or two of competitive football in exchange for a weekly pay packet and, if things worked out well, the adoration of a new set of supporters.

 

Those were the days before agents played such a major role in career decisions, before Premiership academies swallowed up talented 12-year-olds, and before a player not yet out of his teens could consider himself set for life after a handful of first-team appearances. Everything about the awesome prosperity at the top end of the game has conspired against the opportunity for fans of lower-division teams to watch sides containing an interesting blend of illustrious veterans and gilt-edged prodigies, the gaps plugged by loyal journeymen.

 

Perhaps it is not too late for Lee Hendrie to return to the club of his heart and to reclaim his place in a team that seems to be heading in the right direction, although the lack of discipline in his past behaviour must tilt the odds against it. An application of common sense and humility would probably not damage his standing in O'Neill's eyes. Whatever happens next, however, Stoke's fans have been given the bonus of an enjoyable and memorable interlude, and an unexpected boost in their long struggle to restore the football pride of the Potteries.

Guest Cameron
Posted

It does. :( I was still in school when Paddy joined us and he was aged about 22 then. He was a good player, if he stays fit he'll do a good job in that division.

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