Tommy Huddlestone

[linga_is_no1]

Is this kid the next big thing? Great derby born and breed product shame about him being sold when he shouldnt have been.Could he captain england?

 

[rooboy_88]

The guy is a gun, will be a better player than carrick

 

[Borgsta]

Will captain Spurs soon enough. Great lad with a really good head on his shoulders.

 

[DB10]

He's so much better than Jenas it isn't funny.

 

[snakebite01]

I'm pretty sure he'll solve world poverty one day.

 

[Embers]

Gun. I recommended Hammers sign him up a while back . Too bad no one listened

 

[Knowledge]

Sign him up Pard...I mean curbs

 

[Embers]

Sign him up Pard...I mean curbs

Yeh its taking me a while to get used to too

 

[moomba]

Gun. I recommended Hammers sign him up a while back . Too bad no one listened

When exactly was this?

Considering he's been one of the highest rated kids for the last five years or so, it's not much of a stretch.

 

[Ricketts]

He's no Cattermole.

 

[Embers]

When exactly was this?

Considering he's been one of the highest rated kids for the last five years or so, it's not much of a stretch.

Ages ago when we first started off in the CCC

 

[moomba]

Sure you did. What position was he playing then?

 

[Embers]

Sure you did. What position was he playing then?

Started of as a defender playing Centre Back.

 

[Borgsta]

Ages ago when we first started off in the CCC

He's been touted as the next big thing from the age of 16/17. He pretty much made Derby go from relegation candidates to playoff hopefuls. Spurs just got in first.

The funniest thing with Tom is that Forest let him go from their academy because he wasn't strong enough.

 

[Embers]

He's been touted as the next big thing from the age of 16/17. He pretty much made Derby go from relegation candidates to playoff hopefuls. Spurs just got in first.

The funniest thing with Tom is that Forest let him go from their academy because he wasn't strong enough.

Another one who came from Forest. Theyd have a top ten EPL team if they kept everyone at the club

I remember when Derby first sold him. The fans were angry as hell

 

[Borgsta]

I remember when Derby first sold him. The fans were angry as hell

Esp. when we loaned him to Wolves straight away. Good decision that, giving him to Hoddle.

 

[moomba]

Started of as a defender playing Centre Back.

Funny, I remember him at Derby playing mainly in the midfield. Not sure he started playing in defence (other than the odd appearance) until he was sold to Spurs.

 

[Ricketts]

D/m C

 

[sethlad]

Yep he played in the midfield at Derby,probably filled a defensive hole twice.

LOL at F****t.

seth

 

[moomba]

The funniest thing with Tom is that Forest let him go from their academy because he wasn't strong enough.

Probably part finances, part incompetence, but if you were a Forest fan you would cry thinking about the team you could have had.

 

[jezza]

His poise on the ball is excellent, and he's noticeably hardened up a bit this year, getting stuck in a bit more. Kind of pleased Jenas and Zokora have missed games this season because it's given him the opportunity. Definitely looks to have a big future.

 

[Embers]

Funny, I remember him at Derby playing mainly in the midfield. Not sure he started playing in defence (other than the odd appearance) until he was sold to Spurs.

Played both for Derby really. Filled in at defense but was always going to be a DCM once he left.

Off topic has anyone got a list of the team Forest could of had?

 

[moomba]

Played both for Derby really. Filled in at defense but was always going to be a DCM once he left.

Ah there you go. My mistake, I thought you said that he started out as a defender, specifically a CB. You obviously meant to say as a midfielder who played the odd game or two down back.

Or you are flip-flopping with all the majesty of an Olympic gymnast.

 

[moomba]

Off topic has anyone got a list of the team Forest could of had?

There was a thread a while back, couldn't find it.

Something like

Crossley
x Dawson x Johnson
SWP Huddlestone Jenas Reid
King Harewood


I'll have a think of the x's

 

[Borgsta]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...all.html?in_article_id=423776&in_page_id=1779

How Huddlestone inched towards the high notes at Spurs

"The big lad in midfield picked up the ball and sprayed a precision pass out to the wing, causing the then Derby manager John Gregory to sit up in his seat. He had just seen something out of the ordinary.

“What was that?” he asked his academy director Terry Westley, alongside him in the directors’ box at the Baseball Ground, where Derby were still playing then.

The pair were watching their Under-19 side and the answer to Gregory’s question was 15-year-old Tom Huddlestone, a huge Nottingham boy, somehow released by Forest because he wasn’t strong enough.

It was a bold decision when you consider the first thing you notice about Huddlestone, who will continue his burgeoning progression for Spurs against Southend on Wednesday night, is his sheer size.

At 6ft 2ins, he is not unusually tall for a modern footballer but he has enormous shoulders and a powerful frame.

At first, coaches at Derby were worried his bulk may prevent him from flourishing in his preferred central midfield role but, over time, his quality on the ball has shone through.
Gregory took him to train with the first team a week after seeing him play and stuck him on the bench for a game at Millwall, at the age of 15.

George Burley was in charge when Huddlestone made his Derby debut at 16 and the Rams spent two years fighting off interest from Premiership clubs before selling him to Spurs for £2.5million last year.

“He’s a terrific talent,” said Burley, now manager of Southampton. “As a young player, he was the best passer of a ball I had ever seen, and I’ve worked with some good young players.

“He played at the back a lot for me. He’s not naturally aggressive in the air but he reads the game. He could still become a Franz Beckenbauer type at the back.”

Huddlestone hails from Sneinton, in Nottingham, and attended Forest’s Academy from the age of eight. Michael Dawson, Andy Reid and Jermaine Jenas all came through Forest’s youth ranks but there are also notable escapees, like Shaun Wright-Phillips, Huddlestone and Derby’s latest teen star Giles Barnes.
Tom’s mother Maxine said: ‘Forest told him he wasn’t strong enough, which was surprising because he was 6ft tall when he left junior school.

‘He had a massive growth spurt, which affected his football. That may have had something to do with it.’
Derby fast-tracked him through the age groups and he played in England’s schoolboy teams in the midfield holding role.

Westley said: ‘That role is made for him. Instead of making tackles, he reads the game so quick he can make interceptions.

‘He’s quicker than people give him credit for. They think because he’s big that he’s cumbersome but he’s not slow and he uses his body well, to cut the area off.’

Huddlestone, who celebrates his 20th birthday on December 28, already has well over 100 first-team games under his belt; more than Theo Walcott, Micah Richards or his close friend at Spurs, Aaron Lennon.
He is quietly-spoken and polite off the pitch but, on it, he exudes the authority which comes with that experience.

Westley, now academy director at Birmingham, said: ‘We were in a relegation fight at Derby and a lot of players were scared to get on the ball.

‘He was above the senior players because he didn’t appreciate the fear of relegation and the fact that our livings could be at stake.’

After signing for Spurs, Huddlestone went on loan to Wolves, where he worked with Glenn Hoddle for three months.

Now he has added long-range shooting to his armoury, after working with Spurs’ skills coach Ricardo Moniz, discerning observers are beginning to see comparisons between Huddlestone and Hoddle himself.

‘He loved it,’ said Maxine. ‘He was getting a game every week. It’s just a shame you have to live in a hotel when you’re out on loan. That’s not ideal for a young lad. He enjoyed working with Glenn Hoddle and perhaps Glenn saw a bit of himself in Thomas, in his younger days.’

Maxine, who raised Tom as a single mother, now lives in a new home, bought by her son in appreciation of the sacrifices she had made over the years.

‘She deserves great credit,’ added Westley. ‘She was tough with him, she kept him decent and he has become a polite young man.’ "