[Football] Did Ian Wright get the number of England starts his data suggests was warranted?

Harry Wilson's tackle · Mar 29, 2021

After a long day of tedious actal work, work, I was reading up on England strikers and was struck by how prolific Ian Wright was for his club, yet I barely remember him troubling the kit man at Wemberlee. So I pulled out some data for 91-97 when Wright was at his peak. I compared his data with other leading England strikers of the time. Crikey. My verdict is Wright was ludicrously overlooked. Admittedly we were very short of decent English strikers back then, making it hard to find people to compare him with, but that makes the data even more grotesque. Thoughts?

dejavuatbtn · Mar 29, 2021

Not sure why Gazza is being classed as a forward.
However, I agree with you about Ian Wright. He never really got a good run in the England side - 33 appearances over 9 years is a poor reward for someone who was that good. Can only be that there were always a couple of forwards just that little bit better than him in each of those seasons. I just wish George Petchey had been a bit more forceful in his recommendation that we give him a contract.

Reinelt12 · Mar 29, 2021

Is Gascoigne a fair comparison? He was never a striker, he was a midfield playmaker.

Surely Ferdinand and Beardsley would be better comparisons in that era? Probably the same result I suspect?

Jaxie · Mar 29, 2021

Absolutely. Considering Shearers goal drought pre euro 96. Don’t recall Ian Wright ever getting a mention, didn’t even make the squad for the Euros? At that point no one knew Shearer would win the golden boot, so was a gamble.

Questions · Mar 29, 2021

I think he was ex Palace and deep down the coaching staff new he was iffy.

Harry Wilson's tackle · Mar 29, 2021

Reinelt12 said:
Is Gascoigne a fair comparison? He was never a striker, he was a midfield playmaker.

Surely Ferdinand and Beardsley would be better comparisons in that era? Probably the same result I suspect?

Ferdinand and Beardsley. OK I'll do a check later and add them to the spreadsheet :thumbsup:

I included Gazza because I couldn't think of any other prolific goalscorers.

Weststander · Mar 29, 2021

Wright was a late bloomer, his best football from his late 20’s onwards.

His England career straddled:

Graham Taylor - who played one upfront, including Alan mediocre Smith. Wright wasn’t as good up to 1992 as Lineker.

Then according to wiki, Taylor rarely started with Wright, instead giving preference to Hirst, Deane, Clough and P.Stewart.

@HWT - you’re right, Wright was better than that lot.

Venables - did play Wright, but Shearer was the best striker and dovetailed with a creator such as Sheringham.

Hoddle - IW was then 33, with the likes of Owen the next generation.

beorhthelm · Mar 29, 2021

seem to recall the games he did play he wasnt as good as for club. passionate, enthusiastic, but quality didnt show through for some reason. see also LeTissier (not sure he showed the passion).

Eeyore · Mar 29, 2021

Not forgetting that four of Ian Wright's goals came against San Marino. Set that aside and he has one goal in his first 20 appearances.

After that, Shearer was on the scene with Sherringham as his anchor.

big nuts · Mar 29, 2021

Reinelt12 said:
Is Gascoigne a fair comparison? He was never a striker, he was a midfield playmaker.

Surely Ferdinand and Beardsley would be better comparisons in that era? Probably the same result I suspect?

Include Robbie Fowler too. Another great player, when England had top class strikers galore.

My memory of that time was that Les Ferdinand seemed to play a lot better for England than Ian Wright.

Andy Cole also never produced for England, despite being massively prolific at club level.

Skaville · Mar 29, 2021

Shearer was immense, one of the very best English strikers in my lifetime

Sherringham was a clever player, a much better foil for Shearer than Wright

Gascgoine wasn’t a striker

So the answer is no, Ian Wright wasn’t overlooked, he was just unlucky to be around at the same time as Shearer

Invicta · Mar 29, 2021

Andy Cole and Robbie Fowler "used up" a lot of caps without achieving much for England in that era too, before Owen sealed the 2nd striker spot next to Shearer.

Se20 · Mar 29, 2021

Best striker i’ve seen in my near 50 years of watching Palace.
Criminally overlooked by England, he should have been one of our leading goalscorers.
He just loved scoring goals, he would practise for hours on his finishing, just so he could hear the sound of the ball hitting the net.

albionalbino · Mar 29, 2021

He was unlucky to be competing at the same time as Alan Shearer who justifiably got to start and forge a successful partnership with Teddy Sheringham.
Prior to Shearer's emergence he was unlucky to have Graham Taylor picking the team who was one of the worst managers the blazers at the FA ever inflicted on this country.

1066familyman · Mar 29, 2021

Did you write up that spreadsheet thingy yourself HWT?

If so, would you mind sharing what drugs you were on when you wrote 'overrated' besides Gascoigne's column? :lolol:

Possibly THE most gifted player to ever put on an England shirt.

Easy 10 · Mar 29, 2021

Shearer and Sheringham clicked, making them both undropppable. Anyone else was the supporting act off the bench.

Plus gold teeth are for pimps and pushers.

Eeyore · Mar 29, 2021

Se20 said:
Best striker i’ve seen in my near 50 years of watching Palace.
Criminally overlooked by England, he should have been one of our leading goalscorers.
He just loved scoring goals, he would practise for hours on his finishing, just so he could hear the sound of the ball hitting the net.

He really wasn't. As said, 1 goal in 20 before Shearer came along. There were other options too.

One Teddy Maybank · Mar 30, 2021

1066familyman said:
Did you write up that spreadsheet thingy yourself HWT?

If so, would you mind sharing what drugs you were on when you wrote 'overrated' besides Gascoigne's column?

Possibly THE most gifted player to ever put on an England shirt.

This.

I think Wright was a great club player, however, 33 caps is a fairly significant number of chances IMO.

Also, questionable temperament.

Gascogne was a genius....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kinky Gerbil · Mar 30, 2021

From memory he was going to be in for the 98 World Cup till he got a hamstring injury.

DJ NOBO · Mar 30, 2021

Wright probably would have gone to 1990 World Cup if he hadn’t broken his leg. He did the business in the FA cup final but it was too late. Maybe he’d have gone in 94, if we hadn’t ballsed up qualification.
Taylor should have played him more but he didn’t fit into his system (rightly or wrongly).
Serious competition in the mid to late 90s - shearer, Cole, sheringham, collymore, Beardsley, mcdougald, Ferdinand.
That all coupled with him never grabbing his chances when he had them (bit of a chicken and egg situation) and you have a wasted talent at international level.
Great player.

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[Football] Did Ian Wright get the number of England starts his data suggests was warranted?

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