Author Topic: Why did Peter Beardsley leave all those years ago? What would he be worth today?  (Read 42144 times)

Offline Keith Lard

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In a different thread currently running it asked who was the best uncapped player that ever played for us. So I was having a good old think about players that I always liked but maybe weren't valued as much by others. For some reason Peter Beardsley popped into my mind. I always loved watching him play but I was still a little young to fully understand how good he really was.

I've never really looked into his past as a player for us and he never seems to get mentioned as much as I would have thought for such a quality player.

What was the reason why he was moved on and what do you think a player of his calibre would have been worth in today's transfer market?
« Last Edit: July 23, 2012, 11:14:12 pm by vishy01234 »
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Offline Liamski-la

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Ronny Rosenthal and David Speedies arrival (Yeah really) limited his appearances so he left.

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Offline Z e u s

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I heard a rumour why Beardsley left but I won't put it on here if it isn't true.

Class player.

Offline ruairimacliam

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Offline Keith Lard

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There were rumours at the time that Kenny got completely fed up with Beardsley's wife who would be on the phone demanding more money for him every 5 minutes, every time a new player was signed and every time she heard even a whisper in the press that another player was on more money than him.

EDIT:
I never heard rumours along those lines!

Fascinating ... I never knew that rumours like that were swirling around.

Purely from a footballing perspective I marvelled at how good he was.

Truly a joy looking through the archives of him as a player on YouTube.

Something like 60 goals, 180 games, in 4 years. Says it all really. Barnes, Aldridge, Beardsley ... They were the days.
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Offline Les Willis

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He was a great little player, but I seem to remember him more in an England shirt than playing for us.

Offline Kopite B205

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Fantastic player - Souness gaffed big time when he sold him.
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Offline Cracking Left Foot

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Beardsley, together with Digger, was probably my favourite player growing up. That team was just extraordinary to watch. No idea why he left, but it broke my teenage heart when Souness sold him to the Bitters.
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Offline ALANM

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EDIT:
I never heard rumours along those lines!

I never heard the money rumours.

Offline Quantum

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Was gutted when he left and to this day have never understood why.
I thought he was up with the very best players in the world so my valuation would be 50 million!

Offline jeremyh94

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Underusing him was the first signs of the  wheels coming off the wagon of Dalglish Mk !.

Offline Terry de Niro

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He was a great little player, but I seem to remember him more in an England shirt than playing for us.
Not a chance of that.
He was brilliant for us. Him Digger and Aldo were superb together.
As for his valuation now, I reckon you would be lucky to get a player of his ability now for 40 mill plus.

Offline ruairimacliam

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The closest player in the league now to him has to be David Silva for me.
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Offline Mutton Geoff

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Great player quasi was, I heard a rumour the problem with him and Souness was when Graham found out they wanted Peter for the Boys in the Blackstuff first and Souey was second choice!
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Offline Red_Rich

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Followed the reds since the 70s.  Beardsley remains one of my top 5 all-time LFC players ...

I will always remember Peter because he always remembered us (ALWAYS the last off the pitch applauding the Kop/travelling Kop)
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Offline Sangria

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The closest player in the league now to him has to be David Silva for me.

Benayoun at his very, very best would be a decent fit for a fraction of what Beardsley did. Benayoun's dribbling, Gerrard's vision and shot, Alonso's decisionmaking. Add Bergkamp's technique. And he wasn't even the best attacker in the team.
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Offline Big Red Richie

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Great player quasi was, I heard a rumour the problem with him and Souness was when Graham found out they wanted Peter for the Boys in the Blackstuff first and Souey was second choice!
But Peter doesn't look like Magnum.  ;)

Underusing him was the first signs of the  wheels coming off the wagon of Dalglish Mk !.
Seriously?  It's a Peter Beardsley thread, and some people are still getting digs in on Dalglish.  ::)
It's well documented why Kenny finally got fatigued with the whole thing. 



I was shocked when Beardsley moved on, as him and Digger where what made us tick.    One of my top Liverpool favourites of all time. 
One of those players who could be everywhere on a pitch, or quiet for half the game, and then just pull a sublime piece of skill or a goal out of nothing.

His work rate was well under rated as well, a proper chaser of lost causes.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2012, 12:30:18 am by Big Red Richie »

Offline Les Willis

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Not a chance of that.
He was brilliant for us. Him Digger and Aldo were superb together.
As for his valuation now, I reckon you would be lucky to get a player of his ability now for 40 mill plus.

I just didn't see enough of our team in that period. I was a teenager, so must have taken my eye off the football for a few years.

Offline Terry de Niro

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I just didn't see enough of our team in that period. I was a teenager, so must have taken my eye off the football for a few years.
Ah, right mate.. ;)

Offline jckliew

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Followed the reds since the 70s.  Beardsley remains one of my top 5 all-time LFC players ...

I will always remember Peter because he always remembered us (ALWAYS the last off the pitch applauding the Kop/travelling Kop)

Mine as well together with Digger, Kenny and Rushie
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Offline jckliew

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Easily worth 35mil sterling today
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Just get on You Tube and look for Liverpool 5 - Notts Forest 0 for a reason why he (and the rest of the team) was so brilliant. In particular, he received the ball in his own half near the paddock, turned into space and played the most delicous of through balls for Aldridge. All seemingly in one motion. Aldo had no choice but to score.

I still remember it clear as day.
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Offline Danyaals Kop

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His hat trick v United still looks boss.

Offline ChaChaMooMoo

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10 days and 25 years to this day. And the only footballer to play for Us, United, City and Everton.

Never seen him play live. Just videos. And by god what a pairing with Aldridge and Barnes.

Offline ziggyy

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the original litmanen if anything.

One of my favorites too. Too bad he was sold because of some silly reasons (possibly...)

Offline rafathegaffa83

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Fantastic player - Souness gaffed big time when he sold him.

Definitely. I think often the common complaint is like Beardsley he sold many players off to soon. Although to be fair Beardsley was around 30 at the time he was sold, as was McMahon and Houghton when they exited. Gillespie and Speedie were 31 when they left. A rebuild was in order, but I think the way Graeme went about it wasn't the best.

It wasn't necessarily just that he sold them off many great players though, it's that he replaced them with vastly inferior dross often at inflated prices (Stewart, Kozma, Piechnik etc). It didn't help his cause any further that Barnes got his Achilles injury, which unlike today was pretty much a career killing injury in many ways, as it sapped him of his acceleration and deprived Liverpool of their most creative player. We sold Beardsley at the beginning of the 91/92 season and we ended up scoring only 47 goals, as injury restricted Rush to 18 games in the league and Barnes to 12.

Additionally, although we had some stellar young players coming through (Jones, McMananaman, Redknapp, Fowler), many of the young players who either Kenny had brought in before he left and/or who came through the system under Souness (Tanner, Marsh, Harkness, Charnock, Hutchinson) were frankly not as good as their counterparts who set Manchester United up for the next decade. If we'd kept the likes of Beardsley and opted to spend more funds and time around 92/93 fixing up the back four, rather than going for a complete revamp, things might have been a different for Souness.

As for Beardsley, I think in today's market you'd be looking in his pomp at a £20m+ fee, even though this was an era in which England produced many good talented creative players like Barnes and Waddle. The fact we sold him for a third of what we paid for Dean Saunders (who to be fair did score 23 goals in all competitions, despite the fact he didn't suit our style of play, before we sold him a year later) and to Everton nonetheless was as an exceptionally poor piece of business.

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A rebuild was in order, but I think the way Graeme went about it wasn't the best.

You can say that again. More like a sledgehammer than a rebuild, sadly true in the case of the bootroom.
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Offline Danny_

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When he left, he was probably worth 6-8 million as he was 32.  In his prime, he would be worth 25-35 million, maybe more by today's standards.  Back then, he was a record British signing as far as I remember.  Class little player - Souness let him go too soon and replaced him with Clough.  One of his worst mistakes as manager.

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the original litmanen if anything.

The skill and brain of a Litmanen with the work rate and stamina of a Dirk Kuyt
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Offline Danny_

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The skill and brain of a Litmanen with the work rate and stamina of a Dirk Kuyt
Don't forget his close control and dribbling were phenomenal also and he had a great shot.  Other than his small physique, he had it all.  He was a much better version of Litmanen.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYil_M0F_3s

Excellent compilation, so glad United didn't realise what they had.
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Offline rafathegaffa83

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When he left, he was probably worth 6-8 million as he was 32.  In his prime, he would be worth 25-35 million, maybe more by today's standards.  Back then, he was a record British signing as far as I remember.  Class little player - Souness let him go too soon and replaced him with Clough.  One of his worst mistakes as manager.

Back in 91/92, we wouldn't have got anywhere near £6m for him (although maybe today we might have), considering Shearer at 22 cost a British record of £3.3m around the same time. Probably getting at least double what Everton paid for him would be closer to what he was worth at that time. I always thought Clough was a very tidy player in a pass-oriented side at Forest and was probably one of the more likely players one would have anticipated at the time to be able to slot in at Liverpool. Unfortunately, for whatever reason it didn't work out for him here. Given that his form began to tank around the same time as the bungs scandal surrounding his dad grew bigger, I wouldn't be surprised if that took a toll on him.

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Back in 91/92, we wouldn't have got anywhere near £6m for him (although maybe today we might have)

That's what he meant
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Offline LiverpoolKopKings

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Ah Beardo, Barny and Aldo, those were the days. If only we were in europe as well during those days!!!!!
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Offline idontknow

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Little fella but absolute giant of a football-player.

One of the best we ever had, and that 5-0 against Forest, who finished 2nd that season, extraordinary football, brilliant, astonishing.

I remember hearing Tom Finney had watched the match with Bob Paisley, and said at the end it was the best performance he had ever seen on a football field. Brian Clough was of a similar opinion. We were that good, and Beardsley was a huge part of it. He just knew what to do with a football, that's the best way I can say it.

Then, like others have said, it all went wrong for us, and so quickly.

My rough personal view on Souness is that he was a sentimental thug. He always claimed the squad was too old, and may have had a point, until you realise he got rid of everyone form McMahon to Beardsley, with the exception of Barnes, and kept all those, like Nicol, Whelan, Bruce, who he had been team-mates with. As if to say, your medals don't count, because I wasn't playing.

Then if you remember how Beardsley was playing with Newcastle well into his 30s, as good as anyone in the league, Bergkamp, and he could have still been playing for us, it's very upsetting.

As for why he doesn't get mentioned, I really don't know, maybe he just keeps a low profile, and since so many of our other great players from that time - Whelan, Lawrenson, Houghton - don't know when to shut up - we don't want to disturb him just in case he ruins a little of what we have left.

I heard the rumour that his wife was on the phone all the time, complaining when he wasn't in the team, but it was newspaper talk, I think, for the most part, when Kenny left.

And I'm pretty certain Tomkins covered it in a piece some years ago - I wouldn't know how to find it now, I'm afraid - but he showed that in actual fact, throughout his time at Liverpool, Beardsley was one of the most regular starters for Liverpool, whatever the game was.

Come to think of it, I believe the newspaper stories were concocted out of the coincidence that 2 seasons running Beardsley missed games at Plough Lane, against
Wimbledon, and from that they made up Dalglish not trusting him for the 'rough, hurly-burly' matches, and that his wife was on the phone all the time.

Brilliant player, stunningly good.
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Offline Uruguayan36

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If Luisito and Peter had played together...
« Last Edit: July 24, 2012, 06:23:28 am by Uruguayan36 »

Offline Solomon Grundy

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Fantastic player - Souness gaffed big time when he sold him.

1 million pound to Everton. Graeme Souness whatever were you thing. *shakes head in disbelief*

Still,.....I suppose he made up for it by signing  the great attacking flair that was Mark Walters and Istavan Kozma. :-X

Offline Mutton Geoff

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The skill and brain of a Litmanen with the work rate and stamina of a Dirk Kuyt

perfect definition for me !
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Offline paulrazor

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Back in 91/92, we wouldn't have got anywhere near £6m for him (although maybe today we might have), considering Shearer at 22 cost a British record of £3.3m around the same time. Probably getting at least double what Everton paid for him would be closer to what he was worth at that time. I always thought Clough was a very tidy player in a pass-oriented side at Forest and was probably one of the more likely players one would have anticipated at the time to be able to slot in at Liverpool. Unfortunately, for whatever reason it didn't work out for him here. Given that his form began to tank around the same time as the bungs scandal surrounding his dad grew bigger, I wouldn't be surprised if that took a toll on him.
Clough didnt replace Beardsley, Beardsley left in 1991, Clough signed two years later.

Luis Suarez reminds me a lot of Beardsley, just the quick feet, assists and skill. Beardsley was a fantastic little player, definitely sold way too soon particularly in a year where in Europe we had to have 7 English players on the pitch at all times. Im not really sure either about people saying he was replaced by Ronnie Rosenthal and David Speedie. Speedie left the same summer as Beardsley, Rosental probably replaced John aldridge.

Saunders was the one bought to replace Beardsley. I heard rumours only recently about rows with Dalglish though Beardsley denied this, i think what alarmed some was after February in his last season he never scored a goal.

the fact he played on at a very high level until 1997 says it all.

Marvellous player to watch. easily 20m+ in todays game
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Offline Gravy

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People forget that until he scored THAT goal against the Blue Shite, he was being labelled as Britain's most expensive flop. Sound familiar? Can you imagine this forum around that time time if it was about? The parallels between he and Carroll would have been spooky