Which player leaving broke your heart the most?

[jase_ace_uk]

Reading the Gareth Bale interview has made me think about the times players have left us and broke our hearts in the process.

It might sound strange but in recent times, Van Der Vaart leaving was worse than Bale for me because it was so unexpected. Bale going was horrible but I had long accepted that he would be off at some point so I was semi prepared. With Van Der Vaart though it was so out of the blue it really shocked me.

All time though for me it was Sheringham. I was 12 at the time and he was my hero so that one really broke my heart.

 

[Japhet]

Campbell. The way he left was horrible.

Edit; Naively thought he was one of us.

 

[Singaspursofsixspence]

Van de Vaart in the recent years, and Modric to some extent even though he was being a right prick about it. It wasnt the fact that these guys moved on to better/other clubs, but the fact we have not had a world-class player to ever retire his career with us (with the exception of Ledley King)

 

[Bofbro]

Sheringham broke my heart twice.

 

[Good Doctor M]

Bale was the worst by a stretch. VDV hurt too, but knowing just how good Bale was, it was hard to take. There was literally no one who could come close to replacing him.

 

[CheeseGromit]

C******* for me
Not because of his ability on the park buy just the way he did it. It is such a shame to home in on a negative when we have had some truly great players. That illustrates the magnitude of his appalling behaviour

 

[Led's Zeppelin]

I agree with all the above.

Plus Gazza.

Plus Waddle.

Plus Hoddle.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Sheringham was hard to take, I remember as a kid writing him a letter pleading with him not to leave.

Campbell hurt and angered me immensely, no player has ever done worse to a football club.

Bale was painful due to his ability, but I didn't begrudge him the move, it's Madrid.

Ginola was the worst. Our best player still, he didn't want to leave, he loved us and we loved him, and he was forced out by that egotistical gooner **** Graham. I was devastated.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Hoddle.

Nobody else comes even close, there have been a few i've been disappointed to see go but breaking my heart? You gotta be kidding.

 

[michaelden]

Klinnsman, Campbell, Berbs, Ginola, Bale, VdV, Arnesen (not a player but it cut), and mostly King's knees.

 

[Monkey boy]

Klinsmann the first time for me, after that Modric as I absolutely adored the little fella. The way he acted over the Chelsea move though certainly cushioned the blow a bit as I lost a huge amount of respect for him after that.

 

[spurfetto]

i was very young, but chris waddle....gazza, waddle, lineker, if only...

 

[lenny7]

Klinsmann both times.
The silky smooth gentlemanly stylings of Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov.

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

Sheringham, Ginola, Campbell broke my heart because of my age. I had teras in my eyes when they announced Ginola on the radio =(.

Modric, Bale, Berbatov were gutting, but I wasn't heartbroken. Sandro I was a bit put out by.

I'm gunna admit it too, Postiga leaving upset me. I can't remember why, but despite him being severely underwhelming (polite) I loved him.

 

[SHaRD]

In rough order - all the ones I can remember that got sucked up the food chain against our wishes or were misguidedly sold prematurely:

1) Gascoigne
2) Sheringham
3) Campbell
4) Dawson
5) Ginola
6) Lineker
7) van der Vaart
8) Sandro
9) Klinsmann
10) Barmby
11) Stewart
12) Berbatov
13) Modric
14) Bale
15) Carrick
16) Keane
17) Popescu
18) Ruddock
19) Carr

I'm just not old enough to remember Waddle and Hoddle leaving for bigger things

 

[mrlilywhite]

For me it is unanimously Hoddle, I was gutted when he announced in 87 that he was leaving at the end of the season. In my eyes he epitomised everything that was Tottenham Hotspur, The dare and the do was Hoddle all over, and a very genuine Spurs player in every sense! At 30yrs old he had peaked, but in the 88 season, he was pivotal to Monaco's success, along with Mark Hateley. How England never made the most of his mercurial talent has always baffled me.

 

[DJS]

Sheringham (just got a replica top with his name and number on - never done again since lol) called the S word for years lol.

And Keano. Still gutted as he really was my favourite every Spurs player.

 

[zepstar]

I'm 26, so the most crushing have been Klinsmann, Sheringham, Modric (what a footballer) and bale, although the latter two were mitigated somewhat by the way they behaved in the interim.

A surprising one straight out of left field for me was Michael Carrick, not because he was a fantastic footballer, but because for me he represented the transition from also-rans to nearly men. At that time, he made the team tick. He was fundemental. I saw it as a Fergie Tactic to dismantle a team about to gatecrash the solidified top four.

 

[sherbornespurs]

Jimmy Greaves. I was 10 when he signed for us, and within a year my Dad was taking me to every home game at WHL plus many aways.

JG was my absolute all-time hero, even now I look back and view it as a privilege that for 7 years I witnessed not only the greatest goalscorer in our history, but one of the most naturally gifted players in the history of English football.

It must have been around 1969, early in the season, when we went up to Old Trafford, and we ended up losing 1-3 if I remember correctly. However the thing that stands out in my memory were the 3 times Greavsie was clear through on goal one-on-one with their keeper. The first one he slid past the outside of the left post, the second past the outside of the right post and the third he chipped over the bar. Chances that previously he would have put away in his sleep. Right then, right there - unbelievably - I knew his time was coming to an end. I honestly thought he'd go on for ever.

In January we were dumped out the cup by Crystal Palace, Jimmy was dropped and the end was near. By March we'd swapped him for Martin Peters, and he was off to West Ham. I was 17 at the time, and it broke my heart - the end of an era, and it marked the end of my youth.

Apologies if this reads like an obituary, but those really were the happiest times.

 

[Chris Flynn]

camp bell