Wrong player at wrong time

7:30am Tuesday 2nd December 2008

Nobody who was at the Shrewsbury home game last season was left in any doubt.

That chilly January evening proved that Willy Topp could play. He jinked and probed, setting up the first goal for Kyle Nix and threatening to nab one for himself.

Immediate comparisons were made with a certain Robbie Blake in terms of finesse and touch on the ball.

Unfortunately for Billy from Chile, that was as good as it got during his ill-fated time as a Bantam.

He will be remembered as the wrong player at the wrong time. His ability cannot be questioned but the League Two stage was not the one to showcase those talents.

After all, you don’t get by on a muddy midweek at Bury with a fancy flick or backheel.

His signing had caught the imagination. The combination of his exotic South American roots and the fact that City had actually splashed some cash for the first time since 2001 created a hype that Topp found hard to live up to.

West Yorkshire must have felt like an alien land to a 21-year-old who spoke no English when he arrived.

The fact that he was effectively quarantined for the first three months because of transfer red tape only served to heighten his frustration – and the anticipation from fans to see what the fuss was all about.

Maybe the warning signs should have been flashing for City during that spell when Topp was restricted to just the two standard reserve outings allowed for players on trial.

It’s easy in hindsight but as the transfer dragged on it would probably have suited all parties if the club had decided to pull the plug.

But they stuck with Topp, who had trained on doggedly through that time, and that winter evening when Shrewsbury were swept aside by an irresistible display of attacking football seemed to vindicate all the hanging on.

Topp’s night only actually lasted 55 minutes – a sign of things to come. Cramp caught up with him, as it was to do every time.

The longest he played in all was 74 minutes at home to Rochdale the following month. Eventually he went under the specialist’s knife with an operation on both legs to ease the tightening in his calves.

He had started six games when his season was finished; Chesterfield on Easter Saturday was effectively his swansong.

Sent home to Chile for a summer of recuperation, rumours started to get back to Valley Parade that all was not well. City put it down to mischief-making from agents trying to turn Topp’s head.

Having played through pre-season, he then damaged a hamstring in the opening reserve game and found himself well down the pecking order.

Before he was competing with Peter Thorne and Barry Conlon, now Topp fell behind City’s number one transfer capture Michael Boulding, his younger brother Rory and teenager Leon Osborne.

He played only 24 more minutes of first-team football, with two appearances as a late substitute against Macclesfield and Gillingham.

When Topp ballooned a great chance to win the Gills home game into the Kop, that proved to be his final touch for the club.

He has not become a bad player overnight; far from it. A move to Spain would suit him on and off the pitch in terms of playing style and general living.

When Topp was signed, Stuart McCall admitted it was a gamble. Sadly it has proved to be one that has not paid off.