Another starlet who saw his career nosedive after joining Manchester City is Jack Rodwell. Rodwell spent an impressive five seasons at Everton where he gained a reputation as one of the most promising up-and-coming England starlets and was tipped to go on and achieve greatness. Instead, the 23-year-old has spent most of his early career twiddling his thumbs on the City bench alongside Scott Sinclair with a somewhat-patchy injury record limiting the defensive midfielder to just one Premier League start last season. The player they once dubbed 'Hot-Rod' has been more like a Ford Fiesta recently and 16 appearances for the Citizens - almost all of them coming from the bench - and has failed to leave any kind of lasting impression at Etihad Stadium. If Rodwell had stayed at Everton - where he is likely to have been given more playing time - he would surely have made more than the three appearances for England he has managed thus far. As it is, his club and international career has only been stilted by his move to City.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
