How bad was Titus Bramble?
- Thread starter horsechoker
- Start date
The Irish commentators used to lay into him all time. They’d be laughing and saying they didn’t know how he ended up playing professional football. Basically like what happened to Maguire for the last few years but on a smaller scale
He's been laughed at a lot but I don't even remember him being so terribly bad, surely there have been worse players to grace Premier League and rack up over a hundred of games.
He's been truly awful when he joined Newcastle though and his slightly ridiculous name + surname didn't help him in looking serious in the eyes of public.
He's been truly awful when he joined Newcastle though and his slightly ridiculous name + surname didn't help him in looking serious in the eyes of public.
Tight arse shamble was his nickname down at the precinct.
He is still playing. Longetivity monster
Was he the first OG meme defender? Feel like he was... much like how David James was the first meme goalkeeper.
There was a lot expected of him in his younger years. Ipswich had Bramble, Dyer and Richard Wright and there was a bit of a fanfare about how good they might be
Dont think any were particularly woeful…just perhaps didn’t get anywhere close to what was expected. Average players with English media hype
Dont think any were particularly woeful…just perhaps didn’t get anywhere close to what was expected. Average players with English media hype
I remember United playing Wigan last game of the season to win the league.
I was naturally nervous until i saw the name Titus Bramble.
I was naturally nervous until i saw the name Titus Bramble.
Remember Richard wright and his weird goal kicks
The defensive version of Bebe
Starts for us in 2024 
Better than Zidane but not quite as good as Boumsong.
Actually a decent defender prone to brain farts
No, that was Frank Sinclair.
Insult or compliment?
michael duberry.
Probably a tie between own goal specialist Frank Sinclair and William Prunier.
I remember playing theft and dubbery as a kid
Duberry was good at Chelsea but made a bit of a wrong move going to Leeds where he was effectively 5th choice behind Radebe, Woodgate, Ferdinand and Matteo.
He then started getting noticeably unfairly treated in the aftermath of the court case he, Bowyer and Woodgate were involved in. Accusations of “grassing” and there seemed to be more than a hint of a racial element to the criticism.
About as bad as Van Dijk when he first came back from his injury.
Isn't he a [redacted] too?
I seem to remember him disappearing for a while when he had become a meme, then popped up a few years later and had a really solid season at Wigan and had a fantastic season for them and was a fans favourite and won the pundits back.
Royalist?
Sinclair of Chelsea and Leicester, he kept scoring terrible own goals from what I remember
His brother was convicted but they were both picked up for it. Titus was cleared of all charges.
He was terrible. Didn't help that he had that clueless expression on his face so often.
There's a running theme with so-called meme players in that they are nearly always confidence players who lose their way and nerve for a period of time. They tend to have ability enough for there to be billing on how far they should theoretically go, and they do well for periods of time before making a high profile mistake or two, which leads to a cycle of misery and mocking as their fragile confidence hits the floor once again.
Bramble was touted as a player who would find his way to a big club - so many eyes were on him - and as his confidence would have it, he made some high profile brain farts, become some kind of laughing stock for them, and then battled with his demons moreso than opponents on the pitch - he could handle most types of attacker and had pace, strength and mobility, but once his nerves were shot or he had that lapse in concentration, everything would cascade down.
He was never as bad a player as the ridicule would say, but he was hampered from the career his ability suggest he might by being so fragile and capable of miserable runs of form.
I just recall his resemblance to a baby, a large baby, owing to his torso to legs ratio!
He does sort of have a baby face, and looks more or less the same in his forties now.
He was actually a pretty decent defender, and on his day he was a match for most strikers. He did have big lapses in concentration though which would inevitably lead to a goal.
But he got the reputation of being terrible pretty early in his Newcastle career and it seemed to stick throughout. Even if he was in a rich vein of form, he'd make one of his customary mistakes and that's what he'd be remembered for despite the previous good patch of form.
But he got the reputation of being terrible pretty early in his Newcastle career and it seemed to stick throughout. Even if he was in a rich vein of form, he'd make one of his customary mistakes and that's what he'd be remembered for despite the previous good patch of form.
Better than Zidane according to the Chief
He lacked concentration in some key moments, but wasn't as bad as people made him.
Imagine a defence of Bramble > Djimi Traore > Wes Brown (in his calamity stages) 
Can't really put Wes Brown in the same category as the other two. He did have some clangers when playing CB but nowhere near comparable to the other two, I think just injuries meant he couldn't really ever establish himself at CB.Imagine a defence of Bramble > Djimi Traore > Wes Brown (in his calamity stages)
He was terrific at RB but was only really fit for a whole season in 07/08.
He was a player with over 200+ PL appearances. He wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination.
Maybe he'd be one of the weaker players with 200+ PL appearances category. But you can't be a bad player at this sort of level and survive that long
Maybe he'd be one of the weaker players with 200+ PL appearances category. But you can't be a bad player at this sort of level and survive that long
He is overdue for a lifetime appreciation award from the CAF. Do you know how many styles he's fathered?
I know what you say in theory makes sense, but he was really bad.
its the same mechanism you see with signings like Carroll, Maguire, etc. A club has bad or worse alternatives or even injuries and they have invested in a player. So they want to see if it’s just a streak of bad form so they can get some value for money. They’ve all shown glimpses of hope / good spells before, so you play them.
I think personally Mustafi was the biggest vulnerability compared to the size of the team he let down. He just couldnt keep up with the tempo and was a constant shit show. With Bramble you didnt expect that much of Wigan.
The problem with these players is they can look good on the surface but be very unfocused and prone to personal errors. That one personal error can cost everything though.
Last edited:
it’s weird he took all the shit at Newcastle when Boumsong was right there next to him
I'd argue that Laurent Blanc became that during his stint at United which predates Titus.
Brambles general credibility wasn't helped by sounding like Chris Eubank, without the vocabulary.
That full season at rb was immense. It was the best full season I’ve seen from a rb…and admittedly I might be going overboard there.
At least a couple of times I can remember he would absolutely crunch his opponent in a 50/50 and then just stand over the guy on the floor like ’dont try that agin’
Wes brown in full beast mode