Best Signing that worked out Worst

[dubai_phil]

In contrast to "The Other Thread", who for you was a "Big Name", "Statement of Intent" "Marquee" signing that did NOT work out?

 

Do you go all the way back to Charlie George & his Lawnmower?

 

Would it have been John Beresford before his hairstyle messed up his knee?

 

Or in modern times Saga after his loan spell?

 

The Whoathere Morte Days?

 

Discuss.

 

 

 

Oh and yeah ha ha, we all know about Ali Dia, but NO he doesn't count as he was not a footballer signed from another club with a Pedigree/Reputation

[Wade Garrett]

Mark Hughes was a disappointment.

[Made in Southampton]

Has to be Delgado.

[Whitey]

Got to be Skacel and Delgado

[RobM]

I'm amazed I'm the first to say this - Ali Dia.

 

But Skacel actually gets my vote as at least we'd heard big things about him. I blame Burley for playing him in the wrong position though - he was superb in CM for Hearts, we didn't play him there.

[dubai_phil]

I'm amazed I'm the first to say this - Ali Dia.

 

But Skacel actually gets my vote as at least we'd heard big things about him. I blame Burley for playing him in the wrong position though - he was superb in CM for Hearts, we didn't play him there.

 

I'm amazed it took so long for someone to NOT READ the OP....

 

Delgado? Still think Charlie George at the time was a bigger disappointment Tin Man was an unknown to English Football "potential" star CG was proven quality - again through injury.

 

Mark Hughes is a good shout but by the time we got him he was already a lumbering midfielder rather than the striker he had been

[Wildgoose]

Stuart Ripley

[Scudamore]

Kevin Phillips disappointed me greatly. With Delgado it was different as he never disappointed through his performances as they were so rare. Phillips was playing...but just greedy and sh:t...

[Glasgow_Saint]

Andrei Kanchelskis

[Foxstone]

Van Gobbel IMO...

 

Looked highly impressive during the 1994 world cup, but came to us and was nothing but a brick sh1thouse with no talent...

[Stubby]

Groves, Dixon, Speedie, Delgardo, George.

 

And can I include George Burley? It OP didn't say it had to be a player.

[westmidlandsaint]

there is so many.......

 

Mark Hughes & Andrei Kanchelskis - loved them when I was a kid and excited when they signed but left very disappointed

Agustin "Tin Man" Delgado - enough said

Neil McCann - "the scottish Ryan Giggs" awesome for Rangers.........shows how **** scottish football is

[Miltonaggro]

The record breaking David Hirst...

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Our first £1 million man - Alan McLoughlin. Thought he was going to be great although, in fairness, it didn't help that Chris Nicholl used him out wide on the left.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Marcelo Tejera and Federico 'the Torpedo' Arias were 2 others. Both given big build ups as South American stars only to barely manage a game between them.

[bender]

Groves, Dixon, Speedie, Delgardo, George.

 

And can I include George Burley? It OP didn't say it had to be a player.

 

With the exception of Delgado, all those players are ones that had already had their day.

 

With that it has to be Delgado. I remember when Saints unvailed him at Ipswitch home 01/02 and showed loads of video footage on the big screens at half time. We were all drooling at his ability. In the end it was him drooling at the wages he yielded for doing pretty much f*ck all.

[alpine_saint]

Saganowski. Played for his contract then didnt bother. And he had a history of it.

 

However, I blame Burley for p*ssing off him and Rasiak with his selection policies anyway.

[St Jim]

Dixon, Speedie & Delgado for marquee disappointments would be my choice but if we are talking of worst value for money then Delap is my pick

[Danish Saint]

David Prutton came in with all the whistles and bells of being midfielder of the new era - and cocked it all up.

Kenwyne Jones was heralded as the new Beattie - cocked it all up, when he went on strike.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Barry Venison was another. £800k at a time we were strapped for cash & we got the only player ever lapped by a snail. Magilton & Venison, now there was a midfield partnership that lacked pace!

[dubai_phil]

Would it also be fair to mention Delap?

 

We never really seemed to get the best out of him, labelling him a utility player and sticking him all over the place

 

And how many times did his long throw work for us?

[Greenridge]

The record breaking David Hirst...

 

This plus Neil McCann considering how much effort Strachan went to to sign him

[The Kraken]

David Prutton came in with all the whistles and bells of being midfielder of the new era - and cocked it all up.

Kenwyne Jones was heralded as the new Beattie - cocked it all up, when he went on strike.

 

Kenwyne Jones was completely unknown when he came to us. He was just "a very good athlete", he wasn't even a striker when we signed him, he playd in midfield. Apart from the shocking strike incident, Kenwyne's playing time with us can surely only be described as a success.

 

I'd have Mark Draper in there. Not as big as some of the other names mentioned in this thread, but up there with David Hirst in the "well what was the point of that?" signings.

[Sheaf Saint]

Would it also be fair to mention Delap?

 

We never really seemed to get the best out of him, labelling him a utility player and sticking him all over the place

 

And how many times did his long throw work for us?

 

I rated him very highly when we played him in the attacking CM role prior to his big injury, and think he was very unlucky not to get picked for the 2002 WC with ROI.

 

BY the time he left he was just a shadow of the player we had once seen. Is it just coincidence that Delap spelled backwards is paled?

[jjsaint]

Delgado was arguably the biggest waste of money. Delap, our record signing as I believe, at least played more than a handful of matches.

[Dimond Geezer]

As mentioned above, Venison, Speedie, Dixon & Hughes were all big names when they came to us & none delivered, I don't think anyone has yet mentioned Chris Woods, with 40 odd England caps you expected something useful, but unfortunately he was well past his sell-by date & pretty abysmal (IIRC).

[Avenue Saint]

delgado and skacel spring immediately to mind.

[Hatch]

Frank Worthington

[Victor]

Frank Worthington

 

This has to be a joke, although I don't get it.

 

He played in almost every game in our most successful ever team until he misbehaved and was shown the door. Didn't score many but was an exciting and key player.

[Lighthouse]

Skacel was a pretty good player for us and worked very well with Bale down the left. Most of our attacking play came from those two in the CCC playoff season. He never lived up to the 'signing on the pitch' fiasco but that was nigh on impossible. Taking him on merit, he was a decent player.

 

It's not really fair to have a go at Saganowski either. Burley signed him, them played him for about 20 minutes every other game. I remember Burley sending him on for the last 45 seconds of injury time once to try and win a game. Besides, pretty much the whole squad was under performing that season anyway. The fact that Saga made the Polish Euro squad at the end of it would indicate he was actually a half decent player.

 

As to the original question, I remember when Morgan signed people were saying we'd beaten off competition from Arsenal etc. then when he actually played looked like a fish up a tree for his first season. Worked out in the end though, so I guess that doesn't really count.

 

Leandre Griffit was hailed as the next big thing, but turned out to be a bit crap. Not really a high profile signing though.

 

Phillips was half decent, don't get that nomination either.

 

Overall, my vote goes to Delgado I think.

[Kenilworthy]

Seeing what Idiakez did to us when playing for Derby I thought he could be the final piece in the midfield jigsaw. But although showing some glimpses of quality he was too slow and too often injured to make any real impact.

[Channon's Sideburns]

This has to be a joke, although I don't get it.

 

He played in almost every game in our most successful ever team until he misbehaved and was shown the door. Didn't score many but was an exciting and key player.

 

What did Frankie do? His daughter runs his Facebook profile by the way - well worth a look. Legend.

[The9]

Delgado had a pedigree, cost a load, was about to play in a World Cup, and should have done so much better.

 

I honestly don't understand why anyone complains about Skacel, he was a sometime fringe Czech international coming from a poor league who nevertheless played well for Saints when he played in the attacking midfield position he was bought for, and probably exceeded expectations in the first 6 months as top assister in the division. That he didn't score 20 goals a season when injured or playing left back is surely not one of football's great mysteries.

 

Arias, Tejera, Chala, Bleidelis, all unknown and with no expectations. Speedie and Dixon, tangibly past it, even without hindsight. David Hirst - always injured before we signed him too. Saganowski - we all know what happened there, but really, were expectations that high.

 

Kevin Phillips scored loads of goals for Saints and as we scored more goals than half the teams in the league that season certainly wasn't in any way responsible for us going down. God only knows what the criteria was for including Kenwyne as a "failure", he was barely a footballer when we signed him and was sold for millions.

 

Mark Hughes was evidently a bit cack compared to his peak (though I didn't personally see much of him in a Saints shirt) and Andrei Kanchelskis was appallingly anonymous having taken over the number 7, but hadn't been playing regularly at a decent level for some time. Idiakez was another injury gamble, and when do they ever work out ?

 

I think Hughes was probably the biggest disappointment because I knew he was good and had been for some time - Delgado was just unfulfilled hope, which is just our fault for raising expectations too high.

Edited 17 January, 2012 by The9

[Mr_Red]

David Prutton came in with all the whistles and bells of being midfielder of the new era - and cocked it all up.

Kenwyne Jones was heralded as the new Beattie - cocked it all up, when he went on strike.

 

Agree with Prutton, think we spent £2.5 million on him. Was touted as a possible future captain for England (did he captain the U21s?)

Started ok, had a good work ethic, then got sent off for that push and never really came back from there.

 

Also, Saga. Looked quality when on loan (8 goals in 10 or something?), thought he'd score a sack load in the championship when we signed him... But no.

 

Also agree with Hirst, Ripley, Hughes, McCann, BWP and finally Michael Svensson (just kidding - but he never got Player of the Season - according to Wiki, which surprises me a little)

 

Here's the list:

• 1993-94 Matthew Le Tissier
  
• 1994-95 Matthew Le Tissier
  
• 1995-96 Dave Beasant
  
• 1996-97 Egil Østenstad
  
• 1997-98 Paul Jones
  
• 1998-99 James Beattie
  
• 1999-00 Dean Richards
  
• 2000-01 Wayne Bridge
  
• 2001-02 Chris Marsden
  
• 2002-03 James Beattie
  
• 2003-04 Antti Niemi
  
• 2004-05 Peter Crouch
  
• 2005-06 Claus Lundekvam
  
• 2006-07 Chris Baird
  
• 2007-08 Andrew Davies
  
• 2008-09 Kelvin Davis
  
• 2009–10 Rickie Lambert
  
• 2010-11 Jose Fonte
  

We seem to value keepers as fans. Flowers won it 91/92 and 92/93. Anyway, back on topic...

[The9]

I'd suspect the prevalence of keepers is more to do with endless seasons fighting relegation and the lack of non-Le Tissier quality elsewhere on the pitch.

[channonball]

Dan Petrescu?

[This Charming Man]

Andrei Kanchelskis

 

Totally forgot he played for us.

 

People mention Mark Hughes but he was coming to the end of his career, so he was never going to be anything special here. As for Skacel, he was an average player who did an ok job for us, it wasn't his fault he was hyped up to be the saving grace of Southampton FC on this forum.

 

Prutton was a big disappointment. Came here with big potential and regarded as one of the best young prospects in the country, though never quite cut it.

[Hatch]

This has to be a joke, although I don't get it.

 

He played in almost every game in our most successful ever team until he misbehaved and was shown the door. Didn't score many but was an exciting and key player.

 

I was basing this on goals scored. He only got one didn't he, and that was punched in with his hand.

[krissyboy31]

Stuart Ripley

This for me! Was really quite excited when he signed but ended up being a complete waste of space for us. Did I see his son was playing in goal for Boro the other day?

[This Charming Man]

This for me! Was really quite excited when he signed but ended up being a complete waste of space for us. Did I see his son was playing in goal for Boro the other day?

 

And he let a 40yd yard shot in through his arms.

[Window Cleaner]

This can only be Tinman Delgado, a lot of money for absolutely f**k all.

 

It's a total non contest.

[svetigpung]

Kevin Philips.

At the start of that season i thought him and BT would be a cracking pair up front and create havoc i any defence. Unfortunately not.

[krissyboy31]

This can only be Tinman Delgado, a lot of money for absolutely f**k all.

 

It's a total non contest.

TBF whoever signed a player with a dodgy knee like his should have been shot.

[Ashby Saint]

Has to be Delgado.

 

This.

[This Charming Man]

TBF whoever signed a player with a dodgy knee like his should have been shot.

 

I'd happily shoot Rupert Lowe.

[Dellman]

A lot of the players mentioned were signed in the years of general decline and boardroom conflict which was largely the Burley years, sometimes the fault is with the whole club structure nor judt the player, I am constantly amazed that Delap (for example) has done well in the premiership for several years when he was such a waste of space here.

[Sheaf Saint]

Beresford.

 

That's a bit unfair IMO. He had some cracking games for us and looked like a fantastic signing before suffering a career-ending injury.

[ART]

Without doubt Delgado, and going way back David Burnside was a huge disappointment considering the great expectations when he arrived at the Dell.

 

Although a huge fan of Kevin Davies, his re-signing for Saints heralded big things yet he was generally a huge disappointment till he moved to Bolton.

[sussexsaint]

Delgado and Skacel aside I would probably say Anders Svennson - played remarkably well for th e national sde , scored a cracker against Argentina but never really seemed to show the same sparkle for us.

[This Charming Man]

Delgado and Skacel aside I would probably say Anders Svennson - played remarkably well for th e national sde , scored a cracker against Argentina but never really seemed to show the same sparkle for us.

 

He never really got to play in his preferred position for us and if we were a little more attacking and expressive under WGS, I'm sure he would've been a lot better for us. Closing down, tracking back and getting stuck is what was asked of him in this side and he just wasn't that kind of a player.