I'd also like to lump David Mooney in there as, even though he scored a few goals, looked like he was wearing clown shoes most of the time.
Gotta disagree.
I thought he worked hard and looked dangerous in the box. It wasn't his fault that he became another victim of the idiot boo boys that we sadly have as supporters.
John BarnesOur worst ever player ? That'll be England international / went round 5 Brazilian's to score - John Barnes ?
I must have missed those games when Charlton played Brazil and masqueraded as the England team, when Curbs brought him in to help us in a relegation fight it was one club too many for Barnes, he was rubbish for us compounded by the fact that he had once been such a talented footballer, but not with us.
Our worst ever player ? That'll be England international / went round 5 Brazilian's to score - John Barnes ?
I must have missed those games when Charlton played Brazil and masqueraded as the England team, when Curbs brought him in to help us in a relegation fight it was one club too many for Barnes, he was rubbish for us compounded by the fact that he had once been such a talented footballer, but not with us.
Yes, Barnes was well past his best when he joined us, but I could name hundreds of worse players for us. (I'm not going to tho' as it's too ridiculous).
In fairness I suppose I should say that all 3 were at or close to the veteran stage when they joined us.
Appleton had what seemed the biggest ears I've ever seen on a footballer and I do remember Francis Jeffers. King was an unbelievably slow centre half who would have made Basey and Doherty look quick.
Whitehouse was a non-descript half back from Palace which might slightly colour my view of him if I'm honest.
Setters had unbelievably bandy legs and could hardly run by the time he joined us.
All those are worse than anyone in the present lot in my view but Barry Endean is still my number one!
Over the years there's always been one stand-out rubbish player.
The first, for me, was John Pearson. I was convinced he was a donkey, but I was too young to know what a target man was to be fair to the guy. From the 90s, Jamie Stuart was a regular disappointment, but my main man for the 90s has to be Darren Pitcher. Again, I was probably a little young to have a valid opinion on this, but I thought he was awful.
The Prem days, i think you could throw a dart at all of Dowie's signings, and you'd hit a contender. Andy Reid annoys the hell out of me because he didn't do anything, just looked like he might. Then he quit the club having done nothing more than get relegated.
Of the Curbs crowd, Chris Bart Williams was largely a waste of space. I remember being very worried about a creativity when he was playing in the middle.
But these are just honourable mentions. Djimi Traore is the worst footballer ever to play for Charlton Athletic. I can't find it, but someone put a link to a YouTube video of Traore when this thread came around before. A compilation of his worst moments. It's mind-blowing.
Jimmy - I have to disagree with you on John Pearson.
In the promotion season he played his part, having come from Sheffield Wednesday with a reputation for being a canny target man. There are some great photos of him celebrating goals he had either scored or had a hand in. Check the programmes. Pearson was an inspired Lennie purchase.
It soon became obvious, however, that he wasn't First Division material, yet it proved difficult to replace him.
His replacement Andy Jones - the Port Vale goal machine - would be a more likely candidate than John Pearson, I would say. Jones never played for Wales again.
We really were struggling in the goal department before Jim Melrose burst on the scene.
Agreed about Pearson. He was a pretty good striker without setting the world alight and he was certainly better than Andy Jones.
As for Pitcher , he's profile went up after he scored the winning goal against Blackburn in the cup and he couldn't wait to piss off to Palace on the back of that goal but was he one of our worst ever ? . Not a chance.
Pearson was our top-scorer in the promotion campaign and although he only scored one goal the next season he did set up a few. IIRC he left for Leeds and played Division 2 football - his level. Darren Pitcher was of limited ability - he cracked in a few goals but was nothing special, he grafted when he wanted to but had no love for the club. To be fair he was playing in an era when we didn't have much money and that's why he got his opportunity to play. As a footballer he made the most of his limited ability but the way he went about leaving the club lacked class. I'll never blame Johhny H for going to Palace, but then he didn't throw his toys out the pram before going.
Amdy Faye v Djimi Traore - a race for the bottom. Two completely useless twats with a 'couldn't care less' attitude. My heart sank every time I saw either of their names on the sheet.
I still remember Pardew's first game against Fulham. It was on Sky, we worked our socks off and earned a 2-1 lead up to the last minute. Then Traore puts the ball out for a throw, the ref gives a nothing handball, and Fulham score off the free kick in injury time. A beautiful start and a hope of turning it round ruined. It wasn't even Traore's fault and it still sums up his contribution to Charlton
I still remember Pardew's first game against Fulham. It was on Sky, we worked our socks off and earned a 2-1 lead up to the last minute. Then Traore puts the ball out for a throw, the ref gives a nothing handball, and Fulham score off the free kick in injury time. A beautiful start and a hope of turning it round ruined. It wasn't even Traore's fault and it still sums up his contribution to Charlton
Comments
Our worst ever player ? That'll be England international / went round 5 Brazilian's to score - John Barnes ?
Worse than Gary Churchouse, Terry Bullivant, Viggo Jacobsen, Alan McCormack.
I do wonder about our supporters !
Hope it wasn't Jeff Vetere!
Gotta disagree.
I thought he worked hard and looked dangerous in the box. It wasn't his fault that he became another victim of the idiot boo boys that we sadly have as supporters.
if mooney had come from our youth team and supported charlton he would have been heralded the new lionel messi
a reasonable enough player , not great but by no means the worse ffs did any of you see kakpos first touch!
I must have missed those games when Charlton played Brazil and masqueraded as the England team, when Curbs brought him in to help us in a relegation fight it was one club too many for Barnes, he was rubbish for us compounded by the fact that he had once been such a talented footballer, but not with us.
Nigel Gray
Jimmy Loveridge
Geoff Scott
Alan Dugdale
Dietmar Bruck
Alan Ellis
Paul Curtis
Tony Towner
Faye
Traore
The list is endless
Our worst ever player ? That'll be England international / went round 5 Brazilian's to score - John Barnes ?
I must have missed those games when Charlton played Brazil and masqueraded as the England team, when Curbs brought him in to help us in a relegation fight it was one club too many for Barnes, he was rubbish for us compounded by the fact that he had once been such a talented footballer, but not with us.
Yes, Barnes was well past his best when he joined us, but I could name hundreds of worse players for us. (I'm not going to tho' as it's too ridiculous).Going back into the sixties:
Colin Appleton
Ian King
Brian Whitehouse
Maurice Setters
In fairness I suppose I should say that all 3 were at or close to the veteran stage when they joined us.
Appleton had what seemed the biggest ears I've ever seen on a footballer and I do remember Francis Jeffers. King was an unbelievably slow centre half who would have made Basey and Doherty look quick.
Whitehouse was a non-descript half back from Palace which might slightly colour my view of him if I'm honest.
Setters had unbelievably bandy legs and could hardly run by the time he joined us.
All those are worse than anyone in the present lot in my view but Barry Endean is still my number one!
The first, for me, was John Pearson. I was convinced he was a donkey, but I was too young to know what a target man was to be fair to the guy. From the 90s, Jamie Stuart was a regular disappointment, but my main man for the 90s has to be Darren Pitcher. Again, I was probably a little young to have a valid opinion on this, but I thought he was awful.
The Prem days, i think you could throw a dart at all of Dowie's signings, and you'd hit a contender. Andy Reid annoys the hell out of me because he didn't do anything, just looked like he might. Then he quit the club having done nothing more than get relegated.
Of the Curbs crowd, Chris Bart Williams was largely a waste of space. I remember being very worried about a creativity when he was playing in the middle.
But these are just honourable mentions. Djimi Traore is the worst footballer ever to play for Charlton Athletic. I can't find it, but someone put a link to a YouTube video of Traore when this thread came around before. A compilation of his worst moments. It's mind-blowing.
In the promotion season he played his part, having come from Sheffield Wednesday with a reputation for being a canny target man. There are some great photos of him celebrating goals he had either scored or had a hand in. Check the programmes. Pearson was an inspired Lennie purchase.
It soon became obvious, however, that he wasn't First Division material, yet it proved difficult to replace him.
His replacement Andy Jones - the Port Vale goal machine - would be a more likely candidate than John Pearson, I would say. Jones never played for Wales again.
We really were struggling in the goal department before Jim Melrose burst on the scene.
I think he once took a penalty , hit the bar and then had to run back to clear his own line