Bougherra - forgot about him - although not the worst player we signed - far from it but at the time, Pardew put virtually his entire transfder budget into a central defender who hardly even played in the half season he had to keep us up so given the timing and iminent need against the backdrop of what we were about to lose, then my single worst signing has to be Bougherra. He then followed that up with further spectacular wastes but we were in the Championship by then.
Won't allow Gary Rowett, sorry, was an excellent player for us when fit, not his fault. I don't think long term injuries should be used as a criteria to say a player was bad for us.
Surely the point was that he had a back injury history? Curbs signed Dyer for Wet Spam - great player but sicknote of the century. Both to me were bad judgement calls.
Cory Gibbs shouldn't be in there then on that basis as he may have been the greatest signing ever, he was just injured 100% of the time.
I wouldn't include injured players like Rowett and Gibbs.
Amdy Faye the worst for me. £2m, big wages, worse ball control than a lot of our League 1 players. If he did win the ball he'd then give it away. Started fairly well and had (1?) good game at centre back, but after that awful most of the time.
Traore not quite as bad but then we only saw him for half a season. JFH was also a poor signing, had no pace by the time we signed him. I remember my dad saying hopefully he'll at least hold up the ball well. He couldn't even manage that.
Then there's a lot that barely played, of course they were poor signings but couldn't say who the worst was - Pouso, Walton, Bagheri (never saw him myself), El Khalej, probably missed a few. Jeffers didn't play much either.
spiritof1947 mentioned Martin Christensen - good one, was signed around March while we still had a chance of staying up. Didn't Pardew insist that we signed him? Said to be on £5k a week, on a 4 year deal, £250k transfer fee plus clauses and wasn't even good enough for the Championship.
I wouldn't include Bent, Rommedahl, Diawara etc, poor signings but offered more than the above players.
Well you have used the words "poor signings", in my book a "poor signing" is a player that was a waste of money both in transfer fee or wages or both. Players like Gibbs and Rowett were by that definition poor signings.
Won't allow Gary Rowett, sorry, was an excellent player for us when fit, not his fault. I don't think long term injuries should be used as a criteria to say a player was bad for us.
Surely the point was that he had a back injury history? Curbs signed Dyer for Wet Spam - great player but sicknote of the century. Both to me were bad judgement calls.
Cory Gibbs shouldn't be in there then on that basis as he may have been the greatest signing ever, he was just injured 100% of the time.
It's not Curbs' fault if Wayne Diesel (who coincidentally may well have been at West Ham when the Dyer decision was made) or whoever was responsible passed players such as Rowett fit at the medical. Both players passed medicals therefore Curbs was entitled to assume that they were fit.
In other words no bad judgement call from Curbs. The medical team's judgement calls over the years is probably worth a thread on its own!!
Well you have used the words "poor signings", in my book a "poor signing" is a player that was a waste of money both in transfer fee or wages or both. Players like Gibbs and Rowett were by that definition poor signings.
The way I was looking at it the question was who are the very worst signings. They are surely the players we should have never signed in the first place. Either not good enough (or on the decline in JFH's case) or had the wrong attitude (some both). I wouldn't include good or decent players who then had injury problems.
i think gary rowett comes under the "dont let curbs buy a used car" column .gr had talent but a bad injury record ,gary poole was a similar gamble and the biggest gamble re fitness of them all was super clive ,a gamle that payed off.
curbs went on to buy kieron dyer when at west ham ...its managers who take the responsibility for signings ,thats what they get paid for ,not physios or medical teams ...its an aspect of his judgement that is muddled .however id agree entirely with the original post ...spot on !!!!
The inclusion of Rowett is ridiculous. You could see even from the dozen games he played for us he was a Charlton player through and through
I can't decide whether that's a compliment or an insult.
lol. But yes a compliment. He would have been another Rufus, Holland, John Robinson, Nothing flash but hard working and gave their all for the cause. Curbs got the best out of players like that and no doubt he would have done the same for Rowett
I'm going for Piggy Bank, Bent, Faye and Traore as the worst players. Though you could argue that Jeffers and Rowett were the worst signings as they were the ones where we lost the most money.
If you're into this sort of thing I'd recommend getting a copy of 'Pay As You Play: The True Price of Success In The Premier League Era'. Fantastic analysis of how money has effected the game since football began in 1992, and how spending money guarantees success.... unless you're Newcastle United.
Faye was let go for free in desperation to get his wages off the book. We may have got a loan fee from Rangers but more likely they just paid his ridiculous wages. Quite certainly the worst ever player I've ever seen in a Charlton shirt, way below Mike Small, Alan Mcleary or Ricky Otto.
Both Rowett and Jeffers were signed on fees that were totally dominated and incremented by appearances. So although I thought Rowett was madness after his struggles at Leicester, it may not have been such bad business.
Diawara possibly was sold for a similar price to what we payed for him, due to the pounds collapse against the Euro over the course of Bordeaux's payment. Must be an awful player with back to back French League 1 medals, and two other second placed finishes all within the last 4 french seasons. Alongside Holland, Bent and Young was the only player busting a gut to close down the opposition. I sure as hell don't blame a sucked in defender, when Faye, Ambrose, Thomas, Rommedahl, HH and Talal were atrocious for the first half of the season and decided closing down was for someone else.
Comments
It's not Curbs' fault if Wayne Diesel (who coincidentally may well have been at West Ham when the Dyer decision was made) or whoever was responsible passed players such as Rowett fit at the medical. Both players passed medicals therefore Curbs was entitled to assume that they were fit.
In other words no bad judgement call from Curbs. The medical team's judgement calls over the years is probably worth a thread on its own!!
Don't blame it on Biscan
Don't blame it on Finnan
Don't blame it on Haaman
Blame it on Traore
He just can't
He just can't
He just can't control his feet...
curbs went on to buy kieron dyer when at west ham ...its managers who take the responsibility for signings ,thats what they get paid for ,not physios or medical teams ...its an aspect of his judgement that is muddled .however id agree entirely with the original post ...spot on !!!!
lol. But yes a compliment. He would have been another Rufus, Holland, John Robinson, Nothing flash but hard working and gave their all for the cause. Curbs got the best out of players like that and no doubt he would have done the same for Rowett
Both Rowett and Jeffers were signed on fees that were totally dominated and incremented by appearances. So although I thought Rowett was madness after his struggles at Leicester, it may not have been such bad business.
Diawara possibly was sold for a similar price to what we payed for him, due to the pounds collapse against the Euro over the course of Bordeaux's payment. Must be an awful player with back to back French League 1 medals, and two other second placed finishes all within the last 4 french seasons. Alongside Holland, Bent and Young was the only player busting a gut to close down the opposition. I sure as hell don't blame a sucked in defender, when Faye, Ambrose, Thomas, Rommedahl, HH and Talal were atrocious for the first half of the season and decided closing down was for someone else.
Jeffers, absolutely the worst
JfH, looked bored most of the time
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Have to think about the other three. List of 20 at the moment.
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