An extract from an e-mail I received from FourFourTwo magazine:
In the next few months we are to do a ‘Foreign players special’ issue, in which we profile the BEST and WORST overseas players (outside of UK and Ireland) to play for every Premier League and Football League club.
As such, we need the opinion of dedicated fans of each team, and that’s where we’d love to hear your views.
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There are a couple of things to bear in mind, however:
First, it’s the BEST player, not the ‘most popular’. For example, ask a Chelsea fan to name their favourite foreign player, almost all would say Gianfranco Zola. An incredible talent and worthy candidate for best player, no doubt, but an objective observer could consider the 100+ goals scored over seven years by Didier Drogba, leading the line as the club won 10 trophies, and make a pretty strong case for him to be No.1.
Second, it needs to be based solely on that player’s time at YOUR club. So ignore anything they did before or after. With this in mind, time spent at the club should also be taken into account: Jurgen Klinsmann, for example, holds legendary status at Spurs following two successful spells and is rightly considered one of Germany’s all-time top strikers, but he only played 56 games for Tottenham. Ossie Ardiles, in contrast, pulled the strings in their midfield for over a decade.
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As far as WORST foreign player goes, all we ask here is that they played more than just a game or two – that they were actually given the chance to prove their worth (before failing dramatically). Use 10 games minimum as an approximate guide. So Southampton won’t be able to pick that one-game chancer, Ali Dia (aka “George Weah’s cousin”), for example!
Let me know what you think and I'll send a consensus reply to FourFourTwo ... deadline is Friday 7th October.
Sadly the FourFourTwo constraints rule out Talal El Khalej and Cory Gibbs, but I'm sure that won't stop some great suggestions coming in.
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Comments
Worst: Moo2
Worst. Amdy Faye
Worst: Amdy Faye
Worst: JFH
Di Canio was a great player, but I think he was just a little bit past his best by the time he came to us.
Jorge Costa has to be in with a shout.
I immediately think of JFH for worst, but maybe I am biased because there was such a gulf between my expectation and what he actually did.
Worst: Ralph Milne.
Worst - Pouso
Pouso only played for 45 mins and Milne and Kinsella probably come under the 'UK and Ireland' heading.
The worst, well where to begin... though Faye and Traore both have very strong cases.
Best: Eddie Firmani, Stuart Leary, Radostin Kishishev, Shaun Bartlett
Worst: Yassin Moutouakil, Therry Racon, Jimmy Traore, Amde Faye, Dietmar Bruck
Worst - Djimi Traore. 11 games and then packed off to Portsmouth. Getting sent off 26 mins into his debut was his highlight at the club.
Best: Stuart Leary
Worst: Faye.
Best Jorge Costa
Worst Djimi Traore
Jesper Blomqvist only had three games so that would be harsh. And if Irish players were allowed McCormack would be up there.
Leary as top scorer is fair enough
Easy
Best - How can it be anyone but Eddie Firmani or Stuart Leary?
Worst - Allan Simonsen for what he did to the club's finances. Although Djimi Traore is a legitimate shout.
But why exclude the Republic of Ireland? First, it's overseas; second, it's a foreign country. So, Irish players (genuine ones, not Andy Townsend) should be in the list.
Anyway, Best: Stuart Leary
Worst: Faye