Alan Campbell makes the short list for me and he's got stiff competition on this thread
Think Dan Potts now needs a mention
Could be described as a pointless signing but in the few appearances he's made he's looked decent. Shame his injury record is so bad as I think he'd have been more solid than Gillesphey.
Impossible to be sure as the worse signing would be a player who was so bad in training at sparrows lane that he hardly played. Also failing in the Premier doesn't compare to being useless in the 3rd tier.
Charlie Kirk must rank as one of the biggest flops as he was given a long contract and some Charlton fans built him up to be a star signing 🤦🏼♂️ Charlie's time at CAFC started poorly and then fell away. His performance against Cray valley paper mills is still etched in my memory when he weakly fell down as the player ran away with the Ball.
Nothing personal against Charlie Kirk but he was consistently useless for Charlton and his body language was poor.
Polish Pete was one of the most pointless - who scouted him?
Whilst it was shambolic business from us he's gone on to have a decent career in fairness and scored over 100 goals. Still scoring in the Belgian 2nd tier at better than a 1 in 2 ratio.
Poor signing at the time but never given a chance so we'll never know what could have been
Polish Pete was one of the most pointless - who scouted him?
Whilst it was shambolic business from us he's gone on to have a decent career in fairness and scored over 100 goals. Still scoring in the Belgian 2nd tier at better than a 1 in 2 ratio.
Poor signing at the time but never given a chance so we'll never know what could have been
I presume he wasn't given a chance as he was awful in training.
Obviously decent enough for a career at lower levels abroad but the levels he's played at show he wasn't anywhere near Championship quality. Unlike the man he replaced who then helped get Bournemouth promoted to the PL.
Can we include managers? Probably worth a list by itself in truth
I mean Ian Dowie's name is mentioned (at least five times), so I guess 🤷🏼 (unless you can tell me when we signed him as a player). If I am really being persnickety then I guess academy players don't count, but as you can see the die has been cast in terms of this thread.
Polish Pete was one of the most pointless - who scouted him?
Whilst it was shambolic business from us he's gone on to have a decent career in fairness and scored over 100 goals. Still scoring in the Belgian 2nd tier at better than a 1 in 2 ratio.
Poor signing at the time but never given a chance so we'll never know what could have been
I presume he wasn't given a chance as he was awful in training.
Obviously decent enough for a career at lower levels abroad but the levels he's played at show he wasn't anywhere near Championship quality. Unlike the man he replaced who then helped get Bournemouth promoted to the PL.
I do question if Polish Pete could have done better had his development been managed a bit better.
He struggled at U21 level from memory of those who watched him there. But he equally surely needed minutes to adjust to English Football with a loan down to League Two or the National League, instead he got sent out to Belgium and Denmark... Footballing styles that I imagine are different to playing here in England.
Seems to me there are categories that need to be considered when coming up with the award for 'worst signing ever'. Here are my suggestions of some:
1. Big signing who had lots expected of him but didn't deliver - JFH/Marcus Bent
2. Those we thought they would fit in but proved to be useless - Izale McLeod/Paul Benson
3. Players we made a big deal about signing but failed miserably - John Barnes
4. Players who stand out as simply clueless - Ralph Milne
5. Players who made the grade elsewhere but hopeless for us - Andy Jones/Leon Clarke ... and actually most strikers that we sign from 'lesser' teams over the past 20 years!
6. Your favourite 'couldn't stand' player(s) - Lawrie Madden
Bonus Choice:
7. Players you hope we NEVER sign - anyone that was once a 'big name'; I hope we have learnt our lesson........or........anyone who kisses the badge of every team he plays for when scoring a goal.
In fact we have some categories to have a bit of fun with
1. Big signing who had lots expected of him but didn't deliver - 2. Those we thought they would fit in but proved to be useless - 3. Players we made a big deal about signing but failed miserably - 4. Players who stand out as simply clueless - 5. Players who made the grade elsewhere but hopeless for us - 6. Your favourite 'couldn't stand' player(s) - 7. Players you hope we NEVER sign, anyone that was once a 'big name'; I hope we have learnt our lesson........or........anyone who kisses the badge of every team he plays for when scoring a goal- Bonus Choice: Worst Charlton Manager (since technically we do sign them to a contract)-
1. Big signing who had lots expected of him but didn't deliver - Hasselbaink is a large as life character in this category. Scored twice, didn't even celebrate. Franny Jeffers didn't seem to achieve much. Perhaps more controversially, Rommedahl's Charlton performances rarely matched up to his Danish ones, but I think that's largely down to how we used him. I also wanted to see a lot more from John Barnes, although I note that Curbs speaks highly of his impact. 2. Those we thought they would fit in but proved to be useless - Neil Redfern, got one wonder goal (Wimbledon?) but I don't remember much else. There was a lot of excitement about that misfit we got from Peterborough but who ended up in jail. Can't even remember his name. Don't particularly want to. 3. Players we made a big deal about signing but failed miserably - Not his fault, bit I seem to remember a big fuss about Ronnie Schwartz, he just wasn't up to it though. 4. Players who stand out as simply clueless - I believe Rhys Williams is the worst ever Charlton player, but he was a loanee. In more recent times Charlie Kirk was staggeringly out of place no matter what his excuses. 5. Players who made the grade elsewhere but hopeless for us - Simon Francis had a surprisingly stellar career after Charlton. Chris Gunter blew hot and cold for Charlton but he always blew hot for Wales; hopeless is too strong a word, but certainly frustrating at times. 6. Your favourite 'couldn't stand' player(s) - For us: Roger Johnson (2nd spell). Against us: Alex Rae because he we just horrible. David Perkins, just always seemed to have a good game against us. Wish we'd have signed him. 7. Players you hope we NEVER sign, anyone that was once a 'big name' - not bothered about most really. Never feel that comfortable signing Palace or Millwall players, it's like they are shop soiled. Worst Charlton Manager (since technically we do sign them to a contract) - Laundry boy.
Comments
Plenty of players who lacked ability but the list would be endless
What a f**k up that whole thing was.
Also failing in the Premier doesn't compare to being useless in the 3rd tier.
Charlie Kirk must rank as one of the biggest flops as he was given a long contract and some Charlton fans built him up to be a star signing 🤦🏼♂️
Charlie's time at CAFC started poorly and then fell away.
His performance against Cray valley paper mills is still etched in my memory when he weakly fell down as the player ran away with the Ball.
Nothing personal against Charlie Kirk but he was consistently useless for Charlton and his body language was poor.
Poor signing at the time but never given a chance so we'll never know what could have been
'Punch' Thuram proved that having an excellent football DNA doesn't work for all members of a family !
Obviously decent enough for a career at lower levels abroad but the levels he's played at show he wasn't anywhere near Championship quality. Unlike the man he replaced who then helped get Bournemouth promoted to the PL.
He struggled at U21 level from memory of those who watched him there. But he equally surely needed minutes to adjust to English Football with a loan down to League Two or the National League, instead he got sent out to Belgium and Denmark... Footballing styles that I imagine are different to playing here in England.
1. Big signing who had lots expected of him but didn't deliver -
2. Those we thought they would fit in but proved to be useless -
3. Players we made a big deal about signing but failed miserably -
4. Players who stand out as simply clueless -
5. Players who made the grade elsewhere but hopeless for us -
6. Your favourite 'couldn't stand' player(s) -
7. Players you hope we NEVER sign, anyone that was once a 'big name'; I hope we have learnt our lesson........or........anyone who kisses the badge of every team he plays for when scoring a goal-
Bonus Choice:
Worst Charlton Manager (since technically we do sign them to a contract)-
2. Those we thought they would fit in but proved to be useless - Neil Redfern, got one wonder goal (Wimbledon?) but I don't remember much else. There was a lot of excitement about that misfit we got from Peterborough but who ended up in jail. Can't even remember his name. Don't particularly want to.
3. Players we made a big deal about signing but failed miserably - Not his fault, bit I seem to remember a big fuss about Ronnie Schwartz, he just wasn't up to it though.
4. Players who stand out as simply clueless - I believe Rhys Williams is the worst ever Charlton player, but he was a loanee. In more recent times Charlie Kirk was staggeringly out of place no matter what his excuses.
5. Players who made the grade elsewhere but hopeless for us - Simon Francis had a surprisingly stellar career after Charlton. Chris Gunter blew hot and cold for Charlton but he always blew hot for Wales; hopeless is too strong a word, but certainly frustrating at times.
6. Your favourite 'couldn't stand' player(s) - For us: Roger Johnson (2nd spell). Against us: Alex Rae because he we just horrible. David Perkins, just always seemed to have a good game against us. Wish we'd have signed him.
7. Players you hope we NEVER sign, anyone that was once a 'big name' - not bothered about most really. Never feel that comfortable signing Palace or Millwall players, it's like they are shop soiled.
Worst Charlton Manager (since technically we do sign them to a contract) - Laundry boy.