Top 10 Transferflops

[ianrush]

1) Ali Dia (Southampton) November 1996.

We are in the office of Southampton manager Graeme Souness. The

telephone rings. It's - who else? - former World Footballer of the Year

George Weah, who, apropos of absolutely nothing, is offering the Saints his

30-year-old cousin Ali Dia, who he claims has played 13 times for Senegal.

Immediately, Souness agrees to take Dia on loan for a month and puts his

budding superstar on the bench for Saturday's home game with Leeds despite

never having seen him in competitive action. Dia was scheduled to take part

in a reserve game earlier in the week, but the weather intervened. After 32

minutes, Dia replaces Matthew Le Tissier. The sense is very much of a torch

being passed from one genius to another. Fifty-three jaw-dropping minutes

later, Dia himself is replaced, for the simple reason that he isn't a

footballer. Nor, it turns out, is he George Weah's cousin. Dia's agent,

however, does a Weah impersonation that is especially believable, if, like

Souness, you haven't actually met George Weah. Dia has not been heard of

since.

2) Winston Bogarde (Chelsea)

When Chelsea thrashed Barcelona 3-1 in the Champions League in 2000,

assistant manager Graham Rix admitted they had targeted the defender they

perceived as the Catalans' weak link, Winston Bogarde. Curious, then, that a

few weeks later, having fallen out with the Nou Camp management, the

Rotterdam-born Dutchman who represented Holland in the 1996 European

Championship and 1998 World Cup in France became Gianluca Vialli's final

signing, a free transfer replacement for Emerson Thome, albeit one on weekly

wages of £42,000. Four years later, the loyal servant left London

proclaiming himself "the biggest outcast in England" after starting just two

league games, both defeats. Heartwarmingly, at the beginning of last season,

one for which he was not even allocated a squad number, he declared: "I will

fight for my place like everybody else." This season, after training with

Ajax while allegedly looking for a club, he sensibly spent the transfer

window on holiday in Surinam. "But I believe an offer will come. I hope it

comes quickly." Don't we all?

3) Massimo Taibi (Manchester United)

How, then, to replace Peter Schmeichel? In 1999, with Raimond van

der Gouw always wearing his bridesmaid's outfit and Mark Bosnich too cocky

by half, Sir Alex Ferguson splashed out £4.5m on Venezia journeyman Massimo

Taibi. The omnipresent tracksuit bottoms should have caused Ferguson to

pause for thought. Instead, Taibi conceded two sloppy goals at Liverpool on

his debut and one to Wimbledon the following week. Then the fun began:

Southampton scored three at Old Trafford, including a Matthew Le Tissier

"shot" that trickled through Taibi's legs and was so soft, it barely crossed

the line. Eight days later, Chelsea put five past him at Stamford Bridge and

this Italian's job was over, little more than a month after it had began.

Taibi rotted in the reserves until Reggina took him on loan before a £2.5m

purchase at season's end. He was, noted a generous Roy Keane, "clearly a

good keeper". Clearly.

4) Marco Boogers (West Ham United)

In 1995, West Ham manager Harry Redknapp had the option of spending

£1m on Bristol Rovers sharpshooter Marcus Stewart or Dutch striker Marco

Boogers. Bravely, he plumped for Boogers, whom he hadn't actually seen play.

In the event, Boogers failed to start a game, but did achieve national

acclaim on his second substitute appearance when he was sent off for a

shocking tackle on Gary Neville, just 90 seconds after replacing Danny

Williamson. After two further substitute appearances against Aston Villa and

Blackburn, making a total of 83 competitive minutes in the Claret and Blue,

Boogers fled Upton Park to live in a caravan, accompanied by a doctor's note

saying he was mentally unfit to play football. After two years of Calor gas

canisters and chemical toilets, he returned to Dutch football with RKC

Waalwijk.

5) Elena Marcelino (Newcastle)

Having watched Marcelino play the proverbial blinder in the 1999 Cup

Winners' Cup final, Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit decided the

headband-wearing Spanish international defender was the man to shore up a

porous defence. He wasn't. Nor was he worth the £5.8m Gullit paid for him.

In his first game, the poor lamb hurt his groin and was substituted at

half-time. From there it was injuries all the way, including a lengthy

absence caused by a poorly finger. Four years and 19 calamitous starts

later, he was shipped back to Spain. In a crate, for all the Gallowgate End

supporters cared. "The fans called me a thieving Spaniard and a gypsy who

was robbing the club's cash," he said. For probably the first time in their

relationship, chairman Freddie Shepherd almost concurred: "They say you

should only say good things about people, so I'll say this: he's gone -

good."

6) Corrado Grabbi (Blackburn Rovers)

How the Italians chuckled in 2001 when Graeme Souness, manager of

Blackburn Rovers, paid £6.75m for Juventus cast-off Corrado Grabbi, who had

just scored 19 goals in 34 Serie B (not to be confused with Serie A) games

for Ternana. Grabbi's work ethic was never in doubt, but two goals in 30

Premiership games suggested Souness might have been better buying a Serie A

player. After an especially profligate performance in the 2003 Uefa Cup

against Genclerbirgli, Souness lost patience. Grabbi was bought by Ancona.

The fee was undisclosed, but it wasn't £6.75m.

7) Sean Dundee (Liverpool)

In 1998, Karlsruhe were relegated from the Bundesliga. Their tubby

star forward, Sean "Crocodile" Dundee, scored just three times. These facts

did not deter Liverpool manager Roy Evans from splashing out £2m for the

German international who claimed to be as fast as Michael Owen. In fact, he

wasn't as fast as Liverpool fan Michael Howard. Liverpool's official website

raised the notion that Dundee was "possibly the worst player to have donned

the red of Liverpool".

8 ) Pal Lydersen (Arsenal)

Poor Pal. It wasn't really his fault that he wasn't up to the task.

The tall Norwegian full-back had been signed in 1991 by manager George

Graham, in effect, for a bung from Lydersen's disgraced agent, Rune Hauge.

Lydersen's positional sense gave Tony Adams the screaming heebie-jeebies,

and his overall standard was more Bury than Highbury. Graham was in a tricky

position, so he hit on the inventive wheeze of only playing him in

meaningless games, before releasing him four years later after 15 starts.

9) Wim Jonk (Sheffield Wednesday)

Not only did Jonk look like Michael Palin, but he was as tough in

the tackle as him. The Dutchman, signed for £2.5m from PSV Eindhoven in

1998, lolloped anonymously around Wednesday's midfield for two seasons, the

second of which saw them relegated. After experiencing the hurly burly of

two First Division games, he sat out the remaining year of his contract,

citing a tummy ache. At the end of that season, he retired to concentrate on

his poetry. Wednesday fans had their own rhymes for him.

10) Li Weifeng (Everton)

By remarkable coincidence, the moment Everton signed a sponsorship

deal with a Chinese company in 2002, two Chinese players arrived at

Goodison. Li Tie acquitted himself moderately well. The more introspective,

chronically homesick Li Weifeng, who spoke no English, did not, despite his

initial assertion that "I am very happy to be here because I like Liverpool

very much. The Beatles are very famous in China". He got himself booked in

his sole Premiership outing, a defeat at Southampton. Soon he was on a plane

home, and would not return to Merseyside for all the tea in China.

Für mich gehören da noch Diouf, Diao (der schreckliche Sommer 2002, der Mit Hoffnugen auf den Titel begann und dann doch nur der Beginn des bitteren Endes von Houllier wurde) , Mutu, Kezmna, Veron 2x und Steve Marlett für 18 Mio. € zu Fulham rein. Ausserdem vielleicht noch Ferdinand, so leid es mir tut, Tore Andre Flo zu Sunderland, Rebrov zu Tottenham und Francis Jeffers um 12 Millionen zu Arsenal. Eigentlich irr, wieviel Geld da schon verblasen wurde. Auch sehr bewundernswert die Transfers von Souness und das man ihm noch immer bei Newcastle solche Mittel zur Verügung stellte.

It's funny because last night I was watching football years on sly and it was the season Sheringham went to United. The first game of the season was United v Spurs at White Hart Lane. You may recall Sheringham missed a pen before United won 2-0. Anyhow Campbell's reaction towards Sheringham says everything you need to know about the man. Not long after Campbell sold his boyhood team out for their bitterest rivals for fuck all money, what a turncoat bastard.

Ein Posting, welches dem Bub, Gott hab ihn seelig, sehr gefallen würde.

Jetzt hät ich auch noch beinah Sutton vergessen, war ja auch komplett irr der Transfer um 18 Millionen € von Blackburn zu Chelsea. MAn sehe sich die Entwicklung an :

97-98  Blackburn Rovers  18 Goals, 35 Games  (-) 

98-99  Blackburn Rovers  3 Goals, 17 Games  (-) 

99-00  Chelsea  1 Goals, 26 Games  1 Goals, 7 Games (Champions League)

bearbeitet 9. Januar 2006 von ianrush

[Funkmaster]

8 ) Pal Lydersen (Arsenal)

sensationell...der selbe pal lydersen, der 1996 bei sturm in der gruabn kickte

[themanwho]

Bei United fallen mir da spontan noch Mark Bosnich (gespielt wie auf Drogen - hihi), Louis Saha (irre 12 Millionen, verletzungsanfällig wie kaum ein zweiter), Juan Sebastian Veron (wie ianrush schon erwähnte), Kleberson (auch der hat 7 Millionen gekostet) und Djemba-Djemba (etwa die Gegend) ein.

[MILANISTA]

Bei United fallen mir da spontan noch Mark Bosnich (gespielt wie auf Drogen - hihi), Louis Saha (irre 12 Millionen, verletzungsanfällig wie kaum ein zweiter), Juan Sebastian Veron (wie ianrush schon erwähnte), Kleberson (auch der hat 7 Millionen gekostet) und Djemba-Djemba (etwa die Gegend) ein.

928982[/snapback]

ManU hat halt ein Händchen für Flops!

[Jay Gooner]

Super Beitrag um den Thread zu reaktivieren

Kann man aber sicher aktualisieren mittlerweile: Fixplätze haben Squillaci und Bebe.

bearbeitet 9. Oktober 2011 von Jay Gooner

[RoNeX]

Torres?

[KingKenny]

Transferflop ist glaube ich erst jemand nachdem er den Verein wieder verlässt, bei Torres ist das ja nicht so, was ist wenn er in den nächsten 3 Jahren je 30 Tore schießt? Dann verzeiht ihm seine "Anfangsprobleme" jeder und glaube kaum das er dann als Transferflop in die Geschichte von CFC (welche Geschichte eig.? ) eingeht.

[Jay Gooner]

es geht um Spieler, die aus einer anderen Liga in die PL gekommen sind. (Sonst, ja, natürlich Torres bei Chelsea)

[KingKenny]

Sonst, ja, natürlich Torres bei Chelsea

[Doena]

Die Geschichte mit Ali Dia liest sich ja echt lustig, hätt ich eher einem österreichischen Manager zugetraut