Remember the signings we thought may provide the spark?

With the first game of the season out of the way, I’m relieved to be able to say we’ve got our first three points on the board, even though in hindsight Aston Villa exhibited very little to worry us. James Collins and Mohammad Diame rightly stole the headlines with strong, accomplished performances and Modibo Maiga’s brief showing gave me enough optimism to believe he’ll be an asset this coming season.

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This doesn’t however mean I’ll be right. And to be fair, on all things football it’s very rare I am (my fantasy football teams are proof enough of this!) I’m not the only one though, as we’ve all been guilty of celebrating a signing, before knowing a great deal about him.

Upon signing a cut-price Freddie Piquionne a couple years ago, myself, along with a lot of fans, thought we may have snared a bargain. Hell, he scored the winner against T*ttenham Hotspur in a 1-0 victory that had us all happy. On leading us to our first league win of the season, Piquionne would prove to be an inspired buy. Wouldn’t he?!

 

Compared to some though Piquionne was a success story. We trusted Sam Allardyce to bring us back to the big time (which he did) and he decided (rightly) that we needed a strong experienced striker to score the goals to send us up (Piquionne already an after thought) John Carew came in and promised much. Until he set foot on the pitch. Making a brief cameo in the home game against Leeds United to get match fitness, I gave Carew a rousing reception. However, just two goals in nineteen, mainly lazy, appearances, proved I was wrong.

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My final signing of yesteryear goes back to the days of a certain Mr Alan Pardew. Known still for his shrewdness in the transfer market, Pards bought in some players to help us compete in The Premiership after winning the play-offs. Fans, such as us all, were happy with the signings, Yossi Benayoun being top of that list. When Pardew showed his intention to head back to Israel for another new signing in January, most fans trusted his judgment. Six appearances later and all I remember of Yaniv Katan was he’d have struggled to trap a cement mixer, and his ears were enormous (if you don’t recall check Wikipedia)

Whereas I’m sure Collins, Diame and Maiga will all build on their weekend performances, I thought it would be nice to take a stroll down memory lane and remember the signings we thought may provide the spark, but left with a whimper once it was extinguished.

Any others you remember I’m pleased to also recount.

Regards, Smudgy

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