Every two or three days when I log on here a poster mentions a Charlton flop like Berti whom I had subconsciously pushed to the back of my mind. Still a couple of days to go before we all start getting in a froth about Preston, so we can enjoy a little schadenfreude listing some of the real flops we have signed over the past decade, especially those who came with a big reputation and who gave us cause to get excited, only to crash and burn. They fall into several categories: (1) Those who were at the end of their playing careers but we (or the management) didn't realise that and were hoping for one last hurrah for a season or two, or even a late renaissance and Indian summer. JFH is one of those. (2) Those where we gambled on fitness and came unstuck. Cory Gibbs is one of those. He is enjoying his Indian summer now, but sadly not with us. (3) Good players who couldn't settle in this country or couldn't adapt to the English game. Karim Bagheri is one of those. Vitālijs Astafjevs isn't because he became a legend at Bristol City after leaving us (besides captaining Latvia to a draw with Germany in the World Cup Finals, something no English player can boast lately). (4) "WTF?" players. Players who arrived with little back history and remained as mysterious even when they were here. (Or were they actually ever here?). Omar Pouso signed on the strength of a fantastic volleyed goal against England then dropped off the radar. (5) Those who displayed the ability before and after their spell at Charlton but couldn't (and sometimes it seemed weren't interested enough to) do the business while at the Valley. How much the fault lay on their side and how much with our management we will never know. Jay Bothroyd is one of those and loanee Scott Sinclair was another. No need to add comments if you don't want. There have been a million of them. Just list 'em and weep!
2) Gary Poole was another crocked defender, quite a big signing at the time too (£250k in 1996) Tom Hovi seems to have had a good career inm Norway, but not for us! A whole selection of Pardew strikers seem to fall in category 5, Varney, Gray, McLeod...
That useless player Dowie signed from Newcastle, who previously was at Pompey. Both sets of supporters thought he was their worst ever signing and we paid £2m for him! Cannot remember his name, midfielder, scored his only goal for us at Pompey the year we went down from PL in a 1-0 win
Great thread Eddie (depressing but great none the less ). It's clearly evident that we've had more than our fair share of flops down the years. The ones that jump out for me are: Franny Jeffers - even though he did absolutely sod all for Arsenal, i genuinely thought he'd do a good job for us. Showing why Arsene Wenger once paid 10m for his 'fox in the box' capabilities. However, for us he looked like a forward completely bereft of any confidence in his ability whatsoever. Neil Redfearn - did a tremendous job for Barnsley. Playing plenty of games, scoring plenty of goals (including some crackers), he well and truly pulled the strings from the middle of the park for them. I thought he'd add the goalscoring/creative spark that our midfield was lacking. However, for us he looked one paced, immobile and at times a little disinterested. This coupled with a return of 3 goals in 30 appearances means Imo that his time with us was well below what i was expecting of him.
I think there was a number of players from our Premiership relegation year: Darren Ambrose / Marcus Bent / Amdy Faye / Omar Pouso / Djimi Traore / Simon Walton / Ben Thatcher. From the Championship year where we finished 11th... Luke Varney / Andy Gray / Dean Sinclair / Greg Halford / Izale McLeod Then from that Relegation year... Matt Spring / Stuart Fleetwood / Danny Butterfield / Keith Gillespie / Martin Craine / Hameur Bouazza / Graeme Murty / Martin Christensen / Tom Soares / Lee Cook First League One season... Wade Small / Elliot Omozusi And from last season... Frank Nouble / Alan McCormack / Bally Smart / Pawel Abbott (Thought about including Luke Daniels / Marcel Seip and Neil Etheridge but luckily for them they never made an actual Charlton appearance)
All good calls A4L... Simon Walton was a big disappointment. He came to us with a good reputation and bundles of potential. Where's he playing his football these days? Don't remember Wade Small signing for us let alone playing.
Yes, I thought he would fit in nicely. Not sure if he ever started a competitive match although we paid £500,000. (Those were the days, money flowed like water then). His career suffered on two fronts. Two or three serious injuries and his own reputation for sulking and non-cooperation and for making career-threatening tackles. A real psycho. Last I heard he was (fairly recently) captain of Plymouth. Very strange choice as a captain and as an example to their young squad.
A wonderful response to my request, guys, and I sure there are still more to emerge from the Virus Vault. It is all about opinions but there are some listed I would call "disappointments" rather than "flops" like Varney and Ambrose. And players like Greg Halford and Ben Thatcher, though certainly less than stellar, just found themselves at the wrong club at the the wrong time. Also there are a few here that we just took a chance on hoping we could get a bit more out of them than other clubs, but didn't cost us too much in fees or wages. They were just longshots that didn't come off rather than flops. I would put players like Bally Smart, Alan McCormack and Dean Sinclair in that bracket. I really had in mind those where there was such a disparity between the hype and/or the fees we paid that it was almost humorous (in a sick sort of way). Pouso and Izale McLeod are outstanding examples. Martin Christensen was another "WTF is going on?" player. You have reminded me of many names which my psyche has repressed (I am sure it is very therapeutic) but I have absolutely no memory of Tom Hovi being at Charlton although I am aware of him as a player. I was overjoyed when we signed Frannie Jeffers. I thought we would be the making of him and vice versa. What a ******! (Who is that young French winger/striker who played a lot at Arsenal a few years ago and whose career has similarly gone off the rails. I have forgotten his name). In the summer of 1998 my brother (a Chelsea supporter) asked me who I would most like to sign for Charlton. I replied we didn't have any money. He said, "If you had a £1 million, who would you buy?" I replied "Neil Redfearn, but I don't think we stand a chance, there are richer Premiership clubs after him". I was overjoyed when he signed. I thought he was the classic Curbishley type who would sweat blood for the club. He had got little Barnsley promoted to the Premiership almost single-handed (or so it seemed) and, against all the odds, he almost keep them up single-handed. (It was like Charlie Adam and Blackpool). So what went wrong there, then? ForestHillBilly mentioned Pardew. I don't know if he is being facetious, but I remember Pardew as doing rather well for us as a player. Thanks for your posts. They have brought back many miserable memories, and I am sure there are some flops still not mentioned. I don't think we have got one out-and-out flop on the books at present, though only time will tell. Green is a little disappointing after his pre-season promise but far from a flop. Francis and Benson didn't cost us that much and I think they are both capable of having solid seasons ahead for other clubs at this level. The one we are all waiting on is Alonso. He could be a star at this level or he could be a flop. If I had to be really, really negative, I don't have total confidence in Dale Stephens to stay the course with the Addicks. He is a fine player, at times maybe our best, but I just have a sneaking suspicion that things could turn sour. Just the shadow of a doubt though, and let's hope he will flourish with us and become a legend. How he responds to being left out could give us our first clue. If he comes storming back the way he started the season all doubts will be removed.
Wade Small played in the Carling Cup against Hereford think it was - Only got signed on a pay as you play deal briefly because we couldnt afford to give him a Contract Would anyone class Leon McKenzie as a flop or just someone who was very very lucky with injury?
Redfearn was the sort of player who looked really good in those 5 minute round ups you get of lesser games on the TV, as you'll see him have a coupe of decent shots, and be the stand out player. Talking with a Barnsley fan around this time, the problem was that he wouldn't do much else during the game, you purely played him for the goals he scored, rather than the all round play. Jeffers is a great shout, someone who's career really dived. A4L, I thought some of the players on your list did quite well for us (Murty was excellent, Omozusi and Bouazza were reasonable loan signings)
