Most overrated players we signed that never became good

[Tony Moanero 14,552]

2 hours ago, KMD7 said:

He was overrated. I can't remember him doing anything for us until the Cl final.  

Will always be a legend for that though. 

 

[PrivateParts 18,783]

3 hours ago, Jordy Brouwer said:

There was more hype around Le Tallec - "Le Talent" some people around here called him as I recall. However it was actually Sinama Pongolle or "stinky" as I heard him described who actually showed far more on the pitch. Sinama Pongolle was actually a handful and surprisingly physical for a small player. Neither were great but if either could have gone on to do more it was probably him. 

Whenever I think of Pongo, I think that without his sub appearance against Olympiakos there would be no Istanbul and without his sub appearance against Luton there would be no Gerrard Cup Final. 

 

He and Le Tallec were touted as massive stars of the future. Pongo achieved the status of decent support act; Le Tallec was never even that good. 

[Jordy Brouwer 455]

Its all coming back to me now - Vietnam flashback style. 

 

Bruno Cheyrou the new Zidane. 

 

Transfer mistakes were made under Houllier. Oh yes, they were made. 

 

Oh shit! Salif Diao - The Sherrif! 

 

Make it stop!

[Red74 973]

Mark Gonzales. Chile must have been in despair if he was their best player

[Creator Supreme 1,074]

I think Robbie Keane was a good player but we signed him about 5 years late! The biggest problem was that Rafa didn't want to sign him, and certainly didn't want to play him! Keane was never going to turn us down, but in hindsight he should have recognized that he wasn't wanted and stayed at Spurs!

 

He scored too many goals to be a bad player!

[Istvan Kuntstain 516]

On 13/08/2020 at 18:33, Jordy Brouwer said:

There was huge anticipation around him - I remember it well. He was supposed to tear our league up. 

 

Its not that he was a bad player exactly. He was an OK forward and very unlucky with his dreadful injury. Its just that we were supposed to get the equivalent of Kylian Mbappe and what we got was a poor man's Origi. 

 

On 13/08/2020 at 19:42, Ron B said:

Oh Cisse! He did have pace. He did have power. He could score from anywhere. And he was utterly bereft of brains.

I recall with complete clarity seeing him in a major cup final when we needed him to waste time - “JUST BURST PAST THE DEFENDERS TOWARDS THE CORNER FLAG!” - but instead he tried using skill which he didn’t have to jink his way through a crowded area, and promptly surrendered possession. So we were under pressure again. Brilliant. 

Well, maybe I don’t remember it with complete clarity as I can’t actually recall which cup final it was. It might have been Istanbul. Can’t blame him for sticking his penalty away, to be fair. 
We spent years chasing him. Ged was convinced he was the answer. But there was absolutely nothing during his entire time with us that didn’t make me think “Why couldn’t we have found a way to pull out of the deal and hand that massive wad of cash to Rafa instead?”

He also got us a goal in the FA cup final against West Ham.. he was great at QPR a goal or a red card card each game he played..

I don't think we played to his strengths at all putting him on the wing, felt for him coming here knowing the manager didn't want him

[KMD7 7,490]

17 hours ago, Tony Moanero said:

 

Ha! Had just posted when I remembered this. Point still stands though

[belarus 1,693]

On 11/08/2020 at 17:46, TheDrowningMan said:

I’ve long harboured the suspicion that Houllier was serving up a prime cut of horseshit with his insistence that Diouf was always on the cards that summer. I don’t recall any sort of link prior to the World Cup and, to be quite honest, nothing about him as a player suggested he was what that team needed in order to kick-on.

Now I’m always ready to knock Houllier, as aside from him moving the club forward and giving us that 2001 season, I think he’s a tit, but I do remember watching the first Senegal game and looking out for Diouf as we were chasing him.

[belarus 1,693]

On 11/08/2020 at 23:09, Soft Joe said:

Royston Drenthe

I’m sure Stevie chinned him in a pre season friendly. I’m off to have a look

[VladimirIlyich 7,743]

On 15/08/2020 at 07:28, KMD7 said:

Ha! Had just posted when I remembered this. Point still stands though

Remember that goal well. I was right in line with it in the paddock. An injury time beauty.

[belarus 1,693]

On 14/08/2020 at 14:23, Tony Moanero said:

 

The standout in that clip for me is how good Heskey was when he had “it”. What happened to him? He was an animal that 2001 season.

[cloggypop 11,156]

4 hours ago, belarus said:

I’m sure Stevie chinned him in a pre season friendly. I’m off to have a look

He should have but didn't. Drenthe went right through him. 

[belarus 1,693]

7 minutes ago, cloggypop said:

He should have but didn't. Drenthe went right through him. 

Might be a different thing I’m thinking of - agger boots the ball off his head after he was fouled and then there is a melee and Gerrard gives him a dig. Wait there, I’ll try and find it...

[Istvan Kuntstain 516]

6 minutes ago, belarus said:

Might be a different thing I’m thinking of - agger boots the ball off his head after he was fouled and then there is a melee and Gerrard gives him a dig. Wait there, I’ll try and find it...

Don't know if it was Drenthe but remember this

 

[belarus 1,693]

4 minutes ago, Istvan Kuntstain said:

Don't know if it was Drenthe but remember this

 

That’s it. Just found it - was a mixture of both. Drenthe goes through gerrard, then the bit with agger, then Stevie digs that lad in the photo, Drenthe comes over and Stevie swings for him too, but misses.

 

 

[cloggypop 11,156]

Yeah, Drenthe went through him and it ended up in a bit of a mass scuffle with a few yellows given out. He didn't smack Drenthe who deserved it to be fair. I was in De Kuip, in the Feyenoord fans, and the atmosphere for a pre season mini tournament was boss. First time Dirk had been back and he got cheers and songs all match. Babel got booed and jeered throughout for being ex Ajax. 

[belarus 1,693]

3 minutes ago, cloggypop said:

Yeah, Drenthe went through him and it ended up in a bit of a mass scuffle with a few yellows given out. He didn't smack Drenthe who deserved it to be fair. I was in De Kuip, in the Feyenoord fans, and the atmosphere for a pre season mini tournament was boss. First time Dirk had been back and he got cheers and songs all match. Babel got booed and jeered throughout for being ex Ajax. 

Must have been great that mate. I remember being in the Park End in the late 90s and the only time I could shout was when Robbie was scrapping with Unsworth - was electric. Not sure why that one was any different as I’ve sat all over Goodson with my blue dad and never had issues for the derby, but that one was strange. Hardly any reds showing around me at all.

[aws 6,888]

1 hour ago, belarus said:

The standout in that clip for me is how good Heskey was when he had “it”. What happened to him? He was an animal that 2001 season.

It's a long story beginning with Dave wrecking H*sk*y's confidence and ending with someone on YNWA threatening to run Dave over. 

[m0e 1,627]

That summer with Diao, Diouf & Cheyrou was criminal. Only the Hodgson summer was worse, and there were mitigating circumstances there.

 

Harry Kewell is the clear winner, from a single signing perspective.

[m0e 1,627]

On 11/08/2020 at 17:46, TheDrowningMan said:

I’ve long harboured the suspicion that Houllier was serving up a prime cut of horseshit with his insistence that Diouf was always on the cards that summer. I don’t recall any sort of link prior to the World Cup and, to be quite honest, nothing about him as a player suggested he was what that team needed in order to kick-on.

Diao was announced before the WC, and Diouf said he was joining him after the France opener when he was named man of the match and being interviewed for French television.

 

The deal was definitely agreed prior to the WC.

 

He was pretty damn good in that game too.

[Section_31 20,413]

Ince, missing link, ball winner, captain, leader.

 

Turned out to be a lazy shithouse and shit stirrer to boot.

[Lee909 11,703]

32 minutes ago, m0e said:

Diao was announced before the WC, and Diouf said he was joining him after the France opener when he was named man of the match and being interviewed for French television.

 

The deal was definitely agreed prior to the WC.

 

He was pretty damn good in that game too.

This, the links started after the ACON

[RoyHodgeGone 20]

I actually feel sorry for some of these players who were never that good and were given foolish hype - Biscan, Cheyrou, Pongolle. The obvious disasters would be Cisse and Carroll. What I never understood about signing Carroll was that we had already signed Suarez. Did we ever envisage them playing together? What was the plan to use him?

[Mudface 3,657]

10 minutes ago, RoyHodgeGone said:

I actually feel sorry for some of these players who were never that good and were given foolish hype - Biscan, Cheyrou, Pongolle. The obvious disasters would be Cisse and Carroll. What I never understood about signing Carroll was that we had already signed Suarez. Did we ever envisage them playing together? What was the plan to use him?

Carroll seemed like a panic buy from FSG (who'd not long taken over). After Torres going, signing the current flavour of the month was more about PR than anything else- they didn't want to be seen as asset strippers like Hicks and Gillett.

[Doctor Troy 10,681]

35 minutes ago, RoyHodgeGone said:

I actually feel sorry for some of these players who were never that good and were given foolish hype - Biscan, Cheyrou, Pongolle. The obvious disasters would be Cisse and Carroll. What I never understood about signing Carroll was that we had already signed Suarez. Did we ever envisage them playing together? What was the plan to use him?

It was an insane amount of money to waste on him. Particularly as we could have bought Aguero for the same amount or even Falcao who was brilliant when he signed for Atletico Madrid from Porto.