Jump to content
  • entries
    156
  • comments
    2
  • views
    14,370

Worst Signings of the 2020/21 Premiership season (part 2)


hislopsoffsideagain

1,291 views

The initial countdown from 25 to 11 can be found here.  

This is the ninth time we've done this. The eight previous 'winners':

2012/13: Rory Boulding (Kilmarnock)

2013/14: Stephane Bahoken (St. Mirren)

2014/15: Jim Fenlon (Ross County)

2015/16: Rodney Sneijder (Dundee United)

2016/17: Joey Barton (Rangers)

2017/18: Eduardo Herrera (Rangers)

2018/19: Umar Sadiq (Rangers)

2019/20: Madis Vihmann (St. Johnstone)


You'll note that we've never previously named a Celtic player at the top of this list. It won't surprise anyone that this is about to change...


image.png
10. MICHAEL O'CONNOR (ROSS COUNTY)

County took a flier on talented but troubled Irish striker O'Connor, whose gambling problems had scuppered big moves previously. He signed a two year deal in September and lasted less than three months, making a single sub appearance in the League Cup. What was particularly curious was the club's statement regarding his exit, where they stated he had "resigned". I mean, since when has a player resigned? This raises more questions than answers...


image.png
9. DREY WRIGHT (HIBERNIAN)

When I put out feelers on Twitter for potential candidates for this list, about a million (approximately) Hibs fans named Wright, signed from St. Johnstone last summer where he had impressed on the wing. Perhaps Jack Ross' tendency to use wing-backs rather than wingers has limited Wright's opportunities, but he's played just a single minute of league football in the last three months as he has become increasingly distanced from first team opportunities.


image.png
8. JORDAN WHITE (MOTHERWELL)

White has markedly improved since joining Ross County in January...which wouldn't be hard. Many (including myself) were dubious as to whether he could make the step up from the Championship, and by the end of August he had gone from ineffective starter to being an impact sub who made no impact. He failed to score or assist in any matches for the Steelmen and discounting the first half of his first start, they went onto score only one goal - a late consolation in a 5-1 defeat - with him on the pitch. In Dingwall he has at least come up with a winning goal against Celtic.


image.png
7. REGAN CHARLES-COOK (ROSS COUNTY)

Wideman Charles-Cook was seen as an exciting acquisition from Gillingham, and clearly he has something in his locker as both Stuart Kettlewell and John Hughes have given him more opportunities than other wingers in the County squad. But he's managed zero goals and zero assists in the league and the website WhoScored.com rates him as the worst outfield player in the Premiership this season. Many County fans are bemused that Jermaine Hylton in particular has had far fewer chances to impress.


image.png
6. JAKE HASTIE (MOTHERWELL)

That golden four months at the end of the 2018/19 season seem long ago now. Motherwell got £350,000 in compensation from Rangers for him that summer and got the player back - on loan - a year later. Still only 22, Hastie looks a shadow of the starlet he once was, starting just four games and carving out a role only as an unused sub. He still has two years left on his Ibrox deal, but it's clear he is in danger of not fulfilling his potential.


image.png
5. COLLIN QUANER (ST MIRREN)

It's only three seasons since Quaner was playing regularly in the Premier League with Huddersfield Town, and his arrival at St. Mirren looked like a potential coup. But the German forward had been without a club for six months before joining the Buddies in January and was subbed off with an injury on his debut only 20 minutes after coming on. He managed two more appearances, winning a very, very, very, very etc. soft penalty against Ross County before a fruitless start at Ibrox, and then got injured again with Jim Goodwin confirming that his season - and probably his career in Paisley - are over. 


image.png
4. AARON CHAPMAN (MOTHERWELL)

Motherwell signed Chapman as "experienced cover and competition for Trevor Carson" - their words. Well had so much confidence in him that when Carson got hurt they went out and signed another keeper, Jordan Archer. When Archer left at the end of December and Carson got injured yet again Chapman had to start a derby at Hamilton where in a 3-0 defeat he frankly looked like an outfielder playing in goal. He had actually started three other league games prior to that where he looked confident, but that Accies match will be all that Motherwell fans remember of him.


image.png
3. ANTHONY STOKES (LIVINGSTON)

This one can be filed under 'farce'. The veteran forward joined Livi in August, only to leave within a few weeks because he couldn't cope with training on astroturf. You'd think that would be the sort of thing you'd check out before you signed the player? He never played a game for the club. Since then, Stokes has been charged with headbutting a man, put on an anti-domestic abuse course and been accused of stalking his ex-partner, so perhaps Livingston dodged a bullet here.


image.png
2. VASILIS BARKAS (CELTIC)

Is Barkas salvageable? That'll be one of the big early questions for Celtic's new permanent manager, but recent reports suggest he will probably leave this summer. It's true that it can sometimes take foreign keepers a bit of time to adjust to British football, but for £4.5m Neil Lennon was entitled to expect the Greek to get the hang of it much quickly. Instead by December he was ditched for the Scottish Cup Final in favour of Conor Hazard (!), and every time he was recalled he seemed to quickly blot his copybook. Lennon hardly helped, seemingly scapegoating him when results are bad; after one disappointing performance he told the press of the need to build Barkas' confidence up with a run of more straightforward matches...and promptly dropped him for the next game, at home to Hamilton. It has been a complete and utter disaster for club and player.


image.png
1. SHANE DUFFY (CELTIC)

Until he came north, Shane Duffy was not a bad footballer - you don't play a hundred Premier League games and win forty caps for Ireland by being crap. But he was an old-fashioned big, strong, no-nonsense centre-back with not much pace, which made him an abysmal fit for a Celtic team that plays a high line and passes the ball out from the back. After he scored in his first two games one journalist quipped that Duffy might end up with a superior goal difference on his own to the teams he played against; as it stands that record is currently minus-30. His confidence is shot and his stock has fallen so far that he has been replaced by Stephen Welsh for the last couple of months as he awaits the end of his nightmare loan spell. He has cost Celtic more than £3m in loan fees and wages.


Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.

View the full article

0 Comments


Recommended Comments

There are no comments to display.



  • Upcoming Events

    No upcoming events found
  • Topics

  • Posts

    • For me the question is whether the leadership is there to galvanise that mindset in the players. I don't think Big Dunc has that belief so if he doesn't have it, he can't pass it on to the players. Barring a miracle, we are headed for administration and a 15-point penalty at a minimum. If that happens, DF has already given up and needs to be replaced with someone who will try to have the players scrap for every point ... I would rather go down fighting than meekly give up. 
    • Although I think it’s obviously helpful that this appeal does well, I also think it’s a relative sideshow that has been overtaken by what now looks like inexorable momentum towards administration. This £200K is chickenfeed in a much bigger game. Also at today’s press conference where the manager expressed slender hopes of staying in League One after a 15 point deduction, Charlie Gilmour spoke very well, saying that if the penalty did happen then it would have the effect of galvanising him and probably others to rise to the challenge. Looking back through the history of this club, I think of a number of episodes of improbable success and rescue such as the club being formed at all, defeating Celtic three times in the Scottish Cup, coming back from 3-0 down against Ayr, cantering home in the First Division in 2010 after looking dead and gone in February, winning the First Division in 2004 with victories over Clyde and St Johnstone, getting into the SPL through a wad of red tape etc etc. One thing that does worry me, though, is whether the same spirit is there these days?
    • Our tiddly little Board and AS have thrown in the towel but surely Super Caley could still Go Ballistic in the next 6 days. Administration and Elgin passing us in the night does not seem right for the City of Inverness?
    • fixed it for you. I do sympathise a little with him because the administrator is going to cut anyone who gets a high wage or who is getting put up in accommodation or generally has a large footprint in terms of cost in some way. That will leave us with the boys really and that would be a tough ask for any manager, let alone one that can't buy or even loan a win. 
    • According to Ferguson, a 15 point deduction would see us relegated: "If we get a 15-point deduction, we are not going to be able to stay in the division unless we probably win every game and every other teams loses every game. It would be a nearly impossible task. One we would try to overcome and win games, but if administrator comes in and cuts the squad, which I think he would do, it would really be a tough ask. The 15-point deduction would more than certainly relegate us." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c8djl80rl8mo   It would see us 12 points behind, yes, but we'd have 27 games to claw that back!!! That said, if Ferguson's still here then I agree - we will be relegated (15 point deduction or not)!
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. : Terms of Use : Guidelines : Privacy Policy