Best and Worst Signings

[butchaboy]

With the transfer market opening soon, i think it would be good to discuss who we think the best and worst signings are of each managers reign, seem as though iv only supported united properly since 2003/4, i can only comment on 2 managers , and then predict who i think will be signed by Blacky

Warnock
Best
Quite hard, i would say Killa, been a rock and furthermore, consistent, some will argue this was because Cahill came but i think in the long run he will be a legend at the lane and hes great all round

Worst
Jesus where do i start, we had loads of crap, Leggy, Seck, but i would have to say just because of the fee Horsfield, even though Akinbiyi cost more, he did score some goals, Horsefield is appauling, apparently shit in the dressing room and was the biggest waste of over 1 million pounds since... well ever

Robson
Best
Aahhh c'mon, who wont say Beattie, absolute legend, 22 goals in a season, and he missed 5 or 6 with injury, top assister aswell, brings passion to the team and has also got a great free kick , only good thing robson did, i guess if it wasnt for robson, Beattie wouldnt be here

Worst
I dont want to say Hendrie because i do like him, nor do i want to say Ugo, but i guess it will have to be Hendrie jus because of his dressing room attitude and yellow card to game ratio, what a plum , hope he prooves us all wrong this season

Blacky

Bringing in Cotterill and Halmosi would be great signings, maybe a good CB and another striker if 2 of the current ones go, think he will also make one big premiership coup signing if im being honest

 

[The One]

Warnock
Best
Killa has become a very good signing. Did Warnock bring Browny to the lane? Another brilliant signing.

Worst
That guy who came at the same time as Derry? Jon someone or other.

Robson
Best
Beattie easy - fantastic first year for us. Been a while since we had a striker who can reach 20goals.

Worst
Hendrie - thought he was going to be a star for us but didn't happen.

Blacky
We will have to wait and see what happens with Blackie. He's been a gem so far getting the players to perform so hopefully he'll be able to bring some more players in to work well with the rest of the team.

 

[keenzy]

kenny was a good buy of warnocks.


Deano prob best while ive been supporting the blades

 

[Thorpey Pig]

Warnock
Best
At the time for me it has to be rob hulse, when he first came to the lane he was a bit like beattie but like all football players when they break their legs, they lose their confidence, e.g. before micheal owen cocked his leg up he was the one striker everyone wanted and he was banging in goals like there was no tomorrow but after his injury look at him now, he jus is not the same

Worst
Li Tie, i can onli remember seeing him play once and that was against chengu blades

Robson
Best
got to be good old Beatts for the obvious reasons

Worst
i'd hate to say it but im going to have to say billy sharp, now people are going to start disagreeing with me, saying 'oh he is amazing, our second best striker' but thats your opinion and thats fine but i have my own opinion of him, before we brought him back to the lane, he scored 32 goals for scunthorpe, and i know its a different league to the championship but i thought he would have scored his first goal earlier and scored more this season, im not trying to say he is crap because he isn't, he just has'nt lived up to my expectations n to his true potential in my eyes, so i hope he proves me wrong by being better next season

Blackwell

well i can't say anything for him yet but i think he will get some good players in

 

[happyhippy]

Let an old'un in ....well nearly 34 anyway .....

Here are the results of the Jordanthorpe jury ....

Harry Haslam - best

It has to Alex Sabella, but I wonder if we'd have kicked all of the skill out of Maradona had we signed him . Some of my earliest memories are of Sabella's trickery, but often, as is usually the case with United, there was no end product. A highlight of the most disappointing time ever to be a Blade (typical that I started supporting them at that point then).

Harry Haslam - worst

Pedro Verde has to be high on the list, but for me it musy be Len De Goey. Dreadful, just dreadful.

Martin Peters - N/A

I think it was Peters who brought Don Givens in, but to be fair to the fella, someone had to take the bloody penalty.

Ian Porterfield - best

The return of Keith Edwards from Hull is an obvious one, but for me Paul "Stan The Man" Stancliffe is my pick. Granted, without Keithy Edwaaaard's goals, promotion from Division Four might not have happened, let alone Division Three, but that first season back in Division Two was a tough one, and Stan The Man was a rock.

Ian Porterfield - worst

Peter Withe must rank as one of the worst signings United have ever made. Granted, he was in place of the out of favour talisman Keith Edwards, but even as a ten year old, I thought he was awful for us.

Billy McEwan - best

They were lean times under Billy, but I'd say Chris Wilder was his best buy. He played well in a side which was in seemingly inexorable decline. It should be remembered that he remained a mainstay for a number of years.

Billy McEwan - worst

Peter Beagrie is up there for me, but I thought Andy Barnsley was dreadful.

St David of Bassett - best

Wow, this is hard! The man who brought the good times back, and when I was a teenager, made so many astute signings ....... Brian Deane is the really obvious one, and Tony Agana is next, but for me, it was our four year stint back in the big time which did it, and that required a defence, and some guile too. Glyn Hodges was the skill, and Brian Gayle (eventually) provided the spectacular own-goals, but the star signing has to be Alan Kelly.

United have always been blessed with decent goalkeepers, and Tracey was great (but don't follow his bets), Mel will always be a United legend (what happened to his 'Kop Flag'?), but Alan was a hero in the long line of United keepers who were legends, and by Christ(TM) did we need him!

There are so many matches where he kept us in the match, let alone to win it ..... he had a perspex sheet behind him at Wembley just about, and was the injured commander away at Ipswich in '97 when we got through on away goals. I'll tell his "I'm going." story another time.

Simply an amazing goalkeeper.

St David of Bassett - worst

Loads could fit this category, but United were being strangled by Brealey at this point. Many might say Jostein Flo, but he was top scorer in that relegation season (with 9), AND he shut the Scousers up away when we won 2-1.

Given how we needed to have decent defence,especially after Brealey had sold St Brian of Deane, Jonas Wirmola was an atrocity. David Barnes was a better defender; bloody hell, even BEESLEY was a better left-back.

And that's saying something.

Howard Kendall - best

Many will hark back to Gordon Cowans (what price a similar player here now?), and with the change in style, he was instrumental in how United progressed after the spiteful Brealey 2nd era. Don Hutchinson was was brought in as the the Club's biggest signing, but alongside others seemed to 'feeling sone effects" against Aston Vile, but even so so I'll still give my vote to David Holdsworth.

110% for me, and the Alan Damms' print of the Coventry equaliser is above my monitor too.

Howard Kendall - worst

John Ebbrell - enough said.

Nigel Spackman - best

A tough one, especially as some deals had been negotiated by Kendall. Paul McGrath did a surprisingly good job in his short time, and Dean Saunders played well for us, but the revelation was Vassilis Borbokis.

I'm sure I remember him scoring a free kick in a pre-season friendly "the wrong way round" the wall against Blackburn (Brian Deane scored after 15 seconds in that match).

His first League performance was against newly relegated, and hot favourites for promotion, Sunderland.

We stuffed them, and he was the star. Triainos Dellas was also an instant hero as he stood still on the half-way line as two Norwich players bounced off of him on his debut as a sub. His thunderbolt v Portsmouth was special too.

Nigel Spackman - worst

Bobby Ford fits the bill. I remember he had a great game for Oxford against us, and never lived up to it.

Steve Thompson

Never had a chance to do anything.

Steve Bruce

Another who never had the chance to bring anyone in in his short reign.

Adrian Heath

Let's just not .......

St Neil of Warnock - best

With United folding miserably toward the third tier of English football, one player immediately shone, and he'd been a 'boo boy' previously, and he was Shaun Murphy.

With the more resolute style with which we were playing, he took on the mantle of the 'leading centre-back'. United were trying to creat from within now, so there were some odd signings, but for me St Neil's best signing was Paul Peschisolido.

We had loads of youths coming through, but his natural instinct, a goal grabbing probably gave the youngsters more confidence than owt.

St Neil of Warnock - worst

Geoff Horsfield. What was the point, though there are possibly many others too.

Barny Sornob - best

Without question James Beattie. 18 goals in front of his nearest rival in the squad?

Barny Sornob - worst

Lee Hendire, by a country mile.

King Kevin II????

Let's wait and see what he can do ......

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I can go back a bit further than the hairy one! But taking his lead:



Harry Haslam - best

Sabella was a quality signing, granted. But for sheer value, in terms of signing for nowt and then moving for a hefty profit after only a handful of games, I would have to say Imre Varadi

Harry Haslam - worst

Loads to choose from. A guy called Tony Moore (rght-back) was pretty awful



Martin Peters - N/A

Can't disagree with him there

Ian Porterfield - best

Edwards would always rank highly. Keith Waugh was a decent keeper, but for me it would have to be Colin Morris

Ian Porterfield - worst

HH went for Withe I would go for one of the other of his old brigade, Phil Thompson.

Billy McEwan - best

Can't really say he made a good signing

Billy McEwan - worst

Take your pick!

St David of Bassett - best

Difficult to choose between quite a few. Deane, Kelly, Tracey, Hodges. But for me, Tony Agana!


St David of Bassett - worst

As HH said, a few during his later years. Wirmola was pretty bad


Howard Kendall - best

A good few, Hutchison was the type of player we need now. But it might be Michal Vonk for me, injury probably stopped him becoming a bit of a legend

Howard Kendall - worst

John Ebbrell, of course!

Nigel Spackman - best

Borbokis was a good signing, but I think (might be wrong, he could be one of Kendalls) that Carl Tiler was more than decent!

Nigel Spackman - worst

Can't remember a real bad 'un, but Ford wasn't great

Steve Thompson

Not a long reign, but wasn't he responsible for Marcello (or was that Bruce???)

Steve Bruce

See above, save that Tebily was OK for a short spell at t'Lane!

Adrian Heath

Ermmmmmmmmm!..........

St Neil of Warnock - best

Not sure if Michael Brown was his, sure he was! Apart from that, Paddy was a good 'un!

St Neil of Warnock - worst

Geoff Horsfield, no contest!

Robson - best

Beattie

Robson - worst

Hendire, although that may have been a done deal before he got the job!

Of the managers pre-Haslam! John Harris signed generally only quality in my time, topped off by TC, BEST SIGNING EVER! Furphy signed some trogs, but Keith Eddy oozed class and never really hit the heights he should have.

 

[Rodley]

To continue...

Clough

Best - Couttseh and Bash

Worst - Higgosaurus, McEverley and Conor Sammon

Adkins

Best - Billy Sharp

Worst - Woolford and not pulling out of the Conor Sammon deal

Wilder

Best - Loads of good ones - Fleck, O’Connoll, Duffaldo are my first picks. Honourable mentions for Simon Moore, Jake Wright, Clarke, Baldock, Stearman,

Worst - Chris Hussey

What you takeaway from that is Wilder’s hit to miss ratio is by a mile the best I’ve ever seen as a Blades manager. With another couple of good transfer windows we could be well in the mix for the top 6 next year.

 

[Hodgesleftpeg]

With another couple of good transfer windows we could be well in the mix for the top 6 next year.

Europe next year? I like the sound of that!!

 

[Liaminho9]

To continue...

Clough

Best - Couttseh and Bash

Worst - Higgosaurus, McEverley and Conor Sammon

Adkins

Best - Billy Sharp

Worst - Woolford and not pulling out of the Conor Sammon deal

Wilder

Best - Loads of good ones - Fleck, O’Connoll, Duffaldo are my first picks. Honourable mentions for Simon Moore, Jake Wright, Clarke, Baldock, Stearman,

Worst - Chris Hussey

What you takeaway from that is Wilder’s hit to miss ratio is by a mile the best I’ve ever seen as a Blades manager. With another couple of good transfer windows we could be well in the mix for the top 6 next year.

Struggling to believe that anyone would consider Woolford worse than Hammond - unless Hammond was so bad you have erased him from your memory?

 

[Deadly_D'Jaffo]

in my lifetime;

Spackman
McGrath / Cullen (pretty sure it was him who signed Derry and Cullen)

...at this point...who signed Graham Stuart?

Bruce
Kozluk (swap deal for Borbokis + cash?) / Twiss (loan i know, but gash)

Heath
Murphy / Ribeiro

Warnock
Brown / Boussetta

Robson
Beattie / Carney

Blackwell
Ward / Simonsen

Wilson
McDonald / Williams

Weir
Coady / Taylor

Clough
Coutts / Higdon

Adkins
Sharp / Hammond

Wilder
Fleck / Hussey