Signings of the Season

Lemlin

Soccernet have just named their top ten:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=367614&root=england&cc=5739

1. Craig Bellamy
2. Aaron Lennon
3. Darren Bent
4. Arjan de Zeeuw
5. Pascal Chimbonda
6. Momo Sissoko
7. Pedro Mendes
8. Scott Parker
9. Danny Gabbidon
10. Mikel Arteta

Surprising that all the players, bar Sissoko, come from teams outside the top four in the Premiership. No place for the likes of Essien, Crouch, Del Horno, Vidic or Diaby.

MrJoeSoap

Lemlin wrote:

No place for the likes of Essien, Crouch, Del Horno, Vidic or Diaby.

And rightly so. Can't really argue with that ten.

For Southampton, I'd say Djamel Belmadi and (to a lesser extent) Grzegorz Rasiak, though Andrew Surman has been like a new signing for us recently.

iregk

Lemlin wrote:

No place for the likes of Essien, Crouch, Del Horno, Vidic or Diaby.

Thats because they don't deserve to be there... Essien, Crouch, Del Honro and Vidic have been muck. Diaby has been good but we need to see more of him.

PHB

How about VDS?
He's been a pretty good signing.
Park too.

Serbian

PHB wrote:

How about VDS?
He's been a pretty good signing.
Park too.

Van der Sar has been good alright, but Park? He only started 23 games and hasn't been better than average in my opinion.

I think Yakubu was a great signing for Middlesbrough, if he had played more games towards the end of the season he would have pushed for a place on the list. Still, 13 goals from 29 starts ain't bad.

mchurl

VDS was an excellent signing imo, not too sure about Park still. As for Saints, Rasiak has been a decent buy and Surman really has been a revelation, also up until his injury Bartosz Bialkowski was a very good signing for us even if we didnt see much of him at all.

Raskolnikov

Yossi Benayoun, Philip Neville and Nolberto Solano all deserve honourable mentions in my opinion at least.

Most pointless signing, Danny Murphy to Spurs, has he even played a game for them?

Necronomicon

Raskolnikov wrote:

Yossi Benayoun, Philip Neville and Nolberto Solano all deserve honourable mentions in my opinion at least.

Most pointless signing, Danny Murphy to Spurs, has he even played a game for them?

Agreed, Benayoun should be up there. Pardew has been excellent in the transfer market.

MrJoeSoap

mchurl wrote:

VDS was an excellent signing imo, not too sure about Park still. As for Saints, Rasiak has been a decent buy and Surman really has been a revelation, also up until his injury Bartosz Bialkowski was a very good signing for us even if we didnt see much of him at all.

Yeah and I suppose you could include Kevin Miller in that too. With a (hopefully) fully fit squad we'll be there or thereabouts next season.

Forgot about Benayoun, he definitely should have made the top 10.

iregk

Completely forgot about Benayoun myself, that was a good signing as was VDS.

Yakubu has been good for Boro no doubt but what about that donkey Harry bougt for Pomp. Whats his name up front cost a fortune and looks no more a prem footballer than my mother!!!

yom 1

Pepe Reina would defo be in my list - the golden glove award proves that



Most Pointless signing - SWP takes gold silver and bronze:D

Necronomicon

iregk wrote:

Yakubu has been good for Boro no doubt but what about that donkey Harry bougt for Pomp. Whats his name up front cost a fortune and looks no more a prem footballer than my mother!!!

Benjani? He's been a good signing for Harry even though he's goal shy, he has a brilliant work rate and he's had his fair shair of assists.

Táck

Raskolnikov wrote:

Most pointless signing, Danny Murphy to Spurs, has he even played a game for them?

seen the irish young chappy, Dixon, was training with the first team for the first time the other day and said that he was training along side Danny Murphy. i thought he'd retired due to his blood boiling over foreign players in the league.


Pepe Reina should of got a mention for good signing.

besty

Van der Saar
Ji-Sung Park?

I know I'm a United fan but I think they've both been great.

Elsewhere, I think Benayoun should be in there.

Lemlin

I'm actually surprised Bellamy got first. Yes, he was great for Blackburn but he only started 22 Premiership games and missed most of the season before Christmas. He definitely desrved to be in the top five but not first IMO.

I would of put Darren Bent above him. Bent cost half of what Bellamy did (even though Bellers was a bargain) and did not suffer from injuries.

Bacchus

Maybe not in the top 10 but an honourable mention should go to Benitez bringing Fowler back to Liverpool at a time when we badly needed a striker. Took a while to get going but he had a nice run of games towards the end of the season that clinched us some vital points and kept us in the running for 2nd.

shepthedog

I would put Darren Bent first.. Bellamy first? Sure had great end to season but not sure was best signing. Van Der Sar was great signing.

Rikand

D'Allesandro of Portsmouth or was he just a loan and not a signing ?

Chardee MacDennis

Rickylovesuall wrote:

D'Allesandro of Portsmouth or was he just a loan and not a signing ?

just on loan

SteM

yom 1 wrote:

Most Pointless signing - SWP takes gold silver and bronze:D

Think I'd give Evra for United an honorable mention

Sajan

I dont know how anyone could realistically consider Michael Essien as a signing of the season. If it was for worst signings then yes I would have him in the top 3.

There is talk that he could go from Chelsea cause he hasn't made the grade. I think its highly possible.

Vokes

D'Alessandro was a great loan signing nonetheless - a great bit of business by Harry Redknapp. He played big part in Portsmouth's survival.

Suprised Reina isn't in that top ten.

Lex Luthor

Darren Bent wasn't a signing for this season. Didn't he play for Charlton last season also?

The one I think would have been the best but for his injury is Heinze.
Eboue also deserves a mention.

Necronomicon

Lex Luthor wrote:

Darren Bent wasn't a signing for this season. Didn't he play for Charlton last season also?

The one I think would have been the best but for his injury is Heinze.
Eboue also deserves a mention.

Darrent Bent was signed for this season, this is also Heinze's second season, so you're getting a bit mixed up there

Lemlin

Lex Luthor wrote:

Darren Bent wasn't a signing for this season. Didn't he play for Charlton last season also?

The one I think would have been the best but for his injury is Heinze.
Eboue also deserves a mention.

Eboue wasn't a signing this season either. Not sure where he came form but he's been with Arsenal a while.

Roddy23

Eboue came from Arsenal's feeder club in Belgium, Beveren. We had him on a trial last season, and bought him last season, but he stayed on with Beveren till the end of their season. Then during the summer he began playing for us.

D'allesandro was a classic Harry Redknapp loan. He is a very good player, and he played an important part in helping Portsmouth survive the drop. I think Reina, Kiely and Bent were also excellent buys. I hope that Diaby will also be able to achieve the potential he had shown prior to being ruled out for 9 months.

Lex Luthor

Roddy23 wrote:

Eboue came from Arsenal's feeder club in Belgium, Beveren. We had him on a trial last season, and bought him last season, but he stayed on with Beveren till the end of their season. Then during the summer he began playing for us.

Doh!

Lemlin wrote:

Eboue wasn't a signing this season either. Not sure where he came form but he's been with Arsenal a while.

Double Doh!

Necromomicon wrote:

Darrent Bent was signed for this season, this is also Heinze's second season, so you're getting a bit mixed up there

Doh! Doh! Doh!

wheres me jumpa

Sajan wrote:

I dont know how anyone could realistically consider Michael Essien as a signing of the season. If it was for worst signings then yes I would have him in the top 3.

There is talk that he could go from Chelsea cause he hasn't made the grade. I think its highly possible.

The problem I have with him and some of the other "world class" players signed from the French Leagues is the money that is paid for them. If Chelsea has paid ten mil for Essien we would all be saying he wasnt a bad signing. Byt because they paid so much for him we expect so much more and so we should.

Similar with Drogba and the hapless Cisse. It is for this reason I am extremely worried about United signing Diarra. They will spend at least 20 mil on him, which is probably a big chunk of our budget and he could turn out to be just average in the English league. Its also worth pointing out that Djemba Djemba was the young player of the year in France before he arrived here.

The best signings for me this year were Bent, Eboue, Van Der Sar, Davids, Bellamy and Arteta(was that this year?). Not saying these were the best players this year but im judging the effect they had on their team and the price associated.