Top 5 signings made by your club

[King Kev]

Was making notes for my upcoming book: 'Will there be a footballing rainbow: Kevin Blackwell dreaming of a better brand of football.' Anyway went onto the Bury message board (nicknamed the **** board) and came a cross a decent thread asking which signings have had the wow factor when your club made them.

Not which ones turned out to be great value, not the ones that were worth the money, the signings your club made that made you go 'wow.' Obviously feel free to tell us if they were any good or not.

Just thought you would also want to know, the bloke who started the thread actually reckoned a statue of me should have been constructed outside gigg lane as a tribute for me saving the club in 2013. Little gestures like that make being a football manager worth it.

 

[King Kev]

As a Bury fan since saving the club and doing alot of research here are some of Bury's in no order.

John Newby
David Healy
Scott Loach
Tom Soares
Andy Gray - he was one hell of a player during the brief time that we had him

 

[joethegill]

The two that spring to mind are Tommy Johnson and Rod Wallace when we were in the Championship. They were both 'names' and had bags of quality, although that came with a pretty rubbish injury record. Going back a little while to 1995, we signed Dennis Bailey from QPR. Most people probably wouldn't have heard of him, but I believe he was the first player to score a hat-trick for an away side at Old Trafford in a league game. There's no way we should've signed him in the old Division Three but we managed it, and he was a big part of our promotion side.

The final two would be the double act we signed from Brentford in the late 90s - Carl Asaba and Bobby Taylor. We'd seen what they were capable of with Brentford so to sign the two for a total fee of around a million was pretty exciting. They didn't disappoint either, scoring freely for the next few years before they both went on to better things - Taylor to Man City for a club record 1.5 million, and Asaba to Sheffield United for a measly fee under 100k due to a bit of a disagreement over a new contract.

 

[blademan89]

The two that spring to mind are Tommy Johnson and Rod Wallace when we were in the Championship. They were both 'names' and had bags of quality, although that came with a pretty rubbish injury record. Going back a little while to 1995, we signed Dennis Bailey from QPR. Most people probably wouldn't have heard of him, but I believe he was the first player to score a hat-trick for an away side at Old Trafford in a league game. There's no way we should've signed him in the old Division Three but we managed it, and he was a big part of our promotion side.

The final two would be the double act we signed from Brentford in the late 90s - Carl Asaba and Bobby Taylor. We'd seen what they were capable of with Brentford so to sign the two for a total fee of around a million was pretty exciting. They didn't disappoint either, scoring freely for the next few years before they both went on to better things - Taylor to Man City for a club record 1.5 million, and Asaba to Sheffield United for a measly fee under 100k due to a bit of a disagreement over a new contract.

When the ball hits the goal its not shearer or cole its asaba. Legend that man.

 

[Chris]

Jamie Vardy
Andy Mangan
Gareth Seddon
Steve McNulty
Nathan Pond

 

[joethegill]

When the ball hits the goal its not shearer or cole its asaba. Legend that man.

He was absolutely lethal.

 

[King Kev]

I forgot to mention that I asked this same question on my facebook fan page and below is a post from one Bury fan who is also an avid supporter of mine.


Newby signed for us after a loan spell where he had scored what seemed like a hatfull of goals. Turns out we were that crap back then that 6 in 20 seemed like loads . His goals made a bit of a difference though along with Colin Cramb's input and it helped keep us clear of the league 1 drop zone.
He signed permenantly and I was certain he would bang in lots of goals the next season (I was only 14) and he would help instigate a push for the playoffs (my naivety told me that we were still a decent sized club having only been out the championship for two years ). Newbs went and scored on his debut at Tranmere, a team just relegated from the championship and Newby scored the first goal of the season throughout the four divisions in a 2-1 win. My proficy was proving to be correct.....it wasnt though. He managed just 4 more goals, we nearly went bust and were relegated. A truly awful season all round.

 

[Fedora Dale]

1. Steve Johnson. Big beast of a centre forward, who knew how to score. Bought from Bury, to much excitement. Had a very competent six months, then inevitably sold on to Wigan when we realised we were still skint.

2. Carl Harris. Saw him totally destroy table topping Ipswich aSpotland Rd, so rather chuffed when he turned up at Spotland. Ok, injuries and anno domini had taken their toll, but he was still class.

3. Andy Flounders. Bloody good player for Hull and Scunthorpe. Paid record fee for him. Two good years, then faded away.

4. Adam Le Fondre. Can't believe Stockport let him go. Class act, and the best finisher I've seen in a Dale shirt. Would have him back any time.

5. Ian Henderson. Relegated back to League 2, going nowhere much under John Coleman, then in January 2013 Sir Keith returns. And signs Henderson. "Isn't that the bloke from Colchester who always scores against us? Thought so!" We're on the up again...

 

[Millwall_Matt]

Sergei Yuran
Russian international who had been pivotal in Spartak beating Man Utd in the European Cup. Was the biggest flop in our history and left after being convicted of drink driving. Jimmy Nicholl (manager at the time) said of him: "The only thing the other players could have possibly learned from him while he was here was how to steal a living." His compatriot Kulkov was even worse.

Dennis Wise
Sacked by Leicester after a brawl and presumably signed for us because nobody else wanted him. Was still the best player in the Championship at the time and brought us close to the premier league, an FA Cup final and our only ever European experience. Fell out with the Chairman (Theo Paphitis) and left a club in decline. Mostly a good one.

Neil Harris
Brought the legend back after leaving a few years prior. Went on to become our leading all time scorer. Maybe not a big name outside of Millwall, but a rare example of a club legend coming home and actually doing well.

Tony Cottee
Fucking shite, ex west ham and thoroughly overshadowed by Steve Claridge who signed the same day. Big name, small man, smaller impact.

Berry Powell
Top scorer in Eredivisie when we signed him. Did the square root of naff all for a year and then went back to scoring for fun in Holland. We don't do very well when we actually spend any money.

 

[TimeyWimey]

We had Newby on loan. Think the story is Dario sent him packing when he whinged at being played out of position.

Ours...

Rodney Jack
We spent a shit load of money on him (£650k) which remains our highest transfer fee paid and so definitely wow. Probably not quite as appreciated now as he should be, on his day he was awesome and scored some stunning goals (usually against Bolton). He got distracted by the bright lights of Rushden and Diamonds though.

Dave Brammer
Another big money (£500k) signing as part of his tour of North Staffordshire and South Cheshire. I still think up there with the very best signings we have made. He was just a very, very good midfielder and the perfect captain. When he wasn't in the team we were shite. His legs seemed to go the moment he left us, not a favourite at Stoke or Millwall or Vale (2nd time round).

Anthony Elding
After being ace for Stockport, I genuinely thought he was a guaranteed 20 goal striker. I decided to ignore the disastrous 6 months at Leeds he had. Turned out he was absolutely terrible. One of the worst footballers to wear a Crewe shirt. Leeds clearly saw this and, unable to return him to Stockport, must surely have felt guilty taking £200k off us for him.

Juan Ugarte
Another Elding. Scored for fun for Wrexham and seemed like the whole football league wanted him. We got him and I think it's fair to say he was a proper exciting signing at the time. He was awful. Played for us twice, went back to Wrexham, retired.

Ollie Turton
Struggled to contain myself when he was given a two year contract in the summer.

 

[LS Bantam]

1. Benito Carbone - The crown jewel of our '6 weeks of madness' the summer after we survived in the Prem which almost bankrupted us. He was on more than Beckham was at Man Utd. Arguably the most talented player we ever had but in truth he was so much better than everyone else he was wasted with us. A great tryer and a good bloke, we owed him the remainder of his contract when we were desperate to get rid during administration which he waived, £3m worth of wages.

2. Chris Waddle - Pure, pure class and a bit of a coup for a struggling Div 1 side at the time, as talented a footballer as you could imagine. Scored directly from a corner Vs Huddersfield live on Sky and lobbed Neville Southall at Goodison when we knocked Everton out of the FA Cup, two beauties. It was a short and sweet stint as Premier league Sunderland took him off us.

3. Stan Collymore - It felt like he left as quickly as he came, again on big money and equally big reputation on and off the pitch. Scored an incredible overhead kick Vs Leeds on his debut which I'll never forget.

4. Dan Petrescu - I could fill this list with expensive let downs during our Premiership stint, a house old name from Chelsea who was starting in the World Cup only two years earlier, we got rid within a few months.

5. Isaiah Rankin - A 'wow' signing as we paid £1m for a relatively unknown kid from Arsenal, maybe he had 5 star Football Manager potential? He didn't show it. He was very quick and started off well, but he soon faded and Robbie Blake and Lee Mills claimed the two striker roles for that 98/'99 promotion season, he was never more than a bit part player for the rest of his time here.

 

[loz]

Wayne Jacobs, a free from Rotherham who played more than 500 games for us in 3 divisions
Tumble Dreyer, we were relegation fodder from what is now the championship and 20 grand on him stopped the leakage of goals.
Peter Beagrie, possibly the best English left winger when we were in the prem. Had he played for a fashionable club, I'm sure this would have been recognised. His left side partnership with Jacobs was awesome.
Stuart McCall, The return of our legend was the catalyst for our rise to the prem.
Stan Collymore, if only for his wonder goal against Leeds.

Incidentally LSB, Isaiah was a great signing if only for the kick up the backside it gave to Robbie Blake.

 

[markwwfc1992]

Gareth Seddon

He used to be my PE teacher at school between 2005-06. He got a part time job at our school whilst he was recovering from some knee injury. Decent guy he was.

 

[rudebwoyben]

1. Benito Carbone - The crown jewel of our '6 weeks of madness' the summer after we survived in the Prem which almost bankrupted us. He was on more than Beckham was at Man Utd. Arguably the most talented player we ever had but in truth he was so much better than everyone else he was wasted with us. A great tryer and a good bloke, we owed him the remainder of his contract when we were desperate to get rid during administration which he waived, £3m worth of wages.

2. Chris Waddle - Pure, pure class and a bit of a coup for a struggling Div 1 side at the time, as talented a footballer as you could imagine. Scored directly from a corner Vs Huddersfield live on Sky and lobbed Neville Southall at Goodison when we knocked Everton out of the FA Cup, two beauties. It was a short and sweet stint as Premier league Sunderland took him off us.

3. Stan Collymore - It felt like he left as quickly as he came, again on big money and equally big reputation on and off the pitch. Scored an incredible overhead kick Vs Leeds on his debut which I'll never forget.

4. Dan Petrescu - I could fill this list with expensive let downs during our Premiership stint, a house old name from Chelsea who was starting in the World Cup only two years earlier, we got rid within a few months.

5. Isaiah Rankin - A 'wow' signing as we paid £1m for a relatively unknown kid from Arsenal, maybe he had 5 star Football Manager potential? He didn't show it. He was very quick and started off well, but he soon faded and Robbie Blake and Lee Mills claimed the two striker roles for that 98/'99 promotion season, he was never more than a bit part player for the rest of his time here.

I saw Isaiah Rankin playing for Hendon at Wingate & Finchley a couple of seasons ago!

 

[stevie_howard]

I think I'd have to go for Soares, Thompson, Poleon, Doherty, Ebanks-Landell.

 

[King Kev]

Zubar was better than Ebanks-Landell

 

[King Kev]

Aside from that great post Howard.

Jensen was another great signing by me. Ex prem goalkeeper, probably had another threw seasons left in him.

 

[Fedora Dale]

Aside from that great post Howard.

Jensen was another great signing by me. Ex prem goalkeeper, probably had another threw seasons left in him.

What about Big Jess, the Random Rwandan?

Scored a very good goal in t'cup v Norwich, IIRC

 

[THE TERRACEMAN]

Ian Storey Moore, Neil Warnock, Nigel Clough, Gary Rowett, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, all signed by the same man, chairman Ben Robinson !

 

[Zeus]

We've actually made a few recent 'wow' signings with various success. Obviously signing Jack Lester was wow. Also, I did 'wow' when we signed Gary Roberts, followed by an impressed look of surprise when Ian Evatt returned. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake raised my eyebrows.

As for the remaining place, I'd say paying £40k for Martin Gritton was fucking astounding.

 

[Zeus]

Ian Storey Moore, Neil Warnock, Nigel Clough, Gary Rowett, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, all signed by the same man, chairman Ben Robinson !

Where's ROY MAC?

 

[Bottega Don]

1. Paddy Madden - Signed for quite a big fee at L2 level, really signaled our intentions that season as we signed the guy who finished L1 top scorer just the season prior. An absolute god of a man, hope we hold onto him.

2. Peter Beagrie - Former Premier League player signed when we were in L2, was one of the most exciting signings we ever made. He was a class act and a fantastic player for us too.

3. Rob Jones - Our record signing. He was Hibs' captain when we signed him so we all expected big things. He is one of the worst players I have ever seen play football. Absolutely pathetic player, still manages to always score against us though.

4. Martin Paterson - We finally managed to sign him from Stoke after chasing him all summer. This meant all our fans expected a lot and he lived up to it. Did his best to try and keep us up that season in the Championship but we ultimately got relegated and we sold him for big money to Burnley.

5. Kevin Van Veen - Bought him from the Dutch second division with a host of other clubs chasing him. He's still trying to fit in and adapt to the English game, the talent is clearly there but he needs to improve.

 

[epic73]

Ruud van Nistelrooy
Peter Schmeichel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ryan Giggs
George Best
Bobby Charlton

Can't pick just five.

 

[stevie_howard]

What about Big Jess, the Random Rwandan?

Scored a very good goal in t'cup v Norwich, IIRC

When you think about it, the calibre of player signed in that period makes it almost impossible to pick just 5.

 

[THE TERRACEMAN]

Where's ROY MAC?

Roy Mac was a disaster !

 

[Jack]

Jorge Letiao
Tom Bradshaw
Andy Butler
Alan Buckley
Jimmy Walker

 

[Jockney]

Ruud van Nistelrooy
Peter Schmeichel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ryan Giggs
George Best
Bobby Charlton

Can't pick just five.

Three of those weren't signings and only van Nistelrooy had a big rep before you signed him.

 

[Jockney]

Dave Brammer
Another big money (£500k) signing as part of his tour of North Staffordshire and South Cheshire. I still think up there with the very best signings we have made. He was just a very, very good midfielder and the perfect captain. When he wasn't in the team we were shite. His legs seemed to go the moment he left us, not a favourite at Stoke or Millwall or Vale (2nd time round).

Brammer did well for us in his first season. Unfortunately he let himself go the following Summer. Came back with the biggest beer belly I've seen on a player.

 

[Jockney]

Sergei Yuran
Russian international who had been pivotal in Spartak beating Man Utd in the European Cup. Was the biggest flop in our history and left after being convicted of drink driving. Jimmy Nicholl (manager at the time) said of him: "The only thing the other players could have possibly learned from him while he was here was how to steal a living." His compatriot Kulkov was even worse.

Dennis Wise
Sacked by Leicester after a brawl and presumably signed for us because nobody else wanted him. Was still the best player in the Championship at the time and brought us close to the premier league, an FA Cup final and our only ever European experience. Fell out with the Chairman (Theo Paphitis) and left a club in decline. Mostly a good one.

Neil Harris
Brought the legend back after leaving a few years prior. Went on to become our leading all time scorer. Maybe not a big name outside of Millwall, but a rare example of a club legend coming home and actually doing well.

Tony Cottee
Fucking shite, ex west ham and thoroughly overshadowed by Steve Claridge who signed the same day. Big name, small man, smaller impact.

Berry Powell
Top scorer in Eredivisie when we signed him. Did the square root of naff all for a year and then went back to scoring for fun in Holland. We don't do very well when we actually spend any money.

Can't believe you missed out Dion Dublin! That was a rare case of us making a big signing that not only impressed us but the rest of the division -- also, he was really, really good (though we won't talk about that miss vs Brum in the play-offs...)

Would also swap Powell for Scott Dobie. Probably the 2nd highest fee we've paid for a player, but largely forgotten. Sold him to Forest a few months later and made our money back, I believe!

Special mentions to Andy Keogh (great partnership with Harry Kane, playing the best football of Jackett's tenure, until he decided he couldn't be arsed anymore), Scott McDonald (great first touch, not much else) and Paul Moody (overcame a slow start to become one of the most talented 'big man' strikers we've ever had).

 

[Lambourn Red]

1. Glenn Hoddle - Just pure class even in his twighlight years
2. Jan Age Fjortoft - Great finisher and great celebrations
3. Charlie Austin - Fairytale story and the best natural goal scorer I have ever seen live
4. Mickey Hazard - Just sublime in midfield
5. Fraser Digby - A great goalkeeper and still involved with club today 25 years later