Boumsong number 1

[stuartmccallsfall 4]

of the worst top 25 January transfers in the Premiership. (According to The Times)

Heres the list;

25 Jan Kromkamp, Villarreal to Liverpool, 4 January 2006

The Dutch defender moved to Anfield with Josemi going the other way, so it wasn’t all bad news. Unable to displace Steve Finnan, Kromkamp did play in the 2006 FA Cup Final – as often, coming off the bench. That August, he signed for PSV Eindhoven.

24 Jose Antonio Reyes, Seville to Arsenal, 28 January 2004

The Spanish forward was by no means a total failure at Highbury, but he was a let-down after arriving with so much hype and a £10.5 million price-tag. Before long, he began to whinge about the misery of life in London, and a loan move to Real Madrid then a permanent deal with Atletico Madrid gave him the return to Spain he had craved

23 Rowan Vine, Luton Town to Birmingham City, 11 January 2007

De-Vine inspiration was absent during the forward’s spell in the Midlands. Prolific at Luton, he scored just once after his £2.5 million switch and has spent most of this season on loan at QPR, where he has just made the move permanent for £1 million.

22 Luis Boa Morte, Fulham to West Ham United, 5 January, 2007

A transfer encapsulating West Ham’s mad trolley-dash last January as they threw money about in the hope of avoiding relegation. They did, no thanks to the 30-year-old forward, who has scored once since April, 2006. Ineffective and in decline, yet West Ham spent £5 million on him.

21 Julius Aghahowa: Shakhtar Donetsk to Wigan Athletic, 31 January, 2007

The Nigeria striker spent six years in the Ukraine before making a £2.1 million deadline-day switch to the JJB Stadium. His scoring celebrations are spectacular, but we haven’t seen them: five starts, fourteen substitute appearances, no goals.

20 Danny Murphy, Charlton Athletic to Tottenham Hotspur, 31 January 2006

The midfield player was doing so well at the Valley that there was talk of an England recall. Yet after spending £2 million on him, Martin Jol barely played him. After eighteen months on the bench, he moved to Fulham last summer.

19 Djimi Traore, Charlton Athletic to Portsmouth, 11 January 2007

The French Titus Bramble, though few at Fratton Park were laughing when Harry Redknapp spent £1 million a year ago to relieve Charlton of the former Liverpool defender after just half a season at the Valley. Now on loan at Rennes.

18 Ade Akinbiyi, Burnley to Sheffield United, 26 January 2006

Or “Ade Panic Buyâ€, as he has been cruelly – if accurately - dubbed. Dismal at Leicester and Crystal Palace, the striker went to Burnley, who bought him for £600,000 then sold him to a naive Neil Warnock for a then club-record £1.75 million. Fourteen starts later, he was back at Turf Moor for £750,000.

17 Hossam Ghaly, Feyenoord to Tottenham Hotspur, 31 January 2006

Ghastly, more like. After he threw his shirt to the ground when substituted against Blackburn last May, a parting of the ways seemed in everyone’s interests. A move to Birmingham was scuppered at the eleventh hour when Ghaly criticised Steve Bruce’s training methods. Spurs finally got rid of him to Derby two weeks ago.

16 Dong Gook-Lee, Pohang Steelers to Middlesbrough, 31 January 2007

Was banned from the South Korea side for a year last November for a late-night drinking binge on international duty. Presumably he was drinking to forget rather than remember because the 28-year-old, while a star in Asia, is a non-entity in the Premier League. His only goal in twelve months at Middlesbrough came against Northampton Town.

15 Mauricio Pellegrino, Valencia to Liverpool, 5 January 2005

The former Argentina defender had a notable career in Spain but was 33 when he was tempted to Anfield and clearly over the hill. He arrived on a free transfer – and Benitez got just what he’d paid for. Pellegrino made thirteen appearances and was released at the end of the season.

14 Yaniv Katan, Maccabi Haifa to West Ham United, 3 January 2006

The Israel forward signed a four year deal at Upton Park, which proved optimistic since he was ushered out of the door and back to Maccabi Haifa within six months after just six appearances. Certainly not the next Yossi Benayoun, but at least Katan only cost £100,000.

13 Aleksandar Rodic, NK Gorica to Portsmouth, 31 January 2005

A star in Slovenia, a non-entity in Hampshire. Milan Mandaric, then Portsmouth chairman, talked up Rodic’s ability but Harry Redknapp did not detect much. The striker made only one start and three substitute appearances for Portsmouth.

12 Tomasz Frankowski, Elche to Wolverhampton Wanderers, 25 January, 2006

The forward arrived at Molineux with a record of one goal every two starts for Poland. Sadly, he was a waste of £1.4 million, his eighteen appearances yielding not a single goal. His decline was so sharp that he was left out of Poland’s World Cup squad despite being a star of the qualifying campaign.

11Eric Djemba-Djemba, Manchester United to Aston Villa, 31 January 2005

One of Sir Alex Ferguson’s worst ever signings – but was all the Cameroon midfield player needed a change of scenery? The answer, Villa found out, was no. He really was hopeless. The £1.35 million buy made a handful of appearances and was loaned to Burnley.

10 Jiri Jarosik, CSKA Moscow to Chelsea, 7 January 2005

See, Jose Mourinho wasn’t perfect, after all. Jarosik signed for an undisclosed fee, thought to be several million pounds, but made only three starts. The Czech midfield player had no chance to atone for the lukewarm beginning to his Stamford Bridge career as he was sent to Birmingham on a season-long loan then sold to Celtic on his return.

9 Malcolm Christie, Derby County to Middlesbrough, 31 January 2003

And on the same day they bought Michael Ricketts. In fairness, Christie’s failure to set Teesside alight after his £3 million switch can be explained by persistent injury problems. He was at the Riverside Stadium for more than four years and played fewer than 50 games, scoring nine goals.

8 Scott Parker, Charlton Athletic to Chelsea, 30 January 2004

The busy and tidy midfield player was a rising star in 2003-04 and Charlton were desperate to hang on to him. Money talked, though, and a £10 million bid was good enough for Parker to move across London. Core of Charlton, he was a satellite at Chelsea. After eighteen months of near-irrelevance he was off to Newcastle for £6.5 million.

7 Andy Reid, Nottingham Forest to Tottenham Hotspur, 31 January 2005

Stocky, or chubby? Gary Megson, the former Forest manager, suggested after the sides met in an FA Cup tie that the small winger was on the large side. Martin Jol, who paid £4 million for Reid, did not agree – but performances were definitely lean and Reid was sold to Charlton for £3 million, eighteen months later.

6 Fernando Morientes, Monaco to Liverpool, 13 January 2005

What a masterstroke by Rafael Benitez: persuading his Spanish compatriot, an experienced international, to leave Real Madrid for Anfield. Sadly, Morientes was terrible. After a hapless year and a half he was dispatched back to Spain, Liverpool recouping less than half their £6.3 million outlay.

5 James Beattie, Southampton to Everton, 5 January 2005

The striker became the Merseysiders’ record signing but his goalscoring rate was far worse than at Southampton. An adequate 2005-06 was followed by a dire 2006-07 as he failed to gel with the free-scoring Andrew Johnson. He was sold to freshly-relegated Sheffield United for £4 million last summer.

4 Konstantinos Chalkias, Panathinaikos to Portsmouth, 28 January 2005

Tall, yes. He is 6ft 7in. Good? No. A string of dodgy performances saw the Greek goalkeeper lose his place to Jamie Ashdown after just five league games. Neither Chalkias nor Velimir Zajec, the director of football, lasted long on the south coast.

3 Georgios Samaras, Heerenveen to Manchester City, 30 January 2006

Capable of the odd spectacular goal – but then for £6 million, so he should be. Just eight league goals in more than fifty games, he has made only seven appearances this season. At 22, the Greek striker is still young, but his days at City seem numbered.

2 Michael Ricketts, Bolton Wanderers to Middlesbrough, 31 January 2003

On loan at Walsall from Oldham Athletic these days, and still only 29, the former England striker’s fall from grace has been dramatic. He had already peaked when Middlesbrough foolishly paid £3.5 million for him. Eighteen months later, after only three goals, he joined Leeds United on a free transfer.

1 Jean-Alain Boumsong, Rangers to Newcastle, 1 January 2005

They must have laughed long and hard in Glasgow – getting £8 million for a player they signed for nothing. Who is useless. Graeme Souness, what were you thinking? He paired Boumsong with Titus Bramble and they competed to see who could make the most blunders.

Plonker :angry2: (You know who !)

[Emerson 2]

I for one dont remember laughing when he went, we had just lost the classiest centre half we have had since King Richard left us.

[Van Moyles 0]

He was a crackin CB for us!

What chance did he have being paired with Bramble and just generaly playing for Newcastle, one of the most overated teams ever!!

Now looking at them, creaming over a manager that won nothing with them!!

[trueblue86 0]

He was a crackin CB for us!

What chance did he have being paired with Bramble and just generaly playing for Newcastle, one of the most overated teams ever!!

Now looking at them, creaming over a manager that won nothing with them!!

That is very true, anybody who plays with TITus Bramble will be brought down to his level.... Would be interesting to see how John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, etc would play alongside that tit. Mind you his blunder for the goal against Everton when he gifted AJ his goal was amusing

[J_RFC87 761]

He paired Boumsong with Titus Bramble and they competed to see who could make the most blunders.