Players you were happy we signed but turned out to be pants, and vice versa.

[Tipp blue]

Did his cruciate in pre season didn't he?

I really just remember him as a player I was thrilled to see us sign but was ultimately dissapointed in. I had to look up his injury, he came on as a sub 4 times in the league before his injury, then apparently his injury was not properly diagnosed and he had a botched operation that he never really recovered from. I feel sorry for him now.

Remembering when Everton signed a terrible David Beckham lookalike - Planet Football

As a football fan, there's always something seductive about your team signing a Brazilian player, so Everton fans could be excused for feeling quite excited upon the arrival of an attacker compared to David Beckham in 2002.

www.planetfootball.com

 

[Toast]

Jelavic.

Went from being a boss slotter to bang average overnight.

 

[Amokachi1995]

Van Der Meyde came straight to mind thought he was going to be class. also thought Nyarko was going to be our Viera.....

Remember being indifferent to Nigel Martyn, thinking he was past his best. Thought we’d over paid for Richarlison but money well spent.

 

[Bluebonic]

I thought Atsu was going to be tasty, but he was an utter irrelevance. I remember being horrified when we bought Reidy & Andy Gray, both total crocks! Shows you what I know!

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

He was ruined by the witch hunt from knob heads such as Arsene Wenger who very publicly accused him of diving to win penalties. After a certain time he never got awarded another penalty for us despite being constantly fouled, which inevitably led to him losing confidence and his form dropping.

Disgusting by Wenger when you see how actual cheats such as Salah are talked in an almost God-like sense with people literally scared to criticise him.

I actually wasn't that excited when we signed him but quickly changed my mind. Thought he was very good for us in his time at the club.

Fair points, but he never really got over it. Sure, not everyone has rhino hide like Robbie Savage, but disappointing for me. I also think he failed to evolve his game. Teams worked out his runs.

 

[Tipp blue]

Have to be honest, I didn't think much of Arteta initially. Done that goal v Palace, but I was more concerned about the Gravesen-shaped hole being plugged than having a basque wizard I'd never heard of.

It wasn't until around Feb-ish in 2006 that I started to realise he was a bit of alright. By the autumn, he was our proper MVP. 2006/07 was vintage. If he was on form at Goodison, we won. Simples.

Will never forget that Bolton goal. 92 minutes of pure turd from both teams, but 30s of brilliance turned a dismal, freezing bore-fest into a fondly-remembered battle.

Just felt so good to do those dirty sods, especially after they'd reemed us 4-0 the year before. They had that wrong-un bully Nolan in the middle, but Arteta just mugged him off all afternoon.

They also had Diouf and Anelka up front, and that grock Meite at the back. Just a horrible team to play, the 80s Wimbledon of the 2000s.

I don't get over to many games perhaps 1 or 2 a season but I was at that Bolton game, My wife then girlfriend came over with me to her first game, she complained about the cold for the entire game.

 

[havrey0123]

Richard Wright, fell out of his loft.and got injured, then fell over a sign and got injured.

Kroldrup

On his very first day of training, the gaffer took him to one side and started doing heading practice with him, like you would with a seven-year-old. It was a case of holding the ball, saying: “Are you ready? One, two, three – jump.”

‘Honestly, it was incredible. I don’t know what happened, but he had obviously realised that heading wasn’t Per’s strong point. £5m for a centre-half who can’t head the ball..!

 

[PhilM]

I think most people taught that getting Delph from City was very good business at 8 million, but he's not been great to say the least. At the moment I think we'd struggle to get half that money back if we were to sell him.

There was a lot of optimism about what he could bring to the dressing room in terms of leadership and experience, yet it seems to be quite the opposite.

He is far from inspiring in terms of ability or influential on the pitch, and there is a picture building that he's a bit off a bell who will upset rather than lead the squad.

I'm usually a person who tries to see the best in people etc. and given the benefit of the doubt. but I can't warm to him at all. Needs shifting as soon as possible.

 

[Tipp blue]

Richard Wright, fell out of his loft.and got injured, then fell over a sign and got injured.

Kroldrup

On his very first day of training, the gaffer took him to one side and started doing heading practice with him, like you would with a seven-year-old. It was a case of holding the ball, saying: “Are you ready? One, two, three – jump.”

‘Honestly, it was incredible. I don’t know what happened, but he had obviously realised that heading wasn’t Per’s strong point. £5m for a centre-half who can’t head the ball..!

Lol, that was my weakest point, I'm 6 foot 5 and was totally hopeless with my head.. it worked well in games though, whenever we got a corner you'd hear the opposition manager shout "2 men on that long Ba$tard" or something along those lines, little did they know that they were marking the least threat on our team with 2 men, leaving us often with an extra man around the box.

 

[kev]

Not a signing as such, but I remember being made up when young Joe McBride made the first team. Not that I knew anything about him, except of course that his dad was such a great goal scorer.
I remember he scored on his debut which got me more excited. Sadly that was about as good as it got.

 

[dutchblue54]

We love Johnny the nutter . I also loved Atteveld at the time but I was in a miniscule minority .

Heitinga had a good first season buy after that he was a major let down. Hards as nails Johnny disappeared

 

[MACCA75]

Billy Let Down, the Russian, can’t spell his name, the name I put in suited him fine, in my opinion. To his credit he scored three or four cracking goals, but they never made up for his overall game.

Was billed as a speed merchant but was painfully slow. I remember about ten games in calling him slow, and someone in here genuinely claimed ‘he’s really quick, he just hasn’t needed to sprint yet’

 

[trueblue84]

Mike arteta and Steven pienaar. Thought they'd be OK but both proved to be very good footballers.

 

[AussieToffee11]

There was a lot of optimism about what he could bring to the dressing room in terms of leadership and experience, yet it seems to be quite the opposite.

He is far from inspiring in terms of ability or influential on the pitch, and there is a picture building that he's a bit off a bell who will upset rather than lead the squad.

I'm usually a person who tries to see the best in people etc. and given the benefit of the doubt. but I can't warm to him at all. Needs shifting as soon as possible.

Completely agree - the theory was sound, essentially trying to replicate the Gareth Barry move from a few years back and on paper it was exactly what we needed and all for a modest fee.

Been utter tosh though, find him extremely unlikable - he was lucky we won that Watford game, the second yellow and the mistake for the second goal was horrific.

I also think that 'rah-rah' style doesn't work with today's generation. You look at the Klopp's and Pep's of the world, they play good cop, whereas your Mourinho's of the world look a bit past it now with the whole dictator thing. And Delph is definitely in the yell and scream style,it's just not effective anymore.

 

[Toffeeslam]

Kevin Campbell...when we signed him I thought man that’s desperate as I didn’t really rate him.

Got that spectacularly wrong