Anderson should be near the top. €30m for that lazy fat git.
SAF's worst signings
- Thread starter The Outsider
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A lot of the young players that it seemed SAF wanted to leave for the next manager didn't quite live up to their potential, although not all of them were signings. Out of De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Buttner, Fabio, Nani, Valencia, Cleverly, Anderson, Gibson, Young, Hernandez, Welbeck, Macheda, only a few became the players that it seemed they could become.
yeah people defended it at the time but it was just a ridiculus signing, especally when we where going through a period where we wern't investing alot in the squad, so 7 million was a lot to waste!!!
its not even the transfer its the fact we kept giving him wage rises and new contracts, he was here like 6 years!!!!
haha clearly fishing for a bite. If serious then here goes, Berbatov scored 5 in one game in the PL for United and is only one of 5 players to do so. Shearer, Cole, Aguero, Defoe and him. Also scored a hatrick against Pool.
Hargreaves was fantastic for the Moscow Season. Feel its harsh to add him on the list for that alone.
Rooney was right all along about lack of ambition.
Hargreaves was a slashing player when he was 20, 22 years old. Then he broke his foot iirc, and I figured he would never be quite the same again, because he was just fearless before, and such a ferocious ball winner and tackler. I was a bit disappointed we signed a few years after. Still the CL contribution probably meant it's worthwhile after all.
Poborsky and Jordi I never thought we needed with Giggs, Beckham and Scholes et al.
Ditto, Veron.
The worst has to be Bebe though.
Poborsky and Jordi I never thought we needed with Giggs, Beckham and Scholes et al.
Ditto, Veron.
The worst has to be Bebe though.
Cool, haven't seen one of these lists for at least a week...
I wouldn't say he was a poorly thought out signing, he simply didn't impress when started. He had a handful of decent performances and never really looked comfortable with the pace of the Premiership.
Manucho, Bebe, Djemba Djemba, Liam Miller, David Bellion, Obertan and Buttner.
None of the named was ever Manchester United quality, I have no idea why they were signed.
Hargreaves doesn't deserve to be one of the worst signings, unfortunate, unlucky, disappointing perhaps. He was one of our best players in the CL, his versatility allowed us to play him and Carrick together, with Hargreaves becoming a lethal winger with a wicked cross, something we'd kill for right now.
He was a one season wonder, but we also have to consider that he played injured that season, and that season, playing injured is probably a major cause of the damage his knees took. He came back from that horror broken leg as quickly as possible, clearly wasn't healed completely, and caused a whole slew of other issues as his body compensated for the broken leg.
He was a one season wonder, but we also have to consider that he played injured that season, and that season, playing injured is probably a major cause of the damage his knees took. He came back from that horror broken leg as quickly as possible, clearly wasn't healed completely, and caused a whole slew of other issues as his body compensated for the broken leg.
He broke his leg immediately after the world cup, SAF was determined to sign him regardless it seems, and Hargreaves rushed back from the injury to possibly to re-assure SAF that he wasn't damaged goods, Then, when he signed for us, he was constantly dealing with niggles from the break and probably wanted to repay the faith SAF had in him, so he played with a growing injury problem. If you recall the season, he was in and out of the lineup with constant injury issues. He started to hit his stride during the run in of the CL, was instrumental in the final few games, hit a god like penalty in the final, and that was pretty much his career. He went out injured next season and never really came back. Massive shame.
I wouldn't call Anderson and Hargreaves as bad or failed signings. Hargreaves was instrumental in the double winning season and for that alone he can't be labelled a failed signing. Anderson, certainly from 07-12 did a decent job under SAF whenever called upon. He didn't turn out to be as good as he was hyped, but he still did a decent job for the team, even in big matches.
Bebe, no contest, unbelievable how bad he was
Berbatov signing makes no sense as well, never really clicked with the club playstyle
Berbatov signing makes no sense as well, never really clicked with the club playstyle
What about Andy Goram. My memory may be playing tricks on me but didn't SAF start him in a game and then had to sub him off as he was that bad?
I agree with this and with others who have spoken similarly about Hargreaves. You could argue his chronic injuries should have been known before we signed him, so his complete breakout should have been foreseeable when weighing him up, but he proved his worth towards the end of 08 when he was a key player in one of the all-time great historic moments of the club.
I don't remember Poborsky being that bad but maybe that's because he played in that great 90s strip with the circular badge
. His numbers don't lie I suppose.I agree Bebe is the worst, that signing seemed to be fuelled more by politics than anything and the lad wasn't really a professional. I've not seen Mame Biram Diouf mentioned; he was another cut-price punt who didn't work out for Fergie.
Yep, I was there. He picked up at least one back pass and went off to rapturous applause. Or rather, his replacement came on to rapturous applause. He was about as gash as it's possible to be.
Bit harsh to see names like pat McGibbon and Neil whitworth on there. They were surely signed young, else we might as well add names like graham tomlinson and David brown.
Pat was 19 and Neil was 18. We made 6 figure profits on both. Hardly worthy of top twenty inclusion.
Did SAF sign Buttner? Still dunno how he managed to get a game for United. Currently stinking up the place at Vitesse, as he should.
I wonder if you guys actually saw Anderson play, especially in the first 3 seasons. He was a regular in our biggest games and never let the team down.
sorry thats nonsesne, he had the odd good game, like the famous arsenal one but he was absolutely shocking just far more times then he was good.
Kagawa
Obertan
Hargreaves
Obertan
Hargreaves
Not sure if it's right to include Bosnich on a list of Ferguson's worst signings. It's well documented in his book that he wanted Van Der Sar in 1999 but Edwards did a deal for Bosnich instead. Most likely because he was available on a free.
Prunier doesn't belong on that list. He was a trial-player, we never signed him. We had an injury crisis in defense and Cantona recommended Prunier whom he knew from France as a player who was looking for a club. In his first club he did quite well (we beat QPR 2-1 and he almost scored) - then we lost 4-1 to Spurs and Prunier was poor - but hardly worse than quite a few others on the pitch.
Ferguson opted against him after that - and that was it
Ferguson opted against him after that - and that was it
That's pure nonsense. He could barely play 25 games cause of injuries and he usually only had a few good games a season. He was an absolute waste of talent and money.
@Nucks TBH - I also thought Hargreaves for a period was good both for Utd and England yet sadly injuries appeared to effectively end his career at the highest level.
Berbatov, was for me at the time a strange signing as he was good player yet clearly didn't seem to fit the Utd model under SAF. Some talk of him being the next Teddy Sherringham yet it never came to be.
Berbatov, was for me at the time a strange signing as he was good player yet clearly didn't seem to fit the Utd model under SAF. Some talk of him being the next Teddy Sherringham yet it never came to be.
There's a clear distinction between a signing that just didn't work out (Forlan) and one that failed as a result of either not being properly thought through (Veron: where's he going to fit in?) or insufficient due diligence (Hargreaves: his injury record isn't great, is it?).
Fergie made a fair few poor signings in his first couple of seasons though; he seemed to just perpetuate the "let's sign a load of random players and hope some of them work out" policy that Atkinson had resorted to in his last days.
Fergie made a fair few poor signings in his first couple of seasons though; he seemed to just perpetuate the "let's sign a load of random players and hope some of them work out" policy that Atkinson had resorted to in his last days.
Without context, a list of signings from a manager of a single club for over two decades is pointless.
Some signings are speculative punts/chancers before they even get to the club and if they work out, great, if not, nobody cares.
Worst signings, imo, would have to be those intended to go into the first xi that failed to do so by some margin - the higher the price they were bought for, the worse the signing becomes. Especially those who were tried time and again to both integrate and perform, but still fell well short of the mark.
Bebe was a favour to Mendes, and depending on what you want to believe, a way of giving him a hefty payment - not at all intended to come to the club and make an impact.
Some signings are speculative punts/chancers before they even get to the club and if they work out, great, if not, nobody cares.
Worst signings, imo, would have to be those intended to go into the first xi that failed to do so by some margin - the higher the price they were bought for, the worse the signing becomes. Especially those who were tried time and again to both integrate and perform, but still fell well short of the mark.
Bebe was a favour to Mendes, and depending on what you want to believe, a way of giving him a hefty payment - not at all intended to come to the club and make an impact.
Gaytan, he never got to play a single game...
I felt and still feel a little sorry for Bosnich. He was in fact a good keeper (better than the French oaf we got later) but arrived at United just as the new rule about back passes came into effect and unlike young keepers now had absolutely now training in clearing the ball without picking it up. I know how he felt; I struggled like mad after decades of being allowed to dropkick. Yes, he went on to become a mess but I think it's because things didn't work out at United not the other way round, I would add to the list, as above: Barthez (total clown who was made to look good by the French national team of the time) and Jim Leighton and Veron
Agree with those saying that Hargreaves shouldn't be on the list. If not because of his injury problems, he would've been one of my favourite players. Decent set piece taker and was very good at right back.
Even with his injuries, doesn't really warrant a place in SAF's worst ever signings.
Even with his injuries, doesn't really warrant a place in SAF's worst ever signings.
Bah!
Leighton and Barthez were both good to start off with. The latter was clearly unhinged, and it wasn't altogether surprising when he lost it. Leighton's turn to garbage came completely out of the blue.
Bebe said in an interview with maisfutebol.iol.pt: 'I never took Manchester United seriously and never understood a word about what Alex Ferguson was saying.
'I thought, "I’m here, I’m doing well and I don’t have to try hard every day. It was my fault. I was messing around too much".'
And he laid bare the communication problems which led to difficulties in his relationship with Ferguson.
'I went into the room and saw that he was looking for me, very concentrated. He told me to cut my hair, it will look better. So I cut it the same day. In the next training session, he didn’t recognise me. I went past him many times and he didn’t know me.
'He didn’t speak much but I didn’t understand much. He has a difficult accent, so I understood nothing.
'He called me "Baby". After I told him it wasn’t like that.'
He also believes that the legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo hanging over the club is to blame for a poor working bond between the manager and winger Nani - and gave a theory behind the famous 'hairdryer treatment'.
'When he shouts at a player it is to help him so he feels he can do more. For example, he shouted at Nani many times. He always found a problem in everything he did. Probably because he thought he could be as good as Cristiano Ronaldo.'
But for all the strife, Bebe does have some fond memories of his time in England.
'One day I passed the ball through Ryan Giggs's legs and he told me, "Go on, go tell your mother you did this to Ryan Giggs".'
He also paid tribute to staff at the club - and to several Portuguese-speaking team-mates who helped him bed in.
'It was incredible. The people at the club helped me a lot - I learned a lot there. The first week was difficult. I was very nervous and I didn’t speak to anyone. I just wanted to be be alone and observe.
'Anderson and Nani helped me most, of course, because they speak Portuguese and Patrice Evra. I lived with Anderson for two months. He showed me the club and the city. I will always be grateful for this.'
The 22-year-old said he thought agent Jorge Mendes was joking about being wanted at Old Trafford.
The move in August 2010 came five weeks after a free transfer to Vitoria de Guimaraes from Portuguese Second Division side Estrela. 'It was all very sudden and unexpected. I was on the train and the club president of Vitoria called me. He said I had to go very quickly to Jorge Mendes’ house.
'When I arrived, Jorge gave me the news, asking, "Do you want to go to Manchester United? Yes? Let’s go." I didn’t believe him. I thought he was joking, honestly.
'I don’t know if the value was right or not but I know that Mr Ferguson believed the information they gave him.'
This should be made into a comedy.
I don't think Forlan ever really got a proper chance.
Most of the "games played" were coming on as sub with 10 mins to go.
Most of the "games played" were coming on as sub with 10 mins to go.
He only made two appearances, which I don't even remember. Goram was a brilliant goalie for Scotland, Hibs and Rangers, but I have no idea what his very brief United career was about.
Barthez
David Bellion
Obertan
Veron
Kleberson
Djemba Djemba
Neil Webb
William Prunier
Bosnich
Poborsky
Jordi Cruyff
Bebe
David Bellion
Obertan
Veron
Kleberson
Djemba Djemba
Neil Webb
William Prunier
Bosnich
Poborsky
Jordi Cruyff
Bebe
Bit harsh to include Neil Webb, IMO. Injury did for him.
His worst signings were the signings he did NOT make in the latter years. Most of the usual suspects who pop up on here, the likes of Obertan, Bellion, Djemba-Djemba etc. were low-cost, low-risk signings who barely played because it quickly turned out they were just bad.
However, after 2007 he did not sign one single central midfielder; he passed up many opportunities to sign players who could have added that star quality we had been missing since Ronaldo's departure. It's not that his actual signings were that bad, many of them 'did a job' or still do. But none of his hopeful punts really worked out, none of the youngsters turned out to be quality key players and he did not really sign proven quality apart from the aging and injury-prone Van Persie who was a luxury signing to paper over the cracks for one more season.
However, after 2007 he did not sign one single central midfielder; he passed up many opportunities to sign players who could have added that star quality we had been missing since Ronaldo's departure. It's not that his actual signings were that bad, many of them 'did a job' or still do. But none of his hopeful punts really worked out, none of the youngsters turned out to be quality key players and he did not really sign proven quality apart from the aging and injury-prone Van Persie who was a luxury signing to paper over the cracks for one more season.
Kind of immaterial question to ask about a man who won the league every other season. He could have given his wife a run in the team, so long as it didn't upset the trophy count who gives a shit?
I’d go with Bosnich.
All these awful players like Bebe and Obertan may have been worse, but they were hopeful punts and whether they came good or not had no bearing on the first team because we already had options there without them or our future and recruitment strategies.
Bosnich was brought in to be our #1 and to replace Schmeichel no less.
All these awful players like Bebe and Obertan may have been worse, but they were hopeful punts and whether they came good or not had no bearing on the first team because we already had options there without them or our future and recruitment strategies.
Bosnich was brought in to be our #1 and to replace Schmeichel no less.