2012-2015: worst signings

[floyd__streete]

As this season draws to a close and with the TSI era long gone (although the effects, allegedly, are still being felt) let's celebrate our crapness in recent times.....who was our worst signing in that time?

[Coppelled_Streets]

Pog for the financial investment and poor return in goals, but Ferdinand and Drenthe push him hard.

[Maguire]

Drenthe is the worst signing of all time. Just a lazy mental case who's wasted his talent.

Really harsh putting Pogrebnyak alongside him - works his balls off in a way that Drenthe never would.

[RG30]

Harsh on Pog. Unlike Drenthe he put in some excellent shifts (Man City away 2012) and would have probably scored more had he had some decent service and a striker to take the pressure of him notably last season when we were crippled.

[leon]

Drenthe is the worst signing of all time. Just a lazy mental case who's wasted his talent.

Really harsh putting Pogrebnyak alongside him - works his balls off in a way that Drenthe never would.

All Pog needs is a decent foil to play alongside him.

Guthrie for me every time.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Other - Nick Blackman.

[teignmouth hoops]

Harsh on Pog. Unlike Drenthe he put in some excellent shifts (Man City away 2012) and would have probably scored more had he had some decent service and a striker to take the pressure of him notably last season when we were crippled.

Amazing that you can remember Man City away, when there were so many games in the last 3 seasons that he simply couldn't be arsed, he's definitely improved under Clarke but still doesn't hit the target often enough, and had he done we'd be looking forward to a repeat rip to Wembley to win the FACup. He is meant to be a proven goalscorer earning some thing between £40k & £60k a week whichever you believe and his ratio should be a lot better

[arthurfondrelli]

Harsh putting Kelly in given he was only really signed as back up and has always put a shift in whenever played. Also isn't a disruptive squad member like some of the others seem to be.

[RG30]

Where's the Nigel Adkins option

[tidus_mi2]

Like the guy and think he puts in more work than people give him credit for but went for Pog simply because of his financial cost compared to the relative contribution to the team.

[SCIAG]

Value for transfer fee: Blackman
Value for wages: Pogrebnyak
Contribution on the pitch: Akpan
Expectation versus reality: Drenthe

Ferdinand, Knight and Yakubu were all signed to do more or less what they have done. They're not going to go down as Reading legends but I don't think they're "bad signings" as such (except for Ferdinand's injury record).

Kelly was an excellent signing, particularly considering the form of Gunter and Cummings at the time. He's fallen out of favour and we don't need him, but not a bad signing.

Norwood, Cox and Guthrie each gave us six months of top-half form, Guthrie even performed well in the Premier League and would have been part of a playoff campaign if not for injury.

Pogrebnyak was supposed to score ~12 goals a season in the PL. He's just about managing it in the Championship. He's our highest paid player of all time by a distance, and whilst he's been OK, he's not remotely justified his wages.

I don't actually remember Drenthe having a bad game for us, but he also didn't destroyed teams like he should have done, and there were clearly persistent doubts about his fitness (too much weightlifting, not enough cardio?).

Blackman had a few good months at the start of this season, but otherwise is by some distance the worst of our £1m+ signings. No creative ability and a poor shot, but sometimes a dangerous dribbler.

As for Akpan, I cannot remember a player being allowed to persistently demonstrate such a low level of ability for so long since, well, ever, although it was probably commonplace before Madejski. A great performance against Sunderland but very little since then. There's a decent League One attacking midfielder in there, but there isn't a Championship defensive midfielder, there definitely isn't a Premier League player in there, and he'll certainly never be as good as Jay Tabb.

Voted "other", take your pick between those last two.

[Silver Fox]

Ferdinand, Knight and Yakubu were all signed to do more or less what they have done.

What exactly do you believe Ferdinand was signed to do? If it was community work on the Ryan's Royals project then 'greed, but anything on-pitch related he doesn't seem to have been involved.

WRTTOP apart form the financial burden you'd need to be an absolute mental to vote Pog when the aforementioned Anton, the cancer on the club I love Danny Guthrie and the homeless man's Mass Saar are on the list. Anyone of those could easily be the winner

[genome]

How you can r8 the Pog as a worse signing than Drenthe, I'm baffled.

[Handsome Man]

Drenthe is probably our worst player of all time and Pogrebnyak is probably our worst value signing, but both of these at least made it feel as though the club had high aspirations.

I went for Yakubu because at the time there was no rational reason any sane manager would have wanted to sign him and nothing has happened since to make me think otherwise.

[tidus_mi2]

How you can r8 the Pog as a worse signing than Drenthe, I'm baffled.

My justification is that he was on less than Pog (not by much) and his contract was half as long but I was very much debating between the 2.

[Hoop Blah]

Anton Ferdinand is without doubt the worst of the lot.

You can see the logic behind the rest and they've all contributed something on the pitch but there was absolutely no sense in signing Ferdinand, a player who'd hardly played in something like 2 years. To give him a two year contract was just madness.

Drenthe was the biggest let down just because he has the most talent but it was a gamble and a vanity signing by Zingaravich but if it had paid off, which it could've done, it would've been spectacular. It wasn't!

[genome]

How you can r8 the Pog as a worse signing than Drenthe, I'm baffled.

My justification is that he was on less than Pog (not by much) and his contract was half as long but I was very much debating between the 2.

Pog has contributed far more to the team (I fact I think I probably have). The fact that he actually has played football means he's a better signing.

[maffff]

All options are;

2011/12
Sheppard, Cywka, Roberts, Connolly, Mullins, Afobe

2012/13
McCleary, Guthrie, Pogrebnyak, Shorey, Taylor, Mariappa, Gunter, Carriço, Akpan, Kelly, Blackman,

2013/14
Bridge, Drenthe, Williams, Baird, Sharp

2014/15
Cox, Ferdinand, Norwood, Travner, Yakubu, Knight, Mackie, Murray, Chalobah, Aké, Appiah

loans in Italic.

For me it'd have to go with Bridge with Drenthe a close runner up. Ferdinand and Knight aren't behind.

Carriço saves himself by leaving for a profit and tacking Gerrard once.

[genome]

I went for Yakubu because at the time there was no rational reason any sane manager would have wanted to sign him and nothing has happened since to make me think otherwise.

He was signed as cover. As many have said, the goal he scored against Derby probably covered a large chunk of his wages in prize money, so anything else is a bonus.

[West Stand Man]

Ferdinand, signed to do more or less what they have done. They're not going to go down as Reading legends but I don't think they're "bad signings" as such (except for Ferdinand's injury record).

That is an interesting analysis. I am pretty sure that Ferdinand was not signed to spend a whole season on the treatment table.

To be honest, there is only one rational answer to the original question and it is Ferdinand. All the others have been able to play and have delivered something in return for their salary (it may not have been as good as we might have liked, I concede). Ferdinand has given us nothing save a few minutes. He is quite clearly the worst signing so far. If he recovers and plays next year that assessment may change - who knows.