NW'S INDIFFERENT TRANSFER RECORD

[Bernard Futter 0]

Leaving aside the current crop of signings, for which the jury in many cases is still out, has anyone noticed what exceedingly poor value on a games played/investment basis the majority of Nigel Worthington''s earlier ''money'' signings have been?
The list reads:-
Abbey £350k
Emblen £500k
Rivers £575k
Easton £100k
Nielsen £400k
Heckinbottom £100k
Briggs £65k
On top of this, Libbra would have cost £500k if the French FA hadn''t intervened and allowed him to move on a free.
Add that lot together (even excluding the anticipated fee for Libbra) and the total still comes to nearly £2.2million!
Whichever way you look at it, that''s an awful lot of money for a then financially struggling club, especially taking in to account the zero amount that has apparently come back in sales.
Whilst it must be admitted that Abbey and Emblen were blighted by injuries, they didn''t exactly impress when they had their opportunities.
Drury and Francis would seem to be the only conspicuous successes from this intake. (Holt we should properly ascribe to the previous regime.)
Of course another element outside the strict footballing/financial equation is the fact that NW would appear to have fallen out with a goodly number on this list.
No manager, however astute in the transfer market, can get it right every time but I would suggest that this is a record that is at best, pretty indifferent.
Let''s hope the more recent signings go on to belie this trend.

[Stella Canary 0]

I would say a bit harsh on:

Abbey, Emblen & Nielsen

With Injury and following your woman home (WHY!!!) they never really got a good run of games under they''re belt.

Rivers I thought done a good job albeit in fits & starts.

The other 3 ..... fair point they were cr&p.

 

 

[Rabbit 0]

agee with what your saying, but on the plus side he got it right with hucks and leon

[NavMan 0]

I understand what you are saying Bernard but at the end of the day if you asked supporter of all clubs I bet they could reel off a list of names where players have not done the business for them.  This is unfortunately the way things sometimes go and can be attributed to a lot of things being

Injuries

Players not settling at clubs

Players getting in the Comfort zone (Rivers)

It is not always the managers fault that a player does not perform for certain clubs.  I for one was overjoyed when Rivers signed for us as he always seemed to score for Crewe and do the business for them.  I even believe there were calls for Worthy to sign him and yet what happened when he did.  The player was not half the player he was after he arrived here.

When you think of the merry go round of players signing and leaving clubs all the time I think it is inevitable that any manager can sometimes get it wrong.  The way to amend that is to get rid of the players that become dead wood which Worthy to his credit has also done. 

 

[charlies dad 0]

some of your figures are way out... Neilsen £400,000? Even taking the lot together its a spit in the ocean in modern football, most clubs have blown that amount on one player. All this against a steady dramatic rise in the clubs fortunes... yeah... worthys record stinks.

[mat gore 0]

I disagree with that assessment totally.  I''m not one of the worthington is never wrong brigade (his former negativity away from home and myopic Holt-ism are two points I certainly would criticise) but I have to say I think his transfer record is pretty fantastic.

For a small outlay he has acquired several very good premiership performers.  Ok some buys have been better than others but lets analyse them again.

Huckerby 750k - fantastic.

Francis 250k fantastic.

Ward 250k v.good at Notts Forest on paper looks a bargain.

Gallagher 0k - again on paper lots an excellent piece of business.

Helveg 0k - not done the business yet but I''m prepared to wager he''ll mor3e than prove his worth.

Drury 350k - Amazing piece of business.

Jonson 650k - proven international with years left in him and starting to show his worth. V.good business.

Svenson 250k - vital in our promotion.  May yet make the grade in premiership.

Charlton 250k - looks like bolton forgot a 0.

Mckenzie 600k - including promotion bonus.  V.good business indeed and I still think he will be a big hit in this division.

Easton 100k - ok not the greatest player ever but he make a big contribution to us reaching the play offs and that alone more than pays for his fee.

Rivers 575k - see Easton.

Abbey 350k - looked exactly what we needed when we signed him given that we were a bottom of the first division club.  Appeared set to be a reasonable div.1 striker and cheap at the price until injuries.

Emblen 500k - a proven performer and exactly what we needed. Never had the chance due to injury.

Briggs 65k - everyones comments from the 2 games he played were v.positive.  Looked a good prospect but lets face it the clubs circumstances have changed.  He was signed as a prospect when we were in div.1 and the prospect of signing someone like Helveg was just as likely as me dating Alicia Silverstone.

Heckingbottom 0k - Didnt make the grade mainly due to Drury''s success but not awful and signed on a free.

Edworthy 0k - fantastic.

Doherty 750k - looks overpriced so far but is an international at a half decent nation and is only 24.  Lets wait and see !!

I make that a total outlay of about 7.5 million on 18 players over 3.5 years.

All of the buys questione I personally think were at least qualified successes.  Given the outlat on someone like Briggs the purchase is only ever speculative at best.  Signing a proven Italian international for 30 odd million has different levels of expectation to signing a third division left back on a free from Darlington or a cambridge striker who looks promising.

Examine that list again and tell me its not a great record.

 

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

What about Drury, Holt, Francis, Charlton, McKenzie, HUCKERBY, Edworthy!!  Lets not forget the players he''s signed who have been vital to our success.  Every manager makes mistakes.  Even Fergerson (Forlan, Djemba- Djemba) and Wenger (Richard Wright, Franny Jeffers) make mistakes.  We can''t knock Worthy for what he has done

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

What a spectacularly short memory you have Bernard.  What about the following list:

Drury

Edworthy

Holt

Francis

Huckerby

McKenzie!

Every manager makes mistakes.  Even the great Wenger and Ferguson have signed many a donkey in their time (Forlan, Jeffers etc etc)

[bananaman 0]

This is a complete waste of a thread. So what??

We have got promotion, and that is why these players were purchased. Players like Nielsen, Easton and Rivers were INSTRUMENTAL in our moving on and achieving promotion, whether you thought they were any good or not.

Anyway, you left the success stories out. Holt IS an NW signing (look at the way he has NEVER been dropped), Francis, Charlton, Huckerby, MacKenzie, Crouch, Harper, Edworthy, Drury, AND THEN Mackay, McVeigh, Steen and Kenton all plucked from faded obscurity in the reserves. Llewellyn and all the rest of the losers dropped, and high-earning ponces (Jackson) shipped out.

Look at the players NW has let go - any success stories?? I think not.

That is why I propose that this thread is a waste of time. Sorry for shooting you down, but I believe this negative view can be turned on its head, and I have attempted to do so.

Now go and analyse Harry Redknapp/Ferguson/Wenger(Jeffers?!)/Bruce and all of the others'' transfers and see what you find.

[Jet heeled frontman 0]

[quote]Leaving aside the current crop of signings, for which the jury in many cases is still out, has anyone noticed what exceedingly poor value on a games played/investment basis the majority of Nigel Worth...[/quote]

So you dont think Huckerby was a good investment. Stop concentrating so hard on being negative and look for something positive. You might surprise yourself with what you find.

[Saint Canary 0]

You are very quick to forget that Nielson, Rivers and Easton were part of the team that got us to Cardiff.   They all faded out but they did a job. 

He has done well with the likes Francis, Huckerby, Crouch, Harper, Cooper, Edworthy, Brennan, McKenzie and Svennson all of whom have been good value for money.

Ok he has made a couple of bad signings in Heckingbottom and Briggs but in both those cases he bought potential that just didn''t materialise.

 

[Worthy Nigelton<br><br><br><br><br>Evening News Sports Page Headline 8th August 2007:<br><br>Henderson joins Dereham Town. 0]

Whilst I don''t whole-heartedly agree with the original post I have to say that some of Worthy''s signings haven''t been good and those of you who keep saying "what about Huckerby?" Well COME ON there isn''t a person in the world who didn''t know that Huckerby was going to be good for us. Its not like Worthy "spotted a gem" everyone knew he was brilliant.

Briggs, Emblem, Libbra, Easton, Rivers, Abbey, Doherty and Nielsen were/are pretty poor signings to say the least. But I do think people like Edworthy, Drury, Francis and Charlton were absolutely great signings especially Charlton. So I would say overall his transfer record is not bad. Shouldn''t have sold Darel Russel though - I still think given a run in the team he would be as good as any of our current midfielders.

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

[quote]Whilst I don''t whole-heartedly agree with the original post I have to say that some of Worthy''s signings haven''t been good and those of you who keep saying "what about Huckerby?" Well COME ON there is...[/quote]

Worthy Nigelton,

How can you say the Doc is a poor signing already??  He''s been here for less than 10 games!

[bananaman 0]

Also WN, totally don''t agree with Rivers, Easton and Nielsen.They are all players that were flawed, but compared to others in Div 1 were well above average and helped us along the way to the big picture of promotion.Watching them could be frustrating, but watching any Div 1 footballer is hardly like Brazil 1970.

[Worthy Nigelton<br><br><br><br><br>Evening News Sports Page Headline 8th August 2007:<br><br>Henderson joins Dereham Town. 0]

Actually I take Rivers back - I actually thought he was pretty good and Easton weren''t as bad as people say I suppose, but Nielsen was not very good.Okay I can''t judge the Doc just yet I agree because he has been played out of position and it is unfair to judge him so soon, but I just can''t see that he is going to be worth the £750,000 we paid for him. He''s not a bad player don''t get me wrong, but I think the money could have been invested in a better way, thats all I''m saying.

[bananaman 0]

£750K?!?!?!?!?!Please tell me that''s not how much we paid for him.Please? I''m a strong advocate for giving people a chance, but three quarters of a million for someone commonly regarded as the worst defender in the premiership last season? Ouch.

[a1canary 0]

Wasn''t Abbey signed by Bryan Hamilton?

I''m a positive person and like to give people a chance but I''m with WN on this, hence my other Doherty/Libbra post. I could be wrong of course but I''ve just got this bad feeling about him. He''s got Emblen/Briggs/Heckingbottom and co written all over him. Not bad players neccessarily but I just can''t see him getting in the team at either end of the field.

 

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Players signed by Hamilton: ** = those who made a significant impression

Paul Dalglish

Jean Yves de Blasiis

Fernando Derveld

Raymond de Waard

Pape Diop

Gaetano Giallanza

Des Hamilton

Paul McVeigh **

Tony Cottee

Brian McGovern

Steen Nedergaard **

Alex Notman

Paul Peschisolido

Steve Walsh

Jim Whitley

Phil Mulryne **

 

Players signed by Worthy:

 

Clint Easton **

Neil Emblen

Adam Drury **

Paul Crichton

Gary Holt **

Marc Libbra

David Nielsen **

Mark Rivers

Keith Briggs

Paul Heckingbottom

Darren Huckerby **

Jim Brennan **

Leon McKenzie **

Marc Edworthy **

Mathias Svensson **

Damien Francis **

 

Know which list I''d rather have!

[Jet heeled frontman 0]

[quote]Whilst I don''t whole-heartedly agree with the original post I have to say that some of Worthy''s signings haven''t been good and those of you who keep saying "what about Huckerby?" Well COME ON there is...[/quote]

Worthy
Im sorry but once again you are missing the point. Yes anyone could spot that Huckerby was brilliant, but anybody didnt sign him. Only one manager, only one club got him. Nigel got him on loan. Nigel signed him. Dont remember you posting before he came here on loan saying how wonderful. So obviously you were not one of those ''anyones'' who spotted him!