Worst ever signing?

[Balham Green]

For me it’s Pedelty and Austin, makeweights in the Mariner transfer along with Bruce Bannister who was supposed to the new Paul Mariner. All three were uniquely crap and didn’t last for five minutes. Truly awful.

I remember Pedelty as being a decent player who soon suffered a career-ending injury (or was possibly
already carrying it when he joined us). Austin was a carthorse, who probably seemed even worse to us
after 3 or 4 years of watching Mariner. What is certain is that we were truly shafted on that deal.

18 goals in 58 appearances in a struggling side suggests Austin was definitely not a bad player.

 

[Devongreenowl]

For me it’s Pedelty and Austin, makeweights in the Mariner transfer along with Bruce Bannister who was supposed to the new Paul Mariner. All three were uniquely crap and didn’t last for five minutes. Truly awful.

I remember Pedelty as being a decent player who soon suffered a career-ending injury (or was possibly
already carrying it when he joined us). Austin was a carthorse, who probably seemed even worse to us
after 3 or 4 years of watching Mariner. What is certain is that we were truly shafted on that deal.

I think Argyle got involved in a poor player swop deal with Ipswich for Mariner, when they really out to have let him go to a club willing to pay what he was worth. Austin and Peddelty were both only 22 when they came to Argyle and the latter had already had a serious head injury which I believe recurred, leading to his eventual retirement from the game. Austin did actually score a decent amount of goals during his stay, but he always looked a bit slow to me, although 'carthorse' is a bit harsh. He later went to Mansfield where he had his best goal scoring period.

Without doubt we have signed much worse players than either of those two, but the disappointment of losing Mariner was always bound to lead to negative associations.

 

[Kentishgreen]

I think this is a case of records not telling the whole story. In that season Mariner scored almost as many goals as Austin and Bannister despite playing only a handful of games before being given away. Waiters had persuaded Brian Hall to join us from Liverpool. If he had played with Mariner or Rafferty things might have been different. As it was he had a right load of dross to play withd despite what the stats say.

 

[silkman]

The Fireman and Shift-Key:

Rhys Griffiths and Nadir Ciftci :crazy:

 

[silkman]

Dougie Anderson has already been mentioned but a winger from the Waiters era that I thought was pretty poor was Brian Johnson.

He kept fans’ favourite Steve Davey out of the side and I remember seeing some large graffiti sprayed on the fence out side the back of the Demport saying “Death To Johnson” which I thought was a bit harsh to be fair....

 

[davie nine]

Of all the ‘worst evers’ mentioned, Brian Johnson is the least deserving of this title.

 

[Bernie Bernbaum]

Brian Johnson? Are you serious?
He played over 200 games for Argyle and was an important part of the 74-75 promotion squad. Worst ever signing?

 

[Quintrell Green]

Of all the ‘worst evers’ mentioned, Brian Johnson is the least deserving of this title.

Agreed. He made a significant contribution in the promotion year leading to Division 2. Waiters was no fool as Argyle's coach and appreciated the value of Johnson's right wing crosses to feed the heading ability of Messrs Rafferty and Mariner

 

[Aaron D.]

The worst ever signing has to come in the basement division surely? Bad players in the Championship may be ok in L2.

I'd have to say the fireman or Blackman.

I also agree with Steve Evans about Shilton. I know he got us playing great football, but it was only for one season. His mistakes sowed the disharmony that relegated us to the bottom division for the FIRST time ever. Once this barrier was broken we keep slipping down there leading to some of the worst football, times and results in the clubs history. I blame Shilton for that.

 

[Kentishgreen]

Really weird how people view things. From my perspective I would say Brian Johnson was among the better players I’ve seen over the years. I’ve only been watching since 1968.

 

[pastiesforlife]

For Argyle....?

Lee Chapman played for fourteen clubs and scored for all but one of them. Only four games for Argyle but still three more than for Southend, who he found time to score for.

 

[Swillyboy]

Definitely not Brian Johnson (231 appearances and 43 goals is not bad for a winger in a 442 system). Steve Davey was a good player - more replaced by Rafferty than Johnson. Waiters shrewdly dismantled a good Div. 3 team (out: Davey, Provan, Hague, Rickard, Welsh - Sullivan sold to raise money, in: Rafferty, Green, McAuley, Delve, P. Burrows). Trouble was Waiters tried to make a good Div. 2 team into a great Div. 2. Unable to hold on to Mariner, and letting go some of the others Austin, Peddelty, Horswilll, Hall, Craven, Collins, Bannister (25 app. 7 goals) were not bad players but the confidence and the magic had gone. The Pilgrim said 'We' ll be the greatest' and we believed it.

Steve MacLean suffered from the 9 shirt and the record price tag as well as coming back from a broken leg and playing in a deeper role. The bar racking didn't help - when does it ever?

The worst signings - the ones who probably never wanted to come in the first place and who seemed to have caused trouble - hence Swann and Stack. Players who were just not very good? That's a different story...

 

[Nobby]

Luke Daley for me. He was very one footed and even that foot was very bad. Had nothing to him at all.

 

[demportdave]

Dougie Anderson has already been mentioned but a winger from the Waiters era that I thought was pretty poor was Brian Johnson.

He kept fans’ favourite Steve Davey out of the side and I remember seeing some large graffiti sprayed on the fence out side the back of the Demport saying “Death To Johnson” which I thought was a bit harsh to be fair....

The person who kept Steven Davey out of the 1974-75 Promotion team was Steven Davey.

Waiters was fully committed to Mariner and Rafferty as a pair up front and Davey could have played wide on the right, which is where he played when he first broke into the team as a teenager and where he played as an England Youth international, but he told Waiters he didn’t want to play there.

Although worlds apart, it was a similar situation with Gary Lineker when he was at Barca and Cruyff made him play wide right when Lineker would have far rather played in the middle, as he did for England.

In fairness to Davey, he had done well the previous season playing in the middle with Mariner when we reached the League Cup semi-finals, so you could see why he wasn’t happy to be usurped up front by Rafferty. But Waiters had already signed Rafferty before the end of the season with the intention to play him alongside Mariner so the writing was on the wall and as we all know, the rest is history.

In what was overall an excellent season, poor old Steven Davey became something of a forgotten man. Even when Mariner was briefly injured, instead of Davey playing, Waiters put Barry Vassallo up front with Rafferty which was a pretty good indication of the state of the relationship between Waiters and Davey.

 

[Swillyboy]

Good insights from DD. Davey was more than capable of playing right wing or right back. Peter Darke and John Hore (both out of position) were played at right back. While no one can criticise the Mariner Rafferty partnership, Steve Davey had done well with Mariner and after a season in the wilderness went on to great things: https://www.talkingbull.org/hereford-he ... eve-davey/