Transfer News Worst Ever Transfer Window?

[jaybeachjump]

I am starting to think of the summer window as the club's best ever.
It got me thinking: what was our worst ever transfer window [and yes, I do know that transfer deadlines are a recent invention].
I'll go first: 2003. Ian Atkins brought in Mark E'Beyer, Mark Rawle, Derek Townsley, Paul McCarthy, and Julian Alsop. He also signed Jon Ashton and Paul Wanless. So not all bad.

 

[BristolOx]

Dave Woozley, Leo Roget & someone else came in the same window

 

[jaybeachjump]

Dave Woozley, Leo Roget & someone else came in the same window

Was Roget any good? I can't quite remember.

 

[greatunclekip]

Got to be the one where Rixy blasted the whole budget on Bradbury and Mooney, meaning we then had to recruit the quality of Woozley, Roget, Wolleaston and Terry Parker for the rest of the team. Mooney ended up playing centre back, we couldn’t afford to play Bradders, and we lost 6-1 to Yeovil. An absolute horror.

 

[Berliner]

The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Matty Taylor was leaving at the last second was one.
The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Jonte Smith as the solution to our ills was another.

 

[Foley]

The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Matty Taylor was leaving at the last second was one.
The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Jonte Smith as the solution to our ills was another.

Not in the same class to some of the earliest ones....

 

[werthersoriginal]

The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Matty Taylor was leaving at the last second was one.
The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Jonte Smith as the solution to our ills was another.

Ateef Konate is without a club. Tyler Smith is at Bradford and doing ok I think

 

[Grumpy Git]

Any in which Robinson spouted “we’re going to get them in early”.

 

[unification]

I am starting to think of the summer window as the club's best ever.
It got me thinking: what was our worst ever transfer window [and yes, I do know that transfer deadlines are a recent invention].
I'll go first: 2003. Ian Atkins brought in Mark E'Beyer, Mark Rawle, Derek Townsley, Paul McCarthy, and Julian Alsop. He also signed Jon Ashton and Paul Wanless. So not all bad.

E’Beyer joined in the summer of 2004 so was one of Rix’s ‘barely done any scouting of any of them’ recruitment efforts.

He was worse than Kemp, I don’t care what anyone says.

Got to be the one where Rixy blasted the whole budget on Bradbury and Mooney, meaning we then had to recruit the quality of Woozley, Roget, Wolleaston and Terry Parker for the rest of the team. Mooney ended up playing centre back, we couldn’t afford to play Bradders, and we lost 6-1 to Yeovil. An absolute horror.

Mooney was a fairly late signing IIRC. His goals were vitally important in 2004-05 and were missed so much the season after he left.

It was the season after where Kassam refused to allow Talbot to play Bradbury or else he’d get a contract extension. Again, that was another sliding doors moment towards our relegation that year.

 

[Mateo Corbo's Tackle]

Was Roget any good? I can't quite remember.

Roget was odd. Went from being one of the worst players I’d ever seen play football to the best player in the team in the space of a few months.

And then he was gone.

 

[bazzer9461]

Got to be the one where Rixy blasted the whole budget on Bradbury and Mooney, meaning we then had to recruit the quality of Woozley, Roget, Wolleaston and Terry Parker for the rest of the team. Mooney ended up playing centre back, we couldn’t afford to play Bradders, and we lost 6-1 to Yeovil. An absolute horror.

I thought Kassam sipped Bradbury from playing as we would have triggered a contract extension

 

[West Oxon U’s]

The summer of 2000 saw an influx of poor signings.

Lee Jarman, Ian McGuckin, John Robertson, Manny Omoyinmi, Jon Richardson et al. Andy Linighan followed iirc.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Matty Taylor was leaving at the last second was one.
The one where we were looking for a striker and then announced Jonte Smith as the solution to our ills was another.

99/00 or 00/01 were far far worst than those windows. Even 06/07 where we had the likes of Krebis, George Santos, Gavin Johnson, Brevett, Slabber and Marvin Robinson join us was worse.

 

[Isle of Wight Yellow]

I don’t personally think a lot of the players mentioned were actually bad players, for the level we were at back then:

• Mark Rawle had a decent touch and could score
• Julian Alsop was strong and good in the air, before his legs went (forgetting the other thing)
• Leo Roget was rapid, a very pacy and strong centre back
• Manny Omoyinmi had some good games for us
• Lee Bradbury was absolutely quality once we stopped playing him as a striker and dropped him into central midfield, he became one of our best players

 

[tonyw]

E’Beyer joined in the summer of 2004 so was one of Rix’s ‘barely done any scouting of any of them’ recruitment efforts.

He was worse than Kemp, I don’t care what anyone says.

Honestly most of the catastrophic signings in 2000/01 were Denis Smith’s fault, not Kemp.

Kemp was useless but he was also dealt a terrible hand.

I think summer 2000 has to be the worst. Ian McGuckin and Lee Jarman in one window?!? Not like the others were any good that summer either……

 

[Morris Oxford]

Size of budget for any ‘window’ has to come into it, particularly the summer/preseason one, and how that budget compares to other teams in the same league .

I suspect Ian Atkins recruited pretty well all things considered, even though the entertainment’ on offer was somewhat lacking!
As did Horton Out and Denis Smith (1st time round) but with much more attractive football.

I believe for his last two summer windows Robinson had a highly competitive budget, but as we know he got incredibly lazy and didn’t have the ability to build a balanced squad.

Manning had an excellent summer window with us, there was a huge rebuild and rebalancing to be done which is easy to lose sight of after the less than classy way he departed.

 

[Left Wing Cross]

I would like to point to winter 2005-06. when Brian Talbot, knowing that we needed more firepower upfront, tried to sign Onandi Lowe.

He knew that he wouldn't get a visa but tried anyway. Embarrassing!

 

[BristolOx]

Was Roget any good? I can't quite remember.

As others have alluded to, no.

For the ones I can remember the Rix season was the worst and probably one of the recent Robbo transfer windows was second.

 

[Joey]

Got to be the one where Rixy blasted the whole budget on Bradbury and Mooney, meaning we then had to recruit the quality of Woozley, Roget, Wolleaston and Terry Parker for the rest of the team. Mooney ended up playing centre back, we couldn’t afford to play Bradders, and we lost 6-1 to Yeovil. An absolute horror.

Was that the same window we signed Rob Wolleaston and his cousin joined the old TiU forum insisting he was really good and the problems were all elsewhere?

 

[Steve Gilbert]

No matter which window was the worst, what this thread does show is that we have had some real s**t players sign for us in the last 25 years!

 

[greatunclekip]

I would like to point to winter 2005-06. when Brian Talbot, knowing that we needed more firepower upfront, tried to sign Onandi Lowe.

He knew that he wouldn't get a visa but tried anyway. Embarrassing!

At least he had a good backup lined up with Neville Roach. Imagine if he hadn’t!

 

[Colin B]

Size of budget for any ‘window’ has to come into it, particularly the summer/preseason one, and how that budget compares to other teams in the same league .

I suspect Ian Atkins recruited pretty well all things considered, even though the entertainment’ on offer was somewhat lacking!
As did Horton Out and Denis Smith (1st time round) but with much more attractive football.

I believe for his last two summer windows Robinson had a highly competitive budget, but as we know he got incredibly lazy and didn’t have the ability to build a balanced squad.

Manning had an excellent summer window with us, there was a huge rebuild and rebalancing to be done which is easy to lose sight of after the less than classy way he departed.

I think you'll find KR had a highly competitive budget every season he was here.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

I think you'll find KR had a highly competitive every season he was here.

It was either top 6 or top 10 when KR was here. Well that’s what was implied…

 

[Marked Ox]

I don’t personally think a lot of the players mentioned were actually bad players, for the level we were at back then:

• Mark Rawle had a decent touch and could score
• Julian Alsop was strong and good in the air, before his legs went (forgetting the other thing)
• Leo Roget was rapid, a very pacy and strong centre back
• Manny Omoyinmi had some good games for us
• Lee Bradbury was absolutely quality once we stopped playing him as a striker and dropped him into central midfield, he became one of our best players

Mark Rawle was a decent player. Felt like he never scored tap ins, only worldies.

 

[Mojofilter]

For me the worst windows are losing players you love (especially last minute or in murky circumstances) rather than buying s**t players

 

[Danny777]

Got to be the one where Rixy blasted the whole budget on Bradbury and Mooney, meaning we then had to recruit the quality of Woozley, Roget, Wolleaston and Terry Parker for the rest of the team. Mooney ended up playing centre back, we couldn’t afford to play Bradders, and we lost 6-1 to Yeovil. An absolute horror.

This was the one I thought of too… Danny Morgan was also signed IIRC. Lots of ex pompey youth teamers.

 

[holdsteady]

The one where we signed McGuckin and Jarman, the worst centre back pairing the third tier of English football has ever seen (that’s a guess but they must be contenders).

 

[Left Wing Cross]

How about the summer 1999?

Anthrobus
Fear
Arendse
Lilley (for a fee)
McGowan (for a fee)

Phil Gilchrist would leave after the first match.

It should be noted that those players on free transfers were given insane wages.

 

[Isle of Wight Yellow]

As others have alluded to, no.

For the ones I can remember the Rix season was the worst and probably one of the recent Robbo transfer windows was second.

He was good, I don’t understand why people are claiming he wasn’t. There have certainly been be, far, far worse centre backs playing for Oxford United in the last 30 years!

 

[Kernow Yellow]

Surely our worst window ever was the one in 2006 where we let our best three attacking players leave - Chris Hackett, Craig Davies and Lee Bradbury, meaning the goals dried up and we got relegated out of the league from a safe mid-table position. Criminal judgement by Talbot (with Kassam pulling a few strings I suspect).