Worst FFC Transfers?

Transfer in-Obviously it's Marlet. He totally screwed up everything. We could of spent that money more wisely by getting Carew or the many other forwards we were linked with.

Transfer out- I know it's only been 4 years, but selling Saha to United cost us a chance at European football. If he would of stayed we would of been much higher than 9th.

 

We had an option on Andy Cole when he was a kid, but were too poor to take it up. I don't think he would have stayed with us too long.

Losing Steve Finnan was a major blow, but he was ready to go and do something bigger and better, Supermac is not a bad shout, we let the mid 80's team break up with a wimper, selling of Houghton, Cooney and Parker for a fraction of what they were worth.

Often the sale of tallent has been at the behest of the moneymen rather than poor management decisions. There are not many managers out there so blind that they cannot spot real tallent, the shame of most Fulham dealings can be routed fairly at Ernie Clay and that turd of a corpse David Bulstrode.

Vic Buckinham might be the worst manager we've had for selling talent at cut prices and replacing it with overexpensive dross. He was also responsible for our exit from the top flight - but I can only comment on what I have read since I never witnessed his dealings first hand.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I thought Marlet was a decent player. He was played out of position quite a bit, but still managed to do a good job of creating. Obviously the fee was way too high, but he wasn't that horrible.

There have been quite a few transfers out since I've started following the team. Finnan, Saha and van der Sar are big stars, and Sean Davis was an important player that I think we've been missing for a long time. But the worst ones IMO have been Malbranque and Rosenior - not so much because we let them leave, but because of what we got in return. Steed could have played all season for us last year, but Coleman was too stubborn and sold him for nothing. I'll admit that Rosenior came from a position of strength, but he was (IMO) our best defender last season, and was the only player we've had in recent memory that actually grew up a Fulham fan. The fact that we essentially traded him for Seol Ki-Hyeon is mind-boggling.

 

There have been so many dreadful players that have worn the Fulham shirt it is hard to know where to begin, so I will stick with the era I am most familiar with (end of the 80's start of the 90's).

One of the worst ins was Jim Hicks, who came from Oxford at the same time a Gary Barnett as part of the sale of Ray Houghton.

Gary Elkins from Wimbledon, Udo Onwere (aKA Udo Unaware-eee) and Wayne Kerrins were all truely terrible footballers. However, I cannot say what - if anything - we paid for these guys, but the expense on their pay packet alone is enough to damn them in my eyes.

 

O Boy when Fulham parted with Vic Halom I just about gave up on life?

 

Golden Balls - ups...

...I remember Malcolm MacDonald scoring against Crystal Palace on his home debut, and also a real poachers goal agansit Blackburn Rovers, not bad for a player who was being played as a defender. Malcolm was/is a Fulham supporter who grew up playing football in Bishops Park right next to Craven Cottage. Yes a typically Fulhamish thing to sell him, especially to a team who had a wiley manager called Alec Stock who 4 years later would be our own manager, and then lead us to the FA Cup final.

I agree with most of the comments here on good and bad signings, so far they have left out the two that you could say doomed us to relegation from the top flight for 32 years. We sold a prolific goalscorer called Allan (Sniffer) Clarke who in only 100 appearances, scored 57 goals in the top division. Despite this we still got relegated. And in his place we got a player called Frank Large (RIP), who for Northampton Town had been a leading goalscorer, but for Fulham he was absolutely hopeless or hapless, and it has to be said very unlucky. Frank was a lovely man, and he gave
100% .

And that is the difference between Frank and Steve Marlet. Marlet was absolutely useless and a liability, for a big man pushed off the ball far too easily. If one man single handedly soured the attitude towards managers and footballers in the eyes of our benefactor Mr Fayed it was 'Bob'. I have heard all the entreaties in his favour, but lets face it history has proven what a flop he was - after he left us he went on to one team after another, where again he was found wanting, yes the odd spectacular goal, but he was found out and shipped on from one team to another - last heard failing a trial with Norwich City!

Kamara is another huge disappointment, we will lose £5 million on his deal alone, but to be fair most of Sanchez's team have too.

In conclusion worst out Allan Clarke - worst in Marlet...

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I think you've summed him up Don an old fashion Centre forward

 

It may sound callous, but I was happy to see Rosenior go. I thought he was wildly overrated -- average defending and when he passed, it was usually to the other team. I've never understood what the big deal about him was. Also, if he's so fantastic, why has he only played in 6 matches for Reading, a team that has conceded 49 goals this year?

 

Although not technically a transfer, I'm starting to think our worst "transfer" in is Lawrie Sanchez. He left this team a right mess.

 

I think he contributed to it, but there was little quality bought in by CC. The team has been in decline since before JT left. You can chart the decline to the point JT's father died and he lost his focus (Martlet just added to the woe).

CC bought in players of much lower quality to the ones he let go or who saw there was no revolution at Fulham anymore and left (I'll probably be wrong about Bullard, but he has played so little it is too early to say).

So the worst transfer was possible made by the grim reaper. Either way, we are in a lot worse shape now than 6 years ago.