Wonderflips?

[Lord Kangana]

Following the trend of positivity of the last few months, as an antidote to the Wonderflops thread, and to try to (scientifically!) answer BWFCi's suspicion that Holden may be our best ever free signing, I thought I'd pose the question.....

Just who is our best ever value for money signing? Is it based on the fee and wages we paid, the impact they made on or off the pitch, the longevity of service, the resale value they recouped? Theres no doubting we've had a raft of good players over the last 18 years in particular. Can we spread the net wider? And inevitably do players from the youth team count?


FWIW my own pick is a man who I watched on his debut open mouthed as he led the line perfectly against Royal Antwerp. He was a little overweight, but was he really free? My brother in law was sat with me (a citeh fan as it happens) and said to me "Well, Big Sam's done it again. Thats a tremendous signing". He may only have around 1-in-5 goals, which isn't great for a striker, but he's been synonymous with the most recent successful moments of this club, a talisman, a line-leader, and West Ham hate him.

My pick is Kevin Cyril Davies, living club legend.


So whats yours?

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Jaaskelainen - what did we pay for him again?

[Lord Kangana]

300k I recall.

[BWFC_Insane]

Following the trend of positivity of the last few months, as an antidote to the Wonderflops thread, and to try to (scientifically!) answer BWFCi's suspicion that Holden may be our best ever free signing, I thought I'd pose the question.....

Just who is our best ever value for money signing? Is it based on the fee and wages we paid, the impact they made on or off the pitch, the longevity of service, the resale value they recouped? Theres no doubting we've had a raft of good players over the last 18 years in particular. Can we spread the net wider? And inevitably do players from the youth team count?


FWIW my own pick is a man who I watched on his debut open mouthed as he led the line perfectly against Royal Antwerp. He was a little overweight, but was he really free? My brother in law was sat with me (a citeh fan as it happens) and said to me "Well, Big Sam's done it again. Thats a tremendous signing". He may only have around 1-in-5 goals, which isn't great for a striker, but he's been synonymous with the most recent successful moments of this club, a talisman, a line-leader, and West Ham hate him.

My pick is Kevin Cyril Davies, living club legend.


So whats yours?

I think Kev is a good shout.

Jussi what did he cost? 250K? Something like that. Is right up there, Probably could have sold him for more than 20 times what we bought him a while ago and his service has been exemplary. A real coup.

[Bruce Rioja]

Per Frandsen - a makeweight in the Michael Johansen deal. I saw him make his debut down at Port Vale and was immediately won over. Sold him tert' Rervers then bought him back for less, his sale sparking the resignation of Toddy and the ushering in of the Allardyce era. Above all that though, a superb midfielder that could, and did, turn games single-handedly and chip in with a fair few, usually spectacular goals.

[CAPSLOCK]

Head, Jussi

Heart, Okocha for being the most skilled footballer I've seen in the flesh

[Lord Kangana]

Per Frandsen - a makeweight in the Michael Johansen deal. I saw him make his debut down at Port Vale and was immediately won over. Sold him tert' Rervers then bought him back for less, his sale sparking the resignation of Toddy and the ushering in of the Allardyce era. Above all that though, a superb midfielder that could, and did, turn games single-handedly and chip in with a fair few, usually spectacular goals.

Aye, hadn't Todd gone to watch Michael and saw Per so decided to buy both?

As much as I liked Frandsen, and as good value as he was, I always felt he lacked a little bit of pace to really make it at the top level.

[Bruce Rioja]

Aye, hadn't Todd gone to watch Michael and saw Per so decided to buy both?

As much as I liked Frandsen, and as good value as he was, I always felt he lacked a little bit of pace to really make it at the top level.

Yeah that's how I seem to remember it coming about, too.

A fair criticism re- Frandsen's pace, but then it was never really part of his game anyway.

[CAPSLOCK]

I was never a big fan of Frandsen, maybe cos of his lack of mobility, but that doesn't stop him being a fair shout

I do think he was another of those players who 'found his home' at Bolton

20 Denmark caps suggests he may not have been that good, but I don't know who kept him out!

If you're chucking Frandsen in then you have to accept Bergsson and imo he pisses all over PF

[BWFC_Insane]

I was never a big fan of Frandsen, maybe cos of his lack of mobility, but that doesn't stop him being a fair shout

I do think he was another of those players who 'found his home' at Bolton

20 Denmark caps suggests he may not have been that good, but I don't know who kept him out!

If you're chucking Frandsen in then you have to accept Bergsson and imo he pisses all over PF

I was a big fan of Frandsen thought he was superb, did lack pace which of course held him back but still.

But bergsson was a bigger coup. Think he cost 60K from Spurs yet nobody had really heard much of him and to my mind one of the best "proper" defenders we've ever had.

Michael Ricketts is also worth a shout here. Cost not very much did wonders for us and we made a massive profit on him.

[CAPSLOCK]

Ooooo Michael Ricketts

Now, that is a shout

Its dead easy to mock the bloke, but he deserved his England chance - there was a time when he just didn't miss

Maybe the best finisher I've seen in a Bolton shirt - Walker probably ran him close

[Lord Kangana]

On Bergson, I recalll that everyone had heard of him, and that it was a really good signing for the money (least, the people I knew). Though not necessarily as good as it turned out...

My second pick for a list like this would be Bruno N'Gotty. We got hold of him because Marseille were having severe financial difficulties. I've no idea how we got him, there must have been others interested. And 500k for a French International, Uefa cup winning, Serie A winning player who'd changed hands for a total of £15m in the previous 4 years? Its a no brainer.

[BWFC_Insane]

Ooooo Michael Ricketts

Now, that is a shout

Its dead easy to mock the bloke, but he deserved his England chance - there was a time when he just didn't miss

Maybe the best finisher I've seen in a Bolton shirt - Walker probably ran him close

Think McGinlay was a better natural finisher though he didn't have Ricketts' power and pace.

[CAPSLOCK]

On Bergson, I recalll that everyone had heard of him, and that it was a really good signing for the money (least, the people I knew). Though not necessarily as good as it turned out...

My recollection is that Bergsson had dropped off the radar when we got him

And he came to us as a right back

A position I didn't rate him in

[Lord Kangana]

The most remarkable thing was his claret-like improvement with age. For about 3-4 seasons he just got better and better. He also seemed to gain a yard of pace. I don't know what drugs Sam was feeding him, but it worked.

[superjohnmcginlay]

Anelka? Had disappeared to Turkey. Allardyce took a gamble that could have gone wrong. He was class and we made a fair bit on him.

[William the White]

Oh, Frankie, Frankie... sometimes a single signing can win you the prize...

[Gary the Enfield]

Close the thread now.

Nat Lofthouse. An unstinting servant over five decades. Cost us a tenner.

This knocks everyone else into a cocked hat in my opinion.

[TANGODANCER]

Close the thread now.

Nat Lofthouse. An unstinting servant over five decades. Cost us a tenner.

This knocks everyone else into a cocked hat in my opinion.

If ever there was a "Mr Bolton" in a football shirt, he's it. Nuff said. Mind you, having seen the Freddie Hills' Wyn Davies, John Byrom, Paul Jones, Whatmore, Walker, Worthy, Youri, Bergson, JJ, Super Kev and loads more, they all made being a Whites fan what it is. Here's to em, whatever they cost.

[as]