Worst Outgoing Transfer Ever?

[manicowl]

After reading the topic called something like Pinpointing Our Demise, it seems a lot of it is blamed on the sales of individual players. Which single outgoing transfer ranks as our worst ever?

Personally, I thought it was stupid to let Warhurst go, although like many others he'd fallen out with Francis. Ian Taylor has been voted Aston Villa's 27th greatest ever player in a recent top 50 poll, we got rid of him. Hirst obviously for sentimental reasons. And Whelan and Brunt were bound to move onto bigger stages.

I think the one that really pissed me off though was the sale of Dan Petrescu. It was basically an admission that we weren't an ambitious club anymore.

Any thoughts?

[nebneeb]

Not standing by Di Canio after his push and ultimititely forcing him to leave for nowhere near what he was worth. We lost our best player and didn't get enough cash to be able to replace him.

[LJH1867OWLS]

Not standing by Di Canio after his push and ultimititely forcing him to leave for nowhere near what he was worth. We lost our best player and didn't get enough cash to be able to replace him.

Agree with you 100%

Edited February 6, 2012 by LJH1867OWLS

[Rolfsson]

Taylor was swapped for Whittingham, who arguably kept us up.

Warhurst was a moaning minny who wanted the glory of playing up front, and got upset when Francis played him in defence.

[Utah Owl]

Warhurst wa broke his legs jsut a couple of months after leaving us and was never the same again.

For me the worst was Emerson Thome purely because of the circumstances surrounding it. If I recall correctly it went something like this:

1) That summer (99) we had reportedly turned down c5 million for him from Sunderland.

2) Two months into the season he is transferred as an emergency measure to get funds to pay the bank and goes to Chelsea for c 2 million.

3) At Christmas Richards get's his Premier League Chairman's role with considerable backing form Ken Bates (then Chelsea chairman).

4) Shortly after Chelsea sell Thome to Sunderland for (yes you've guessed it) 5 million.

And people wondered how we managed to accumulate 30 million of debt!

[SPQR-10]

Not standing by Di Canio after his push and ultimititely forcing him to leave for nowhere near what he was worth. We lost our best player and didn't get enough cash to be able to replace him.

Even to this day, it brings my blood to a boil how we treated him after that incident. Im not saying what he did was right, far from it, looking back now our club did the right thing in fining him. What followed after that was a complete joke, forcing him to leave the club was the wrong decision. Players have done worse things at other clubs, and the club have still supported that player after everything calms down. The same should have happend with Di Canio.

I remember a TV special (cant remember the programme) by the BBC where they went to Rome to find Di Canio after he went AWOL, they found him outside some cafe. He was saying what the club said to him straight after the incident, basically get out the club we don't want you anymore. Bet they think differently now.

[Guest Ripley Owl]

Not standing by Di Canio after his push and ultimititely forcing him to leave for nowhere near what he was worth. We lost our best player and didn't get enough cash to be able to replace him.

100% correct and we have never been the same since, crap man management by Danny Wilson, let's hope he makes similar mistakes while in charge of our smelly neighbours in S2

[Guest Teetowl]

I remember a TV special (cant remember the programme) by the BBC where they went to Rome to find Di Canio after he went AWOL, they found him outside some cafe. He was saying what the club said to him straight after Ithe incident, basically get out the club we don't want you anymore. Bet they think differently now.

I remember that. Didn't he say he'd been in Italy 7 weeks and not had one bit of contact with the club?

[kingsidney]

Not strictly a transfer but big Ron leaving for Villa was the beginning of the end.

[Guest wadsgod]

Carlton Palmer

[Eastern]

We let a lot players leave in the late 1990s for far less than their real value.

Carbone, Di Canio, Thome spring to mind.

Then didn't we let a lot of reasonable players leave for nothing a few years later - Rudi, Sibon, Quinn, Leigh Bromby.

1999 to 2005 were dark times indeed.

[Guest Teetowl]

We let a lot players leave in the late 1990s for far less than their real value.

Carbone, Di Canio, Thome spring to mind.

Then didn't we let a lot of reasonable players leave for nothing a few years later - Rudi, Sibon, Quinn, Leigh Bromby.

1999 to 2005 were dark times indeed.

True. But let the good times roll! :-)

[mosleyowl]

If I was a Charlton fan it would be Jose Semedo to SWFC for FREE

[Furious George]

We sold Kovacevic for 2.5m, who a year or so later went for 18m.

[brian joicey]

Not strictly a transfer but big Ron leaving for Villa was the beginning of the end.

or sir dave richards extracting his revenge 2nd time round instead of backing him and building again

[DamnedOwl]

We sold Kovacevic for 2.5m, who a year or so later went for 18m.

This was ridiculous. I remember when we signed him Pleat said he was 'one for the future'.

6 months later we sold him with Pleat moaning that it didn't work out.

[Eastern]

True. But let the good times roll! :-)

Yes.

Onwards and upwards.

[Vaughan]

Not strictly a transfer but big Ron leaving for Villa was the beginning of the end.

Yes, those 4 visits to Wembley 2 years later were the some of the low points.

Francis made some bad decisions towards the latter end of his time with us , but there were numerous transfer transactions underaken by Pleat that that turned us from an average side to relegation material.

Despite everything that Wilson, Yorath, Shreeves, Turner, Irvine did to us , Pleat, in my opinion, will always be the one that did the most damage. The 95-96 kit pays testimony to this.

[Furious George]

This was ridiculous. I remember when we signed him Pleat said he was 'one for the future'.

6 months later we sold him with Pleat moaning that it didn't work out.

I was young at the time, but vaguely remember him playing a blinder against Liverpool and scoring. That might have been his last game.

[torryowl]

would be hard to argue against di canio pay 4 million and then give him away for peanuts............sadly its always been the wednesday way to sell our best players quixall ,kay ,mccalliog .eustace from years ago stand out to more modern times like thome ,.bougheera ,di canio and the like .