Who was our worst loan signing this season?

[greyseagull]

Jesus, when you look at that list you suddenly realise how bad it's become

 

[JBizzle]

Gary Gardner by a thousand miles. Utterly, utterly pointless footballer and the weakest part in the weakest midfield we've seen at the Amex in the stripes. A free-kick specialist that never hit the target (or anywhere below row Z).

Gardner was consistently awful and I felt a pang of misery whenever I saw his name on the teamsheet.

 

[father_and_son]

Too many to choose from but plump for Obika

This... isn't not just that he was a completely useless, talentless tw@t, but that we seemed to have agreed to some sort of appearance clause which meant him being subbed on for the last 30 seconds of a number of matches, effectively blocking a substitution slot which could have made a difference in the game.

 

[Yoda]

Al habsi?

Not the worst, but most pointless maybe?

 

[Simster]

The al Habsi signing was genuinely baffling at the time, utterly utterly pointless (although there were STILL some people on here at the time arguing that it "made sense").

I honestly don't even think I've seen Ledesma, has he played a home game ? If he has then I've not noticed, which tells its own story I suppose. Won a pen at Reading, but we went on to lose anyway, so zero contribution from him.

Gardner was part of the Axis of Feeble with JFC which helped drag us to the arse-end of the table, but he did at least pop up with a couple of goals, so I guess he made a contribution of sorts. Although massively outweighed by his overwhelming crapness for almost his entire spell.

Elliott Bennett was dreadfully disappointing, but he was at least trying.

Best though. Has to be Best, he just about edges it over Ledesma for me, having contributed the square route of FACK-all at any point in a game for us, ever. Nothing, absolutely nothing, not even nuisance value. We might as well have been playing with 10. Another "professional" happy to go through the motions of pretending to be a footballer and picking up x-grand a week for it. Another complete and utter waste of skin on our payroll.

Jesus. What a season.

Lovely turn of phrase there. By far the best thing on an otherwise depressing thread. Well played.

 

[Simster]

For me, this has to be between Best and Gardner. Neither work hard enough, both exude a sense of entitlement, both are complete shìte.

I'll actually go for Gardner. It's worth remembering that Best joined a squad already down on it's luck whereas Gardner joined when we still had reason for optimism. Gardner was signed as a player from a Premier League side, presumably learning his trade and wanting to get on. Whereas the only reason Best was signed was because he was a proven Championship level journeyman who was a) actually available mid-season and b) would presumably do enough to keep us here.

Best has done exactly what we ought to have expected, only (somehow) with marginally less than expected effort. Gardner was just a needlessly utterly woeful signing.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Lovely turn of phrase there. By far the best thing on an otherwise depressing thread. Well played.

thanks for hightlighting. I missed the original post. Bravo Easy.

 

[Easy 10]

Lovely turn of phrase there. By far the best thing on an otherwise depressing thread. Well played.

thanks for hightlighting. I missed the original post. Bravo Easy.

Cheers gents, not even sure where I pulled that from.

And you make a good case for Gardner being the most useless Simster. I was primarily swayed by his two goals (the only goal v Wigan, and in the following game in a 1-1 with Blackburn). That's turned out to be a maHOOsive three points against a bottom-feeder and a valuable one against Rovers, so he has at least contributed in that sense. But in terms of week-in, week-out performances over those 17 games he truly was rancid, and could probably be partially blamed for dragging JFC down to his level this season.

Got quite a choice haven't we.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

this season has definitely had a bit of a vintage 'mickey adams mk 11' vibe about it

you've got to admire the club for their retro outlook really

 

[JBizzle]

Cheers gents, not even sure where I pulled that from.

And you make a good case for Gardner being the most useless Simster. I was primarily swayed by his two goals (the only goal v Wigan, and in the following game in a 1-1 with Blackburn). That's turned out to be a maHOOsive three points against a bottom-feeder and a valuable one against Rovers, so he has at least contributed in that sense. But in terms of week-in, week-out performances over those 17 games he truly was rancid, and could probably be partially blamed for dragging JFC down to his level this season.
Got quite a choice haven't we.

That is a very good point Easy. I was in a constant state of confused apoplexy when people glided straight past another moistly insipid performance from Gardner to berate JFC (who appeared to be played out of position to accommodate Gardner). It's impossible to overstate my dislike for Gardner as a player, nor would I attempt to try.

 

[Easy 10]

That is a very good point Easy. I was in a constant state of confused apoplexy when people glided straight past another moistly insipid performance from Gardner to berate JFC (who appeared to be played out of position to accommodate Gardner). It's impossible to overstate my dislike for Gardner as a player, nor would I attempt to try.

Imagine if JFC was playing alongside someone like Kayal all season - that could only have helped to develop and bring on his game. And as we've seen, he has done well amongst better company in the U21's. Instead though, he spent half the season here being yoked together in midfield with an unmotivated carthorse, and instead of pushing on, he's looked half the player he was. I'm not saying Gardner is the *only* factor in that - but I think it was a factor.

Hopefully the damage done doesn't prove to be permanent.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

For me, it has to be between Elliott Bennett and Leon Best. Gary Gardner (in my opinion at least) did a pretty good job, whereas A-Habsi and Ledesma barely featured so impossible to say whether they were good or bad.

Leon Best edges it.