Shock Signings (1 Viewer)

TrueSkyBlueLiam · Oct 19, 2015

OK, hands up, who predicted Joe Cole coming to Coventry? Anyone? No? Yh, me nether. This got me thinking. I'm sure some of the older generation will remember some pretty surprising transfers. The only one i can recall is Stokes coming from Forest Green. So for this weeks Cook's Question, i want you to tell me your most shocking signing. I doesn't have to be a Coventry player. It can be any club in any sport for any reason. Drop a reply and tell me why. Also, if you'd like a shoutout on the show, just ask. Sports Lounge kicks off at 10am this Thursday on 98.6 Hillz FM, so tune in if you can. If you cant make the live show, head to mixcloud.com/liamcook and catch up on demand. Thanks again guys. Couldn't do it without you

Sky Blue Pete · Oct 19, 2015

Jarni was the best one

Wyken Sky Blue · Oct 19, 2015

Tony Mowbray staying in this nuthouse.

Jack Griffin · Oct 19, 2015

Lee Hughes, what a huge mistake to take a player of his character. A very bad decision.

shmmeee · Oct 19, 2015

Robbie Keane. Even Strachan was surprised IIRC.

Jarni obviously. Hadji and McAllister as well I'd say.

He couldn't run a club for toffee, but Richardson did know how to make a marquee signing.

rupert_bear · Oct 19, 2015

Going back years but it has to be goalkeeper Bill Glazier, a world record fee for a goalie of £35000 and for a second division club to pay that just shows what influence and foresight Jimmy Hill had.Shocked a lot of fans at the time too as he signed on the day of a game at Portsmouth and played, that was allowed then, was at that match and all us fans were mistyfied who this new keeper was when the teams ran out.

Gazolba · Oct 19, 2015

Viorel Moldovan

Astute · Oct 19, 2015

Has to be Dennis Wise for me. He caused problems for just about every club he played against. A totally class player. Great on the ball. Great off the ball. Frequently came off best against players much bigger than himself. We were relegation candidates when he joined. And he didn't join us just for the money either. Certainly one of our players I will never forget.

I still don't have a clue why he joined us.

bringbackrattles · Oct 19, 2015

I recall Gordon Milne breaking our transfer record for Gary Collier from Bristol City who was being touted as the next big thing.He was a flop and we were all thinking what the hell was all that about !

wingy · Oct 19, 2015

Wegerlie. Dublin and Gerry Francis for me back In the day.

Moff · Oct 19, 2015

shmmeee said:
Robbie Keane. Even Strachan was surprised IIRC.

Jarni obviously. Hadji and McAllister as well I'd say.

He couldn't run a club for toffee, but Richardson did know how to make a marquee signing.

Totally agree with you, Keane, Mcallister, Hadji, Jarni and also Moldovan as well were unexpected signings, of a level we hadnt really experieneced before, and in an era that wasnt long after Julian Darby and John Gayle.

I also was shocked when we signed Cyrille Regis in the 80's which for the first year or two didnt turn out as expected but thanks to Sillett and Curtis, they soon got the best out of him.

SkyBlueSid · Oct 19, 2015

I remember being very surprised when we signed Colin Stein from Rangers in 1972. They had just won the European Cup Winners Cup and Stein had scored in the final. In that era I actually still believed that we were destined to become one of the top clubs in the country.

Speedies_Chips · Oct 19, 2015

wingy said:
Wegerlie. Dublin and Gerry Francis for me back In the day.

Agree about Dublin. I remember thinking why are we paying a two million for someone just coming back from a broken leg. Turned out to be a bargain!

speedie87 · Oct 19, 2015

Noel whelan, couldn't believe our luck when we signed him

torchomatic · Oct 19, 2015

Yorath. .

skybluesam66 · Oct 19, 2015

Good -Cyrille Regis
Bad - Ashley Grimes (thought at the time he would be a star)

Terry Gibson's perm · Oct 19, 2015

Most of the signings during the Richardson's were a shock, I remember being stunned when we signed Hadji

WestEndAgro · Oct 19, 2015

speedie87 said:
Noel whelan, couldn't believe our luck when we signed him

Great shout, I was thinking exactly the same, the only people more shocked than us were Leeds fans!

kg82 · Oct 20, 2015

Any team? The main one has to be Tevez to West Ham for me. More recently Shaqiri to Stoke really surprised me.
For us, it has to be Robbie Keane. There'd been so much hype about him for the previous year that it was obvious he was going to a "big" team. Then we got him. Most excited I've ever been over a signing.

MalcSB · Oct 20, 2015

Terry yorath

phildownunder · Oct 20, 2015

SkyBlueSid said:
I remember being very surprised when we signed Colin Stein from Rangers in 1972. They had just won the European Cup Winners Cup and Stein had scored in the final. In that era I actually still believed that we were destined to become one of the top clubs in the country.

Yes definitely agree with that. I thought we`d hit the big time too and although that didn`t work out, Stein didn`t disappoint.

The surprise signing that sticks in my mind from way back though dates to our first season in Div1 and that was Cantwell`s first signing, Maurice Setters who was a well known player particularly from his time with WBA and Man Utd, but by the time he joined City (from Stoke) he was very much at the veteran stage.

When he was signed we were in dire straits near the foot of the table and I think many of us thought he was the last thing we needed. Seeing him step out for the first time seemed to confirm this. Going thin on top, bandy legged, he looked about 50.

Well we were certainly wrong there. He was a revelation, no frills, fearless in the tackle, a natural leader who led by example. I wouldn`t have fancied being a forward he was marking (in more ways than one!).

I have little doubt he was the biggest single reason we stayed up that first season and if we had gone straight back to Div 2 I wonder when (or if) we`d have got back up.

CJ_covblaze · Oct 20, 2015

Surprised no one has said Campbell to Arsenal or Robinho to Man City.

ccfctommy · Oct 20, 2015

What about Sol Campbell to Notts County!?

Moff · Oct 20, 2015

Kevin Kyle.

Couldnt believe Micky Adams wasted nearly 1 million on a striker who couldnt score for Sunderland, so was hardly going to be prolific for us. As predicted he was crap.

M&B Stand · Oct 20, 2015

Jack Griffin said:
Lee Hughes, what a huge mistake to take a player of his character. A very bad decision.

Selling Aloisi for 600k and replacing him with Hughes for 5 Million is up there for stupidity.

Kevin Gallagher from Dundee Utd was a piece of brilliance from Sillett.

rupert_bear · Oct 20, 2015

M&B Stand said:
Selling Aloisi for 600k and replacing him with Hughes for 5 Million is up there for stupidity.

Kevin Gallagher from Dundee Utd was a piece of brilliance from Sillett.

Said this before on here John Aloisi left here for non footballing reasons !

sw88 · Oct 20, 2015

Astute said:
Has to be Dennis Wise for me. He caused problems for just about every club he played against. A totally class player. Great on the ball. Great off the ball. Frequently came off best against players much bigger than himself. We were relegation candidates when he joined. And he didn't join us just for the money either. Certainly one of our players I will never forget.

I still don't have a clue why he joined us.

I agree with this. I think most, myself included, probably thought he was coming here for one last pay cheque. But by the end of it, he deserved twice what he must have earnt. Single handidly kept us going during his time here and created a similar lift to what Cole has done (even before he's kicked a ball).

I would guess that his reason for joining was probably one of the same of Cole; he wanted to play football. Wasn't fussed about the level. He just wanted to play. And I'm bloody grateful to him for that

That overhead kick, mind :claping hands:

sw88 · Oct 20, 2015

ccfctommy said:
What about Sol Campbell to Notts County!?

Or Sven!

Terry Gibson's perm · Oct 20, 2015

sw88 said:
I agree with this. I think most, myself included, probably thought he was coming here for one last pay cheque. But by the end of it, he deserved twice what he must have earnt. Single handidly kept us going during his time here and created a similar lift to what Cole has done (even before he's kicked a ball).

I would guess that his reason for joining was probably one of the same of Cole; he wanted to play football. Wasn't fussed about the level. He just wanted to play. And I'm bloody grateful to him for that

That overhead kick, mind :claping hands:

It seemed like he was on a one man mission to piss off the Leicester fans at the time, JC has given the club a real boost a bit like when Big Ron came in.

There's a shock signing Big Ron.

bringbackrattles · Oct 20, 2015

Moving slightly off the thread what about a player who nearly signed for us but chose Cloughies Forest instead, none other than Trevor Francis ? Only one club could match the million quid asking price back then and that was Coventry City,how times have changed !

Covstu · Oct 20, 2015

Would have to agree with Astute, Wise for me was a player who individually changed the game time and time again. I hated him when he was at Chelsea but you could see what he did for the team even at his age. Cole's signing is in a similar ilk.

Non city related - RVP moving to United was a big shock and basically handed them the title.

Ranjit Bhurpa · Oct 20, 2015

Gary McAllister was perhaps a shock signing, given that he joined little old Cov from the mighty Leeds United where he had won the Premier League and played in the Champions League (or whatever it was called then). Rumour had it at the time that the financial package on offer from us was too good to turn down (!!) and he became a central part of the 'Entertainers' team in the mid to late 90's.

Little did we know at the time that deals such as this were unsustainable and a chain of events started by Big Ron and sanctioned by Richardson would still be felt today.

jimmyhillsfanclub · Oct 20, 2015

Some good City shock signings listed on this thread.....

another one that was a shock to me at the time was David Speedie......signing for us whilst at his peak for a lot of cash.

Away from city, surprised no-one has yet mentioned how Middlesboro helped to turn the premier league mental.....Ravenelli, Juninho & Emerson all signing for the hapless Bryan Robsons side......mental!

Skyblueweeman · Oct 20, 2015

Dublin for me. Like someone else said earlier, £2m for someone who was coming back from a broken leg was a little strange from what I recall. But the fact that we were signing a quality player (regardless of his broken leg previously) from Man Utd, whom everyone at school supported, was something that's stuck with me until this day. I remember finding out at home when I was a nipper and was quite excited by it.

Cole, albeit for 35 days, has probably been the most exciting since Wise. I was sceptical about Wise but despite his age, I'm hoping Cole can have a brilliant impact just like Wise.

Skyblueweeman · Oct 20, 2015

And for other clubs, I always remember what I believe to be the first big signing of the Premiership era. I remember Chelsea signing then Russia keeper Dimitry Kharin and thought 'wow, that's a big signing'. I think it was shortly after the 1990 WC or 1992 Euros but he was the first big foreign name I recall coming to the newly formed PL.

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