I’ve been doing a few top ten lists for you over the summer, but this one gave me nightmares.
I consider 2000-2011 a key era for me. We went through the lot, administration, play-offs and ultimately, a relegation. As the mascot, I felt right in the middle of everything and often wore my red and white spectacles when viewing the club.
A bit like now.
Anyway, back then, you had to be really bad to irk me, and sometimes, a loan player just stood out as so bad, I could have cried. I’ve compiled a list of ten (it could have been more) that will keep you up tonight.
10. Junior Mendes – 10 apps, 0 goals
Sometimes, I think a player can be a victim of circumstance. Mendes arrived in late 06/07, with City tumbling out of the top three and towards ultimate play-off failure. He made his debut at Barnet, and looked lightweight, he appeared as we lost 3-2 at home to Swindon in a winner-takes-all televised game, at the same time as Peter Holmes, a debutant who created a goal, and looked lightweight.
He played ten matches, we lost eight and one we didn’t lose, he was a late sub. After us, he drifted into non-league and the Scottish lower leagues. Zero impact,
9. Drewe Broughton – 31 apps, 0 goals
How can a striker feature 31 times and fail to find the net once? Broughton managed that unwanted feat across two spells in 2008 and 2009. The first of those was a ten-game loan spell, during which he impressed nobody other than manager Chris Sutton. Sutton should know a striker when he sees one, but Broughton brought nothing we didn’t already have, and still got a contract for the following season.
I’m sure he worked hard and occasionally held the ball up, but for a player leading the line, a goal return of zero says it all. Loan strikers are judged on their impact, and Broughton had none.