Richard Peacock
Peacock is an interesting one. He joined in January 1999, 26 years old and had been a target for John Reames for two years, according to reports. We let Jason Perry and Jon Whitney go in the other direction, which was a pretty bold move.
Imagine now, letting a former hero go (Whitney was a key part of our promotion side) and an international (Perry had a Wales cap), in exchange for one player. We’d be expectant, wouldn’t we?
He only started three games as we were relegated from the third tier. The following season, injury-hit again, he started just 16 times, playing 24 league games in total. In 00/01, he played 34 times in the league, but just scored once.
He was talented, and when looking back at the era, he is rarely seen as a flop, more unlucky with injuries, but the reality is that if he’d been around during the social media age, he’d have taken some real stick.