Players who looked poor in their first few games but then proved to be good signings

[Diclonius]

In a reverse of the other thread, I'll start by suggesting Ivan Sproule. Was on his way out of Easter Road before that treble at Ibrox.

[keep the faith]

Claros. I would have initially drove him back to Honduras myself!!

[Pedantic_Hibee]

Anthony Stokes.

[Pedantic_Hibee]

Scott Allan.

[kaimendhibs]

Scott Robertson

[Boydyhfc]

Claros. I would have initially drove him back to Honduras myself!!

Claros for me aswell.

[s.a.m]

Cheating a bit here....:greengrin but Alan Shearer had a miserable debut at Easter Road. Sort of worked out in the end for him though..

[lord bunberry]

Keith Wright took a few games to get going

[s.a.m]

Leigh Griffiths?

[steakbake]

Humphrey Rudge. And he never really recovered from it.

[LaMotta]

Michael O'Neill.

[O'Rourke3]

Ally McLeod, Jackie Macnamara

Sent via the bushes @ EM

[Smartie]

Darren Jackson took a wee bit of time to get going but after a year or two was a fantastic player.

I also remember Steven Whittaker playing left-midfield at Motherwell when he must have been only about 17 before disappearing for a few months/ years and re-emerging as a superb attacking right-back.

[heidtheba]

Cheating a bit here....:greengrin but Alan Shearer had a miserable debut at Easter Road. Sort of worked out in the end for him though..

Didn't Henrik Larsson make his debut at Easter Road for that Celtic defeat to Chic Charnley's screamer?

[s.a.m]

Didn't Henrik Larsson make his debut at Easter Road for that Celtic defeat to Chic Charnley's screamer?
:agree:

[Time For Heroes]

Didn't Henrik Larsson make his debut at Easter Road for that Celtic defeat to Chic Charnley's screamer?

He did indeed, one of his first passes went to chico who then scored iirc

[1van Sprou7e]

Just looking at the current squad I'd go with Oxley

Obviously he scored on his debut but throughout last season as a whole he was often disappointing, however it seems like he's come on leaps and bounds since signing permanently

Looking back a couple of years Claros and Scotty Roberston are both fantastic examples

[jonty]

David Murphy
Looked completely unfit and fit to collapse after a lung busting 30 yard dash on his first appearance.
Had the best first touch of almost any other player I've ever seen.

[brog]

Ivan definitely, came on as sub in the cup semi & we went from 1 up to losing 2-1. He looked lost. Also Ally Macleod, bought to replace the great Crops, he made his debut at Airdrie IIRC & hardly kicked a ball in a 0-0 draw. Went on to be a superb player for us.

[Sammy7nil]

Leigh Griffiths?

Yip agreed and Deeks too he looked lightweight as if a strong breeze might blow him over :greengrin

[Smartie]

I thought Darren Dods was utter gash when he first broke through before improving and was probably one of our better players the year we went down even if he wasn't exactly brilliant.

Went on to have a decent, long playing career.

[Pretty Boy]

Whilst he was always showed potential it took Steven Fletcher a long time to really break into the team and show his talent on a regular basis.

[justlikebrazil]

Mathias Jack he took about a year to get going!!!

[Frank Moon]

Archibald. Took a while for his first goal against Celtic in the 3-0 at halftime game I think. Never looked back after that.

[Smartie]

Mathias Jack he took about a year to get going!!!

An average centre-half became an immense midfield enforcer when McLeish chose to play him there.

[My_Wife_Camille]

Doumbe

[LaMotta]

Archibald. Took a while for his first goal against Celtic in the 3-0 at halftime game I think. Never looked back after that.


He scored two on his debut vs Stranraer!

[Squealing pig]

Craig brewster, think he was shroud signing at the time goal drought to start with but was good player in the end

[KeithTheHibby]

I thought Darren Dods was utter gash when he first broke through before improving and was probably one of our better players the year we went down even if he wasn't exactly brilliant.

Went on to have a decent, long playing career.

Darren Dods was utter gash through out his entire Hibs career. The only
Centre half I know who could only kick the ball the way he faced.
Plus he was another judas that quit the club the minute we got relegated.

[Danderhall Hibs]

David Murphy
Looked completely unfit and fit to collapse after a lung busting 30 yard dash on his first appearance.
Had the best first touch of almost any other player I've ever seen.

Disagree with that - his first game was v Killie I think (0-1 loss) and although he lacked fitness you could see he had a good touch and knew where he was supposed to be. Pretty sure he cleared one off the line.

[Danderhall Hibs]

Ivan definitely, came on as sub in the cup semi & we went from 1 up to losing 2-1. He looked lost. Also Ally Macleod, bought to replace the great Crops, he made his debut at Airdrie IIRC & hardly kicked a ball in a 0-0 draw. Went on to be a superb player for us.

Nobody would pass him the ball! Caldwell (I'm sure) ignored him time after time - not Ivan's fault we threw it away. If someone had put him into space it might've been a different outcome.

[Purple & Green]

Stuart Lovell? Sort of, but has wasn't a patch on Tom Smith.


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[bigwheel]

Stuart Lovell? Sort of, but has wasn't a patch on Tom Smith.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


retired through a knee injury at a young age...was a good left back...now a taxi driver in glasgow..

[Alfred E Newman]

Frank Sauzee at Falkirk on a cold wet afternoon. How wrong could I be.

[MWHIBBIES]

Fontaine was poor when he first joined, looked all over the place vs Dumbarton in the cup then we lost to Alloa in his 2nd game.

[worcesterhibby]

Craig brewster, think he was shroud signing at the time goal drought to start with but was good player in the end

Was a good player from the start but just couldn't score in a Hibs Jersey.. 2 in a full season as a Striker if I remember correctly... Very poor return

[bigwheel]

Was a good player from the start but just couldn't score in a Hibs Jersey.. 2 in a full season as a Striker if I remember correctly... Very poor return


we spent all season getting him back to fitness then didn't give him a contract . It was nap that he was going to score goals when fit....

[portycabbage]

Was a good player from the start but just couldn't score in a Hibs Jersey.. 2 in a full season as a Striker if I remember correctly... Very poor return

IIRC his strike partners seemed to do well playing next to him - GOC, Tam Mcmanus(?), Stevie Crawford at Dunfermline the season after he left us. In terms of a "target man", not been many better at Hibs recently (Mixu/Killen?).

[hfc rd]

I remember Benji's debut against hearts in the 2006 semi. Really looked lost on the pitch as if he had never played a game of football in his life. Steven Pressley had him in his back pocket all game. Then 2-3 weeks later scores that winning goal at ER against the yams in front of the F5 to really announce himself. The celebration was great as well. Then the rest of the goals that followed were just simply marvellous.

[Callum_62]

I remember Latapy constantly getting caught in possession is first few weeks here

he turned out no bad

Speaking of looking terrible and turning out decent - #1 in the world surely.....Emmanuel Petit!

[RIP Bestie]

Pat McGinley. What a very valuable player he turned out to be

[brog]

Frank Sauzee at Falkirk on a cold wet afternoon. How wrong could I be.

Did Franck not assist the winning goal with an outrageous back heel? That one touch of class convinced me.

[Bishop Hibee]

Andy Goram made his debut in a 2-2 draw v St Mirren I think. Didn't come for two cross balls for the goals and I thought we'd bought a dud. Totally wrong.

[Rivers Cuomo]

Doumbe

Good shout.

Sure he started off as a winger and was poor, moved to right back, still pretty poor, then tried at center half and was absolutley immense. Always wondered what might have been had we kept Doumbe & Daniel Andersson the next season (Mowbrays first in charge).

[ChilliEater]

Andy Goram made his debut in a 2-2 draw v St Mirren I think. Didn't come for two cross balls for the goals and I thought we'd bought a dud. Totally wrong.

I remember it as a 4-0 home win against Dunfermline, where he had nothing to do for 85 minutes then clawed one out of the top corner. 2nd game was drought busting 2-1 win at home to Hearts?

[BroxburnHibee]

I remember Latapy constantly getting caught in possession is first few weeks here

he turned out no bad

Speaking of looking terrible and turning out decent - #1 in the world surely.....Emmanuel Petit!

Latapy made his debut as a sub away to Ayr United. From the minute he touched the ball you knew he was class.

[PISTOL1875]

Humphrey Rudge. And he never really recovered from it.

Rudge was cracking I have to say.. Bullied Jankauskis in the unbeatable derby which resulted in him being sent off.. A HT bust-up with Mowbray sealed his fate I am afraid...

[MrRobot]

Doumbe

Im sure him and Freddy Daquin(sp) made their debuts against Kilmarnock under Blobby and both were hopeless that day. Memory would be wrong though!

[Torto7062]

Alan O'Brien....looked ****** awesome at East Stirling in a pre season friendly to ultimately prove how utter poo-poo he really was

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[Smartie]

Latapy made his debut as a sub away to Ayr United. From the minute he touched the ball you knew he was class.

I thought Latapy was immense from the moment he signed - he just never seemed to give the ball away.

Tbh I'd say it took Sauzee a bit longer to settle than Latapy. When Sauzee played midfield he did used to make the odd misplaced pass which frustrated me, although he did plonk a few tidy free-kicks and volleys from corners into the top corner to make up for it.

Whilst he was still excellent in midfield I thought we only saw the best of Sauzee when he moved back to sweeper, maybe the most inspired tactical move by a Hibs manager in my time watching Hibs.

[brog]

Darren Dods was utter gash through out his entire Hibs career. The only
Centre half I know who could only kick the ball the way he faced.
Plus he was another judas that quit the club the minute we got relegated.


Absolute nonsense, another myth which needs put to bed. At the end of our relegation season DD was out of contract. Despite having won 5 U-21 caps with Hibs, Darren was almost certainly the lowest earner in the 1st team squad at that time. Regardless, DD was prepared to take a pay cut as he was keen to remain with Hibs, however the pay cut proposed by Hibs was huge, would have knocked DD down to Development squad wages. Meanwhile St J & several other clubs were keen on DD & offered him considerably more than his current wage at ER. Any one here want to turn down a 20% rise rather than a 30% cut? The prosaic truth is McLeish had to prune the squad to allow us the opportunity to bring in players such as Latapy & Franck, though Franck probably earned as much in a month as DD did in a season.
Re Darren's ability, he would be the first to admit his natural talents were not as great as many other players but through dedication & hard work he's played well over 500 senior games, the great majority of them in the top Scottish League & is still playing at 40. That's a record of which any pro should rightly be proud!

[Craigyno1]

I remember it as a 4-0 home win against Dunfermline, where he had nothing to do for 85 minutes then clawed one out of the top corner. 2nd game was drought busting 2-1 win at home to Hearts?

It was and Alan Rough said after the game that he would have saved that shot (as he was smiling!)

[brog]

Nobody would pass him the ball! Caldwell (I'm sure) ignored him time after time - not Ivan's fault we threw it away. If someone had put him into space it might've been a different outcome.

I agree, wasn't Ivan's fault but it was obvious his teammates had no faith in him at that time. However!!

[zlatan]

In a reverse of the other thread, I'll start by suggesting Ivan Sproule. Was on his way out of Easter Road before that treble at Ibrox.

Remember being utterly bemused watching him prepare to come on at Parkhead. Shut me up fairly quickly and love just blossomed from there.

[sleeping giant]

Disagree with that - his first game was v Killie I think (0-1 loss) and although he lacked fitness you could see he had a good touch and knew where he was supposed to be. Pretty sure he cleared one off the line.

I think he might be meaning his first game. I'm sure it was a friendly against Middlesborough . I can remember the run he mentioned . DM gave up waddling after it. He looked very unfit and I though he was going to be a brutal signing .

[My_Wife_Camille]

I think he might be meaning his first game. I'm sure it was a friendly against Middlesborough . I can remember the run he mentioned . DM gave up waddling after it. He looked very unfit and I though he was going to be a brutal signing .
:agree: There was also a friendly against Leeds where he looked fat and slow and they scored 3 goals from his side. What a player he turned out to be!

[Bishop Hibee]

I remember it as a 4-0 home win against Dunfermline, where he had nothing to do for 85 minutes then clawed one out of the top corner. 2nd game was drought busting 2-1 win at home to Hearts?

You're right I'm getting old! Must have just been one of his early games.

[jabis]

Cheating a bit here....:greengrin but Alan Shearer had a miserable debut at Easter Road. Sort of worked out in the end for him though..

Remember a wee 16yrs old Wayne Rooney getting pulled from the pitch at ER,whatever became of him😎

[Danderhall Hibs]

I think he might be meaning his first game. I'm sure it was a friendly against Middlesborough . I can remember the run he mentioned . DM gave up waddling after it. He looked very unfit and I though he was going to be a brutal signing .


:agree: There was also a friendly against Leeds where he looked fat and slow and they scored 3 goals from his side. What a player he turned out to be!

:aok: I was counting real matches only!

[jonty]

I think he might be meaning his first game. I'm sure it was a friendly against Middlesborough . I can remember the run he mentioned . DM gave up waddling after it. He looked very unfit and I though he was going to be a brutal signing .

Correct. He chased a ball and he was running towards us blowing out his arse. i turned to my mate and said 'another dodgy signing. I'm fitter than him!'. Clearly he could lip read and decided to prove me wrong :greengrin

[McD]

Remember a wee 16yrs old Wayne Rooney getting pulled from the pitch at ER,whatever became of him

Was at that match, Rooney had a kick out at john o'neil who had first taken the ball off him, then ridden the follow up challenge well, and got the kick as retribution..