Worst signings of the 2024/25 Premiership season (part 2)

This year's top ten, as promised. Numbers 11 to 25 can be found here.

In all the year's I've done this, I've not really had to think much about ranking players in the context of clubs releasing them because of run-ins with the police. How on earth do you quantify that? And is it possible to still think of this exercise as a bit of pointless fun when you're referring to allegations of assaulting a woman, or domestic violence?

Hopefully next year I'll be back to just ranking goalkeepers with chocolate wrists, defenders who can't defend and strikers who can't hit a cow's backside with a banjo again.

And on that note...

10. SHAUN ROONEY (ST. MIRREN)

Rooney looked like a fine signing by Stephen Robinson and picked up where he left off from his impressive time at St. Johnstone a few years back, offering a physical, attacking presence at right wing-back. Sadly, Rooney couldn't resist being a physical, attacking presence at other times as well, resulting in him being arrested and charged at the end of September with assaulting an 18 year old woman in a Glasgow chippy called The Blue Lagoon, as well as a breach of the peace against an 18 year old man. He was mutually consented a few weeks later. Rooney rejoined former club Fleetwood Town in January.

9. JAIR TAVARES (MOTHERWELL)

This signing looked strange at the time. Jair had hardly set the heather alight at Hibernian, but Stuart Kettlewell took a punt on loaning him at the end of August. The left winger wasn't an obvious fit in his system, and when he finally did start a game - in December - it was at right wing-back. That experiment didn't last long and the Portuguese has only just started appearing in squads again after disappearing for three months. At the time of writing he has played just 276 minutes of league football, with no goals and no assists.

8. RICHARD ODADA (DUNDEE UNITED)

The Kenyan international said all the right things when he pitched up to Tannadice - "I have good team-mates, good locker room and also a good coach". Unfortunately, flattery will get you nowhere. Odada was mostly stuck on the bench and couldn't crack the starting XI till December...and after three starts he seemed to have been discarded altogether before getting a move to Serbia on loan for the rest of the season. Odada still has another year on his contract, and now it's his manager who is saying all the right things - "We're not drawing a line under him. We firmly believe that he's a very talented player" - but it seems unlikely that there is a future at the club for him.

7. FILIP STUPAREVIC (MOTHERWELL)

Five years prior to pitching up at Fir Park, a then-nineteen year old Stuparevic signed for Watford for £2.5m. The Serbian under-21 international never made an appearance for them though; after some loan spells and a nomadic existence over the last few years, he signed for Motherwell on the back of a solid season in Slovenia. "I think everyone will see he can score, assist and work hard" said Stuart Kettlewell, who was so impressed by the striker's performance in the League Cup groups (one late goal against Clyde, and one start which saw him hooked at half-time) that he signed a million and one other forwards after that and punted Stuparevic out on loan to Morton. He actually did pretty well in Greenock, until he wrecked his anterior cruciate ligament in February. That in turn means that Motherwell are likely stuck with him till the end of the second year of his contract, though I think it unlikely that they will take up the year's option after that. 

6. SCOTT FRASER (DUNDEE)

Fraser's arrival at Dundee in September looked like a decent bit of business, even though he had hardly impressed at Hearts last season. But he picked up a groin injury after just three appearances which required surgery and a lengthy recovery. He has returned to training a few times only to break down and require further convalescence. Whether he contributes anything more to his club's fight against the drop, and before his contract expires at the end of the season, we shall see.

5. JADEN BROWN (ST. MIRREN)

Brown signed permanently in the summer after a solid spell on loan from Lincoln City at the end of last season. Unfortunately, he ranks high on this list because in October he pled guilty to three driving offences relating to driving while disqualified. He also pled not guilty to four others, including one where he was stopped by the police he claimed his name was actually "Dennis Adeniran". St. Mirren left him out of the team from the end of September and mutually consented him in November. There is a bit of a theme with St. Mirren this season...

4. ANDRES SALAZAR (HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN)

Salazar has played the same number of games for Colombia's national team as he has for Hearts (one), so his signing was seen as a bit of a coup; there was talk of Porto and some lower Serie A clubs being interested. However, the Colombian left-back's only appearance was in a defeat by Motherwell in August, and it quickly became clear that he had no hope of dislodging the impressive James Penrice from the lineup. It was best for everyone that his season-long loan was cut short in January. 

3. JOSEF BURSIK (HIBERNIAN)

It is not that much of a coincidence that Hibernian's uptick in form followed a change in goalkeeper. Bursik, signed on loan from Club Bruges, was absolutely honking. The nadir was a 3-2 defeat at Tannadice where he practically threw in two injury time goals, while he also had a mare at the other end of the street against Dundee a few weeks later. After that match, Hibs were bottom with eight points from thirteen games; since Jordan Smith went in goal they've managed forty-two points from twenty games and are third. To add insult to injury, David Gray couldn't get in another keeper in January and therefore insisted Bursik see out his loan, sitting on the bench every single week.

2. UCHE IKPEAZU (ST. JOHNSTONE)

This is exactly the sort of ranking that could come back to bite me, as Ikpeazu finally made an appearance for St. Johnstone last weekend as a sub at Hampden against Celtic. So now I've put him on the podium in this article he will almost certainly go off on a scoring spree that improbably saves the Saints from the drop. Mind you, he has only scored once in three years. That being said, Ikpeazu looked like a good signing at the time, offering the sort of physicality and link-up play Craig Levein needed up front, but ended up requiring five operations on his knee. Rumour has it he is one of the top earners at the club too. Still, if nothing else he should score plenty in the Championship next season, if he stays fit.

1. KEVIN VAN VEEN (ST. MIRREN)

As stated at the start, compiling this list stops being fun when you come to subject matter like this. Van Veen was still dining out on his unbelievable 2022-23 season at Motherwell when he pitched up at St. Mirren, though his dreadful loan at Kilmarnock last season (one start, no goals and eighteenth on last year's list) should really have scared them off. He didn't exactly impress in his five appearances for the Buddies. but the bigger issues were off the field - he was sent back to parent club Groningen at the start of November after appearing in court on charges of domestic abuse. It is absolutely grim stuff. 

Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.

Worst Signings of the 2024/25 Premiership season (part 1)

As Andy Williams once sang, it's the most wonderful time of the year. People wrongly assumed that he was referring to Christmas, but actually he was a big fan of this blog. Honestly.

For the thirteenth time, I present my list of the worst signings made by Premiership clubs this season. Here's your reminder of the twelve previous victors

:

2012/13: Rory Boulding (Kilmarnock)

2013/14: Stephane Bahoken (St. Mirren)

2014/15: Jim Fenlon (Ross County)

2015/16: Rodney Sneijder (Dundee United)

2016/17: Joey Barton (Rangers)

2017/18: Eduardo Herrera (Rangers)

2018/19: Umar Sadiq (Rangers)

2019/20: Madis Vihmann (St. Johnstone)

2020/21: Shane Duffy (Celtic)

2021/22: Matty Longstaff (Aberdeen)

2022/23: Anthony Stewart (Aberdeen)

2023/24: Sam Lammers (Rangers)

Like in previous years, this has been divided into two parts. Today we'll whet your appetite with a countdown from 25 to 11.

25. TOM WILSON-BROWN (KILMARNOCK)

As is traditional, let's start with a loan player who has never played, and therefore may not actually exist. Even the above picture can't be counted as conclusive evidence, what with AI and everything these days. Allegedly, Wilson-Brown is Leicester City's development squad captain, and he has been on Kilmarnock's list of substitutes five times since arriving on loan at the end of the January window. But if you sign a player on loan, and he never actually gets on the pitch, does he make a sound?

24. RAFAEL FERNANDES (RANGERS)

Fernandes has at least got on the pitch, but his first league start at Pittodrie last week lasted only 20 minutes because of a hamstring injury which may curtail his season. The Lille loanee's only other start was against Queen's Park in that cup match, though in mitigation he was subbed before the winning goal. Nevertheless, it would be fair to say that his spell at Ibrox has been pretty pointless, both for player and club.

23= ARCHIE MAIR, CALUM WARD (MOTHERWELL)

Motherwell have just been spamming goalkeepers this season. Mair joined in January on loan from Norwich as Aston Oxborough was injured, but he played only twice before breaking his thumb. He hasn't been seen since, though he's still listed as a player on the club website and so I suspect Norwich refused to end the loan early, leaving Well on the hook for some of his wages. Ward joined shortly after to provide cover until Oxborough was fit again and was an unused substitute four times. Special mentions should go to Krisztian Hegyi, who was loaned from West Ham on the erroneous assumption that he was better than Oxborough, and Ellery Balcombe who was a bombscare for St. Mirren during the first half of the season and has ended up at Fir Park for the second half.

22. JOSH RAE (ST. JOHNSTONE)

Sticking with keepers, it was a bit optimistic to expect Rae to make the step up from above-average Championship goalie with Airdrie to filling Dimitar Mitov's shoes at St. Johnstone. But, you know, Craig Levein. Rae struggled from the off, blaming his poor form partly on having missed the end of last season with injury. It also didn't help that he didn't get a permanent goalkeeping coach until Simo Valakari arrived. However, it was no surprise that Valakari brought in a new stopper in January. Rae is rebuilding his confidence on loan at Raith Rovers.

 

21. TONY WATT (MOTHERWELL)

"There's obviously people who may not be too happy to see me back" admitted Watt to Motherwell's website after he joined on loan from Dundee United, two and a half years after he left Fir Park for Tayside rather acrimoniously. "Let me work hard and change their perception". Curiously, Stuart Kettlewell justified the move by saying "he is available to play all the time". Admittedly he is, it's just that Motherwell have done their best not to have to play him, signing a platoon of alternative forwards since then. After just one goal in twenty-six games, it's safe to say perceptions haven't changed yet. Watt is a veteran of this list, having ranked much higher in 2016/17 after a lousy spell at Hearts.

20. CALVIN RAMSAY (KILMARNOCK)

It is still less than three years since Liverpool paid £4.5m for Ramsay, and two and a half since he got a Scotland cap. After injury problems and a bunch of uninspiring loans down south, you'd think a January move back to Scotland could be the jump-start he needed. And you'd be wrong. Kilmarnock can't defend for toffee, yet Ramsay hasn't started a match since he was subbed at half-time on his debut. "Hopefully, we can find that boy that we know is in there" said Derek McInnes on signing him. Clearly he hasn't. Ramsay will go back to Liverpool in the summer, but goodness knows where his once-promising career is going.

19. JACK VALE (MOTHERWELL)

The Blackburn striker had his moments on loan at Motherwell last season, so bringing him back for another year looked like a solid move. Unfortunately Vale missed three months with a calf injury and then got injured again at the end of January and hasn't been seen since. He has more red cards (one) than goals (zero) for Well this season.

18. ROBBY MCCRORIE (KILMARNOCK)

The former Scotland squad keeper and perennial Rangers backup has been a disappointment since joining Killie, starting from the moment he conceded a shocker in a friendly against Ayr on his debut. He keeps being dropped for Kieran O'Hara, until O'Hara plays enough to remind Derek McInnes why he shouldn't be playing either. I certainly couldn't leave McCrorie off this list after the epic tweet below:

Robbie McCrorie up there for me, his lack of hands at various points hasn’t been great

— Titus Androgueycus (@alantherogue) April 1, 2025

17. NEDIM BAJRAMI (RANGERS)

I'm a firm believer that the size of the fee paid should be very much taken into account when judging the success of a signing - I was very tempted to put Adam Idah (£8.5m!) on this list for that very reason, but to be honest I was worried about getting lynched by irate Celtic fans. No such fears with Bajrami, who cost 'just' £3.4m. For that money I think we were entitled to expect rather more than five goals and five assists (two and one, respectively, in the league). Rangers have been crying out for quality in the number ten position, but the Albanian just hasn't cut it.

16. PETER AMBROSE (ABERDEEN)

And on the subject of transfer fees, Aberdeen really can't be splurging £200,000 on a striker who only scores one league goal. Admittedly, it was the winner against Dundee United, but Ambrose has also only been trusted to start two matches. The Dons might hope for a big second year leap, a la Pape Habib Gueye, but they might also hope they can find a way out of a contract that has two years left to run.

15. DENNIS ADENIRAN (ST. MIRREN)

Dennis Emmanuel Abiodun Bamidele Chijioke Adeniran has as many league appearances this season as he has names. His last game for St. Mirren was in December. According to Div at Pie & Bovril, his primary contribution this season has been "three yellow cards". The club have a year's option; don't expect them to take it up.

14. ROSS CALLACHAN (MOTHERWELL)

One hopes and assumes Callachan was signed on low wages, given he hadn't played for more than a year after doing his ACL in April 2023. He managed 17 minutes as a sub for Motherwell - against his former club Ross County - in August and then did his hamstring so badly in training the following week that he hasn't played since.

13. RICKI LAMIE (ROSS COUNTY)

Should I have Lamie on here as a Dundee player or a Ross County player? The defender spent the second half of last season at Dens Park on loan from Motherwell and signed a pre-contract in February 2024 to join permanently...only for the Dark Blues to announce at the end of June that he wouldn't be signing after all. Lamie arrived in Dingwall three days later, saying that they provided him with "security". I hope that isn't a euphemism for 'better wages' as he didn't play in a single league game and joined Hamilton Accies on loan in January. He does still have another year on his County deal though. Incidentally, this is the second time a pre-contract move to Dens Park had fallen through - Lamie had pulled out of one in 2022 after Dundee were relegated. I don't think they'll come asking a third time.

12. JORT VAN DER SANDE (DUNDEE UNITED)

Everton fans used to sing about how they would riot if goal-shy right-back Tony Hibbert ever scored. Dundee United supporters are not far away for doing the same regarding Van Der Sande...except the Dutchman is actually a striker. He works hard when he's on the pitch, but thirty-two appearances without hitting the net is pretty grim. One United fan on Twitter claimed McBookie wouldn't give him odds on Van Der Sande failing to score this season.

11. KYLE CAMERON (ST. JOHNSTONE)

Just a couple of seasons back, Aberdeen made new signing Anthony Stewart the club captain and it became an unmitigated disaster. So of course Craig Levein decided to go one better by giving the armband to a loan player. Cameron certainly didn't lead by example with his persistently poor performances and it was a mercy for everyone that he went back to Notts County as soon as the January transfer window opened.

The top ten will be up next week...ish...maybe...

Lawrie Spence has whinged about Scottish football on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.