Worst signings of the 2023/24 Premiership season (part 2)

Here's part 1, the countdown from 25 to 11.

And here's the top 10. Who will succeed Anthony Stewart as the 'winner'?

10. RILEY HARBOTTLE (HIBERNIAN)

According to Harbottle, he was so strongly encouraged to join Hibs by then-Forest teammate Scott McKenna that McKenna "seemed more excited about it than I was". I wouldn't take advice from him in the future, Riley. Harbottle joined Hibs on a three year deal for "an undisclosed fee", made one league appearance (a defeat at home to Livingston) and didn't get on the pitch for them again. He joined League Two Colchester on loan in January.

9. KYOSUKE TAGAWA (HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN)

If I were feeling generous, I'd say that it may have been difficult for Tagawa to acclimatise following his move from his native Japan, and that his minutes have been limited by Lawrence Shankland's outstanding form. However the fact remains that Hearts paid a fee for him, his only goal was in a League Cup game against Championship opposition and expectations for a twice-capped international should be higher than that. Tagawa has already been linked with an exit this summer.

8. JOSE CIFUENTES (RANGERS)

Michael Beale pursued Cifuentes for months, spent £1.2m on him and boasted that he would take Rangers "to the next level". Within five months he was away on loan to Cruzeiro, having chosen a move to Brazil because "I didn't experience the sun for the six months I was with Rangers. It was always cold". The Ecuadorian playmaker just wasn't very good at, erm, making the play - he had just two assists in twenty appearances and missed out on a League Cup medal because he was suspended for a straight red in a league game a few days before. Rangers will hope Cruzeiro take up their option to sign him, given he still has three years on his Ibrox contract.

7. LUKE JEPHCOTT (ST. JOHNSTONE)

The Welsh under-21 forward looked like a pretty good signing, just two years removed from scoring 16 goals in League One. That's 16 more than he scored in Scotland. Jephcott made eleven appearances for St. Johnstone but had drifted out of favour even before Craig Levein took charge. Levein's description of the striker as "a luxury" was not unreasonable; he is by all accounts a predator but his link-up play was so poor that his equally mediocre teammates couldn't get up the pitch to create chances for him. Jephcott completed a quarter of his two year contract before moving to Newport County in January...where he still isn't scoring.

6. NAT PHILLIPS (CELTIC)

Phillips' last appearance in the Hoops will define his forgettable spell at the club - a 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock where he scored an own goal and was just a general shambles. This was another loan move that looked decent on paper and proved anything but; Phillips was always talked of highly by Liverpool and was frequently linked with £10m moves to the likes of Burnley and Bournemouth, but you'd be lucky to get ten bob for him on the back of his performances in Scotland. Four starts and as many sub appearances later, he returned south and has had a better second half of the season at Cardiff City.

5. RHYS WILLIAMS (ABERDEEN)

Career Premier League starts: seven (for Liverpool!). Career Premiership starts, or sub appearances: zero. The signing of Williams seemed to be a coup at the time, Aberdeen taking advantage of the success Leighton Clarkson had on loan last season to attract another talented youngster from Anfield. And yet Williams didn't play a competitive game for the Dons' first team, though he did appear as part of  a Colts' defence that shipped five against Peterhead in the Challenge Cup, and also by all accounts had a shocker in an Aberdeenshire Shield game against Fraserburgh. He struggled with injury initially and then couldn't crack the starting lineup even with Aberdeen's poor results and hectic schedule. He was rarely even on the bench except on Conference League nights, when Barry Robson was allowed to name half the city as substitutes. Having left Scotland in January, it didn't get any better for Williams, whose subsequent loan at Port Vale lasted just sixteen days because of another injury.

4. GUSTAF LAGERBIELKE (CELTIC)

Strange but true: Lagerbielke is a Baron - the eleventh Baron Lagerbielke - and is actually 254th in line to the Swedish throne, putting him closer to the crown than he is to Celtic's starting lineup. Had Cameron Carter-Vickers not picked up a knock, Lagerbielke would have been loaned to Lecce, but Brendan Rodgers insisted on keeping him for defensive cover. Even some moaning to the Italian press couldn't get the Swede the escape he desired. He'll always have that winning goal against Feyenoord in a Champions League dead rubber, but that was in one of just three appearances (all off the bench) that he's made since the end of September. This guy cost £3.5m.

3. OLI SHAW (MOTHERWELL)

Shaw's loan spell was so underwhelming that it was no surprise that in January Motherwell sent him back to Barnsley. It was a surprise when, two weeks later, he returned. Rumour has it that Well tried to exercise a clause allowing them to end the loan early if there was an injury, but Shaw wasn't injured enough. And having played for his parent club earlier in the season, Shaw couldn't sign for anyone else and Barnsley didn't want him back. So Shaw is still a Steelman, one who has made eighteen appearances (all but two as a sub) and scored zero goals. Stuart Kettlewell was so confident in him that he has since signed yet another forward, Moses Ebiye. Shaw has played six minutes of first team football since his return, with his main contribution being to miss a sitter that would have beaten Hibs and put the Steelmen in the top six.

2. PAPE HABIB GUEYE (ABERDEEN)

If someone other than Rangers and Celtic spends half a million quid on a striker, then he had better be good. Aberdeen splashed that sum on Gueye, who doesn't appear to be the next Han Gillhaus; heck, he's not even going to be the next Robbie Winters (you're showing your age now - Ed). Robson trusted him to start only one match (a Conference League game where he was hooked at half time). In his six other games, all sub appearances, the Dons failed to score a goal with him on the pitch. Gueye was loaned to Norwegian club Kristansund in January, and he scored his first league goal for them last weekend. It remains to be seen if his Aberdeen career will be salvageable under Jimmy Thelin.

1. SAM LAMMERS (RANGERS)

Lammers has been a goal machine in recent weeks...for Utrecht, who he joined on loan in January. The Dutchman has claimed his miserable spell and lack of goals at Rangers was down to being played as a number ten rather than as a striker. That doesn't really explain the fact that he had plenty of goalscoring opportunities in games and consistently failed to take them. Two goals in thirty-one games is some return for a £3.5m striker. Rangers can only hope that his Utrecht form cons someone into paying them a decent fee to take him off their hands.

A worthy victor indeed.

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 2023/24 Premiership season (part 1)

Ah, it's that time of year again. I don't have much time for blogging these days, but I will always try and make an exception for this.

The eleven previous 'winners' of our Worst Signing award:

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)

Yes, Mark Birighitti should have won last year, not least because if one of those eleven was a keeper then we could have had a proper starting XI of crap.

So as is tradition, the list is split in two. This is the appetiser, if you like; a countdown of the players I ranked from 11 to 25. The main course is still to come, but folk will at least be able to work out the ten names based on who hasn't been mentioned so far.

Given they have stunk up the place this season, I am surprised as anyone by the lack of Livingston players. Seems like they just signed an awful lot of 'not very good' rather than 'awful beyond belief' but I'm happy to be corrected on this...

Enjoy!

25= OWEN BEVAN (HIBERNIAN), MARCEL LEWIS (DUNDEE)

Hooray for loan players who never actually play! Bevan's move from Bournemouth to Hibs lasted about 30 seconds before it was cancelled due to aggravation of an existing injury. Lewis, meanwhile, remained at Dundee for the entire first half of the season without playing a single competitive first team game. He did however get a run out in Cammy Kerr's testimonial where after 70 minutes he was replaced (kind of) by Ivano Bonetti...

24. JILI BUYABU (MOTHERWELL)

Signed on loan from Sheffield United on deadline day at the end of the winter window. Played 33 minutes as a sub in the defeat to Morton in the cup. Left 20 days after signing for 'personal reasons'. Maybe one day he can come back, possibly in a coaching role?

23. APHELELE TETO (LIVINGSTON)

Is Teto still a Livingston player? Heck, was he ever a Livingston player? The young South African midfielder was signed even though he was denied a work permit, because it was thought he'd be eligible for one once he'd been called up for the next international U-23 squad. The only problem was that South Africa U-23s haven't played since March 2023 and don't have any fixtures scheduled...in the meantime the club announced a plan for him to go out on loan, which never happened, and by January he had to return to South Africa as his visa had expired. The plot thickens still further, as he has three years left on his contract but Livi claim that his wages are paid by his former club TS Galaxy. No, I have no idea why that would be the case either.

22. SCOTT HIGH (ROSS COUNTY)

A former Scotland under-21 international (no, I'd not heard of him either) the 22 year old Huddersfield loanee managed 24 minutes of first team action across two sub appearances for County before returning south in January, meaning that he played more first team minutes for his parent club this season (45 in the English League Cup). High has subsequently moved to Dundalk where he is doing rather better.

21. DARA COSTELLOE (ST. JOHNSTONE)

Costelloe has done rather better after he switched loan clubs from St. Johnstone to Dundee in January, but Saints fans are unanimous in their derision for his performances in the first half of the season. Costelloe notched up as many red cards as goals for St. Johnstone. Charlie Adam, who is Burnley's loan manager, insisted in October that Costelloe was "loving it" in Perth; Costelloe later admitted it reached the point that he received 'hate mail' from supporters.

20. CALLAN ELLIOT (MOTHERWELL)

The 24 year old New Zealand international signed in January after ten months without a club; Stuart Kettlewell boasted that he could "add a lot to the team". So far that consists of five occasions as an unused substitute. Still, I like the picture there that the club used to announce his arrival, which has massive 'cover of former nineties boyband member's debut single' vibes.

19. SAM MCCLELLAND (ST. JOHNSTONE)

McClelland seems to have improved Dundee United's defence since moving there on loan, but it seems unlikely that he has a future at McDiarmid Park. The Northern Irishman was one of a number of Steven MacLean signings who were quickly sidelined by Craig Levein. The Saints were winless in his seven appearances for them and his last Premiership game was at the end of September.

18. KEVIN VAN VEEN (KILMARNOCK)

Van Veen's incredible 2022-23 season for Motherwell feels like it was a long time ago now. The veteran Dutch striker had lots of loan suitors in January but chose Kilmarnock where a combination of the excellent form of Kyle Vassell and Marley Watkins and some lacklustre showings off the bench have meant nothing but sub appearances (apart from a single cup start). Maybe he just needs a run of games, but he's not done enough to deserve it. And one suspects Killie are paying a decent proportion of a decent wage. Van Veen also gets marked down for his squad number; '99' is an ice cream with a flake, not a number on a football shirt, and no-one will ever convince me otherwise.

17. JAY TURNER-COOKE (ST. JOHNSTONE)

Turner-Cooke's season-long loan from Newcastle was cut short in January after just six appearances, ostensibly because of a hernia. However he'd barely played since Craig Levein became manager and has not been missed. The club's record whilst he was on the pitch? Scored zero, conceded six.

16. ANDREW DALLAS (KILMARNOCK)

Kilmarnock are lucky that Kyle Vassell and Marley Watkins have stayed fit as well as in form all season. Dallas came off the bench fifteen times and scored zero goals before returning to parent club Barnsley in January. He spent the second half of the season on loan at Oldham, where he hasn't scored either. Curiously, there is an ongoing EFL investigation into the paperwork (at Barnsley's end) regarding the loan move to Killie.

15. MARCO TILIO (CELTIC)

Celtic fancy that they can afford seven figure sums on 'developmental players' - see also Kwon Hyeok-kyu - but they really can't. A £1.5m winger needs to be challenging for first team action from the get-go, but Tilio - whose fee was the highest ever for an A-League player - was so far away from that level that he was loaned back to Melbourne City in the January transfer window. His manager in Oz claimed Tilio "hadn't had much fun at Celtic". I imagine the feeling is mutual. The Australian's two sub appearances may ultimately be his only ones for the club.

14. CAMERON BORTHWICK-JACKSON (ROSS COUNTY)

It's less than eight years since a teenage Borthwick-Jackson was starting games for Manchester United in the Premier League. The left-back said he moved on loan to Dingwall from Slask Wroclaw because he "felt wanted" by them; that feeling won't have lasted long, as Borthwick-Jackson's only four starts came in his first four games at the club and he's been stuck on the bench ever since a 5-0 pasting at Motherwell ended Derek Adams' tenure..

13. MICHAEL NOTTINGHAM (LIVINGSTON)

Unlike most names on this list, Nottingham has been a first choice for his club this season when fit, but Livi fans are unanimous in their derision for his performances, to the point that I feared a lynching if I didn't put him on this list. The 34 year old was supposed to add experience and leadership to the defence but instead has been one of the factors in their slide towards the Championship.

12. OR DADIA (ABERDEEN)

Nine months before signing for Aberdeen, Dadia made his international debut for Israel, meaning that he has played once more for his country than he ever did for the Dons. Dadia rarely made the bench unless it was a Conference League game where each team is allowed a million subs and even when Nicky Devlin wasn't playing he still couldn't get in the team. Terminating his loan in January was a blessing for everyone. And as for that moustache in his signing photo...I can't get the thought of him saying "I have come to fix ze fridge" in a Dutch accent out of my head.

11. MAIK NAWROCKI (CELTIC)

Nawrocki avoids the top ten on the grounds that there still seems to be a small chance that his Celtic career can be salvaged. He's also had ongoing issues with a hamstring injury and hasn't completed 90 minutes since August. Nevertheless, one would have expected a £4m centre-back to start more than six league games (at the time of writing) and certainly not to be left out at times in favour of Liam Scales and Stephen Welsh. 

The top ten will be up in the coming days...

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