Manchester United's 10 Worst Players of All Time

There must have been hopeless, hapless players in Manchester United's darker days. Between 1922 and the Second World War, the club bounced between the old First and Second Divisions, nearly going bankrupt in the process.

Sir Matt Busby created the most successful period in the club's history up till 1969, but after he retired, United once again drifted, to the point where it was infamously almost sold to a daydreamer called Michael Knighton.

During this period it is inevitable that there were some poor players who because of that have slipped from supporters' memories.

Whenever the question is asked "who were United's worst players?" attention is likely to fall on the last 30 years or so. Furthermore, details are scant before that period.

So how do you gauge who was worst? Commonly people focus on the worst signings—  especially in an age of astronomical transfer fees. Others would look at technical skills and playing records. Finally, attitude and application are relevant.

In a way it is even harder to narrow down the worst than the best, or most popular. For example, Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Forlan are often cited, because they failed to live up to the hype and potential. Kleberson would be on many people's lists for similar reasons, but when you look at how many times they have played at the highest level of International football, they can't be that bad.

So we've put together an eclectic selection from the last 40 years. They are not in any particular order. Once again, it is a matter of opinion, so please put forward other suggestions if you don't agree.

Eric Djemba-Djemba

When Sir Alex paid £3.5 million for Eric Djemba-Djemba in 2003, he was looking for a successor for Roy Keane. The player came after 42 games as an uncompromising midfielder from Nantes, who had already established himself in the Cameroon national team.

As with Bebe last season, the signing was something of a shock, as nobody seemed to know much about him. In all, he played 39 games in two seasons, scoring two goals at a rate which matched that of Luke Chadwick.

The problem wasn't just his technical ability, but his temperament as well. Even allowing for the competition for places in midfield, Sir Alex's famed loyalty probably gave him more chances than he deserved.

Unfortunately, fame went to his head and he lost the plot completely off the pitch. By the time he went bankrupt at 26, he was reputed to have had the lifestyle of a billionaire, with 10 4x4 vehicles, masses of bank accounts and huge accumulated tax debts on a modest salary.

Although he has gone on to have a reasonable career elsewhere, he was never in the United mould and rapidly lost any potential fan support being at first expressive and amusing but eventually becoming tiresome and superfluous.

He arrived during a period when Sir Alex's transfer market forays included a number of high profile blunders and Eric was by no means the worst.

Massimo Taibi

It is hardly surprising that Sir Alex struggled to find a goalkeeper to replace Peter Schmeichel—arguably the greatest United's ever had. Unfortunately, whether through scouting or selection, he has certainly collected his share of duffers.

The biggest of them all was Massimo Taibi. He was signed with a fanfare from Venice for £4.4 million and was pitched in against Liverpool for his first match. He marked his debut with a splendid gaffe, which was to set the standard for his brief reign between the posts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efq80jcfWfI&feature=related

Luckily, this was overshadowed by Jamie Carragher's two own goals and United won the match, but the worse was to come with the blunder in the header video. A 5-0 thumping by Chelsea followed and, after only four games, Taibi was quietly shipped out to Reggina.

There can't be many worse than him...

Michael Clegg

Michael who? Exactly.

While Taibi was a spectacular failure, lasting only four matches, Clegg worked at it for years.

He came up through the Academy ranks and was part of the same 1995 FA Youth Cup winning side as Phil Neville. In 1997, he was voted Reserve Player of the Year, but despite staying for six seasons as a professional, never quite made it.

He had made his professional debut in November 1996 and played a total of four games that season; three in 1997/1998 and two in 1999/2000, before being shipped out on loan that year to Ipswich and Wigan. Eventually he left on a free transfer to Oldham in 2002, where he finished his playing career at only 27.

Once again, you have to respect Sir Alex's loyalty to players, but it did Michael no favours. He is now a conditioning coach at Sunderland. His father is still at United....

Darren Ferguson

Michael Clegg isn't the only footballer with a father at Manchester United. David Gill's son Oliver has left the club to pursue degree studies at Durham University, despite also winning a Reserve Player of the Year award. The most famous of the three, however, is Darren Ferguson.

To be fair, Darren has had a decent career so far as a manager in the lower divisions, especially at Peterborough. He finally found his level in his playing career with over 300 appearances for Wrexham.

Sir Alex brought his son through the youth team to the first team, where he played for the first 15 games of the 1992/1993 season, in the absence of Bryan Robson. He was rather like a latterday Darron Gibson and was never going to make it at United. In total, he played 27 games before being transferred to the Wolves in 1994.

After a spell in Rotterdam, he finished his career by being transferred to Peterborough as player-manager, where he has since returned for a second spell.

The five years spent under his father at Old Trafford will no doubt have helped pave the way for his managerial career. He was never near United quality.

Ralph Milne

Ralph Milne was one of the least successful fellow countrymen that Sir Alex Ferguson has signed. Even the Boss acknowledges that it was his worst ever signing.

Perhaps it was because he was played out of position to accommodate Gordon Strachan, or simply wasn't able to reproduce the form he had shown at Dundee United, where Archie Knox had noticed him. That period was by far the most successful of his career, including as all-time European top-scorer.

Milne was such a failure at United that fans routinely include him in their worst ever lists. After a mere six months, despite 22 appearances and three goals, he knew his days were numbered. It didn't help that the supporters were on his back from the start.

Sir Alex signed Danny Wallace as a replacement, who did little better, before Lee Sharpe established himself. Milne never played for United again. Two years later he was given a free transfer and spent a brief period in the Far East before retiring.

Ron Davies

Ron Davies scored 275 goals in his club career in 549 matches, averaging a goal every other game. It was prolific scoring like the four he scored for Southampton to beat Manchester United in 1969, that led to Tommy Docherty signing him in 1974.

That match was the last that Bill Foulkes played and afterwards, Sir Matt Busby described Davies as the best centre forward in Europe. He was prepared to pay £200,000 but Southampton wouldn't sell.

Unfortunately, Ron was well past his 'sell-by' date by the time they got their man. He played only a total of eight games, without scoring, before he was loaned to Millwall where he finished. Even then he played for Wales one last time to cap a record of 29 appearances and nine goals.

It is hard to see why Docherty failed to perceive Davies' ineffectiveness from the beginning of the 1970s. Defenders had largely worked him out and he was easy to bully off the ball.

He is now retired and living in New Mexico.

Nikola Jovanovic

While Manchester United have never matched their Yorkshire neighbours Leeds in the worst signing of all time —Tomas Brolin — they had a bad experience in 1980.

Nikola Jovanovic was one of the most successful players in the great Red Star Belgrade side of the 1970s. Then he joined Manchester United, for a near record fee of £300,000. 

He never justified that fee. After only 21 appearances and just four goals, he developed chronic back pain and, after returning to his native country, never played football again.

To be fair, he had always wanted to play for United and indeed turned down Bayern Munich to join them. He also had quite a successful first season, both in defence and scoring important goals. Unfortunately, the manager Dave Sexton was sacked and replaced by Ron Atkinson, who never played the Yugoslav.

A player of some style, in different circumstances he could have turned out to be quite useful but instead was pretty much a waste of money when United were otherwise struggling.

Arnie Sidebottom

No this isn't Ryan Sidebottom...the hair's different...but it is his dad, Arnold, or Arnie.

Definitely the worst haircut and the football wasn't a whole lot better. In 2007, he was voted No. 5 out of the 50 worst footballers to ever play in the top division in England, in a poll in The Times.

He signed amateur forms for United in 1971 and turned professional in 1972, at the age of 18. In total, he had 16 appearances in a four-year spell, before they shipped him off to Huddersfield Town in 1976.

He was pretty average, playing football in the winter and cricket in the summer until finally the truth dawned on him. He became a full time cricketer for Yorkshire in 1980, even getting capped by England before the penny dropped that he wasn't much good at cricket either.

His son is much better—at cricket.

Pat McGibbon

No, this isn't the new strip for Manchester United — it's Wigan Athletic, because unfortunately Pat McGibbon only played once for the Reds.

The highlight of his career came in a League Cup match against York City in 1995, which United lost 3-0. McGibbon was sent off and never played for the team again.

He began playing professional football for Portadown in Northern Ireland and after only one match was signed by United for £100,000. It seems extraordinary now. He went on loan to Wigan Athletic and they ended up paying £350,000 for him.

So, after just one game with each of his first two clubs and five years on United's books, his value had rocketed more than threefold. He did have substantial success with the Latics however, playing a total of 173 times including his loan spell and scoring 12 goals.

It would seem harsh to classify him as one of Sir Alex's worst signings — Liam Miller was much worse —when the club eventually made a handsome profit.

One day, if he retires, the manager may tell us what went wrong.

Kieran Richardson

'Who was the worst player for United' has been asked many times, in various forms. Who is the worst player Sir Alex signed? What was United's worst 11 ever? The most common names that come up are fairly recent squad members.

Among the players who nearly made it to this selection are: Kleberson; Luke Chadwick; Liam Miller; Mark Lynch; David Bellion; Roy Carroll; etc. William Prunier is an almost universal choice, but he was brought in on loan in desperate circumstances to play a couple of games without the chance to settle.

One of the main angles is that a player hasn't fulfilled his potential. And then there are the "Marmite" players—some people love them and some hate them. Diego Forlan falls into the latter category —he definitely failed to fulfill his potential, but has gone on to do it elsewhere.

Quite a few of the "love em or hate ems" came up through the youth system. Darren Fletcher was widely despised for years, but is now one of the most valuable players in the squad. Berbatov had no shortage of knockers until he scored 21 goals last term. Juan Sebastian Veron is a class player but couldn't do it in the Premier League.

So this last choice is a wild card and definitely a Marmite.

With the white boots and the attitude, Kieran Richardson was a legend in his own lunchtime — and in his dreams. Many supporters thought he was arrogant and overconfident before he had proved himself for United. He could do the spectacular but his form was patchy and sometimes indifferent.

There are three things he has in common with Darron Gibson: he's shown an inflated view of his own importance; Steve Bruce bid for him; and United fans didn't rate him. But then they didn't rate Fletcher either.

When Sunderland paid £5.5m for Kieran's contract, there was an outpouring of delight and good riddance messages, together with plenty of good luck wishes. Extraordinary.

Some say he never got a proper chance and was in Ryan Giggs' shadow. He has done quite well at Sunderland and the Spurs were reputedly interested in him. But the hard truth is that he was never good enough for United and when Roy Keane came calling, Sir Alex was happy to take the money.

Here's hoping that Gibson gets a reality check and goes the same way.