The response to my piece about Gonzalo Garcia earlier this week was about as divided as I expected. Some said it echoed their thoughts entirely, but a large section of the comments intimated they’d given up on the Spaniard entirely.
Given how convinced I am he’ll come good, it got me thinking about how we’ve been wrong in the past about players. We’re a notoriously fickle bunch (myself included) so we can often end up with a bit of egg on our faces.
Here are five Fulham players we misjudged early on.
Barry Hayles
He’s one of the most beloved Fulham players in history - but it didn’t start out that way.
Barry arrived in SW6 as the most expensive player in the history Division Two (now League One), with a £2m price tag, despite having only played league football for a year.
The fee proved to be a millstone as he struggled in his first (two-thirds of a) season, scoring just eight times in 30 league games. Despite the Whites winning promotion, it’s safe to say people expected more for seven figures.
New boss Paul Bracewell didn’t much fancy Bazza, who then scored just five in his maiden second-tier season. But the arrival of Jean Tigana changed everything - as it did for everyone! He scored 19 times - 18 of them in the league - as the Whites romped to to the Premier League. And the rest is history.
Chris Baird
The Northern Ireland man arrived as a defender who was regarded as a bit of a jack of all trades - but a master of none.
He was regularly asked to fill in across the defence in bit-part roles that didn’t particularly inspire and it wasn’t long before he was linked with a move away.
But Baird started to come into his own under Roy Hodgson, filling in regularly at right-back, even holding that berth in the Europa League final. He continued to progress under Mark Hughes, even in a central midfield role. the highlight being two goals at a rain-soaked Britannia Stadium - one of them a GOTS winner - earning him the ‘Bairdinho’ moniker, and a place in our hearts.
Bobby Zamora
“When you’re sat in row Z and the ball hits your head, that’s Zamora.”
I spoke about BZ in my Garcia piece, but it is the best comparision I can make to GG. We did not like Zamora initially - and the feeling was mutual.
It came to a head in his second season, after he scored against Sunderland at the Cottage. He shoved his teammates away so he could repeatedly shout a the Hammy End to “Shut your fucking mouths”. Charming.
Roy Hodgson blamed “club blogs” (of which there weren’t many back then) for their criticism of the striker.
“Our fans in the Hammersmith end actually constantly chant his name. But these people who write in to the club’s blogs, they’re the real experts and they want something that he’s not been able to give them - 30 goals a year. But he has been a key player for us.”
He certainly went on to become one that season, scoring vital goals en route to the Europa League final amid a haul of 19 in all competitions. If he’d started in Hamburg we’d probably have a major European trophy in the cabinet.
Stefan Johansen
The inital opinion on StefJo shifted half an hour into his debut, as Slav hooked him for Jozabed in a disappointing 0-1 defeat to Birmingham City at the Cottage.
It was the first game covered by the pod - you’ll have to give it a listen to hear Johansen enthusiast Jack Collins’s opinions on that stinker.
The Norwegian quicky redeemed himself, going on to score 13 in all comps from midfield - and picking up no fewer than 15 yellow cards, displaying his shithousing streak that made him a cult hero.
Jean Michael Seri
Is this the most heartwarming redemption arc in FFC history?
Seri famously arrived on that infamous deadline day in 2018, for a whopping £25m amid interest from European giants including Barcelona. What followed was one of the most chaotically disappointing seasons ever and he was, rightly and firmly, labelled a huge flop.
We went to the Championship and Seri went to Galatasaray (on loan). He played no part in our equally ill-fated 2020-21 campaign, but returned to Craven Cottage for our tilt at the Championship championship under Marco Silva in 21-22. And that is where he proved us all wrong, becoming the midfield lynchpin as we pissed the league.
But his contract - the big fat one he signed way back in 2018 - was up at the end of the campaign at the club opted to let it expire, bringing an end to the relationship, but letting it finish on a high.
“He’s Marco Silva’s man, he’s better than Zidane…”
Go on then: who were you completely wrong about when they arrived? Be honest! Confess in the comments.
Big Hec because I thought he’d be brilliant. Started well & then seemed to lose confidence, concentration & maybe his love of football?
Zamora did start in Hamburg. Trouble was he lasted less than an hour!