Some stars shine for years and some burn bright and disappear just as quick. This article is about the latter. The players who had one standout campaign and did very little else.
That’s not to disparage them. Some of the best songs in history are from ‘one-hit wonders’. It doesn’t mean they released just one song, of course, it was just that one was far better than any of the others.
Let’s get stuck in.
Pavel Pogrebnyak — 2011-12
This guy is the poster boy for Fulham’s one-season wonders. And he was only here for half a season.
He came. He scored. He f*cked off to (checks notes) Reading.
I’m not sure much was expected from the Pog when he arrived on a six-month loan from Stuttgart in January 2012. A single goal in 15 appearances in the campaign to that point didn’t light any fires within the fanbase.
But he left Craven Cottage with a record of six goals in 12 games. That’s a decent record in and of itself. But those six goals were so concentrated that he entered Fulham folklore forever.
He bagged on his debut against Stoke. He followed it up with the winner in the West London derby at Loftus Road in his second game. Then he scored a perfect hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of Wolves. We had to wait a comparative age for his sixth and final goal (thanks to an ankle injury), but five games later he scored against Wigan.
Despite impressing during his stay, the club couldn’t agree terms with the towering Russian and he went on to be relegated with the Royals.
Manor Solomon — 2022-23
Here’s another streaky loanee for you.
Manor Solomon also had just half a season to make his mark. That’s because he was injured in the season opener against Liverpool and had to have surgery. He returned in January and the following month scored five goals in five games.
His first helped wrap up three points against Forest. His second was his defining Fulham moment; the iconic “smash-and-grab” winner at the Amex. His third was an equaliser against Wolves. His fourth sealed a win against Leeds in the FA Cup and his fifth came in a 3-2 defeat to Brentford.
It had everyone purring and screaming at the board to sign him up, but he opted to sit on the bench at Spurs before dropping down to the Championship to play for Leeds.
Sascha Riether — 2012-13
“But Sascha was here for two seasons!” I hear you cry.
He was - and he’s not the only one on this list who stayed in SW6 for more than one year. But just as Vanilla Ice released now fewer than six albums but is only known for Ice Ice Baby, Riether’s 2012-13 campaign is the one that defined his time in white.
We thought we’d found one of the best right-back in Europe when the German arrived on loan from recently-relegated FC Köln. He quickly established himself as first choice, dislodging Stephen Kelly. He scored once in the league, away at Sunderland, but it was his consistency throughout the campaign on the right, giving everyone Steve Finnan vibes, that got Craven Cottage going.
He finished third in the player of the season vote, behind Giorgios Karagounis and winner Dimitar Berbatov. Everyone was delighted when he signed permanently that summer, but sadly he never reached the same level as the Whites were - famously - relegated.
Ashkan Dejagah — 2013-14
Dejagah is the reverse of his former Wolfsburg teammate Riether. He arrived in the summer of 2012 from Die Wölfe but failed to make a material impact, making just 21 appearances, including 13 starts and producing zero goals.
But it was 2013-14 the Iranian in Fulham sparked into life. Unfortunately the Whites didn't; they finished in 19th place on 32 points, ending our 13-year stay in the Premier League.
Dejagah was the bright spark. Five Premier League goals, the highlight being the winner against Newcastle, that placed us within four points of safety. He was our second-highest scorer, behind Steve Sidwell, in a miserable campaign. That, plus a strong World Cup for Iran, saw us double our money when he went to Qatari side Al-Arabi for £5.5m. Not bad for a season’s work.
Sone Aluko — 2016-17
Talking about cashing in, how about £7.5m of pure profit sound?
I’m not one for caring to much about the money that’s not mine, but this one always makes me chuckle considering Sone wasn’t even that great, but his 16-17 campaign made Reading feel that splashing out a high seven-figure sum in the second tier was a smart idea. And the fact he went on to score six goals in 102 appearances is even better.
Aluko scored eight league goals in 45 Championship appearances, which put him 44th on the league’s top scorers chart. But Reading only had two players higher than him on that list, and he did score against the Royals in our 5-0 victory in December. So maybe it wasn’t that mad after all? Nope, it was.
Ryan Babel — 2018-19
Another half-season wonder, Babel was brought into the chaos of 18-19 to help us beat the drop.
It felt like a bit of a coup at the time; he was 32, so hardly ancient, and had scored a goal every three games during his spell in Turkey with Galatasaray. He managed the same rate in SW6, scoring five in 16 games, including vital winners in games against Everton and Cardiff. In a season of big names and big earners who flattered to deceive, Ryan earned respect and his wage.
Who makes your list of one-season wonders? There are plenty to choose from - so let me know in the comments.