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12:39:00

Rotherham's biggest flops in the transfer market

Jordan Bowery and Greg Halford have to be considered as transfer flops for the Millers. Here we look at other famous mistakes in the transfer market.



With Jordan Bowery leaving Rotherham last week and Greg Halford allowed to follow him - if he has any takers - the sad reality is that they have both been unequivocal flops when so much was expected of them.

Bowery arrived at New York Stadium last summer as a club-record £250,000 buy from Aston Villa and was the poster boy of an exciting new era for the Millers as they contemplated life in the Championship on the back of some financial backing.

However, the striker never got anywhere near returning that investment and managed just six goals in 44 appearances, providing little goalscoring threat and even less of a presence in attack.

He recently returned from a loan spell at Bradford, where he played just three times in six weeks at Valley Parade and has joined Oxford after agreeing to end his Millers contract.

Halford’s fall from grace has been much quicker in materialising as he has endured a torrid six months at the club.

The utility player arrived as Steve Evans’ marquee player and was handed the armband for the start of the campaign, only to lose it after just eight games before disgracing himself on Twitter and being sent to Birmingham on loan.

He has also been unable to win over new boss Neil Redfearn and has been told he has no future at the club, though he has suggested otherwise on Twitter.

All of this makes both Bowery and Halford two of the biggest transfer flops in the club’s history.

But which others fall into that category? Let’s have a look.

Gijsbert Bos

Poor old Gijsbert, he can never avoid lists like these. The Dutch striker, distinguishable for a number of reasons, was brought to the Millers for a paltry £20,000 in 1997 as one of Ronnie Moore’s first signings. However, it did not take Moore long to work out that the blonde-haired white-booted front man was not all that and he managed only 18 appearances in his first season at Millmoor, which brought four goals, with just two the following season.

Matt Tubbs

After a year-long pursuit of Tubbs and a prolific goalscoring record when previously playing for Steve Evans, big things were expected of him when he finally arrived at the Millers on a six-month loan ahead of the 2013-14 campaign. However, that simply never materialised into anything of note. The striker did not break his duck until November – in his 14th appearance – and that was the only goal for the Millers as he returned to Bournemouth at the end of his disappointing spell.

Paolo Vernazza

The former Arsenal midfielder was supposed to represent a better quality of player when he arrived with the Millers trying to establish themselves as a second-tier side in the mid-2000s. However, the man with the pedigree was found to be well below the level of players who had come up through the leagues with Moore’s men. His weak and powderpuff displays in midfield earned him the nickname ‘Vanessa’ from fans and he epitomised a dire 2004-05 season which ended in relegation. He made 30 appearances that campaign but left midway through the following one.

Nicky Adams

Brought to the Millers to help their 2013-14 promotion push in the January transfer window, Adams promised to get “bums off seats” when he arrived and his pedigree – he’d played in the Championship for Leicester – brought excitement. However, just 106 days later he was sold to Bury after making 15 appearances. Boss Steve Evans suggested that his hasty sale was due to his unwillingness to track back.

Mark Druce

There was real hope that Mark Druce could be the man to help lead the Millers out of trouble in 1996-97 after scoring in his first four matches of a loan spell from Oxford. However, when he signed permanently two games later for £50,000 he suddenly forgot where the net was and did not score again that season as Danny Bergara’s men hopelessly fell to relegation. He only managed one more in 18 appearances the following campaign, meaning he’d scored one goal in 32 appearances since signing permanently.

Scott Loach

As a goalkeeper who had been in the England squad just over 12 months before joining the Millers, Loach’s arrival was similar to Bowery’s in showcasing that the club was swimming in new waters. However, he could only manage just four appearances and did not feature again following a monumental error in a 2-0 defeat at Ipswich. Several loan moves all failed and he left the Millers in the summer after just one season.

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