Ipswich Town’s 8 weirdest ever signings (Ranked)
FLW’s Tractor Boys fan pundit ranks the most bizarre deals that the club have completed
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
In the last few years, Ipswich Town have been lauded in so many different ways, with their recruitment being being a high point as well as their performances on the pitch.
Under Kieran McKenna’s management and the ownership of Gamechanger 20 Ltd, some very exciting signings have been made, including the likes of Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead – but it hasn’t always been like that over the years.
Just like any club, the Tractor Boys have had their fair share of bizarre signings – let’s take a look at EIGHT of the weirdest deals that they have done in the view of FLW’s Ipswich fan pundit Henry.
After coming through the ranks of Wimbledon as a youngster, Reo-Coker became a household name in the Premier League, playing in the middle of the part for both West Ham United and Aston Villa mainly in the 2000’s.
Having spent a year with Bolton Wanderers in the top flight before activating his own release clause, Reo-Coker found himself a free agent at the age of 28, and he subsequently joined Ipswich – then in the Championship.
Starting regularly under Mick McCarthy at first, Reo-Coker didn’t really do anything impressive with Town and had some time on the bench too, but with the club wanting to keep him until the end of the season, the midfielder had plans of his own.
Turning down an extended deal until June 2013, Reo-Coker departed at the end of his short-term contract to go and play in Canada – his wage could’ve gone on someone younger and someone who actually wanted to play for Ipswich.
At his peak, Campo played four times for Spain and was part of a Real Madrid squad that won the UEFA Champions League twice and La Liga once
The centre-back/defensive midfielder managed to settle in England though following a move to Bolton Wanderers in 2002, where he played into his 30’s on pretty much a regular basis.
When released though by the Trotters in 2008, he was picked up by Ipswich to add to their already experienced midfield options, but he was not the same player as in the past at the age of 34.
Campo played just 20 times over the course of the season for Town as he spent plenty of time on the sidelines injured, and his one year stint at Portman Road will go down as very unnecessary.
Late on in the summer 2016 transfer window, Ipswich lost their talisman Daryl Murphy, with Newcastle United – then league rivals in the Championship – swooping for the Irishman having scored 27 goals in the season before last and then 10 in 2015-16.
With time not on his side, Mick McCarthy replaced one Republic of Ireland international with another in the form of Best, who at the time was 29 years of age and had scored four times for Rotherham in 16 appearances in the previous season.
Unsurprisingly, Best was a flop at Portman Road, playing just 11 times in the Championship without scoring, and after a final outing in January 2017 in the FA Cup, McCarthy declared publicly that the forward would not play for the club again.
Many players have earned big transfer moves off the back of good performances in major international tournaments, and that is exactly what happened with Karic when he arrived at Ipswich in the summer of 2000.
Karic was brought in from Maribor in August of that year, having played for Slovenia in EURO 2000 as a wing-back, and he also had experience of playing in the UEFA Champions League at club level, so there was every reason to believe that he’d be a success.
It went completely the other way though for the 26-year-old, who was never included in a Premier League squad for the Tractor Boys and was loaned out to Crystal Palace of the second tier in March 2001.
Karic soon returned to Maribor in the 2001-02 season, proving to be an almighty waste of money in Suffolk.
It went completely the other way though for the 26-year-old, who was never included in a Premier League squad for the Tractor Boys and was loaned out to Crystal Palace of the second tier in March 2001.
Karic soon returned to Maribor in the 2001-02 season, proving to be an almighty waste of money in Suffolk.
The money used on the 30-year-old winger at the time could have been better spent elsewhere, in truth.
With nine league goals in 52 appearances for Borussia Dortmund’s reserve team, Bajner didn’t exactly look like he was right for Ipswich at the time, who needed some more goalscorers in their team.
Predictably, the Hungarian did not adapt to Championship football, and despite signing a two-year contract, Bajner was released after just five months at Portman Road, having featured in just five league matches.
Bajner stayed in England briefly but moved down to League One with Notts County, but it was clear from the early stages of his time with Ipswich that he was not going to be up to the level.
Having scored goals at second tier level in France in the previous season for Lorient, Ipswich decided to take a punt on Le Pen in November 2001, with the winger arriving for £1.4 million.
The 27-year-old was nowhere near good enough for the top level of English football though, and he was seen just the once in the Premier League in an 11-minute cameo against Bolton not long after his arrival.
Le Pen returned to France with Strasbourg in 2002 less than a year after arriving in England, and it’s safe to say that he was a real waste of a seven-figure fee.
Dos Santos tops this list – but for the right reasons as he was a bizarre acquisition in the sense that it was a shock Ipswich got their hands on him.
The Mexican dynamo had come through the ranks at Barcelona before moving to Tottenham in 2008, but after 12 appearances it was decided that he needed some more English footballing experience, so they sent Dos Santos to Ipswich on loan in February 2009.
Still only 19 at the time, Dos Santos adapted to Championship football remarkably well and scored four times in his eight appearances, whilst also notching an assist.
Dos Santos had so much quality and it was a real privilege for Tractor Boys fans to watch him in action.
Ben is a writer who specialises in football who has worked at Football League World since December 2020 as a freelancer and also a full-time member of the team, producing content and also editing and publishing for other
Strikers could again be on the agenda at Ewood Park come January
Going into this summer’s transfer window, it was clear that the addition of some new centre forward options had to be on the agenda for Blackburn Rovers
A lack of senior established options in that position had cost Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side dearly in the second half of last season.
That came with a string of missed chances in matches eventually leading to Rovers only finishing level on points with sixth-placed Sunderland in the Championship table, but missing out on a place in the play-offs on goal difference by a considerable margin, having spent much of the campaign in the top six.
That need was then further enhanced by the departures of two of Rovers’ top scorers from last season – Ben Brereton-Diaz and Bradley Dack – following the expiration of their contracts at Ewood Park.
In the end, Rovers would indeed bring in some new centre forwards, with both Niall Ennis and Semir Telalovic joining the Lancashire club on long term deals.
But despite that, there may be an argument that centre forward is an area Blackburn will need to address again, once the transfer window reopens in January.
Why would Blackburn need to sign another centre forward in January?
Following their arrivals at Ewood Park this summer, both Ennis and Telalovic have so far found game time somewhat hard to come by in Tomasson’s team.
Fitness issues mean that Ennis has so far made just three substitute appearances in 11 Championship games for Blackburn this season.
Telalovic meanwhile, has come off the bench on five occasions in the league for Rovers, amounting to just 57 minutes on the pitch so far, as Tomasson looks to give him time to adapt to a new country and new level, after joining from the fourth-tier in his native Germany.
There have also been issues over Rovers’ longer serving senior centre forward in the form of Sam Gallagher, who is also in the middle of an extended spell out through injury, as he enters the final few months of his contract at Ewood Park.
So with Ennis and Telalovic yet to get their chance to really show what impact they can make, and Gallagher also unavailable with questions over his future potentially set to emerge, the fact that Rovers have again missed a string of big chances this season, means they may need to look for another centre forward in the January.
Should they elect to do that, then there is a case to be made that Blackburn ought to be revisiting their interest in a former target, who is currently enjoying an excellent spell in League One with Portsmouth.
Would Colby Bishop be a good signing for Blackburn?
In the lead-up to this summer’s transfer window, it was reported that Blackburn were among the clubs to be showing an interest in Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop.
That came after a prolific campaign in the third-tier with Pompey for Bishop last season, and he has backed that up during the current campaign, where he has been key to the club’s early charge for promotion.
The fact he is continuing to be a reliable source of goals at that level, even with the pressure of a promotion push, there is an argument that Bishop may now be ready to step up to the Championship, and Blackburn’s potential further need for a centre forward means they ought to be the sort of club that should be targeting him.
Indeed, the fact that Bishop has featured in every Portsmouth league game since the start of last season, may go some way to easing the fitness concerns Rovers have had to deal with when it comes to recent signings.
Meanwhile, the striker’s past success with another Lancashire club, Accrington Stanley, also suggest he may be able to settle in well if he does return to the area with a move to Ewood Park.
Admittedly, the fact he has a contract with Portsmouth until the summer of 2025, and that his current club are making the running in the League One title race, means it may not be easy for Rovers to convince those concerned to make this move.
But with a January transfer battle for Rovers midfielder Adam Wharton seemingly a possibility amid claims the Championship club have placed a £20million price tag on the 19-year-old, suggests they may be able to raise the funds for this potential deal.
Beyond that, the fact they were able to convince Ennis to join in the summer, just weeks after he had helped Plymouth Argyle to the League One title, could arguably give them confidence of tempting Bishop to make a similar move to Ewood Park at the turn of the year.
With all that in mind, it does therefore seem that as Blackburn continue to put their plans in place for the January transfer window, revisiting a move for Bishop at that point, is not something that the decision makes at Ewood Park, ought to be ruling out too quickly.
Opinion: Southampton FC supporters shouldn’t rule out a promotion push if £10m star finds his feet
Southampton’s promotion hopes could receive a significant boost in the coming weeks
Southampton’s start to the season has been quite underwhelming, all things considered, despite their late win at Hull City on Saturday.
Russell Martin’s appointment was a smart move by the Saints hierarchy given the work he had done with Swansea City in his two years in south Wales.
His style of play was a natural fit for a side looking to fight for promotion with a possession-based attacking squad.
The money earned in player sales far surpassed the kind of money any other Championship side could compete with, even including Leicester City and Leeds United.
This gave the club the chance to invest back into the squad to build a team capable of fighting for a top two spot.
However, given those lofty ambitions, the Saints still only find themselves in fifth, and they trail second placed Ipswich by eight points, whilst they also have a game in hand.
Can Southampton still fight for promotion?
But Southampton supporters shouldn’t fret just yet, and one summer signing could be the key reason why.
