Our Greatest ever signing

[0Neils40yarder]

Its often said that pound-for-pound, Davie Cooper is our best ever signing, in how he helped build the reputation of the club, its playing style and how he participated in getting us the win in 1991.

Does Justs signing eclipse that? Buying him for a nominal fee and punting him 12months later for lots of millions?

Any other suggestions?

[weeyin]

Bobby Graham. 

EDIT: to elaborate, he was a strong performer in an good Liverpool side that included Ian St John, Roger Hunt and later Keegan and Toshack.

He almost certainly only signed for us beause Ian St John was the manger, and as well as being an excellent player himself, he struck up a great partnership with Willie Pettigrew.

He spoiled me as a young fan, as I thought every striker that played for Motherwell would be as good as those.

[MJC]

Davie Cooper is the most obvious one. 
 

Apart from him Tommy Coyne has got to be up there with our best. He was in his 30s when he signed and went on to be one of our top players of the 90s.

I’d also give a shout to Michael Higdon. He was that annoying journeyman who always seemed to pop up with a goal against us for Falkirk or St.Mirren but when he came here he became a proper No.9 and we got the best out of him.

[numpty]

I don't have any better suggestions, but regardless of his ability and financial value, I'm not sure anyone who only played for one season in which we ultimately didn't really come close to winning anything could really justify the "best ever" tag.

[0Neils40yarder]

12 minutes ago, numpty said:

I don't have any better suggestions, but regardless of his ability and financial value, I'm not sure anyone who only played for one season in which we ultimately didn't really come close to winning anything could really justify the "best ever" tag.

The tag is the best ever signing though...to flip him for ridiculous money in a calendar year must be up there regardless of what he actually achieved on the pitch

[wellfan]

I’d say you have to judge our greatest signings in the context of each generation, and the financial and playing landscape at the time. If you do that, I think you can easily make a case for both Cooper and Just being on an exclusive list.

But then what are the criteria? Greatest signing in terms of financial return, or what they delivered on the pitch in helping us win something or otherwise? That’s why I don’t think there’s one definitive answer. There are probably a few names that belong on the list.

[Ya Bezzer!]

We paid a fee for Just and he's actually a good player.

We didn't pay a fee for Theo Bair, he wasn't a good player and we still sold him for a couple of million inside 12 months.

So if flipping players makes the best ever signing Theo Bair is king.

In all seriousness, of course, Davie Cooper is our greatest signing in the modern era.  He revolutionised the club and its history.

[wellsince75]

Best signings for me are Cooper and Bobby Russell  - bringing class and guile to FP.

There's a long list of very good players over the ages and could create a full team from Randolph all the way through to Coyne and Coyle but in my time watching the club I couldn't believe how good these guys were.  Just was brilliant last year but these are my all time favourites. 

[0Neils40yarder]

1 hour ago, wellfan said:

I’d say you have to judge our greatest signings in the context of each generation, and the financial and playing landscape at the time. If you do that, I think you can easily make a case for both Cooper and Just being on an exclusive list.

But then what are the criteria? Greatest signing in terms of financial return, or what they delivered on the pitch in helping us win something or otherwise? That’s why I don’t think there’s one definitive answer. There are probably a few names that belong on the list.

For me its 'what did we get from that signing'...in Cooper we got a world class player, who loved being here, helped won us a cup, helped drive up standards.

In Just we got a huge return on profit

[grumpy]

An interesting, and impossible to answer, question. Coyne, Cooper, Russell, Graham, and a few others probably, all arrived at the end of their careers and contributed hugely. If you take into account signings from Junior / youth teams then Keith McRae, sold for £100k in the early seventies should be under consideration. .Joe Wark, signed from Blantyre Vic (I think) and an absolute club legend should be up there too. I could probably come up with several more given time.

Money received shouldn't be the only consideration in this discussion.

[Happy Dosser]

I think Joe was signed from Irvine Vics and what a player he was defensively, with those India rubber legs; rarely booked and always willing.

[David]

14 hours ago, 0Neils40yarder said:

Its often said that pound-for-pound, Davie Cooper is our best ever signing, in how he helped build the reputation of the club, its playing style and how he participated in getting us the win in 1991.

Does Justs signing eclipse that? Buying him for a nominal fee and punting him 12months later for lots of millions?

Any other suggestions?

An interesting question, and for me it's still Davie Cooper. 

The game has undoubtedly changed now, but the truth is, we'd never get anywhere near signing someone like him in this modern era. Not a chance. 

While I don't place Cooper in that "world class" category like many others do, he was absolutely very good. In modern terms the closest I've seen is a hybrid between Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva.

He was 33 when he signed for us, but 33 back then isn't the same as 33 now. By today's standards that would likely be the equivalent of 35-36 or so, but even so, we'd simply not be in the conversation for someone like that. 

A player like him today, in his prime, would likely fetch around £65 million, possibly even £85 million if he was plying his trade down south. 

That kind of player and talent probably eclipses any player we'll ever see at a club like Motherwell moving forward.