Celtic cult hero will still give West Brom supporters shudders: View | OneFootball

You could almost hear the groans around the Hawthorns when they saw the voluptuous locks of their Greek striker getting readied from the bench, with yet another sub-standard performance about to be witnessed.

Georgios Samaras returned to the English game with West Bromwich Albion in 2014 with a reputation as a bit of a sharpshooter after a solid spell in Scotland with Celtic, but he failed to rediscover that form south of the border.

No starts, eight substitute appearances, zero goals; it doesn’t make for great reading from the former Manchester City striker’s time in the Midlands, and is surely a move regretted by all parties.

With just brief cameo appearances to try and impress new boss Alan Irvine, you could say the Greek international wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip in his time at the club, so it wasn’t a surprise that he barely lasted the season with Albion before setting sail.

Georgios Samaras career: Manchester City, Celtic, West Bromwich Albion

Samaras was one of the old guard at Manchester City, having signed for the club from Heerenveen two years before the club was transformed into a mega-rich title-winning machine that it is today.

Even in his early days in England he was never prolific, with just five goals after moving from the Dutch side in the January of 2006, although an early brace against Sunderland did earn his new club a 2-1 win and earned himself some extra time to win over the fans.

Just four league goals the next campaign was more like the Samaras West Brom fans would recognise - although they are still unsure what the feeling of him scoring for their club would feel like - and his habit of notching winning braces continues with two goals against West Ham and Everton.

The goalless wonder was on borrowed time as the new owners made their mark at City, and it wasn’t long before he was shipped out to Glasgow, with Celtic taking a punt on the forward in the January of 2008, in what turned out to be a masterstroke from the Scottish giants.

As soon as he reached Parkhead, Samaras was a man transformed; plundering goals left, right and centre… okay, well five goals in 16 league matches but compared to his spell at City anything was seen as an improvement.

It was a good enough showing for the Bhoys to be tempted to take him on a permanent deal in the summer, and he was back to his brace-scoring best with six two-goal performances en route to a 17-goal season in the Scottish Premiership.

48 goals in 156 appearances rendered a decent return for the Hoops, with Championship medals earned in each of his last three seasons in Glasgow, starting the run of nine consecutive league wins for Celtic which lasted until 2021.

Samaras had managed to turn things around on British shores, with the Bhoys taking him in and offering him sanctuary when times were tough for him, and he repaid that with ample goals and silverware before he was reportedly forced out of the club.

The Greek star insists he didn’t want to leave the club in the summer of 2014 but was not offered another deal, which in hindsight wasn’t the best way to be starting life at West Brom, with a player who probably didn’t really want to be there.

Georgios Samaras's time at West Brom is not one to be remembered

And that’s exactly the sort of performances Baggies fans were subject to during the 14/15 season when he did make it onto the pitch; a player who had been burned one too many times, and had lost the ability to flourish in games.

Appearances were sporadic at the Hawthorns, with his introduction more often than not when his side were chasing a game, or even when a game was lost and Irvine was saving the legs of his favoured stars.

It was a disheartening experience for the Greek international, and unsurprisingly, he left the club on loan the following February, heading to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, where he netted twice in eleven matches.

Samaras’ two-year deal was terminated by mutual consent just 12 months in, to huge sighs of relief from fans, player and club alike; the misadvised move for the Celtic striker hadn’t worked out, with everyone seemingly unhappy with the situation, so cutting their losses was best for all involved.

Spells in the USA, Spain and Turkey followed, but the Greek never managed to get back to the heights he had managed in Scotland, and called a day on his career at the age of 33.

The Baggies were the start of the decline for Samaras, and despite only playing a total of 72 minutes in the Premier League for Albion, he will always be remembered as one of the worst free transfers in the club’s history.