Taribo West features: Plymouth Argyle's 5 biggest transfer flop signings from recent times | OneFootball

These five will still give Argyle fans nightmares after their disastrous spells at Home Park

Every team will have them, those players that come in with plenty of expectation, and leave out the side door months later having barely made an impact.

Whether they are big-money signings who fail to live up to the billing, or unknown names who fall back into the wilderness, each and every supported will have their own tale to tell about a transfer that spectacularly nosedived after pen was put to paper.

Plymouth Argyle have had their fair share of shockers in recent history, with the questionable, the stunning, and outright bizarre all coming down to Home Park to meet their fate.

But we have to whittle it down to just five, so here we take a look at the quintet that lacked quality after making the delve into Devon.

Taribo West

Where else can you start than the Nigerian international, spangly-haired, rickety-legged defender, who played just four league matches for the Greens during the 05/06 campaign?

Having played for both Milan clubs, featured at World Cups, and even featured in the Premier League for Derby County, Argyle fans must have thought their morning pasty had been spiked when they saw the news that West was heading west to play for the green and whites.

Maybe it was the similarity of the home shirt with the Nigerian outfit he adorned in both 1998 and 2002 on the biggest International stage that drew him in. Nobody still knows to this day.

What we do know is that West was a shadow of the player that had earned notoriety during his early career, and despite only being 31, he looked like a man double that age when playing Brighton and Hove Albion at the Withdean Stadium.

A 2-1 League Cup defeat to Barnet at Underhill proved to be the final straw, and after just five appearances he was gone, thanks for the memories of Taribo.

Steve MacLean

Much was expected of Steve MacLean when he made the move to Home Park, with the Greens reportedly forking out half a million pounds to bring the Scot to the south west.

Despite a return of one goal in 15 matches for Cardiff City, Argyle put their goalscoring hopes on the former Sheffield Wednesday man, but things didn’t quite pan out that way with just six goals in 53 appearances.

The feeling towards the striker was one of resentment from a lot of the Green Army during his time at the club, with the price tag continuing to be lamented after such goal-shy performances.

The two parties parted ways after two-and-a-half years, with the relationship between striker and fanbase seemingly in tatters, and the Pilgrims battling to stay afloat amid financial difficulty.

Kenny Cooper

It’s rumoured to be a claim to fame around Home Park if you were there when Kenny Cooper played, and even more so if you remember any impact he had.

The American import was brought over to England by Argyle legend Paul Mariner, who took charge of the club following Paul Sturrock’s second departure in December 2010.

Having been coaching in the MLS with New England Revolution, the former England international acted to bring in a player who had been tearing it up Stateside to help the Pilgrims in attack, with ex-Manchester United man Kenny Cooper deemed the savour to the Greens’ attacking woes.

With 18 goals in the previous season for FC Dallas, expectations were high, but Cooper failed to make any sort of meaningful contribution during his time in green, with just seven substitute appearances while in England.

Argyle were said to have had an option to buy at the end of the campaign, but with no goals and not a lot else to show for his efforts, they unsurprisingly turned that offer down.

Emile Mpenza

The Emile Mpenza scenario at Home Park was a strange one, with the former Manchester City man showing plenty of promise one week, and then seemingly not looking bothered the next, before failing to play altogether.

The signing of the Belgian forward turned a lot of heads in the summer of 2008, as Argyle looked to continue their strong showings in the Championship at the time, with Mpenza brought in to partner Jamie Mackie and Rory Fallon up top.

And while the Pilgrims continued to fight valiantly in the second tier, their new forward obviously wasn’t up for the battle, with just nine appearances through the season while earning the big bucks despite not playing.

A last-minute equaliser against Charlton Athletic, and a goal against Cardiff City in front of the TV cameras aside, Mpenza did nothing but deplete Argyle’s bank balance during his time at Home Park, and his departure was warmly welcomed by the fanbase at the time.

Cherno Samba

There would have been so many people willing this deal to work out, as Argyle brought Football Manager legend Cherno Samba back to England in the hope of kick-starting his football career.

After such a bright start at Millwall, the budding star saw a move to Liverpool collapse while still a teenager, which completely changed the course of his career.

After moving to Spain for a season, Ian Holloway lured him back to England, and looked to have reaped immediate rewards with the striker netting a goal on debut in a 1-0 win over Coventry City.

That early promise proved to be misleading though, with 13 more goalless appearances coming before the end of the campaign, before Paul Sturrock ended his contract by mutual consent.