Tempting players away from money-bags Chelsea was always going to be difficult, so it's no surprise that it took a considerable wedge to convince former Blackburn player Damien Duff to trade the bright lights of London for the cold, gold-fish bowl of Tyneside. According to the Mail after the club were relegated thanks to an agonising deflection off Duff's boot, the precise figure was something like £70,000 a week. For that, Newcastle got a player who blew notoriously hot and cold, never getting anywhere near the heights of his ability that had seen him command a fee close to £20m when he signed for Chelsea. Sadly, it was players like him who convinced Mike Ashley that buying experience was too expensive, resulting at least partly in the situation we have to contend with now. Just to make every Newcastle fan feel better about him, Duff immediately told the press after his move to Fulham that he hadn't enjoyed his football at Newcastle. The feeling, Damien, was pretty much universally mutual.
