10 Strangest Ever Newcastle United Signings

A failed experiment by Sir Bobby Robson who apparently agreed to sign Bridges in January 2004 as a favour to legendary talent scout Jack Hixon. The idea was for the Whitely-Bay born frontman to form an all Geordie strike partnership with Alan Shearer, both players having originally been discovered by Hixon.

By the time he arrived at St James' Park from Leeds on a six-month deal, fulfilling a childhood dream to play for the club, it was clear injuries had ravaged Bridges and he was a shadow of the player that promised so much as a teenager at Sunderland and then at Elland Road.

It spoke volumes that Robson didn't trust Bridges to carry our attack through a brief striker crisis and was often stationed out of position on the right wing with a raw Shola Ameobi preferred up front. The former England under-21 international was subsequently restricted to just a single start and seven brief substitute appearances later before being shown the door.