10 Underwhelming Newcastle Signings Who Became Cult Heroes

5. Craig Bellamy

''My arrival in the North East didn't exactly fire the imagination of the Geordie nation. I had the radio on as I drove to St. James' Pak for my first day of training and the phone-in was discussing my signing. It was being interpreted as an indication that ambitions weren't high. I was a symbol, they were saying, of low expectations and a difficult season ahead.'' - Craig Bellamy, June 2013.

One can't blame Geordie supporters for having such low expectations - after all, their new signing had tasted just one season of top-flight football with Coventry City, and had registered a paltry return of six goals from 34 appearances. He may have had bags of pace, and a tenacious streak, but was he worth the £6.5 million chairman Freddy Shepherd was willing to part with to pair him with Alan Shearer?

The volatile Welshman was an instant hit, bagging his first goal for the club in the Tyne-Wear derby, before ending his debut season with 14 goals and a PFA Young Player of the Year gong. His finest moment arguably arrived in November 2002 when he published himself into the membrane of Newcastle United folklore with that dramatic last-gasp winner in Feyenoord that propelled the club out of the group stages and into the next round of the Champions League.

With 43 goals in 128 appearances, Bellamy had struck up a fearsome partnership with Shearer, utilising his electric pace and clinical finishing to feed off the flick-ons of the big No.9. Despite his off-field problems, the former Norwich City hitman was a revelation on Tyneside, and while he may have besmirched his reputation somewhat with comments made about the Toon saviour that is Wor Alan, he certainly gave Geordies a collection of memorable moments to savour.