10 Underwhelming Newcastle Signings Who Became Cult Heroes

4. Jose Enrique

Not much was known of the 20-year-old Villareal left-back when Sam Allardyce splashed out £6.3 million for his services in August 2007. Even less knowledge had seemingly been gathered within a few months of his arrival, with the Newcastle hierarchy refusing to entrust Enrique with a run of games in the side. Perhaps his signing wasn't greeted with a wave of discontent, but it certainly didn't have the hairs standing up on the back of Geordies' necks.

Despite the harrowing and tortuous relegation campaign they had been forced to endure just months earlier, the Championship season served up a dish of palatable moments for the Geordie nation to savour, not least the Spaniard's first goal for the club as he effectively sealed promotion with a rifled finish against Nottingham Forest. Solid, composed and not as error-prone as the flappable Davide Santon, Enrique was undisputedly Newcastle's best left-back since the great Olivier Bernard.

It's just a shame he had to taint his reputation on Tyneside somewhat by following Andy Carroll to Liverpool and foolishly proclaiming the sentiment that 'the club will never again fight among the top six with this policy'. What happened next? Why Enrique's next trip to St. James' Park would see him don the goalkeeper's gloves following Pepe Reina's dismissal during a 2-0 defeat, while the Geordie nation gleefully reminded him of their lofty position in the table.