10 Most Undeserving Players Who Appeared 50 Times For Newcastle

3. Nikos Dabizas - 176 Appearances

The Greek player was another in a long line of Newcastle defenders who couldn't actually do the primary job he was supposed to do: yes, he was good at attacking set-pieces, and popped up with a few goals here and there, but when it came to defending the same situations he looked like a fish out of water. Up a tree. On a bicycle. Dabizas gained something of a cult following because he had an uncanny knack of making it look like he was really trying, but there is good reason why he suffered the embarrassment of once being substituted midway through the first half of a pre-season friendly: he just wasn't very good. For all of his industry and effort, Dabizas' opinion that he was a Philippe Albert style classy defender with an eye for starting attacks was fatal for the rest of his fellow defenders. Players f his calibre should last a season at most at teams looking to compete at the top of the league: at Newcastle, Dabizas lasted 6 years and more than 170 appearances. Interestingly, as with Hatem Ben "Arthur", for some reason a significant portion of Newcastle fans had real trouble pronouncing his name properly, preferring the not at all accurate "Dabeedas".