Remember when Haris Vuckic signed? We were told he was coming in for a "substantial" fee, that he'd been on trial at AC Milan, and that we'd allegedly beaten some seriously big clubs to his signature. As if that wasn't heady enough endorsement of his skills, Real Madrid were then said to be interested in poaching the Solvenian away from Newcastle under a year after he'd come to Tyneside: clearly, we had a wonder-kid on our hands. Such was his talent, and the potential for "bigger" clubs to come in for him that Derek Llambias infamously had a row with coaching staff over his contract to make sure nobody could sneak in and get him. Like Gael Bigirimana, Vuckic was presented as the glamorous future of the club, but unfortunately neither players have had so much as a sniff in the past year, and it seems that either they hype was utterly miscast, or the current management set-up don't know how to turn prospects into established talents. No prizes for which is the more likely. Which other hotly tipped talents failed for Newcastle? Share your picks below in the comments thread.
