Marlon Harewood was another player whose signing inspired puzzlement among Villa supporters, and brought questions over the club's ambitions. The now 34-year-old was with West Ham at the time, and scored just 3 goals in the last campaign before his move, but with Villa looking to bolster their attacking options, the club pounced for the striker. Despite the decision to sign him, Harewood was never considered to be the man who would fire them to glory, and those suspicions seemed to have been proven right immediately as he scored a paltry seven goals in two years at the club, and failed to leave any really lasting memory at the club. Unsurprisingly, he was eventually loaned out to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle - where he managed to score 5 goals in 15 appearances for the Magpies - before Blackpool signed him on a permanent deal. Villa were left counting the cost of the move - having paid £4M for his signature, fans were forced to watched as he spent considerably more in wages during his time at Villa Park without ever really justifying them.
Crippy Cooke, 23, is a freelance Football Writer contributing to What Culture. He's had work featured on Zoo, MSN, London 24, The Telegraph, The Huffington Post, and was recently named Writer of the Year on FTBpro - while also a nominee for Best Male Blog in the Football Blogging Awards.
