Togolese midfielder Moustapha Salifous best career achievement undoubtedly must be managing to last four years at Aston Villa despite making just four league appearances. Aston Villa have a bad record for questionable signings, but Salifou really made no sense from the Villa hierarchy: the 31-year-old was playing for little-known sides in his career before striking gold with Villa following a successful trial in 2007, in which he presumably showed a lot more than he subsequently has. He cost the club very little, but offered even less for the first-team, while somehow extending his stay a further three years, despite the early indications that he just wasn't very good. Salifou was praised for his hard work in the reserve team, but making just a handful of senior appearances in four years is little to shout about. The midfielder eventually found himself released at the end of his contact in 2011 and joined FC Saarbrücken, before enduring two years in the football wilderness. He now plays in the fourth tier of German football.
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.
