Jason Perry
This one might surprise some readers, but I remember being excited when Jason Perry signed in the summer of 1998. We had just been promoted, and here was a defender with hundreds of Cardiff City appearances behind him, a spell with Bristol Rovers and a Wales cap. At 28, he looked like the sort of experienced addition who could help us settle into the higher division.
Instead, he made just 12 league appearances, ten of them starts, as City struggled near the bottom. His final outing came in the FA Cup victory over Cheltenham Town, and by Christmas he had moved to Hull City in the division below. Within a few months, a signing that had looked significant had come and gone.
I have always wondered whether the club’s financial position played a part in that short stay, although that remains speculation. What I do know is that I expected an established defender to make a much greater contribution to our attempt to stay up. Perry’s reputation made his arrival exciting, but his brief spell never matched what I had hoped for.