Rob Green jumped ship from West Ham United to QPR, where he is now likely to spend his season sitting on the bench.
When Rob Green looks at where it all went wrong, he will have two options. Either the decision to leave West Ham, or his disastrous debut where he set his new club on their way to a 5-0 defeat by making a basic goalkeeping error.
It was back in June that Green agreed terms with QPR, to sign as a free agent after choosing not to renew his contract at the Hammers.
The 32-year-old had been at West Ham since 2006, playing under several managers in the Premier League, and helped the club gain promotion from the Championship under Sam Allardyce last season.
Whether he felt he needed a fresh start, or it was just about the reported £50,000 a week wages QPR offered him, his decision to swap East London for West London was a big decision.
Now QPR have signed Brazilian international goalkeeper and Champions League winner, Julio Cesar from Inter Milan, we wonder if he is beginning to regret his choice?
Despite what Mark Hughes may say about Green and Cesar battling it out for a place, the Serie A veteran has not been brought in on reported wages of £80,000 a week to sit on the bench.
Green may get his fair share of games in the cups, but he is realistically expected to become second choice.
While over at West Ham, where he could have taken the comfortable route and stayed in familiar surroundings, with no less of a challenge before him on their return to the Premier League, he likely would have been first choice.
Jussi Jaaskelainen was brought in from Bolton on a free to replace him, but it is doubtful the Hammers would have gone in for him had Green not turned down their contract offer. Instead of playing Premier League football this year, Green can now expect to spend most of his time watching it.
It is also doubtful whether QPR would also have stepped back into the transfer market had he not made his opening day cock-up against Swansea and the team not collapsed so badly. It became clear then that to progress to the level QPR aspire to, more signings were required, and Jose Bosingwa was another Champions League winner brought in.
So for now, we are dubbing Rob Green with the unwanted tag of ‘the transfer window’s biggest loser.’ It’s up to him to go on and prove us wrong.
Has there been a player whose move has gone as badly as Green’s? What do you think of the QPR goalkeeper situation? Get your nominations in.
image: © Ben Sutherland
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