Plymouth Argyle will want to avoid repeat of expensive Man City flop | OneFootball

The Greens went all out to sign Emile Mpenza, but were left regretting that decision months later

Plymouth Argyle are a side in desperate need of some firepower up top right now, with the Greens struggling for goals at the bottom of the Championship.

After Wayne Rooney came and went, Miron Muslic now has the task of trying to keep the Pilgrims in the second tier, although the Austrian certainly has his hands full after his arrival earlier in the month.

With time still remaining in the January transfer window, the Devon outfit will be looking to add extra personnel who can make all the difference in the final third, and give them a fighting chance of survival as the season draws towards its conclusion.

The Home Park side will know as well as anyone that big-money signings don’t always guarantee success though, with Emile Mpenza’s stint at Home Park 15 years ago still haunting them to this day.

Plymouth Argyle, Emile Mpenza deal was one to forget

Tongues started wagging back in the summer of 2008, as Belgian striker Mpenza made the move to the southwest, with the hope being that the former Manchester City man would help supply a regular source of goals as part of the Pilgrims’ frontline.

Argyle pulled out all the stops to bring the attacker to the club, with a reported £10,000 weekly wage, enough to seal the deal: a sum of money that is still eye-watering for the Greens in the current day, let alone a decade and a half ago.

With the news breaking of his arrival, the Green Army couldn’t wait to see their new man in action, although chances of doing so would prove few and far between over the next 18 months.

After making his debut from the substitutes’ bench in a 2-1 defeat to Norwich City and Home Park in September, Mpenza looked far off the pace from the get-go, as he honoured Home Park with his presence just five times over the next two months, all as a replacement in the second-half.

The last of those appearances saw one of the few high points of his Devon debacle, with a sublime late volley earning the Greens a point against Charlton Athletic in the final minutes, with Janners all around praying this was the moment his time in green turned around.

Another strike against Cardiff City followed a fortnight later, but before the Greens could start to get carried away with their high-earning star, the wheels started to come off, with just two more appearances all season due to injury.

Manager Paul Sturrock was left fuming with the Belgian, with the Pilgrims debating paying-up the striker’s contract in February 2009.

"We went down the road of discussing some financial terms because we can't keep waiting on him," Sturrock told the BBC.

"Every time he gets to a semblance of standard he pulls up with something else.

"Emile and I have had a discussion about things because obviously services rendered have been very few games for the amount of money we're paying him.

"We've got to sit down and have a real think about things again. Depending on how long this is going to be we have to make sure it's right for the football club.

"It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to appreciate that he's our highest paid player. With his wages null and void it would enable me to strengthen the team.

"Emile is an issue we've got to very, very quickly sort out."

Needless to say, the forward was on his way out of the club the following summer, with a move to Switzerland the best for all involved, with the Greens ruing the decision to bring him to the club in the first place.

Plymouth Argyle must avoid another big-money dud

The Mpenza situation is a timely reminder to Argyle that there is no need to splash the cash on players that aren’t committed to the cause, regardless of their current situation in the Championship.

While the Belgian may well have had the ability on the football pitch, he failed to apply himself on a professional level, and right now, just as back then, the Greens need everyone singing from the same hymn sheet if they are going to turn things around.

In Simon Hallett, they have an owner who is as pragmatic as they come, and won’t be spending silly money to achieve his goal, regardless of the reaction of certain members of the Green Army, who want a quick fix without thinking of the long-term impact on the football club.

This is a much different organisation to that one of 15 years ago, and Argyle are all the better for it, and the more they steer away from signings that are more interested in the pay check than the task at hand, the better.