We have a look at some of the proven performers in the Championship who failed to live up to expectations during their time in the English Premier League.
David Nugent - 64 appearances, 9 Goals (Portsmouth and Burnley). After a big money move from Preston North End to Portsmouth in 2007 much was expected from Nugent who had also recently appeared in and scored for the England National Team. Unfortunately his 2 years in the Premier League with Portsmouth were without success and after a marginally better spell on loan with Burnley he ended up back in the Championship after Portsmouth had been relegated
Robert Earnshaw - 65 appearannces, 13 Goals (West Bromwich Albion and Derby). One of the most prolific scorers in the lower leagues, Earnshaw moved from Cardiff to West Brom in 2004. His first season at the club was pretty good with 11 goals from 31 games but manager Bryan Robson chose to use him as an impact player coming off the bench rather than a starter. Earnshaw was eventually sold to Championship side Norwich where he found his scoring touch again before being sold to Premier new boys Derby County. His time at Derby was one of his worst and he was in and out of the team only scoring 1 goal in the Premier League before being sold on to Nottingham Forest in the Championship where again he scored freely and ended up as one of the most successful strikers in the clubs history with 35 goals in 87 appearances.
Ade Akinbiyi - 76 Appearances, 11 Goals (Norwich, Leicester and Sheffield United). A player whose total transfer fees have totalled £11.5 million during his career never really impressed during his time in the Premier League. He failed to find the net in any of his 15 Premier League appearances for Norwich during the mid-nineties and after moving down the leagues and scoring consistently for Gillingham, Bristol City and Wolverhampton Wanderers he was back in the Premier League with Leicester City. Bought as a successor to Emile Heskey who had just moved to Liverpool, Akinbiyi never lived up to expectations and his £5.5 million record move was regarded as a flop and he was sold after 2 seasons to Championship side Crystal Palace.
Leroy Lita - 47 Appearances, 8 Goals. (Reading). Lita had 2 seasons in the Premier League with Reading and had a successful start by scoring the winning goal on the opening day. Unfortunately he then endured a goal drought and was then banned for 3 games for allegedly head butting Charlton's Talal El Karkouri. Lita was also out injured for a month after damaging leg muscles while stretching in bed. Reading were relegated at the end of his second season there and he is now playing in the Championship with Middlesbrough.
Greg Halford - 28 Appearances, 0 Goals. (Reading, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sunderland) After a successful career with Colchester United, Halford moved to Premier League new boys Reading in 2007. Unfortunately the defender only turned out for the team 3 times as according to Reading's Director of Football he didn't fit in with the rest of the squad. A big money move to Sunderland also went sour and he only made 8 appearances for the Mackems before moving to newly promoted Wolves in 2009. Again, he was unable to command first team football at Wolves and made 17 appearances over 2 seasons before joining Championship side Portsmouth.
Michael Chopra - 60 Appearances, 9 Goals (Newcastle, Sunderland) - Starting his career on Tyneside, Chopra only scored 1 goal in 20 Premier League appearances for Newcastle and was loaned out 3 times during his six year spell there - scoring goals wherever he played. He ended up at Cardiff where he enjoyed regular football in the Championship and scored 22 goals in 42 appearances before returning to the Premiership with Sunderland. Unfortunately a relatively unsuccessful spell at Sunderland resulted in Chopra returning to the Championship with Cardiff and he ended up scoring 27 goals in 73 appearances over 2 years for them. He is still playing in the Championship with Ipswich.
Gary McSheffrey - 41 Appearances, 3 Goals (Coventry and Birmingham) - At one point, McSheffrey was the youngest player to have played in the Premier League when he turned out for Coventry at the age of 16. When Coventry were relegated from the Premier League, McSheffrey shined in the Championship and managed to get a move back to the Premier League with Birmingham in 2006. A bad injury and lack of opportunity meant that McSheffrey only managed 37 appearances for the Blues and he was released at the end of his contract. Now back in the Championship with Coventry
Lee Hughes - 23 Appearances 0 Goals (West Bromwich Albion) - Hughes has scored goals wherever he has played - except for the one season that he had in the Premier League where despite being a first team regular he never managed to get himself on the scoresheet. After the unsuccessful season with WBA, and a well publicised prison sentence he returned to football with Oldham Athletic and is now at Notts County and scoring freely again.
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