Did they really play for Liverpool?

I stumbled across an interesting article on the Setanta Sports website today about some of the more obscure footballers to don the famous red jersey over the last two decades or so.

The list is somewhat disparaging to the likes of Titi Camara who had a brilliant if extremely brief spell as our main man in attack in 1999/2000 scoring some spectacular goals as Michael Owen's young hamstrings caused him problems and Robbie Fowler seemed to be forever on the treatment table.

Titi arrived from Marseille in 1999 as Gerard Houllier's Anfield revolution got underway and certainly endeared himself to the fans with his performances and commitment epitomised when he played and scored against West Ham in a league game on the day he learned his father had passed away.

And yet his spell in the spotlight seemed to last less than a season. When Emile Heskey arrived in March 2000, Titi found himself sidelined and was eventually offloaded to West Ham the following season.

I feel too that Pegguy Arphexaddoes not deserve his place in the side alongside the likes of Sean Dundee considering he was exemplary whenever called upon (albeit just six times) and seemed to be a good luck charm in that he picked up six winners medals in the six finals he was an unused sub for while at the club.

The list got me to thinking about some of the other more obscure players to have graced this great club.

Anyone remember Jorgen Nielsen? The Danish goalkeeper was signed from Hvidovre (who produced the great Peter Schmeichel) in 1997 and was even touted as a possibility for the Danes' '98 World Cup squad.

But poor Jorgen never even played once in five years at the club even though he often appeared in promotional shoots for new kits.

Whilst Nielsen never managed to grace the Anfield turf with his presence, his number 26 shirt did in the Merseyside derby in 1999 but on the back of Steve Staunton who was forced to go in goal after Sander Westerveld was sent off and the Reds had used up all their subs. The 37-year-old stopper now plays in the Danish first division.

Then there was Leyton Maxell who has a 100% goalscoring record in a red shirt that would be the envy of most.

Trouble is the Welshman only ever played once for the Reds. He scored on his debut at the Kop end no less in an early round League Cup win over Hull City in late 1999. But he now plays for Caernarfon Town in the Welsh League, a fall from grace for sure.

The French international contracted to Liverpool who never even played for the Reds.

Finally for now, most avid fans may remember Alou Diarra, a French defensive midfielder (the new Viera perhaps?) signed in the summer of 2002 from Bayern Munich.

He played all of 45 minutes in a pre season friendly in Le Havre and was never seen again in a red shirt. A series of extremely successful loan spells back in France followed.

He impressed so much back home that he was earning caps at senior level for France while still on Liverpool's books without a single competitive appearance in a red shirt to his name. He was sold, at a profit, to RC Lens in 2005.

His career stats will show a three year spell at Liverpool, but you wouldn't have guessed it.

While Diarra's case is rather unique, it's fair to say that we've had our fair share of obscure players down through the years and there will probably be many more in the years to come. You need only look at the likes of Daniele Padelli and Gabriel Paletta in the last two years alone...