Aiden McGeady springs to mind. I watch out for Celtic but don't see any games not on television and he was hailed as a great player by many but when i wathed him I often felt it was to the detriment of the team.
Celtic have done worse in terms of medals since he left though.
Carroll/Newcastle are a great example I didnt think of.
Jelavic/Rangers might be a potential Ewing Theory if they can win the league this season. Similar to the Rotherham example from earlier, without him in the team Rangers have stopped punting long balls into the box hoping Jelevic can knock them down to someone. Rangers played better in a couple games without him this season but now without him for the whole season itll be a huge test, especially since we didnt replace him with anyone. Its hard to find anyone that think Rangers have a chance of winning the league now so it could be the biggest Ewing theory example in football.
In general agree with Outragous, most teams that lose a star player either have others in the team or can replace him. The best example I could think of was Spain not taking Raul to Euro 2008, which seemed ridiculous at the time, and they won the tournament. Seemed a little thin though
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