Mido II - This time it’s personal
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Lane…
…he’s back.
Well, actually he never left. Yes, it was all looking dandy. We were about to unload an unneeded player and reduce the strain on that weekly wage bill. We were even about to make a £1m profit on a player who, to give him credit, did a job for us (Need I remind you of the desperate days when Jamie Slabber was our bright young thing?) but were long past caring about.
But no. Hossam the Wonder Horse has turned down the chance to play for boring old Birmingham because of a disagreement over personal terms. I’m taking this to mean that they weren’t offering enough money, rather than the refusal of the point in the contract where it stated Mido was to be referred to at all times as the Pleaser from Giza. You’d of thought the Big Gypo would’ve leapt at the chance to play for a team that he can rule as Pharaoh but apparently not. I’m thinking he met Punchbag Face and realised that his income would not have paid for the counselling he would need to cope with that hideous visage on a daily basis.
In the mean time, Boutros Boutros Ghaly seems to be on his way but for now Mido is a Spur.
As I slumped down on my big green sofa in The Bakery last night, back from yet another piss up which began as an excellent evening with an old friend and somehow turned into The Bagel accusing him of being a Nazi sympathiser, I noticed that we managed to get our next Leeds youth sensation (fingers crossed), by the name of Danny Rose (a signing by any other name would smell as sweet).
There’s not a lot we know about the kid, as we said before, but when he’s an England U17 winger and both Liverpool and Chelsea wanted him, well, you can imagine he’s got a lot going for him. Unless he’s as bright as Little Aaron we wont be seeing him for a while but then again with Martin Petrov reportedly on the verge of a switch to Man City, you never can tell.
Speaking of which, we shouldn’t worry if that’s what he chooses. If he’s a player worth having we’d have made it worth his while and if he’s got any integrity at all, he’ll make the right decision. Otherwise we’ll just have to settle for Morten Gamst Pedersen, for whom I still burn that candle day and night chanting the lyrics to ‘Take on Me’.
There’s still a couple of rumours nearly worth considering - two old ones in the rather large shapes of Giles Barnes and Curtis Davis and an intriguing one over Kieron Dyer - but none are as loud as even whispers just now. In the mean time, I’ll leave you to enjoy some footage from our victory as we turned the boarding and blazing on the Pirates this time…
…if there’s anything else we should know Dude, do tell.
Broadway Danny Bagel.
The Bagel.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Well Bagel,
I got to the Orlando pirates Game Nice and early and
had my seat three rows behind the so called “dug out”.
Martin Jol took the time to autograph for many fans
and he even signed a few for some gooners (unfortunely we
have them here too.)
There was a strong Spurs support with Spurs Banners,English flags
and I even seen a few Bulgarian flags too,you would of thought
it was whitehart lane.
In the first half Taarabt was creating all the Magic and I’ll bet my
bottom Bagel he will break into the first team soon…
Kaboul looked solid enough bar one or two errors but trust me
he will get much much better.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Bagel,
I have just been in a meeting with, among others, reps from the West Ham ‘community academy unit’ - don’t ask.
They seemed very confident on Mr Dyer joining them, and made a fair point about his wage demands - 80k p/w is far too high for Spurs, and really a bit too much for him in my opinion.
Admittedly they are as close to the inner pulse of West Ham as I am, but they are convinced that the feeling is that he will be a Hammer soon.
I look forward to seeing more of Taarabt though…
July 26th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Had the club already spent the Mido money on fast women and booze? I hope not. AND Petrov has gone to play for Mr Burns.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Shame about Petrov. But only because I wanted another signing, I don’t really have a view about how good he is and I’m quite relaxed about not spending several million on a 28 year old.
I still don’t think having a left winger is as important as most other people seem to think. Or as important as a central midfielder. But I hope we get one anyway. I reckon someone will come in soon after the trip to South Africa. I don’t think it will be MGP though…
July 26th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Didn’t Jol have Taarabt out on the wing at some point this summer? I wonder if they are considering that option, since Taarabt doesn’t look like he is going to be too strong on the tackle. I don’t know whether his crosses are any good, though. He seems like he should sit behind the strikers in attacking midfield, probably with Zokora (or perhaps Boateng?) in holding midfiled and Lennon and Malbranque on the flanks. I think Jol is partial to JJ though, so he will probably use Taarabt sparingly at first. They DON’T need Dyer, he is overpriced and always injured.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Any left winger we get in has to be able to tackle and get back when needed, because Lennon isn’t much use at doing that and it would be hard to carry two players like him. Malbranque isn’t a natural defender but worked much harder than I thought he was going to last season.
I still think that if you look at i) how many goals we conceded last season and ii) how many goals we scored its obvious that its defenders and defensive midfielders we need to bring in to the team.
Bale and Kaboul are the defenders. I’ve seen Boateng described as a defensive and an attacking midfielder so if we get him who knows what he’ll turn out to actually be.
If we get a left midfielder who is better than Malbranque - great stuff. But I think the big challenge is getting the defensive unit to improve. And that includes things like getting Chimbonda to not try and beat players by the corner flag all the time… its not all about signing new players.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Is the new Ikea sofa nice and comfy, Bagel? haha
July 26th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
I’m afraid that Bale might turn out to be an even more offensive-mided wing back than Chimbonda. He seems like he will leave the his defensive position quite often. Certainly one of our fullbacks should be staying back, so I agree with you oog. We conceded way too many goals last season, and I really think we have the talent in defense. Hopefully, having Ledley back will help to be more solid in defense, as well as Kaboul. I think one of the x-factors is JJ. If JJ can consistently be solid in breaking up attacks and being accurate with his long balls, the side will be better. You expect turnovers from Lennon, but usually they are deep in the opposition’s defense. Jenas has too many bad passes from midfield (I miss Carrick back there). I hope JJ steps up and becomes a dominant player, but I expect that he will remain mediocre, and we should see Taarabt emerge as the first choice.
July 26th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
i agree shame about petrov he seemed to be answear to a lot of questions but i have faith if we really wanted him he would be in a lilly white shirt not a scummy sky blue top oh well herd a funny thing apparently noel gallagher is mates with sven ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha he he he fancy a beer sven only if your paying
July 26th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
oi bagel….i prefer a croissont myself!!! no one wants to come to us!!
probably because we ant that great!!