Importing Success
Posted by Thomas on 29th June , 2009Wolves have been linked with a lot foreign players over the summer, which is somewhat strange given our supposed transfer policy. Mick McCarthy has always stated he prefers buying British and the message from the club since promotion has always been that we wanted experienced, Premiership players.
Henri Camara - Successful Import
Looking back to our last unsuccessful Premiership campaign, we invested heavily in foreign players and for the most part, you’d have to say it didn’t work out. The likes of Rae, Cameron, Ince and Miller turned out to be our most consistent performers, whilst the likes of Luzhny and Okoronkwo failed to impress. But like it or not, one foreign player did come close to saving our bacon that year – Henri Camara.
Even saying his name around Wolves fans is enough to incite vociferous anger and the manner in which he engineered his exit from the club is enough to understand why. However, towards the end of the 2003/04 season, the partnership between Carl Cort and Camara came close to firing us to safety. And many believe that if Camara had found his feet just a few months prior, we’d have done the impossible and maintained our top flight status.
So it’s worth remembering that, even though we’d all prefer proven British talent, buying in from abroad can pay off if you pick and choose carefully. I think Wolves scouting system has done a pretty good job over the last few seasons, so whoever comes in I’ll be reserving judgment until I’ve seen them play myself.
I would actually get more satisfaction if we did buy a few decent players from Europe. It would finally banish the loitering memory of all the crap we have purchased from abroad.
Silas, Okorwonkwo, Luzhny were all contemporary failures, but if you look further back, you have more uninsirping purchases.
Denes Rosa (you could argue he never got a shout and was half decent), but further back still, Sami Al Jaber, Jens Dowe, Darius Kubicki, Serge Romano, Jesus Sanjuan, Izzy Diaz…The list just gets more and more depressing!!!
For me, John de Wolf and Ludo Pollet were the only steals I can remember. (Henri was class, but not of the right moral constitution!!)
Yet, after all this dross, I would still welcome some foreigners. West Brom seem to consistently show us the way; Sneekes, Balas, Jordao, Texerez, Koren, but to name but five.
It can’t be luck. Some poor managerial stints have obviously led to these arrivals, but this time around I have confidence we have a scouting network capable of unearthing the next Ludo.
We need someone sharpish, that’s for sure!
PS, my blog is http://acupofrosyleaplease.blogspot.com/ but not half as sexy as this one!!!
You make good points here Ben.
Albion have definitely bought in some good signings from abroad, although not all of them have been as successful as the ones you mention.
Personally, I think 2 or 3 imports along with a couple of experienced Prem players would be a nice mix to go with our young, mainly British squad.
I think Ludo Pollet would have to go down as my favourite foreign player of all time from outside the UK and Ireland. What a legend. How many times did he bleed for our cause?