People seem to have built up a very negative image about AA which seems to have led to several 'conspiracy' theories. AA has opened said on several occasions how good a manager SB is, so why would he sign players that he doesn't want? He may be bullish but he's no fool and will leave the footballing decisions to the football people. It makes perfect sense for Bruce to bring in Egyptians as he's worked with some in the past (Zaki & Elmo) and the links with our owner make it an easy to attract them/allow their clubs to let us have them. They are very talented players and they don't use a vast amount of resources and combined with the lack of football being played in Egypt, it made it a sensible deal for everyone. The reason why Fathi didn't play we had a very settled back 5 which would have been stupid to disrupt after we re-signed Elmo. The only reason Gedo played was because we didnt have another striker, so Bruce had to play him even though he said he was crap in training and you could imagine Fathi being similar! No offence to egyptians, but they aren't known for being hard trainers, but anyway, people will only believe what they want to!
Gedo return to Al Ahly another Egyptian player to hull city in january
- Thread starter foxegypt
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I think it may have been labia, but he realised he's a bit of a twat, so . . .
That 'might' was there for a reason and I think it has brought out more argument to support the argument against interference; although it then raises the question of what they are playing at in the transfer/loan market. Is it driven by a lack of funds?
Not trying to 'drive a wedge', simply raised a point with a question implied; it's given you (and others) an opportunity to respond with your view - I find your arguments sound, so, hopefully, that one's put to bed.
In the 'driving a wedge' stakes, we could all watch the Masterclass that is Assem Allam.
Anyone who thinks we are taking players because AA wants them is delusional - he knows nothing about the game
I'd certainly agree that Graham has been persevered with longer than Proschwitz, but I don't believe either are actually good enough and Graham has only been given that extra opportunity based on his previous scoring record at this level, something Prozzy didn't have the luxury of.
As for the debate about the Egyptian players, I'm not suggesting that AA said 'right Brucey, I've signed you some Egyptian players, whether you want them or not', more that he said, 'I want these lads in, they won't effect your budget and they'll just be there if you need them'. I'm not suggesting that there is any rift, or that there is any pressure on Bruce to play Egyptian players, I'm merely suggesting that neither Gedo, nor Fathi, ever featured on Bruce's target signings list and he took them at the request of the owner.
Some sense at last!
Graham being on loan could also have had something to do with the perseverence, also his knowledge of Premier League players, and his control/hold up play seems better.
I'd suggest last season Bruce wanted Gedo, and Fathi was a cover option for Elmo (Bruce's first choice) because he was relatively cheap and we were making ties with Al Ahly.
It was also announced last season that as a result of the ties between the two clubs that Al Ahly players would be able to make use of our facilities (eg for treatment of injuries etc) which we all laughed at when we pointed out that our facilities are almost 10 year old League 1 standard. Given we don't seem to know about the intricacies of rules (I'm still waiting for someone to explain how Stewart joining Leeds won't break the 2 club rule since he spent a minimum of 99 days at Charlton) it wouldn't surprise me if we found out that for Gedo to remain in the country for treatment on his non-life threatening injury (picked up whilst playing for us) we needed to resign him on loan to give him a work permit/visa. It was then done as a deadline day deal because if Bruce had been able to bring someone else in we wouldn't have had space in the 25 so we wouldn't have been able to continue with the Gedo loan.
It was also announced last season that as a result of the ties between the two clubs that Al Ahly players would be able to make use of our facilities (eg for treatment of injuries etc) which we all laughed at when we pointed out that our facilities are almost 10 year old League 1 standard. Given we don't seem to know about the intricacies of rules (I'm still waiting for someone to explain how Stewart joining Leeds won't break the 2 club rule since he spent a minimum of 99 days at Charlton) it wouldn't surprise me if we found out that for Gedo to remain in the country for treatment on his non-life threatening injury (picked up whilst playing for us) we needed to resign him on loan to give him a work permit/visa. It was then done as a deadline day deal because if Bruce had been able to bring someone else in we wouldn't have had space in the 25 so we wouldn't have been able to continue with the Gedo loan.
Too bad Rabia isn't a LB. He would walk into the first team given Figueroa's error prone recent displays. Fox I totally agree with you that Fathi is a class defender. I watched several of his games for Egypt and al-Ahly and he is definitely Prem quality. Bradley always preferred him to Elmo in the national team and to be short-listed as African player of the year shows what a top player he is. I will always believe he could have become a key member of our Prem team...probably at RB...if given a decent opportunity...which he wasn't.
Anyhow water under the bridge. Bruce has moved on. Lets hope Rabia gets the opportunity to play that Elmo has had.
How is this team picked? I mean, he didn't play much for us, so surely their aren't performances to judge him on?
Fathi was also just voted the 3rd most valuable African player in the recently concluded poll with AbuTreika voted MVP.
That must be African based, otherwise they reckon he's worth more than at least 2 of E'too, Mikel, Drogba, and Kalou.
he played with Al Ahly winning caf champions league 2013 and played with egypt in WCQ
yes african based but he was in the list for Caf Player of the Year but wasn't shortlisted
Yaya toure won again
