AUDERE EST FACERE: Lucky Escape For Hughes As Mido Turns Down Blackburn
Outsiders may have looked at Mido’s goal return at Tottenham last year and seen a useful player who knew how to find the net. Obviously the coaching staff and a large quantity of Spurs fans saw something else and the Egyptian’s loan contract was allowed to expire with Spurs showing no interest in making it a permanent transfer.
The young man with more clubs than Tiger Woods now finds himself back at Roma, declaring his refound love for the club all over again and saying how desperate he is now to prove himself back in Serie A. Behave yourself Ahmed please. We all know that you consider yourself too good for a lowly mid table club like Blackburn Rovers but truth be told, they are getting a lucky escape with Mido turning down a ?3m move to Ewood Park.
The fluctuating weight problems, the laziness on the pitch and the tantrums most graphically displayed while playing for Egypt in the African Nation’s Cup aren’t worth a goal tally which limped into the double figures rather than roared last season at Tottenham.
If he’s been anything like the player his reputation has made him out to be then the chance of a brand new start at Spurs would have been the catalyst his career needed to get back on track but like Frechman Stephane Dalmat befor him, the need for constant attention and self-absoption proved too much, as did the over zealous attention he gave to the pie dish. Hardly the mark of a committed professional footballer (and I include the porky Ronaldo in that sentiment).
No, Mark Hughes may turn his attention elsewhere and his club will be all the better for it, there are enough headcases at Blackburn without adding another one and especially one who is still living off his early days reputation as “the Beckham of Egypt”.
About the author Alan Hylands
Alan is both a former SOTG editor and former World Soccer editor at the New York Times Company. Football-wise, he wishes he was a younger lovechild of Glenn Hoddle and Diego Maradona (not the short, fat, cokehead, religious nut bit obviously...)
Follow me on Twitter: sotgfootball
It amazes me the arrogance of Spurs fans, a club that has achieved nothing in recent memory! Calling Blackburn a lowly mid table side!, when we finished a few points away from the mighty Spurs! and by all accounts deserved to win when we went down to the lane.
Have a word with yourself, Spurs are a big club in that they spend millions, have a massive whinging fan base and are based in London. The fact that they haven’t done anything for what seems an age, seems to escape you.
Spurs do have a habit of harking back to the glory years you are correct however Spurs are a side on the up with great investment some of the best players in the premiership-good structure a great manager and an extreemly loyal if somewhat vocal support.Inciedntly possibly the best away support in the premiership-with a waiting list for season tickets as long as your arm. Yes spurs are on the up.
Blackburn did finish a few points below at the end of the season but lets not forget the reason why-Spurs I would like to think would have beaten West Ham last game if they had had a ‘normal ‘build up to the game and would be playing chamions League football next season..Blackburn have just had a good season but with Bellamy now moved to a bigger club and with the replacements you are looking for and the ones you have found (Francis Jeffers!!!) I can’t see you having such a good season this time around.
Oh and lets face it Spurs showed Mido the door not asked him to come and play for us only for him to reject the offer.It would appear that it’s not only Spurs fans that look at at Blackburn as a lowly club but there playing rejects as well.
Oh well Ben cheer up I hear its not really that grim up north…..
Mido was a fantastic player for Spurs and it’s a shame there was clearly a problem which resulted in him not moving permenantly to WHL.
It’s a relief that Mido hasn’t opted to join Blackburn (the team who finished one place and two points below us last term, you should note), because I’m confident he would have come back to bite us on the backside.
To compare him to Dalmat is ridiculous as, when picked, Mido was one of our top performers over the last 18 months, unlike Dalmat, who managed just four good performances in his year at the club.
While it seems very possible that there was a falling out between Martin Jol and Mido towards the end of last season, resulting in Mido being mysteriously dropped and then being sent back to Roma, we have no proof of this, so I think it’s unfair to jump to conclusions.
It easy to judge the player on his reputation before he arrived at Spurs, but i prefer to look at what he did on the pitch since.
as a blackburn fan i’m a bit jilted by the comments posted describing us as a “lowly mid table club”. unless your were being fecitious (sp) you’re only fooling yourself. To quote a fellow blackburn fan posting on a supporters web-site; “if Robbie Keane’s two goals against us had been rightly disallowed, we would have ended up finishing above the mighty Spuds.”
on the other hand, tthey do say that the most valid opinions are those of the people who watch week in, week out. maybe we are being fortunate, but i would still like to see what mark hughes could do with him
‘a normal build up to the game’?
what, with arguably the biggest squad in the premiership for a game which was essentially a home game? Get over yourself will you?
Let’s not forget either that Spurs had the shortest season out of every premiership club in the country. Being knocked out in the first round of both cups gave you time to focus on the premiership, without those nasty ‘cup run distractions’.
I’m beginning to have less respect for Spurs with their constant criticism of Rovers. I have been at the Lane a few times twice against Blackburn and games against Everton and Newcastle as my cousins are s/ticket holders there.
You claim to be a big club and that can spend millions and millions. You then have the audacity to make offensive bids of ?2.5 million for Steven Reid and ?4 million for Duffer. I think the last thing you won was the League Cup back in 1999 and on quite a few occasions Rovers have finished above you lot in the table.
Some of you lot have constantly been coming in with negative comments against Rovers. Why are you lot still bitter about Feb 2002, just get over it and bring back your glory days of Christian Gross, Italian pron-star Tramattsi, Dominguez, Rebrov, Fox…. You’ll never get MGP and keep living your glory days of the 80′s as you’ll never be a so-called ‘Big Club’ again. The only thing big about you lot is your heads!!
Love life… love Rovers.
Im off the opinion that Blackburn had a good season, and Mido was a good target for them because he is proven in the PL. What I fear is that BLackburn fans are crowing on about how good they where last year and expect the same, well im afraid you will see the difference between us this year.
Spurs have spent 20m + on talent, blackburn have bought franny and roberts (a spurs fan) for about 3m.
You have lost your best player, Bellemy, our best player has signed a new 4 year deal, King, Keane, Lennon, Dawson to name a few.
We can afford to turn down 10.5m for Carrick, Could you do that if someone came in for (erm cant think of a talented young blackburn midfielder)
At the end of the day, you had a good hard working season, We made progress and believe me there is a big difference!!!!
blackburn? is it in seria A?
Shropshire Spurs,
Funny that you can’t think of a young talented Blackburn midfielder when Spurs have being trying so hard to get Pedersen and Reid.
Shropshire spud you make me chuckle. You spent 20m + on talent last year and only finished a few points above us!!HAHAHAHA. oh andyes we can afford to turn down your transfew offers for our midfielders, as if you knew much about your club you would know youve already made a transfer offer for one of our “talented yound midfielders” in Reid and youve also had a long admiration for Pedersen. Your such a CHUMP!
is my memory playing tricks i cant see the mighty spurs name on the premiership trophy have you forgoten cardiff
as for carrick if man u had put up that money he would have gone
they all said we were daft buying bellers would you not have fancied him in your over stocked team time will tell about new players its not grim up north its great
you’ve hit the nail on the head brett (emo?) and alex. shropshire spud, sorry but your just sayin what comes first to the front of your skull. MGP and reid both rejected moves to “the BIG City” and pledged their future to blackburn. maybe its cos reid came from millwall, i’m not sure…
fair enough, without bellamy we may not fair so well but then you must take stock of mark hughes and everyone connected with blackburns acheivments over the past year and a half for us to go from relegation candidates to playing in THE SAME european competitions as the mighty bastions(SP) of english football next season…Spurs. and anyhow, MH has plenty of time to bring a replacement for bell-bag
I have nothing against Blackburn……well, other than that they resigned MGP. As mentioned above Mido’s goal tally was inflated and not a true reflection of his quaity….or lack there of. A couple of penalys, a goal tending howler or two, a flick here and there, and voil?, you’ve got double digits. simlly not good enough.
Ben… I think that if you read the article again you will realise that Alan is being fecitious. I think he’s insinuating Mido’s arrogance. I’m a Spurs supporter and don’t think Blackburn are a mid table club, not like West Spam, Middlesborough or Aston Villa who are Mid table clubs. I always keep my fingers crossed when our two clubs meet ‘cos I know how much Blackburn will battle for a result. Never an easy game!
Blackburn, Bolton and Spurs are all currently very similar. We all have the potential to turn the top clubs over, but lack a little bit of consistency, we’re not quite top 4 clubs yet, but we’re getting there. I’m really enjoying Spurs at them moment and I’m glad we didn’t sign Mido. He was fat for the first six months he was with us… Lost a lot of weight for the new season and was excellent. He went to the African Nations cup and came back Fat again. He can be an amaizng player but all too often drops his head…. not sure if that’s because he loses motivation or if it’s because he’s so fat he struggles to lift it. I think you’re fortunate he’s not joining you!!
i, for one, appreciate those comments ben. showing repect like that, it would do alot of fans alot of good to read such words. though i admit spurs have the moeny and players at the moment to possibly make the step up to atleast consistent uefa qualifiers, so far in the premier league’s history they could be considered the biggest under-achievers (or maybe leeds!). cheers
I can’t understand all this “big club / little club” talk. Lets speak plainly. Yes, Blackburn is a small town that regularly punches above its weight. Given the ratio of its supporters to the local population and the close proximity of many local clubs (Man U, City Everton Liverpool and the Bumley (sp), Preston etc.), Rovers are remarkably well supported by an intensly loyal and knowledgable fan base.
We’ve now reached a point where the six ‘big’ clubs (in terms of having a large following of supporters and therefore money), simply buy up the best players and the others simply play for a UEFA spot. Sop what is the point in the Premier Legue? Why not let Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea simply play each other half a dozen times a year, or better jet around Europe every other week in an inconsequential Euro league.
Spurs fans please note: You weren’t mentioned as one of the ‘big’ six – for obvious reasons.
It is painfull supporting a small club like Blackburn sometimes, as you cannot ever build a team. Someone performs and the big clubs come knocking with Champs league football and more money.
You cannot build on success as you cannot replace players like Duff and Bellas. So it grinds on me that fans from a club like Spurs, who really seem to have the clout to bust into the top 4 consitently, trash the poor kid’s clothes!!
I think if I was lucky enough to support a club who could make exciting signings and looked to be on the verge of something great, that I would be a bit more modest….
You have signed two pearlers, but you must stiffen up the defence and buy defenders who love to defend. Li yong-po is a cracker going forward, but simply isn’t nasty enough. Dawson is also light weight….
point well taken on lee, but i vehemently disagree with your dawson comment. he was outstanding last year and is progressing faster than anyone could have hoped. his call up by sven a testament. this is a guy you could see throwing his face in front of a ball with little regard for the consequences a la adams and butcher.
The lowly mid table jibe was in part a dig at Mido and another part attempt at stimulating some Blackburn interest (seems it worked anyway!)
Some good points have came out of the discussion anyway. I still don’t think that Blackburn will lose anything by not signing Mido, he may have been first choice when fit for most of the season at Spurs but when Rasiak was his only competition for the target man spot I don’t think it really counts for much.
Signing Jason Roberts is a far better use of the Bellamy money and I think he’ll do well for Blackburn next season, I wouldn’t have been disappointed to see him land at Spurs to be honest, he’s big, strong, quick and has an eye for goal – a perfect backup for Berbatov who I hope also has a few of those qualities.
One thing I will take issue with is Michael Dawson being called lightweight. Come off it now mate, he’s one of the toughest players in the Premiership as 0313197S says. If he played for Chelsea he’d be called the new John Terry but we’re happy to have him as the new Michael Dawson at the Lane. Lightweight this boy definitely isn’t.
Mido would be a revalation at Ewood Pk,Bolton would also do very well by signing him…in fact anyone who play”s kick & rush should sign him asap…He really is awsome in the air!And Dawson is most definitaly not lightweight,a tough yorkshireman,he is a replica of Tony Adams & like TA he will be very successful…..
Wow!, real backing for Dawson, I am surprised. I’d be upset if I was Gardner is all. His stint in the team, at the beginning of the season coinsided with clean sheets.
None can argue that Spurs concead far too many goals, it really gets my goat as it is holding you back. You’ve won games on the basis of being able to score more goals than the oppostion, which is the Spurs way, but history teaches us that this is not the way to goal. A mean defence over a season will always pay dividends.
Dawson may well progress into a top player, but I will always maintain that the best defenders are the ones that will do anything to stop you. Zakora will drastically stiffen up your midfield, an absolute beast of a comptitor apparently according to Guiem Ballague. But Spurs will still fail to get enough points over a season, unless they can get alot more clean sheets.