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Post by FullerMagic on May 9, 2008 10:26:16 GMT
Cardiff City target Mali striker Sidibe
May 9 2008 by Terry Phillips, South Wales Echo
CARDIFF City are keen on Stoke battering ram Mamady Sidibe in the quest to add new punch in attack for next season.
‘Big Mama’ played a key role in Stoke’s march to the Premier League this season, but the former Swansea striker is unlikely to figure on a regular basis next term.
Though the 6ft 4in Mali international is not a prolific goal-scorer, his physical presence makes him a big threat at Championship level.
Sidibe signed a new Stoke contract in January, but the Potters’ Welsh manager Tony Pulis now needs to rebuild his squad for their 2008-9 top-flight campaign.
Bluebirds manager Dave Jones is also tracking Wales striker Freddy Eastwood (pictured, right), who has been transfer-listed by Wolves, and former City favourites Robert Earnshaw and Michael Chopra.
Jones made strong moves to sign Earnie and Chopra on loan from Derby and Sunderland respectively this season and both were keen on returning to Ninian Park.
But the cost in loan fees and wages was too big with the Langston court case still to be resolved.
Now, with veteran Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink certain to leave the Bluebirds after the FA Cup final, and Steve Thompson still on the transfer list, Jones has to revamp his attack.
Paul Parry and Warren Feeney are both under contract through next season, while Robbie Fowler remains keen to stay and show he can still score goals at Championship level.
The Bluebirds will bring in eight or more players during the summer and at least two of those will be strikers.
Cardiff have offered goalkeeper Peter Enckelman, who is on loan from Blackburn, a three-year deal and they also look certain to sign full-back Miguel Comminges, a Guadeloupe international, on a free transfer from Swindon Town.
terry.phillips@mediawales.co.uk icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2008/05/09/cardiff-city-target-mali-striker-sidibe-91466-20885694/
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2008 10:28:55 GMT
Hands off Mama.
He’s growing an afro especially for the prem.
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Post by ManderBeast on May 9, 2008 10:29:14 GMT
swivel..
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Post by luke45 on May 9, 2008 10:29:34 GMT
i'm sure mama will want to leave PREMIERSHIP stoke to join sheepshaggers cardiff i mean it's just common sense isn't it can't see pulis off-loading him really, i can still see mama playing a role next seaaon if not every week certainly on a rotated basis.
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Post by robchicken on May 9, 2008 10:36:49 GMT
no way will pulis get rid of mama, he'll shake up some defences next season
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Post by monsoonmoon on May 9, 2008 10:36:53 GMT
Thought he was a 'Jack bastard' ???
They can get bent.
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Post by sheikhmomo on May 9, 2008 10:41:46 GMT
Loveable as the big lummox is, if they're prepared to pay money for him we'd be insane to turn it down. We must be looking at better players upfront than Mama.
The truth, unfortunatelty, is sometimes harsh.
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Post by 606Stokie on May 9, 2008 10:42:54 GMT
Cant see Mama playing a starting role next year but can see him beeing used from off the bench but would he want 1st team footie next year?
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Post by Admin on May 9, 2008 10:44:20 GMT
Loveable as the big lummox is, if they're prepared to pay money for him we'd be insane to turn it down. We must be looking at better players upfront than Mama. The truth, unfortunatelty, is sometimes harsh. Sad, but true. Mamma will get eaten alive in the Prem. If he can only manage four goals in the Championship how well can we realistically expect him to do in the toughest domestic league in the world?
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Post by Stick It On Cort's Head on May 9, 2008 10:47:36 GMT
NOOO!.
We may as well sell Fuller then, because those 4 goals were more than Ric could muster in his last 16 games....
I reckon Sidibe could ruffle a few feathers in the premiership, he really is a unique player.
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Post by knowles on May 9, 2008 10:47:50 GMT
He will be our Kevin Davies.
No way will he depart
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2008 10:47:54 GMT
Not necessarily - Kevin Davies doesn't score many.
I'm not suggesting he be a regular starter next season, but we're going to need a big squad.
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Post by FullerMagic on May 9, 2008 10:48:46 GMT
Yeah, interesting quotes from Alan Durban about the need for ruthlessness over the summer. It's easy to get misty-eyed in the warm glow of promotion. Loveable as Mama is (and he's become especially cuddly since Bristol City ), you wouldn't think he's going to offer us much in the top flight. The world's our oyster now in terms of player recruitment, and surely there's another Mama-type out there who offers more than he can. ".....you have to be realistic and say this is what we need to stay up.
"All of us, and I made the same mistake, can be too loyal to certain players. But now the club is going through another door and you have to start again.
"You have to look at what sides in the middle of the Premier League have and see if you can compete with them.
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Post by StoKeith on May 9, 2008 10:51:07 GMT
I think Mama will be very useful as a squad player - like if we need someone to bring on to batter their defence. Could be worth a few goals for the team (not that he'll score them himself).
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Post by scfc1972 on May 9, 2008 10:52:54 GMT
Thinking about Mama, he doesn't score many goals but could be a Kevin Davies / Emile Heskey type battering ram and maybe quite useful in the Prem?
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Post by realstokebloke on May 9, 2008 11:02:02 GMT
Depending on who we get of course, Mama has at least a one season opportunity in the Prem while teams suss him (& us) out surely?
OK- there are his type doing it - Drogba / Pesky / Davies etc but it's worth having him in the squad - even to come on & cause a bit of a kerfuffle if nothing else.
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Post by Did it for firkz008 on May 9, 2008 11:06:08 GMT
Did you just nearly compare Drogba to Mama? ;D
Unfortunately if we have Premiership ambitions Mama, Pericard, Parkin all surplus to requirements!
BUT seeing as we only have Fuller left; me thinks unless we sign two or three strikers Mama is GOING NOWHERE!!!
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Post by realstokebloke on May 9, 2008 11:18:08 GMT
Firkz - fair cop i missed a few 's off !
But that said, he does do a part of Drogba's "job" - he batters the fook out of the defence on his day.
Plus, I do subscribe to the "if Mama could score (ok, a fook of a lot more), we'd have a decent lower end Premiership player on our hands" school of thought.
Something for TP & DK to work on over the summer then:
"see that oblong thing Mama...you know, the one with the white sticks and a net at the back..."
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Post by Gob Bluth on May 9, 2008 11:22:53 GMT
I wouldn't even sell my shit to Cardiff.
He's ours Jonsey so jogg on.
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Post by mikeyb99 on May 9, 2008 11:26:03 GMT
There are very few players who cause so much trouble for opposition defences as Big Mama. I really think he will do us a job next season. He is perhaps a better Premiership prospect than Fuller if we're being honest.
Hands off our Mama!
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Post by AlanHansen on May 9, 2008 11:31:30 GMT
I would keep Mama, he derserves a crack at the Prem and he'll certainly be a handful for some the poncy defences hell come up against, even if only on an ad hoc basis.
Not to mention that the current side looks totally lost without him.
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Post by sheikhmomo on May 9, 2008 11:32:49 GMT
He has shown absolutely nothing during his time here that indicates he'll cut the mustard in the Prem. If we're serious about having a right go at staying up we have to accept that Mama wont be the only popular player to be replaced.
A shocking way to treat the heroes of '08? Perhaps but that's the price of succes.
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Post by Funky on May 9, 2008 11:35:50 GMT
Sell Sell Sell.
Thank you for the job you have done for us Mama but you ain't a Premier League player.
We are now a Premier League club, it's time to start thinking like a Premier League club.
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Post by vestanpance on May 9, 2008 11:36:04 GMT
I love Stoke fans.
One minute: "We have to be progmatic. We need a much better level of player and there can be no room for sentimentality if we are to make a concerted effort to compete in the Premier League" - this receives sage nods of agreement.
Next Minute: "We can't sell Mamma, surely his unique abilities would make him a handful in the Premier League" - this also receives agreement.
FFS guys, Sidibe just isn't good enough for this level of football, and it remains to be seen if Fuller is as well. There will be a lot of the heroes of this year who will be moved onto pastures new and we have to widh them the very best and move on. There really is no sentimentality in the hardest league in the world.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2008 11:37:35 GMT
Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Mama Sidibe Sidibe Mama Sidibe ;D ;D
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Post by ParaPsych on May 9, 2008 11:43:33 GMT
The players who got us up are all heroes in my eyes but the sad fact is Pulis is going to have to replace many of them for us to survive, and that means letting some of them go.
I think I'd only be annoyed if we lost Lawrence, Fuller or Shawcross, and I'm not even sure any of them will be good enough?
"There really is no sentimentality in the hardest league in the world. "
Got to agree with that.
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Post by Penners on May 9, 2008 11:54:01 GMT
£10 million, not a penny less for them welsh twonks!
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Post by mikeyb99 on May 9, 2008 11:55:20 GMT
Sidibe has all the attributes of a Premiership striker - bar the goals of course. I firmly believe that with even an average goalscoring record, Mama would be a £9m Prem player.
He can hold a ball up well, he has a decent first-touch (far superior to Fuller), wins every single header, works tirelessly, is quite pacy and very powerful, doesn't give the ball away, and has an eye for a pass. One of the few players I would persevere with next season.
No sentimentality in my decision to keep Mama.
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Post by Godo on May 9, 2008 11:58:08 GMT
Whilst we are being pragmatic we also need to recognise that the way that Pulis plays absolutely requires a very willing, hard working big target man or, as we have seen, the football becomes aimless.
Will players like Ameobi be willing to put in the shift that Mama does? Okay let's replace him but we can't just look to someones goalscoring record to determine whether they will be a better bet or not.
Who could we get? Davies, who I doubt would leave Bolton for us, is now 31+, Crouch is quoted at £15m etc. I know there must be similar types pf player who are significantly better but with the exception of very expensive alternatives (a few Italiens/Germans spring to mind ), who we couldn't afford and who wouldn't come to us, I am struggling to come up with any names. This isn't Football Manager this is the real world.
Hopefully our scouting network has a few surprises lined up?
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Post by ParaPsych on May 9, 2008 11:58:40 GMT
"he has a decent first-touch (far superior to Fuller), "
Rubbish.
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