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View Full Version : Eek! A guy I recommended....



jloome
07-17-2009, 10:41 AM
....actually panned out.
Two seasons ago, I sent a list of potential players to TFC, just using scouting from statistical subscription databases online. I figured a kid that had just signed with his brother at Molde, Mame Biram Diouf, looked like he had major skills and woudl be very cheap. At the time, he had three goals in seven european professional games and was being pushed by an agent from Iceland.

Having said that, I'm sure he was on the u-19 senegal team and probably already out of our price range back then. But still. Ouch.

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Manchester United have confirmed that they have completed the signing of striker Mame Biram Diouf from Norwegian club Molde FK.
The 21-year-old has been immediately loaned back to Molde where he will remain until January.
The transfer may surprise some after manager Sir Alex Ferguson stressed, just last week that he would not be making any more signings this summer following the arrivals of Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and Gabriel Obertan.
However the Red Devils boss admitted that after other clubs lodged bids for the Senegalese youngster the Premier League champions had to act fast.
"We signed a young player yesterday from Norway who we've been looking at for two years," he told the club's official website.
"We weren't intending on signing anyone else after last week - we feel we have a full squad - but the situation accelerated to a point where other clubs started to make bids.
"So we had to decide whether we acted or didn't. We decided to act and he'll be last person we sign."
Diouf has reportedly interested the likes of Arsenal, Ajax and PSV in the past while Tottenham are thought to be one of the clubs who tabled a bid for the frontman.
Attention in the youngster developed last weekend when Diouf netted a hat-trick in the first nine minutes of a Norwegian league clash against Brann before he added another in a 5-2 win.
The new United arrival has scored 30 league goals from 62 games since signing for Molde, the same club United signed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from, in 2007.
Molde manager Kjell Jonevret is confident Diouf has the potential to succeed at the Theatre of Dreams and was delighted that the player would remain for the remainder of the Norwegian season.
"This is fun for all of us in Molde, fun for Mame and not least for his family in Senegal," he told NG Nett.
"That he will stay with us for the rest of the season is really important to us.
"Mame is an interesting player that I have worked with for two years. I don't know what plans United have for him, but he has a great potential.
"Mame is good now, but he can be even better."

jloome
07-17-2009, 10:45 AM
I stand corrected, he'd already been there for one season. Here was the note I'd sent to TFC (one of a billion scouting suggestions from unqualified people that they're basically forced to ignore)

Mame Biram Diouf -- Also from Senegal but a young guy, 22 or 23, plays for Molde in Norway, scored 15 in 34 for them last year. Huge bunch of tools and will be a Euro star if anyone has the sense to take him. Two-footed, big vertical leap and good in the air, natural finisher. Has been there for two years, so may also be in last year of contract.

Beach_Red
07-17-2009, 10:55 AM
A hat trick in the first nine minutes?!?!

Still, even two years ago what do you think that agent from Iceland would have said when he got a phone call from Canada?

ensco
07-17-2009, 12:10 PM
Spit it out, Jeremy. Let's have the rest of the list!

Shaughno
07-17-2009, 12:19 PM
Fergie has been keeping tabs on him for 2 years now. YOu really think TFC could sign a player out from under the nose of someone like that? :lol: I mean come on Jer. ;)

jloome
07-17-2009, 10:00 PM
Spit it out, Jeremy. Let's have the rest of the list!

Er, OK, but don't blame me if they didn't all turn out, I have a five-year plan (and keep in mind these notes are two years old. For instance, Niang is now a target man at Viking in the norwegian league.):

Mame Cheikh Niang - Senegalese player contracted to Wolfsburg in Bundesliga but has been unable to crack the first team. Won South African league scoring title at age 22 with 17 goals and moved to Wolfsburg but has made just one appearance in two season, with one year left in deal. Transfer or loan poetntial.. Huge (6'5) and can finish with both feet, is strong and fast. Has one year left on his deal there, so could be a loan to sign permanently if they don't think he's going to make it there.

Kenneth Fabricius - Danish player at Sonderjyske in Denmark, fast and strong, may also be in last year of deal. Good regular scorer, has a a flair for spectacular finishes. Is 27 and hasn't received much attention outside Scandinavia but scored 11 in 25 last season and has 12 in 15 games so far this year, suggesting he's hitting his prime.

Atli Heimisson - Only 22 and plays in the Icelandic First Division. Started in second tier four years ago and led league in scoring for two years, moved up to first div last year and has since scored 17 in his first 28 first division games. Kind of a low-rent Eidur Gudjonssen. Can play in the hole as well.

Fary Faye -Senegal - He's 33 now and relegated to the bench at Porto, so he might want playing time. A top scorer twice in the portugese league. Could likely be had for free, as he got just one first team game last season.

One fo the top 5 all time scorers in portugese first divison, he has been a bench player for last two years. Best years well gone, but he can obviously finish.
 
Mame Biram Diouf -- Also from Senegal but a young guy, 22 or 23, plays for Molde in Norway, scored 15 in 34 for them last year. Huge bunch of tools and will be a Euro star if anyone has the sense to take him. Two-footed, big vertical leap and good in the air, natural finisher. Has been there for two years, so may also be in last year of contract.

Sergei Samodin - currently plays for Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the Ukrainian Premier League (and with Canada's ukrainian population, would be easy both on fan react and immigration issues). He's fallen down to third or fourth in the pecking order after the team spent a record $24 million on new players, including two strikers. Is 23, scored 9 in 27 last year; seen as a huge prospect initially in the Ukraine, his stock has fallen a bit in the last two years thanks to the influx of European players funded by the oil oligarchs.

Andriy Vorobei -- Is also at Dnipro and will battle Samodin for the third or fourth striker role; at 29 is a long-time Ukrainian national team striker and has averaged 10 goals a year.

Maksym Feschuk - Also in the Ukirainian league, at FC Karpaty Lviv, where he has averaged a goal every 2.3 games in over last three years.
Is only 22, so he might have a big price tag attached.

Oleksiy Antoniv - Last of the four ukrainian prospects on my list, Metalist Kharkiv has had him out on loan for last two season. Only 23, made eight appearances for Zorya Luhansk last year, scored four. Had five goals in first 11 international appearances with Ukrainian u-21 team.

Dawda Bah - Plays for HJK in finland, had 27 goals in 49 games over last two years, had seven goals in three preseason games this preasons.
Ebrahim 'Ibou' Savaneh (born 7 September 1986 in Serrekunda) is a football striker from Gambia. He currently plays for K.V. Kortrijk in Belgium.
Had 22 goals in 34 games last year for KSK Beveren

Maksim Shatskikh - forward with Dinamo Kyiv, he has had several 20 goal season and led league in scoring twice; is now 29 ; has 29 goals in 38 national team games for his country.

jloome
07-17-2009, 10:03 PM
Fergie has been keeping tabs on him for 2 years now. YOu really think TFC could sign a player out from under the nose of someone like that? :lol: I mean come on Jer. ;)

Yeah, but if we'd made a nice offer before man utd actually scouted him... which is unlikely. But it wasn't public that people were interested in him at the time, as far as I can tell.

UltraSuperMegaMo
07-17-2009, 10:30 PM
When you sent your list in, did they (TFC) make offer an reply?

jloome
07-17-2009, 11:54 PM
When you sent your list in, did they (TFC) make offer an reply?

Oh yeah, it was a very polite "we won't even pass this on, because we get too many of these to take them seriously."

C'est la vie. Makes sense, really.

Troll
07-17-2009, 11:55 PM
Throw enough shit at the wall and something's bound to stick, rite?

djking2
07-18-2009, 01:24 AM
Five Ukrainian prospects actually.

DichioTFC
07-18-2009, 01:35 AM
pretty good list, but we're loaded with strikers, we need some MFs

ensco
07-18-2009, 08:12 AM
That's a really interesting list.

One thing I've always wondered, how do you sort through the world football talent pool? There are so many potential players.

Do you focus on scouting resources? Agents? Transfers? Signings? It's so easy to talk about, so hard to do well.

I do think MLS has an interesting idea, which is to focus on Africa....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/sports/soccer/21mls.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=m.l.s.%20africa&st=cse

jloome
07-18-2009, 11:53 AM
That's a really interesting list.

One thing I've always wondered, how do you sort through the world football talent pool? There are so many potential players.

Do you focus on scouting resources? Agents? Transfers? Signings? It's so easy to talk about, so hard to do well.

I do think MLS has an interesting idea, which is to focus on Africa....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/sports/soccer/21mls.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=m.l.s.%20africa&st=cse


Actually, the process was:
1) Find leagues of equivalent skill level to MLS
2) Troll their stats for a few seasons using footballdatabase and other database sites.
3) Pick out the guys with year-to-year good scoring records.

At the time, we had Collin Samuel upfront, so I thought it behooved someone to find the team a striker who could actually score. But it wasn't scientific-- and the results show! Most of these guys haven't shown much in the two years since, a couple have actually gone down hill.

It's also only one of three of these lists I put together. If you add in Carlos Costly (whom we approached, but too late), James Chamanga and a few others, there are numerous stikers I"ve had on these htat have done pretty well too. The problem is, I'm not a registered scout and I"m just going on the "if they keep performing well, they're probably good" world of statistical tracking.

So it's not surprising the opinion isn't wanted; it's not really qualified. As "Troll" said, if you make enough educated guesses, a few will turn out.

There's also the obvious fact that Mo has a particular gameplan; let's face it, we could've got either Kleber Boas or Washington as DPs when their contracts in Brazil expired last year; both resigned in Brazil, and Washington went to a new team, but both would score 20 in MLS and could be had for Schellotto-ish money. So it's not just about finding players; I'm sure they have many possibilities out there we fans haven't even considered. They just dont' fit their mold.