Camara Angles
By Pete Martin and Nav Basi
From Issue 50, Winter 2001
I've tried to work it out, and I can't. Maybe
you can: you sign a generally unknown striker
for £3m from abroad, he gets roundly condemned
by TV gobshites before he even reaches the country.
He arrives, becomes first-choice striker, excites
the fans, scores some cracking goals, and does
something no player has done for too long: scares
defenders half to death with skill, pace and unpredictability.
After scoring nearly a goal every two games, just
over a year later, he does not start a single
game, and leaves the club for half what he originally
cost. Can anyone else understand it? The player
of course was Titi Camara, and the fee of £1.5m
that West Ham paid for him really sticks in my
throat. Can anyone really say that Camara did
so little in his time with us that he was worth
half what we paid, at a time of massive transfer
fee inflation? Or maybe the boss was just so desperate
to get rid that he didn't care (it's not his money
after all), and he wanted to show everyone else
just how little he thought of Camara.
Either way, there's no doubt Camara brought something
new and unpredictable to our play, sometimes ineffective,
often dangerous. Second highest scorer in 1999-2000
behind Owen, scoring superb goals against Arsenal
and Leeds and that goal against West Ham, and
putting defenders on the back foot simply by being
there. Running at people, twisting, turning, shooting,
dribbling, we had a little gem here. The first
time I saw him live was the Arsenal 2-0 in August
that season: true, Arsenal never showed up, Henry
was an embarrassment, and we battered them into
submission, but the way seasoned (if crap) defenders
like Dixon and Winterburn literally bounced off
Camara was incredible. Power, pace, genuine commitment
to the cause: can't ask for much more than that.
The West Ham goal was nothing to do with power,
pace or skill, simply a four-foot tap-in, but
it summed up his attitude. We didn't know at the
time what had happened to Titi's father of course,
but once we did, how proud were we? THAT is commitment
to the Reds and no mistake. Seven bookings in
that season also show something (apart from the
fact that strikers are pretty clumsy in the tackle):
it shows the effort and hard work he put into
his game. Add the smile on his face, the outrageous
bits of skill and the way he excited the crowd,
and he was some player.
One year on, all change. Some strange episodes:
the injury that Houllier claims to know nothing
about. Obviously he's been reading the Wenger
guide to management. Page one, line one: see nothing.
No opportunities in the first team, a public spat,
and Titi to be sold off for the footballing equivalent
of a bag of seven-for-£1 toilet rolls from
Church Street. Even if he didn't have a future
ahead of Owen, Heskey and Robbie, why treat him
like this? Why the ridiculous transfer fee? Ever
heard the phrase "don't wash your dirty linen
in public"? There seems to be a nasty streak
in Houllier, a 'don't fuck with me or else' attitude.
Shame of course, 'cos it was Houllier who signed
Titi, Houllier who signed Heskey nine months later,
Houllier who showed Camara he had no future at
Anfield, and Houllier who accepted Harry "cheeky
chappie" Redknapp's offer of a packet of
jellied eels and a quarter of liquorice bloody
all sorts! So where does the story come back to?
Houllier.
Last time I saw Titi play was against United reserves
in October against a shocking United side (fuck,
if that's how Steve McClaren organises and motivates
a team, make him the next United manager tomorrow).
Camara worked hard, ran hard and scored twice.
If the reserves are there to give players the
chance to impress the boss, Camara certainly did
that night. You would hope that with a squad as
large as ours, then the reserves would be taken
seriously, and players who do well get a chance
in the first-team squad. Not Titi. So why should
a player who knows he has no future give a toss?
He shouldn't, and yet Camara did. Man-management
is clearly not the strongest suit in GH's pack.
I like him overall, and as long as there is progress,
I'm in no hurry, but I do worry. He doesn't seem
able to change a game, he has his favourites (who
said Barmby??), and the idea of getting everyone
to stand within twenty yards of each other in
the middle of the pitch is not going to scare
the likes of Roma.
If you ask most Reds, Hamann and Ziege would probably
be on their list of forthcoming sales, so if you
add them to Ferri, Song, Meijer and Camara, that's
an awful lot of players Houllier has bought and
sold on (at a loss) in a short time. Camara had
the most to offer of all of them, without question,
which makes the decision to sell even stranger.
Let's face it, when he left, Owen and Fowler had
had injury-interrupted seasons and Smicer can't
hit a barn door if you left him at it all day
(though he is playing better right now). Our midfield
has been too predictable all season (Litmanen
aside): too often golden boy Barmby does not turn
up (I don't think he actually managed to get out
of our half against Southampton!), Smicer is good
right up until the moment when he should smash
the fucking thing into the net, and our left-hand
side has all the width of Sticky the Stick Insect
after a month on Slimfast (Carragher and Murphy
are excused, since neither of them have a left-foot).
Compare that to the sort of damage Camara could
cause. All gone now. Good luck mate, and hope
to see you back at Anfield in February.
PETE MARTIN
Every time Liverpool sell a player they never
seem to make their money back or they will make
a loss. I can understand it from a financial point
that it is better to get a player off the payroll
if he is not going to have a future at the club
but why the hell can't we ever make any money
on the deals?
At the start of the season we sold Davie Thompson
for a fee that I still can't believe. 2.5 million
for a player who if he could control his temper
will be going places. I think that he proved that
he definitely had a future in the game at Liverpool
and he is already one of the players of the season
for Coventry. A friend of mine who is a steward
at Coventry has nothing but good words to say
about him and feels that they got a bargain. They
sure did. Now I'm sure if Coventry were to sell
Thompson tomorrow they would ask for 4 million,
and not the 2.5 million that they paid only a
few months ago, and more than likely in this inflated
day and age they would get it! Thompson's real
value should have been closer to 4 million.
Then there is Rigobert Song, OK we didn't exactly
make a loss on him, I think we might have even
got our money back, but then we paid 2.5 million
for a player that at the time was a risk because
as everybody knows playing in the Premiership
is totally different to playing in any other league
in the world. I think he did well (I'm a Song
fan) and as Harry Redknapp said, he may make the
odd howler but he plays with a lot of heart. I
agree he did make the odd mistake and his positional
sense could have been better but in my opinion
he never let Liverpool down, there was many a
time that Song was the last man clearing off the
line when really he had no right to. A regular
in the team, I don't think so, but definitely
a squad member. Another player I think that we
sold on the cheap. There were talks that the Finish
lad came the other way from West Ham as part of
the deal, and he was valued at 1 million, but
then there were reports that that deal was totally
separate, which is more than likely. Song's value
should have been closer to 3.5 million.
AND, now we have Titi Camera, who for me has let
Houllier and the fans down. Titi is/was a fans
favourite and didn't he just know it. He should
remember that it was Liverpool Football Club and
Gerard Houllier that made him a household name
in the Premiership, because if anybody had seen
him play in the UEFA Cup Final a few years ago
they would have laughed at the thought of Liverpool
paying 2.6 million for him. Many did, anyway.
He looks like he's off to West Ham on the cheap
as well. Figures ranging from 1.5 - 2.2 million
are being talked about but again, he's played
in the Premiership and undoubtedly proved himself
with his goals and work rate, so why aren't we
talking about 3 million and upwards? There is
a genuine lack of striking talent around that
is for sale, just look at Villa and their bizarre
attempts to buy a quality striker. Tottenham are
already having problems with Rebrov after having
paid 11 million for him, as he can't get used
to the pace of the Premiership. West Ham are definitely
getting a good deal, as the fans will love him,
he'll score the goals and the money that West
Ham are going to spend will be recouped in no
time. Titi will be a loss to us as he is someone
who can turn nothing into something and in this
day and age that is a priceless commodity, or
you would think it would be.
Personally I would have slapped a 4 million price
tag on him, if there were no takers then there
would have only been two choices. One, rot in
the reserves or two, to get his head down and
try and get a place in the starting eleven or
at least in the squad knowing full well that there
have been no takers for him and that his only
chance is with Liverpool.
In the 3 deals above, I think that Liverpool Football
Club has lost more than 4 million pounds, nothing
to snigger at really is it? Whenever clubs such
as United, Leeds, Arsenal sell their youngster
or players that no longer have a future at the
club they always make sure that they get top dollar
for them. Leicester have signed a young midfielder
from Leeds recently for 3 million plus. I don't
even think that he has made that many appearances
for Leeds, but then they can still command a fee
that in these heady days is probably about right.
When Southampton can put an 8 million fee on Kachloul
head's, is it really too much to ask for 4 million
for Titi? There is talk of Leeds offering 10 million
for Robbie Fowler, but what are Liverpool's moneymen
going to say? "Oh, please, that is far too
much, just give us 5 million and we'll call it
quits"?
Lastly, can anybody out there please tell me what
Jorgen Nielsen actually does? Yes I know he is
a goalkeeper, but do we really need 3 keepers,
surely we must have a 17 year old keeper that
is as good? It doesn't really matter if he's brilliant
or not, because he's never going to get a game
is he? What are the chances of Sander and Pegguy
both being injured at the same time and even then
I'm not sure if he'd play, and now he only gets
a reserve game when Peggy is injured, so what
is the point…….There you go, I've saved
about 300,000 pounds at 6 grand a week already,
now where else…………….
How about Jamie, nah, I like Jamie (Redknapp),
so I'll keep him and let his biggest fan………
Steven Kelly try and get rid of him!
NAV BASI
I've been trying to do that for four years, so
if anyone has the solution I'm all ears. The recent
success of Jari will no doubt stifle the criticism
of the Titi deal. He hasn't exactly set Upton
Park ablaze (now there's an idea), but I'm writing
this before Feb 3rd and the word "oops"
is on my mind for some reason. My reaction to
Titi leaving was probably shaped by my being wrong
about him in the first place. It seemed like an
Evans-type move; once the fans loved him, that
was the end of it. On the financial side, Houllier
just wants rid no matter what the consequences
are. If that tends to unify the squad in terms
of spirit and camaraderie (ironic first 6 letters
there!), then he's in the right. If we get the
flicks and touches from Jari Litmanen, and it's
more consistent, then he's in the right. Time
will tell. Initial reaction is that he's made
the right decision. When West Ham went to Old
Trafford, Song and Camara were absent. African
Nations Cup………I just think we could
have kept Camara, especially when we're crying
out for someone to take defenders on out wide.
SK
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