Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Wolves closing in on defender
Thursday 31st January 2008, 12:53PM GMT.
Wolves are closing in on a deadline day move for Colchester United left-back George Elokobi.
The Cameroon defender’s advisors have been in talks with Wolves over a transfer and boss Mick McCarthy is keen to tie up the deal before the midnight deadline.
The Elokobi camp are confident the move will be finalised before the end of the day – with Wolves looking to strike a deal worth in the region of £500,000 with possible add-ons for appearances.
The defender, who turned 22 today, has made 19 starts for the U’s this season, but has fallen out of favour after asking for a transfer from Layer Road earlier this campaign.
Read the full story in the Express & Star.
Wolves are closing in on a deadline day move for Colchester United left-back George Elokobi.
The Cameroon defender’s advisors have been in talks with Wolves over a transfer and boss Mick McCarthy is keen to tie up the deal before the midnight deadline.
The Elokobi camp are confident the move will be finalised before the end of the day – with Wolves looking to strike a deal worth in the region of £500,000 with possible add-ons for appearances.
The defender, who turned 22 today, has made 19 starts for the U’s this season, but has fallen out of favour after asking for a transfer from Layer Road earlier this campaign.
The youngster played eight times last season, but made an explosive start to this campaign and attracted interest from Premiership Reading as well as Wolves.
The teenage defender joined Colchester from non-League Dulwich Hamlet in the summer of 2004 after arriving from Cameroon and made an immediate impact in League football.
The left-back slot has proved a troublesome one to fill this season, with McCarthy trying out Neill Collins and Michael Gray in that role. But with Collins out with a twisted ankle and the Wolves boss choosing to use Gray sparingly, he needs a permanent replacement – and Elokobi appears to fit the bill.
McCarthy has also toyed with a move for SK Brann’s Norweigan international Erlend Hansveit – and checked out Walsall’s young defender Daniel Fox – before opting to go for Elokobi.
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Come on Mick, get this one sorted and in the bag, he looks like a decent left back and can only be a welcome addition to a rejuvenated squad, It’s not a miraculous turn around as some are quoting but 3 wins in the last 3 can’t all be bad can it, we made hard work of Sheffield Wednesday but its still 3 points and a step in the right direction.
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At last a defender, But not a centre half but a defender lol
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If you sign Elokobi, i’ll be absolutely delighted. We down here at Col Utd, think Elokobi is a bit of a joke, and we all wet ourselves when he asked for a transfer. Has Mick McCarthy actually watched him?!
Anyway, Good luck!
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he’s absolute rubbish why?
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Actually he does play centre-back as well as left-back…
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Good business if it comes off.
With Elokobi at left back I am happy with the squad/team to get us promotion!
We have enough centre halves for this season who are more the capable of doing a job, as proven by having the best defence in the league!
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All Colchester fans I know dont rate him! But I think he will play CB more than LB as Daniel Jones has returned from his loan at Northampton and the Artical on the Wolves offical site states that DJ wants the Left Back berth.
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Thank God ! I was getting worried we were going to be fielding 10 Strikers (all ex Sunderland or Irish) and leaving Hennessy all alone in goal
I have no idea how this lad plays but the very fact we are looking to the defence gives me some hope that our management isnt totally insane !
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This guy has lightening pace, he isnt great at LB but better at CB apparently!
Good work if it comes off, just hope no one else nabs him under our noses…
Moxey, take that pie out of your mouth and earn your worth.
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AWFUL defender! would be a great kicker in rugby as all he does is hoof into touch! your being robbed of £500,000! but thanks for the cash!
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It’ll never happen…he’s not played for Sunderland!!
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All Elokobi can do is stop the ball going in the back of the net. I dont care if he hoofs it out aslong as it dont go in Wolves net afterwards!
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haha 7. jimson- ‘all the colchester fans u know??’!!!!!
there only about 4 of them! and
comment 3. ruggy- im sure you would rather keep him at this moment in time! you guys will need every single player come the end of the season. i am very happy with this transfer as i have actually looked him up and seen a few vids of his game and he does look quite sharp!
i am happy with this team now but please PLAY FREDDY!
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In Mick we trust!
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george who????????hahaha
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Must admit I don’t know much about this geezer. Colchester Utd supporters seem to think he is a bit of a joke. Well, he can’t be any more bonkers than Mo Camara who I once saw put in a cross from the left and then get on the end of it as it was held up in the wind! Stockport away or somewhere. Those were the days….. consistently finishing 7th under Colin Lee.
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International player, Left footed, Defender, Right age, Wants to play for a bigger club ,Right sort of price, Fast across the ground.
If he needs more schooling surely we have the staff to do that?
What is there to crib about?
Up The Wolves.
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A defender as long been a top priority.,dont know anything about him, but at 22 he will improve and its not really a gamble
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Similar to yesterday, we seem to be signing average players ! Where is the quality we need to move up the league and hopefully to establish ourselves in the premiership ? If we go up most of these players will not be up to standard – where is the motivation for them ! Surely we have a tranfer policy that looks ahead to the mid term !
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Eastwoods signing for QPR on loan
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Whats the matter with you lot!!! Can we please change the topic of improving the defence.We have the best defence in the league. Period. The defence does not need improving! The problems are at the other end, but things are being addressed. MM’s track record in this division is phenominal, form is temporary but class is permanant. If MM cant sort it out then no one can! Get behind him!!
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At last one of the missing pieces (only decent/pacey centre-half needed now!) although the comments from the U’s fans are a bit off-putting, hopefully its just sour grapes
Come on lads get this one done and then get the centre-half we require
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gota be beta than gray!!!! and can wolves fans stop moaning about the signings give kyle a chance!!!! eastwood wil b out for bout 3 weeks ward still injured and kightly so elliott will play rite wing only got seb keogh bothroyd as front runners then so kyle will fit in!!!! jus giv the lad a chance!!!
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19) wolfgate2 – what did you know about Kightly before we signed him?
Enough said!
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he’s a good player.
NOW ALL GET BEHIND THE LADS…
Kiwiwolfffffffffffffff
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to the bloke who wrote number 3 – your whole team is a joke
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Some general info for you on Mr Elokobi. He s only been in the country
for 5 or 6 years I believe and before then had never even kicked a football.
If physical fitness was all it took to make it then he’d be a top player.
Physically he s immense. An absolute monster in the Gym apparently.
If you need a muscle bound bruiser with absolutely no footballing finesse
whatsoever then George is your man.
If Mick can teach him how to kick a ball straight and keep it on the pitch , tackle without maiming somebody and a basic semblance of what marking and positional awareness means then youve got yourself a bargain.
To be serious though, there could be massive potential there but he s very raw.
Your fans will love his all action style and committment. I fear that they will soon get fed up with him costing you goal after goal with his naivety though.
Have a look at our goal aginst column !
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look wolves site, dj says he wants to play left back and thats his favoured position – problem solved
elokobi – still want centre back more i hope, as mentioned above dont care if all he does is hoof it as long we keep clean sheets, sometimes we need a hoofer rather than a tatty tatty pass across pitch defender
20 – freddy was in training this morning and on the website in picture with hennessey and edwards for welsh squad! seems strange if he going we risking him in training? and if crash on motorway he may not make midnight down there
im guessing that your lying
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thanks for the tips Coluj…we’ve signed enough donkey’s in our time to know one when we see one. MM is attempting to bludgeon his way into the premier with a team of honey monsters..judging by the last signing and the poss of Elokobi so the fact he’s hopeless is of know consequence as we’ll smash the oppositioninto submission…until we get there. MM appraciates qualities like Kobi’s so he won’t be out of place…unless we get to the promised land of course, then we’ll have to buy a new set of more skillful donkey’s to cope with fighting relegatin.
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A good left back is hard to find but
this guy is a joke. Saw him against Shrewsbury once, he was terrible and then got sent off……….
Maybe a miracle has transformed him or something…………
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Signed a striker when we already had Keogh, Bothroyd, Elliott, S.Ward, Eastwood and Ebanks-Blake
Now we’re signing a left-back even tho we’ve got Gray, R.Edwards, Collins and even bloody Jamie Clapham still knocking around.
Surely someone is on their way out. Our squad must be the biggest in the leage right now!
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He’s more cover for the back four and £500000 isn’t very much these days. Mick was a great defender in his day and all his teams tend to be solid defensively. Fans may not always rate the players but they all do a job. If Mick thinks he can use him, then he probably can. I’m confident Mick can see some raw talent or he wouldn’t bother buying him.
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31. Essex Wolf..
Plenty of reports that Clapham is going back out on loan.
As for signing Kyle, I do kind of understand Mick’s logic. He’s been looking for a tall target man for ages. Mick is looking for his comfort zone. What he knows is Niall Quinn. He wants a player of the same type to put up front on his own, particularly when we are away. We can then hoof balls forward and have the him feed the midfield, just like MM liked to play when he managed Ireland. Not pretty but often effective… look at Watford.
I doubt even Kyle expects to be a regular first team starter, not unless he proves to be awesome in the role!
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Nathan baggie
you obviosly know a lot about football if youve never heard of George Elokobi.
why dont you go back to your little tesco bag bubble.
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Sounds like he could be useful and with youth on his side we can’t too far wrong for 500,000. I have no problems with this fella, he will add competition to a weaker area. SIGN HIM UP.
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hahaha sum dingles cant take a joke i see!!!!
BOING BOING!! prem here we come!!
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Beobridge Wolf – exactly BUT we know about Kyle & Elokobi – they happen to be in our division !!!
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It really isn’t sour grapes. He has cost us countless goals this season, his positioning is schoolboy, and he’s an absolute liability. He asked for a transfer after being left out of 1 game. He said that he wanted guaranteed first team football, up until that he had played in pretty much every game. Do you really want a player at your club that wants out after missing one game?
Oh and for the record, he isn’t an international. And if he does win a cap, i’ll be the first to admit i was wrong about him!
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words of colchester supporter “i would love it if elokobi went there”
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After reading comment number 27, it looks like we could be signing another Paul Robinson (but the black version), he’s physical and likes giving goals away.
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After reading comment number 27, it looks like we could be signing another Paul Robinson (but the black version), he’s physical, dirty and likes giving goals away.
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Nathan baggie. I suggest your board should be looking around as your defence are awful. Kiely is not the best. Jealous of our 3 class keepers. Yes you can score for fun, but we may have remedied that problem.
Worry about yourselves, not about your larger neighbours down the road!
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31 – why does it matter if we have a big squad ?
The more important question is can we push on for promotion?
I say ‘yes’ the squad size is irrelavent
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post 31 essex wolf `signing a left back even tho weve got gray edwards collins clapham`!!! thats why we need a left back!!! stay in cockney land mate
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WHY a left back ?
we need a CENTRE BACK.
we just got Dan Jones back so that area is covered.
I DONT GET IT !!
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As any one checked the Colchester webb site, they can`t wait to get rid of this muppet, “bring back super Floyd Street”.
On a serios note whats the matter with Daniel Jones, hes been playing out of hes skin at Northampton, give him a go.
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Jamie Clappedout has had the remainder of his contract cancelled and has gone to Leicester – further evidence that the Elokobi deal is on it’s way. Wonder if Charlie Mulgrew will be on his way as well?… plenty of cover at LB if the GE deal comes off. Also, Bennett has joined Bury on loan.. as usual, the good folks at Wolves are keeping their cards close to their chest, which in my opinion is the best way to conduct any transfer business – release the details once the deal is done.
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I think some baggies fans are purporting to be Colchester fans. Since when has anyone from Colchester ever posted on here??????????????? The lad is a good player, young, quick and the right money. Nice try at a joke Baggies fans, people in Colchester won’t even know this site exists! So Grow up.
I actually want to see both Albion, Wolves and any other Midland Club in the premiership instead of all the London, 10000 fans a game mega bucks chairman Clubs!
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27. ” bruiser with absolutely no footballing finesse
whatsoever ”
Sounds like Paul Robinson at Sandwell Town that your describing.
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dapster – I thought that too – but this site is often linked to stories in other papers and even official club sites.
We had loads of Wednesday fans on our site when we brought Chris brunt – but it was linked to their official pages.
Then again it could be a wind up – but I promise it aint me !!
I actually thought Elokobi was a small town in Scotland !
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I saw the speculation about Elokobi being linked with Wolves about 4 weeks ago and so, being in the area at the time,went to specifically watch Elokobi in the Colchester v Peterborough cup 3rd round game. Peterborough won 3 – 1 and young George didn’t help much. He seemed as if he was in a dream – not really there and I saw none of the pace another blogger mebtioned earlier. He never got oiut of 2nd gear and seemed almost as if he was running on rails – going through the motions most of the time and – yes – a lot of his passes found touch. I may have missed something – but that rumour about Hoyte is a far better idea. Gray would retain his place over Elokobi, I think. I may have missed something but …..
Hope I’m wrong if he signs and he develops into something special !?!?
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HE IS OK! BUT HE IS ONLY YOUNG I HAVE GOT NOTHING AGAINST HIM AND AS LONG AS HE DONT LET GOALS IN I AM Happy!
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has he ever played for sunderland and is he over fifty??????????????????????
if not he will haave to make do with the bench
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He is not as bad as everybody is making out, he’ll be a squad player and a part of our team that ends up in the playoffs..£500,000 is to much though.
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He’s not ex sunderland or Irish,must be a step in the right direction.
Incidentally, while i’m on,does anyone know what’s happened to Lewis
Goburn. If fit i’d have thought he would have been the natural understudy to Kightly on the right side of our midfield.
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Im sure the manager has a plan
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wow wot a player best defender in the league have you seen where colchester are in the league boing boing
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booboy 56, yes he does have a plan,to get ya relegated boing boing
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56, well Terry I can understand your comments, but lets remember the West Midlands needs a boost, the football side has been poor for years and the fans on all sides deserve better. Its great to see you and the likes of plastic_baggie on the Wolves pages, it just shows how much we all care in the Black Country.
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I cant get over excited about this transfer…….we,ve got the best defence in the championship so he will only bolster competition for places etc.
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obi one elokobi will be ok! when it comes to players the only type mick struggles with are attackers!! gray is steady and young DJ has come on leaps and bounds!! obi one will have time to develop and i`m sure he will. would wave preferred fox but still, kyle will be used as a super sub to batter down teams with and will score more and work harder than lazy jay !!!
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