New writer Mark Lawrence airs his views on Medo Kamara, following Anthony Hart’s alternative view
Obviously, with the way things have gone for our beloved club, this title could head a plethora of different articles. The topic which I plan to look at today however, focuses in on a more specific area. Every club has those players, who promised so much, and who for whatever reason fell out of favour. Now, I certainly am not referring to those who had minimal promise right from the start, take for example Liam Trotter. Today I want to look at one player in particular. A player who was, for a time at least, popular with most Bolton fans and viewed as major asset for the club. This player is Medo Kamara and this is a subject I feel very strongly about.
Now, if there`s one thing we can all agree on, it`s that Mr. Freedman didn`t get everything right in his time at the helm. However, when he signed Medo Kamara on deadline day in January of 2013, the signing looked an exciting one. Sure, we didn`t know a great deal about the man – in fact I hadn`t heard of him. However, a quick search on Wikipedia and the signs looked promising. We`d attracted a player who`d played in the Champions League and who had reportedly been strongly linked with Harry Redknapp`s Tottenham side.
Almost immediately he became a mainstay in the first eleven. Bolton have a history of players who play for the cause and so when Medo arrived and declared, “I am an aggressive player” he seemed as though he would fit in well. He never seemed the sort of player to shirk a tackle, but he was more than just a defensive minded midfielder. Setting up regularly alongside Spearing allowed him to go forward with a little more freedom than he would have been afforded playing a holding midfield role by himself. A terrific free kick against Ipswich which won him goal of the month as well as a good header against comparatively the less irritating of our neighbours, Blackburn, showed another side to his game.
Things began to change for Medo, when the man who brought him to the club was ultimately sacked. A major criticism of Freedman was his reluctance to abandon his beloved 4-2-3-1, which involved playing Spearing and Medo as a defensive midfield duo. You could scarcely watch the wanderers without hearing – “He needs to go 4-4-2.” Or “Whenever we go 4-4-2 we win the game.” Certainly, many people felt that Medo and Spearing were too similar. To be honest, I think all of those people had a point. Whilst I liked that Spearing allowed Medo to attack a little more, I think the two were too similar and playing both cost us in the creativity department. Following Lennon`s arrival it looked for a time like both Medo and Spearing may be heading for the exits. However it now seems Spearing is to be given another chance, one which Medo will not be offered.
It is difficult, without knowing the full story, to speculate why Medo has fallen from grace so unceremoniously. Perhaps he doesn`t work as hard in training as Spearing, perhaps Lennon feels he did not perform in the pre-season and development squad games he played. Whatever the reason, it seems Medo has played his last game for the Wanderers first team. I believe that this is a mistake. Maybe you can`t have Medo and Spearing in the same team, but I know which I`d rather. Yes Medo lost a bit of form towards the end of his time in the first team, but at that period, who didn`t? In my opinion, Medo is a battler. He`s someone who always worked to win the ball back and push the team on. If I was faced with the dilemma of choosing between Spearing, a man who spends more time ordering the rest of the team around than focusing on his own game, and Medo, for me the choice would be a straightforward one.
To see Medo, who is still only 27 years of age, back in the squad would give us more than just a solid ball winner with an ability to drive forward. It would give us back at least some of our passion. To me, that`s what we`re missing. I think we all agree that these days the squad isn`t blessed with quality, but my goodness me the fans love a trier. Look at Darren Pratley – his workhorse like approach has endeared him to the fans. Had Medo been treated in a similar way, I argue he could today be what he should have been, a permanent fixture in our first team. Now it`s too late and there`s no chance it will happen, but I think it`s a shame we`re now all desperate to get someone who could have been so good for the club, off the wage bill.