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Nzuzi Toko on his way out







Rookie

Greetings
Feb 8, 2005
12,324
Very strange one, Oscar wanted him last January but Toko wanted to see out his contract. Can he really be that bad?
 














Greg Bobkin

Silver Seagull
May 22, 2012
16,050
I don't know how I feel about this, given I never witnessed him play. Like others, I can only imagine he doesn't make the grade, which is a shame.

In fact, the closest I got to seeing him in an Albion shirt is July of the 2015 Seagulls calendar. That'll be something to look forward to, then :moo:
 




Langley

New member
Mar 10, 2008
781
Waltham Chase, Hants
I
Think some serious eyebrows have to be raised over this signing. ??? doesn't do the eyebrow-raising seriousness justice.

How on EARTH did we ever end up signing a player who had only ever played for Grasshoppers in the mighty Swiss League?[
Last time I saw world rankings Switzerland were above us.
 


Dorset Seagull

Once Dolphin, Now Seagull
Shame; he's been Player of the Season two years in a row for me on Football Manager 2015.

You hit the nail on the head as to why he was purchased in the first place with the way many clubs now structure their recruitment. I have a lot of time for the Football Manager database which has predicted many stars before they hit the big time......however there are plenty of duffers who are highly rated as well
 






deletebeepbeepbeep

Well-known member
May 12, 2009
21,799
I
Think some serious eyebrows have to be raised over this signing. ??? doesn't do the eyebrow-raising seriousness justice.

How on EARTH did we ever end up signing a player who had only ever played for Grasshoppers in the mighty Swiss League?[
Last time I saw world rankings Switzerland were above us.

What on earth has that got to do with domestic leagues?

An equally unimportant piece of information, the last time England played Switzerland in a competitive fixture IN Switzerland England won.
 


Smile

Active member
Aug 19, 2011
233
Saw him in one of the pre-season matches in Spain and looked a decent signing to me....
 


Ninja Elephant

Doctor Elephant
Feb 16, 2009
18,855
All the people jumping down Burke's throat are bang out of order, anyone who saw Toko play could see he was far from being a dud. Something is very strange about this scenario, the guy isn't a bad player as proven by the number of games he's played at, arguably, a higher level. It hasn't worked for him here and it would be interesting to know why, but that doesn't mean he's a bad player. A bad signing, obviously - he hasn't played for us! But is that Burke's fault? Probably not.
 




Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
All the people jumping down Burke's throat are bang out of order, anyone who saw Toko play could see he was far from being a dud. Something is very strange about this scenario, the guy isn't a bad player as proven by the number of games he's played at, arguably, a higher level. It hasn't worked for him here and it would be interesting to know why, but that doesn't mean he's a bad player. A bad signing, obviously - he hasn't played for us! But is that Burke's fault? Probably not.

I watched him in the DS games and at Burton. He wasn't bad but he wasn't brilliant either. I saw nothing to say that he should be in the first team. Maybe it was attitude?
 


Ninja Elephant

Doctor Elephant
Feb 16, 2009
18,855
I watched him in the DS games and at Burton. He wasn't bad but he wasn't brilliant either. I saw nothing to say that he should be in the first team. Maybe it was attitude?

I saw him in the Southampton friendly and was encouraged, he snapped into tackles and kept the ball ticking over. Realistically, nobody has seen anything like enough of him to really have a strong opinion and we're left guessing at what the problem was/is. Maybe attitude, maybe the question marks over his fitness or maybe it's just that Sami didn't fancy him. It also didn't really help that we were already well stocked in the position when we then snapped up Danny Holla (great player!) and refused to not play Gary Gardner (shocking).

It's one of those signings that hasn't worked out, but I don't understand the bile for David Burke. It is unnecessary and spiteful.
 


deletebeepbeepbeep

Well-known member
May 12, 2009
21,799
All the people jumping down Burke's throat are bang out of order, anyone who saw Toko play could see he was far from being a dud. Something is very strange about this scenario, the guy isn't a bad player as proven by the number of games he's played at, arguably, a higher level. It hasn't worked for him here and it would be interesting to know why, but that doesn't mean he's a bad player. A bad signing, obviously - he hasn't played for us! But is that Burke's fault? Probably not.

What? It was Burke's remit to make good signings for the football club, so if it was a bad signing it was very much his fault. We are told that the recruitment team asses a players personality as much as they asses their ability on the pitch. It doesn't appear that they did appropriate due dilligence on this player, as well as Kemy etc etc. and that is very much their job, it is what they are employed to do and therefore very much Burke's fault.

It is ALL they have to do all day when making some of the most important decisions for the football club and he made some absolute DUFFERS that far outweigh any good work he did.
 


Ninja Elephant

Doctor Elephant
Feb 16, 2009
18,855
What? It was Burke's remit to make good signings for the football club, so if it was a bad signing it was very much his fault. We are told that the recruitment team asses a players personality as much as they asses their ability on the pitch. It doesn't appear that they did appropriate due dilligence on this player, as well as Kemy etc etc. and that is very much their job, it is what they are employed to do and therefore very much Burke's fault.

Burke doesn't pick the team, Burke can sign players but he can't make the manager pick them. It's the nature of football, some signings will come off and others won't but the failures are all he's linked with, and once he's got the player in he's done his job. It's up to the manager to make it happen on the pitch and get the most from his squad.

Unless you think Sami actually did a good job with the players acquired for him, you can't blame Burke for the poor form of the players he signed.

Not to say that I don't think the manager shouldn't be the person making the signings in the first place, and that Burke's role strikes me as being overkill. I don't like the DoF role, or however you dress it up, I'm all for the manager being in control and the manager being the guy who chooses who comes and goes. We tried that with Gus, maybe that's why our board were reluctant to do it again?!
 




Seasidesage

New member
May 19, 2009
4,467
Brighton, United Kingdom
Burke signed some very decent Development Squad players Ince, March too I think?, But last summer's recruitment was very poor. Whether that was due to budget or poor diligence I doubt we will ever know...
 


Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,888
West west west Sussex
It is ALL they have to do all day when making some of the most important decisions for the football club and he made some absolute DUFFERS that far outweigh any good work he did.
In the short term yes.
But surely we need all of DB's work to run it's due course before writing him off as an employer of nob-ends and duffers.

For example I believe we have 3 Burker's ready to rip the shirt off Dunk's back.
Will DB still be useless if one can step up to the first team?

As and when Dunk is sold it would appear our next cash cow may well be Ince.
The money for him could pay for an awful lot of mistakes, in a job that has no guarantees.
 


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