ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Is he any good?

I know its only a rumour and excuse my ignorance but is Steven Appiah any good? Is he what we're looking for? I'm not even gonna check YouTube because it makes me look like a world class, pacy winger. Trust me, I'm not...
Declan Critchley, Dublin, Ireland Posted 29/08/2007 at 15:46:48

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Lyndon

Based on what I saw in the World Cup is a very good player — strong, can pass the ball, likes to get forward and possesses a powerful shot. Not as good as Essien but in a similar mould. What I don't know is what his attitude is like — and Moyes will remember all to well the last Ghanaian midfielder we had on our books — but from what I've seen if we could get him for £5m that would be an excellent piece of business in today's market. Of all the midfield players we've been realistically linked in the past few days, he's the one I personally would want.

John Martin
1 Posted 29/08/2007 at 18:10:45

i agree with Lyndon, after the Fernandes deal fell apart his is the name that has most excited me, in fact its the only one, in the world cup i though he looked better than Essien, not saying he is just he performed better and feel he wud improve out midfield,

Paul Heery
2 Posted 29/08/2007 at 18:43:15

Come off it Declan, you look crap on Youtube

Steve Taylor
3 Posted 29/08/2007 at 18:49:56

I agree with Lyndon & John - Appiah is the real deal - I too thought he outshone Essien in the WC - a real all rounder, plus do you remember the 5-0 mauling we took at the hands of Fenerbache in the friendly???

At anywhere near the £6M or so being quoted - it’s a steal IMO - he could add something to the side - whereas the other names being mentioned (Nolan, Diop etc) aren’t anything much better than what we already have.

He’d be the signing of the summer, doubt we’ll pull it off though.....

gary garvey
4 Posted 29/08/2007 at 18:48:21

i think appiah would be a welcome addition to our squad he gets up and down the pitch he aint afraid to shoot and he has experience in europe get him signed up

Pete Toney
5 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:02:56

I agree Appiah looked a class act in the World Cup and at 5 million sounds a snip but remember folks its the African Cup of nations this year which means we will already be without Yobo, Pienaar, Anichebe if he decides who he wants to represent and maybe even Yakubu. So if this deal was to be pulled of that would mean 5 players away for a month.

Tony Miller
6 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:05:51

It looks like Appiah is out with a long term injury. wouldnt you just know it with our medicals would he be worth chancing at 5-6 million.

To be honest I have seen him play once so cannot say myself.

Anyone who has seen him wish to comment?

Tom Dooley
7 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:09:21

We might lose him, but that won’t be till next year and that SHOULD give us time to find a really creative midfielder and grab him in Jan.

Allan Hounsgaard
8 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:26:30

We have to take in to consideration that he’s cup.tied in europe having already featured in Fenerbache first leg CL qualifier. He’s still class tough.

Allan Hounsgaard
9 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:29:30

Sorry he’s not cup-tied. My mistake

Tony Miller
10 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:30:01

Allan are you positive about that as all the reports I can find have him out injured.

he would have apeared to have missed europe for Fenerbache up to now.

I may have got this wrong if you know something different?

Danny Mullally
11 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:40:04

I personally am not keen on bringing in Appiah, he is a good powerful player with bags of goals in Turkey, but I feel that we are desperately short on creativity.
If Arteta is out, who have we got? No one. Don’t mention Pienaar as he is not an Arteta. We have the makings of a top side if we can threaten from other areas of the pitch, preferably the middle / left. I am hoping for more of a crafty player in the mould of a Fabregas / McCallister if you like. We have no vision except for Arteta but we have the players who can execute teams if the right pass can be laid on to them. I keep saying it but for me Nakamura at Celtic is the answer.

Brian Hill
12 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:45:41

The official Fenerbahce site has a short piece concerning this rumour:

"
"Today the directors of Fenerbahce had a meeting with the footballer Stephen Appiah to talk about the recent rumours about him. Appiah declined the rumours and stressed that he wants to keep on playing for Fenerbahce.

We also made it clear that only written offerings will be considered and the manager of Appiah is not allowed to make any transfer deal without the permission of our club.

During the meeting Appiah told us that he is really happy to be here and he wants to keep on playing for Fenerbahce to help us to reach our European aims."

Brian Hill
13 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:51:32

Sorry, I forgot to include the link for the above:

http://www.fenerbahce.org/eng/detay.asp?ContentID=1058

tony brown
14 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:51:52

appiah overshadowed essien in the world cup.showed great strength on the ball..a real powerhouse, which is something lacking in our midfield.
my only concern, as previously stated here is attitude.
i always have an abiding memory of certain players who really pull their tripe for their country but fall short at club level...eg bilic and materazzi

Neil Pearse
15 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:57:25

What we really need are two players in one - power and drive, and craft and creativity. (There are such players, but very few - I don’t want to mention who is probably the best in the Premiership in this category at the moment, but his surname begins with G.)

I think we are do need the first as well as the second - our much discussed ’diddymen’ problem. Stephen Appiah then makes an awful lot of sense. (As did one Manuel Fernandes...) Arteta and Pienaar have a lot of creativity - bolstered by an Appiah (who has some of his own), we would have a pretty good combination.

But I’m not holding my breath!

Mark Wynne
16 Posted 29/08/2007 at 19:55:15

I think he’d be a great addition, but as you are now doubt aware transfer dealings at Everton move like a snail on Mogadon. To think we’ll agree a price, fly him over, negotiate wages and gain a valid work permit before the end of the transfer window, just seems plain silly.

It’s the slow hand-fisted nature of things that scuppered the Fernandes transfer, and as Moyes makes no further mention of wanting to bring in extra players I would urge that you curb your excitement on this one.

I bloody hope though that we don’t continue with the turgid shite that we have got used to and have seen so far this year - filling our midfield with "grafters" and playing "hoofball" because Yakubu obviously hasn’t been watching our games and will no doubt be off at the end of the year if we don’t improve.

Peter Singer
17 Posted 29/08/2007 at 20:07:20

Work permit would be given to him at once as he’s been a regular in his national team.

Ghana Man
18 Posted 30/08/2007 at 07:56:35

anybody here who claims Appiah is not creative does not know what he’s talking about. Appiah is the "creative" bit of the Ghana midfield made up of him, Essien(Chelsea), Muntari(Portsmoth) & Kingston(Hearts).
You guys need to talk to Baggio. He played with him at Brescia

Declan Critchley
19 Posted 30/08/2007 at 09:32:55

Paul, you’re right - i do look crap on youtube, i was hoping nobody would check...