As anticipated in a previous post, Darren Young has officially left Dunfermline and has agreed a 2 year deal with First Division rivals Dundee. Young’s rejection of a new contract with the club signals the end of his five year association with the Pars and he will look to help the Dees to First Division glory next term. Having struggled with fitness in the past season, this is a move I feel suits all parties. Manager Jim McIntyre now has more room for manouver within the transfer market with more wages freed up, while Young himself will no doubt relish a new challenge at Dens Park.
He alluded to this himself, by saying ” There are a lot of positive things happening here.
“It makes you want to come here and play for them and do well.”
I wish him well up there, but hopefully not too well as we can but hope the Athletic will be chasing the title.
However, Alex Rae has been busy in the transfer market as well as signing Young. He is rumoured to be on the verge of bringing former Scotland goalkeeper Rab Douglas back to Dens. The 36 year old played for the Dee in the 1990s and his form won him a move to Celtic. Since leaving the Hoops for Leicester in 2005, his career has stalled. Loan spells with Millwall, Wycombe Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle have been unsuccessful and Douglas was released by Leicester following their relegation to League One.
Rae is clearly looking for experience and if he adds him, along with another rumoured target, former Kilmarnock and Nottingham Forest midfielder Gary Holt, then the Dark Blues could well be in a strong position to challenge at the top next season. A challenge which both Dunfermline and St Johnstone will look to match before the season kicks off.
But back to Dunfermline and defender Sol Bamba, who seemed to fall out of favour towards the end of the season, has been busy making a name for himself in the Toulon International tournament over the past fortnight or so. As captain of the Ivory Coast side, he has starred as they have marched all the way to the semi finals, where they narrowly lost to Chile. Bamba’s side will take on Japan in the third place play off and commentators on Eurosport, who have been showing the tournament live, have been impressed with Bamba’s play overall. During one match, and forgive me for paraphrasing, but a commentator suggested something along the lines of ‘you’d have a very hard time getting around him’.
It is good to see Sol doing well while representing his country’s under 21 side in France. Rumours have suggested that the Pars are looking to offload the big man, but if he can regain his confidence and given the right kind of coaching, he could become a good player. He has pace, is very strong both on the ground and in the air and can tackle but at times erratic play creeps into his game, leading to him giving away possession cheaply. If he works on his passing and composure on the ball, then he’ll do a very good job for Dunfermline.
But, thats for the future. Well done to Sol on having what appears to be a successful tournament and he is all set to represent the Pars in this summer’s Beijing Olympics by playing for the Ivory Coast in the football tournement. Could la Bamba have a gold medal in his pocket by September? Stranger things have happened……
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