[Archived] Nelsen Has Signed

[EwoodGlory]

Centre Back according to here

Mokoena Profile

[brfcshabba]

Nissa - Nelson/Mokoena - Todd - Neill

That's how I would like to see it

What you mean you would like to Nissa at right back and Neill at left back?

Neill - Nelson/Mokoena - Todd - Nissa

I was looking from behind (Freidel's view)

Nissa - Nelson/Mokoena - Todd - Neill

Friedel

or

Friedel

Neill - Nelson/Mokoena - Todd - Nissa

[oblivion]

good to see us getting some much needed defensive reinforcements. hughes has probably been weighing up his transfer kitty and deemed it most unlikely that he will able to sign Savage and Gabbidon. a shame that we won't be after a player like Michael Dawson, i've seen him play several times and he has impressed me... but alas we're not the big-spending club we were years ago.

i'd say Nelsen and Mokoena are worth taking a chance on, surely they can't be worse than amoruso or matteo...?

[USABlue]

Not going to say we don't need these players but I really would like to know what we intend to do with our "fringe" players. We seem to be heading in the same direction as pre Souness, a big squad of not quite good enoughs on good money. I hope we have a contingency plan to trim the wage bill, it's starting to look a bit like the Brian Kidd era in terms of overall quality and squad size. Worries me a bit.

[rebelzero]

From what I've gathered, Nelsen is a centre back. But I'm not sure about Mokoena? I've seen articles calling him a defender and others a midfielder, but not whether he's a wide or central one.

Nelsen played last year as the Centre back of a 3 man defence. the previous year, as part of a back 4, he played Centre-right.

His first year in the American league he was a defensive mid, but DC United seemed much better when he played on the back line instead of roaming forward. After that first year, he played solely in the back.

Hope that helps

[frosty]

(Not score stupid own goals )

Ye, but also score headers at the right end.

Lets hope Hughes is the new Allardyce with transfers.

[Radagast]

Yup, hopefully we'll soon have a squad full of Jardels, Campos, Fadigas and Bridges's of our own.

Edited December 14, 2004 by Radagast

[Oklahoma]

Hope they'll improve the squad... We NEED TO!!

[stuwilky]

According to an american pal of mine we have signed Nelsen, hes hunting for a link.

http://www3.sbs.com.au/epl/index.php3?id=52619

Awaiting work permit.

Edited December 14, 2004 by stuwilky

[emerton]

that article was dated on the 11th of dec so if its done it was done a few days ago.

2 positives things about the signings is that they are both captains so they can bring some form of leadership to the club.

And also that moko has had a stint at ajax, meaning there must be a little bit of quality in him

[I_saw_Batty_score]

How many captains or ex-captains do we need? Half the team seem to have been captain somewhere or other.

[AndreasG]

Not going to say we don't need these players but I really would like to know what we intend to do with our "fringe" players. We seem to be heading in the same direction as pre Souness, a big squad of not quite good enoughs on good money. I hope we have a contingency plan to trim the wage bill, it's starting to look a bit like the Brian Kidd era in terms of overall quality and squad size. Worries me a bit.

I agree with you.

We don't need defenders - we need GOOD defenders. We have enough of half decent central defenders. And the last couple of games our central defence have looked quite good, especially with Nissa as center half. I doubt that Mokoena and Nelsen are much better.

We can't just buy more players and hope that will solve our problems. We need bring in quality and to do that we need to get rid of one or two fringe players. And the most important thing. Get the crappy players that starts every game out and in with the quality players we already have.

[1864roverite]

you need leaders on the pitch aso it doenst matter how many ex captains we have in the team. if they are professional enough then it makes fine sense to me

[Blueboy Downunder]

this south african guy has gone from one club to another as it seems. now if we sign him and he turns out to be the business for us then no problem.....however, if this is not the case then again we have got what we payed for.

[Lathund]

Two international captains for £600k total. Sure, not the biggest national teams but still. Looks like the D.C fans have nothing but praise for Nelsen, and surely that's always a good sign?

[USABlue]

Not complaining about the quality of what is coming in, just concerned about the quantity of what we will have.

[oblivion]

come on people let's have a bit more optimism about these two new defenders. they are both captains/leaders and obviously must have impressed our staff, i doubt hughes would sign players just for the sake of signing. think of the bargain these two could end up to be compared to the high fees we'd most probably have to bid to capture gabbidon or dawson.

[unleaded]

I think Mr Hughes has gone cold on the South African captain Mokoena.The only quotes on him by the manager were 2 weeks ago when he came for a 2 day trial,since then nothing has been reported,not even in the L.E.T.

[John]

The Mokoena talk is just speculation being repeated from Sunday's papers. There has been no quotes or anything. Just people putting 2+2 together because he was on trial with us. It is just being picked up on news wires here and from South Africa.

As for Nelsen we are in talks with him.

[philipl]

The Mokoena talk is just speculation being repeated from Sunday's papers. There has been no quotes or anything. Just people putting 2+2 together because he was on trial with us. It is just being picked up on news wires here and from South Africa.

As for Nelsen we are in talks with him.

2+2=£600K? South Afrian link Mokoena is a bit of a worry as he has been through a lot of leagues in a short period- whereas Nelsen looks like he has the leadership desire and fight we need but it is an open question as to how he will handle the transitionto the EPL

[John]

That story has been picked up from the Sunday papers over here.

Not saying it wont happen but there is less substance in the story unlike the Ryan one.

Edited December 15, 2004 by John

[American]

The Mokoena talk is just speculation being repeated from Sunday's papers. There has been no quotes or anything. Just people putting 2+2 together because he was on trial with us. It is just being picked up on news wires here and from South Africa.

As for Nelsen we are in talks with him.

2+2=£600K? South Afrian link Mokoena is a bit of a worry as he has been through a lot of leagues in a short period- whereas Nelsen looks like he has the leadership desire and fight we need but it is an open question as to how he will handle the transitionto the EPL

Bocanegra moved over pretty well at a similar time last season, and Nelsen has a game more suited for the Prem.

[philipl]

Don't sign them Sparky!!!! The board will be full of moaning Kiwis and South Afrians when they don't get a game

[Big A]

Here's the view of an American I asked on www.hattrick.org (top quality online management game btw):

I have season tickets to DC United, where Nelsen played, so I have probably seen him in person close to 100 times now.

My personal opinion is that you will be pleased with him. I think he is a solid enough player to make it in the Premiership.

I would describe his strenghts as follows: he is a very good and vocal organizer in the back; he is tall and physically very strong, and knows how to use his body well when defending (especially on balls in the air); he makes smart decisions; he has good positioning.

His one weakness is probably footspeed. If you can somehow catch him out of position on a counter, he is not going to be able to recover.

I think this is a very good signing for Blackburn (from a cost/benefit standpoint). If it weren't for Ryan, DC would never have won the MLS Cup this year. I honestly believe he was the best defender in MLS (better than Pope IMO), even before Bocanegra left.

[krislu]

His one weakness is probably footspeed. If you can somehow catch him out of position on a counter, he is not going to be able to recover.

Oh dear, another Amoruso..