Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Tale Of The Trialists

Uruguayan Nicolas Raimondi is poised to become the latest to join on trial as he bids to become the man to solve our striker problem. Raimondi has been described as Uruguay's version of Bas Savage. His career has taken him to Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Greece and most recently Bulgaria.

Further information on Nicolas Raimondi is rather limited but considering he is 26, the Uruguayan hasn't played many games or scored a lot. Of course this could be down to a number of reasons but I am hardly inspired. I still want this 'big, experienced' forward who has played in the football league. 

Paolo Di Canio has gone down the trialist route on a number of occasions before in a bid to revamp our depleted squad. The club has seen no less than eight trialists arrive through the doors this summer; some signed permanently whilst overs were shown the door almost immediately. For this article I will look back at our trialists who have joined this summer.

First to arrive on trial was striker Leon Knight; I had never been his biggest admirer since our play-off games against Brighton in 2004. After only two days the striker was asked to leave with Di Canio citing for poor fitness and an even worse attitude. His unprofessional attitude that has followed him through his career and is something I don't want to see at the County Ground.

Namibian international Oliver Risser and Ghanian Ibrahim Atiku arrived on trial the same day as Knight. Oliver Risser immediately impress and was subsequently offered a deal after only two days of training. The Namibian international has also since been named as captain after having his leadership skills hailed. Ibrahim Atiku's versatility should prove to be a great asset when the inevitable suspensions and injuries arise.

Following the failure of Leon Knight, Di Canio turned to fellow Italian Christian Cesaretti to boost our almost vacant striker options. His career history was very much underwhelming; this was also coupled with reported poor attitude. With such a strict boss in Paolo Di Canio, the exit door which he walked through a couple of days later seemed inevitable.

Taijo Teniste was a left back who had spent last summer on trial at Championship side Doncaster Rovers. At the time, we were very much lacking left-sided players so looked likely to sign. However, Paolo Di Canio was seemingly unimpressed with his defensive attributes and soon returned to his native Estonia with Levadia Tallinn.

The exit of Teniste prompted the arrival of fellow left back Alessandro Cibocchi to join on trial who proved more to Di Canio's liking. Injury has prevented him from playing much of a role than a few minutes during a friendly against Supermarine. Injury has appeared to hampered his career so Callum Kennedy is likely to take the left back berth.
  
Former Sheffield Wednesday man Etienne Esajas was the next to join on trial on was signed permanently. The ability of Esajas was never an issue and has since shown that in the friendlies that followed. The main issue was Esasis' fitness and injury record, having only played 9 times in the previous season. He has also since dislocated his shoulder although it deemed not as bad as first feared. In spite of this, he is a player that excites me and can't wait to see in action.

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