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Solomon-Otabor Signs
Teenage winger Viv Solomon-Otabor is the latest academy product to sign on the dotted line at St Andrews, penning a one year contract with a one year option yesterday. The 18-year-old has yet to play for the first team but was a regular in the u21 side and made 12 appearances on loan for Skrill North side Oxford City at the end of last season.
Solomon-Otabor told the official club website that he sees Demarai Gray as an inspiration and that if he does as well as Dimmi did this season then he could maybe get his first team chance too.
The step up from the Academy and u21 sides to the first team is a huge one; while it’s a big achievement to get a first team debut it’s a bigger achievement to then maintain the standards and keep a place in and around the first team. Gray definitely seized on his chance, making nine appearances and scoring his debut professional goal in the 4-2 defeat to Blackburn and Solomon-Otabor would be wise to try to follow in Gray’s path, working hard in training and impressing the management team enough that they cannot not pick him.
Solomon-Otabor has had a taste of first team action, playing twelve times for Oxford City, scoring once (in their 2-0 away win over Gloucester City on April 1) as they fought successfully to stave off relegation from the Skrill North, finishing five points ahead of 21st placed Histon. Hopefully we will be in a position where players like Solomon-Otabor will be given a chance to play out loan for the first part of the season at a higher level to continue to hone their abilities and get them groomed for the intensity and physicality of professional football.
In other news, Blues have confirmed their sole home pre-season friendly will be against Andrew Shinnie’s former club Inverness Caledonian Thistle on August 2. They have also been drawn against Cambridge United (who won the Conference play-offs last season) at home in the League Cup, with that match to be played the week beginning August 11.
Tags: Cambridge United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Viv Solomon-Otabor
90 Responses to “Solomon-Otabor Signs”
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Well Daniel for me our young players definately game time, but equally need to tougher up,…..so i am in agreement with you……
*toughen
definately !?
Congratulations to young Solomon-Otabor. I hope he has a long and enjoyable career with BCFC.
Can’t wait for the league fixtures to come out tomorrow morning. :)
what tomorrow ;-0 oh those seaside trips again wonderful…….
9am tomorrow they’re released. 8-)
thanks staffs :)
to right staffs, already clearing the diary for all home games and all the must go to away games like blackpool, bournemouth, brighton, derby, forest, norwich( welcome back to the championship nathan) rotherham( new york stadium) the dingles and one or two others, it feels like the seasons just round the corner when the fixtures come out…..lovely jubley. KRO.
How can you NOT get excited dave? Even if you don’t like the board, or the manager, or the players we’ve signed/are signing…. how can you not get excited at the dawn of a new season? :)
wait for it….they are coming trust me lol
ime exited about the season staffs but cant get exited about super cally who are terrific but our home record is atrocious……….no seriously i love lee clark. i love our new signings and cant wait for the season…..its the cally game i cant get exited about thats all!! KRO.
….
If we got a nice 6-0 home win (Donaldson 3, Thomas 2, Novak) you wouldn’t get excited? lol
no not really mate not in a friendly but would or will get exited when we win that first home game of our league season
Fair enough. Let’s hope we get it.
I’ll get excited after our third home win providing it isn’t after another 18 game drought. As for the season I am excited to see our new look team and getting behind the lads again, you can only do so much gardening and diy on a saturday afternoon, it gets boring unlike Blues, never a dull moment.
KRO+DNM
Sorry Staffs- lets get Donaldson first. It has gone a little quiet on that front, don’t you think? Maybe Ziggy has had a change of heart or maybe other teams are in for Donaldson….
Word is, he’s on his honeymoon. Would you get out of bed? lol
For £5000 a week- I would carry the bed back!
His missus would have to unlock the handcuffs first lol
That went over everybody’s head Dave.
must have been agreement between the clubs when shinnesa signed? must get me ticket for that one……………..
lets hope that if he gets a chance this season coming up that he takes it and gives us all insperation along with demaira gray and all the other new signings that lee as put together, inverness caledonian thistle does not fill me with to much exitement but a win at home in a friendly might be the kick up the backside we need to improve our atrocious home record, as for cambridge united which his max rushdens lot from soccer am will be again a great opportunity to put this home record to bed…..i know that that its a friendly and a cup game respectivly but it could get our league home form going which at the momment stands at 18 without a win. KRO.
dave we might have a brilliant home record this term, and s**t away record maybe horses for courses this term….you never know lol
would not supprise me one bit mark to be honest, if only we could put together last seasons away form and win a few at home then who knows what sort of season we could have.KRO.
What price 3 home games on the bounce? Callie Thistle, the league, then Cambridge. Don’t care who the opposition are, 3 wins at home would be a cracking start to the season.
i am sure Clark should be thinking that way, when heading into pre-season….
regarding the cup game, i dont believe this a be pushed over by any means, RM will have them prepared knowing blues mentality playing at home. For us it about doing all the things right on the day and doing a proffessional job on them.
Sorry, who’s RM?
sorry Doctor, Richard Money their manager…..
Also known as Dickie Cash
If he’s good enough to deserve his own chant that’s going to need a bit of thought. Traditionally though we seem to bring out the best in double-barrelled strikers – Gary Taylor-Fletcher always looked like a world beater against us.
on the Ireland trip is Clark only allow to take so many players??
gosh had to go back into my archives as a young boy 1979 steve lynex who remembers him…..we not got a good record at home to U’s oh dear….
Lynex was a cracking winger. I remember him more at Leicester though. He’s from the days when wingers could cross the ball accurately on the run.
yep, gary lineker and alan smith loved him as well staffs setting them up chances..
My favourite winger from back then, was Alan Hinton of Derby. An absolute magician on the left wing.
the famous white boots man? i use to love collecting football cards….until my mother said i had to many….
He had curly blond hair too, didn’t get as many caps for England that his style deserved, probably due to some little guy from Blackpool, Alan Ball.
KRO+DNM
I loved the old wingers… Hinton, Charlie Cooke, Jimmy Robertson, Willie Morgan and the like. Whenever they received the ball, there was a buzz around the crowd with expectation.
and everyone could cross the ball on the run with pinpoint accuracy, Gordon Taylor, Bert Murray and Trevor Hockey included from us.
Today they nearly always stop and look and still miss the target.
Those were the days when a winger got the ball you knew something would happen, a defender ending on his a**e and made to look silly, a cross followed by a great save or a goal.
KRO+DNM
Wingers back then were clever enough that they only needed to make half a yard of space to whip the ball around the defender. Also, their crosses curled away from the keeper, to tempt him off his line. Not like today, where 75% of crosses go straight into the keepers hands.
Only 75%… I think thats a tad conservative lol
But then the strikers ran on to crosses and attacked the ball and G*d forbid anyone getting in their way. Now they want it on a plate with silver service.
KRO+DNM
Ain’t that the truth!
When Mick Harford ran onto a cross the, as you say, God help any body who got in his way. What a fearsome centre forward!
Most centre forwards of that era did, Fred Pickering, Tony Hateley, Derek The Doog, Jeff Astle, all relied on crosses they could attack and they were not afraid to get hurt doing it.
KRO+DNM
They had a couple of crackers over the road too. Little right winger Johnny ‘Stumpy’ McLeod… and Willie Anderson on the left. Then there was Clive Clark at the Albion. Great players.
One of the best wingers of yesteryear was Dave Thomas of Burnley, QPR and Everton. He could cross a ball with both feet and laid on a number of Bob Latchford’s 30 goals in Bob’s record breaking season 1977/78.
I always remember two of the biggest divers at that time, were both named Thomas. Mickey and Dave. That was the annoying thing to me about Dave, he had enough skill not to resort to diving, but there you go.
On the subject of wingers, do you remember a winger from Chelsea who used to supply the crosses for Barry Bridges (also from Chelsea ) and Geoff Vowden (he of the lantern jaw) to score goals for us. Little fella called Bert Murray. I used to think he was greatly underrated..
Good player Bert. Wasn’t he also deployed at right back too?
Yes, Staffs Blue, he was right wing annd sometimes right back.
If we had a speedy winger like him now we wouldn’t have to wait half an hour for him to cross the ball. Unlike someone else I could mention (a recent player of ours).
What I don’t get is, if you’re a winger, wouldn’t you study clips of the greats and try to improve yourself by practice? Or are today’s players so superior? There’s barely a winger today who can cross on the run. Whoever teaches them to stop and p1ss about needs shooting. For me, if you can’t beat the full back and get a cross in first time… you ain’t a winger.
A bit of both Staffs, because they beat one they have to beat another etc… Then they think they are better than those who went before because they also have to do this dance they call stepovers and drag backs.
Beat the defender cross the ball- job done – Centre Forward runs in slams it in the net, then they can all do the dance, the celebratory dance.
KRO+DNM
“Beat the defender cross the ball- job done – Centre Forward runs in slams it in the net.”
No greater sight. Now THAT’S my kind of sexy football. :)
Mine too, and it is so simple, I can never understand how managers/coaches and players can make football difficult.
KRO+DNM
Because they have to justify their wages I suppose.
Wasn’t he signed as a right back when Ray Martin was injured and then pushed up the wing later?
KRO+DNM
You could well be right.
agreed staffs players want to many touches instead of getting the bloody thing over…
Callie will be a benchmark as to how our season will go. They are a good SPL team which I would put as a very decent Championship equivalent to Norwich or Fulham.
Cambridge will be tough as our home record will still be in players heads, however with so many new players we should overcome the psychological aspect.
Viv Solomon-Otabor signing a professional contract has to be good inspiration to other academy players and I wish the lad well, he ay go on loan to a div 2 team to begin with.
KRO+DNM
sorry chris W but i wouldnt say callie are of the equivelent of norwich or fulham, more like rotherham or brentford….more a league one side getting promoted than a premier league side getting relegated imo. KRO.
When I lived in the Highlands they were my local team and when they got promoted to the SPL I would have agreed, but now they give Celtic a good run for their money and on a shoestring budget Terry Butcher did a good job with them and raised the standards. They don’t get high fliers as there is virtually nothing to do up there except looking for old Nessie on a “moonlit nit, Och aye the noo”
KRO+DNM
More like a equivalent of…. Birmingham City.
sorry, I think their team would definitely be relegation candidates. Most of the team are English league rejects.
I think you might be surprised by the standard, when they first got promoted everyone thought they would be whipping boys but Terry Butcher got them playing well though they have slipped down the league since he left. Its a friendly at St Ans and give the home supporters their first glimpse of our new look side.
As someone pointed out friendlies are not worth much on paper, just another kick about.
KRO+DNM
Don’t think there will be many there Chris. Not many turn up to the Pre season friendly at St Andrews anyway.even less for this one i reckon.
I’ll be there for one, usually take my youngest grandson to the friendly at St Ans, his Mom is from other side of the Expressway, keeps moaning no one will take to a soccer match.
KRO+DNM
chris,there is no way you can compare them to Norwich or Fulham.They would be a average League 1 or a good league 2 team. As for the home record,it shouldn’t be in the players heads as most of them weren’t here last season.Let’s hope it isn’t in Elsie’s head anymore.
At the moment, we’ve brought in 6 new players, so the majority of the squad will have been here last season and been involved in the bad home record. Let’s just hope the new players can swing it our way.
with another 3 or 4 to come in most of the starting 11 may not have been here last season.
We have 13 senior players from last season, plus the likes of Bell, Brown and Gray. But I agree, with more additions, the starting 11 could look very different. I for one hope it does, because I wasn’t impressed with most of the squad last season (not counting the kids.)
The home record is what i said, new players so no psychological element. I watched Callie when I lived up there and was surprised by the quality of the football. But I am no expert.
KRO+DNM
callie thistle are as good as norwich or fulham? , u could buy the whole club for the cost of Redmond.League 2 more like.
Callie Thistle are nowhere the championship let alone the relegated prem teams. Celtic would struggle in the championship, the Scottish prem is dross and friendlies mean nothing regarding benchmarks to season to come as we know from previous seasons
What I meant to say is a benchmark to how far the new squad will look. I think you are being harsh on SPL football, it has come a long way but we shall see if they give a good game or not.
I do agree that we can’t take much from pre-season friendlies as they are more about fitness and combinations. It will be our last one before the main event so everyone should know their roles and be vying for a start to the campaign.
KRO+DNM
Well done viv ,the talk of wilbraham coming is not good news to me …1goal every 5 games in lower divisions is not going to keep us away from the bottom lot …..is the donaldson signing just tyre kicking to get season tickets sold ,we will soon see
In the BM this morning: “Brentford forward Clayton Donaldson looks set to join Blues on a Bosman free transfer once he is back from honeymoon in America next week.”
Talking of wingers Bertie auld also stick in my mind,playing in the inter cities fairs cup final …(Europa cup) against Roma ..Bertie a good average of a goal every 3.9 games from the wing also give good memories
What is great to see is another young player taking a leaf from another young player, and hopefully using that inspiration to the best of his ability. What’s more comforting about this is the fact they are our players…….kro
the fixtures are now out………..got to say though some tough ones lol….
Funnily enough it is seems same for all the teams, a bit unfair to me too.
Not an easy start though at Middlesbrough, only won once in the last 10 seasons up there.
Would have liked some summery seaside visits with only Bournemouth on Easter Monday likely to see decent weather but a nightmare for travelling.
KRO+DNM
in the first month 2 at home 3 away where 9 points lol
bolton last game computer having a laff look like another 3800 tickets lol
Can’t believe Bolton away in the last game again. Let’s hope we have safety well sewn up by then.
Hope so too, but it added to the atmosphere at Bolton. If we don’t leave it so late I wouldn’t mind another day like last season.
Who knows we might need the points for a play-off spot,or better still the championship title. Now that would be something.
KRO+DNM
Would you rather have had that day at Bolton, with all the excitement that went with it… or a dreary 18/19th place finish guaranteed with a month to go? :)
True, but I’m getting too old for such trauma, already had one heart scare and doctor told me not to put myself in stressful situations, nearly fell on the floor when I said I was a Birmingham City supporter :-). So lets hope we are battling it out at the other end of the table come May.
KRO+DNM
Good luck with the old ticker mate… you’re gonna need it. How are you with rollercoasters? ;)
Been on one for the last 50+ years Staffs, still get the thrill when it begins in August, and sometimes wish it would end early, still come off wobbly legged and tearful when it finishes in May regardless of the position.
KRO+DNM
That’s why your heart beats strong…. blue blood. :-D