Publisert
5/22/2009
av
Hyllest fra Setanta Sports.
When Graeme Souness signed the then grossly under-appreciated Tugay Kerimoglu from Glasgow Rangers in 2001, the Scot said that he was the player he hoped he himself could have been.
Souness wasn’t always a good judge of a player, he did sign Ali Dia and once thought that Paul Stewart was an adequate replacement for Peter Beardsley, but, for spending the best £1 million Blackburn Rovers have ever spent, his team´s supporters and adherents of the beautiful game are eternally grateful.
After eight years of Turkish Delight at Ewood Park, time has finally caught up with Tugay, who at 38, is the Premier League’s oldest outfield player. Sam Allardyce, the man who had the unenviable task of calling to a halt what has come to resemble an extended swansong.
Tugay, who enters his 40th year in August, will almost certainly hang up his boots after Sunday´s match against West Bromwich Albion.
A range of passing from five yards to 50, Tugay has been called a pass-master, his team´s midfield maestro. Put more simply, he is the greatest midfielder to ever wear the blue and white halves.
Few players can manipulate a football with such dexterity. Among his peers, perhaps only Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez is a comparable flower-arranger.
Searching for Tugay’s most memorable moments, it is rather like flicking through FHM’s Sexiest Women and being asked to pick a definitive winner. The highlights, like the women, are innumerable. Arguments between friends will almost certainly ensue.
Two moments stand out for me. The 40-yard through ball with the outside of his right boot that set Andy Cole away at Fulham and the spectacular volley against Tottenham at Ewood Park.
If Tugay, in a shroud of cigar smoke looks wistfully back and thinks of what might have been, perhaps he will regret not showcasing his talent for one of England’s Champions League regulars. The acclaim that he receives at Rovers would more frequently have traversed the borders of East Lancashire.
Villa Park or The KC Stadium will be the scene of a tearful goodbye on the league’s final day, but, for different reasons, Ewood Park will bid adieu and the fondest of all farewells.