All you ever wanted to know about someone called Dorian but were too macho to ask!

Dorian Dervite Vaussoue was born on the 25th July, 1988 making him 25 years old.

Dervite started his career with French club Lille but in July 2006 he moved to England to join and train in the Tottenham Hotspur youth academy.  He made his competitive debut for Tottenham in the 3–1 win over Port Vale in the League Cup 4th round on 8th November 2006 where he partnered Michael Dawson in the heart of the Spurs defence.

Dervite suffered a knee injury while playing for the Spurs reserve side during a friendly match against Norwich City in early January 2007, which kept him out for several months.  In January 2009, Dervite joined Southend United on loan until the end of the season. Dervite came second in Southend's player of the season vote after a very successful loan playing 18 league games (no goals).  He then signed for Villarreal B where he played 23 league matches, making his debut against Las Palmas.  Dervite left Villarreal B to sign for English Championship side Charlton Athletic.  Dervite scored his first Charlton goal in a 1–1 draw away at Leeds United.  On 17th May 2013, Dervite signed a one year contract extension.  In all Dorian played 70 league games for Charlton scoring 5 goals.

Dervite has represented France at U-15, U-16, U-17 an U-18 levels, he plays at international level for France U-19. He has been a regular for France's youth teams and has captained them on occasions. He was called up to the Under-21 squad to face Estonia and England.  He has been called for the international Toulon Tournament again with the U21, then against Poland and for the U21 European Championship qualifiers against Lithuania and Ukraine.  He scored his first goal for France in a home draw with Poland U21 on 12th August 2009 with an 80th minute shot to make it 2–1 to France with the game ending 2–2, his last game for the Under-21's came in their 3–1 away win over Slovenia U21 on 5th September 2009

Here's Dorian scoring a goal and sending the Charlton commentators 'nuts'! -

Welcome aboard Dorien - hard act to follow after Zat Knight.

Anybody read that last bit and thought I meant it?

You know me just too well!

Author: Sluffy

A quick introduction to our newest 'official' signing.

Liam Michael Feeney-Howard  was born on the 21st January, 1987 which makes him 27 years old.

Feeney joined League One side Southend United on loan from non-league Salisbury City until 3rd January 2009 in November 2008.  He made his debut (and only league appearance for them) after coming on as an 80th minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat to Leicester City on 6th December.  He signed for Bournemouth on 2 February for an undisclosed fee.

Feeney scored his first goal for Bournemouth during a 4–0 win over high flyers Rochdale.

He went on to make 109 league appearances for the 'cheries' scoring 12 goals.

He made his Millwall debut on 11th September 2011 against Birmingham City.  He was released by Millwall on 10 May 2014 after 73 league games and 5 goals.

On 27th September 2013 he joined Bolton on a three month loan deal.

He made his Bolton debut as a substitute for Lee Chung-Yong, the following day in a 1-1 draw against Yeovil Town at the Reebok Stadium.

Having impressed during his short stay at the Reebok Stadium, parent-club Millwall exercised their right to activate a 28-day recall clause due to injuries in their squad, meaning an earlier than expected return to The Den.  Liam played 4 league games for us but did not find the back of the net in any of the games.

Later the same season Feeney again went out on loan this time to Blackburn making just 6 league appearances and no goals.

A youtube clip of what he is capable of -

On 19 May 2014, Bolton Wanderers announced that Feeney would rejoin the club on a permanent deal once his Millwall contract had expired.

Welcome aboard Liam.

Author: Sluffy

(Or should that be David Nogood?)

N'Gog started his career with Paris Saint-Germain in 2001. He signed his first professional contract in June 2006, two years later he was at Liverpool!

Manager Rafael Benítez hailed his scouting network after his signing, saying that "They are finding players like N'Gog, players with quality who are not a high price".  N'Gog played his first game for Liverpool in a friendly game against Villarreal on 30th July 2008 and scored his first goal one game later against Rangers in another pre-season friendly.  He then followed this up by scoring Liverpool's final goal in their next pre-season friendly, a 4–1 win over Norwegian side Vålerenga IF.  He made his Premier League debut against Aston Villa, coming on as a substitute for Fernando Torres. N'Gog scored his first goal for Liverpool in their 3–1 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.  N'Gog made his first start for Liverpool on 7 February 2009 against Portsmouth, and scored his first league goal on 3rd March 2009 against Sunderland in a 2–0 win at Anfield.  N'Gog scored his second league goal for the club on 11th April 2009 against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield in an emphatic 4–0 win.

N'Gog scored his first goal of the new season with the final goal in a 4–0 home win against Stoke City.  This was his fourth career goal for Liverpool, three of which came in league matches. The following month, he then went on to score the winning goal in a third-round League Cup game, to win 1–0 away against Leeds United. On 25th October, in a crucial game against Manchester United, he came on for goalscorer Fernando Torres at Anfield, scoring a goal in the 96th minute in the 2–0 win to seal an important victory for Liverpool.  After the crunch tie, N'Gog said scoring the goal was "a fantastic moment for me and the team and I would say it's my best moment in football." He scored his fourth goal of the season on 9th November against Birmingham City before winning a controversial penalty that gave Liverpool a draw after Steven Gerrard converted from the spot.  N'Gog then scored Liverpool's only goal in their next match away to Debrecen in the Champions League.  Rafa Benitez showed his faith in N'Gog by handing him a start against Everton in the Merseyside derby; this match finished 2–0 to Liverpool.  He scored his fourth league goal (six in total of the 2009–10 season) in a 2–1 victory over Wigan Athletic.  N'Gog's goal nine minutes from time eventually broke the resistance of a determined Unirea Urziceni at Anfield in the Europa League.

On 29th July, N'Gog scored twice in Roy Hodgson's first competitive match as manager in Liverpool's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg 2–0 win over Macedonian side FK Rabotnički.  In the second leg of the tie played at Anfield, N'Gog scored the opening goal via a header and also won a penalty which Steven Gerrard scored, as Liverpool ran out 4–0 aggregate winners.

N'Gog then scored again in Liverpool's opening match of the season at home to Arsenal in a 1–1 draw by turning past Thomas Vermaelen and rifling the ball into the top corner of the net past Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. He was enjoying the best start to a Liverpool season before he was taken out of the squad that played West Brom for Fernando Torres. After being left out of the game against Birmingham City N'Gog shot to fire again in the Europa League, scoring two in Liverpool's 4–1 victory over Steaua Bucharest.  He scored an extra-time equaliser in the League Cup defeat to Northampton Town to take the tie to penalties, but missed his penalty in the shootout, and played the remaining 35 minutes in the Reds' frustrating 2–2 draw against Sunderland at Anfield.  On 3rd October, he replaced the injured Fernando Torres after just 10 minutes in their 2–1 home loss to Blackpool.  On 24th October, he replaced Joe Cole in the 80th minute in Liverpool's 2–1 Premier League win at Anfield against Blackburn Rovers. He replaced Cole for the second time, in Liverpool's 1–0 Premier League win against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium on 31 October. N'gog was praised by Sam Allardyce for the way in which his introduction changed the game for Liverpool, indirectly leading to their late winner.  He continued to be an impact sub from the bench, following the departure of Fernando Torres, and the signings of Luis Suárez and Andy Carroll and often finding himself in the starting line-up. He ended his Liverpool career at the end of the 2010–11 season with a record of 19 goals in 94 games.

On 31st August 2011, for £4 million transfer fee, Liverpool announced that N'Gog had completed a move to Bolton Wanderers in a three-year deal.  N'Gog made his first appearance for Bolton as a substitute for Kevin Davies in Bolton's 5–0 defeat to Manchester United at the Reebok Stadium on 10th September. His first goal for Bolton Wanderers came in Bolton's 3–1 win against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on 15th October.  Fulham made an unsuccessful £3 million bid for him in August 2012.  (Need I remind anyone that it was Coyle who turned down the bid!!!).

On 27 January 2014, N'Gog joined Premier League side Swansea City until the end of the season, signing for an undisclosed fee.  He made his debut for the club on the 1 February 2014 as a substitute for Nathan Dyer in a 2-0 away defeat to West Ham United.  On the 15th of May, N'Gog's contract expired and as a result became a free agent.

Even after all that Nogood (Ngog) is still only 25, so no doubt he will once again join up with the genius who snapped him up for a bargain £4 million and who poo-pooed a miraculous £3 million bid for him from Fulham - yes, the best manager he's ever been, Mr ping-pong Owen Coyle.

Take a bow Owen and thank you.

It's enough to make you cry.

Still it's only football eh!

Author: Sluffy

A look back on the career to date of Chris Eagles.

Eagles made his first-team debut for Manchester United on 28th October 2003 as a second-half substitute for Kieran Richardson in an extra-time win away to Leeds United in the League Cup. He played once more that season, this time as a substitute for Cristiano Ronaldo as United lost 2–0 away to West Bromwich Albion in a League Cup Fourth Round tie.

On 21st December 2006, Eagles decided to take the option of returning to Manchester United after struggling to get many games at NEC Nijmegen. He only made 11 appearances for NEC, with the majority coming as a substitute. On 13th March 2007, Eagles featured in the second half for United in an exhibition match at Old Trafford against Marcello Lippi's Europe XI.

On 28th April 2007, Eagles scored his first senior goal for United in a 4–2 Premier League win over Everton. After coming on as a second half substitute, he scored a 93rd-minute goal to put the result beyond doubt and putting Manchester United five points clear in their race for the Premier League title. On 20th July 2007, during Manchester United's tour of Asia, he scored in a friendly match against FC Seoul. He also scored a spectacular 35-yard volley in a friendly match against Shenzhen FC four days later, bringing his total for the tour to three goals in five games. Eagles scored another pre-season goal the following year, netting United's equaliser against Kaizer Chiefs to earn a 1–1 draw. He also started in the pre-season game against Portsmouth in Nigeria, scoring United's opening goal.

Eagles was loaned to Watford on 21st January 2005, for whom he made 13 appearances and scored one goal (against Gillingham). He was also loaned to Sheffield Wednesday for the first half of the 2005–06 season. He scored his first goal for Sheffield Wednesday in their derby match against Leeds. He ended his loan spell with a total of three goals for Wednesday.

On 6th January 2006, Eagles was again loaned to Watford, making his debut against his future employers Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup, with the Hornets going down 3–0. In his first league appearance for Watford against Stoke City, he scored the only goal of the match for Watford. His winning goal in the 1–0 away win at Brighton & Hove Albion on 18th February from 50 yards (almost the halfway line) – reminiscent of David Beckham's goal for Manchester United against Wimbledon a decade earlier – won him the club's goal of the season award. He also scored the first goal in the 4–1 thrashing away at Sheffield United, and David Unsworth was sent off for elbowing him. Having played almost every game for the Hornets since his loan move, Eagles was put on the bench for the play-off games.

On 31st August 2006, Eagles agreed to spend four months on loan at Dutch outfit NEC Nijmegen, in order to gain more experience.

On 29th July 2008, Eagles signed for Burnley on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. Manager Owen Coyle said, "He can play as a striker, or behind the striker or wide or as a central midfielder. He gives you a host of variations, but outwith that he's a talented footballer and that's what we want – young exciting talents to complement the quality we already have." Eagles made his league debut for Burnley on 9th August 2008 in a 4–1 loss to Sheffield Wednesday. On 27th September 2008, he scored his first goal for Burnley in a 3–1 victory over rivals Preston North End, scoring in the 95th minute.

In July 2010 the Clarets accepted a bid from Scottish champions Rangers to buy Eagles, but the player was unable to agree terms with the Scottish club and remained in England. He went on to score 15 goals in 48 appearances in his final season with Burnley.

On 29thuly 2011, Eagles and his Burnley team-mate Tyrone Mears joined Bolton Wanderers on three-year contract for a joint fee in the region of £3 million, linking up with their ex-manager Owen Coyle for a second time in their careers. He made his debut in a 4–0 away win at Queens Park Rangers on 13th August, where he created an assist for the second goal put in his own net by Danny Gabbidon. On 20th September, he scored his first goal for Bolton, from twenty five yards, in the League Cup Third Round 2–0 away win against Aston Villa. His first League goal for Bolton came on 15th October in a 3–1 win away to Wigan Athletic, where he also assisted the first goal, an own goal by Gary Caldwell. He also scored a brace in the 5–0 home win against Stoke City on 6th November. He found himself out of the starting line-up for a few games for a while due to Tuncay Şanlı being in form, but he came back to the starting line-up on 21st April 2012, where he scored in a 1–1 draw at home to Swansea City, and kept his place the following game, in the 2–1 away win to Aston Villa, where he provided the assist for the winning goal from David Ngog. At the end of the season, Bolton were relegated to the Championship.

Eagles became a key player for Bolton upon their return to the Championship and has been Bolton's top scorer from early in the season, scoring six times in the first few months against Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Birmingham City, Millwall and Bristol City but despite being named Player of the Month by the fans for August, September and October of the new season, Bolton were in the bottom half of the table. Following Owen Coyle's sacking Dougie Freedman said that he wanted to base his team around Eagles. In 2013 Bolton's fortunes changed as they went from 20th to 6th within two months. However, come the end of the season they finished seventh meaning that they did not make the play-off places.

Eagles finished the season as Bolton's top goalscorer with twelve goals, and also created the most number of goals, with twelve assists. His form in April earned him a nomination for the Football League Championship Player of the Month.

At the end of the 2013-14 season he was released by the club along with Zat Knight, Tyrone Mears and Jay Lynch.


Luxury player imo, someone who can have a bit of magic from time to time to turn games BUT someone who doesn't put a shift in to help defend in front of the defence and as such it seems like we took to the field with ten men at times - nine when Petrov was playing as well.

Great vision once again by Coyle to sign Eagles (and Petrov too!).

Thanks Owen.

Author: Sluffy

A look back on the career to date of Tyrone Mears.

Mears came through the ranks at Manchester City and signed trainee forms in August 2001. Mears only made one appearance for City, replacing Stuart Pearce as a substitute in the 84th minute against Nottingham Forest in March 2002. On Manchester City's promotion to the FA Premier League in 2002, Mears' first-team opportunities became limited and he was sold to Preston North End.

Mears joined Preston in July 2002, for a fee of £200,000. He signed a three-year contract and was expected to provide cover for Graham Alexander. He made his debut for Preston as a substitute in a 3–3 draw with Walsall in October 2002, and went on to make a total of 24 league and cup appearances in the 2002–03 season, as Preston finished in mid-table of the Football League Championship. He made only 14 appearances in the 2003–04 season and five in the 2004–05 season as a stress fracture put him out of the game for ten months. Despite his long-term injury, he was offered and signed a further three-year contract in March 2005, saying "I was out for 10 months so you worry about what is going to happen to you. You need to be in the team but Preston have been very good to me and I can't speak more highly of the manager. Last season to get the stress fracture was very hard but that's all behind me now and I'm looking forward to a fresh start with a three-year deal." He made 39 league and cup appearances in the 2005–06 season as Preston reached the Championship play-offs semi-final. During that season, instead of having his surname Mears on the back of his shirt, he had his nickname "Tye", a rare occurrence in English football. In July 2006, after rejecting two bids from Charlton Athletic, Preston accepted an offer for Mears from West Ham United.

Mears signed for West Ham for an initial £1 million in July 2006, rising to £1.9 million depending on appearances and possible future international recognition with England. However, he was only to make six league and cup appearances for West Ham as he struggled to break into the first team. He memorably produced an athletic overhead clearance on the line, after Stiliyan Petrov lobbed West Ham keeper Roy Carroll in a match against Aston Villa in September 2006.

With his opportunities in the West Ham first-team limited, he was allowed to join Derby County on loan until the end of the 2006–07 season in January 2007.[9] Derby manager, Billy Davies, who had managed Mears at his previous club Preston, said of him, ""He is a very attacking full-back with excellent pace who adds great competition. Ideally we would like to make this deal permanent in the summer." He made his debut as an 84th minute substitute in a 1–0 win at Southampton on 3 February, and went on to make a total of 17 league and cup appearances, as Derby were promoted to the Premier League after beating West Bromwich Albion in the Championship play-off final in May. Mears then joined Derby permanently for £1 million in July 2007, signing a three-year contract. Manager Billy Davies said, ""We're delighted with this deal. Tye is a very good young full back with excellent pace and potential. We need him for the challenge ahead and I know he is committed to working hard." A stress fracture sustained in January 2008 ruled him out for three months of the 2007–08 season. Mears scored his first goal for Derby against Leeds United in a 2–0 win on the last day of the 2006–07 season. Mears scored his second goal for Derby in April 2008 against his former club West Ham.

On 29th August 2008, Mears caused controversy when he flew to France to go on trial with Olympique de Marseille without the express permission of Derby manager Paul Jewell. Jewell responded, saying that Mears would never play for the club again whilst he was in charge, and the club fined Mears six weeks wages. Following the trial, the clubs agreed that Mears would go on loan to Marseille for the duration of the 2008–09 season, for a loan fee of £160,000, with the French club having the option to buy him for £1.5m at the end of the loan. A combination of injury and the good form of Laurent Bonnart meant that Mears did not make his first appearance for Marseille until the UEFA Cup tie against FC Twente in mid-January. Following an injury in March that ruled Bonnart out for the rest of the season, Mears filled in at right full-back in his absence. He made his league debut against Paris Saint-Germain. His first goal for Marseille came in the second leg of a UEFA Cup knockout-stage match against Ajax. His goal, scored in the 20th minute of extra time, gave Marseille a 4–3 win on aggregate, allowing the team to progress to the competition's quarter-final round. Mears went on to make seven appearances in all competitions. Marseille decided not to take up the option of signing him at the end of his loan spell and he returned to Derby on 3 June 2009, with his future at the club in doubt.

On 26th June 2009, he was the subject of an accepted £500,000 (rising to £600,000 with add-ons) bid from Premier League side Burnley. He completed the move, signing a three-year deal on 30 June. Mears made his Burnley debut in a 2–0 defeat at Stoke City. He played in all 38 games as Burnley were relegated after finishing 18th in the 2009–10 Premier League and accumulated just 30 points. Following relegation, Mears began looking for a move away from Turf Moor due to his desire to remain in the top flight.

He scored his first goal for Burnley in a 2–1 win over his former club Derby County on 27th November 2010.

On 29 July 2011, Mears, along with Burnley teammate Chris Eagles, joined Bolton Wanderers on a three-year contract for a joint fee in the region of £3 million. However, on 4th August he broke his leg in a training session. Manager Owen Coyle later said he expected Mears to be absent for a minimum of five months. On 24th January 2012, Mears played his first full ninety minutes since his injury in the Reserve team's 1–0 defeat to Sunderland Reserves, he was an unused substitute in Bolton's 2–1 FA Cup win over Swansea City on 28th January. He made his full debut for the club when being named in the starting line up for the game at Norwich City on 4th February, which Bolton eventually lost 2–0. However, following the game Mears complained about a pain in the leg that had been broken the previous August and, after a screw was removed from the leg, manager Owen Coyle said he expected Mears to be out of action until late March. Mears didn't make another appearance for the rest of the season.

At the end of the 2013-14 season he was released by the club along with Chris Eagles, Zat Knight and Jay Lynch.

Though English by birth, Mears believed he had Jamaican ancestry and it was reported on 4th February 2009, that he had accepted an offer to play for the Jamaica national football team. Mears made his debut on 11th February 2009 against Nigeria, playing 71 minutes of the 0–0 draw at the New Den. Mears said, "It was a fantastic feeling to be selected. When John Barnes first phoned me I was really excited. It's a fantastic opportunity to play for Jamaica." Despite making an appearance for Jamaica, it was later revealed that Mears' father, whom he thought he qualified through, was actually from Sierra Leone.

His international career sums it all up really - didn't even now who is father was!

Another top drawer signing from Coyle, I don't know how he kept doing it?

Thank you, Owen.

Author: Sluffy