Mido’s assurances: worthless (part 2)

Back in December Sport Without Spin expressed a degree of doubt regarding Mido’s promise reported in The Sun “to weigh in with a bucketload of goals next term — after shedding TWO STONES this summer.” Our article noted that he had quite a track record of losing weight, promising goals, then getting injured, getting fat again, and scoring few goals in the process.

So, it is no great surprise to us that since the start of the season he has struggled with injury, weighed in with a modest 4 goals in 13 games, and been farmed out on loan to Wigan. What is more, he has continued to contradict himself on a frightening basis, not least with his exit from Middlesbrough.

Back in September, Mido appeared determined to shake off his reputation as one of football’s nomads, reported by Sky Sports, revealing that he considered leaving the Riverside before resolving to fight for his place:

"I have made mistakes in my career with some of my moves. I didn't stay and fight for my position," he said.

"Now I have to learn from the past and think that it is not always an option to go somewhere else when I am not in the team. Sometimes you have to test yourself. You have to do everything you can to earn yourself a position in the starting 11."

Mido admitted he was close to quitting Boro just 12 months after arriving on Teesside.

"At certain moments I was very close to leaving Middlesbrough," he confessed.

"But when I spoke to the manager I was told that I was part of his plans and he wanted me to stay. I have had several clubs, that's true, but maybe it's time for me to face the problems and fight for my position.”

Still, those of us weary of Mido’s track record of sticking to his word could point to the word “sometimes” in the sentence “Sometimes you have to test yourself” with cynicism and could sense the significance of the word “maybe” in his suggestion that “maybe it's time for me to face the problems and fight for my position.”

Or maybe not….

Come the January transfer window, cynics were rewarded as Mido plotted his exit route. On January 14^th he denied reports of an imminent switch to Turkish outfit Besiktas but paved the way for a move to what would be his third Premier League club, with Sky Sports reporting his statement as follows:

"No one has spoken with me about an offer from Besiktas, and I am not interested in playing in Turkey anyways.

"It surprises me why my name is usually mentioned in Turkish media. Last season they claimed I was going to Fenerbahce as well."

He added: "I am willing to remain in the Premier League. If Boro agreed to sell me to an English club then I will go, otherwise I am staying for now."

Sure enough, Wigan came in for him in January to replace Villa-bound Heskey, and all of his determination to “face the problems and fight for my position” in September 2008 had transformed into enthusiasm for Wigan’s pursuit of a UEFA Cup spot according to the BBC:

"Wigan are a club moving in the right direction, who play great football and their league position is no fluke," said Mido.

The Sun reported how Southgate had given up on the Egyptian’s potential, and Mido confirmed that his departure to Wigan was imminent:

Boro boss Gareth Southgate has lost patience with the Egyptian, who has fitness troubles and a poor attitude, and has given Wigan permission to talk to him.

Mido said: “My exit from Middlesbrough is almost certain, I am 95 per cent sure. There are talks with Wigan and I’d be happy to play alongside Amr Zaki.”

It seems that since November, Mido had found facing his problems pretty depressing and fighting for his place easier said than done as Middlesbrough struggled in the league. Following his loan move, the Sunday Mirror, reported how jumping ship quickly became the favourable option for the wannabe warrior inside of Mido that had briefly surfaced in September 2008, as the double whammy of fighting for his place in a team fighting for survival became too much.

"I was far from being happy at Boro," he told Egyptian TV. "The situation of the club was very poor due to bad results, and this atmosphere allowed more problems to surface.

"I started feeling I need to be in another place to feel happy again. For a month and a half, I didn't feel happy to train at Boro because of the many problems there.

"I started to feel happy again when I attended my first training session with Wigan on Friday."

Still, given that Mido’s word is completely worthless, nobody should rule out him returning to Middlesbrough at the end of his loan spell and announcing himself slimmer and dedicated to fighting for the Teesiders next season should they maintain top flight status. If the Sun's comments upon leaving the Riverside are to be believed, he has previous here. After joining Middlesbrough, he was quick to dismiss his time at Spurs as a big mistake, reported by the Mail at the time…

"I made a big mistake when I signed permanently for Spurs. I know that this could result in problems but it is the truth."

…Yet in reporting his proposed move to Wigan, the Sun insisted he had texted Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy begging to return for another “big mistake”:

Boro's Mido is a txt pest

MIDO has sent Spurs chairman Daniel Levy a text in a desperate bid to quit Middlesbrough.

The striker, 25, was at Spurs for two years until his £6million move to the Riverside in August 2007 and would love to return to White Hart Lane.”

Would love to return to a club he made a big mistake signing for? Quite how The Sun uncovered this textual revelation we don’t quite know, and how much truth there is in it we can only speculate, but it doesn’t make it any less fun to imagine quite how this text conversation could have panned out...

Mido: alrite levy, can i come play 4 spurs again?

Levy: who is this?

Mido: me mido.

Levy: soz mido deleted ur number when u slagged us off.

Mido: thing is boro is rubbish i wanna come back.

Levy: though we woz a big mistake?

Mido: you woz, but boro is a bigger mistake, lol!

Levy: we don’t need u we got more £££ for better players.

Mido: i got potential tho.

Levy: But u r fat + can’t run u can just about walk - like an Egyptian, lol!

Mido: not funny, pls let me play 4 u again i will get fit + score goals.

Levy: Herd it b4 fatty, not hapnin.

Mido: fine, am off 2 wigan laterz levy.