Basile Boli

Davger

Well-Known Member
Watching Duffy the past few weeks I can’t help but see certain similarities not so much as players but there effect on a team/defence.

Now again I’m in no way am I saying they are comparable as players when Boli came to us he was the Big signing of the summer (same summer we all found God too) and was a champions league winner but man he was terrible for us. You’d think he would be tailor made for our league physically strong great in the air etc but he was basically done physically and mentally If I’m being honest when we got him ( his birth certificate said he was 27 :oops::oops:)
On Heart and Hand’s wonderful through the windows transfer show David Edgar was saying how we basically had to rearrange to a back three to compensate having Boli in the team because realistically he couldn’t be left out because of who he was and thats there issue with Duffy he cant be dropped......which is wonderful to watch being on this side of it.
Anyway what’s everyone saying memories of Boli?

Mine isn’t him sticking the nut on Pearce, scoring the winner in a champions league final ( only a year before joining us too) or depriving us all of Marco van basten but of my first European game at Ibrox when he played right back...Hateley and Ferguson up front :D Also remember being right behind the goal when he scored at Brockvile
We still scooshed the league that year right enough and I’m sure we got decent percentage of the money back.
 
One of the signings I got most excited about in that era. That didn’t last long, he played more like Basil Brush.

Not helped by a square peg in a round hole situation. My favourite memory is actually *that* Walter interview in the tunnel.... nothing on the pitch stands out for me right now.
 
Yeah I couldn’t believe when we signed him that he would fail, thought he would batter every striker in our league.
 
It was really sad the way it worked out.
He was one of the best centre halves in the world at the time.
He was brutal and powerful on the ground and in the air. Organiser and a leader.
Then he came to us and looked lost and slow and basically showed nothing of the world class defender he was prior to arriving in Scotland.
 
The signing of Boli was a helluva coup that quickly descended into farce. Point in case, the club had no idea whatsoever he was banned from the first leg v Athens because we didn't bother to check until UEFA told us he was.

The writing was on the wall for his long term future at the club when he gave the interview to L'Equipe not long after signing and torched Walter and the squad's approach to the 2nd leg v Athens, saying it was an absolute joke in terms of preparation. We got the usual "lost in translation" excuse and the Scottish media defending Walter against the big bad foreign troublemaker but everything he said was spot on and came to a head two years later in Zurich against Grasshoppers when Christian Gross basically said the same thing.

As for his performances, supposedly he had a degenerative knee injury that basically got worse and worse as the season went on and the heavy pitches took their toll.

Bought for £2.7m, sold for £1.5m a year later. Boli should've been at the absolute peak of his powers when he signed for us(27 years of age)

It wasn't supposed to turn out the way it did.
 
Scottish football is its own game and it can take a while to adjust. He went from playing against George weah to Ally graham and Alan Lawrence. Even at that class has to over come eventually right?
I’m sure it was joey Barton ( maybe that’s a better comparison with Duffy in some ways) said that Scottish football is technically limited but he’s never played anywhere that teams really work there bollocks off.
 
Boli won the Champions League

Duffy won promotion from the Championship.

Both dumplings as far as impact on Scottish football goes
 
The signing of Boli was a helluva coup that quickly descended into farce. Point in case, the club had no idea whatsoever he was banned from the first leg v Athens because we didn't bother to check until UEFA told us he was.

The writing was on the wall for his long term future at the club when he gave the interview to L'Equipe not long after signing and torched Walter and the squad's approach to the 2nd leg v Athens, saying it was an absolute joke in terms of preparation. We got the usual "lost in translation" excuse and the Scottish media defending Walter against the big bad foreign troublemaker but everything he said was spot on and came to a head two years later in Zurich against Grasshoppers when Christian Gross basically said the same thing.

As for his performances, supposedly he had a degenerative knee injury that basically got worse and worse as the season went on and the heavy pitches took their toll.

Bought for £2.7m, sold for £1.5m a year later. Boli should've been at the absolute peak of his powers when he signed for us(27 years of age)

It wasn't supposed to turn out the way it did.
I remember the article in papers and as you say somethings were spot on the media really focused on how he moaned about wearing a shirt and tie to a match ( bizarre thing to focus on)
What would say the equivalent singing would be these days?
 
Boli won the Champions League

Duffy won promotion from the Championship.

Both dumplings as far as impact on Scottish football goes
I know mate there is no comparison on the stature of sIgning.
It just find it very similar the way it effects how they play. Could also be said they were murder before he got involved too.
 
I remember the article in papers and as you say somethings were spot on the media really focused on how he moaned about wearing a shirt and tie to a match ( bizarre thing to focus on)
What would say the equivalent singing would be these days?
Modern equivalent would be someone like Kalidou Koulibaly
 
The signing of Boli was a helluva coup that quickly descended into farce. Point in case, the club had no idea whatsoever he was banned from the first leg v Athens because we didn't bother to check until UEFA told us he was.

The writing was on the wall for his long term future at the club when he gave the interview to L'Equipe not long after signing and torched Walter and the squad's approach to the 2nd leg v Athens, saying it was an absolute joke in terms of preparation. We got the usual "lost in translation" excuse and the Scottish media defending Walter against the big bad foreign troublemaker but everything he said was spot on and came to a head two years later in Zurich against Grasshoppers when Christian Gross basically said the same thing.

As for his performances, supposedly he had a degenerative knee injury that basically got worse and worse as the season went on and the heavy pitches took their toll.

Bought for £2.7m, sold for £1.5m a year later. Boli should've been at the absolute peak of his powers when he signed for us(27 years of age)

It wasn't supposed to turn out the way it did.

Agree. But from memory 28/29 year old Boli was playing in Japan.
 
Playing him at right back against Athens wasn’t Walters best decision.
The guy was a centre half that had scored the winner in a European cup final.
Bizarre.
 
Playing him at right back against Athens wasn’t Walters best decision.
The guy was a centre half that had scored the winner in a European cup final.
Bizarre.
I know and remember at the time it being said wait till he’s at Center half then oh fur fucksake.

Memories of him would be a lot worse if Laudrup hadn’t been so amazing that you kind of forgot all about Boli. We signed McLaren about November I think and that certainly helped.
 
It can often be seen as a cheap, lazy and indeed borderline racist comment to make about African born footballers and ages but there has been many suggestions and some confirmed cases of birth certificate falsification.

At times this is understandable due to the unequal and at times non-existent levels of registration of births in many African countries.

Boil certainly retired early, although injuries played a part.
 
Capucho and Giuvarch spring to mind.
Capucho I always thought was one of them he used to be a player signings while Boli was supposed to be in his prime.

We must have spent some money on Capucho as I’m sure the treacle he ran on didnt come for free.
 
It’s just a fact to state African players often have dodgy birth certificates. Taribo West was in his early fifties when he retired, and he’s only a few years older than Kanu. Guys like Martins and Agahowa were/are demonstrably much older than they claimed to be.

On Sunday, Clive said Efe Ambrose had just turned 32!
 
He was slow and looked like he didn't want to be here. He also looked about 45.

The playing him out of position thing which always comes up in these threads is a bit misleading as he was equally useless at centre back.
 
For me, he was the biggest disappointment I've ever seen in a blue Jersey. For younger bears, we signed a guy who won the champions league, scoring the winning goal. He was 27, had performed brilliantly against us, was strong, quick, great with the Ball and a threat at set pieces.

After 3 games... He looked like he'd never kicked a ball in his life. I remember him being ragdolled at Easter Road versus Hibs. I simply couldn't fathom how someone could go from one of the best defenders in the world to looking like an incompetent. Walter also played him in the holding midfield role in a few games. Think an expensive version of Kyle Hutton.
 
I think he was pissed off with getting played in the right back position in Athens, he got an absolute doing.
He was probably baffled, as to why he was playing there, being one of the best centre half’s in Europe, Champions league winning goal scorer, and downed tools.
 
I remember the article in papers and as you say somethings were spot on the media really focused on how he moaned about wearing a shirt and tie to a match ( bizarre thing to focus on)
What would say the equivalent singing would be these days?

I'm sure he mentioned the rule of wearing a shirt and tie to report for training was simply playing at being professional when 15 minutes before an important European match there's still not been any tactics discussed and half the players are having a carry on in the dressing room.
 
He was poor for us, funnily enough though, I remember him having a cracking game at Easter Road in amongst the poop.
 
Was he not also known to swallow his tongue on occasion? Just googled it and looks like it happened after he left us for Monaco, but I thought it also happened once when he played with us.
 
Playing him at right back against Athens wasn’t Walters best decision.
The guy was a centre half that had scored the winner in a European cup final.
Bizarre.

He was also a centre half who typically played in a back five with a sweeper.

The signing was typical of Smith / Murray / Rangers in the 90s. It was Championship Manager style "get this name in" signings instead of actually figuring out whether he'd fit the team.

Like when we chased Raducioiu all summer in 94 who had looked a quick goal scoring out and out striker for Romania in the WC cup and we eventually got Salenko who was a (far) slower link man.

The L'Equipe interview basically finished his career. It appeared, just like PLG years later, he wanted out not long after he arrived.

There are certain cultures that just don't adapt to playing in Scotland and it's maybe the case that the French nature didn't help.
 
He wasn't great in the j league either after us. I seen him a handful of times when I lived in Tokyo. Seen a few of our ex players over the years in Japan and it was nothing more than a payday for them.

Pieter Huistra was the exception, loved him at rangers and he used to put a good shift in for San Frecce
 
I remember the first time I saw play for us was at Firhill and couldn't help thinking what a come down- from scoring the winning goal in the Champions League Final to playing at Firhill o_O
 
I'm sure he mentioned the rule of wearing a shirt and tie to report for training was simply playing at being professional when 15 minutes before an important European match there's still not been any tactics discussed and half the players are having a carry on in the dressing room.

If accurate (and not necessarily doubting you) then that is criminal.

Basically putting the whole 'standards and traditions' allure before the actual match.
 
Watching Duffy the past few weeks I can’t help but see certain similarities not so much as players but there effect on a team/defence.

Now again I’m in no way am I saying they are comparable as players when Boli came to us he was the Big signing of the summer (same summer we all found God too) and was a champions league winner but man he was terrible for us. You’d think he would be tailor made for our league physically strong great in the air etc but he was basically done physically and mentally If I’m being honest when we got him ( his birth certificate said he was 27 :oops::oops:)
On Heart and Hand’s wonderful through the windows transfer show David Edgar was saying how we basically had to rearrange to a back three to compensate having Boli in the team because realistically he couldn’t be left out because of who he was and thats there issue with Duffy he cant be dropped......which is wonderful to watch being on this side of it.
Anyway what’s everyone saying memories of Boli?

Mine isn’t him sticking the nut on Pearce, scoring the winner in a champions league final ( only a year before joining us too) or depriving us all of Marco van basten but of my first European game at Ibrox when he played right back...Hateley and Ferguson up front :D Also remember being right behind the goal when he scored at Brockvile
We still scooshed the league that year right enough and I’m sure we got decent percentage of the money back.
I remember Basil played as a winger away to Raith Rovers one night
 
I'm sure he mentioned the rule of wearing a shirt and tie to report for training was simply playing at being professional when 15 minutes before an important European match there's still not been any tactics discussed and half the players are having a carry on in the dressing room.
Your bang on with that mate it was about the shirt and tie for training.
Your also correct that it was playing at being professional back then. It worked one season 92/93 unfortunately that was the exception.
As some posted earlier buying him was like football manger. Big name not to matter he doesn’t fit the way we play and that’s the point about Duffy........all be it a far,far,far lesser name but with political or religious caveat I forget which one or both.
 
He was played at right back in a European match against AEK Athens at Ibrox and was like a fish out of water as he was far more effective at Centre half but he was still a far better player than Duffy.

Jim Duffy would perform better than Shane Duffy even at present. The latter is is the worst centre half at Torbett Towers that I can think of and long may he continue in that role.
 
Had his best game for us alongside Alan Mclaren at Hampden against the mentally challengeds in the league.
Was that the 3-1 game? My memory is hazy. We couldn't get tickets but my dad went to hampden & got a ticket outside the ground for the Celtic end. I've stood & sat in with the home supporters a few times but I don't think I would be able to contain myself under those circumstances lol
 
I remember a newspaper headline - 'Good golly it's Boli'

I also remember he played in a pre-season friendly against Man Utd, we won 1- 0, and Cantona got sent off. He was excellent in that game, and I thought he would go on to be a legend.
 
Was that the 3-1 game? My memory is hazy. We couldn't get tickets but my dad went to hampden & got a ticket outside the ground for the Celtic end. I've stood & sat in with the home supporters a few times but I don't think I would be able to contain myself under those circumstances lol
Yes,that's the game. They had a fair few empty seats that day.If I remember rightly our allocation was around 4k.
 
That game against Athens still gives me the fear when I think about it. Boil at right back if I remember right
 
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