Balde, Bobo

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Bobo’s Gonna Get Ye’!

Personal

Full Name: Dianbobo Balde
aka: Bobo Balde
Height: 6.03
Weight: 13.06
Born: 13 Oct 1975
Birthplace: Marseille, France
Signed: 21 July 2001 (£900k from Toulouse)
Left: 1 July 2009
Position: Defender
Squad Number: 6
Debut: […]
Nationality: French
Internationals: Guinea
International Caps: 27
International Goals: 4
KDS Honours
MOTM Winners 2007-08
26-Dec-07 Dundee Utd 0 v 2 Celtic SPL

Biog Balde, Bobo - Pic

Summary Born 13 October 1975 in France
Signed 21-07-2001 for a reported £900k from Toulouse [BBC]
The transfer fee was wiped however when Toulouse enter financial difficulties

French born Bobo Balde is a man with the physique that would scare even the hardiest of men. He had the build of a giant rugby player and the fearsome aura that made many players shrink. Bought back in 2001 the defender was a very Martin O’Neill type signing: a physical no-nonsense player out to bolster the strength of the side and the fear factor for opponents, and that he did in droves. His physical presence was enough to give the oppositions jitters, and in various cases many shirked at the opportunity of going into a tackle against the big guy. As the chant went “Bobo’s gonna get ye!!!!!“.

As a player, he was combative, playing in the central defence, and coming into the side at the deep end when Celtic were defending the league title. A rough diamond of a player, there was only one outcome when he went into a tackle, and that was that he came away with the ball. However, that was half the problem as well, as too often his abrasive style led to cheap free-kicks for the opposition. Still, he made himself a certain start in defence under Martin O’Neill, and many were willing to overlook his failings whilst we were winning in the belief that the manager would smooth out the rough edges to Bobo’s game.  Some were more caustic, for example the Scotsman newspaper described his talent with the following double-edged comment:

“Balde’s great asset and the one quality which has over-ridden a fairly limited footballing ability is his iron will”.

As he got going, he not only defended well but scored some goals along the way, including a headed goal in a Scottish Cup final against Rangers (although sadly in that case we did lose that game). Not that he ever let the final result get him down, and gave his all in every game.

A mainstay in the UEFA Cup squad in 2002-03, he played in 12 of the 13 games in the Road to Seville, as Celtic reached the final and ultimately lost to Porto. Along the way, Bobo played his part in Celtic gaining a good defensive record in the tournament, a great feat taking in the quality of many of the teams we had to face that season. Bobo definitely left his mark on some players, with one opposition player daftly claiming of being intimidated by Celtic’s physical side so much that he was afraid that he was going to get his legs broken. Too ridiculous to comment on further and worthy for note only for a chuckle.

The UEFA Cup final for Bobo is a different matter altogether. Porto dived at every possible opportunity as they could, and taking in Celtic’s more direct style of play, the team stepped right into their trap. For Bobo, the issue was that he was a lynchpin in Celtic’s more physical approach, and ultimately this got him into bother and a rash challenge in injury time saw him getting sent off. A sad end to the UEFA cup run for the great man, and some sections have portioned blame onto him for Celtic’s loss but that is simply nonsense and critics have to look at the bigger picture of the tactics and style we deployed in the game.

Bobo can hold his head up high after the Seville run, however it did also highlight the negatives in his game. Overly rash in many challenges, losing us too many free-kicks was a bit of a liability as dead-ball specialists become more regular in the game. It was apparent that the rough edges to his game hadn’t been worn fully down, and his pace was slower than it should have been.

In any case, for 2003 Celtic fans was voted Bobo as the Celtic Player of the Year in some poll award (the inaugual winner for it), and ever thankful he said: “It means a lot to win this award. It’s good to know the fans are behind you and they are happy with what you do for them“. He was deserving of it, and it must be noted that this was in the Seville year where there were many great performances by many players over the year. He’d become a bit of a cult player.

If there was one game he’d be remembered for more than most (in a positive light), then it would have to be the first leg against Barcelona in the 2004 UEFA Cup. Bobo was simply immense, going in and winning every tackle going, playing probably the most important part in Celtic’s victory that night at Celtic Park (1-0 to us). Sadly, bad luck entered play as he was yellow carded during the game and went over the disciplinary points limit, missing out on the return leg in Barcelona (0-0 draw) which took us through to the next round. Nevertheless, Bobo’s part was more than just a footnote and he was one of the main reasons we defeated Barcelona over the two legs, the game marking the high point in Martin O’Neil’s Celtic managerial career. For the away game, Bobo actually sat with the Celtic fans and watched the game from amongst them, which many gave him praise for, and showed he was in love with Celtic.

After 2003/04, things didn’t work out. Losing the league in 2003, the defence was a big scape goat for it all (and in many ways rightly so) as the central defence pairing was too slow and a hindrance. Time out to go to the African Nations [playing for Guinea] lost Bobo from Celtic for around a month or two, and when he came back from the tournaments he was well out of sorts, and we couldn’t wait for him to recover. A leg-break lost Celtic his services for a long time, and a long-time contract tied him up with Celtic for far too long in the twilight years of his career.

Manager Gordon Strachan did not seem to warm to Bobo (although in fairness he was a regular in Gordon Strachan’s first season and injury hampered things from then on), hardly playing him after the first season. All efforts to shift him off the books failed, as Bobo was unwilling to take a pay cut to move to another club. However, he was given another chance in late 2007/08 with a short run of games and was heavily cheered through the matches, but that was partly a rebuke to the manager who was on a low ebb with the supporters at that point.

At the end of his lucrative contract, Bobo Balde departed from Celtic. Many believed he could have done a turn for the First Team in the past season or two when things were low but it’s all guesswork now. He’ll be back again at Celtic at some point we hope, and he’ll always be welcome (more likely by the support if not the club management).

In October 2009 Balde signed a short term contract with French Ligue 1 club Valenciennes, and then wrapped up his career at Arles-Avignon in 2011/12.

We wished the big man all the best.

Playing Career

Club From To Fee League Scottish Cup League cup Other
Celtic 21/07/2001
01/07/2009
 Free 160 (1) 9 14 (0) 2 14 (0) 5 45 (0) 0
Toulouse 01/08/2000 21/07/2001 No appearance data available
Totals £0 160 (1) 9 14 (0) 2 14 (0) 5 45 (0) 0
goals / game
0.05
0.14
0.35
0
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic
2001-02 21 2 8 4 8 0 38 6
2002-03 36 2 3 2 14 0 53 4
2003-04 31 2 5 0 14 0 49 2
2004-05 34 2 7 1 5 0 46 3
2005-06 28 1 3 0 2 0 33 1
2006-07 6 0 2 0 2 0 10 0
2007-08 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
2008-09 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 160 9 28 7 45 0 233 16

Honours with Celtic

Scottish Cup (3)

Scottish League Cup (2)

Scottish Premier League (5)

UEFA cup

Pictures

Articles

Quotes

“Celtic was a great adventure for me in my career. We reached the UEFA Cup Final, were league champions five times and won several Scottish and League Cups, There were a lot of great matches in the Champions League and I’m very happy with the experience I had at such a fantastic club and stadium.”
Bobo Balde

Article

Balde injects Celtic fever in Guinea

11 July 2003

James Copnall
BBC Sport, Conakry

Wave of Celtic shirts in Guinea’s stadium
Celtic get more fans abroad thanks to Balde’s popularity

Dianbobo Balde is on a one-man crusade to turn Guinea into a nation of Celtic supporters.

Alongside Momo Sylla, the giant defender is one of two members of the Syli National who ply their trade with the Scottish giants.

And Balde, mindful of the fact that African fans wear mainly locally-made replica shirts in honour of their favourite stars, decided to give his compatriots a treat.

“I brought about 100 tops from the club for some people here, because they support me and they support Celtic – and I wanted to thank them for that,” Balde told the BBC Sport website.

“It would be good to have lots of Celtic fans here in Guinea, and all over Africa too.”

With shirts retailing at nearly £50 pounds each, it was a generous gesture by the giant defender.

It also meant that during Guinea’s decisive 3-0 win over Ethiopia, a result that took the Syli National to the 2004 African Nations Cup, many in the crowd were wearing authentic Celtic tops.

Yet Balde did not only bring shirts, for many fans could be seen waving banners displaying the words – ‘Bobo’s Going to Get You’.

Celtic reached the UEFA Cup final last year, and ran perennial rivals Rangers to the wire in the league, which thus simplifies Balde’s ambitions for next season.

“We will try to be better than last year, but that will be difficult,” he said.

“We have to try and get to the Champions League final, or the UEFA Cup final. We will try to do our best.”

For the moment however, the defender is simply relishing Guinea’s qualification for the Nations Cup finals in Tunisia next year.

“Now I can go back to Scotland and play for Celtic happily.”

Balde may well be taking a nation of committed Celtic fans with him.

6 July 2003, Guinea 3-0 Ethiopia
Dianbobo Balde arrived at Celtic from French side Tolouse when he was signed by then Hoops boss Martin O’Neill in July 2001 after a protracted transfer saga.

Celtic paid a reported fee of £900,000 for the Marseille-born Guinea international although it later emerged that financial troubles at the French club allowed the Bhoys to snatch Balde for free.

After taking a short while to settle into life in Scotland and the SPL the man simply known as ‘Bobo’ quickly established himself as a cult favourite with the Celtic support.

Immensely strong, brave, great in the air and a natural athlete with an intimidating physical presence, Bobo possesses all the necessities required to be a first rate defender.The Parkhead crowd love his whole-heartedly robust approach to defending. With an attitude to never accept coming out second best in any contest Bobo is never slow to make his presence felt on the pitch. Indeed Hoops fans enjoy regularly taunting opposition players with the tongue in cheek yet menacing cry of ‘Bobo’s gonna get ya!’

His power in the air makes him a real danger at set-pieces and he has chipped in with some vital goals during his Parkhead career.

But despite Bobo’s obvious attributes an apparent lack of concentration means that he can be prone to making silly and costly mistakes. His touch can be clumsy and he can at times dwell on the ball too long and over elaborate.

He is unquestionably a much superior player when he concentrates on the basics of defending and keeps things simple. On his game he is without doubt a top class centre-half.

He was an integral part of the Celtic team which made it to the UEFA Cup final in 2003. However during the final in Seville Bobo was sent off for two bookable offences – the second a needless lunge early into extra time. The sending off was justified but it was a cruel blow for Balde who had deservedly been crowned the Celtic supporters Player of the Year just weeks before.

Since then he has continued to be a rock at the back for Celtic and although he does have his moments of madness they should not disguise the many qualities the big man brings to the team. During his time at Parkhead he has been linked with a host of English clubs including Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Everton and most recently Aston Villa. Bayern Munich were also allegedly keen on taking Bobo to Germany while in January 2005 he appeared on the verge of a move to his hometown club Marseille.

A stomach operation kept Bobo out of the team for the opening months of the 2006-2007 season which allowed Stephen McManus and Gary Caldwell to establish themselves as Gordon Strachan’s preferred first-team centre-back pairing. Subsequently first team appearances have been limited to a small handful much to the annoyance of a significant section of the support who believe the tough defender to be the club’s best centre-half.