Thank You – Mustapha Carayol
This might seem like an odd one to say thank you for, but stay with me.
Carayol was one of those insanely frustrating footballers who had so much to offer but didn’t produce when it was needed. I really liked him in a City shirt, when he turned up. He had everything, power, pace and an eye for goal. Having started out at MK Dons as a youth, we had plenty to thank them for, in theory.
In practice, that wasn’t the case. It has been rumoured that the deal to bring Carayol included much more than just a big fee. We allegedly haemorrhaged money in 2010/11 due to all sorts of different deals whereby players had houses and accommodation paid for over and above their wages. Was Carayol one of those players? Who knows?
As our miserable 2010–11 season progressed, Carayol began to suffer from injuries which saw him restricted to 37 appearance in all competitions. Despite his obvious ability he often went missing in games, just like Dany N’Guessan before him.
He only played four games in that horrible final run in, and was absent as we slipped out of the league. Carayol’s future at City was doubt after a clause was activated on relegation that gave him freedom to quit the club, and he left in May 2011. He had been one of the higher earners at the club and contracts such as his were part of the reason the club suffered so badly financially when they were relegated.
He could have done so much better, but he lit up my birthday in 2010, bagging in a 3-1 win against Hereford on November 20th. he had a great game that day, so cheers for that MK!
Great idea about to be able to buy 50/50 tickets! Done.