Boumsong’s journey from Desailly’s heir to French farce
When Times Online listed its 50 worst Premiership players last week, there were howls of protest from supporters of Newcastle United about Jean Alain Boumsong – not at his inclusion, but at his omission.
However, the France defender, who is seen as one of the poorest signings made by the club, has not always been regarded as a joke. Although the circumstances of the arrival of Boumsong and Amdy Faye, his former Auxerre team-mate, at St James’ Park have been questioned, Boumsong’s £8 million transfer from Rangers was hardly controversial.
True, it was the biggest fee paid for a single player in the January 2005 transfer window, outstripping the £6.3 million squandered by Liverpool on Fernando Morientes and the £6 million frittered away by Everton on James Beattie, but Newcastle had sold Jonathan Woodgate, another central defender, to Real Madrid for £13.4 million the previous summer, when Chelsea had paid FC Porto £19.85 million for Ricardo Carvalho.
Quaint as the notion may seem, Boumsong was once considered the long-term successor in the France team to Marcel Desailly and he has 21 full caps to his name. Born in Cameroon, Boumsong moved to France as a teenager and joined Le Havre in 1997. In July 2000 he was transferred to Auxerre, where no less a judge of a player than Guy Roux, their legendary coach, picked him 131 times as the only member of the back four not produced by the club’s outstanding youth system.
Boumsong helped the club to qualify for the 2002-03 Champions League, in which he played every minute of their six matches, setting up the second goal in a 2-1 win over Arsenal at Highbury, while Faye helped to keep Patrick Vieira and company quiet in midfield.
When Boumsong became eligible to talk to clubs in January 2004, Gérard Houllier’s Liverpool were among the clubs interested, although he opted for Rangers, where he played in Champions League qualifying matches and the Uefa Cup before Graeme Souness, then the Newcastle manager, took him to St James’ Park in January 2005.
Unfortunately, to say that Boumsong failed to win over the fans at Newcastle is an understatement. Even those long-suffering supporters had little time for him and many who wrote in to Times Online rated his central defensive partnership with Titus Bramble as one of the most inept in the club’s history. “Boumsong couldn’t read the play, couldn’t tackle without hacking a man down, couldn’t mark, [had] no positional sense – not bad for a defender” was only one of many damning comments.
Yet other judges continued to rate him. Boumsong was included in the France squad for the finals of Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, although he did not play. However, he remains part of the plans of Raymond Domenech, the coach, and has made one start in the qualifying competition for Euro 2008. And when he left Newcastle, Juventus, managed by Didier Deschamps, the former France captain, were happy to sign him.
Jean-Alain Boumsong
Born Douala, Cameroon, Dec 14, 1979
Career Le Havre, Aug 1997-May 2000, 41 appearances, one goal. Auxerre (free agent), July 2000-June 2004, 139 appearances, four goals. Rangers (free agent), June 2004-Jan 2005, 28 appearances, two goals. Newcastle (£8 million) Jan 2005-June 2006, 55 appearances, no goals. Juventus (£3.26 million), June 2006-present, 32 appearances, two goals.
International career France: 21 appearances, one goal.
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