Summer Update and Mouyokolo Interview

By: Matt | July 12th, 2009

Summer Continues

Fairly quiet so far for the Tigers this summer.

By the numbers, only one player has been signed, Frenchman Stevie Mouyokolo. Scroll down for an exclusive interview with him, from CITY Magazine.

Dean Windass has departed, to Darlington, while Michael Bridges was released.

The Owen saga as everyone now knows has ended, somewhat oddly, with SAF bringing him to Old Trafford. While some have questioned the move, there seems to be some sort of inevitability to the fact that he will score some crucial goals for them this season. Ferguson doesn’t make too many mistakes when it comes to these kinds of things. Should be interesting the first time Mikey trots out at Anfield anyways.

On the pitch, the Tigers are on their usual trip to Italy, with preseason going swimmingly in Bormio. Check out a daily blog on their exploits here.

The new kits came out as well, but I’ll post again about those later.

And finally – the Steve Mouykolo interview, from the official Hull CITY magazine.

CITY Magazine the official magazine of Hull City AFC Steven Mouyokolo Interview

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

The windows and doors at Hull City’s training ground are flung wide open. It’s the hottest day of the year so far but Steven Mouyokolo is looking cool, calm and collected, even though he’s been rushing around for most of the morning. He’s on a flying visit to Hull and there’s a lot to fit in. It’s not even midday but already he’s passed a stringent medical, completed a fitness test and signed a four-year contract. He’s about to be whisked off to view several city centre apartments. There might just be time for a spot of lunch. Then, it’s an afternoon flight back to France to see his family. After that, he says, he hopes to go on holiday. He’s not sure where. However, the 22-year-old knows exactly where he will be spending next season – in Hull and in the Barclays Premier League. The smile on his face tells you he couldn’t be happier. “I have always wanted to play in England,” he says, “ever since I started to play football. The Premier League is the best in the world. Everybody wants to play in England. “I didn’t think it would come so quickly for me but I worked and I worked. I always hoped and now it is here. It is a dream come true.” The fact Mouyokolo is a City player can be put down to some pretty smart work by the Tigers. Several English sides were watching the 22-year-old defender star for his French Second Division club Boulogne. Apparently, Arsenal were weighing up a £4m bid before Christmas whilst Bolton, Wigan, Newcastle and Sunderland were also considering an approach. Then, there were a couple of German sides and two clubs from France’s top division. But while everyone else dillied and dallied, City made their move. They agreed a deal for the player before anyone else could pick up the phone. There was just one snag. Ambitious Boulogne didn’t want to lose a player who was seen as an essential part of their plans to secure promotion to the First Division. So, together with City, they shook hands on a gentleman’s agreement – Mouyokolo would stay at Boulogne until the end of the campaign and then complete his near £1.8m transfer. The arrangement worked perfectly. Boulogne did win promotion to Division One, for the first time in their history. A few days later and Mouyokolo arrived in Hull. “A lot of players in France want to play in England,” he adds. “When I was a young boy, I always watched the Barclays Premier League on TV. I didn’t watch the French League. I’d prefer to watch an English game. In England, football is – how do you say? – a show. “Everyone watches football, the father, the mother, the son, the daughter, even the grandmother. In France, it is just the father and son. For me, the English way is how football should be. It is like a religion, a whole way of life. If you want to play at the best level then you have to play in England. That is why I’m here.” Mouyokolo is tall and lithe. He stands well over six feet with closely cropped hair and is dressed immaculately in new trainers, a designer tee-shirt and jeans. If you hadn’t already guessed, he speaks excellent English. That, it seems, is down to his father and a good education. Although his parents are Congolese, Mouyokolo was born in Melun, a small town in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris. “I have a big family, five sisters and four brothers,” he explains. From the very start, my father told us all that school was very important. He said it is important to have a good education, to take forward into the rest of your life. “I started playing football in the streets with my friends when I was eight or nine. A few years later and when my father asked what career I wanted, I told him that I wanted to play football. He preferred for me to stay at school and take exams, ‘A’ levels I think they are called in England. I did that. I got my exams and then I could concentrate on football. When you really want to do something, you do it.” Mouyokolo linked up with his local club Châteauroux who, like Boulogne, played in the French Second Division. After just one season (2006-07) he left to join FC Gueugnon, in the same division. He made 22 appearances for his new club and his impressive form earned him a move to Boulogne. At the time, Boulogne had only just avoided relegation to the third tier of French football…on the final day of the season. Mouyokolo adds: “They won the last game with a goal in the second minute of injury time. If that had not happened, I would not have signed for them.”» Apart from bringing in a couple of players like Mouyokolo, Boulogne decided not to make major changes. That policy paid off and they were rewarded with a promotion-winning campaign last season under manager Philippe Montanier. They took the third and final promotion place behind champions Lens and runners-up Montpellier. However, it was desperately close. Everything boiled down to the final day of the season. Champions Lens finished on 68 points. Boulogne defeated Amiens 4-0 to finish on 66 points, the same tally as Montpellier who defeated Strasbourg 2-1 in their final match. Strasbourg finished on 65 points. The margin between success and failure was just one point. There are, of course, parallels with City’s own experiences in the Barclays Premier League – a fact not lost on Mouyokolo. “Hull stayed in the Barclays Premier League by one point and Boulogne were promoted by one point. It was all on the last game, like at Hull. Overall, the team (Boulogne) played well. In the last month of the season, it wasn’t always looking good and we had to play against Lens and Strasbourg. They were games we had to win and we did. “Then, it was the last day and again, the result went for us. Obviously, we were happy. There was a big party with a lot of fans. It is the first time that Boulogne have been in the top division. The club has grown up so quickly but I hope they will do well. “It is a good club. We were a strong group. They (the players) were my friends, my family. Sometimes, after training, we’d have a barbecue – something like that – and we would all go. It was that strength that made us such a good team.” Mouyokolo admits he could not have wished for a better end to the season with Boulogne clinching promotion and City staying in the Barclays Premier League “Yes,” he adds, “Hull staying in the Barclays Premier League is a very good thing. My team in France has been promoted to the top league. These are the best two things that could happen so I’m really happy.” Mouyokolo did miss some of the closing games of the season with a knee injury. He was out of action for a month but stresses it was a ‘minor’ problem that has left no lasting effects. “My knee… it had to be cleaned out, a small problem. I was back running again in four weeks.” Mouyokolo will always look back fondly on the time he spent at Boulogne but his mind is now firmly set on the Barclays Premier League… and the Tigers. “I have watched a lot of English football and my favourite team is Hull, of course! Before, it was Chelsea. They have so many good players. I like John Terry. He is a player I admire. I also like Liverpool and Manchester United. I think Chelsea and Arsenal are clubs for rich people. “Liverpool and Manchester are more for working people and for me that is better. The fans are not rich. They work hard and they have a real passion for the team. I think that is the same about Hull. That is why I wanted to come here.” He shrugs off the speculation about that earlier interest from Arsenal – and other clubs. “It was in the newspapers but I did not know anything really. When I met Hull, I was very impressed with their plans – and what they had to say. I was happy to come here.” Mouyokolo visited Hull in the closing weeks of the season. He was made very welcome by everyone at City, including his fellow French speaking team-mates Bernard Mendy, Daniel Cousin and Kamil Zayatte. Mouyokolo adds: “I saw two or three (Hull) games and I spoke a lot to Bernard. I also talked to Daniel and Kamil. I knew Kamil because when we started out, he played for a club very near to mine. “They all told me Hull is a family club with a good spirit, good fans and a good manager. I am easy with that. Hull is a nice place, a calm place. It’s a good city and the people have been very nice. I’m here for four years. I am very excited about the future and I can’t wait to start.” The prospect of playing in the Barclays Premier League might be a dream but he acknowledges he will have to fight for a place in the side. “I will have to learn. Everything is new to me. It is a different league, a different style, a different state of mind. I will have to listen to Phil Brown and the rest of the staff. But I am ready to fight, to fight for Hull City and fight for my place.” Although he was still a Boulogne player, Mouyokolo took a special interest in Hull’s results, once his transfer had been agreed. And, he is full of praise for the efforts of Brown and his players in that tense finish to the club’s first-ever top flight campaign. “Everyone knows it is hard to stay up in the Barclays Premier League. What Hull have done is not a miracle – but it is very close. The coach did a great job. A lot of people thought Newcastle would survive but it was Hull and I was very happy. They showed a lot of spirit, a lot of character. I like that mentality, that state of mind. “I would have come to Hull and fought in the Championship but obviously the Barclays Premier League is better. As I said, it is my dream.” Next season and the target for all City’s players – Mouyokolo included – is to avoid being dragged into another relegation battle. He believes City will do well. “It is a strong league – stronger than France – with very good teams and very good players. I know there are very good players at this club. The KC Stadium is wonderful. At Boulogne, we had a small ground with six or seven thousand fans. “At Hull, there will be more people at our games but I am looking forward to that. It will be a new experience for me but I will not be nervous. When you get to the ground, you forget your nerves. You don’t have to be afraid. The other team has to be afraid. The fans are with you. They give you power.” Mouyokolo admits it was a wrench leaving Boulogne but his sizeable family will regularly watch him in England…provided he can get enough tickets for them all! “I will miss France but football is my life. Football is the best job in the world. If you have to move to realise your dream, then so be it. I prefer to be here, playing Barclays Premier League football, rather than playing in France. My family understand that though. They know how much football means to me and they are happy for me.” The move to Hull means, of course, that Mouyokolo could well step onto the same pitch as John Terry next season, rather than watching him play on TV. “That would be another dream,” he says, “but I know there is a lot to do before that happens. Hull have good players and I am sure they will make other signings. I just have to work hard and do the best that I can.” According to various experts, Mouyokolo is rated as one of France’s most promising young defenders. In fact, many Boulogne fans would tell you he was the club’s best prospect since a talented young winger called Franck Ribery. Mouyokolo came close to a place in the French U-21 side, despite playing in the Second Division. Longer term and he admits he would love to play for his country. “I am not trying to think about that,” he adds. “If France come, that will be good but there are a lot of players in front of me. Anyway, that is a long way off. I just want to concentrate on my team and do my best for the coach and for the fans. It is another big season, an exciting season and I just want to be part of it.”