OLIVIER TéBILY

'Olivier Tébily' (born December 19, 1975 in Abidjan) is an Ivorian football player who currently plays for Birmingham City as a defender.

Contents

Early life and career

Celtic

Birmingham

References

External links

Early life and career

Tébily was raised in France, and as a child was an Arsenal fan. Now a naturalised French citizen, Brave Olivier's polished performance
he began his career as a junior at Ligue 2 Niort, where he spent several years. In January 1998 he moved to Châteauroux, promoted that season to Ligue 1. While his contribution failed to prevent their relegation, it clearly attracted favourable attention, for the following March Sheffield United manager Steve Bruce brought him to England where he signed for a fee of £200,000.
His Sheffield career proved brief. His seventh game for the club was watched by Kenny Dalglish, and on Dalglish's appointment as Director of Football at Celtic in June 1999, he was quick to bring Tébily to the club for a fee of £1.25 million. On July 8 he became manager John Barnes' third signing.

Celtic

Tébily marked his first Celtic appearance, in a pre-season game against Leeds, by scoring an own goal, Blues' statement of intent Ged Scott
an early indication of the sometimes erratic nature of his performances which earned him the nickname "Bombscare" from the Celtic fans.^[1]
The next pre-season game, this time against Newcastle, saw him redeem himself by scoring at the right end, and also by a good defensive performance against Alan Shearer.^[2]
He held down a regular starting spot until Christmas, when he joined up with the Côte d'Ivoire national team for the 2000 African Cup of Nations. His return from his country's unsuccessful campaign was delayed when the squad was detained in a military camp in Côte d'Ivoire, described by the authorities as a necessary move to ensure the players' safety in light of the public reaction to their failure to reach the knockout stage of the competition.^[3]
Tebily and the remainder of the squad were able to make their way home following intervention from FIFA president Sepp Blatter.^[4]
His next appearance for Celtic was in the shock Scottish Cup defeat at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle which provoked the "Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious" headline in the Scottish Sun and resulted in the sacking of John Barnes. Dalglish took over as manager until the end of the season, during which time Tébily appeared irregularly.
In 2000-01, new manager Martin O'Neill gave him only three first-team starts. He began the next season in the first team and playing well, but lost his place once Bobo Balde regained fitness. O’Neill sends Tebily on his way Alasdair Lawrie
He still made enough appearances to qualify for an SPL winners' medal and received an unlikely nomination for the 2001 African Footballer of the Year award.^[5]
Tébily wanted to play regularly, which was not going to happen at Celtic, so it was considered best for all parties if he was made available for transfer. On March 22 2002 he resumed his association with manager Steve Bruce when he moved to Birmingham City, then playing in the Championship, for a fee of £700,000. Celtic clearly thought he had potential for improvement, as they had a sell-on clause included in the deal.

Birmingham

Bruce had taken over at Birmingham some three months previously and was in the process of rebuilding the team with a view to reaching the playoffs. He saw Tébily's major attributes as his size, strength and pace; a quality which soon became apparent was his whole-hearted commitment to the cause, as exemplified by his performance in the playoff semifinal against Millwall. Playing in an unaccustomed central midfield position, he man-marked Tim Cahill, later of Everton and Australia, out of the game, and won the ball from Stuart Nethercott with a full-blooded tackle having earlier lost his boot.
In that season, Tébily never finished on the losing side at club level, either for Celtic or for Birmingham.
Tébily played regularly in Birmingham's first Premiership season until December 21, when he damaged his medial knee ligaments in the first 20 minutes of the match against Charlton Athletic. In keeping with his "hard-man" image, he finished the game,^[6]
but the injury proved serious enough to keep him out for the rest of the season.
Returning fit at the start of the 2003-04 season, Tébily found himself no longer first choice, though his versatility made him the manager's preferred defensive substitute.^[7]
For the next couple of years, he was used irregularly. Coach Mark Bowen cited a lack of confidence, and a long-standing problem with concentration, as leading to inconsistency of performance; though the player's own determination to combat the problem led him to encourage the coaching staff to keep shouting at him during the game to maintain his concentration levels.^[8]
In addition, he has undergone laser eye surgery to deal with the problems caused by wearing contact lenses for football.^[9]
He has sometimes struggled badly against quick, tricky players,^[10]
but has always given of his best when given an opportunity. Black praise for Tebily versatility Colin Tattum
In September 2005 he signed a new three-year contract, reflecting his value to the squad despite not having been a first-choice player at any time since his injury in 2002.
Restored to the starting lineup as a replacement for Mario Melchiot, his determination and enthusiasm. typified in a man-of-the-match performance against Chelsea,^[11]
did much to lift the team and supporters during their ultimately unsuccessful fight against relegation.^[12]

References

1. farewell tebily
2. BARNES' BHOYS STING MAGPIES
3. Ivory Coast football squad detained Mark Doyle
4. Tebily is Glasgow bound
5. Best player short-list
6. Tebily's injury blow
7. Purse happy with a second chance Colin Tattum
8. Tebily adds to Bruce's riches Hyder Jawad
9. Famous Faces
10. Newcastle 2 - 1 Birmingham: Report
11. Gold backs Butt to lead escape plan Ian Clarkson
12. Player Profiles - Olivier Tebily

External links

★

★ Birmingham City player profile (registration required)