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Jose Izquierdo - ALL CONFIRMED - NEW RECORD SIGNING







dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Mar 27, 2013
52,005
Burgess Hill
My boss is an Arsenal fan (yes, it’s been fun today) and asked me “who was that on your left wing? He was brilliant.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mine too, plus one of the guys that works for me (STH). Another guy that works for me is a Spurs STH, he’s started most of the ‘banter’ (pretty good seeing as he is in China at the moment, was pinging emails very early [emoji23]). Excellent day at work. They said basically the same......
 


Wrong-Direction

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2013
13,395
So lucky to have him

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk
 


Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
73,363
West west west Sussex
People around me were watching Jose closely and in the first half they thought he was ill. Ill or not he's still box office.

Whether it's an influx of newbies or Jose is the first genuinely 'on your feet' player in the AMEX era, but when he's running towards the South Stand he causes all manner of "sit down" problems in the Family Stand.
 














Thunder Bolt

Ordinary Supporter
So, who would you drop?

I don't think there's anyone who should be dropped for Gross. Out of all our signings so far, Gross has been the most disappointing. Not sure where all this Gross arse licking has come from? There's nothing worse than fans who pretend to see something in a player which isn't there. Gross will be on the bench once we sort out this striker issue. It looks like Gross has been signed as a utility man to fill in when there's injuries.

:lolol:
 


kevo

Well-known member
Mar 8, 2008
9,085
Not sure if posted elsewhere but great feature on Jose in the Sunday Times. Pasting it here as it's behind the paywall:


'My agent got me to read books — to and change the view people have of footballers'

Jonathan Northcroft
4 March 2018
The Sunday Times


He gave up playing after the death of his brother but Jose Izquierdo's smile will light up*Brighton*today

He was "unbelievable," says Jose Izquierdo when discussing his brother, Diego Julian, who was killed in a road accident when Jose was 14. Diego Julian was 29. One night in Pereira, Colombia, he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his car. When they told him, Jose felt a strange instinct: "I said maybe the life of him was like this because he enjoyed so much. He did all the things he had to do and finished."

Diego Julian partied. He loved women, carousing, food. He played football — perhaps better than Jose, old coaches say — but had too much living to do to commit himself to the game. He was an engineer, involved in social projects. "He helped people," says Jose with pride. "Before he died he made, like, 100 houses for poor people." On Jose's shoulder: that's where Diego Julian is now. "I think I have an angel there that takes care of me. For example, my brother died in a car accident and he was a very good driver, and you can't believe me that I never have accident. Never. Since I started driving at 15. Nothing. I've had options to crash but I always think something happens to stop me. Maybe him. I believe very much in God, and maybe it is something that is part of my story, that has to be like this," Jose suggests. He's thoughtful, but at peace.

"He was an amazing, amazing brother," Jose continues. "I was the kid. He was like my best friend. The inspiration he gave me was 'enjoy life'. He was 29. One moment, boom and it was finished. Sometimes I think if he was still alive, I wouldn't be playing soccer… you don't know… things happen in life for a reason. They're part of your story. Maybe what happened is what gave me extra strength. Maybe it was some sort of blessing. Everything I reach, everything I can get from football, I dedicate to him."

Jose Izquierdo: he reminds you of the beauty of the Premier League. Of how all those players you see from different corners of the world, all trying, striving have — even at the smaller clubs — made it in some way. They've come far, they've journeyed, with people behind or alongside them. And now they're here — in their sport's richest competition.

Izquierdo gave up, briefly, when Diego Julian died. Then, after he left school at 15 to go professional, he broke his leg. And at 21 he almost gave up again: after two seasons in Colombia's second tier he wasn't making money nor, he felt, sufficient progress and he was studying business management. Four years later, there he was, a record £13.5m signing (from Club Brugge), scoring his first goal for*Brighton(versus West Ham, in October) after which he tweeted: "Nice to meet you [MENTION=34361]PremierLeague[/MENTION] My name is Jose Izquierdo. Another Dreamer player from Colombia" (sic).

And that's what he believes, that "players are not only players: we can show to society the reality that dreams can come true." Smiling — his default expression — Izquierdo rolls up his left sleeve. On his arm a word is tattooed: Resilienza — "resilience". He got it after winning Belgian player of the year in 2016, to remind himself of the journey and that he's a fighter. He peeked at it during games. "I wanted something I could look at and say 'f****** hell'. That in bad moments I could see and say 'move, move!'" Words, to him, are vital. Aged 19, at his family home in Pereira, he took a biro and drew above his bed a mural of eight key words: Resilienza (perseverance), metas (goals), esperanza (hope), suenos (dreams), amistad (friendship), sacrificio (sacrifice), Ilusion (imagination), dedicasia (dedication). Upon joining Club Brugge from Once Caldas he began again, decorating his apartment with slogans. He ruined the walls and faced an expensive paint job so has been more careful at his flat in*Brighton. There, Blu-Tacked to his sitting room door are sheets of paper on which he has inscribed phrases such as "Don't Stop Running", "Decision Without Action is Nothing" and "People Who Give Up Never Win". Before leaving for training or a match he takes time to stare at these mottos.

"You know auto-suggestion?" he says, showing a picture of his 'message wall' on his phone. "I read in a book that to reach your goals, you need to write the words. At Once Caldas, I met a player, Daniel Hernandez, who became my friend. In his room he put pictures of things: money, places in the world. He said: 'These are the things I dream.' "I said, 'finally you teach me something!' So I changed pictures for words. The problem many people have is bad thoughts stay in their mind — this is about remembering the ones that will help you." He credits his agent, William Londono, who "pushed me to read books — to change that view people have of football players." Londono spotted him as a junior and guided his ascent and Izquierdo thanked him with an unusual gift — a micro-pig, named Peter, who is now famous via his own*Instagram*account.

That's the fun side of Izquierdo that most people know: Peter, Lucho his bulldog (another social media star), his sunglasses collection, his hobby of DJing. The fun, joy, energy spills out when he's playing. After an initial period where, he admits, the speed and power of the Premier League required adjusting to, he has been a spark for Chris Hughton's team: man-of-the-match against Swansea last week and electric throughout*Brighton's six-game unbeaten run.

He has scored brilliant goals. One came in November, at home to Stoke, when his mother, Jovita, was visiting from Colombia and at the Amex for her very first game; she'd always been too nervous to watch him before. Izquierdo describes joining Bruges. "I arrived to a place I couldn't even point to on the map, Belgium. The culture, the language, the food, I didn't know what it would be. I'd never felt so cold when I got there.

"When I go down from the plane, my bones crack. My first game, I didn't feel my toes. When I shoot, I feel burning in my feet and say 'no, it's not possible!'" What month was this? January? "August!" he hoots. Jovita may still not be over how he honed his skills as a kid, with a ball made from rolled-up socks. "We had a small living room. A sofa and one stand to put the TV. And under the stand there were small boxes. So I put the sofa on a diagonal like this," Jose says, getting up and rearranging our chairs. "I come in through a space and I make the cross and the sofa score…"

He'd chip the socks against the sofa's arm so they deflected into the box for a 'goal'. "You can't imagine how many socks my mum had to buy… I stayed home to look after my cousins and when they were asleep I made my stadium. I broke so many vases! But in those days, with my crosses, the sofa scored more than Glenn Murray… And now I'm very bad at crossing…" he says, hooting again.

"When I get the ball at my feet it is the most…I don't know…it is everything," he says, smiling the biggest smile. "The ball, it is the best feeling. When I receive the ball and have the pitch in front of me…run. Run for it."
 




Cheeky Monkey

Well-known member
Jul 17, 2003
22,953
Watching this one, it looks like we had fans on both sides of the Olympic Stadium (celebrating the goal) but can't see any segregation to the right of our supporters on the far side....?

 




dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Mar 27, 2013
52,005
Burgess Hill
Watching this one, it looks like we had fans on both sides of the Olympic Stadium (celebrating the goal) but can't see any segregation to the right of our supporters on the far side....?



Jesus, there seem to be THOUSANDS of BHA there, how the hell did that happen ?

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edna krabappel

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 7, 2003
47,228
I tell you what: that Olympic running track is looking small in those photos.
 


spence

British and Proud
Oct 15, 2014
9,811
Crawley
Social media rammed with this one.....including dozens of tweets from Bruges fans wishing him all the best.

Interesting article from a West Ham forum from a few weeks ago.

https://westhamworld.co.uk/west-ham-identify-jose-izquierdo-as-onyekuru-alternative/

And, of course :

https://youtu.be/xwt7eyDEKiI

And this is worth a read :

http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-...ink-of-belgian-title-thanks-to-jose-izquierdo
Amazing isn't it ? West showing interest in him and he then scores two magnificent goals against them. Written in the stars
 


dazzer6666

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Mar 27, 2013
52,005
Burgess Hill
Amazing isn't it ? West showing interest in him and he then scores two magnificent goals against them. Written in the stars

...also implies we were a more attractive option for him. More great recruitment work. Little old BHA beating West Ham to a player eh ? Who’d have thunk it........
 


Wozza

Shite Supporter
Jul 6, 2003
23,584
Online
Will be on international duty, I see (Paris and London).

[tweet]974972769413853184[/tweet]
 







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