Jean-Paul Kalala: 'The most important thing in this league is to be organised'
You wouldn't want to pick a fight with him, and Blues boss Paul Sturrock certainly believes he can bring an important enforcer role in midfield to what is a generally an area full of flair for the Shrimpers.
However, for the player himself it's all about getting a place in the starting eleven against Hereford United on Saturday at Roots Hall, then making sure the club gain a top three place, you see JP has reason to be a little nervous of the play-offs!
Kalala told www.echo-news.co.uk: “As a team we’re going for promotion this year and that would be fantastic for me because I’ve never had that in my career before. I’ve lost in the play off final twice, once with Grimsby and another time with Yeovil, so I’ve come close a couple of times and it hurts not to have done it. But now I actually want to get there and it would be a fantastic achievement if we could do it.”
He certainly believes he's seen enough in the pre-season to believe there's enough in the squad for a decent promotion push.
Kalala continued: “The most important thing in this league is to be organised. You need to have a good team shape and if you have that then you will be hard to beat. We also have real quality in our side but that will also shine through if we do the basics right."
On Jean-Paul, Luggy said at the time of his signing: "JP is a very strong man and is the type of person you want in the spine of your side. He played well against Ipswich despite having just two hours sleep due to illness. I think he will be an important player in this division as we have a couple of flair players in midfield but we need one or two that can do the dirty work."
Not long to go before the words turn into action, on the pitch!
The Kalala Files
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala | ||
Date of birth | 16 February 1982 | ||
Place of birth | Lubumbashi, Zaire | ||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
Playing position | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1999-2003 | Nice B | 118 | (3) |
2003-2005 | Nice | 2 | (0) |
2005-2006 | Grimsby Town | 21 | (5) |
2006-2007 | Yeovil Town | 38 | (1) |
2007-2009 | Oldham Athletc | 20 | (0) |
2008-2009 | → Grimsby Town (loan) | 21 | (2) |
2009-2011 | Yeovil Town | 49 | (1) |
2011 | Bristol Rovers | 11 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2002-2006 | Congo DR | 7 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:11, 17 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:51, 31 January 2008 (UTC) |
(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full player info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Kalala)