1) Liam Dickinson
So much for the end of the week, it's all been completed by the end of the day, the jigsaw is completed, well at least until January, but for now Blues boss Paul Sturrock has the squad he wants, and that the faithful hope will sustain a real promotion push kicking off with the home game against Hereford on Saturday, August 6th.
And the missing striker was......one Liam Dickinson, where he has put pen to paper on a 12 month deal at Roots Hall, with the option of a second year.
The Shrimpers infact have become his second club of the close season, following an ill-fated week-long stay at Plymouth earlier in the summer, On July 5th, Dickinson agreed as contract with the Pilgrims subject to the takeover of the club being completed. He was released from his contract on only eight days later, citing personal reasons.
Serial club buyer and Argyle acting chairman Peter Risdale said at the time: "Regrettably, we have agreed to a request from Liam to be released. We fully understand the reasons why. Liam has been a thorough professional in the short time he has been with us, and we hope that things will work out for him."
So do we Peter, but really, the Devon club are in a worse financial mess than we are, blimey, that's bad!
Now this boy has been around, read his Wiki file, but he certainly looks as he could be a decent partner for Neil Harris, certainly while 21-goal man Barry Corr,and to some extent, Blair Sturrock, are out injured.
Luggy told www.southendunited.co.uk: "I'm delighted to have brought Liam in. I think people know we have been a striker light and he had a good goalscoring record in this division a few seasons ago with Stockport County. He's been a bit nomadic since then but we feel he has the attributes to be a success here."
While the man himself also spoke to the Echo: "I'm here to score goals and get Southend promoted. I don't want to still be in League Two next season."
Liam grabs the goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_4gJW409mA
The Dickinson Files
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Liam Michael Dickinson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 4 October 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Salford, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Southend United | ||
| Youth career | |||
| – | Blackpool | ||
| – | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| – | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002 | Irlam Town | ? | (?) |
| 2002–2003 | Swinton Town | ? | (?) |
| 2003–2004 | Trafford | 43 | (11) |
| 2004–2005 | Woodley Sports | 38 | (9) |
| 2005–2008 | Stockport County | 94 | (33) |
| 2008–2009 | Derby County | 0 | (0) |
| 2008 | → Huddersfield Town (loan) | 13 | (6) |
| 2008 | → Blackpool (loan) | 7 | (4) |
| 2009 | → Leeds United (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 27 | (4) |
| 2010 | → Peterborough United (loan) | 9 | (3) |
| 2010–2011 | Barnsley | 3 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Walsall (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Rochdale (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2011 | Plymouth Argyle | 0 | (0) |
| 2011– | Southend United | 0 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:25, 5 July 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
(Full player info at Wikipedia, for the full article go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Dickinson)
2) Jean-Paul Kalala
The other two were not a surprise as S24 reported their names early this morning.
Midfielder Jean-Paul Kalala has been a Luggy target ever since he started turning out in the pre-season friendlies and good to see another enforcer in the middle where once again he has signed for a year with an option for a further 12 months.
The boy from Zaire started his career in France playing for Nice before moving to Grimsby Town in 2005.
From The Mariners Jean-Paul moved on to play for Yeovil Town and Oldham Athletic before moving back to Grimsby on loan in 2008.
He re-joined Yeovil for a second spell in 2009 before signing for Bristol Rovers kast year but has been released by new boss Paul Buckle.
On Jean-Paul Luggy said: "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."
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)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ryan Ian Leonard[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 24 May 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Plymouth, England | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defender / Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2010 | Plymouth Argyle | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2010–2011 | Plymouth Argyle | 1 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | → Weston-super-Mare (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Tiverton Town (loan) | 18 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:12, 25 April 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Leonard)
Many thanks to www.weston-s-mareafc.co.uk for the use of the Ryan Leonard photo.