Start fan in exile Posted June 24, 2010 Author Share Posted June 24, 2010 Olivier Occéan is leaving Lillestrøm and Norway for German 3rd division side Kickers Offenbach. http://www.nrksport.no/fotball/eliteserien/1.7182975 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Unfortunately, that's a step down for OO (although people like Ed and Grizzly may disagree); hopefully he'll get to play some more in Offenbach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 ^ Well, that puts things in perspective, then. I thought he might have just dropped to a top-tier Scandinavian team in another league (Sweden?) or even a struggler in Norway. Like the Bourgeault move, it's hard to be encouraged by such a drop down tier-wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Unfortunately, that's a step down for OO (although people like Ed and Grizzly may disagree); hopefully he'll get to play some more in Offenbach. I don't disagree with it being a step down and I doubt Ed would either. On the other hand going from not playing in the Norwegian top tier to playing in the German 3rd tier is in some way not a step down. It also may be a good move long term as Offenbach is a pretty big club that is frequently in the 2nd BL, is always a promotion favourite and seems to be making a lot of signings that suggest they will make a big push for promotion. Certainly the 3rd BL level is below that of the Norwegian 1st division but if he finds himself in the 2nd BL in a year's time he will be back to a similar level and in a league with a lot more visibility and chance for promotion/transfer to a higher level. It is pretty easy to get lost in Norway even in the top tier so I prefer he sign here than go to a second tier Norwegian team where the level wouldn't be better than the German 3rd tier or even the Swedish top tier (which is a good step down from the Norwegian). A bit surprised another Norwegian top tier team wouldn't take him though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 ^ I think some of the other large sides in Norway are feeling a bit of the financial crisis (who isn't) and I'm not sure OO is the type of player that a smaller side would want to take on given that he's probably on a pretty good wage packet given his past record at Lillestrom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Confirmation from Offenbach: http://www.ofc.de/v4/index.php/component/content/article/269-top-news/2013-stuermer-olivier-occean-unterschreibt-zweijahresvertrag-bei-kickers-offenbach It is a two year contract until June 30, 2012. Also interesting that Offenbach's new coach is Wolfgang Wolf who is a pretty prominent 1st Bundesliga coach in Germany, ie. Offenbach is pretty serious about promoting to the 2nd BL next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 That looks like the same Wolfgang Wolf who once managed Wolfsburg. (Are you Rafa Benitez in disguise???) HA HA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 ^^ Yes it is the former manager of Wolfsburg, Nuremberg and Kaiserslautern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted June 24, 2010 Share Posted June 24, 2010 Come back to play for Montreal in 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 This is what I have been wondering all day after hearing the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Start fan in exile Posted September 23, 2010 Author Share Posted September 23, 2010 Lars Hirschfeld has signed a two-year contract extention with Vålerenga. http://www.vg.no/sport/fotball/norsk/artikkel.php?artid=10027562 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.