Jores Okore

[in exile]

Karma's a bitch.

So is my mother in law

...and mine!!

YAY! I feel your pain, brother

[Villa in Denmark]

As threatened a little further up the page.

The latest Okore interview with BT.

(BT i England)
He comes walking in with a big smile, offers to shake hands and starts the interview by apologising for arriving late. BT should have met Jores Okore at 6pm at a Brazilian restaurant, but the Birmingham traffic had got other ideas, so dinner was delayed by an hour.
Tired and hungry after a day training and a crisis meeting with Aston Villa’s manager, and not least director*, but is happy to accommodate the papers request that we take a half hour to take some new pictures of him as well. Just as you’d recognise the ever friendly and smiling Danish international-
*the Danes can use “direktør” for all manner of meanings.  In this instance I’m guessing that they mean Hollis
Behind the politeness and upbeat humour lies a difficult and untenable story for Aston Villa’s Danish speedster. Jores Okore acknowledges that right now, he’s going through his worst period as a footballer. Even worse than when, almost three years ago, he injured his cruciate ligaments and was out for over a year.

Stumbling into trouble
As if it’s not enough that his Aston Villa team have been relegated from the Premier League for the first time since the Premier League was founded, Jores Okore is also at odds with his manager, Eric Black, and as BT revealved on Wednesday been banished from the first team squad.
”Not being allowed to play is the worst thing that I’ve experienced. It’s worse than when I was out injured and my mood isn’t great. I just want to show what I can do on the pitch and I feel that I’ve got something to contribute, but I’m not being allowed to.  I think that’s harder than being told that you physically aren’t able to go out and perform,” says Jores Okore
He doesn’t regret that, partly because he went to his manager and told him his views on the situation and partly because he openly told all of Denmark and by default the otherwise closed world of English football where that kind of interview with open criticism of the manager is rare, he is now mired in this controversy with his boss.
”Everyone wants to play games, and my teammates also have their opinions about things. Off course you should speak your mind to the trainer, otherwise you’ll never get very far. You need to raise your opinion once in a while, it’s not good to bite your tongue for too long.  I feel that I deserve a better chance anyway.  A chance to do more than just sit on the bench without playing or not even by part of the match day squad. That’s why I said it too him, and now when you ask why I’m not training with the first team, you know why as well.,” he says.

He then adds,
”I want to be a part of the team and the matches, but I’m also glad that I spoke my mind. I felt I needed to say it. It’s been a bit of relief (saying it.) It’s obviously not an easy situation the club is in, if I go and speak out like have done, but it’s a choice I’ve made and I’m comfortable with it. I’m happy that I’ve been honest with myself.
Jores Okore wasn’t just honest with himself, when he went to the boss’ office and banged on the door. He actually has a pretty convincing statistic that only a few, let alone his Aston Villa teammates can point to.
He’s played in 12 games, and they’ve contributed 11 of the measly 16 points the team has scraped together in the entire season.  In other words, Aston Villa have only taken 5 points from the 22 games the team has played with Okore, who is again absent against Southampton on Saturday.
”The manager has his views and reasons to not pick me, and personally I don’t understand it, because as a team we haven’t functioned very well, and our defence has been all over the place. It’s not because it’s only been all over the place when I’ve not been there, but I feel I give us a better chance to win. It’s that I’ve been trying to say and it’s that that the manager hasn’t taken very well”
 “I’ve also told the club’s director, that I’m glad that I’ve said the things that I’ve said, and it probably wasn’t anything that they wanted to hear, but I’m happy that I’ve said my piece. It’s helped with my own mood anyway.
*the Danes can use “direktør” for all manner of meanings.  In this instance I’m guessing that they mean Hollis

Uncertain Future
But all of this resulted in that you’re no longer a part of the first team. Have they said that you’re on your way out in the summer?
”No, no-one’s said that I don’t have a future in the club. Right now there’s another more pressing situation for the club, now that we’re definitely relegated, but they’ve not said that we should break our contract.”
 “It’s difficult to say what’s going to happen, especially whilst we don’t have a permanent manager, so we’ll have to wait and see who comes in and what he wants. Then we’ll have to take it from there. But there’s a lot of uncertainty right now, and no one knows for sure what’s going to happen.  It’s a big club that’s been relegated and there’s a lot of stress behind the scenes. I’ll just have to take it easy.

If you should judge yourself, have you done enough?
”I personally feel that I have done enough.  It might well be that I’m not the best ball player or the most elegant, but I feel that in the games where I’ve played, and the results we’ve achieved in those games, the record speaks for itself. Of course you lose sometimes, and we’ve taken a kicking in some of the games I’ve played in, especially against the bigger teams, but apart from that we did performed OK whilst I was playing and showed that we at the very least weren’t in the deepest form crisis.  I think that there was a bit more hope. But if the trainer doesn’t think that, that’s his decision, “ explains Okore, who just 1 year previously had a completely different importance for Aston Villa
Sacrificed himself for the club.
That time the club was also threatened with relegation and it was the first season where Jores Okore was properly back after his knee injury
The then Villa manager Tim Sherwood saw a rising star in the Dane and showed great confidence in him and the club survived, despite it looking grim at several points. Not least because Jores Okore sacrificed himself despite the risk of another serious knee injury.
He’s talking now for the first time, about how in April 2015 doctors pleaded with him to have an operation to take care of complications, which could have major consequences.
”At one point the doctors told me that I should stop playing, but I wouldn’t listen to them then, because we were in a situation where we needed everyone and that I played,” Okore says who, for the first time during the interview, looks down into the table with a look on his face that isn’t him.
The smile is gone and there’s a moments silence. Then he continues
“I should have had the operation at that point, but I waited until the season was over and we’d survived. There was some scarring and imperfections with the repair inside the knee that meant, unfortunately I needed another operation, but I took a chance for the sake of the team. Fortunately the operation and rehab went well, so luckily nothing serious happened.

”Do the people around Aston Villa know about what you’re sitting here and talking about?
”No, I don’t think there are many Aston Villa fans that know about it. Just that a knee operation can be quite serious, so I don’t think that they know what I put on the line. It could have ended up a lot worse than it, but that’s done. I’m not really the type to go shouting to the press about it, but if you ask me a question, you’ll get a straight, honest answer. I had hoped that there’d have been a bit more gratitude for me taking a chance like that. It’s more from the club that that kind of recognition is important, rather than the fans. The fans know full well that I’ll always give 100%.

You could say that you gave more than 100%?
”You could say that”

Are you worried about losing you place in the Denmark squad if you remain in the Championship?
”No, you know that there already players from the Championship in the Denmark squads, so from that point of view, playing in the Championship won’t necessarily hurt my chances. It’s more about getting as much playing time as possible, so if I’m no getting much playing time now and we keep the same squad, it’ll probably be difficult to get playing time in the Championship as well. We’ll have to see how a new manager sees things, when he is eventually appointed.

[Salsa Party Animal]

I think he is just frustrated with the team and management. i think he will be better once he have a much better team and coaching staff and management. I don't blame him. But he still not top notch defender. I would give him another season.

[claret and blue blood]

I for one don't blame him one iota for telling that buffoon Black he should be playing above the ales offs and Richards of this world.
One of only a few I would like to see next season.

[LeeB]

I for one don't blame him one iota for telling that buffoon Black he should be playing above the ales offs and Richards of this world.
One of only a few I would like to see next season.

I don't blame him for telling Black that, but I think he's a ****** for refusing to go on the bench, and I would if he was playing for me in Sunday football.

[Olof's Beard]

Okore has significantly improved the defence in two consecutive seasons. Last year, his partnership with Clark was crucial to our improvement and this year, his return immediately coincided with our only period of improvement. He is not perfect but he should be in the team, he and Clark haven't played together once this season, which is daft. Black has preferred to play two left sided centre halves. He has clearly handled this terribly but you can understand why he had questions to ask our wonderful caretaker manager and I bet he got an arsey reply - probably something along the lines of 'I've worked in football for 35 years'.

[supertom]

He's only played 12 games and I don't think that's any basis for pulling in stats. He just happened to be in during the five game unbeaten run (which included played a L2 side). Had Okore played all season we'd still be rock bottom of the league and relegated already. He's made errors every game. I don't care whether he disagrees with the manager. Eric Black is fucking shit, we all see that, but Okore is a professional. If the manager of the club paying you good money to play, asks you to sit on the bench (with the potential to play), then you sit on the bench.

I can't forgive that kind of unprofessionalism. I do concur with his view that he's probably the best of a bad bunch, but he's still not premier league standard yet. There's no coming back from that. If he was Lionel Messi I'd take it, but he's not. Fuck him off.

[aj2k77]

I'm sure he's frustrated with how things have gone, I'm sure he's pissed off that Richards keeps getting picked, I'm sure in his tiny pea brain he thinks he's acting reasonable BUT you do not refuse to take your seat on the bench and you do not go on strike. That's as big a fuck off to everyone involved with Aston Villa as possible. The bloke is a disgrace to the shirt and needs selling asap.

[ozzjim]

Why has he got a pea brain?

I have a lot of sympathy for a guy that put his knee on the line for the club last season, had been the best of our woeful centre halves this and thinks he should play. To be sidelined by a guy as poor as Black in place of a guy who defends like Lescott has I would be asking questions. Whoever comes in needs to have a good talk to him.  Black will be long gone in August. We will need a player like Okore who will be one of the best defenders in that league.

[aj2k77]

Why has he got a pea brain?

Because if he had any sense or perspective right now he wouldn't be kicking up a fuss with 4 games to go over him not being in the first 11. It's another punch in the face of supporters. Plus have you seen him defend? Another thickie in the squad.

[ozzjim]

His issues are with the coach not the club.  He is not going out while the team are playing and taking legal highs our going off to dubai or posting pictures of his next motor after a 6 nil loss.  And yes I have seen him defend.  Really well at times but he needs some senior guidance that is helpful to his development not the lot that he is with.  Same goes for Grealish.  I am not judging Okore on a fall out with someone as arrogant as black comes across. The bloke is a shambles.

[aj2k77]

Going on strike is not something you can defend in my book. He is paid a huge amount of money and even if Sooty and Sweep take over and tell him he's on the bench then he needs to be professional and take his seat on the bench.

This is just another example of exactly how unprofessional the players are, they do as they see fit without exception.

A pathetic bunch and this guy is another one of them.

If Black is arrogant then god knows what that makes someone who has decided, after a season of terrible performances, that he is too good to sit on our bench and wait for another chance and that it is beneath him.

He plays for Aston Villa football club, not Eric Black, he should be playing for the shirt, the badge, the name, the supporters and professional pride. Going on strike is one of the worst things you can do as a footballer. He comes across terribly in this and if Black wasn't pissing everyone off with his stupid Bacuna/Richards selections then the clown Okore would be getting massive pelters. He's only not because the rest of the squad are almost as shambolic in behaviour as he is.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

okore is another classic jam tomorrow player

i havent seen anything to suggest he is anything more than average

the biggest problem with his game is his total inability to read it and that cant be coached

[Chris Smith]

okore is another classic jam tomorrow player

i havent seen anything to suggest he is anything more than average

the biggest problem with his game is his total inability to read it and that cant be coached

Being average puts him head and shoulders above at least half of the squad.

[Villa in Denmark]

okore is another classic jam tomorrow player

i havent seen anything to suggest he is anything more than average

the biggest problem with his game is his total inability to read it and that cant be coached

Average would put him about 10 miles in front of most of the squad.

In terms of his potential and development, he's 23 now and in the last 3 years has spent over a year out due to his cruciate injury and another couple of months due to the follow up operation. In between that he's struggled to hold down a place for various reasons.

There was plenty of potential there and he's still young enough to improve, but he's missed a good chunk of the period where he should have developed the most and I suspect will never be as good as he might have been.

One thing that annoys me a bit about the interview, is that they didn't ask him straight out what had happened about the Bournemouth game. He does tend to give alarmingly straight answers, so I don't think that there would have been a fudged reply.