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Fullname: Mohammed Camara
aka: Mo Camara
Born: 25 June 1975
Birthplace: Conakry, Guinea
Signed: 22 June 2005
Left: 8 August 2006
Position: Full-back/Defender
Debut: Artmedia Petrzalka 5-0 Celtic, European Cup, 27 Jul 2005
Internationals: Guinea
International Caps: 79
International Goals: 0
Biog
Guinea international defender Mo Camara was Gordon Strachan’s first signing as Celtic manager on June 21st 2005.
The former Le Havre and Wolves man was brought to Parkhead from Burnley in the hope that he would prove to be the answer to the Bhoys’ ongoing problem with finding a quality left-back.
Although officially a Strachan signing Camara had been strongly linked to the Hoops under Martin O’Neill and it is believed that it was the Irishman who instigated the first moves to bring the player to Celtic Park.The signing of Camara was initially met with indifference and bemusement from the Celtic support who were not convinced that the 30-year-old journeyman had the qualities needed to improve the team.
That bemusement quickly transformed into anger as Camara’s early showings in the Hoops confirmed the fans’ worst fears.The full back was woeful in the humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of Artmedia Bratislava in the first leg of a set of Champions League qualifiers – his competitive debut – and although his performances would improve slightly he still too often looked out of his depth.
There’s no doubting Camara’s work-rate and energy but far too frequently his touch and distribution was poor and his positional sense even worse still. The defence was still leaking unnecessary goals.
He did get to play in two matches v Rangers in which Celtic not only won both matches, but did not concede in either. Celtic did lose his first game v Rangers 3-1.
Just six months into his two-year contract Camara, who had been heavily criticised by the support, was out of the first team picture – Strachan preferring to play winger Ross Wallace in the left-back berth. It was no surprise then that come August 2006 Camara was allowed to move on when he joined Derby County on a free transfer.
He subsequently ended up back in Scotland playing for St Mirren in season 2008/2009.
In fairness to Mo Camara, in his first game for Celtic, a friendly v Fulham away, he stood out very well and played a great game, leading many to go away from the game thinking Celtic had got a bargain. Sadly the unexpected thumping defeat in the Champions League qualifiers knocked out any confidence many supporters may have had for him, and a chance to redeem himself never really came along (or was likely to win over anyone in any case). The left-back position had been a bug-bear for Celtic for many a year.
Overall, as regards Celtic, he was an unsuccessful signing.
Regardless, he left on fair terms and he never left giving grievance stories to the papers and all that, so additional respect to him.
He never managed to get far in his career, wrapping up at Torquay in 2010 with a sporadic number of appearances at various clubs.
After hanging up his boots, he became an international scout for Sunderland in 2010 and then was a European scout for Derby Country from 2014, and then was a part-time scout for Manchester United’s academy.
He later moved into the drinks trade and opened up some wine bars. Still seen very much as a cult player for Wolves fans.
We wish him the best.
Playing Career
| Club | From | To | Fee | League | Scottish/FA Cup | League cup | Other | ||||
| St Mirren | 02/02/2009 | Signed | 10 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | |
| Blackpool | 06/08/2008 | 23/11/2008 | Loan | 14 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Norwich | 20/11/2007 | 20/04/2008 | Loan | 20 (1) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Derby | 08/08/2006 | 02/02/2009 | Signed | 21 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 4 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Celtic | 22/06/2005 | 08/08/2006 | Free | 19 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| Burnley | 23/06/2003 | 22/06/2005 | Free | 90 (0) | 0 | 6 (1) | 0 | 7 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Wolves | 01/08/2000 | 23/06/2003 | £100,000 | 27 (18) | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 |
| Lille | 01/01/2000 | Loan | 9 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | |
| Le Havre | 01/08/1999 | 01/08/2000 | Signed | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Lille | 01/08/1998 | 31/05/1999 | Signed | 34 (0) | 2 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Le Havre | 01/08/1997 | 31/05/1998 | Signed | 10 (4) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Troyes | 01/01/1996 | Loan | 13 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | |
| Beauvais | 01/08/1993 | 31/05/1997 | Youth | 79 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Totals | £100,000 | 346 (25) | 2 | 14 (3) | 0 | 16 (1) | 2 | 4 (0) | 0 | ||
| goals / game | 0 | 0 | 0.11 | 0 | |||||||
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League
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From Not The View – So Farewell Then…
So farewell then Mo Camara
Celtic’s worst ever left back? That would make you worse than Brian Whittaker but you were.
Hosanna, joy, rapture; we are finally rid of the hapless Mo Camara, as poor a left back as we’ve seen in that blighted position in recent years. It’s not usual form in this column to give a departing player a bit of a kicking – even Magnus Hedman got off lightly – so we’ll tone it down a bit, but with the best will in the world this guy should never have been allowed anywhere near a Celtic squad.
Signed by Gordon Strachan last year (although the deal was apparently instigated by Martin O’Neill) Camara went straight into the first team for the Champions League qualifying tie in Bratislava. A legend was born. Mark opponents, tackle, read the offside line, cross the ball: a few of the attributes of a competent defender that were seemingly beyond Mo’s capabilities
In his first league home game against Dundee United he overlapped down the wing and ran the ball straight out of play twice in the first half. We literally hadn’t seen anything like it for years. Defensively he was a calling card to the opposition to come and have a go down his flank; marking was a task carried out at about four yards distance in Mo’s coaching manual while tackling is only something that correctly positioned defenders have to worry about, so there was no need for Mo to worry about that.
His sympathisers pointed to his debut at Ibrox as evidence that he wasn’t completely useless and while none of their goals came through him the idea that he had coped admirably didn’t hold up to any kind of examination – he was still more of a liability than an asset.
The fact that he was part of a Celtic team that locked Rangers out twice is hugely amusing. The fact that he now has an SPL medal on his wall is kind of depressing. He never scored for Celtic and never even came close. He set up a few goals, but will sadly be remembered, if at all, more for breaking down many a promising Celtic move.
My heart felt thanks to Derby for taking him. (NTV)