Bangura, Mohamed

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Personal

Fullname: Mohamed Bangura
aka: Mo Bangura
Born: 27 July 1989
Birthplace: Kambia, Sierra Leone
Signed: 30 Aug 2011
Left: 31 Jan 3014 (terminated contract early)
Position: Forward, Striker
Debut: Celtic 4-0 Motherwell, 10th September 2011
Squad No.: 14
Internationals: Sierra Leone
International Caps: 20
International Goals: 2

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Biog

“Bangura is a very talented, skilful player and I think he will be the next Henry Larsson at Celtic,” said his agent Patrick Mork as he signed for Celtic in the belief it was only a matter of time before his client won a move to England’s top flight. As Bangura put it himself:

“To come to Celtic gives me a good feeling because it’s another step in my career. I have to work to get to the top. I’m talking about the Spanish league, the English league or maybe the Italian league. If I can do my best here with Celtic then I will see what the future holds. If possible, I could make the next step in one year – if everything goes well and the club is willing, why not?”

How wrong he was to be.

He was given ample opportunities in the first team and reserve sides, and in neither did he show his worth. After sixteen appearances for the first team (admittedly a number from off the bench), he had the miserly record of zero goals and just the one assist. The fact we have to list his ‘assist’ to give him any kind of credit speaks for itself. His shooting and positioning was woeful.

In one game he near enough hit the cornerflag three times with shots and chased a guy who was about to be substituted. Ridiculous!

He was just out of his depth, and this was the SPL. Yet he and his agent were talking about the big leagues on his arrival. It would be laughable if it wasn’t for the fact Celtic were lumped with him. The only thing that entertained the fans was his little dance with some colleagues round the SPL trophy in the league title celebrations.

He somehow won the title for the Sierra Leone player of the year in 2011, which baffled everyone. He’d scored two goals in five games that calendar year for the national team, and that’s about it. Never scored ever again for them.

In August 2012 after just one appearance in the league in the new season (another hapless display) he was shipped back to Sweden to AIK Stockholm on loan till December 2012. It was hoped this would give him back some confidence to reboot his career.

It was said that Celtic had paid £2.2m for him. That is very unlikely, and we hope it’s not true. Henrik Larsson is said to have recommended him to Celtic, and for the first (and only time) he’d let the club unintentionally down (but the support forgave Larsson).

Bangura should have not made public such haughty ambitions on his arrival. It’s no shock that into the longer term all players wish to play at the highest level possible for the money & prestige. However, Bangura hadn’t even got off the starting blocks and should have been a bit more reticent. It came over as disrespectful (especially the one year target) and when things went wrong, there was only lampooning and no sympathy. There has probably not been at Celtic such a yawning gap between a player’s self-belief and the reality as occurred with him.

There were no Celtic supporters sad to see him move on loan for footballing reasons but in fairness there were no personal issues against him. The initial boast was in retrospect just stupid & naive and he was no ‘misfit‘ as one tabloid dubbed him.

The question became of what was to happen on his return after the end of the loan move?

The Elfsborg debacle
AIK opted not to loan him back again (too expensive) and it was thought Celtic were stuck with him. He finally scored a goal for the first team against Steaua Bucharest albeit in a friendly, and it was clearly met with much relief by him as well as humour/applause from the support. Despite the post-match soundbites of hoping for more chances along with more goals to come etc, he ended up being packed off back to Sweden for another loan, this time to Elfsborg.

If things weren’t hard enough for Bangura, things were to take a curious turn of fate.

In the summer of 2013, Celtic were in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, and in the third round Celtic were drawn against Elfsborg, then hosting Bangura as a loan player. Uefa regulations didn’t prohibit Bangura from playing against his parent side, despite Celtic manager Neil Lennon stating and warning that it wasn’t in his interest to do so. Elfsborg retorted, but it was all just mind games. Not a pleasant situation for Bangura, with a media minder having to accompany him butting in repeatedly whenever questions were asked to him. You had to actually sympathise with him, this new conundrum was an ill-fated situation.

In any case, Bangura played both games but didn’t score against his parent club, so his dismal record continued. However, he actually played well in both games, setting up a good chance for a teammate in the first leg, and in the second leg he had the measure of his Celtic marker (Ambrose). He actually squandered two gilt edged chances in the second leg much to Celtic’s relief. All Celtic fans were thankful he didn’t take his chance to upstage Celtic with a goal, but his performances meant he could hold his head a little higher than before, yet he was still in the red in accomplishments.

Notably, he was loudly booed each time he touched the ball by Celtic supporters in those Elfsborg matches, due to that he was on paper a Celtic squad player attempting to knock Celtic out. In fairness, as he was loaned out then his duty was correctly to his hosts, so Bangura was correct in his efforts and respect to him for that, but the booing helped to put him off in the matches (would happen with any set of supporters in a similar situation). To some, Bangura seemed disloyal but that’s just nonsense, as if the boot was on the other foot, the Celtic supporters would want the player to play to his best regardless of the opposition. Saying that, his antics on the field included one instance that saw him clutch his face in an act of “simulation” (i.e. cheating), and watching any paid professional rolling about the floor is embarrassing to say the least, so little sympathy here.

In any case, things at Elfsborg turned sour for him as well, and he was even roundly booed at Elfsborg by their own fans at their last league match before the second leg against Celtic as their side floundered domestically. Bangura was in a hole. Shambles of a situation.

Return & departure from Celtic
On his return to Celtic, with his loan clubs not taking up options to keep him, he was in a gaping hole of his own making. Lennon made public that Bangua could move on despite 18 months of his contract left. The first team had a number of misfiring strikers on the books and even then he was not being given another chance.

Mo Bangura verbally agreed to end his Celtic contract early and was released on 31 January 2014. Much to the relief of all.

It was all over, a sad situation. He was to become a regular and first pick for many Celtic fans’ ‘All Time Worst Celtic XI‘ team picks.

We wished him no ill and hoped he could reboot his career, but there were a lot of lessons learnt (we hoped) from this transfer.

Post-Celtic
He ended up moving on to play for clubs in Turkey, China & Sweden, running down his career in 2018, never coming close to any heady heights away from Celtic. It just wasn’t to be for him.

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Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League

• 2011-12

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Pictures

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KDS

• Signs for Celtic

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Articles

Bangura: I want to follow in Henrik’s footsteps

Celticfc.net

By: Laura Brannan on 30 Aug, 2011 14:31

MOHAMED Bangura was thrilled to sign for Celtic today and he is hoping that he can follow in the footsteps of Hoops legend Henrik Larsson, who has spoken highly of the Sierra Leone player.

The new Bhoy impressed Larsson, who saw him playing in Sweden last season for AIK Stockholm.And the 22-year old striker is honoured by the compliments paid to him by the Super Swede.

“It is very flattering to be recommended by Henrik Larsson, and it’s a very good feeling,” Bangura exclusively told the Celtic website.

“I know all about Henrik and what a great player he was for Celtic, and I’m looking forward to joining up with my new team-mates and working hard to do well at Celtic and help the club be successful.

“But I don’t feel any pressure, though. I’m just very happy and I’m looking forward to the move. I am delighted to be joining a club the size of Celtic.

“I want to bring joy to the team, and I want to bring joy to myself. I want to give them what they need. Celtic are a step forward for me,and this was the right time for me to make the move.”

Bangura will join up with the Celtic squad after the international break, which will see Sierra Leone take on South Africa next Tuesday,and he is determined to win a place in the starting XI.

It will be the striker’s first time in Scotland and he is hoping to make an instant impact.

“I will be over soon but first I have to play for my country,” he said. “From there I’ll go straight to Scotland and join up with Celtic.

“I feel good. I’ve played in Europe for a while now so I feel ready. I’m hereto play, so I will fight for a starting place.”

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Bangura checks in after a tough journey in life

Evening Times

Mohamed Bangura lived through brutal civil war in Sierra Leone in his childhood

Matthew Lindsay

31 Aug 2011

Celtic new boy Mohamed Bangura today insisted there is no chance of him taking life at Parkhead for granted after growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone.

The 22-year-old striker sealed a dream £2million move to the Hoops from Swedish club AIK Stockholm yesterday and is looking forward to helping Neil Lennon’s team win the SPL.

Being a star forward at the Glasgow giants will all be a far cry from his childhood in Freetown during a bitter civil war in the 1990s which left an estimated 50,000 dead.

Bangura said: “Given every-thing that happened to me, I appreciate what I have so much and that includes this great move to Celtic.

“I was a baby when the war started and it carried on as I grew up. I saw people dying around me and I remember the tears shed.

“I was in Sierra Leone when all the fighting was going on and I am so lucky that I wasn’t killed. I still cannot explain why I didn’t lose my life during that spell. I can only assume that God chose to guide me.

“I can never say that I felt everything was going to be all right. I am just so happy that everything is good now and that things are working out for me in my adult life.

“I also have the opportunity to play for my country these days and it makes me incredibly proud to represent the modern Sierra Leone. I am so happy that I cannot stop smiling because I sense Celtic and the SPL will suit me.”

Bangura has paid a tribute to former Rangers player Alex Miller for helping him come through another tough spell in his life when his new-born son died last October.

Miller was in charge at Stockholm when the tragedy happened and gave his player extended compassionate leave – even though it adversely affected his side’s battle against relegation. Bangura said: “I really liked Alex and he believed in me.”

Meanwhile, the player, who was signed after Celtic legend Henrik Larsson gave former team-mate Neil Lennon a glowing commendation, has vowed to bang in the goals for his new club.

He said: “I want to bring joy to the team, and I want to bring joy to myself. I’m here to play, so I will fight for a starting place.

“It is very flattering to be recommended by Henrik Larsson, and it’s a very good feeling.

“I know all about Henrik and what a great player he was for Celtic, and I’m looking forward to joining up with my new team-mates and working hard to do well at Celtic and help the club be successful.”

Bangura added: “I don’t feel any pressure, though. I’m just very happy and I’m looking forward to the move.

“I am delighted to be joining a club the size of Celtic.”

The player revealed he will grow back the dreadlocks he cut off at the start of the season in honour of Larsson. He said: “I am told fans loved Henrik’s style so I am going to grow my dreadlocks back.”

Bangura is delighted that he will have the opportunity to play in the Champions League at Celtic in the future and has also spoken of his desire to one day play in the Barclays Premier League.

He said: “Naturally, the possibility of playing in the Champions League is a big thing. It is where everyone involved in professional football wants to be.

“I am sure I can help the team do what it needs to get the title and get back into Europe at that level.

“My career goal is to get into one of the biggest leagues in the world at some point such as the English Premier League. However, there are plenty of targets for me at Celtic in the meantime. I want to bring joy to the team and I want to bring joy to myself.

“I will be over in Scotland soon. I feel good. I’ve played in Europe for a while now and so I feel ready. I will fight for a starting place.”

Lennon said: “We believe Mohamed is a player of real quality and someone who has the potential to make a big contribution to Celtic.”

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Bangura: Goal gives me confidence

By: Mark Henderson on 16 Jan, 2013 10:35 IT was designed as a game to enhance fitness and match sharpness following a winter break. But Celtic´s 2-1 victory over Steaua Bucharest in Marbella turned out to hold far greater significance for Mo Bangura.

The striker ended 18 months of frustrationin the53rd minute of the matchby bagging his first top-team goal for the Hoops, clinically heading home from Kris Commons´ cross.

His effort also completed the Scottish champions´ fight-back against the Romanian league leaders after Georgios Samaras had cancelled out Stefan Nikolici´s early strike.

It was a joyful moment for Bangura and also one of immense relief. A huge weight was instantly lifted off his shoulders.

Several injuries and the fierce competition for places in the attacking department had hindered the Sierra Leonean internationalist´s progress in Paradise since his arrival in August 2011.

That saw him to head out on loan during the first half of the season to former side AIK, where he earned some valuable game-time and rediscovered his scoring touch.

He returned to Celtic with confidence restored and determined to prove his worth. Breaking his goalscoring duck has further fuelled Bangura´s self-belief levels and he´s now eager to make his mark at the club.

“I don´t know even know how to explain myself as I feel really great and happy,” he told the official Celtic website in an exclusive interview. “I have to say thanks to everyone – my team-mates and the coaches who have given me a chance, as this what I need. Hopefully, I will get some more.

“I need to score goals as this gives me confidence and now I need to play more games. This is why I went on loan as I was injured and then when I came back I needed matches. So I went and scored a couple of goals and got my belief back.

“I am delighted to be back and score my first goal for Celtic. It was good for me.It was a good cross from Kris Commons and I just managed to head it down into the far corner.

“I now have to fight to be in the team, to get chances and hopefully bang in some more goals.

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https://archive.vn/20130202052531/http://sierraleonefootball.com/index.php/features/704-poborsky-bangura-named-sierra-leone-best-player-of-the-year-2011#selection-277.1-291.35