Soro, Ismaila

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Fullname: Ismaila Wafougossani Soro
aka: Ismaila Soro
Born: 17 May 1998
Birthplace:Yakase-Me, Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Signed:27 January 2020 (est £2m from Bnei Yehuda)
On Loan: 9 Jul 2022 – 31 May 2023 (to FC Arouca with option to buy)
Left: 1 Sep 2023 (to Beitar Jerusalem, est £150k)
Position: Midfielder
Debut: 2020-02-09: Clyde 0-3 Celtic, Scottish Cup
Squad No.: 12
Internationals: Ivory Coast
International Caps: ? [complete at end of career]
International Goals: ? [complete at end of career]

Biog

Ismaila Soro arrived at Celtic mid-season, during the pursuit for the ninth league title to achieve a second record of nine league titles in a row. Celtic had recently been humbled by Sevco at Celtic Park but had then regained marginally the lead in the title race, it was still all so close and on a knife-edge. There were concerns over the squad, and the support was demanding fresh new players.

Despite his arrival, Celtic went on a streak of positive results and built up a comfortable gap in the league above second placed Sevco. The league was prematurely ended due to the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, and Celtic were awarded the league title to achieve nine in a row.

For Ismaila, it meant a stuttering start to his time at Celtic, making his debut in a 3-0 victory over Clyde in the Scottish Cup in February 2020 but then had to wait till August for his next competitive appearance, the frustrating 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock.

He finally got attention in Celtic’s 3-2 win v Lille in Dec 2020 in the Europa league. He was thrown into the team with Celtic under the cosh with no victories in six games or so, with protests by the supports against the manager & board despite the covid restrictions in that time (it was the era of coronavirus lockdowns). He had a fine game, and did a job for Celtic, and there was hope for Soro again. He showed controlled aggression, made good passes but more importantly broke up dangerous opposition play, not something his colleagues ahead of him in the queue were showing.

He scored a screamer of a 35 yard shot from outside the box v Dundee Utd in December 2020. It was a poignant day as it was the first match following the passing of Scottish football & Dundee Utd legend Jim McLean, who  would have likely been irked by the goal conceded but inwardly be in awe of the goal.

He was given further starts but then put on the bench with substitute appearances to be sidelined for much of the rest of the season, with Scott Brown allowed to remain as a starter to complete his final season. It wasn’t initially seen as a forward thinking move by the then team management, but it began the end of Soro’s hopes at Celtic.

Ange Postecoglou era

Soro was earmarked early on by some to be Scott Brown’s successor but he had to impress new management. It was a task a number of others had failed already, and he was to sadly not make the cut either from practically day one of the new era.

As a player he shown ability and skill, and a willingness to get stuck in, doing the hard often unheralded work to the benefit of others in the side (ala Scott Brown). Not flash but effective.

However, he was a regular in the early part of the season when Celtic often underwhelmed with some poor results (e.g. 2-1 defeat to Midtjylland). In a tough match v Real Betis in Sep 2021, he conceded another needless yellow early on, it hampered Celtic’s chances which led to a costly defeat, and he was pilloried for his performance on the day. From this point on, many were increasingly concerned going forward of his value and potential.

To many he just seemed to not be learning from his mistakes, with cynics querying his attitude to development. As the online clichéd joke went:

“There are only three things certain in life Death Taxes and a Soro yellow card!”.

Not denying his commitment or stamina, but he was seen as a repeat liability in matches. He could be a good player on his day but all rounded contribution was key to value for Celtic, and he was his own worst enemy. It could be argued that the slew of conceded fouls & yellow cards was partly due to his trying too hard and not being more pragmatic, and he was still young at this stage. Notably, he never had a red card so some of the criticisms were overdone.

The writing was on the wall in two ways, first not played even when the squad ended up stretched, and then the transfer in of the Japanese players. Sadly, he was to be side-lined as his number of sympathisers in the support diminished.  In a squad which was becoming overburdened with midfielders, it was a tough competitive field.

It’s an irony that having been one of those rarities to have come out of the Lennon era with positive feedback, he was one to fall apart in the new better managed era post-Lennon when many felt that under better management that a more refined player could be produced. Some of his poorer aspects under better management should have been coached out of his game, such as often being on the wrong side of the player for the tackle which led to the unnecessary number of fouls conceded.

His last match was the exciting but admittedly dead rubber 3-2 victory v Real Betis in the Europa League, taking part in a Celtic side mostly made up of reserve players.

Soro was actually well liked by supporters, and to many it was disappointing it wasn’t working out. He showed talent on occasion but his development hit a glass ceiling or just stunted.

With all due respect, an uncomfortable parallel was Efe Ambrose in that both were talented but their on-field foibles & inability to learn from errors were just infuriating, and ultimately cost them their time with Celtic.

Some have argued that his drop in form was to unintentionally be beneficial to the new manager as it helped allow Ange Postecoglou to bring in O’Riley and the players he wanted from Japan.

So unsurprisingly he was sent out on loan for season 2022/23 with an option to buy to FC Arouca in Portugal, a small club but playing in their top tier.

He returned back to Celtic at the end of the season to a highly improved and ambitious Celtic. There was no likelihood now he was going to make it at Celtic even with the returning Brendan Rodgers whose benchmarks were high.

In September 2023, Ismaila Soro moved to Beitar Jerusalem, for an undisclosed fee, but estimated to be around £150k. Surprisingly to many, there was some competition to sign the player up.

Anyhow, we wished him well, especially as Beitar Jerusalem had quite a controversial history with certain of their signings over the years, as well as some colourful owners too. Something for discussion off this site.

Post-Celtic

[….]

Quotes

“There is only three things certain in life Death Taxes and a Soro yellow card!”
@TamSellic (twitter)

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Ismaila Soro completes Celtic switch as Ivorian signs four-and-a-half year deal

The Scotsman newspaper
Stephen Halliday

Published: 17:32
Updated: 19:02 Monday 27 January 2020

Ismaila Soro has set his sights on forcing his way into Neil Lennon’s starting line-up as soon as possible after finally completing his £2 million move to Celtic from Israeli club Bnei Yehuda.

The Ivorian midfielder’s transfer had been held up by red tape but he arrived in Glasgow on Monday afternoon, almost two weeks after the Scottish champions initially agreed a deal in principle to sign him.

Soro has penned a four-and-a-half year contract after passing a medical last week which was overseen by Celtic’s medical staff in Israel.

The 21-year-old will train with his new team-mates for the first time on Tuesday and hopes to be included in the squad for Wednesday night’s Premiership fixture against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.

“I’m confident that I will settle quickly and impress the manager enough to earn the chance to play,” said Soro.

“I want to settle into the team and give everything for the manager in training. I understand that breaking into the team will happen in stages and I’m prepared to be patient as I work towards this.

“I’m going to give absolutely everything to continue the success here at Celtic. I’ll give everything and more to continue the success this club has achieved. The reception here has given me the desire to go and work even harder for the fans, my team-mates and the manager.

“People talk about what you want from a team. I know Celtic will give me everything I want. I am joining a massive club, one of the world’s truly great football clubs with fantastic players, a beautiful history and the best fans around.

“I won’t look ahead too much but I have signed a long term four-and-a-half-year contract and across all these years I want to be part of more and more success at the club.”

Soro left his homeland as a teenager, joining Moldovan club Saxan for a season in 2016 and then moving to Gomel in Belarus the following year. After just six months with Gomel, he moved to Bnei Yehuda for £90,000 in January 2018, winning the Israeli Cup with them last May.

Soro is Celtic’s second recruit of the January transfer window following the £3.4 million capture of Polish striker Patryk Klimala from Jagiellonia Białystok.

Ahead of his arrival in Glasgow, Soro spoke to his fellow Ivorian and now Celtic team-mate, striker Vakoun Bayo, about the club.

“He has told me great things about Celtic and the fans, so I couldn’t be more excited to be here at Celtic,” Soro told the Celtic website.

“I’ve watched a lot of Celtic games recently and I can’t wait to get started here. The stadium is huge and with the reputation of these great fans I know the atmosphere at Celtic Park will be unlike anything anywhere else. The stadium is amazing and I can only imagine how great it will be when it’s full of fans.”

2019

HITC https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/12/02/five-facts-about-reported-celtic-target-ismaila-soro/

1. Soro has already carved out a unique path, as after emerging in the Ivory Coast with Moossou, he ended up in Moldova with Saxan and Belarus with Gomel.

2. His quick rise saw him move to Israel in 2018, and whilst he only registered two assists and no goals, he impressed with his defensive work as a holding midfielder

3. Standing at just 5ft 8in tall, Soro is a diminutive midfielder, possessing great energy, commitment, defensive awareness and ability on the ball; Celtic fans may feel those attributes could make him an heir to Scott Brown.

4. Soro is yet to win a cap for the Ivory Coast, which may just make a work permit an issue, but Celtic will hope for success on that front much like with compatriot Eboue Kouassi.

5. Soro’s agent is Dimitri Celuk, who was made famous for representing Yaya Toure for some time, so Celtic may just hope for some kind of influence from Yaya’s brother and ex-Bhoys ace Kolo.

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LENNY ‘BANS’ SORO

https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/lenny-bans-soro/

By CQN Magazine on 26th December 2020 Latest News

NEIL LENNON has ‘banned’ Ivorian midfielder Ismaila Soro – from the kitchen!

The all-action anchorman has made an eye-catching start to his Hoops career after making his debut in the 3-2 Europa League Group H triumph over Lille at Parkhead earlier this month.

Soro, who arrived in a £2million switch in January, kept his position with Scott Brown on the sidelines for the 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock – helping the champions to their first clean sheet in nine games.

The 22-year-old was backed to keep the position for the delayed Scottish Cup Final against Hearts at Hampden, but a bout of food poisoning created selection problems for Lennon as he prepared his squad on their way to a world record of twelve successive domestic honours.

The Hoops gaffer, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “Soro’s English isn’t great although it’s getting better. He’s French-speaking, so he can talk to some of the boys, but he did take time to adjust.

“He’s living on his own over here and we had to take our time with him, but he has done really well in the last few games and he gets better as matches go on.

“His passing is crisp, he covers the ground well and he dovetailed well with Callum McGregor.

“He’s a happy lad. He always has a smile on his face and he’s enjoying it.

“We couldn’t start him last Sunday because he came down with food poisoning on Saturday night. He had sickness and diarrhoea the night before, although he felt better in the morning.

“I told him he isn’t allowed to cook again. He must eat in the canteen!

“Soro still has to mature a bit in that sense, but he will learn.”

There is a chance of another outing for the youngster against Hamilton Accie today as Scotland’s title kings go in pursuit of three more crucial points as they bid for a historic tenth title.

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Confusion as Ismaila Soro leaves Celtic

Photo of Joe McHugh
Joe McHugh
| 14:53 01/09/23
https://videocelts.com/2023/09/blogs/latest-news/confusion-as-ismaila-soro-leaves-celtic/
Image for Confusion as Ismaila Soro leaves Celtic

Ismaila Soro appears to have upset ARIS as he completed his switch from Celtic to Beitar Jerusalem.

After a move to French side Valenciennes fell through earlier in the window things had gone fairly quiet relating to the midfielder.

Over the last few days there has been reports that Beitar Jerusalem were keen to sign Soro with the Israeli side confirming that the deal had been completed at lunchtime on Friday.

Giannis Chorianopoulos has been upto speed over the last week with the transfer of Luis Palma but this afternoon he found himself almost dealing with another Celtic transfer.

At this stage of the window transfer business can be confusing with various agents claiming that they have a mandate to sell a player.

With an Ivorian wanted by clubs in Israel and Greece there are obvious grounds for confusion with Celtic making it clear that they are keen to do business.

Moving the midfielder out of the club was the priority regardless of what club that the 25-year-old ends up playing for.

Giannis Chorianopoulos @choria80 ❗ Unbelievable from Aris Thessaloniki. Greek club informed unofficially that they are close to sign Soro from Celtic. But the player had already signed for Beitar Jerusalem. Unbelievable mistake from the Greek club

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