Gone But Not Forgotten - Abdoulaye Faye
Last updated : 19 September 2007 By Matt Bottom
Position: Centre Back/Defensive Midfield
Date of Birth: 26/02/1978
Nationality: Senegal
From: Lens - £750,000 (Initially on Loan) - July 2005
Record: Played: 65(7) Scored: 3
To: Newcastle - £2,000,000 - August 2007
Career stats: Soccerbase
He was: A Presence
June 2005, 'Bolton trial Lens defender' read the headlines on small websites running across the net. Most Wanderers fans try not to take much notice of these frequent and sometimes frustrating rumours flying over the Internet, but when Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye was seen sitting on the Wanderers bench in one of our televised pre-season games in South Korea that summer, somehow we all sort of realised Big Sam liked this one.
Faye was playing on loan at Istres in the French League at the time he was spotted by Wanderers scouts, and once Big Sam had had a closer look for himself, there was no doubt in his mind Big Abdoulaye would be a hit in the Premiership.
This was good enough for us fans, as Allardyce had been plucking unknown stars and bargains from his everlasting basement for some time and we had grown to trust the big mans knowledge and instinct regarding new signings.
A few weeks later, Abdoulaye Faye was signed by Sam Allardyce in the summer of 2005. He was followed by the signings of El-Hadji Diouf, Hidetoshi Nakata and Jared Borgetti making his capture seem somewhat less exciting. But he was underestimated at our peril. Not many Bolton fans knew who he was then, but little did they know, over the course of the next two years he would become a fans favourite among the Reebok faithful and have a presence on the pitch that former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Viera would be proud of.
Making 65 starts in his time with the Wanderers, Abdoulaye was ever-present in two great seasons at the Reebok with the Trotters finishing 8th and 7th in consecutive seasons. Faye seemed to be a big part of this success, either as a rock at the back, playing centre half alongside either Tal Ben-Haim or Abdoulaye Meite or in a three man midfield, sitting just in front of the defence, giving great protection to the back four.
His headed goal versus Arsenal at the Reebok in December 2005 is surely an obvious highlight in Abdoulaye's Bolton career and I think the mental picture of him rising above the whole Arsenal defence to put us 1-0 up in that game will be kept in many Wanderers fans memories for a very long time.
Physically immense, hard in the tackle and with 110% commitment in every match, Abdoulaye Faye will be sorely missed at Bolton Wanderers. Sammy Lee's decision to sell could come back to haunt him sometime in the future, but with time running out on Faye's contract, Sammy's decision might be justified in the long run. Only time will tell so we'll have to wait and see, but one things for sure - Newcastle have got a great deal and one hell of a player on their hands for two million pounds.
