GLOBE-TROTTER SAM FINDS A NEW HERO IN TEYMOURIAN
By Peter Ferguson
DAILY MAIL (London)
January 8, 2007 Monday
DONCASTER 0
BOLTON 4
SAM ALLARDYCE prides himself on his international connections, but
Bolton’s manager has excelled himself with the Iranian of Armenian
stock spotted on the playing fields of Germany last summer. Andranik
Teymourian, who prefers to go by his Christian name, must be thinking
this FA Cup lark is a doddle after he and superb stand-in skipper
Kevin Davies dismantled Doncaster’s hopes of an upset. But life in
Lancashire has not been so easy for the 23-year-old midfielder since
he signed from Abu Moslem after the World Cup.
He is yet to figure in the Premiership and Allardyce admitted:
‘It’s been a struggle for him, not speaking English. The culture is
different and it’s been pretty lonely for him at times.’ Andranik,
one of Iran’s few successes in a poor World Cup campaign, made a couple
of thousand new friends among the Bolton faithful with two impressive
goals and a non-stop performance in midfield. Weekly English lessons
from an Iranian friend of Allardyce’s are helping him fit in to the
truly cosmopolitan Bolton dressing room.
Davies said: ‘His English is getting better. He’s a really nice lad
and one of the fittest players I’ve seen. ‘His engine is unbelievable,
he can play all day and he’s shown he’s a good finisher. But we’re
probably the least changed team in the Premiership, so it’s been
difficult for him to get in the side.’ But Allardyce made seven
changes for the tie, which included resting skipper Kevin Nolan.
Stand-in Davies’s opening goal in the eighth minute calmed any nerves
against a side that took Arsenal to penalties at their old ground a
year ago.
And Andranik, with two goals, along with Davies and Idan Tal, tied
up Bolton’s victory inside 50 minutes. Tal Ben Haim, 24, missed the
game amid speculation over his future. Tottenham are his preferred
choice over Chelsea and West Ham if Bolton decide to cash in on the
Israel centre half — a free agent this summer.