Mohammed Camara encyclopedia topics

Club career

Camara spent the early years of his professional career in French football, signed to Beauvais and later Le Havre, but also having loan spells at Troyes and Lille.

He moved to England in summer 2000 with Wolverhampton Wanderers of the First Division in a £100,000 deal. He became a cult figure amongst their fans, known for his commitment and pace despite sometimes exhibiting a lack of positional sense and ball control. He was a regular starter in his first two seasons with the side, but failed to make an appearance during their 2002/03 promotion success following a knee ligament injury and their signing of Denis Irwin.

He joined Burnley on a free transfer in June 2003, which gave Camara rgular playing time once again. After Steve Cotterill replaced previous manager Stan Ternent, he made the left-back focus on his crossing ability, causing a dramatic up-turn in his form at the beginning of the 2004-05 season. This attracted interest from Scottish Premier League side Celtic, whom Camara joined at the end of his two-year contract under the Bosman ruling at the end of the season.

After one-to-one sessions with manager Gordon Strachan, Camara started to do well and established himself as a defender in Celtic's first XI. However after Ross Wallace was converted into a left-back, Camara was relegated to the bench and made very rare appearances. He fell further down the pecking order after the signing of right-back Mark Wilson, who was also converted to left back.

Despite earlier pledging to fight for his place at Celtic, Camara ending up leaving to join Derby County on a free transfer in August 2006. He was a regular player during the first half of the season but found himself out of contention after they signed Jay McEveley in the January transfer window. The following season - with the club newly in the Premier League - saw Camara find appearances just as scarce. He made one appearance in the top flight, a 0-6 thrashing at , before later being loaned to Championship side Norwich City. This was subsequently extended to cover the whole of the 2007/08 campaign.

On 5 August, 2008, Camara moved to Derby's Championship rivals Blackpool on loan until 30 August. He made his debut for the Seasiders on 9 August, 2008 in a 1-0 home defeat to Bristol City. On 9 September the loan was extended for a further month, with manager Simon Grayson saying, "He has done very well for us in the first four league games. He has good energy and experience and he has been a good addition."