Source: FOOTYMAD
Kalala wants top 3 promotion: 'I've lost in the play off final twice with Grimsby Town & Yeovil To
Before the Bulls of Hereford United: And he doesn't want to make it a hat-trick, so automatic promotion will do nicely for Southend United's new midfielder, one Jean-Paul Kalala. Jean-Paul Kalala: 'The most important thing in this league is to be organised' You wouldn't want to pick a fight with him, and Blues boss Paul Sturrock certainly believes he can bring an important enforcer role in midfield to what is a generally an area full of flair for the Shrimpers. However, for the player himself it's all about getting a place in the starting eleven against Hereford United on Saturday at Roots Hall, then making sure the club gain a top three place, you see JP has reason to be a little nervous of the play-offs. Kalala told www.echo-news.co.uk: “As a team we’re going for promotion this year and that would be fantastic for me because I’ve never had that in my career before. I’ve lost in the play off final twice, once with Grimsby and another time with Yeovil, so I’ve come close a couple of times and it hurts not to have done it. But now I actually want to get there and it would be a fantastic achievement if we could do it.” He certainly believes he's seen enough in the pre-season to believe there's enough in the squad for a decent promotion push. Kalala continued: “The most important thing in this league is to be organised. You need to have a good team shape and if you have that then you will be hard to beat. We also have real quality in our side but that will also shine through if we do the basics right." On Jean-Paul, Luggy said at the time of his signing: "JP is a very strong man and is the type of person you want in the spine of your side. He played well against Ipswich despite having just two hours sleep due to illness. I think he will be an important player in this division as we have a couple of flair players in midfield but we need one or two that can do the dirty work." Not long to go before the words turn into action, on the pitch! The Kalala Files Personal information Full name Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala Date of birth 16 February 1982 (1982-02-16) (age 29) Place of birth Lubumbashi, Zaire Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Playing position Midfielder Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1999-2003 Nice B 118 (3) 2003-2005 Nice 2 (0) 2005-2006 Grimsby Town 21 (5) 2006-2007 Yeovil Town 38 (1) 2007-2009 Oldham Athletc 20 (0) 2008-2009 → Grimsby Town (loan) 21 (2) 2009-2011 Yeovil Town 49 (1) 2011 Bristol Rovers 11 (0) National team‡ 2002-2006 Congo DR 7 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:11, 17 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:51, 31 January 2008 (UTC) (Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full player info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Kalala)
