The Scissor-man is back! A bit stirred, quieter and a bit more set back, like in 2004 when he didn't speak English at all, Gueye Mansour set foot once again on "Dan Păltinișanu" stadium, where he met his teammates. Some new, some old, but none have been as much with the team as him. He is the only survivor of the "old squad", back when performance was only a dream, and nobody had heard of Iancu and BKP, when Buia, Șuleap or Silvășan reigned in the lockers.
Yes, he's been through a lot. A young talent, fabulous executions, but the ball jumped off him like off of a bat. The fans cheered him to incredible heights, and scoffed him away from Timișoara. He was meant to go to Dinamo, but unlike a certain home boy, raised by the club and a big hope for the fans, the Senegalese refused. He didn't want to play there. He wanted Poli and Timișoara. Of course, his boldness wasn't seen good by the club. That was perhaps one of his darkest periods. A failed marriage, which was supposed to be more like a fairytale, ended after only three months. He was excluded from the team and his future was uncertain.
Finally he was sent to Buzău, where he played for the second part of the season. And what a great deal that was for him. There he became a star, with 14 appearances (out of 17 possible) and 7 goals! The feat brought him back into the attention of the club and new coach Sabău, who called him and took him with Poli's preparations for the new season. This was his chance, the closest to making the team again. But, alas, fate would have it, that he suffered a serious injury right in the first friendly.
After 6 months off the pitch, he is back again, but this time he's task is "twice as hard as before", as he has sturdy opponents - his teammates, who've had more time to settle in. Certainly, Mansour will have to do way more than we are used to seeing him do. But, he says, "I'm more prepared than before, because my problems have motivated me. It all depends on me, but I have faith." Indeed, faith his something he has plenty of: "I've prayed to Allah and I feel this year will be good for me."
More than 5 years with the same club is certainly a lot, but the Senegalese is still young at 24 years old. However, in a moment of introspection, Gueye confesses: "I am more mature now, I think differently, not like a child anymore. A man changes through life".
Furthermore, in a truely touching description, Mansour reveals us his feelings towards Poli, Timișoara and the fans: "That was how Allah wanted it to be, that I fall in love with Timișoara and the fans with me. They have given me goosebumps at my first match against Dinamo, and since then, I love them greatly."
The "Black Panther" as he is also nicknamed, reaches out to the fans to come and cheere for him. "They give me strength and faith in me. For Poli, they give all they have."
As he could not play football, he spent the winter at his home in Senegal, with his family, but also training, to stay in shape, like his teammates. After two years of absence, he hopes to play once again on the grass of "Dan Păltinișanu" stadium.
While I do not know how he will able to help the team, considering the many good strikers that Poli has at the moment, I, for one, will be certainly overjoyed to see the "Black Panther" in action once again, and why not, even one of his characteristic scissor-kicks against a big team. His charisma and ambition can make one close an eye to his lack of technical skills at times, and this lightens me up more than any of the news and rumours of people going back and forth that have been circulating this past days.
Welcome back, Gueye!
Sources:
violamania.ro (Romanian), Wikipedia
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