Koumas Completes Dream Team Midfield
By Deadly Submarine
March 13 2005
Jason Koumas completes the midfield line-up in the Total Tranmere Rovers Dream Team after the closest vote so far in the series. Koumas pipped current Rovers Captain Jason McAteer by just 1 vote, polling 43% of the 37 votes cast. Koumas played for Tranmere for four years a move to West Brom.
Total Tranmere Rovers Dream Team : Central Midfielder 2 – Jason Koumas
How He Won:
| Question of the Week |
| Question: Total Tranmere Rovers Dream Team - Centre Midfield (2) | ||||||||||
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43%
Koumas’ Tranmere Career (Feb 1998 – Aug 2002):
Played = 114 (and 36 as Sub)
Scored = 32
Yellow Cards = 22
Red Cards = 1
Caps = 13
Goals = 1
Koumas becomes the second international player to take a place in the Total Tranmere Rovers Dream, joining fellow Wrexham born player and Welsh International Gareth Roberts in the team. He is also yet another youth team product to make the team along with Kenny Irons, Ryan Taylor John McGreal and Clint Hill.
After signing his first full professional contract towards the end of the 1997-98 season, Koumas played in the first team for most of his first full season (1998-99) beginning with a 1-0 League Cup win at Carlisle.
Koumas is seen by many to be possibly the most naturally talented player at Tranmere over the past ten years, scoring a number of memorable goals and being an often valuable member of the team. Indeed one of his best goals came in his penultimate appearance at Prenton Park when he ran past a number of Colchester United defenders to score at the Cowshed End of the ground in a game that Rovers eventually drew 1-1.
He became a crowd favourite fairly quickly as his abilities became evident to the Prenton Park faithful. Sometimes it looked as though he was playing pointless balls through the oppostition defence but in reality he often seemed a step ahead of the rest the side in his thinking during a game.
He played some part in Tranmere’s famous Cup runs of the late 1990’s as well as their run to the Worthington Cup Final in 2000 although he was not a member of the squad at Wembley for the final.
One down side to his game was that some fans suggested that Koumas did not put the effort in often enough and that he was at times playing below his ability but at the same time it was clear that he would eventually get a big money move to a higher level.
Everton were mooted to be interested and West Brom’s interest whilst they were still in the First Division was also clear but Koumas stayed at Prenton Park for the 2001-02 season and signed a new contract with the club. This also meant that if he was to move on in the near future it would command a fee and therefore vital money for Tranmere Rovers. This won Koumas great respect amongst some Rovers fans as he could have just walked away for free when his contract was up.
It seemed as if Koumas was set to stay for another season when the 2002-03 season began but just four games into the new campaign, a bid of £2.25m came in from West Brom and he left Prenton Park. His final appearance in a Tranmere shirt came in a 2-1 Rovers win against Huddersfield at Prenton Park on August 26th 2002 before he completed his dream move to the Premiership with newlythe newly promoted Baggies.
He went on to score a number of goals for the Baggies as they were unfortunately relegated after just one season in the top flight. One of Jason’s more memorable goals that season will surely have been scoring against Manchester United.
The next poll will determine who will form the first part of the Total Tranmere Rovers Dream Team striking partnership so get voting now. As the closeness of this poll showed, every vote can be important.