| Born: 1st May
1981 in Ghana. Position: striker.
Lincoln City
career: 32+(11) appearances and 2 goals between
March 2005 - May 2006.
Previous clubs:
Hampton & Richmond, Northampton, Lincoln City
and Chester City.
Current club:
Shrewsbury Town.
Former Imps' boss
Keith Alexander watched Asamoah for quite awhile
before finally making his move in March 2005. On
February 28th 2005, Asamoah was transfer listed
by Mansfield after an altercation with
Mansfield's then caretaker-manager Carlton
Palmer. The argument was allegedly caused by
Asamoah refusing to play in a position that was
not his usual spot, although Asamoah's agent
denied this.
Palmer later
issued a statement, which confirmed that Asamoah
would never play for Mansfield again, while he
was in charge. On the day that Palmer was handed
the managerial reigns of Mansfield on a full-time
basis, Asamoah signed for Lincoln.
At the time,
Palmer said: "I believe that there is no way
back for him (Asamoah) now because he
has shown total disregard for the management
team, his team mates and the club. And, apart
from that he is a centre forward that has only
scored five goals with the season almost over
which is not really acceptable."
"This is not
the first time I have had to speak to Derek about
his attitude but it has been the last straw
really. I need somebody who is fully committed to
the club and his team mates and not just a crowd
pleaser. I need somebody who is capable of
scoring me 20 or more goals."
Asamoah was born
in Ghana but began his football career at
non-league Hampton and Richmond. He joined
Northampton Town in June 2001 and stayed three
seasons, making 132 appearances although he only
started 38 matches. During his spell at
Northampton, he scored 13 goals.
In June 2004 he
joined Mansfield Town on a free transfer where he
established himself as a first team regular.
Prior to his falling-out with Palmer, he had
started 27 games while coming on as a substitute
in 7 other matches. Two red cards and five goals
were also added to his Mansfield career
statistics.
Lincoln faced
competition from several other clubs for Asamoah,
including county rivals Boston United.
He became an
immediate first team regular at Lincoln, although
his lack of goals continued to prove a problem.
It become so much of a problem, that in January
2006, he was loaned to Chester City for six
months.
His time at
Chester was mixed, as he was involved in a
disagreement over a missed training session. He
was in and out of the side before hitting a rich
vain of form that saw him score seven goals in
four matches. However, his career at Lincoln City
was finished and upon returning from his loan, he
was released in May 2006.
There was still
one final twist in Asamoah's Lincoln City career
because shortly before his release, he received a
call-up to the Ghana international squad to win
his first cap in a friendly against French club
side Nice. Unfortunately, the Ghana side were
dreadful during that match and Asamoah failed to
make Ghana's 2006 World Cup squad.
Asamoah spent
summer 2006 on trial at both Doncaster Rovers and
Scunthorpe United before agreeing a permanent
transfer to Shrewsbury Town.
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