
Lamah Leaves For Israel

Roland Lamah, has today completed his move to Israeli side Amutat Hapoel Be’er Sheva
FC Cincinnati winger Roland Lamah has completed his move to Israeli champions Amutat Hapoel Be’er Sheva for a reported $450,000.
With the former Belgian international joining FC Cincinnati at the end of 2018, he has only managed to make one appearance in Paul Kings FC Cincinnati squad. Lamah joined the Ohio side, from DC United at the end of the 2018 season on a free transfer. With many expecting the Belgian to be a key player for the club this season, he has seen a lack of game time due to the arrival of Julian Gressel.
Roland Lamah started his career at Belgian side Cercle Sportif Visé, playing in the Belgian second division. Making his debut in 2003, at just 16 years old, he made a total of 17 appearances for the side before a move to Belgian giants Anderlecht in 2005. Struggling to force his way in to the side, playing in just six games, Lamah was loaned out to Dutch side Roda Kerkrade in 2007.
Following a highly successful time in Holland, where the young winger scored 11 goals in 32 games, Le Mans UC 72 (now Le Mans FC) signed the Belgian for $5,250,000. It was at the Ligue 1 side that Lamah started receiving consistent game time. Making 92 appearances for the French side in his three years at the club, Lamah was given his full Belgium debut in 2009. However, his time at Le Mans 72 was cut short following the clubs relegation to Ligue 2 in 2010. Playing one season in Ligue 2, Lamah couldn’t help the side to promotion and was therefore moved on to Spanish side CA Osasuna.
Osasuna paid a total of $1,700,000 for the winger as he once again saw his game time limited after his initial 30 game season in his first year at Spain. Having only played four games in his second season, Lamah was loaned to Premiership side Swansea. In his 18 month loan, the Belgian made 14 league appearances whilst also helping the Welsh side to a Capital One Cup (now Carabao Cup) in 2014. Despite the option to buy Lamah, Swansea declined and he became a free agent.
Hungarian side, Ferencváros who play in the first division of Hungarian football, signed Lamah on a free transfer. The Belgian proved his worth playing 54 games and scoring 12 goals for the club. Whilst at Ferencváros, Lamah helped the team to their first league title for 12 years, ending a horrid run in the 2015/16 season. Despite this success, Lamah once again moved on and entered the MLS for the first time in his career.
Signing on a free transfer for FC Dallas in 2017, Lamah joined up with former Premier League player Maynor Figueroa, adding experience to the side which had just won the Supporters Shield and US Open Cup double the year before. Despite positive performances, scoring 19 goals in 61 games in his two year stint, Lamah couldn’t help bring further success to the team. With his move to Cincinnati, Lamah was expected to play an important role however, the emergence of Emmanuel Ledesma and Julian Gressel saw Lamah very often left off the bench, let alone the First XI.
Due to the lack of soccer, Lamah reportedly went to team manager, Paul King, asking to be moved on which King subsequently agreed. With a deal worth $450,000 potentially rising to $550,000, Lamah will join up with Hapoel in Israel.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva, are five time winners of the Ligat Japanika, having won the past three in a row. With young manager Barak Bakhar in charge, Lamah will be joining a club who continue to strive for the success that has currently been built. He will play alongside former AZ and PSV midfielder, Adam Maher, once considered a star for the future. Maher joined the club at the start of last season and has so far made 17 appearances scoring twice and assisting on four occasions. Hapoel Be’er Sheva fans will certainly be hopeful that the two can form a good partnership leading them to future success.
Seeing Lamah leave will benefit FC Cincinnati as they cut $818,000 (per annum) from their wage bill. This contract saw Lamah as the clubs second highest earner and it will certainly please manager Paul King, that he will have some more flexibility around the wage cap now.
“It is a shame to see Roland leave, but with the performances of Emmanuel (Ledesma), Julian (Gressel) and our draft pick David (Cooper), he often found himself not in the first team squad. Understandably, Roland wanted more game time and requested to leave so we are happy to grant his request and receive a good deal in return. We wish him the best of luck in Israel and for all future endeavours.” commented Paul King on the deal.
Lamah joins Matt Turner and Darren Mattocks in leaving FC Cincinnati in the past couple of weeks as the pair were waived by the side. Turner is still searching for a club, whilst Mattocks is waiting for a work permit which will see him move on to Scottish club Kilmarnock, who finished third in last seasons Scottish Premiership.
Replies
BigMaguire: I would of liked to keep Turner as a backup but he wanted to leave so rather than cause issues in the squad, we let him leave. Mattocks just never felt like a player I wanted to use, and probably didn't get the game time he deserved but like you said seeing both of allows us more freedom within the Salary Cap.
Scott:In all fairness Mattocks was a player I saw and initially had a dislike for and I am not sure why, I also knew him previously but for some reason he just didn't feel like the right fit and therefore saw barely any game time. Both players being moved on certainly helps us out in terms of Salary cap so I am very happy to see them go.
Justice:Atlanta are certainly one of the sides I was expecting to be challenging especially after their year last season, but they have never really put any sort of run together. They have been playing in the CONCAF Champions League which could be proving a distraction so we will see how they do in the next couple of months.
SOA: It is certainly going better than anyone expected, being between the two New York clubs is a good place to be this early and hopefully in the coming years we can be above the both of them.