Olivier Tebily Bio Send To Friend  

Tebily has become something of a utility player since his arrival at Birmingham City in March 2002 playing in a variety of positions across midfield and defence.

After ousting Mario Melchiot as right-back during the 2005/06 season he was particularly impressive, blessed with a strength and endeavour which the St Andrews fans took to.

However, the Ivory Coast international found his first team chances limited during the 2006/07 season during which he made just seven first team appearances.

Tebily first arrived in English football in March 1999 when Sheffield United signed him from French club Chateauroux for £200,000.

The defender came with a reputation as a highly promising player, but only stayed at Bramall Lane until the end of that season - playing just eight games for the Blades.

The South Yorkshire club soon made a big profit on the player as John Barnes paid £1.25million to take the player north of the border to Celtic.

A number of indifferent displays soon saw the Bhoys' fans on the player's back. The arrival of Martin O'Neill at Celtic seemed to improve his displays, if not win him a regular slot.

He moved on in March 2002, returning to England with First Division promotion hopefuls Birmingham City. He had played 52 games for the Parkhead club, scoring two goals.

Steve Bruce was the manager who snapped up Tebily - the same man who signed the defender for Sheffield United.

Tebily was an inspirational figure as Birmingham won promotion to the Premiership through the play-offs, becoming a cult figure among the Blues faithful.

However, his 2002/03 was ended by a knee injury sustained during the Premiership encounter with Charlton at St Andrews in December. He returned to fitness for the start of 2003/04, but did miss a month either side of the festive period due to another injury.