Blues boss Paul Jewell has revealed that ex-FC Köln central defender Kevin Pezzoni has been on trial at Playford Road for the last three days. The Town manager has spent the international week searching for central defensive recruits but confirmed that no one will be joining the club before Saturday’s game at Middlesbrough with former trialist Bilel Mohsni definitely not signing.

Jewell said: “Like always, we’re trying to improve the squad. We know we need another centre-half to come in and provide cover for the two we’ve got.

“We had Bilel Mohsni from Southend, we asked him to stay for another week but he decided against it and has gone back to Paris.

“We’ve had Kevin Pezzoni training with us from Köln for three days this week. It’s an area that we need to improve and we’re aware of that and we haven’t been successful as yet.

“He’s been training with us since Tuesday. He’s a free agent, we’ve had a look at him this week, I’ve spoken to his father and I’ll be speaking to his agent and let him know the decision.”

Frankfurt-born Pezzoni played youth football with RM Walldorf, SV Darmstadt 98 and Eintracht Frankfurt before joining the Blackburn Rovers academy.

The 23-year-old 6ft 5in tall centre-half or midfielder, capped at U19, U20 and U21 levels by Germany, moved to his most recent club in January 2008 but had his contract ripped up recently after he received threats from fans of his own club online, then was attacked at a funfair and threatened at his home.

His former coach Holger Stanislawski admitted that the defender had to move on: "Things have happened that prevented Kevin from playing football at this club."

Speaking earlier this week, Pezzoni was critical of his old club: "I never wanted to cancel my contract. A proposal was put forward to me by the club.

"What else could I have expected? My situation was not going to get any better.

"Who knows if after the next bad game these guys would have suddenly appeared in my apartment rather than just outside it.

"A club is supposed to protect its players and supporters, but this was not the case."

Having had his contract terminated before the transfer window closed, Pezzoni, who has recently been linked with Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Celtic, could sign and play now.

Jewell says the situation with Mohsni is now at a close with the Shrimpers but not the player willing to allow the Blues to take an extended look, although with no fee having been offered: “Southend agreed he could come and train with us for a week and play for the U21s last week.

“We wanted to see a bit more because we felt he hadn’t been tested and he wasn’t prepared to do that. Southend were, but the lad wasn’t and I think he’s gone back to Paris. That's over now.”

Jewell confirmed that, as we reported earlier in the week, the George Boyd situation is on the back burner while the central defensive additions are resolved: “Barry Fry came on the phone to me last week and asked me about George Boyd because I’d made comments in the press about him.

“I was only answering a question after either George’s agent or the Peterborough end had let it out that there might be a loan situation. There might well be, but it’s not our priority at the moment.”

Town have confirmed that French midfielder Cheick Kourouma’s move will go through although paperwork from Italy is still to be received.

Photo: Action Images

marcus9 added 19:56 - Sep 13 this is gettin farcial moshni is worth a shot they had him for a wk would have been good squad player .it is a bad joke to think we are looking at a season whith only 2 cbs i try to be positive towards the club but i cannot believe it has not been sorted . does anyone know anything about this german cb i have never heard of him but his history seems slightly off
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righty added 20:13 - Sep 13 What a clown Jewell is 4 months to get a CB still nothing looking at some unknown german I wonder where he got his name from wikipedia I expect JEWELL OUT
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BerlinBlue added 20:15 - Sep 13 Have to admit I don't know this guy, however he can't be that bad. You don't play in the German top flight and the U21s if you're crap. It sounds to me like he's been made a scapegoat for the whole team's failings last season when Cologne were relegated. I can understand the frustration, especially since my second team Hertha went down with them, but the treatment he received is bordering on the scandalous. I say give him a deal if he impresses in training. As someone else said, you can't compare the superior Bundesliga with the Championship and, after all, he's a German defender. They're usually pretty good!

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RegencyBlue added 20:29 - Sep 13 This CB issue is a complete farce and for the second season running for gods sake! 4 months to sort this out and we are still bringing in trialists in a desperate attempt to find someone half decent. There is no obvious plan here, just panic, and its not good enough!!
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tearle1974 added 20:31 - Sep 13 Looks like he has signed already?? However looks good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Pezzoni
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Talbs77 added 20:33 - Sep 13 I think the fact we could get this guy permanently as opposed to on loan and the fact he's played bundesliga means he's played at a high level, he's worth a punt.
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walberswick added 21:33 - Sep 13 he'll never sign for us, just using ITFC as a shop window. I'll get a town shirt with Walberswick on it and wear it to the Centre Spot if he signs.
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GermanTractorBoy added 21:46 - Sep 13 @Scribble: I thought I made it quite clear that I don´t rate him as a player that much - either at Cologne or possibly at Ipswich. Both, Cologne and Ipswich, are playing on the same level (2. Division), therefore my remarks also applied to him as an Ipswich target. Yes, he did play in the Bundesliga but wasn´t one of the better players in the team and generally tends to be a bit shaky. It´s true that Pezzoni mainly played as a defensive midfielder at Cologne which suited him more than the position of a CB. I doubt that he would help us at Ipswich in that area. I would have preferred Delaney there. Let´s wait and see how PJ rates him. He´s the expert ;-)

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BuckieBlue added 21:46 - Sep 13 Agree with those who say he seems worth a punt ( and he has experience of the set up over in England); if PJ etc think he's impressed on trial, then get him in- could be a good piece in the jigsaw.
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billlm added 05:00 - Sep 14 hes a free agent so may be, if not it will be no one on loan for at least two weeks because of the silly 93 day rule happens every year they cant play till january if sign now so he will wait for two weeks end of
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airliner added 06:33 - Sep 14 Steed the spin was from the labour party not the tories, Blair was reknowed for it. Anyway quite agree this is turning into a real circus. Why the hell can they not just spend a little more and get some real quality in defensively.
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brian_a_mul added 09:21 - Sep 14 Ainsley can also cover CB as 4th choice with N'Daw as additional cover. If Pezzoni does sign he will provide the extra cover we need. Delaney wanted a first team spot. PJ couldnt guarentee him that. With Chambers coming in and Smith deveoping and playing well, Damien wanted to leave to get first team football. In fairness to the club they helped him out to allow him to leave. Despite what alot of people say, PJ and the staff are doing a very fair and honest job with the players. Keeping players motivated and confidence high is half the batle to having a good team. A few rash signings (Moshini) could be counter productive.

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