February 22, 2024

Long before curated playlists on Spotify were a thing – I grew up in the 90s listening to compilation albums which packed 20 of the greatest songs of the year into one jam-packed CD full of hits. These were lifesavers because I had no money to buy individual albums. These compilation albums were called the “Now: That’s What I Call Music” albums. Ok thanks for indulging this old man in my random rambles – this was just me trying to explain one of the reasons why of all the music-related punny headlines I could’ve gone for, I went for “Now Dat’s What I Call a Signing“. I did also contemplate “I Want It Dat Way“, “Dat Thing You Do“, and the more current “How You Like Dat“, which was a reader’s suggestion. The other more important reason for why this headline is relevant is because of the profile of the player, and his big league experience. Let’s start right there and then discuss what we know about our new man, Toni Datković. 100 appearances in La Liga 2 Toni has made a century of appearances in La Liga 2, a league that is just one rung below La Liga, Spain’s top division. Although I found footage and detailed video analysis of Toni hard to come by, I think we can safely assume that someone who made 100 appearances in La Liga 2 will be expected to be heads and shoulders above the competition he will face in the SPL. This is a league where the strikers are of the calibre of Martin Braithwaite, Borja Baston, Balde Keita, Javi Puado, etc. The signing also brings to mind last year’s signing of Bailey Wright, another player who had come from the 2nd-tier league of a top footballing nation. However, just based on pure stats alone, I might argue that this signing looks to be even more impressive. When Bailey came to us, he had many appearances in the Championship, but they were mostly from a few years ago. His more recent experience right before coming to us consisted of 2 seasons where he was a regular for Sunderland in League 1, but then he was in and out for them once they got promoted. He was then loaned out to Rotheram, where he was also in and out of the team. Toni comes to us off the back of a 2022/2023 season where he featured 39 times for FC Cartagena, a mid-table team in La Liga 2, which suggests that’s where his level is currently at. Of course his most recent half-season spell was at Albacete, which came about after he left Cartagena in a pretty messy way. Toni’s side of the story is that he was forced out by the club because of their financial situation, while the Cartagena president’s version of the story was that Toni had interest from a Saudi club and the uncertainty brought about by the Saudi league’s transfer window closing later than the Spanish league’s meant that they had to let him go so that they had certainty over whether to replace him or not. I trust Toni because he is our guy now (not biased at all lol), and also because the Cartagena fans seem to love the guy. Another notable mention in his CV is the one time he got called up for the Croatia senior team, even if it was for a B team somewhat in a friendly played in China. The more illustrious names that played on the pitch with him that day include Borna Barisic (Glasgow Rangers), Luka Ivanusec (Feyenoord), and Josip Juranovic (Union Berlin). On paper, this signing is precisely the profile of player we need if we are to wrest the title back and aim for a deep run in ACL2. Tons of experience in a much stronger league than ours, still the right age (30), and making regular appearances. Earlier this year, there were very strong rumours that the Sailors were in for Ryoya Taniguchi – but it always felt a little off to me. Players like Diego Lopes and Pedro Henrique being allowed to depart, to be replaced by players of the quality of Ryoya? It just seemed unlikely. And that’s not a knock on Ryoya, who is a decent player – it is more of a testament to the scouting and financial ability of the Sailors. Given what we’re capable of, it would have been a downer if we signed someone from within our shores to bolster our defence. El Sicario – The Hitman With a nickname like that, we’re expecting Toni to play like Nemanja Vidic or Sergio Ramos. A take-no-prisoners approach to defending, destroying strikers who get near his goal. So it was pretty funny when he revealed in an interview the origins of his nickname – “When people first hear the term ‘Sicario’, they often think I’m a dangerous guy,” Toni elaborated “But after getting to know me, everybody says I should have nothing to do with the nickname.  … He explained: “When you arrive in Spain and you say that you come from Croatia, everyone’s first thought is that of war. And when I take my clothes off, I have a few scars on my body, so I look a bit like someone who’s always fighting. That’s why my teammates started calling me ‘Sicario’. – Toni Datković in an interview with the club It is an excellent interview that delves into Toni’s life, family, and motivations, not just his career, and I’d strongly suggest taking some time out of your day to read it. So yeah, glad that that’s debunked then, he isn’t a terror on the pitch, it’s just a silly nickname given to him by his teammates, yes? 14 cards in 39 league games. While this does not seem to be characteristic of him if you take his whole career into account, if you keep really quiet, you can already hear Jansen Foo shaking his head, reaching into his