stewarty

You can bet the press and fans will be blaming Ronaldo for single-handedly putting England out of the WC when in fact they just played shite. Sven will also get grief, some of it rightly so, but the fact in my eyes is that a lot of those players under-performed.

Without a doubt they under performed but how much of that was down to Erikson? He failed to take enough strikers. Out of the four he took, 1 got injured, the second hadn't played for 2 months prior to the game and didn't look sharp, the third did ok but the fourth didn't even get a chance.

Also, his tactics hindered their play and he insisted on accomodating Lampard and Gerrard when he would have been better off playing with only one of them, with the other being used as a quality sub/ impact player.

No sign of Colshy? Probably drowning his sorrows...

As much as PLG wants them in place before travelling to South Africa I reckon it's more likely that things will happen once the World Cup has finished. In Elmanders case I would reckon he'll want a couple of weeks off before thinking about next season and in any case, all this talk about being too expensive is just about driving down the final price. In the case of Clement, could he not do what Andy Webster is doing at Hearts and just hand in his notice?

You have to give Namouchi some credit for the way he hardly played in the SPL but stepped into the Champions League and performed pretty well. He's not a flair player but he does have a bit of physical presence.

Will be interesting to see how Le Guen rates him and also to see if and where he plays him.

Only saw the extra time and penalties so cant really comment on the game. Agree with Juffery that Germany will be hard to stop.

I've done my score predictions and I've got the final down as Germany 2, England 1.

Also got Klose down to be top scorer.

The missus has now decided that my Xmas trip to Aberdeen is maybe not the best idea. But I'll put my foot down - once I get there and she can't hit me.

She'll be too knackered to hit you. No sign of the sprog yet?

Just to confirm, further to the targets he's said he's after, PLG said an absolute final and utter 'no' to Vikash Dhorasoo.

Quite a few 'no's' at that.

Aye, that story was just the press trying to drum up stories coz there was no WC games on that day.

I'm prepared to wipe the slate clean for all the players that are at Ibrox. At the end of the day we've seen players flourish under different management, Ricksen being one player who's best 2 seasons were under Mcleish where he played mostly midfield.

Having said that, I wouldn't be sad to see Namouchi leave although I think theres enough there to warrant a 2nd chance.

Gus Mcpherson's not doing too well either on the Saints return to the SPL.

I am getting a bit worried he seems to be only after players he has worked with before. Seems to be showing a bit of a lack of imagination for me. That was Walter Smiths downfall, he stuck to the same players for too long.

Dharasoo is only paper speculation for now. To say he's only after players he's worked with before isn't true. To the best of my knowledge he hasn't worked with Svennson, Sionko, Furman, the 2 French boys or Letizi.

I'd imaging that Colshy is having a fit because the new kit is being modelled by a ginger...

5 stars crest says all we need to know...

how about just 'gersnet'...

I'm not convinced by it either but do think it'll grow on me as well (not literally tho)

Interesting stuff Frankie. I think Murray will struggle to let go. As much as he apparently wants to move on, methinks he loves being involved in all the hype and attention.

I think home advantage for the Germans is strong. They're building up good momentum although Argentina will be tough. If they beat Argentina I cant see anyone stopping them...

That's a joke right..

 

He's had a good world cup never knew he was that good really never impressed me against rangers. He's like the Ferguson we want the heart of the team stringing up every pass together.

 

Think he should stay in Spain though Italian football looks dodgy the now.

Riquelme was probably the difference between the sides over the 2 legs - he makes them tick and if I remember it was he who set up their equaliser...

It's actually on teamtalk

http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1873_1302865,00.html

The piece I read on this says that it was Bombers decision and that he was definitely not sacked. I got the link through newsnow....

Well, FWIW, I've always rated him and I think he would make an excellent squad player for a number of reasons.

Care to elaborate?

The young lad would seem like a no-brainer, N'Diaye is only 24 though, so might be worth a look.

 

Any idea if/when players will start to move on, I'm thinking Andrews, Malcolm, Bernard, Fan Fan etc?

I think we'll need to be patient on this. Players will be reluctant to move as the chances of getting the same salary elsewhere is low. Therefore they will be looking for a pay off to move on. The best option from the clubs point of view is that another club makes an offer for these players. However, given that everyone knows that if they wait a couple of weeks then Rangers will pay the player off and they can get him for free, I would suggest that we are unlikely to get many bids for those players that are surplus to requirements.

From the players point of view, they will want to get settled and begin preparing mentally as well as physically for the new season and wont be able to do both until they know where they'll be playing, so it's a minefield of uncertainty I'm sure will continue right up until the transfer window closes.

Interesting. Seem to remember N'Diaye being a decent player from World Cup 2002.

Eh ??

 

If he couldn't beat Whiteside's record as youngest player then what would an additional 2 weeks do to mean he can beat the record ? If he was already older than Whiteside was then he still will be if he plays on Sat....

 

What am I missing ?

Colshy's missing his marbles methinks.

i believe so. but uynsure of the ages.

 

whiteside was 17 as is walcott. don`t know the days though. maybe you could supply us stewarty?

He was born 16th March 1989. If Sven plays him on Saturday then he'll be 17y 106d (if my dodgy maths is correct)

Whiteside was 17y and 42d so the answer to my own question is.....no

youngest player to PLAY in the world cup...

 

norman whiteside

Would Walcott take that accolade if Sven brings him on?