Rob Kiernan - Bid Accepted

[der Berliner 3,803]

On a sidenote, the chap who sunk Germany in a friendly not too long ago, Bobby Wood, plies his trade for Erzgebirge Aue, who have just been relegated from Bundesliga 2 to Bundesliga 3. Lots of international players - of fancy nations or not - play for low key teams. Motherwell, who beat us fair and square (result-wise) have acquired their people from English teams like Kidderminster and the like. Signing people from the English Championship is - as per usual - a gamble. I for one would trust that W&W know what they are doing for the job at hand. And you do not need to venture into European leagues to find European players either. Lots of them try their luck in England too.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

I'm hoping Warburton is in the maket for a left back to replace Wallace - one that can actually deliver a decent ball and one that can actually link up properly with the players around him.

 

I thought he linked up really well with mcleod. He may well with whoever Warburton brings in.

[Rangersitis 0]

Someone (SBS I think) said "there's a reason there's a complete lack of English players and coaches abroad" as some kind of fact. It's not, there are scores of English players and coaches 'abroad' in all sorts of leagues. The main reason for this misapprehension is the lack of English players at top English sides.

It's worth remembering the governing factor in almost everything in professional football; money. If an English player can live in England and play in the Championship and earn more than he would at an La Liga side outside of their 'big two' then that's what they do. The reason Lampard and Gerrard are now plying their trade in America (that's abroad btw) is because of the money on offer.

 

I'm no fan of the EPL or its greed is good mantra, if the money dried up tomorrow you'd suddenly see English players and coaches appearing in leagues where the salaries were higher. The standard of player in England is as high as anywhere in the world and we are culturally and linguistically identical, any manager who didn't look there first for players should be severely questioned.

 

 

A quick Wiki check shows that the number of English players playing in La Liga and Serie A over the years have been less than half of their Spanish and German counterparts.

 

If the standard of player in England is as high as anywhere in the world, why are the top English clubs largely recruiting players from elsewhere?

[MoodyBlue 0]

I thought he linked up really well with mcleod. He may well with whoever Warburton brings in.

 

He just doesn't do it for me. Very one dimensional. Run straight up the line, head down, lump the ball into the ball and hope for the best. Quite cumbersome on the ball at times, with not the best of touches. His fitness has been shocking for past 18 months or so. I've met hoim a few times and he is a decent guy - but performance wise and what we should be looking for, I'm just not convinced by him at all.

 

Wouldn't be running to the Erskine Bridge if he was to leave. If he does stay, he really has to work on his technique, fitness and overall work rate. I'd be expecting to see a big improvement - he just has to show if he is capable of doing that. I have my doubts.

 

And no way should he be made captain.

[SteveC 150]

I wasn't let down there. Nobody knows then

 

I quickly edited mine to a string of full stops on re-reading yours!

[Zappa 0]

He just doesn't do it for me. Very one dimensional. Run straight up the line, head down, lump the ball into the ball and hope for the best. Quite cumbersome on the ball at times, with not the best of touches.

 

The amount of attacks which break down because he's either greedy and loses the ball, makes the wrong decision to shoot when better options were available or gets a pass away, but doesn't look to receive another pass or read the situation well was really annoying me last season. He did have the odd good game, but it was few and far between.

[Germinal 27]

On a sidenote, the chap who sunk Germany in a friendly not too long ago, Bobby Wood, plies his trade for Erzgebirge Aue, who have just been relegated from Bundesliga 2 to Bundesliga 3. Lots of international players - of fancy nations or not - play for low key teams. Motherwell, who beat us fair and square (result-wise) have acquired their people from English teams like Kidderminster and the like. Signing people from the English Championship is - as per usual - a gamble. I for one would trust that W&W know what they are doing for the job at hand. And you do not need to venture into European leagues to find European players either. Lots of them try their luck in England too.

 

Boabby Wood! Fantastic. He can play in the hole, just behind my preferred front two of Goodwillie and Gudjohnsen. The 'Carry-on XI' is shaping up nicely.

[JohnMc 2,801]

A quick Wiki check shows that the number of English players playing in La Liga and Serie A over the years have been less than half of their Spanish and German counterparts.

 

It's down to money, pure and simple. During the 1980s, when English football was in a financial slump (relatively speaking) Serie A had lots of English players; Gascoigne, Platt, Ince, Wilkins, Hately, Paul Elliot, Blizzard, Rideout, Cowans and Trevor Francis not to mention Souness, Joe Jordan and Liam Brady who all came from English football. They don't just now because even the top Italian sides struggle to compete with middling EPL clubs on salary. The richest leagues tend to have the best players, wherever they are from.

 

If the standard of player in England is as high as anywhere in the world, why are the top English clubs largely recruiting players from elsewhere?

 

The richest clubs recruit the best players wherever they are from, see above. Why isn't everyone in the Barca team Spanish? Because they can afford to sign the best players, not just the best Spanish players. Why isn't everyone in the Bayern side German, they're world champions after all? It's the same in England. Spanish football is relatively impoverished outside of two or arguably three sides so they tend to lose their good players too.

This isn't about signing 'Englishmen' but looking at the English leagues for players (this Kiernan isn't English I understand).

[MoodyBlue 0]

The amount of attacks which break down because he's either greedy and loses the ball, makes the wrong decision to shoot when better options were available or gets a pass away, but doesn't look to receive another pass or read the situation well was really annoying me last season. He did have the odd good game, but it was few and far between.

 

Agree 100% mate. Like the vast majority of our players he doesn't play with any real intelligence. Combined with poor technique, it's a recipe for disaster and that's why we've seen so many dire performances from so many of our players over the past few years.

 

And the shocking thing is that none of the 'managers' or 'coaches' have appeared to have developed the players to improve where it is obvious where their weaknesses are. That's inexcuseable.

[Zappa 0]

And the shocking thing is that none of the 'managers' or 'coaches' have appeared to have developed the players to improve where it is obvious where their weaknesses are. That's inexcuseable.

 

To be fair, I'm not convinced that even the best managers & coaches in the world would be able to make significant improvements to some of our under-performing and/or under-skilled players. Players who go through a whole season playing almost every game and looking distinctly average in ability in almost every game are basically just distinctly average players. You'd need a miracle or some sort of magic or voodoo to turn some of these guys into great players.