Canadians abroad: April 22-28, 2005

[loyola]

Sutton has never been praised, people have just said that he did a good job, don't exagerate.

It seems obvious that it was a shot at Sutton, since Jeffrey was speaking of goalie future.

[youllneverwalkalone]

According to the Greek researcher at FM, Fernandes is still claiming to be Portuguese. Doesn't sound like he's too keen play for Canada. Still, I would drop Lars over Sutton if someone has to go before he gets a shot.

[Dandal]

Helsingborg defeats Elfsborg 3-0 at home today and tops the swedish Allsvenskan after 3 rounds and 3 wins. Hutchinson gets an assist, but contributes much more than that. "I don't want to jinx him, but Atiba Hutchinson. Just say the name" writes a columnist at a fan site after today's match.

EDIT: the match clip.

[sstackho]

Derby County (1) 2. Gillingham (0) 0;Match report;The Games Coca-Cola Championship;Football

163 words

25 April 2005

The Times

The Game 15

English

© 2005 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved

DERBY COUNTY (1) 2. Bisgaard 33, Peschisolido 72. GILLINGHAM (0) 0.

Despite Gillingham making the early running, Morten Bisgaard opened the scoring in the 33rd minute. Paul Peschisolido scored the goal that his performance warranted when he pounced from close range in the second half, and the margin of Derby County's victory could have been greater had they converted late chances.

Derby manager George Burley: We've maintained all along that 75 points or above would do it (secure a play-offs spot). That's our aim and I've spoken to the players about the situation.

Gillingham manager Stan Ternent: The battle for survival is going to go right down to the wire, but we've got 48 points now and I would have been delighted with that when I first joined the club.

Blinder: Paul Peschisolido.

Stinker: Darius Henderson.

[sstackho]

Swindon Town 2 Tranmere Rovers 1;The games;Coca-Cola League One;Football;M atch report

140 words

25 April 2005

The Times

The Game 16

English

© 2005 Times Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved

SWINDON TOWN (0) 2

Smith 57, 59

TRANMERE ROVERS (1) 1

Taylor 20

Swindon manager Andy King: It's frustrating because if we had picked up the wins we should have done, we would be right in there. I thought Tranmere were poor. If you had come unaware of the league positions of the two sides, you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between third place and mid-table.

Tranmere manager Brian Little: There were a few points to take from the game. Our strikers were rubbish. They gave away the ball too easily and that put pressure on the rest of the team. We played with nine men.

Blinder: Iain Hume.

Stinker: Eugene Dadi.

[sstackho]

Canuck can help Derby rise: Derby County 2 Bisgaard 33, Peschisolido 72 Gillingham 0

Rob Parsons at Pride Park

540 words

25 April 2005

The Guardian

11

English

© Copyright 2005. The Guardian. All rights reserved.

The promised land of the Premiership is getting ever nearer for Derby, but for Paul Peschisolido there is a personal landmark in sight.

Having never plied his trade in the top flight one of football's leading journeymen made sure his latest side moved one step closer to fulfilling his ambition on Saturday. The 33-year-old forward provided much of the guile as the Rams dispatched Gillingham, scoring one and creating another to give them a three-point advantage over their rivals for a top-six position.

With a game already in hand, the win virtually confirmed Derby's presence in the play-offs, where the much-travelled Canadian forward -who achieved promotion with Fulham in 2001 only to be jettisoned before the following season began - could play a prominent role if injuries continue to deprive the team of key players.

"Paul has been very unfortunate this season not to play regularly because we have changed our system, but it is always great to have him in the 16," Derby manager George Burley admitted. "I thought he was outstanding - he combined very well with Grzegorz Rasiak all afternoon."

For all the home side's lofty ambition it was the more prosaic aerial prowess of Rasiak and Darius Henderson that was responsible for the best moments for either side in the first half, with the work of Gillingham's leading goalscorer creating two worthy chances.

The lanky Englishman wasted the first, scuffing his shot straight at Lee Camp after muscling Michael Johnson off the ball. Darren Byfield then blazed over just before half-time after Henderson's flick-on had left him with only the keeper to beat.

After a slow start, the visitors had begun to get a grip on the game when Derby opened the scoring after half an hour. Rasiak's looping header was pulled back into the danger zone by Peschisolido and Morten Bisgaard took advantage of slack marking to hook athletically into the net over his shoulder.

With the wind against them in the second half Derby began to lower the trajectory of their attack, the tactic allowing Peschisolido to pull the strings with ever-increasing influence.

After teasing the hapless Ian Cox for long periods with his short passing and intelligent running off the ball, the diminutive striker duly sealed the game for the hosts, pouncing on a rebound after a stinging shot from Rasiak in the 71st minute.

Though the visitors persevered they were unable to extend their unbeaten record of nine matches under their new manager Stan Ternent that has carried them out of the relegation zone, and instead are now uncomfortably close to the bottom three.

"We created three or four gilt-edged chances and didn't convert them. Normally we would have done, but I have to take this on the chin," Ternent said. "The lads have played fantastically well to get to this situation. From when I got to the club in December they were written off, but we are still in there and it is still in our hands."

Man of the match: Paul Peschisolido (Derby)

[RS]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Jeffrey, you cannot criticise the all-time greatest Cdn manager or any active player on this site. It's evidently turned into a GoBigRed cheerleading site (German ex-coaches and Cdnborn Englismen excepted of course).

[8)]

Who exactly was cheerleading? Jeffrey took an unfair shot at Yallop for calling up Sutton instead of Fernandes, and I called him out on it. No more, no less.

It had nothing to do with Carlo Corazzin, Holger Osieck, or some misguided dipsh*t from Calgary, but nice try.

[Massive Attack]

Here's a few from the weekend that were missed:

Daniel Imhof played the first half of St. Gallen's 2-2 tie with Young Boys in Switzerland on Saturday.

Rocco Placentino played the entire match as Cavese lost 2-1 to promotion rivals Manfredonia in Serie C2C on Sunday. Rocco opened the scoring with a goal in the 21st minute. Rocco was named Cavese's best player by datasport.it.

Julian Uccello played the entire match as Savona defeated Trino 2-1 in Serie D Girone A on Sunday.

David Masciantonio played 72 minutes in Monterotondo's 5-1 win over Rondinella in Serie D Girone E on Sunday.

On Monday, Fernando Aguiar did not dress in Penafiel's 4-1 loss to V.Setubal.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

Just to clarify, I erred in targeting the A-League. If Sutton can do the job I would be pleased. I picked Onstad over Hirschfeld because he has been more active, plays regularly at a higher level, and has the trust of Yallop. Seems he is not quite up to it. Hirsch had one good tournament for us, hasn't made great stops regularly for us since.

What I was really responding to was when Yallop, in an interview a few months ago, talked about our keeping future and only could mention the guys on the U-20s or at that age as up and coming. I think, if I recall correctly, he mentioned Lindley and Wagenaar, but maybe I am wrong. In any case, that was really irksome, as it was a direct snub at Fernandes. And I think he knew it perfectly well. Add that to the feeling that Yallop is not the best objective judge of talent, and not always fair when calling up players who deserve to represent us while including others in pre-retirement phase, then I'd say there is something seriously wrong.

I have hashed this out with the Aguiar issue before. Last year he should not have been cut from the team. This year, though, I'd admit that his season is more or less modest though his club has just been saved from relegation; he has played less, been more injured, and seems to be also at a lower level that when he was Benfica's 12th man. So I try to be fair. I was not publicly irate when Karim got the call for the World U-20s, since he had done the job in qualifying, and indeed his performance in UEA was stellar. But the fact is, with Fernandes starting now in Greek league in a club that will be in UEFA next year, was in Champions this year, in a league that is strong European second tier (probably above MLS, better in terms of club performance in Europe than Denmark, any of the other Scandinavians, Austria, Switzerland, even Belgium), his objective level deserves some attention that I honestly think he will not get. And this really bothers me.

I think if Daniel started for Oporto youth and won the championship, if Celta Vigo signed him (though he played little), if PAOK has him starting after only being there for 9 months, then there are some goalkeeping scouts and coaches out there who do appreciate he has talent. So what is the big chip on Canada's shoulder?

[loyola]

It was Wagenaar and Bergovic (Portsmouth). Not Lindley.

[Manuel]

The big chip is that he does not play for a 3rd division English or Scotish side. Canadain soccer is run by ex-British 3rd division coaches and delegates, that don't know talent, unless they play in lower leagues. The entire program is a joke. Oh, except Women soccer.

[shaku_bert]

lars is not even on the bench for Leicster v. Derby. Pesch start on the bench.

[RS]

quote:Originally posted by Manuel

The big chip is that he does not play for a 3rd division English or Scotish side. Canadain soccer is run by ex-British 3rd division coaches and delegates, that don't know talent, unless they play in lower leagues. The entire program is a joke. Oh, except Women soccer.

This is the kind of crap I'm tired of reading on this board.

Look at the roster for the most recent friendly against Portugal.

Occean - Norway

De Rosario - MLS

Radz - EPL

Brennan - EPL

Stalteri - Bundesliga

DeGuzman - Bundesliga/La Liga

Imhof - Switzerland

Klukowski - Belgium

McKenna - SPL

Reda - Denmark

Hutch - Sweden

Bernier - Norway

Peters - English 2nd tier (who just happens to be 17 years old)

Hirschfeld - English 2nd tier

Pozniak - Norway (was a last minute replacement)

So of the players that featured in that match, exactly two currently play for a UK lower tier side, one of which is a teenager who seems destined for the EPL.

While historically our team has been madeup of UK lower leaguers, there is no disputing the fact that we are moving away from that trend.

But hey, let's not let facts get in the way of sh*tting on our national team.

[DJT]

This thread is supposed to be for updates only, not discussions. I usually let a few off-topic comments go but now there are too many. Please start a new thread if you must continue with this discussion.

[sstackho]

Football: Young player awards go to Ryan Taylor

120 words

26 April 2005

Daily Post (Liverpool)

35

English

© The Liverpool Daily Post & Echo Ltd, 2005.

STRIKER Iain Hume was voted Tranmere"s player of the season by supporters in the club"s official poll.

The players" player of the season was experienced midfielder Mark Rankine.

Young full-back Ryan Taylor collected two awardsthe supporters" young player of the year and the players" young player of the year. The former England youth international was also the only Rovers player to be named in the League One select team chosen by members of the Professional Footballers Association. The goal of the season award was presented to full-back Gareth Roberts for a strike against Wrexham.

The awards were presented at a function staged at Prenton Park last night

[Blue and White Army]

Yeading 3-1 Hampton & Richmond Borough

Middlesex Senior Cup Final replay

(original fixture declared void due to Yeading fielding an ineligible player)

Elliott Godfrey came on as a sub for HRBFC in the 72nd minute. HRBFC played a team comprised mostly of reserve players, due to an overcrowded fixture list and with play-offs coming up.

[mjoni]

More regarding Atiba Hutchinson today...

http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=647&a=408300&previousRenderType=6

via

http://www.fotbolldirekt.com./IndexNews.cfm?ID=16336

Article in Sweden's foremost newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, saying, among other things that his performance in the latest match was the league's best so far (it's only round three), Atiba's personal best in Sweden, that his awaited breakthough may be soon to come and that his new position is a major factor in how well he's playing.

I don't want to jump the gun either. It may just have been a good night for him. But let's hope he keeps playing as brilliantly as he has. Who knows where it'll lead!?

[George]

Kappos's club ARIS scored a huge win in the Greek Cup today. Down 1-0 after the first leg, they managed to upset Xanthi 2-0.

ARIS is now headed to the final of the Greek Cup and will play Olympiakos.

If Aris win they play in the UEFA Cup next year. If they lose, and Olympiakos finishes either 1st or 2nd in the Greek league Aris still qualify for the UEFA Cup.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

It was Wagenaar and Bergovic (Portsmouth). Not Lindley.

Thanks, someone has a good memory. I sure hope these kids are good, qualifying this time round was strong. I'll take any keeper that can play regularly at a high level and come into the national team with some big performances. But I won't take us snubbing someone for inexplicable reasons when our keeping is under par.

[Winnipeg Fury]

Asteras are 3rd place in the Greek Second Division:

PAOK played a friendly game against Agrotikos Asteras, on Thursday 28/04/2005 (kick off 11:30 a.m.). The final score was 2:2 and the goals scored Hristodoulopoulos, Moyano for PAOK and Bekiaris for Agrotikos Asteras.

Mr Karageorgiou used the following players:

Fernandes, Psomiadis, Andralas, Zavadias, Karipidis, Koutsopoulos, Karadimos, Maladenis, Kanakoudis, Megahed, Zisopoulos, Theodoridis, Moyano, Hristodoulopoulos, Salpigidis, Mieciel and Skarmoutsos.