Stalteri cannot play in UEFA Cup, "not registered"

[sstackho]

Soccer

Redknapp facing a real lack of options.

227 words

6 November 2008

Irish Times

23

English

© 2008, The Irish Times.

Tottenham v Dinamo Zagreb:

TOTTENHAM youngster John Bostock is expected to be on the bench against Dinamo Zagreb as Harry Redknapp looks set to prioritise Sunday's Premier League clash at Manchester City rather than tonight's Uefa Cup clash.

The hangover from Juande Ramos's reign will continue at White Hart Lane against Dinamo as the players he froze out of the first team - Paul Stalteri, Hossam Ghaly, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Adel Taarabt and Ricardo Rocha - were not registered to play in Europe.

Redknapp has since brought them back into the squad but their unavailability tonight means Bostock will be among the young substitutes Redknapp will pick. "He's on the bench and I'd love to get him on the pitch," Redknapp said. "He's only 16, a kid with terrific talent and a lovely left foot."

Redknapp will rest skipper Ledley King, while Jermaine Jenas is struggling with a toe injury, Jamie O'Hara is suspended and Roman Pavlyuchenko and Vedran Corluka are cup-tied. Heurelho Gomes is expected to remain in goal as Redknapp has distanced himself from any move for Newcastle's Shay Given, but he has issued some advice to Gomes.

"He has to have belief in his centre halves that he doesn't always have to come for every ball," said Redknapp.

[piltdownman]

I might be wrong, but I think they get to register at each round. So if they get through to the next stage they can add him to the list.

[Sam]

quote:Originally posted by piltdownman

I might be wrong, but I think they get to register at each round. So if they get through to the next stage they can add him to the list.

Yep - thats true because a lot of the times clubs have to register new players because of January transfers.

[marcl_19]

Yup and I believe clubs are supposed to register a certain number of players from their home country as well as played brought up in their own system, hence why this number of players weren't registered while a 16 year old was. Should be interesting to see if diesel can somehow finda place now that he's been given a squad number again for the premier league.

[bettermirror]

Good news that Diesel may see some CUP time with Tottenham afterall....

This in re: to Tottenham's match v. Liverpool

The Tottenham manager will be without suspended left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto, injured forward Giovani dos Santos and skipper Ledley King, who is set to be rested. Redknapp may use the opportunity to run the rule over players such as Paul Stalteri, Ricardo Rocha, Adel Taarabt, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Hossam Ghaly, who all struggled under former head coach Juande Ramos.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=591714&sec=england&cc=5901

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by bettermirror

Good news that Diesel may see some CUP time with Tottenham afterall....

This in re: to Tottenham's match v. Liverpool

The Tottenham manager will be without suspended left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto, injured forward Giovani dos Santos and skipper Ledley King, who is set to be rested. Redknapp may use the opportunity to run the rule over players such as Paul Stalteri, Ricardo Rocha, Adel Taarabt, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Hossam Ghaly, who all struggled under former head coach Juande Ramos.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=591714&sec=england&cc=5901

At the very least, get him back in the shop window for another move in January, such as last year's Fulham loan spell.

[Rivaldo]

Rocha and Boateng dressed ahead of Stalteri for Spurs Carling Cup match today.

[Alberto7]

Stalteri not dressed for the Carling Cup QF either:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/watford/live_text/default.stm

Is this guy going to get any playing time this year?

[Grizzly]

Here is an article with some info/opinion on Stalteri not being registered for UEFA including Redknapp's comments on having to use teenagers in the squad because of Ramos' earlier decisions. It will be interesting to see how Ramos does in Madrid. It looked like Spurs were getting a top manager when they signed him and he had some intitial success but some of his subsequent moves bordered on complete incompetency. Before Sevilla, his managerial career was pretty mediocre so was he just lucky for 2 years at Sevilla or is he really a top manager?

Sevilla and Tottenham plot UEFA Cup progress as group stage ends this week

By Stuart Condie, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON - Former winners Sevilla and Tottenham could ease through to the next round of the UEFA Cup when the group stage concludes this week or just as easily slump out of the competition.

Both need a point from their final matches to make sure of a spot in the next round, but an unpopular format that allows three of the five teams from each group to progress means that they could also go through if they lose if other results go their way.

That can lead to teams taking things for granted, with unforeseen consequences. Such are the uncertainties facing several clubs when they play Wednesday or Thursday, the safest thing to do seems to be to go for the win and hope for the best.

Sevilla, which is third in the Spanish League and won the UEFA Cup in 2006 and '07, has won two of its first three Group C matches but will be out if it loses at Sampdoria on Thursday and Stuttgart beats already qualified Standard Liege.

Similarly, Tottenham has to avoid defeat against visiting Spartak Moscow or a victory for NEC Nijmegen over Group D leader Udinese could dump the two-time champion out of the competition.

Tottenham is in good form with nine wins in 13 matches since Harry Redknapp succeeded Juande Ramos as coach, but midfielder Jermaine Jenas and defender Jonathan Woodgate are both out of the match after picking up injuries in Saturday's 0-0 Premier League draw with Manchester United.

Redknapp said he will have to put teenage midfielders John Bostock and Dean Parratt in his squad, while he may again have to field a patched-up defence if captain Ledley King needs to sit out the match to rest his long-standing knee condition.

With Luka Modric and former Spartak striker Roman Pavlyuchenko both cup-tied, the injury problems have shown how wrong Ramos was not to register Canadian Paul Stalteri, Ricardo Rocha, Hossam Ghaly, Adel Taarabt and Kevin-Prince Boateng for the tournament.

Redknapp reinstated the quintet to his Premier League squad shortly after arriving, but cannot use them in Europe.

"Those five aren't in the UEFA Cup squad, so I've got kids out of the youth team because you have to have so many homegrown players in your squad," Redknapp said. "Every manager says their squad is stretched but if I hadn't brought the five back that were cast aside when I came here, we'd be desperate.

"We need some cover when we have injuries. You need a squad."

Groups E and F have already yielded their qualifiers for the next round, leaving the teams jockeying for position on Wednesday. Group winners get the supposed bonus of avoiding the teams that enter the competition in the next round having been eliminated from the more prestigious Champions League.

Wolfsburg will be without leading striker Grafite because of a head injury and can top Group E if it avoids defeat at seven-time European champion AC Milan, although coach Felix Magath isn't sure that would be such a good thing.

"I don't know if it's better to play against a third-place team from the UEFA Cup or a third-place team from the Champions League," Magath said. "Looking at the Champions League, I think there are easier opponents there.

"But first we need to focus on AC Milan. We are playing a top team and we will try to cause them some grief."

Ajax, Aston Villa and Hamburg are already through from Group F, with the German side keen to take first place.

"It's not a friendly," coach Martin Jol said.

Ajax hosts Slavia Prague without its injured Real Madrid-bound captain Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, while Feyenoord's miserable season looks set to continue in Group H.

The Rotterdam club, which is languishing in 12th place in the Dutch league after a 1-0 loss to leader AZ Alkmaar, hosts Lech Poznan knowing it cannot progress.

Captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst may miss the match after being carried off on Saturday following a kick in the head, while forward Diego Biseswar and defender Serginho Greene are definitely out following surgery on injuries.

Racing Santander needs to beat visiting Manchester City to leapfrog Schalke in Group A and progress alongside the English club and FC Twente, while Olympiakos can fill the final Group B slot if it avoids defeat to Hertha Berlin.

FC Brugge and FC Copenhagen go head-to-head in Belgium on Wednesday to fill the remaining slot in Group G.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

With Luka Modric and former Spartak striker Roman Pavlyuchenko both cup-tied, the injury problems have shown how wrong Ramos was not to register Canadian Paul Stalteri, Ricardo Rocha, Hossam Ghaly, Adel Taarabt and Kevin-Prince Boateng for the tournament.

Redknapp reinstated the quintet to his Premier League squad shortly after arriving, but cannot use them in Europe.

"Those five aren't in the UEFA Cup squad, so I've got kids out of the youth team because you have to have so many homegrown players in your squad," Redknapp said. "Every manager says their squad is stretched but if I hadn't brought the five back that were cast aside when I came here, we'd be desperate.

"We need some cover when we have injuries. You need a squad."

Besides Rocha and Boateng, have the other two guys played for Spurs (or even made the subs' bench) in the League or Carling Cup since Rednapp has taken over?

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

Besides Rocha and Boateng, have the other two guys played for Spurs (or even made the subs' bench) in the League or Carling Cup since Rednapp has taken over?

I don't think so but the point is that Redknapp is an experienced manager who knows that injuries can occur unexpectedly. Whether or not any of these players are his first choice, he would feel far more comfortable having them as backup if injuries and suspensions occur than the players he currently has available through no fault of his own. Even with the current number of injuries one of these players might be a starter especially considering two EPL starters are Cup tied and can't play. Additionally, having these players training with the first team also raises the level of training and competition putting pressure on the others to perform. In the present situation, Spurs are an injury or two away from being in a possibly disasterous situation of having to play young players not ready for a major competition and possibly resulting in an end to their lucrative European Cup season.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

I don't think so but the point is that Redknapp is an experienced manager who knows that injuries can occur unexpectedly. Whether or not any of these players are his first choice, he would feel far more comfortable having them as backup if injuries and suspensions occur than the players he currently has available through no fault of his own. Even with the current number of injuries one of these players might be a starter especially considering two EPL starters are Cup tied and can't play. Additionally, having these players training with the first team also raises the level of training and competition putting pressure on the others to perform. In the present situation, Spurs are an injury or two away from being in a possibly disasterous situation of having to play young players not ready for a major competition and possibly resulting in an end to their lucrative European Cup season.

I understand your point. What I'm wondering about is how far down the depth chart is Stalteri in the eyes of the new gaffer, at which we can only guess (which, based on the evidence, is behind Rocha).

[Grizzly]

I don't know how far down the depth chart he is but at the very least it seems that he is getting a fair chance to win his spot back unlike other years where it seemed like he was just dropped for no apparent reason.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

I don't know how far down the depth chart he is but at the very least it seems that he is getting a fair chance to win his spot back unlike other years where it seemed like he was just dropped for no apparent reason.

Well, he's in the squad, and if Rednapp's team experiences a sudden injury crisis then the manager may chose to jump him up the depth chart in short order...or, come January, he'll buy different players then have a fire sale and dump Stalteri and those other guys off the roster. Remains to be seen: I guess will find out in the new year.