matty Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 4 minutes ago, Obinna said: Yeah we do need that bump, but at the same time, how much are we losing by calling a guy like Tabla (for example), over a guy like Petrasso (who's already tied)? My point is the strongest team needs to go and that could include the teenagers you're paranoid about if they earn it. Using the gold cup as a mere chance to cap people is idiotic when it could play a massive role in Canada entering the wcq in a better spot, especially if the players you're hoping to cap are teens who might prove duds still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, matty said: My point is the strongest team needs to go and that could include the teenagers you're paranoid about if they earn it. Using the gold cup as a mere chance to cap people is idiotic when it could play a massive role in Canada entering the wcq in a better spot, especially if the players you're hoping to cap are teens who might prove duds still. I totally get that, but the question should be "are players 14-18 really going to have much of an impact on our success"? I would argue no. First off, player 18 is the back up keeper who may not play a single minute in the whole tournament. Players 17 and 16 might get 45 minutes of action all tournament. Player 15 might play 90 minutes..., etc. You could tinker with the exact numbers as well. Perhaps we take a single, hot prospect in exchange for a single player already in the pool. When it comes to 45 minutes across 3+ games, does player 17 really offer so much more? I don't think so. For starters they probably aren't as talented as a hot prospect, and they probably wouldn't have a ton of experience to offer the squad anyways, given their backup status. So I hope the coaching staff is open to at least considering such an approach. Edited February 22, 2017 by Obinna Bison44 and MtlMario 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I am fine with bringing one, maybe two promising talents with an eye to cap tying them, but I think the goal for the tournament shouldn't be to cap tie. Someone mentioned that we cap tied Aleman in 2013, and since then we have had another Gold Cup and a WCQ campaign, and of course friendlies, and yet he only has 3 caps as of now (according to Wikipedia, not sure if the number is perfect but it sounds about right). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 12 minutes ago, Obinna said: I totally get that, but the question should be "are players 14-18 going to have much of an impact"? I would argue no. First off, 18 player is the back up keeper who may not play a single minute in the whole tournament. Players 17 and 16 might get 45 minutes of action all tournament. Player 15 might play 90 minutes..., etc. You could tinker with the exact numbers as well. Perhaps we take a single, hot prospect in exchange for a player already in the pool. When it comes to 45 minutes across 3+ games, does player 17 really offer so much more? For starters they probably aren't as talented, and I don't think they'd necessarily have tons of experience anyway, given their backup status. So I hope the coaching staff is open to at least considering such an approach. Players 12-17 should each have a function. If you're calling a player up who doesn't really have a function beyond cap him then it's a waste of a spot. If there's a hot prospect who's playing at a high level (MLS or better) regularly and he might be able to really contribute then yes they should be called but a USL kid should not just be thrown into this to cap them. Obinna and hamiltonfan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 23 minutes ago, Kent said: I am fine with bringing one, maybe two promising talents with an eye to cap tying them, but I think the goal for the tournament shouldn't be to cap tie. Someone mentioned that we cap tied Aleman in 2013, and since then we have had another Gold Cup and a WCQ campaign, and of course friendlies, and yet he only has 3 caps as of now (according to Wikipedia, not sure if the number is perfect but it sounds about right). Sure, but how many caps has he had for other countries in that time? I know folks have strong opinions about the GC since it is one of the few meaningful tourneys we participate in, but I also know that expansion of our player pool is important. Yeah, you have to be selective about who you might take, but I think it is worth calling up a couple of key prospects and giving them minutes to marry them to the national program. nolando, Obinna and MtlMario 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 "Seeing what you have to work with.", "Giving the young players a chance to prove their worth". Blah, blah, blah. It's all beginning to feel like a tired excuse for not getting results. I'm sorry the next manager has to inherit that stigma, that baggage but guess what pal, it is what it is. Oh, and I don't care what the other guys are doing. If they take the tourney seriously or no. Don't care. Show me you want to win. Show me you can win. At least show me you have a fu'king clue how to go about doing it! Today! Get the FIFA ranking points, a measurement of pride for the program or crash and burn trying. If that's your priority then live-or-die all the secondary objectives will sort themselves out from there. Kent, matty and Keegan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Feature article in The Times:http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/birthplace-scotland-playing-for-burnley-representing-canada-2m9chbx79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masster Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 HENRY WINTER MEETS SCOTT ARFIELD Born in Scotland. Plays for Burnley. Represents Canada Should I stay or should I go? Music-mad Scott Arfield had to decide when it came to his international career Scott Arfield will sing O Canada at Easter Road this week when his adopted country face Scotland, the land of his birth. When required, Burnley’s Livingston-born Canada midfielder can also launch into Take It Easy by the Eagles, Oasis’s Some Might Say or a range of his own compositions, accompanying himself on guitar. Early in his career, during his time at Falkirk, Arfield had to choose between football and “Skindie”, the mix of ska and indie delivered by the band formed with his brother Stu and friends from the outskirts of Edinburgh. “We called ourselves the Begbies after the character from Trainspotting and I was lead singer,” Arfield recalls. “We’d been rehearsing for four months, with a big gig coming up, and I was on Falkirk TV, talking about the next game, going, ‘Yes, yes but, listen, we’ve got a gig Saturday night’. After the game, I’m walking to the venue about 6pm, and hundreds of people were trying to get into this arena. Holds 200 maximum. Must have been 500 outside: Dundee United fans, Kilmarnock fans, Falkirk fans. A footballer had never really done it before! At 9pm, I came on a bit worse for wear. But I rocked the place out! “I did five gigs with the boys, and then it got into the papers and [the manager] Eddie May said, ‘What are you thinking?’ I was going to go with the music because I just loved that gig so much. I felt I was going stale with the football. I spoke to my brother and he said ‘football’. “He took over as singer. So here I am now, playing in the Premier League, as opposed to playing in small arenas! No regrets. The band’s still going, although the drummer left to join an Oasis [tribute] act. “I learnt guitar off YouTube. I’ve got a good repertoire of songs. If there’s a guitar there, and I’ve had a few beers, I can get a party going. I’ve brought it into Burnley a couple of times, played a Take That song and the boys all started singing. I love music. The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go was the first song I learnt on guitar, simplest chords ever. “But I’m more a Britpop, indie guy. Blur! The first song I got into was Girls & Boys. I can’t get into heavy metal. I can watch the guitarists [like Eddie van Halen and Slash] and think they’re so talented but I could never ever put it on.” Yet the first album that Arfield bought was Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which features a famous Van Halen guitar solo. “Beat It! He makes it sing. I’m a bit more ‘chordy’. “Andre Gray calls my music ‘fat boy music’ because he thinks it’s middle-aged men, sitting in a pub, drinking beer. I laugh! He listens to his Stormzy and Skepta. When we went up, we played Can’t Stand Me Now by the Libertines all the time. “The manager [Sean Dyche] is massively into his music. He’s told me about coming to the Hacienda. He and Ian Woan [Dyche’s assistant] were at Green Day recently.” Arfield pauses, contemplating Dyche’s many qualities. “He has no airs and graces, he doesn’t just sign players, he signs characters.” Such as Arfield. The 28-year-old is sitting in a bar in Manchester, sipping a coffee and talking music and football with his friend and adviser Freddie Akehurst. They pore over the latest Q magazine, casting an eye over an emotional interview with Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno and Tom Meighan, both Leicester City fans. “The manager’s good mates with Kasabian. He had them in a box once [at Turf Moor when Leicester visited] and I wanted to meet them. I had my tracksuit on, and fans were trying to get to me, and I’m trying to get to him [Pizzorno]!” Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Joy Division and Oasis are Arfield favourites. Others, too. “One day, Juliette Ferrington from the BBC came in with a couple of CDs for Tom Heaton and David Jones [now Sheffield Wednesday], who are not into their music whatsoever. One of the CDs was Catfish and the Bottlemen. Jonah [Jones] gave it to me, I listened to it, told Duffer [Michael Duff, big Smiths fan] and Sam Vokes and within a week everyone was all over this album, thanks to Juliette. Sam absolutely loves his music, loves the Stone Roses. “Me, Vokesy and Ben Mee went to see Catfish in Manchester and then at Leeds Festival. We walked up to the Radio 1 tent — rammed. One of the boys said, ‘I’m going to blag this’. He said to the bouncer, ‘Listen, we’re friends with the band.’ ‘Right, on you go.’ Next minute, I’m at the edge of the stage, Catfish 5ft away, unbelievable. I tried to get a selfie when Catfish came off and he looked at me with that look of ‘who the f*** are you?’.” He’s Canada’s finest. Arfield, who played 17 times for Scotland Under-21, now represents the land of Drake, Leonard Cohen, Bryan Adams and Arcade Fire. “My dad was always hammering on about Canada because he was born in Toronto to two English people,” he says. So Arfield could have represented England? “If you cannae get a game for Scotland, you’re not going to play for England! No matter how good you are, you can’t walk into the England dressing room with an accent like this! “I’m a Scottish-born Canadian, and the lads hammer me for it. Joey [Barton] hammers me all the time. There was talk of me getting in the Scotland squad, and, ‘Why would you turn your back on the country you were born in?’ I’ve no idea whether Gordon Strachan watched me. Maybe he did and I had a shocker. He only phoned me when the paperwork for Canada came through. I thanked Gordon for phoning and explaining the situation, which he could have done a year before. I don’t think there will be any animosity to me on Wednesday. “My dad will be there. It’s massive for him. I could fill the stadium myself! The guy from the Canadian FA asked how many tickets I wanted, and put the emoji ‘hands over face’ to say, ‘Don’t take the piss’. There’ll be 200 from Livingston! I’ve texted the kit man from Canada, sending through a massive list for shirts. ‘I’ll pay you for it.’ ‘No, you’re one of us. All I want is a bottle of Johnnie Walker!’ I’ve sent that up to him! “For my initiation, I sang Take It Easy by the Eagles. Fat boy music! Because it has a guitar in it! For me, it’s proper music. I love music with lyrics, a story to pull me in like the Courteeners. That’s massive talent, telling a story through a song. I still pick up the guitar and write songs, it helps me relax.” He needs to, having encountered tragedy. Arfield wears 37, the number of his friend Craig Gowans in the youth team at Falkirk. On 8 July, 2005, Gowans was helping to move a goal at the training ground, transporting a metal pole. “I could see Craig struggling and I said to him, ‘Do you want me to take the pole?’ ‘No, no, I’m all right.’ A minute later, he hit a pylon. Electricity shot down the pole. I was 10ft away, so I’m running trying to get him off this thing, when my manager came out of nowhere and grabbed me. If I’d touched him . . . “I can’t get the image out of my mind. It’s so vivid. My mate’s lying in front of me and I’m being told to leave him, go back to the changing room. “CID came and tried to talk to me but I was in bits. Craig was a great lad, so intelligent, he could have gone to Edinburgh University to study architecture. His mum and dad were on holiday and his sister had to call them. Now I’m a parent, I realise it even more, it’s absolutely heartbreaking. That’s why I wear 37. “In the close season, my best mate killed himself. Depression. His name was Chris Mitchell, so my daughter’s middle name is Mitchell. We didn’t know about the depression. We were winning the league on the Saturday [the Championship at Charlton Athletic on May 7, 2016], and Chris texted me on the Friday, saying he was so proud of me, ‘Go and smash it up in the league tomorrow’. “Chris killed himself two hours before kick-off. I didn’t know. My missus was there in London, devastated, she knew Chris as well. But she kept it a secret. I don’t know how she did it, we had a good night in London, woke up the next day and she told me. We still had the parade to do, open-top bus, awards night. But my mind was in a completely different place. “As much as football is the best game in the world, and it’s the best job in the world, when stuff like that happens it takes a lot out of me. Even the start of the season, I felt I was never firing on all cylinders. It took me so long to get me going mentally.” He’s picking up pace now, looking forward to Easter Road. “The Proclaimers! Sunshine on Leith!” sose, Greatest Cockney Rip Off, dyslexic nam and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatest Cockney Rip Off Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Great interview. Funny that Arfield had to choose between football and a ska band. Obinna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex D Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said: Great interview. Funny that Arfield had to choose between football and a ska band. I like the guy even more now. I wonder how close the Canadian section will be to the Arfield section? Edited March 21, 2017 by Alex D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 1 minute ago, Alex D said: I like the guy even more now. I wonder how close the Canadian section will be to the Arfield section? I'm assuming they'll be in our section as the tickets are through the CSA sose and hamiltonfan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex D Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Just now, Keegan said: I'm assuming they'll be in our section as the tickets are through the CSA That sounds like it will be a heck of a party. Have a great time to all who made their way to Scotland. hamiltonfan, Greatest Cockney Rip Off, johnyb and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob.notenboom Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Please play us some ska Please play us some skaaaaaaaa Scotty Arfield! Please play us some ska. This better be done tomorrow sose 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floortom Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 Airfield seems like a great guy. I almost feel bad for him that he never got the chance to play for Scotland - clearly that was his dream and most seem to think he is good enough Obinna and Greatest Cockney Rip Off 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffian Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4368404/Newcastle-interested-Burnley-midfielder-Scott-Arfield.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Soon to be promoted Newcastle are looking at Arfield as a target. Apparently Arfield's contract is up at the end of this season. Good to know he should have multiple Premier League potential destinations. Edited March 31, 2017 by Ruffian matty, king1010, Ansem and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) Burnley play Spurs this weekend, and as much as I am rooting for Arfield, Spurs need to keep accumulating points. Arfield to score a hat trick in a 4-3 loss to Tottenham...? Edited March 31, 2017 by dyslexic nam Ivan, Club Linesman and Ivanovski94 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 2 hours ago, Ruffian said: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4368404/Newcastle-interested-Burnley-midfielder-Scott-Arfield.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Soon to be promoted Newcastle are looking at Arfield as a target. Apparently Arfield's contract is up at the end of this season. Good to know he should have multiple Premier League potential destinations. Would be very shocked tbh if Newcastle are interested. Would be a bad move. He would only be a squad player lmo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I know money is always an important consideration, but from a footballing perspective I don;t know why he would make the move. I know Newcastle are well supported, but its not like they are going to be rocketing up the EPL table next year. They will prioritize not going down again and likely be a mid-table club - especially since it is getting increasingly congested at the top of the table with more and more clubs that can legitimately compete for the 4 CL spots. Given that Burnley are sitting in 13th and have a bit of cushion from the relegation battle, I don't know why you would leave for newly promoted Newcastle. He is a consistent starter in an EPL club that will likely be in the league again next year. If it ain't broke... Obinna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yohan Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 It depends. Newcastle has ambition and the money. Arfield is in prime of his career and good enough to play for mid table EPL team. He might be tempted if Newcastle offers big enough money for that one big paycheck before Arfield turns 30 something. It's a risk in terms of losing an established starter spot at Burnley and have to fight for a starter spot in Newcastle, but the guy does have to make a living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Like I said - I get the money argument. But the opportunity to play for a mid-table EPL club isn't something he needs to move to do - he is doing it now. And starting every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soccerpro Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Just saw an interview with him on a weekly premier league show. They had footage of him in Scotland with the Canadian team and his take on playing for Canada. Really nice, appreciative guy. Obinna, king1010 and sose 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 7 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said: Like I said - I get the money argument. But the opportunity to play for a mid-table EPL club isn't something he needs to move to do - he is doing it now. And starting every week. Mid table or not there is still a huge attraction in swapping burnley for Newcastle. The size of the club aside, working with Benitez would be a huge pull. If Newcastle were actually interested and go up I'd be shocked if he did anything but jump all over the move. Footballing wise. Very unconvinced he would start even half the games he has this year. Newcastle didn't spend in January as they are planning on spending big in the summer if they go up. Bigger players than Arfield will come into that midfield imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 If I were Arfield I would definitely NOT leave Burnley for Newcastle at this point in his career. What does he have to gain? Too much risk and not enough reward if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_M Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Not an undisputed starter this year, 18 starts in 26 games played. Could be a good move. These sites have him under contract until 2018. http://www.transfermarkt.com/scott-arfield/profil/spieler/55291 http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/33650911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 18 starts in 26 games played for a squad sitting at 13th near the end of the season? I think he's got it pretty good at Burnley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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