International call ups:

No Chalobah in the England squad ? Has Gareth forgotten that he used to play for Chelsea ?

 

Has Javi forgotten that he now plays for Watford?

 

He was on the pitch on Sat.

In civvies wandering around after the final whistle.

Good to see him but slightly tragic to see him in those circs.

 

To complete the clubs round-up;

Daniel Bachmann (on loan at Kilmarnock) is on stand-by for Austria versus Poland (Mar 21) & Israel (Mar 24).
UEFA European Championship Qualifiers (Group G).

Kingsley Fobi (on loan at Ibiza) in the squad for Ghana U23 versus Gabon U23 (Mar 23 & Mar 26).
Africa U23 Cup of Nations 2nd Qualifying Round, Leg 1 & 2.

Filip Stuparevic (on loan at FK Vozdovak) in the squad for Serbia U19 versus Ukraine U19 (Mar 20), Belgium U19 (Mar 23) & Italy U19 (Mar 26).
UEFA European U19 Qualifying Second Stage (Group 7).

 

Wonder what is going on with him ? No comments from him or the club other than "...fully fit squad...."

 

I don't believe he is fit. They mentioned this recently at the Fans Forum. Not sure we will see him again this season but hopefully will be raring to go at the start of next season

 

We were saying that a year ago.

 

You do start to wonder if Nathaniel will ever truly recover. He’s clearly struggled to get back to where he was. We just don’t know if the reason is physical or mental.

 

I really hope Nate can recover. The timing of his injuries have been crushing.

Having said this, kudos to JG for managing the squad so well that we haven't been significantly affected.

In previous EPL seasons, this would have holed us below the waterline.

 

Nath could well be the biggest disappointment this year , he looked so good at beginning of last year, got to feel sorry for him just hasn’t got back to previous form (either still injured or lost something)

Wonder if the best thing for him would be a season out on loan

 

Every now and then I think of Paul Franklin,especially when NC is mentioned.

 

Gifton NW and Penrice two more I recall that never fully recovered from a bad injury. For Gifton he had a huge career ahead of him before he got done by Butler. I really hope Chabs can come back as he has so much more to achieve in football.

 

From what Giraldi was saying at the last fan event (to the question I specifically asked), it is 100% physical. Seemed very confident that he needed a good few months of just training and gym work. The expectation is for him to start pre-season with full health and a clean slate - they openly said he wasn't near fit but they would aim to give him minutes here and there if appropriate.

 

Tagging on to my post above, I do think it would have been more beneficial to keep Wilmot here (given how much he has played in Italy so far), and let Chalobah join Udinese. Slower, passing based game and he’s been in Série A with Napoli before.

 

I'm sure there was speculation from somewhere at the time that Chalobah had turned down any loan move away from the club.

 

Have to agree. Some of his postings have been really poor quality. Physical or mental issues ?

 

He took a stance and he's waiting for us to fail to remind us of it. Fair play to him.

 

How **** Austria must be.

 

Gareth Williams can be added to the mix

 

Butler was a butcher and GNW was finished by that 'tackle'.
I don't remember Penrice's injury,probably just as well,given how horrible Butler's was.

 

Partial revenge was sweet against Butcher though when we thrashed his Leeds team at Cardiff.

 

And Martin Patching. Even further back ‘Duggie’ Woodfield (Hey Duggie, What have you been doing today? My anterior cruciate ligaments, ah woof woof)

 

He did his knee/hamstring when he came back the second time. Lost his bit of pace and ended up in midfield. Such a shame as he was brilliant first time round up front with Wilkinson.

 

Yes Patching was a real shame.
I think I saw DW playing at Lye Lane in Bricket Wood when I was very young.

 

When he joined us as a lad on loan his game was full of costly mistakes. But you could see he had a good touch. These days he is a really good player.

 

I reckon Cathcart could play for the top 3-6.

At Man U, I'd have him as first choice CB.

Anywhere where there isn't the current obsession with 'ball playing' CBs. As the number of clangers by ball playing back 5s mounts, I suspect that this may not be more than a fad anyway.

 

Yes though quite a long fad if you include the hysteria about Rio F being supposedly and wrongly classed as the first CB to ever be able to pass the ball !

 

Ferdinand was one of the most error prone backs of his era.

Was worth a goal start to the oppo every time.

 

Anton?