plan b 0 Posted June 18, 2007 ....whats the point of having him, when he will be going missing for his annual holiday between november-december, and now again during jan-feb for the african nations. he rarely had a good game last season when he did play and it seems to me to be a waste of a wage bill having a player on the books who is only available for a third of the season and spends the other two thirds catching up.discuss... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Syteanric 1 Posted June 19, 2007 [quote user="yella fella"]....whats the point of having him, when he will be going missing for his annual holiday between november-december, and now again during jan-feb for the african nations. he rarely had a good game last season when he did play and it seems to me to be a waste of a wage bill having a player on the books who is only available for a third of the season and spends the other two thirds catching up.discuss... [/quote]under Peter Grant we have failed to win a game in which Youssef Safri didnt play...that kills this arguement stone dead. he doesnt go for an annual holiday, he takes part in Ramadan which millions of sportsmen do around the world every year with no ill affects. and as for the African Nations its hardly his fault its stupidly scheduled every year instead of every 4.. write to Sepp Blatter if ur unhappy... jas :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
In Dubious Battle 0 Posted June 19, 2007 it''s not safri''s fault the arfican nations is held during the english football season, do you really expect him to turn down playing for his country? if steven gerrard played in a league that clashed with euro 2008 would you be too immpressed if he said sorry england i can''t play, my clubs more important? likewise he cannot help being the religion he is.i know it''s frustrating not having safri available for so many games but have you asked yourself why it bothers you so much? it''s because he''s a bloody good footballer you''d hardly be upset if andy hughes disapered for a while. we need players of safri''s calibre if we are to mount a serious promotion challenge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dame to Blame 95 Posted June 19, 2007 [quote user="yella fella"]....whats the point of having him, when he will be going missing for his annual holiday between november-december, and now again during jan-feb for the african nations. he rarely had a good game last season when he did play and it seems to me to be a waste of a wage bill having a player on the books who is only available for a third of the season and spends the other two thirds catching up.discuss... [/quote]He rarely had a good game, are you having a laugh he is one of our better players . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,513 Posted June 19, 2007 [quote user="jas the barclay king"] under Peter Grant we have failed to win a game in which Youssef Safri didnt play...[/quote]That particular stat ended when we won 2-1 at Worthy''s Leicester Jas.However, the following stats bear out what you are saying and show Safri''s worth to the team even though Worthy and Grant never seemed convinced:-Games where Safri featured: P35 W15 D6 L14 F46 A47 Pts52Games without Safri: P11 W1 D2 L8 F10 A24 Pts5These figures show how important Safri was to us and how we didn''t have a replacement when we were without him. They also back up ZLF''s points about the area of the team that should be priority to strengthen this summer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shack Attack 0 Posted June 19, 2007 [quote user="yella fella"]....whats the point of having him, when he will be going missing for his annual holiday between november-december, and now again during jan-feb for the african nations. he rarely had a good game last season when he did play and it seems to me to be a waste of a wage bill having a player on the books who is only available for a third of the season and spends the other two thirds catching up.discuss... [/quote]I see we''re having the Ramadan debate early this year......always good fun. Jas is right, Muslim sportsmen and women all over the world do the same, so I don''t see why it should be a particular problem for Safri.Regarding the ANC if FIFA continue to make rulings like they did for the weekend with Kanoute and Diarra, pinkun.com/cs/forums/958744/ShowPost.aspx , then perhaps we won''t have to let him go anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
One Flew Over... 33 Posted June 21, 2007 Re the ANC being every year rather than every 4, maybe it is the equivalent of the Champions League, rather than the European Championships?If Safri gets injured during an ANC match (there are always "unconfimed" reports that he has gone off on a stretcher!), do we get any compensation? The FA paid Newcastle for Owen''s injury, but maybe the African FAs don''t the money to pay wages for their star players if they get injured. Maybe with the high wages players of all nationalities should have to pay their own insurance to cover injuries taht occur for any reason. As for the Ramadan debate, if it does mean below par performances for 4 weeks - I guess it means he is observant enough not to drink alcohol the rest of the year. I wonder how many players are below par on a Saturday due to a night out? Especially during all the fixtures around Christmas / New Year. [B] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Humphrey 13 Posted June 22, 2007 [quote user="jas the barclay king"]and as for the African Nations its hardly his fault its stupidly scheduled every year instead of every 4.. write to Sepp Blatter if ur unhappy...[/quote]It''s actually every two years, but that''s still too much. Can''t see what''s wrong with having it every four years like the European Championships. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
