Makes me wonder if sometimes parent clubs are a bit careless as to where they loan their youngsters. That's not a dig at Hearts but more of a general observation. Sending someone out to get regular football may not always benefit the player concerned. I'm sure clubs act in good faith but I wonder if the fit of player to club is always fully considered.
Cant remember how he got into the Liverpool system, but it also brings into question (young) players getting hoovered up by 'big clubs'. You wonder where Matondo would be if he had stayed with us rather than joined man city. And there are others.
Yep. For the rich clubs it's a numbers game. Get in as many as possible on the off chance. Not always good for the youngsters unfortunately. Another aspect of the game that could do with a review.
Just a reminder that the World Cup would have started this weekend if it hadn’t been moved to the arse end of a desert for money.
So Belgium at CCS today and then The Dutch away midweek. It's a ridiculous number of games in such a short space of time. Draining on the energy of players at the end of a long season and in the pockets if the fans. As Irish says, all because a country with loads of money wants to fix it's image. Anyway c'mon Wales
Another good performance from Wales tonight. Rubin looked decent with his cameo appearance again. Think the draw was fair in the end. I know it's only 1 point from 9 in the Nations League so far but in terms of performances, especially when you consider the first two games were weakened sides, it's been really encouraging to see us going toe to toe with other Nations that are generally deemed superior teams...
Again we've shown we're not out of place among the big boys, albeit in an iffy competition. A bit more accurate finishing and we we could have won it.
Some good play by the Welsh boys. Henessey on fire again. As you both say, we no longer look out of place against sides like this. Such performances are now expected. We've come a long way in the last 10-15 years.
Have to admit, I'm slightly worried about what the future could hold for Wales as you aren't wrong that in some respects, this kind of level is becoming more expected. Given the history behind us, I'd really like to hope (probably in vain) that such performances and events like qualification for the major tournaments will become more accepted rather than expected. The last thing I'd want is to see our loyal and long suffering fans allow our "successes" go to our heads and we end up just like England fans, ready to turn on the manager or FAW the moment it looks like we could have a wobble or a slip up. I see Southgate is already under pressure and under fire for the perceived failings and lack of performances... Yet only a few short months back he gets them to the Euro's final and a World Cup semi-final before that, but that seems to be forgotten now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we need to continue to be happy with the odd success and mediocrity for the majority, I just hope we never forget where we've come from and continue to be proud of our teams (men and women) be it in victory, defeat or otherwise.
Well said Brizzle. It's a serious and real concern that our current situation will lead to demands and expectation far beyond what's reasonable. It's important to have ambition but equally important to support our national team and not just follow them during the good times. I think I've just repeated what you said! So I must agree with you
Well they do say that Great Minds think alike. I can only assume the same general rule applies to mine and Clingo's minds too, or at least what's left of them
On a related note (and at risk of diverting the thread) that's one thing I've noticed about our board in comparison to others on here... I find it quite comforting and also a pleasant change that we all, in the main get along remarkably well. Even where and when we do have entrenched differences of opinion we are very good at agreeing to disagree and don't let things sour the threads Other boards have some real internal conflict and characters that just don't seem to want to concede an inch in any discussion. Keep up the good work folks.... Decency and respect are rare commodities these days, especially online... We are a bit of a glowing beacon with our behaviours on here (I even include Masky in that too)
I've no issue with a few spikey characters on forums. All adds to the flavour. A few of our more confrontational characters have disappeared, which is a shame.
Miss him? Yes, like a dose of the clap and rampant piles, at the same time. We have a great bunch on here (not of piles although I can't speak for everyone) with everyone free to voice their views.
