As I have said before, if this chap is not prepared to commit to us, then get rid off him. His employer is I.T.F.C. who no doubt pay him good money to be available for selection, he repays it by galavanting to the other side of the world, to play in some meaningless friendly. Not sure how you are supposed to build team unity when this selfish individual does this, the thing is the standard of the international friendlies he plays in, are not in any way going to improve his football education, and into the bargain he comes back late, dog tired and unavailable for selection, when peoplehave paid good money to at least have the best players available. According to some of the replies here, some people agree with me. http://www.twtd.co.uk/
I have to say Truth that although I respect your opinion I completely disagree with you on this. FIFA outlines it's 'International weeks' and therefore these are set in stone almost for all nations to play and if he wants to represent his country then who are we to stop him. I'm sure given the chance you'd love to pull on an England Shirt in whatever sport you played. In the past he has come back on a Friday and played on the Saturday so I think that indicates the kind of commitment the guy has for ITFC and what's more he is skippering his national side at only 22, he has a lot to learn and I see no harm in him doing this on the handful of occasions each year that he disappears during the season, after all I think most people on here don't believe he should be a 1st team regular week in week out anyway (I would like to see him play more) so I don't get why we should be stopping him playing International football as his matches against China etc. could/have led to him playing some great teams such as Italy in the World Cup which would have been a fantastic experience for the young lad and one that we shouldn't be getting in his way of experiencing
The previous debate on this had some points that I disagreed with but at least had logic behind them. This post feels more 'wum' than half the actual wind up threads.
TS Surely you must have worked out by now that if you hold views that other supporters on here don't agree with (mention no names) you get accused of wumming!
If that was in reference to me JWM I dont agree with 99% of the things you put on here but I dont think I have ever called you a WUM so a bit out of order in my humble opinion I called the original thread close to a wind up for several reasons - this being a) another identical thread was set up 2 weeks back(?) and this adds nothing new b) 3 weeks back half this board wanted him sold for being crap so its very hypocritcal no now say 'actually hes great but being unprofessional' c) The club did know his nationality when we offered him a contract - its hardly a suprise that New Zealands games are the other side of the world is it? its a simple case of geography d) there is another thread currently going which urges us to sign an african (sorry cant think of country) international who ironically according to all reports was terrible for Birmingham last season beacuse of his international travelling. Is the general thought that he should also turn his back on his country e) the link to the TWTD thread that apparaently backs up truth seekers views had 2 which agreed with him out of 15 when I read it so I can hardly call it major support for this view. Other than all those things I agree totally that anything I disagree with I automatically assume is wumming!
It is no wum. Its a genuine question of having a paid employee, who is not prepared to fully commit to his employers, but would rather play in back street circus matches, than play in one of the best leagues in Europe. What on earth is the point of paying someone good money if they are not available for selection. Where is he going to jet off to next, to New Zealand, to play the sheep farmers eleven?
It is beyond ridiculous that you want to deny him playing at World Cups! Against Brazil, Italy! Deny him playing on the biggest stages and fulfilling the dreams of millions. And for what? To play for our shambles of a club? To play in a team where half the side couldn't care less whether we win or lose? The very fact that Tommy Smith is prepared to travel to the other side of the world for the love of playing football should be an indication that if not for ability, for commitment he is EXACTLY the kind of character we want in the squad.
As I pointed out though Truth, he doesn't simply play 'dross' teams he has competed in the World Cup which is a damn sight more than the rest of our team and I dare say an overwhelming majority of the championship, we can't stand in someones way in matters such as this. Also his commitment is something I would never question, he has proven before he is able of making the journey back from New Zealand arriving back in England on Friday and putting in a solid shift on a Saturday (even Scoring!) It's also clear to see that he does love this club, something not many of our other players seem to do. If he was a 1st team regular/captain then I would see some more justification behind your post Truth but the fact is he's a 'fringe' player here most of the time and therefore this game time is doing him some good
I remember being so proud watching Smith put in a heroic performance against Italy! I remember proudly cheering Bontcho Guentchev to the semis of USA 94! These moments are more memorable than anything I've seen from ITFC over the last three years!
It only goes to show how far we have fallen when we actually believe that Tommy Smith is a decent player at this level. I personally would have got rid of him by now but I guess needs must. I watched him struggle realy badly in a pre season friendly against the mighty Cambridge Utd and since then I haven't seen much to convince me that he is worth keeping.
I personally think he is one for the future, after all he is only 22 and has had some horrendously poor matches as well as some very good ones. He is one of the only Centre Backs at the club who can consistently attack the ball (why he scores a few) and with a strong centre back next to him he could really flourish. I'm much more for the 'develop what you've got' approach as we have been throwing away decent players for years and replacing them with more expensive alternatives who are no better and have little commitment to the badge. Smith is exactly the sort of guy we should be keeping around in my opinion, he clearly wants to be here and I think he could be a revelation in a couple of years
Do not deny him the right to play against teams of this calibre Lancs, I am questioning his wisdom in flying all over the globe for a friendly match. If you noticed his defensive partner Ryan Nelson pulled out of this friendly, but still played for his club side on the Saturday, in a proper match.
Maybe when he's a more permanent fixture in our starting 11 we might start feigning the odd injury so he misses some of these so called 'non matches' if he does feature more regularly then I imagine Mick would do something along those lines to ensure he isn't missed too often but I certainly don't think we should stand in his way if he wants to represent his country
This is a tricky one, but i will give my opinion.. I don't believe he's that great a player, but he is no worse than Higginsbottom and Chambers. Add that he is still relatively young for a CB, so hopefully he can still improve (debatable with our current coaches). Correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't believe he's ever not been available for selection..as someone mentioned above, he flies to the other side of the world and back, and still puts in a shift on the saturday, when picked. You definitely can't fault his commitment...has always given 100%, unfortunately his standard is not that great. And at 22, he has no right to be tired..even if he is flying for 20 hours or so. If anyone should be complaining, it should be his missus!!
Ever think that it was Micks decision and not Tommys to start the last match? Thought not. Tommy was on the bench so he was obviously ready and available for selection,, nothing really to bitch about is there? From what I see he is commited to us, his goal celebrations speak volumes for how he loves the club and he's using international matches to gain experience.
