In a brief interview quoted in The Sun, he now says he believes his future is with Spurs as Harry has kept faith with him, and he wants to fight for his place with the Croatian national side. He doesn't say much about what may happen after the Euros; but, personally, I think this is good news, if he is staying, as he's a valuable squad player, even if he's not a regular starter when everybody is fit.
Played well Saturday against lower league oppo and he IS a quality footballer. But what is clear is that he needs to get fitter. By 75-80 mins he was really struggling. Guessing that he will be getting a few more outings in the coming weeks so hopefully that will change.
I think he is our best cover for Modric so am glad he is staying. Injuries and lack of game time means he is lacking in fitness but I think he will be invaluable. If he covers Modric's role when he is unavaliable I think we will see the best of him.
To have a player like Niko as a squad player shows the teams strength. He'd walk in to most starting XI's in the league.
Certainly good news. I've always rated Kranjcar as a good replacement for Modric: not as dynamic, and won't make as many brilliant plays, but very good in taking care of the ball and making the smart pass. What's interesting to me is that he led Croatia in scoring, while I haven't seen much attacking talent from him.
?!?!?!?!?! Kranjcar's lethal in front of goal. When he gets a run in the side and gets his match fitness up, he's one of our most deadly finishers. One aspect of the game where he's far superior to Modric.
I stand corrected. I'm still a new, or at least a newish fan, and really only saw Kranjcar against Man U this year.
Always nice to see new fans, RWAEB. We've all got to start somewhere! Kranjcar's a bit of a luxury player at times, but he's great on the ball and can strike it superbly.
Definitely agree. Kranjcar has a sweet strike. He has scored a few crackers in his time, the one against Bolton last season comes to mind in the 90th minute. I like Kranjcar and I do hope he stays. It is a real shame that there is a midfield quartet that fits so well together which doesn't include him.
My favourite Kranjcar goal, pretty crap quality vid though [video=youtube;MmYTmLn1Djs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmYTmLn1Djs[/video]
Ha! I love the look on the Stoke players' faces when Eidur dummied it. They're like: "Wait! What was that?! Imagination! On a football pitch! Confound it- that's not allowed! No creativity! Not having it! Not here at the Brittania!"
The leave from Gudjohnssen is just sheer class, he was a superb addition to the squad for that 6 months
His second goal against City in the 3-0 at WHL was quality, too. Can't find the Bolton one, unfortunately. [video=youtube;4Qd_4oZiAEE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qd_4oZiAEE[/video] Not for us, but this goal for Pompey against Fulham was a bit special. [video=youtube;nVNwxmXSmDc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVNwxmXSmDc[/video]
if i was a betting man..id keep my hands away from my pocket if asked if Modders would have scored that.
Glad to hear he is staying, he is one of my favourite players. I just wish Arry used him more, the lack of recent rotation is a concern and I wouldnt be surprised if we tire towards the end of season. The other teams at the top seem to rotate a lot more than Spurs (and its not that we havent got the squad), and Niko could easily start 15 PL games for us aswell as cups, every now and then it would do no harm to rest Bale, Luka, VDV, Parker..
One of my few criticisms of 'Arry is that he lacks the conviction to play more of our squad. It's great whilst the first 12 or 13 players are fit, but not so good when we have to endure too many long-term injuries to key players, because we are left with having to get players match-fit.
