Albert gets into the Ghana provisional 26 man squad for the African Nations Cup. http://www.goal.com/en-za/news/4622...d-surprisingly-breaks-into-ghanas-2013-africa We could lose him now throughout Jan and the beginning of Feb.
Well im happy for him. Yes we'll be losing one of our best players but the cups on tv and it will be good to see one of our boys playing at international level in front of the cameras. Only problem being if he sticks out loads of clubs will be swooping in
I doubt anyone will buy him only for him not to play for 2 months. Teams will now wait and watch his cup debut then the rest of the season with us. Plus with albert entering his last year of his contract in the summer im afraid we're going to have another maynard on our hands
Don't get me started on this - we pay his wages to play for someone else If FIFA want players to go off for tournaments during the season they should compensate the clubs
The big problem is that the Africa Nations takes place every season. Perhaps it should become every four years like European nations and Worls cups. If he goes, we will certainly miss him the way he has performed recently.
My thoughts on this subject are somewhat radical but the idea of losing one of your better players for at least a month every season is outrageous. If I owned a club and wanted to sign a player from that continent I would insist that they sign a release that stated that they not want be considered to play for their nation. The rules would change when the organisers of this tournament committed to play only every four years. It's an insult to supporters when their clubs fall over to send players to this tournament despite the fact that we should recognise their selection at a national level but not under the current terms. Might sound a bit ambivolent but hope you get the picture.
So you don't agree that these country's which are a lot of them very poor, don't deserve to show the world that they have talent over there? A lot of the players over there don't really get spotted until they play in these tournaments. Plus who would sign a contract to say that they can't be released for international clearance when they are watching home-grown players and other nations going off to represent their country's? What I agree on is they should be played in close season to not effect the clubs they play for. But to deny the players a chance to better there life style and particularly their families as a lot of them do.
It will be interesting to see if we (as a club) have learned anything from the Maynard saga then. Sadly, I think I already know the answer!
The worst thing is if he picks up an injury there, mind you its just the provisional sqaud wasnt he picked for this last season? If he does go i hope he plays and does not bench warm!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ No I don't agree with your point. Would these countries have the tournamnet every year if they had to cover the wages and travel costs associated? I very much doubt it, as usual the African nations plead poverty to expolit others good will. It is shameful that clubs lose their good players every year to this tournament. Why can they not play it in the summer break? I guess it is because the players would be in uproar.
If you read my quote again I state it i would prefer it if they played in close season. I was trying to say it would be unfair to ask a player to sign a contract to refuse to play for their country (Albert was born in London but that's another story)
There isn't a winter, as we in Northern Europe know it, in most of Africa. The equator goes more or less through the centre of the continent so that is in almost permanent summer. Remember also that the northern half has the Sahara which has little population. There are rainy seasons that may have an influence on when it is played.
I'd love to do a safari knowing my luck I'd get attacked by a very lost duck I think I remember reading they thought about doing the tournament in summer but there was a problem
The following is copied from Wikipedia Ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations several European clubs called for a rethink of the tournament's schedule. As it takes place during the European season, players who are involved miss several matches for their clubs.[9] In January 2008, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced that he wanted the tournament to be held in either June or July by 2016, to fit in the international calendar, although this would preclude many countries in central and west Africa from hosting the competition (as these months occur during their wet season).[10] In May 2010, it was announced that the tournament would be moved to odd-numbered years from 2013. This will mean the tournament will not take place in the same year as the World Cup. It also means there will be two tournaments within twelve months in January 2012[11] (co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea) and January 2013 (hosted by South Africa).
