Well he's missing the SAFC party, and the revoltion. Wonder if he thinks "wouldn't mind being part of that". But will he miss also miss some of the ACN party? Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan faces a race against time to be fit for this month's Africa Cup of Nations after being ruled out of action for three weeks. The 26-year-old, who plays for UAE side Al Ain, was carried off with a hamstring injury during Friday's 4-0 win over Emirates. Doctors have asked the striker to rest for three weeks to recuperate. With the Africa Cup of Nations starting on 21 January, Gyan is confident he will be fit for the tournament. "The doctors have told me to undergo some treatment and rest for three weeks for me to fully recover," Gyan told BBC Sport. "If things go according to plan I will be fit before the Africa Cup of Nations starts. "I had similar injuries before the 2008 and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and this is the reason why I am confident that I will be ready for my country. "I am really desperate to be fit and I will follow the instructions of the doctors to ensure that before the tournament starts I am ready for Ghana." Gyan has been in top form since joining the Al Ain on loan from English side Sunderland in September. His 11 goals in 11 matches have catapulted Al Ain to the top of the UAE top-flight league.Ghana will start their camping in South Africa on 7 January in preparation for Africa Cup of Nations. The Black Stars will face Guinea, Mali and Botswana in Group D of the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea
11 goals in 11 games in the northern premier league. Big deal. We just beat the financial footballing equivalent of Bill Gates and with a team formation that included midfield players at full back and with our best defender injured after 30 mins. Gyan should have been part of it but he chose other paths to satisfy his 'massive ambitions' and I'd ask whether he could actually fit into this renewed team ethic under MoN. I'd sell him and look for a new striker and stop worrying about daft lad over in the middle of nowhere earning his fortune in front of 800 fanatical fans (lol)
11 in 11. Suppose that works out (including wages) around £1,000,000 a goal. Pretty expensive if they end up winning the championship of ....er where the **** is he again....
While I have not been happy with Gyan 'dropping us in it' at the start of the season. His loyalty will lie with Ghana and his pay packet, part of his wages supports is 'foundation' in Ghana. Lots of the african stars have their 'foundations' in their home countries where poverty and chances for young people are scarce. The more Gyan earns the more that goes into his foundation, at least that is how I understand it. When local stars Henderson and Caroline are sold for big sums and better wages it is obviously always difficult to hang onto players, especially those from abroad who have 'home' commitments where there heart lies. I think this means money will always take precedence and for clubs like Sunderland you have to always reckon if a better offer comes along players will walk. Tough to manage, but that is the reality you have to be actively recruiting/scouting all of the time and be able to bring one in when one leaves. Gyan in football terms, playing in a poor Arab league is stupid, in financial terms for his foundation and his own personal wealth it makes sense, he has no ties to Sunderland other than his contract, he wants and is loyal to his country's team. The only way I can see players staying at one club for their career is if they are initially at a club like Manure who will pay top whack. If a good player was at say Hartlepool (no disrespect) and Sunderland offered them a better contract they would leave, with Hart getting a decent fee to keep them going. Although today it is EPL academies that most young players emerge from. So lets move on from Gyan, he left us in the lurch and we had no replacement for him (or Bent who was a worse offender in my view). Sir Naill and St Martin have to, as part of ongoing management, have progressed with 'replacement targets' for likely leavers or we have to start paying 'top whack' which is unlikely.
excellent post sunderpitt. Gyan has burnt his bridges for me. What message would it send to the players who are working hard and honouring their contracts, if he was brought back.
If MON gives him a chance, then i'll support him However i think he will be a shadow of the player that he was
Anyone think maybe Gyan just didn't like playing for Bruce? As said above he pumps money into Ghana like mad, so I hold no hard feelings towards him if he jumped out due to a difference of opinion/philosophy with Bruce.
But that's it Bill, it isn't in the past...he is still signed to SAFC...Anyhow this article was meant to be about him also missing the ACN, not him returning to the club...personally i hope he doesn't, but it's not beyond the realms of reality he could do.
We need Gyan to play in the ACN. It's the only chance we have of assessing him against top class opposition this year. Nobody knows how O'Neill and Gyan are going to get along. But if he's going in summer, we need to be able to set a realistic price. And if he's returning, we need to know what we're getting in August. Either way, the ACN is important to Sunderland. I'd take issue with you on one point, Cest ; "Gyan should have been part of it but he chose other paths". No, Gyan chose other paths from Steve Bruce, and, considering what you and I had to say about Bruce ... er, didn't you, me and Gyan share the same view? Damn it, Cest, if you're going to judge players by what they did in the Bruce period, then surely the first thing to do is unload that tosser Kilgallon and that liability Cattermole. And, after Sunday, how daft does that sound? I'm sorry mate, but a clean slate is across the board or it's nothing at all. if Catts and Kilgallon get a clean slate, then Gyan must be given one too, or the whole O'Neill ethic drops to bits. But, anyway, whatever view we take, Sunderland AFC needs Gyan to play in Africa this year.
I think the point that I am trying to make, is that us fans are passionate and loyal about our club, we would like to think the players are also. In the so called good old days lots of players were one man clubs, that is no longer the case today, unless it is a 'big' club paying big wages. Loyalty by players is just wage packet deep, that is why when many on them kiss the badge it is a load of cobblers. So when the likes of Gyan and Bent jump ship the only loyalty and passion they show is to their wage packet. If they are true professionals they will give 100% to their current employers, except like Bent and Gyan when they wanted away they were only half-hearted in their performances. This reality of players lack of loyalty does not stop me enjoying the late winner on Sunday. For every mercenary like Bent/Gyan who do the dirty of the club, clubs are not adversed to doing the dirty on players or youngsters in the academy etc. when not renewing contracts or not giving them playing time. Professional football does not have a great deal of morality about it.
I couldnt disagree more with this statement to be honest. Killgallon and Catts are still here and still with the club. Killgallon more than anyone deserves a chance after the ****ty stick he was handed by Bruce. He could easily have just walked away and said **** you to MoN on Sunday but instead he rolled his sleeved up and put a good shift in. That tells me a lot about his character, as does Gyans actions about his. Gyan dropped us like a hot bag of cat **** for the first smell of the dollar and couldnt give a rats arse about the club, the fans or **** all but about himself. He ruled himself out of any olive branch session imo and we should move on from him AND Bent tbh.
he can **** off, his performances before he left were embarrassing and left a top league to play in front of a few hundred people every week just to fill his already swollen pockets, leave the **** where he is and buy someone else who will give his all for the club
gyan can continue to miss the party for all i care, he's a mercenary that we are better off without. his lack of effort before his move (in fact ever since the england ghana game) demonstrates to me that he has neither the willpower nor the backbone to survive in a martin o'neill side. he may well be one the best footballers still technically on our books, but we didn't get three points on sunday by having the better players, we did it with having a will to win and through sheer bloody-mindedness. gyan lacks those two qualities.
Well said, mate. To me, the biggest slimeball in our recent history was Henderson because he was a local lad brought up in the local culture. If we could have expected loyalty from anyone, it was him. But wave a percentage of £16.2 million at him and he was gone like a shot. For some reason, little angel Jordan has escaped the bile of Bent and Gyan. I've never understood that. Personally, I don't blame any of them. Jordan, Darren and Asamoah are young professional men looking to advance themselves. And what the hell's wrong with that?
Kilgallon is still with the club because his alternative was Doncaster money! If he'd been offered £100,000 a week, do you think he'd still have been here? To me, Bruce is gone, and the Bruce issues should go with him.
but henderson left in the summer transfer window to a club who are bigger and better than us. it may have backfired, he may not be playing as much as he would like, but a move from sunderland to liverpool is a step up. bent left us with few other options up front, to a team that are pretty much a lateral move, and the manner in which he departed stank - he fled to a birmingham hotel and refused to come back. gyan is the lowest of the low, waiting until after our window closed so we couldn't get a replacement, jumping on a plane to the middle east, and joining an absolute joke of a team, in a joke of a league, to play in front of a joke crowd of 800 people, for a massive increase in wages. his move had absolutely nothing to do with football, and everything to do with getting a bit more rich, like the millions we paid him weren't enough. he is scum.
I'm hoping Gyan has another years loan over there and we bag another 6 million! That's his fee paid, almost. Plus we still get to sell him. At least he's scoring there which may still tempt a club into a 10 million plus offer. A good ACN and we could get more. All he is to us now is money.
Everyone is having a go at Gyan, but someone in our club must have said "YES" to it, we may never hear the full story, but at the time Bruce was shocked and blamed Gyan, but we did get a 6 million loan fee for him (a world record i believe) and someone bit their hands off in the Sunderland AFC Hierarchy. Yes timing was ****e, the league he went to is ****e, but none of us know the full story, its easy just to blame Gyan (even i did and still do to an extent) but we could have said "NO".