Albion looking at Pablo Ibanez move
Monday 24th May 2010, 11:30AM BST.
Albion are considering a deal to sign Spain international Pablo Ibanez on a free transfer from Atletico Madrid.
The 28-year-old is a free agent having ended his contract with Atletico and reports in Spain claim he is mulling over a three-year contract offer from the Hawthorns.
The Express & Star understands no deal is done for Pablo but Albion have a strong interest in the player, who has made more than 150 appearances in six years at Atletico and has 23 caps for Spain.
The 6ft 3in tall stopper began his career at his hometown club of Albacete, making 75 league appearances and scoring twice.
Ibanez moved to Atletico in 2004 and helped the club reach the Champions League, but fallen out of favour in the last two seasons and is now reportedly keen to try his luck in England.
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Never heard of him but in RDM we trust. Except for Slorry the signings, whether loan or permanent have been great.
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I thought he Signed Mattock , not a very good signing was it ?
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Reuben Reid? :-s
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2- Nothing like a bit of positivity.
Every manager has made the odd bad signing, including Ferguson and Mourinho.
On the whole, I think we’d all agree the majority brought in under RDM were positive (Jara, Tamas, Barnes, Watson etc), although how much credit goes to RDM and how much goes to Dan Ashworth/scouting system, I guess none of us really know.
Reading about Ibanez, it seems he was once a £20m target for Man U and Liverpool, and has 23 caps for Spain, so he’s obviously got some talent.
It remains to be seen whether this is just agent-talk to alert his availability to others. I’d take him over Meite and Barnett though in the top-flight.
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I wouldn`t bet on it, but I thought Cox and Mattock were “done deals” before he came. He only really signed Thomas because he was a free agent. Wasn`t it too close to deadline day for much else to happen?
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good player im told gives us a bit more steel at the back hope we get james beattie would be a good player 2 the team and offload LUKE MOORE
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how about RDM unsigning luke moore
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There are still a few fans out there who seem to enjoy inferring that some of the less successful transfers in are down to RDM . Baggie Paul is correct both Mattock and Reid were on their way before RDM’s arrival and it is true to say that both have been disappointing . Mattock’s problems on the pitch may have a lot do with his problems off the pitch and he may still come good if the night club incident can be resolved.
It’s good to see the club looking at quality from overseas. Whilst we need a couple of players with premier experience far better value is available abroad.
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Anybody heard the Bikey rumour?
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1. Reuben Reid, Simon Cox, Slorry, the guy from Westham. 4 poor signings although been impressed Reid, Watson, Tamas, Jara. He has a 50% success rate in my book although two of them no longer play for Albion, so 25%! Pull your finger out RDM!
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Complete lack of ambition again!
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10 Baggie/Wolfman
The Cox signing was set-up prior to his arrival. Slory and Nouble were sensibly taken temporarily, it’s not like he blew £10m on them.
Can we have some positivity? The bloke takes us up with a record points total, our ‘dodgy’ defence concedes less goals than the ‘watertight’ Wolves the previous season, and all some people can do is knock him.
Chances are we won’t see any signings until July/August, but lets have some faith.
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9, yeah ive heard the chains come off aye boing boing up down pedal
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We’ve just finished second with our highest ever points total. We just might be doing something right. We’d be happy to sign Ronaldo but it ain’t going to happen so why not leave the worrying to our excellent management and scouting team. A few days in Blackpool might cheer everyone up though. They probably don’t realise what they’ve done just yet, not in full anyway.
Some of the above posts are just Wulfies playing spies. No.1 Fan, who the heck is Bikey ?
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Why all the player-haters?
This bloke plays regularly for Athletico Madrid, a team who feature constantly around the very top half of their league, AND he plays for his country, who are Euro Champs etc. AND he is big enough for the prem. AND he has experience but is under 30! TBH we would be VERY lucky to get this man!
How much more vision do people want?…..
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baggieman u don’t no wot ur talking about, cox is a good player and reid was bought as a squad player and 1 for the future i admit slory is rubbish, i’ve heard the rumour about bikey id rather av meite than him put it that way, james beattie will a quality signing if we can get him he’s scored goals wherever he as gone so think is record speaks 4 its self, luke moore should be got rid of he is an absolute disgrace in an albion shirt never puts effort in which shows he don’t want 2 be here, robbie u av done a fab job 100% behind u. who’s tony mowbray agin
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just fink when dingles go to blackpool they will see two lots of donkeys aye boing boing hee haw hee haw
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Ibanez is a quality striker, once destined for a big big club. 23 Spain caps speaks volumes, would be a brilliant signing.
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10. Will concede Reuben Reid. The Cox deal was done and anyway who else thinks he was a bad signing. Did a job when asked. Slorry, who had been injured himself, was only ever going to be temporary because of injury and temperament doubts over Barnes and Thomas (he who was sorry he got sent off and then did so again weeks later). Nouble was short term cover for the returning Miller and injured Bednar, with Moore obviously not up for it. In contrast, as you say Tamas and Jara and I don`t think he can be blamed for losing Watson and Reid who came in and steadied the ship when Zuvi lost form and Koren threw his teddy out. Compare these with Mowbrays efforts and I don`t think you would get a 50% success rate. Mcdonald, Kim, Valero, Beattie, Donk, Worrall,there must be others who have faded away. As Warren says managers don`t always get it right. In Mowbray` favour we have Bednar good at Fizzy pop standard which is where we needed him, Olsonn and of course Dorrans.
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Just one thing Ray,he is a defender not a striker :-)
Would be a good addition to the squad and free also so worth a look.
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3 or 4 years ago this guy was a regular in the spanish national team, I remember seeing him play. he was solid. depending on the wages I think this would be a good signing.
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Buying players is always a gamble. Reuben Reid was a Sherjil McDonald type buy. He may come off but he strengthens the underbelly of the squad while we wait for the youngsters to come through from the academy. Don’t forget we more than doubled our money on McDonald. Graham Dorrans was also one of these types of buys, funny none of the critics mention him.
Warren.
At least the idiots you’re having a running debate with on the Stephen Hunt thread are self confessed Wulfies. You just have to admit that our Rumanian and future Swedish internationals are no match for their Scottish and Guadaloupe ones. The argument had me in stitches. Deluded doesn’t begin to get close does it? I hope the ones you’re arguing with on here are disguised Wulfies, if they’re really Baggies God help us.
Pablo is an exciting prospect if the deal comes off. Looks like we’re giving it a go this time. We’ve come up with probably our best squad and we’re shopping in a much better market.
I see Valero may not be coming back. Still, it’s a win, win situation, either we get a top class player or we get a good fee.
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18. Ray jones…. He’s a defender
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Hot off the press. Wolves have announced a pre season tour of Ireland and Sunderland.
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Don’t think we have seen enogh of reuben Reid to write him off yet – he has pace and can score – maybe the staff can file off the rough edges and get him to the level we need him to be – but its harsh to judge RDM on just his signing – which are few… better to judge him on how he has got a group of someone elses players promoted in such style – or on the professional way he goes about things.
On a different thread – how about Ricardo Fuller ?? I know he aint a fox in the box but I hate it when he plays against us but he has the experience and he could leave Stoke this summer… Fuller AND Beattie ???? Any thoughts….
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People seem to think it is RDM who scouts and chooses these players. But isn’t player spotting and recommendation Dan Ashworth’s department? RDM is the Team Coach. I assume RDM looks at the evidence of players identified by DA and will obviously hear of players through his own contacts, but he isn’t driving player selection. I don’t think we can judge Managers these days by their transfer record?
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TRBH
They’re unbelievable aren’t they, you’d think they’d have a look at their own before slating the pedigree of some of our internationals. Guadeloupe….I almost punched the air with glee when I saw that Zubar played for them.
I’m still trying to get to grips with the idea that Craddock and Berra would walk into our side, simply because they conceded less goals. Absolutely nothing to do with 7 other players that didn’t move more than 10 yards away from them for 90 minutes.
I think some of them actually believe that the ‘mighty’ Wolves are back in the big time, competing for honours, where they so rightfully belong.
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“no ambition”, “pull your finger out RDM” The guys/girls who came up with those comments are complete plonkers.
The reason half of you don’t know who Pablo is, is down to the fact that your football knowledge barely extends across the black country never mind to other leagues.
Give RDM a break he has done a BRILLIANT job so far.
Boing Boing
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never mind all this bull/s give luke more his bus fare back to villa and get some real firepower and a confident back 4 and goalkeeper 4-5-1 wont work in the prem so get some strikers!!!!!!ffs
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Looks like weve been linked with Jenas if we did, whos place would he take and Ibanez is better than Olsson FACT, BOING BOING!!
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29 baggy.
Chelsea won more games with 4-5-1 than with 4-4-2. But it’s good to have more than one string to your bow and be able to change things round. Teams in the Prem will find you out if you’re a one trick pony.
27 Warren.
Yeah I think it will be a telling season for Mick. Does he stick with the formula that’s worked for him or does he risk trying a more expansive game. Big decision as he has no track record for playing anything but attritional type football. With Eire he inherited Big Jack’s big centre forward and all swarm forward style and carried on with this to Sunderland. To paraphrase Harry Callaghan ‘You feelin lucky Punk, well are ya Mick?’
25 Happy.
Unusual I know but once again I find we’re in total agreement. I think the thing I’ve noticed since RDM (not forgetting his staff as well) arrived is that quite a few players have noticably improved areas of their games that may have been weak. Brunt’s heading and workrate, Cox’s first touch and decision making. To me this is much more important than the transfers which as others have pointed out, he only rubber stamps and due to his late arrival were very few anyway.
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Am I going mental or have there been supposed Baggies on this stream who don’t think a recent Spanish international is not an ambitious buy? This guy is struggling to get regular first team action with Athletico Madrid. I’m not sure if any of the earlier posts realise that we’re talking about the Europa league CHAMPIONS!!! He would definately be worth a punt especially if he really is on a free. I really hope we beat Blackburn to Beattie, he would keep us up. Boing Boing.
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25. Fair play Happy you do make a clown of yourself sometimes. You constantly slate Stokes style etc, I remeber you posting ‘Id rather be relegated then play like Stoke’ and now you want their front two to play for us? Id be happy to stay up this season and do whatever it takes to get results and make progress – Jose Mourinho mentality, play to get results ,not to flatter.
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just back the man give him your support rdm is afantastic find keep the faith we can stay up don.t knock others praise your own boys
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not very impressed with england last nite,lets just hope hannerman plays in goal for the yanks shud be ok then,aye boing boing
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This is my 2nd attempt at this comment they wouldn’t let the first one through,all the negative comments after a season we’ve had,ok not always covincing,are just what I’d expect from the moaning morons who’s glass is always half empty,this is RDM’s 1st season for christ sake!even God made mistakes.Baggieman and Starsinstripes please try and look for the positive not always the negative and if you can’t keep your comments to yourself,then don’t say anything, especially during the match.
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25 Happy with the class of our widemen launching balls into the box and Fuller n Beatie waiting to get onto the end of them sounds good to me,imagine craddock and is croonies try to to stop um,it would be a fearful partnership for any defence,not only that we mite even beat stoke,aye boing boing
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36. Its not about being negative its about being realistic. The Premier league may not have been as strong this season but my word the Championship was the poorest we have ever played in. Forest and Blackpool almost went down the season before and with pretty much the same squads finished 3rd and got promoted, I mean Blackpool football club in promoted. Reading and Sheff Utd had to sell all their best players, Crystal Palace and Sheff Wed almost going under.
I get sick of being called a dingle when you are posting an honest opinion. RDM has done a wonderful job but we do not have the quality of Gera, Greening, Robinson, Phillips, Kamara, Koumas etc at our disposal anymore, our squad has not got the quality we used to have. We need some experienced heads in there because I fear too much pressure will be put on young Dorrans, but do not fool yourselves, ill be happy to survive on the last day with an own goal, Survival is our goal.
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38 We Are Albion
I’d say it was more negativity than realism.
Were Blackpool any less fancied than Hull 2 seasons ago? You say they and Forest have the same squads as the previous season, yet only 4 of the Forest side that started their last game in 2008/09 started their last game this season, they’ve spent a fortune.
I’m not saying it was a strong division, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and we finished 11/12 points clear of 3rd, with a record points total that would’ve won the division in any season going back to 2005/06. We scored over 100 goals in all competitions, and conceded less in the league than the supposedly tight and solid Wolves did as champions last season.
Last time we were in the Prem, Newcastle had Owen; Bolton and Boro each had a £12m striker; Wigan had Cattermole, Heskey and Palacios; Blackburn had Santa Cruz and Bentley; Hull had that freak start that kept them up.
It’s a vastly different Prem we’re entering this time around. You talk about our supposed lack of quality, can you tell me how many of the Wolves, Wigan, Newcastle and Blackpool players would get into our side? No more than ours would get into theirs. We might well have a fight on our hands, but we’ve got a good a chance as many of the teams around us.
If you can’t get excited/optimistic after our most successful season in history, then really what’s the point?
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38 and 39 an interesting debate. I agree about being positive but I also agree about being realistic. Our target this season is to survive at all costs. There are plenty of players from Newcastle, The Dings, Wigan, Westham, and Charlie Adam from Blackpool who would start at The Albion and this is exactly why we need to be strengthened in GK, defence and attacking departments but I feel the midfield will be ok. As it stands, we will be the bookies 2nd favourite for relegation but we have to embrace that and do everything we can to stay up.
If I were RDM i would be looking for two Premier League Full-backs, a starting centre half as I feel Olsson switches off too often, A premier league standard target man and most imprtantly a starting GK. If we address these problems we will have a great chance of survival.
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27. Warren…and who does your Youssof Mulumbu play for ? That giant of international football DR Congo !!
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38.
You are right to be sick of being called A. Dingle. We all know your name is Shadrag Dingle and should call you by your real name.
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41.
Hi Filton.
Good to hear from you.
The good news just keeps on flowing. You’ve just signed another potential international. Stephen Ward’s extended his contract with you.
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Filtonwolf (Bristol)
The Guadeloupe remark was to do with another thread. One of yours stated that us having World Cup players meant nothing as players of second-rate nations wouldn’t get near the Wolves first team.
He obviously considered Guadeloupe, Scotland, USA, Belgium and Austria to be international superpowers.
My post wasn’t aimed at the genuine, rational wolfs out there.
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40 Baggietastic
I agree with most of your points in relation to areas we need to strengthen, although I think we’re being very harsh on Scott Carson.
He made a handful of errors last season, probably less than the vast majority of Championship and many Premiership goalkeepers. In truth, he saved us far more points than he cost us, and his best years are ahead of him.
I’d agree we need some competition for him though.
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43. RBH..good to hear from you as well my friend. I’m not a Stephen Ward knocker. he has given valuable service to Wolves and is a useful utility player to have. Remember he has played most of the season out of position. Some of your boys may have to do that as the season progresses – let’s hope for your sakes that your boys can do it equally as well.
44. Warren.. appreciate you were’nt having a go at rational wolfies, but when making comments you have to make sure that you don’t leave yourself open. It could have been one of our more how shall I say ‘vocal’ supporters and you may have ended up with a tirade of abuse !!
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I am sick of the debate between us and Wolves, I am happy to admit that Wolves are:
* A bigger club
* Have bigger attendances
* More history
* A slightly better stadium
* are going into your 2nd consecutive EPL season
Westbrom are a better club, we may be smaller, we may not have the same atmosphere at matches but we are supported by better people and I really hope we give you a footballing lesson next season. Were going to be boinging at Molineux again!
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Filtonwolf
In the initial thread, our supporters were defending the importance of our international players from the likes of New Zealand, DR Congo.
My post to TRBH re: Guadeloupe wasn’t trying to imply we’re above and beyond all that, just highlighting the ignorance of the supporter who claimed Wolves were.
Anyway, here’s to a very vocal Black Country rivalry next season.
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premierleaguewolf
bigger attendances? really? record attendances imply otherwise.
also, custard bowl has no corners and the stands are miles from the pitch…..hence less atmosphere than the hawthorns.
re: 2nd epl season in succession, we had one of them once, you’d better hope you don’t suffer the same fate as we did that year
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49 Dave.
You can’t argue with him that we don’t have ‘the same atmosphere’ in our grounds. Chalk and cheese.
46 Filton.
Just a jape in passing. I knew you’d take it in the right spirit.
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47. Please explain your point regarding wolves being a bigger club? I’m struggling with that one.
Our squad needs a few enhancements and we have to realise that we cannot sustain stupid financial outlays that could land us in the smelly brown stuff. We need to be frugal and ambitious. There are players out there suitable for the club and within financial reach to help us stay up next season.
What does my head is player x ‘linked’ and player y ‘linked’. What the hell does ‘linked’ actually mean? They are either signing for us or they are not. I am not interested until I see a players name on the back of an Albion shirt.
I’m behind RDM and his backroom and will support any signing that he makes.
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There is just no way of telling the dingles from the true albion posters is there….. its such a clever ruse and I keep falling for it.
If only they would post some childish garbage to make them easier to spot !!
DRAT !!!!
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52 Happy.
If all you had to comment on was Stephen Ward’s extended contract, you would probably want to take on a false identity.
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TRBH, Happy
Perhaps they’re hoping Stephen Ward takes on a false identity
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Warren – I believe he did last season when he was known as “premier league player”
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To be fair lads the lad Ward doesnt seem that great but left back is probably a position we are weaker then they are in: Cech and Mattock.
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Love it Happy.
Baggietastic
George Elokobi, once of Colchester and, err, Dulwich Hamlet. Apparently he has a white half-brother called Graham Harbey. Would you really swap him for Marek Cech?
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Warren and Happy.
Again I was in stitches reading this. The thought of Ward or Elokobi lining up for Slovakia. Priceless.
PS I’ve forgotten the names of their other left backs. They seem to buy them by the dozen.
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47 – U are not fooling anyone! Its so obvious u are a dingle.
Its very arguable who is the bigger club. There is no evidence whatsover wolves are any bigger! The 2 clubs are pretty much mirror each other.
Yes Wolves have slightly bigger crowds I’ll give u that one. But only cuz they have a slightly bigger ground. We would have 28/29k attendances in the prem if our chairman had not decided to reduce our capacity!
More History is also very arguable, u have won more cups but a lot of them are mickey mouse trophies like the LDV vans trophy. We have won F.A cup more times. U might (slightly) have the edge on history but again very arguable.
And ur ground, whilst it is slightly bigger (although hardly worth mentioning) You DO NOT have a better stadium! Its is old fashioned, its not enclosed and not as modern.
And as for Albion not having the same atmosphere… U are having a laugh! We all know dingles just get on their players backs and moan. And there have been articles on how your ground is not enclosed resulting in a quieter stadium compared to the Albion. The decibel levels are also lower than the Hawthorns. U cant argue facts! Its is FACT that we have a better atmosphere and better fans full stop!
Im guessin there was nothing interesting on ur own pages…?
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Warren.
Not quite an accurate picture of what I said on the other posts. I certainly dont believe having Scottish or Guadaloupe players is anything to shout about(I actually thought Zubar was french as I knew he played for France U21 many times).
I was responding to your supporters getting all excited about how many more players you have than us going to the World Cup. I really dont believe any New Zealand players would get in the Wolves team and TBH I dont know the Chile team that well but I’m sure most are pretty average.(they used to have a couple of world class forwards)
The point was having internationals from third rate countries is no great feat. If you disagree then fair enough.
Just a shame Ireland didnt make it and bolster our numbers by four or five.lol
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Southern
I accept what you’re saying, and that the volume of international players a team has isn’t necessarily representative of quality. It’s just nice as an Albion fan to sit and watch some of our players in a World Cup, it’s not happened too often in my lifetime!!
Some of the Wolves fans on the Hunt thread were quick to belittle the quality of the nations they were representing and suggesting they wouldn’t get near the Wolves side, which sort of left it a little open for the Ronald Zubar- Guadeloupe comment, it wasn’t personal.
For the record, the New Zealand international doesn’t get in our first team, and is probably our fourth-choice striker prior to summer signings. Also, Chile finished above Argentina and Uruguay in qualifying, so calling them third-rate is a probably a little harsh. The Slovakian has played for Porto in the Champions League, and the Ivorian…..well, the less said the better.
I think the only point we really disagree on, is that the quality of some our first-teamers aren’t at the technical level of yours. By the very nature of the football both teams play, I think it’s fair to consider that we may have more ‘footballers’ than you (that’s not to say our way is going to work better than yours).
Anyway, isn’t having such different perspectives the reason football is what it is. I’m sure we’ll find out how good/third-rate our internationals are next season!!
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