John Bostock is in the squad for tomorrow!

[donny1013]

Yes, but you know how these things go. Next stage of the discussion could easily be Salma Hayek's knockers.

Amen to that :grin:

 

[polski sklep]

Avoiding the discussion as to whether Dawson is intrinsically rubbish, mediocre, or world class, there does seem to be a soft consensus that he has been worse the last two seasons than he was 3 years ago.

It seems hard to understand how that can happen, seeing as he has more experience now, and should still be, at his age, very much on the upward arc for a defender. Therefore it must be psychological, so it stands to reason that the right handling/coaching should be able to get the best out of him, however good that might be.

(my opinion is he is an "average premiership defender", which on the scale of everyone who plays football in the world, extremely good - I can never understand how anyone can terms like "rubbish" to describe player at this level, well Doherty maybe)

I appreciate that we shouldn't be bashing our own players nor summarising their efforts into a single noun. However, whilst he has staunch supporters who fail to see what, I believe, is staring them in the face, there is going to be replies to the opposite extreme.

The only defense people seem to have of Dawson is, "once upon a time, he played well," and "he's a nice bloke." Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any substance with regards to distinguishable defensive characteristics.

There are too many variables which need to be consistently present in order for him to reach his average level. Unfortunately, those variables need also to be present in the opposition. It's nothing psychological, he's just been exposed.

 

[AngerManagement]

I'm looking forward to seeing Bostock in action.

Would be an ideal scenerio if we were able to win the game convinvingly and youn Bostock was to come on for 20mins or so and look impressive.

I really hope in the coming years 3-4 of our best youngsters will make an impression on the first team. Would be great to have a golden era of kids like the Utd team with Beckham and co and the West Ham youth team that went on to make up half the England starting line up

 

[worcestersauce]

Yes, but you know how these things go. Next stage of the discussion could easily be Salma Hayek's knockers.

Funnily enough they feel even better than they look!
And in a cool climate the goosebumps tickle your lips!

 

[milkman]

Got this from a BBC preview of tonight's game vs Dinamo Zagreb

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/7697320.stm

I also found a mistake on the article where the match date is ; 'Thursday, 5 November' which is the right day but wrong date!

"He'll be on the bench and I'd love to get him on the pitch. He's only 16, a kid with terrific talent and a lovely left foot.

"He is a special young player with terrific ability, how far he goes is up to him. With all young players it will be up to them how hard they want to work at their game.

"I'd love to get some of the youth team into the first team, that is the long-term aim."

 

[neogenisis]

Be good to see Bostock get some minutes, he always gets time on the pitch on my FIFA 09 games!! (scored a cracker against the Arse too!)

 

[markiespurs]

It's always good to see some youth players get a chance. Hopefully Bostock will get his chance tonight as it will be my first chance to see what everyones raving about.

Fuck it makes me feel old talking about youth players being given a chance.

 

[Lilbaz]

How has he looked playing for the reserves/youth? Will Tarby or KPB be making an appearence anytime soon or has their chance been and gone?

 

[donny1013]

How has he looked playing for the reserves/youth? Will Tarby or KPB be making an appearence anytime soon or has their chance been and gone?

He has scored a few goals for the youth side/reserves, including a hat trick against Chelsea i think it was. Regards the 'outcasts' they were not included in the UEFA squad so their earliest opportunity will probably be next week in the CC against Liverpool

 

[thetallaghttiger]

as it has transpired in the last day or two, Bostock has a great chance of getting some minutes tonight.

No King, Pav, Corluka, O'Hara, and GDS tonight (Ghaly, KPB, etc all not registered too)

Possibly JJ out through injury as well.

Could be wrong on this but I think we've only definitely got 5 actual midfielders available

(though Bale/Gilberto can play left midfield)

 

[14/04/91]

Big step up from ressies to Uefa Cup against the best side in Croatia. I can't see him getting on tonight unless we're crusing at 3-0 with 15 to go.
I don't think he'd make the bench tonight if the more experienced 'outcasts' had been named in the uefa squad. what a strange decision by the previous regime.

 

[14/04/91]

No King, Pav, Corluka, O'Hara, and GDS tonight (Ghaly, KPB, etc all not registered too)

How come you've put GDS in the team then!! don't think King will even be on the bench either

 

[thetallaghttiger]

No King, Pav, Corluka, O'Hara, and GDS tonight (Ghaly, KPB, etc all not registered too)

How come you've put GDS in the team then!! don't think King will even be on the bench either

I had hoped GDS would start tonight! :wink:

Only just changed the sig now :razz:

 

[14/04/91]

ha see you've changed GDS to Modric!! makes sense!
Rose is injured apparently for a good few months too

 

[thetallaghttiger]

Rose is injured apparently for a good few months too

Really?! Eek

That's terrible, both Rose and GDS being injured when tonight would've been a great chance to impress

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

The two items you highlited in bold are:

VERY important member of our squad
he has shown in the past that he is an EXCELLENT defender

You could get a job at one of the tabloids because you have highlited the non-relevant bits and left out the crucial points of my argument

Firstly that he is a VERY important member of our squad (considering that we only have Woodgate, King, Corluka, Rocha and Dawson as reckonised center backs of which one can not play every game, and one is cup-tied, and another has not played for more than a year, that makes him a vital squad member)

Secondly, in 2005 he showed what a excellent player he can be, again you pull a quote out of context.

And with regards to Carrick and Keane I am not suggesting for one second they left because of fan abuse, however how can we scream and shout about dissloyalty of our players when we show them absolutly no loyalty whatsoever!

I'd rather play Tom Huddlestone or Didier Zokora at CB than Michael Dawson. But if we put that aside, and give ourselves that Harry has him down as our 4th CB in our squad, then he has some importance, sure. But to call him a very important member, just because he has to step in every 6th game to cover, that's just bullshit.

And are you really trying to convince me Michael Dawson is an excellent player by mentioning how great he was in 2005? Three years ago? What matters is how he plays today.

And Carrick/Keane. Spurs fans may have been criticizing these 2 players, but most fans appreciated them, especially Keane, who was a fans favourite. So they can't be compared to Dawson on that basis.

 

[jondesouza]

I'd rather play Tom Huddlestone or Didier Zokora at CB than Michael Dawson. But if we put that aside, and give ourselves that Harry has him down as our 4th CB in our squad, then he has some importance, sure. But to call him a very important member, just because he has to step in every 6th game to cover, that's just bullshit.

And considering that we have a number of players not available, who would you have played in central midfield if Hudd or Zokora had started in defence?

And are you really trying to convince me Michael Dawson is an excellent player by mentioning how great he was in 2005? Three years ago? What matters is how he plays today.

And Carrick/Keane. Spurs fans may have been criticizing these 2 players, but most fans appreciated them, especially Keane, who was a fans favourite. So they can't be compared to Dawson on that basis.

Actually, you're completely wrong here. There were a couple of long periods when Keano was anything but a fans' favourite and was actually on the end of quite a lot of quite vocal criticism from some of the boo boys.

The point about Dawson is that he has proved that he can be a good player for us. For whatever reason his form has dipped quite dramatically. But he hasn't become shit overnight. Hopefully he'll come good again - he certainly has never shown a lack of commitment and for that I applaud him.

 

[DJS]

There are a number of youngsters I'm lookig forward so seeing wearing the SPurs shirt in the near future - Rose, maybe Townsend, Parrett...

But Bostock excites the most - sounds like he's gonna be a heck of a player, just hope we're a bit more sucessful by the time he becomes a regular in the team as we could really go places! :up:

 

[fazza]

Harry is the right manager to bring Bostock through and indeed those you mentioned above, i'm glad well happy with this, its about time we started bringing the youth through instead of blowing £10 million a time on another player.

 

[General Levy]

Amen to that :grin: