Rumours - all of them in here

[Leigh]

Your reasoning seems to ignore the probability that Williams and Tiatto are nearer to the exit door than Joey is.

Nor am I sure that Joey will be on 'enormous' money. Remember he came from Real Betis at the end of his contract and that Wolves and Villa, both of whom would have been able to pay more, did not sign him.

I'm not ignoring the fact that Williams and Tiatto will probably be out the door (that alone won't get rid of the 2 million we need cut from the wage budget) but I don't think that Levein sees Joey as the same kind if player as either of those two...Williams being more creative and Tiatto being able to play in many positions. Whereas I think he does see Weso, Kisnorbo and Joey as roughly the same kind of player. Obviously that's all just guessing Levein's thoughts, which could be completely different...

I take your point about him not being on 'enormous' money however I still think he'll have to accept a smaller contract to stay, even if it's only a little smaller I doubt the negotiations can start until the summer.

 

[Steven]

Posted by davieG on another forum.

According to the Merc we've got a midfielder on trial 26 year old Joel Griffiths, apparently we were interested in him in the summer and he's currently with Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax - fee is said to be £450, 000, was in the Aussie squad in August.


Griffiths riding new wave of success
By Michael Cockerill
August 3, 2005
Five years ago, Joel Griffiths was a precocious surfer-turned-striker destined for bigger things - these days he is a seasoned European-based professional determined to prove his talent hasn't gone to waste.

Griffiths, 25, will be called up for the national team for the first time when new Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink names his first training squad, possibly later today. It has been a long, often frustrating apprenticeship for a player who burst onto the scene as a striker for Sydney United, but is now more often used as a wide midfielder by his Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax.

Griffiths's early promise earned him a place in the Australian under-20 team for the 1999 world youth championships in Nigeria. But while six of his Young Socceroos teammates - among them Jason Culina, Mile Sterjovski, Vince Grella and Marco Bresciano - have gone on to play for the senior national team, Griffiths has had to bide his time.

Now, as he starts his third season in Switzerland, his chance has finally arrived.

"To be honest, I'd sort of given up on the idea," Griffiths said.

But Hiddink's arrival has opened the door, and Griffiths is determined to seize the moment. Not just on the international stage, but also at club level.

A planned move to English premiership hopefuls Leicester City was scuppered by Neuchatel's €500,000 ($800,000) asking price, but selection in the Socceroos squad means Griffiths should be more in demand.

"This is a very important opportunity for me," he said. "Obviously I'm happy to be in the squad, now it's up to me. I want to play for Australia and I want to find myself a new club. Neuchatel, it's a good club but it's not a big one. If I'd been at a bigger club, I'm sure I would have been recognised by now.

"I'm out of contract at the end of the season and I'll be ready to go. England is where I'd like to be. I've just got to go into [Socceroos] camp and give it my best shot. Hopefully it will lead to something."

Griffiths is one of two uncapped players believed to have been selected by Hiddink (along with goalkeeper Nathan Coe), but any suggestions of wholesale changes are wide of the mark.

The 30-man squad, which gathers for a four-day camp in Hoenderloo, north of Amsterdam, on August 15, will be largely similar to that left behind by Hiddink's predecessor, Frank Farina.

Hiddink's decision to scrap a planned friendly match against Colombia in favour of the get-together has reduced what was already a short preparation for the World Cup play-offs in November. Football Federation Australia is hoping to compensate by arranging an extra match three days after Australia play Jamaica in London in mid-October.


AUSTRALIA

 

[Scarby]

mmmm - we know he played well in Holland. He was in the Waalwijk side that beat us in a pre-season game a few years ago.

i could be mistaken but i think it was 0-0!

i was there you see!! but i could be wrong!

it was the longest train journey ever!

 

[Leigh]

Posted by davieG on another forum.

Right winger hopefully.

 

[bocadillo]

i could be mistaken but i think it was 0-0!

i was there you see!! but i could be wrong!

it was the longest train journey ever!

:icon_conf
My memory says we lost 1-0, but I could be wrong as well. I do remember that Waalwijk were celebrating something or other and we were there to 'make up the numbers'. Quite a big crowd for a pre-season game.

We had played at Hereford just two nights before, where I had had a conversation with Steve Bull about his special relationship with Walshy. I was down there in my camper-van, slept on the Edgar Street car-park overnight before driving home the following day, picking up a couple of fellow-City supporters in London on the way. We then spent a night at home, before another joined us and the 4 of us took an early morning ferry to Calais.

When we arrived in Waalwijk the hotel hadn't got our reservations - there was a wedding-party there and I think they had thrown our reservations away. We finished up staying at a Sports Bar which seemed to have the only other overnight accommodation in the town, although there was a motel-like place on the outskirts as you came off the main road.

 

[Scarby]

:icon_conf
My memory says we lost 1-0, but I could be wrong as well. I do remember that Waalwijk were celebrating something or other and we were there to 'make up the numbers'. Quite a big crowd for a pre-season game.

We had played at Hereford just two nights before, where I had had a conversation with Steve Bull about his special relationship with Walshy. I was down there in my camper-van, slept on the Edgar Street car-park overnight before driving home the following day, picking up a couple of fellow-City supporters in London on the way. We then spent a night at home, before another joined us and the 4 of us took an early morning ferry to Calais.

When we arrived in Waalwijk the hotel hadn't got our reservations - there was a wedding-party there and I think they had thrown our reservations away. We finished up staying at a Sports Bar which seemed to have the only other overnight accommodation in the town, although there was a motel-like place on the outskirts as you came off the main road.

me and my stayed with a mate of his nearby!! we sat in the home end with all the RKC supporters!

i remember the celebrating something as well but wasnt it disallowed.

that game we saw how bad Ade was aswell!

RKC are doing well in the Dutch league, i always keep an eye on there results

 

[MHS]

Joel Griffiths

Australian Joel Griffiths is on trial with us.

http://www.fansfc.com/frontpage/frontpagenews.asp?newsid=147632

 

[MHS]

Re: Joel Griffiths

Sorry just seen there is already a thread on this! :icon_eek:

 

[Polar Bear]

"Whereas I think he does see Weso, Kisnorbo and Joey as roughly the same kind of player."

I would say he obviously DOESN'T see them as the same kind of player as he is playing Kisnorbo and Gudjonsson together, though I realize that's partly out of necessity. Kisnorbo's holding enables Joey to be a lot more mobile and a better player than hitherto, and we've looked a better team for it - why so many fans seem to have made their minds up that Kisnorbo is crap after less than 10 games I have no idea, I assume it's a symptom of losing patience with Levein. Wesolowski I can't comment on, not having seen him. I find the idea that Stuart Pearce would pay 2 million for Williams roughly as ludicrous as Barcelona phoning us up to offer Eto'o on loan for the season - if he can't find the time/motivation to display the skill he is mysteriously assumed to possess (lost down the sofa?) in our league, why would he in the Prem? Surely these things work more the other way round (e.g. Nalis, Koumas)?

 

[SilverFox]

I thought that Kisnorbo was really quite good against sheffield United. He did all the simple things well, which in football is half the battle. I feel Sylla could also be good/better if he stuck to the simple things a little more. He seems to always be caught out when going for something spectacular, when instead something very simple would suffice. He could also stand to do a wee bit more running!!!:icon_conf

 

[bocadillo]

Wesolowski I can't comment on, not having seen him.

lol

That's the whole point - nobody has seen much of Wesolowski because there has been very little of Wesolowski to see. Yet he is being built up (by many) to be the new Messiah.

God help him when he does return and doesn't score or provide the assist for three goals in every game!

 

[Polar Bear]

I think that's a charitable view of Sylla tbh, but as we don't appear to have an alternative it's up to the coaching team to sort him out. That alone could have a lot to do with Levein's ultimate fate here, especially as he brought him in rather than resigning Gullospew.

 

[drummindefender]

Re: Joel Griffiths

sort it out

 

[alex]

I thought that Kisnorbo was really quite good against sheffield United. He did all the simple things well, which in football is half the battle. I feel Sylla could also be good/better if he stuck to the simple things a little more. He seems to always be caught out when going for something spectacular, when instead something very simple would suffice. He could also stand to do a wee bit more running!!!:icon_conf

Totally agree, he looked strong and assured and played Tongue off the park.

 

[Jari Rantanen's Shorts]

Totally agree, he looked strong and assured and played Tongue off the park.

This is how scurrilous rumours start...

 

[alex]

This is how scurrilous rumours start...

Ha ha, funny as ****....

 

[alex]

Sunderland, Leicester and Preston are keen on signing out-of-favour Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson in January. (Scottish Daily Express)

 

[bocadillo]

i could be mistaken but i think it was 0-0!

:icon_conf
My memory says we lost 1-0

Scarb's memory 1 : 0 Boc's memory


Just been in touch with somebody else who was on the trip with me - somebody younger with a younger memory! The score was definitely 0-0. I'm wrong again!


I don't know why I don't just dig a hole and jump in it!!

 

[Steven]

Sunderland, Leicester and Preston are keen on signing out-of-favour Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson in January. (Scottish Daily Express)

Source

If you are too lazy to click the link. :icon_roll :icon_lol: :icon_lol:

Wednesday's gossip column
All the latest football gossip from the day's papers.
Tuesday's gossip column

Roy Keane will sign for Celtic after a move to Real Madrid broke down. (The Sun)

Ex-Arsenal star Giovanni van Bronckhorst has urged former team-mate Thierry Henry to join him at Barcelona. (Daily Mirror)

Wolves have slapped a £2m price tag on contract refusenik Kenny Miller to scare off interest from Rangers and Sunderland. (The Sun, Daily Express)

West Ham will open talks with Maccabi Haifa for Israel international striker Yaniv Katan next month. (Daily Mail)

Bryan Robson will give striker Kevin Campbell the chance to extend his West Brom career in a player-coach role. (Daily Express)

Argentine striker Hernan Crespo could be on his way out of Chelsea after admitting he wants a return to Italy. (Daily Mail)

Manchester City are preparing a January swoop for Ajax's South African midfielder Steven Pienaar. (Daily Mirror)

Goalkeeper Antti Niemi is set to leave Southampton for Charlton in a £1.5m January transfer window deal. (The Times, Daily Express)

Sunderland chairman Bob Murray will take heed of the 56% of fans who backed boss Mick Mccarthy in a local newspaper poll. (Daily Mail)

Middlesbrough have their sights on Marseille central defender Abdoulaye Meite, who will cost £2m. (Daily Mirror)

Former Derby, West Ham and Manchester City striker Paulo Wanchope is looking for a summer return to the Premiership. (The Sun)

Rangers want former Scotland boss Andy Roxburgh to come in and overhaul their failing youth system. (Daily Record)

Morton's Andy McLaren could quit football after rival fans barracked the player in regard to his battle to overcome drink and drug addictions. (Daily Record)

Sunderland, Leicester and Preston are keen on signing out-of-favour Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson in January. (Scottish Daily Express)

 

[M17TT C]

surely with a possible 3 midfield players coming to this club according to rumors, McCann, Pearson and random aussie do you not think that more than one of our currrent midfielders will be leaving? williams i can see leaving only because he has done nothing for us and doesnt get on with CL, but for man city, im not so sure why would they want him. i know physcho was at the stoke game but after seeing that surely he would be shooting himself in the foot if he were to buy williams. Personally i can see joey going in january, hes been in magnificant form for us recently and could certainly do a job in the prem. i would hate it if he does go but you just got to think about it!