where have all the foreigners gone..?

[david in sweden]

Not that I'm complaining..but have you noticed that there are suddenly very few non-British players in the squad. Unless I've msised someone.. Jaidi, Fonte and Schneiderlin are the only first team regulars not born in the UK.

 

We have two non-British goalies; Bart and Pernecky..but aside from that no-one.

 

Of course this helps when FIFA / UEFA introduce the new rule about having more home-growns in the squad, but it's certainly a change from ...not so many years ago, when the team was awash with Scandinavians.

[JonnyLove]

Never Mind Just re-red the post

Edited 18 July, 2010 by JonnyLove
should read before typing

[John B]

Not that I'm complaining..but have you noticed that there are suddenly very few non-British players in the squad. Unless I've msised someone.. Jaidi, Fonte and Schneiderlin are the only first team regulars not born in the UK.

 

We have two non-British goalies; Bart and Pernecky..but aside from that no-one.

 

Of course this helps when FIFA / UEFA introduce the new rule about having more home-growns in the squad, but it's certainly a change from ...not so many years ago, when the team was awash with Scandinavians.

 

Perhaps League 1 sides dont pay large wages.

 

Do other League 1 sides have lots of foreigners?

[70's Mike]

Perhaps League 1 sides dont pay large wages.

 

Do other League 1 sides have lots of foreigners?

 

nail and head

[shurlock]

Perhaps League 1 sides dont pay large wages.

 

Do other League 1 sides have lots of foreigners?

 

Saying that Arsene Wenger famously claimed that Pards was xenophobic

 

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23380486-pardew-escapes-fa-punishment-over-wenger-row.do

[Saint_clark]

I think it's fantastic that we've built such a strong team full of Englishman.

[moon monkey]

And English coaches

[SNSUN]

League 1 plays a big part in it but also having an English manager helps. If we still had Strachan we'd be knee deep in Scotsmen.

[RedAndWhite91]

This is because we are a lower league team.

[Mr Saints]

Shame it isn't more similar in the top flight.

 

Might be able to compete in a World Cup if it was.

[Tartarus112]

Connelly's Irish? Another one for the list but it doesn't really matter. Quality of player is more important than nationality. Barcelona didn't turn Messi away for not being Catalonian.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Shame it isn't more similar in the top flight.

 

Might be able to compete in a World Cup if it was.

 

Very key to longer term strategy - not too long before the bubble bursts.

[Arizona]

Two very simple rules to solve almost everything which is wrong with English football:

 

1. There must be at least 6 English players on the pitch at any given time (Unless one is sent off).

2. Only a set percentage of Turnover can be spent on wages (including all bonus', agents fees, sign on fees etc). I don't know enough about football finances to put an exact figure on it, but around 60% would seem sensible.

 

Back to the thread title... good news IMO.

[VectisSaint]

Connelly's Irish? Another one for the list but it doesn't really matter. Quality of player is more important than nationality. Barcelona didn't turn Messi away for not being Catalonian.

Connolly may qualify and play for Republic of Ireland but he is as English as my daughter, born in Willesden, London (my daughter qualifies to represent N Ireland as my wife was born there).

[oxfordshire_saint]

We've probably got more foreigners than most League 1 sides!

[dune]

The biggest difference, as someone has already touched on, is that our scouting is now much more widespread within the UK, as oposed to focussing on Sweden. When NC took over he commented on how bad things had become in this respect, so hats off to him for sorting this out.

[Viking Saint]

The biggest difference, as someone has already touched on, is that our scouting is now much more widespread within the UK, as oposed to focussing on Sweden. When NC took over he commented on how bad things had become in this respect, so hats off to him for sorting this out.

 

just out of interest, who feels Scandinavian players have, on the whole, been a success for us??....am thinking back down the line and we've had quite a few (can't think of any Icelanders though...?) As a race, they're physically robust and meant to be ideally suited to the English game....

[Fowllyd]

Two very simple rules to solve almost everything which is wrong with English football:

 

1. There must be at least 6 English players on the pitch at any given time (Unless one is sent off).

2. Only a set percentage of Turnover can be spent on wages (including all bonus', agents fees, sign on fees etc). I don't know enough about football finances to put an exact figure on it, but around 60% would seem sensible.

 

Back to the thread title... good news IMO.

 

If a rule were to be introduced along the lines of your first point above it would lead to a deterioration in the standard of football played in the Premier League, with little or no effect on the quality of the national team. Does Spain have such a rule? Does Germany? No. Do they produce significantly better players than England, and in greater numbers? Yes. That's the issue to address, but you won't do it by legislating on numbers of players of home nationality. The quality of coaching for youngsters is what really counts - if that doesn't improve then the national team never will.

 

I agree with your second point though - in fact, I'd say that such a rule is long overdue.

[oxfordshire_saint]

If a rule were to be introduced along the lines of your first point above it would lead to a deterioration in the standard of football played in the Premier League, with little or no effect on the quality of the national team. Does Spain have such a rule? Does Germany? No. Do they produce significantly better players than England, and in greater numbers? Yes. That's the issue to address, but you won't do it by legislating on numbers of players of home nationality. The quality of coaching for youngsters is what really counts - if that doesn't improve then the national team never will.

 

I agree with your second point though - in fact, I'd say that such a rule is long overdue.

 

I think it's more to do with the pressure here, managers are so afraid to blood the youngsters.

 

Look at Barca, Pedro and Busquets got given a chance young at the biggest club in the world, now they're World Cup winners.

 

Same with Bayern, they only blooded Badstuber and Muller this season and then they both went to the World Cup.

 

If the big clubs here gave people a chance, rather than buying mediocre foreign players instead, we'd see more success.

 

There are some quality English youngsters out there, but they get shunned by the big clubs, lose confidence and then slowly filter down the leagues wasting their talent.

 

The whole media witch-hunt about the standard of coaching and academies in this country, based on a poor World Cup, is nothing short of nonsense and a knee-jerk reaction. We produce quality players, young players with great technical ability and tactical awareness, they just need to get given a chance at the top level.

 

People forget we got to the final of the most recent Euro U21 Final, funnily enough, Spain weren't there.

 

The World Cup failure was a result of an outgoing generation of players being hyped up beyond all belief, poor management and even poorer tactics. It was in no way a reflection of the current youth setup in this country, how can it be?

[Picard]

If a rule were to be introduced along the lines of your first point above it would lead to a deterioration in the standard of football played in the Premier League, with little or no effect on the quality of the national team. Does Spain have such a rule? Does Germany? No. Do they produce significantly better players than England, and in greater numbers? Yes. That's the issue to address, but you won't do it by legislating on numbers of players of home nationality. The quality of coaching for youngsters is what really counts - if that doesn't improve then the national team never will.

 

I agree with your second point though - in fact, I'd say that such a rule is long overdue.

 

The Germans have a rule that is not too different.

 

For example, German clubs must pick 12 home-grown players in their matchday squads, whereas the Premier League conforms to Uefa's rule of eight out of a 25-man squad - and even then that can mean including foreign nationals as long as they have trained for three years at a Premier League club's academy.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/davidbond/2010/06/germans_rich_pedigree_casts_la.html

[AussieDog]

Just out of curiosity...how many foreign players would you say have been successful for us (and by that, I also mean they must have been here for more than 1 season). I can only think of a handful - Golac (showing my age, here), Michael Svensson, Claus, Anders Svensson (debatable...),Schneiderlin (jury is s till out for me), Pahars, Kenwyn Jones???....surely there must be others???

[alehouseboys]

Just out of curiosity...how many foreign players would you say have been successful for us (and by that, I also mean they must have been here for more than 1 season). I can only think of a handful - Golac (showing my age, here), Michael Svensson, Claus, Anders Svensson (debatable...),Schneiderlin (jury is s till out for me), Pahars, Kenwyn Jones???....surely there must be others???

 

Ronnie Eklund.....could have been...

[Dibden Purlieu Saint]

Just out of curiosity...how many foreign players would you say have been successful for us (and by that, I also mean they must have been here for more than 1 season). I can only think of a handful - Golac (showing my age, here), Michael Svensson, Claus, Anders Svensson (debatable...),Schneiderlin (jury is s till out for me), Pahars, Kenwyn Jones???....surely there must be others???

 

Niemi, Berkovic, Kachloul, Van Gobble...

[John B]

Niemi, Berkovic, Kachloul, Van Gobble...

 

Tessem Ostenstad fernades Monkou

Edited 19 July, 2010 by John B

[david in sweden]

yes of course Connolly has played 41 times for the Republic of Ireland ..despite having been born in ..Willesden in London.

[david in sweden]

just out of interest, who feels Scandinavian players have, on the whole, been a success for us??....am thinking back down the line and we've had quite a few (can't think of any Icelanders though...?) As a race, they're physically robust and meant to be ideally suited to the English game....

 

well if you start with Ostenstad, his record of 33 goals in 92 starts was quite comparable with many others.

Though bought in as a makeshift midfielder, Solsvedts contributed with 5 goals in 28 games before he fell out of favour with Hoddle and was freed.

Jo Tessem, criticised by many as a poor substiute for the injured Beattie, when in fact he was a midfielder with one of the best strike rates 77apps. 16 goals. As sub. he scored more points-winning goals than most.

There has been much "non-footballing " criticism of Claus Lundekvam of late and I am not going to defend any of his misdemeanours, but as Saints player for almost 10 years his record is almost legend. With over 400 apps. he is one of the top 10 perfomers in SFC history. He survived the culling over evry manager since Dave Jones until he quit . The record of the two Svenssons is well-documented, but the later acquistions Nilsson, and Östlund never really satisfied their potential.

If I used the word Nordic instead of Scandinavian, then few could deny that the list of keepers who were better than Antti Niemi would be very short.

 

I was not advocating we sign more Scandinavians, or any other nationality but remembering as I do the arrival of our firstoverseas signing Ivan Golac, it's difficult to recall a time when we had so few non.Brits in the sqaud.

[david in sweden]

 

Perhaps League 1 sides dont pay large wages. True but there are good overseas players - even in L1. (Calderon at Brighton is one example).

Do other League 1 sides have lots of foreigners?

Lots ? Haven't checked the lists after end of season but most sides probably had at least 1 or 2.

[Viking Saint]

well if you start with Ostenstad, his record of 33 goals in 92 starts was quite comparable with many others.

Though bought in as a makeshift midfielder, Solsvedts contributed with 5 goals in 28 games before he fell out of favour with Hoddle and was freed.

Jo Tessem, criticised by many as a poor substiute for the injured Beattie, when in fact he was a midfielder with one of the best strike rates 77apps. 16 goals. As sub. he scored more points-winning goals than most.

There has been much "non-footballing " criticism of Claus Lundekvam of late and I am not going to defend any of his misdemeanours, but as Saints player for almost 10 years his record is almost legend. With over 400 apps. he is one of the top 10 perfomers in SFC history. He survived the culling over evry manager since Dave Jones until he quit . The record of the two Svenssons is well-documented, but the later acquistions Nilsson, and Östlund never really satisfied their potential.

If I used the word Nordic instead of Scandinavian, then few could deny that the list of keepers who were better than Antti Niemi would be very short.

 

I was not advocating we sign more Scandinavians, or any other nationality but remembering as I do the arrival of our firstoverseas signing Ivan Golac, it's difficult to recall a time when we had so few non.Brits in the sqaud.

 

No, I agree with you entirely, but I reckon our Scandinavian/Nordic input has served us pretty well over the years, and they don't tend on the whole to command ridiculous transfer fees....let's get more in!!