Thursday 10 September 2009

Sunderland Keeper Crisis



It's a head scratcher for Sunderland and for me - I had decided on Gordon as my Week 4 keeper some time ago, but now... 

Third-choice goalkeeper Trevor Carson is on standby to make his Sunderland debut when Hull visit the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

Craig Gordon is unlikely to face the Tigers having been ruled out of Scotland`s World Cup qualifier against Holland with a thigh strain while Marton Fulop is battling a long-standing heel injury.


That means Carson, who had a loan spell with Chesterfield in League Two last season, could now be called on when the Barclays Premier League resumes.

Also, George McCartney pulled out of the Northern Ireland squad with a hamstring injury, leaving manager Steve Bruce without a recognised left-back following the departure of Danny Collins.

Lee Cattermole missed out on England Under-21s encounter with Greece in midweek while striker Kenwyne Jones will be monitored having been away with Trinidad & Tobago.

Bruce told the Echo: "All those things are a worry, there's no doubt about that. But we just have to get on with it because pretty much every Premier League manager is in the same boat. It's the goalkeeping position that's the area which is most in our mind but it's likely to be a case of leaving a lot of things to the last minute before being able to make some decisions."

So do I go with Carson? I'm not sure as I don't feel as confident of a clean sheet with a rookie involved. The other option I'm now leaning towards is Robbo (unfortunately).

Additional injury news:-
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez will have an interesting selection choice to make this weekend with Fabio Aurelio on the verge of a comeback. Does he bring the Brazilian left-back straight back into the team or does he stick with Emiliano Insua? Rafa, it's over to you...

Aurelio hasn't played yet this season after damaging his knee on holiday. "I was with my brother in law and some friends playing football and joking around and suddenly I felt something strange in my knee," he told the Liverpool website.

"Straight away I called my old team Sao Paulo and they examined the knee and found there was a cartilage injury."

But he's been back training for the past couple of weeks and hopes to play in a practice match on Thursday to prove his fitness for Saturday's meeting with Burnley.

Gary Neville has missed so many games in recent years that it has become something of a surprise whenever he is declared fit. Well, he's fit for Manchester United's trip to Tottenham at the weekend, and that's rather handy news for Sir Alex with John O'Shea set for an 'extended spell' on the sidelines after picking up a muscle injury on international duty with the Republic. Then again, with Rio Ferdinand also expected back, Wes Brown is probably ahead of Neville in the right-back pecking order.

An anxious night ahead for Arsene Wenger with Russia expected to play Andrey Arshavin against Wales despite ongoing concerns about the groin strain he suffered playing for Arsenal against Manchester United two weeks ago.

The Mail reports that 'Arshavin took part in a training session at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and reported no ill-effects' and Guus Hiddink says that, "He will take a responsible decision if he cannot play. But he would like to play. When you are not almost fully recovered you normally get a reaction. But he hasn't had one so far."

Wenger will, though, hope that Cesc Fabregas proves his fitness by featuring in Spain's qualifier with Estonia. Although the Arsenal captain was missing for the trip to Old Trafford last Saturday, he appeared as a second-half substitute when Spain beat Belgium 5-0 on Saturday.

Martin Taylor, not exactly a popular figure at Arsenal, is also coming back. The Birmingham defender, who injured an ankle in pre-season, says that he should be able to return in three weeks' time or so, but striker Cameron Jerome is making 'slow progress' with his ankle problem. "It's just steady rehab. I'm a couple of weeks away yet before I can step it up with running and get back into training," he said.

Meanwhile, West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami has expressed his delight at overcoming his injury nightmare.

The popular Switzerland international has been out for six months with a knee ligament injury but returned to action for the Hammers' reserves on Tuesday night.
UPDATE:
The day after a full raft of internationals, we don't start with a globetrotter but with a man who apparently spent the weekend in a caravan.

Manchester United have confirmed that Rio Ferdinand could make his first appearance of the season against Tottenham on Saturday after recovering from a thigh injury.

Gary Neville, Fabio and Wes Brown have also been declared fit for the match but John O'Shea is a major doubt with a calf injury.

Elsewhere, Tomas Rosicky started for the Czech Republic against San Marino and played 56 minutes. He has not played for his club since January 2008.

Cezh coach Ivan Rasek revealed: "I'm happy above all that Tomas could play, that he was ready for the game.

"I had a deal with Wenger to keep Tomas on the pitch no longer than an hour."

Meanwhile, Andrey Arshavin completed 90 minutes for Russia in Wales but aggravated a groin injury that will keep him out of this Saturday's visit to Manchester City. Arsene Wenger is not incredibly happy.

"He should not have played," he said. "He will be out for Saturday and Wednesday and certainly Wigan. He had a groin problem which I took him out after Manchester United. He should not have played. You can say a lot, but it doesn't do a lot."

Bad news for Aston Villa, who will lose Curtis Davies for at least four months after he underwent shoulder surgery. It's a good job he's just bought Richard Dunne and James Collins.

Predicted line-ups and Week 5 Preview to follow tomorrow...how are your teams looking?

Cheers,
AM

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh man........... just when you think you finally setlled with your team..
EVERYTHING goes haywire all-over-again!!

:'( ........... :'(

so back to keepers
.... why not myhil??.... bent has not reached his form and B-Cats have scored only 4 goals .... in which KJo and Bent have 2 each...
Kenwyne Jones is most likely not gonna play ... so with all the pressure on Bent.. imo,he's not gonna perform..

so my teams currently lukin somewhat like this..

[Myhill/PRobbo]
Givet/Sonko/Verma
StevieG/MTay/Jordi/Dini
Drogs/Nando/Sanli

so all in all.... its an 7/10 team... so u can call it average... and i hope im doin the ryt thing by tradin GlJo/Moko/Brown for Givet/Jordi/Dini

so hows my team?? ....

please advice..

@ AM - Gud to see you bak.. ;)

Cheers,
~ CrazyEyed-Sam

Anonymous said...

I might be a bit slow but who is dini?


Btw I might be the only one in here without tuncay ? :D Im thinking of taking him in on barn door with bolton the coming week.

My team;

Robbo

Vermaelen/Glen J/Wilkinson

Gerrard,Mokoena,Pedersen,Milijas

Drogba/Torres/Bent


How the status of Wilkinson? Is he of the team with the new signings?

Im tempted to try to get benayoun in there to...and ofcourse get tuncay. But im not selling either drogs or torres and I expect Bent to score!

///

Andy

Doctor Teeth said...

I guess this means I'm going to drop Michael Turner from my backline...don't feel confident of a clean sheet with a third string GK between the posts, even though I still expect a big game from him in his Black Cats home debut (against his former team, to boot). I'm going to consider replacing him with Samba who has a nice fixture at home against Wolves and is slightly cheaper.

Like to see that someone else is considering fielding Dini (that's Diniyar Biyaltedinov to you, Andy) in their midfield...I'm still not sure that he makes it into the Toffee's starting 11, however.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I think that barndooring Tuncay is not a bad idea at all, assuming he remains at a 1 million valuation right up through the transfer deadline. You'd have to think that Pulis will give him the starting nod at home against Chelsea but maybe not...may make sense to wait it out, see how he is utilized and pick him up for the following week against Bolton.

Doctor Teeth said...

Also - Wenger seems to have confirmed that Arshavin will be out for the next three games after reaggravating his groin injury against Wales yesterday. Fabregas looks set to return to the midfield for the Gunners after scoring for Spain.

Assistant Manager said...

Doctor Teeth - thanks, article updated above :)

Anonymous said...

hey AM.. should i take cesc or taylor??
im confused as cesc is recovering from an injury but without andrey he would be the center of the gunners midfield
...and taylor is takin all the kiks 4 bolton..
so whum do u suggest?

Thanks in Advance,
Newbie~Keith

Anonymous said...

Thanks AM, great blog.

Is there any word of the new signings being added, I know they talked about it at the start of the week but still no word.

Colly

ToffeeDave said...

STOP CALLING HIM DINI!! lol, its not dini its BILLY. anyway, Im glad I put my money on howard instead of buying gordon. With my discounts this is the team I have.

Howard
Verm, Baines, secret
Gerrard, Taylor, Billy, secret
Drogs, Tuncay, secret

Ash in Oz said...

Now then now then!

Any news on the Skrtel situation and whether Kyrgiakos will keep his starting spot?

If that situation is looking like its a toss-up between who might start, I might be tempted to go with Sonko for Hull against an injury hit Sunderland side? Does Sonko look like he'll start for Hull in their new look defence?

Doctor teeth, I'm tempted by Dini myself, especially at his price but it's abit of a tricky one!!! Think he might be the kind of player Moyes gives time to adapt to Premier League football, similar to how Wenger treated Eduardo initially.

Lastly, Milijas...not happy with him, had him from the start of the season, and has provided me with a decent return, but know how he gets used away from home, and I'm not sure he won't get subbed at halftime! It's one of those where I feel like the week i drop him will be the week he blows up! Thoughts on cheap end midfield replacements...O'Hara comes to mind!

Any thoughts on the above comments guys? Would love to hear your opinions!

All the best,

Ash

Ash in Oz said...

P.s - Toffee Dave, surely if Moyes the chief nickname maker gives him the nickname Dini, Dini stands? Billy ain't bad either...

Anyway, I don't like nicknames, cos nicknames are.......bad names! (David Brent/Office anyone???)

Anonymous said...

@ ToffeeDave -

lux like we were thinkin the same thing.... chek my comment in the "Injury Update 08-09-09" post..

:D

Great Minds Think Alike :D

---
@ Newbie~Keith -

Even im having d same trouble matey... i cant decide on whom to go with... hope u make the right decision... (that goes 2 me as well)...
Good luck.. :) ..
---
Cheers,
~ CrazyEyed-Sam

Doctor Teeth said...

Well, I'm encouraged that ToffeeDave has the gumption to field Dini in his starting 11...if a professed representative of the People's Club has the confidence that he will feature for Moyes, I feel more comfortable selecting him for my side.

Ash - how can you be criticzing Milijas? I have him for 5.54 million and he has returned around six points per game so that is a great investment. And I can only imagine he will have his minutes increased as the season progresses. He scored for Serbia in their game against France yesterday as well. I would not drop him. O'Hara is a great bargain pick...he has to feature for Pompey and could do some damage at home against Bolton. Just don't let him take any PKs (yes, the Carling Cup final still stings)!

Ash in Oz said...

Dr Teeth, I know where you are coming from re. Milijas, I think I get greedy and my eyes light up when I see a cheap midfieler who might score more points for that one week (i.e O'Hara against Bolton), however over the course of the season I should probably be sticking with Milijas...thanks for your input.

Still not sure on Dini/Billy though!

chris m said...

Dini, Billy??? I have the solution. Let's call him Blini then we could have him with caviar and sour cream.

I can't wait until Saturday. Won't disclose my team except to say I don't have Tuncay. I have two midfielders no one is selecting. I will say I dropped Bassong for Givet on the basis of match up. ManU 3-0 over Spurs. And I have Rooney who gets a brace, it looks like none of you guys have him either, Tuncay comes on as a sub, gets 0 in 20 minutes and I look brilliant and go back to the top of the table. My only worry is Rooney played a full 90 for England and SAF might rest him a bit.

chris m
velvet underground allstars

Sam Banfield said...

Great Blog, only just found it!!

The Arshavin injury helps me out of a dilema,

Myhill
Verm/ Johnson/ A Cole
M Tay/ Billy/ Gomez/ Milijas
Drogs/ Torres/ Tuncay

What does everyone think? I need the points! I got some stiff competition in my league this year!

Anonymous said...

@Chris M: Blini? Well done. I almost sprayed beverage from my nose.

@AM et al: I too had to make adjustments once Gordon was dropped from the Scotland match. My team thus far:

[hunch]
Vermaelen/Givet/Kyrgiakos*
[hunch]/Gerrard/Gómez/Hunt
Drogba/Torres/Tuncay

*contingent on starting of course

I'd like to pretend my hunches are part of some grand, brilliant scheme, but my current standing at 17,736 would argue otherwise. Weeks 2 and 3 were unkind to me, the former from my own stupidity (an ill-advised Friday-night change -- what else?) and the latter from the infamous Robinho/Defoe two-fer of nothingness. At this point eccentricity may be my only salvation.

-Bradley

Anonymous said...

Do you think Skrtel will start, or should I pick Kirgiyakos instead? I want a Liverpool defender, but I can't decide whom to pick!!!

Fidan said...

@ chris m

I love the solution - Blini. If our Blini can kick the ball like my 3-year-old-nephew Blini does (yes his name is Blini too) then we got a real bargain...
Good luck with Rooney but I'll stick to Tuncay, not because I expect much from him but my rest of the team pleases me more than enough to make any near-friday :D changes...!!!
I got my team figured out 10 days ago and I love it. I hope I can say the same come Sunday night...!!!

Good Luck to anyone...!!!

Fidan said...

@ AM

When I write to Neal&Jeremy's blog I don't have to write those confirmation letters at the end of the comment. Can you make the same option in here, cuz I think it serves for NOTHING...;)!!!

Cheers...!!!

bean said...

from Sir Alex:
"We've had a good group of players training here at Carrington while the internationals have been going on - Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Anderson, Ji-sung Park as well as young Fabio and Michael Owen."
I wonder if that tips his hand as to who might start? At the very least, it might worry Nani owners.

Anonymous said...

@ToffeeDave will Billy start? What sort of player is he meant to be?

I'm considering Kieran Richardson for 8.50 points at home to Hull. What are peoples opinions on this? Could the money be spent better elsewhere?

Cheers

Tommy

Fidan said...

Here's the list of players I wish I could pick...but I can't (for various reasons):

Baines,AYoung- money issue
O'Hara,Dunn,Pienaar,MGP,Benitez - space issue

Assistant Manager said...

Hey Fidan - I removed the word verification last month and within a day I had 4 or 5 spam messages, so unfortunately I had to add it back on. Sorry it's a pain :)

Cheers,
AM

bean said...

McCarthy on Kightly's return:
"But the Wolves boss says it is too soon for him to play in his side's next game at Blackburn on Saturday."

bean said...

@AM(Fidan) - I've seen a few blogspot sites where the word verification is together with the comment form, maybe that would at least save a step?

Unknown said...

I'm having a really hard time deciding on a final defender. Have to replace McCartney. Should have about 8.60 or so to play with.

Was looking at Kyrgiakos, however I've already got Johnson in my back line. Will more than likely stay away from the Birmingham/Villa match. Fulham vs Everton could be interesting and am considering Distin, or Paintsil. Could always jump on the Givet bandwagon after his goal. Grrr I don't know what to go with!

Anyone able to impart their wisdom on this conundrum? =P

P.S. Anyone know who will be stepping into the Sunderland back line?

Fidan said...

@ Eric - Belhadj playing in midfield, Bardsley against toothless Hull, AFerdinand too, Melchiot...your pick...!!!

Good luck...!!!

Max said...

still no 'probable line-ups' posted by skysports?..

Naning said...

As for defenders, Belhadj is a hot pick.

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