All Whites V UAE Tuesday 10 Sept 6:15am

Just to keep the fire going....is this tackle by Reid worse?

The best thing that can get NZ now is to avoid Mexico,  Herbert got it wrong, Yes they would be in an unexpected situation with a pressure to perform, but for business profit it is better  120.000.000 of mexicans to follow a world cup.

The best thing that you can get is Panama that is at the same level as Jamaica, less athetic than the Jamaican but they have a better passing range.  The problem for them is a gain for NZ.  Panama has a small pool of players,  is a small country like BAHREIN, they never got to a world cup so the pressure will be high as well,  and they depend on KEY players like second striker Blas Perez, that is their iconic player.  

They are a good team, they eliminated Canada, they had defeated Honduras away before this final round.  They are a decent side, but with small pool of playes to choose from, if Blas Perez gets injured or suspended, it can be a drama for the side

Panama plays away vs Mexico next month, if they draw there and get a win at home vs a already qualified USA, they will get to the play-off vs NZ, WITHOUT DEPENDING IN ANY OTHER RESULT,

Jamaica is a long shot, they need to win the last to games, away vs USA and at home vs Honduras. and wait  for other teams results.

Mexico is under a hard big pressure now, they need to win at home vs Panama, but they are under real pressure from people and media, even polititians

The games vs the gult teams was a good asset.  Panama is very similar in their aproach and style as Panama.  Panama is very similar to the UEA that played vs NZ the last monday.  

You are the fire.

Loved this reply to a Mrs Siggy comment on FB...

Someone really needs to tell her to shut the hell up purely from the point of view that it is doing her or him no favours.

Facebook is full of stupid. Including her unfortunately. Not doing anyone any favours going on like that, calling fans "fu*king muppets" etc. 

Agree Tegal and as you have pointed out, when she says stuff like that, and people see her husband do what he has done, she is going to be instantly written off.

She is coming across just as hot headed as people are perceiving Siggy to be after seeing him put in a challenge like that. Surely she must realise how that connection isn't helpful. 

they must have fiery, stompy sex

why does one have to better or worse than the other?  Can't they just both be terrible?

I bet she loves his 2 foot tackle.

It doesn't. But plenty of people saying he shouldn't play for the all whites again, and others like Sam Malcolmson saying it is the worst thing he has seen by an All White.

All I'm pointing out, is Sigmund isn't alone in doing dumb things.

For me, the problem with the Sigmund challenge is that it appeared (and I use that pretty loosely) so deliberate.  This wasn't a mistimed tackle that became dangerous - this was looking at a situation and making a conscious decision to do something violent.  It is like punching someone on the field.  He may have been wound up, he may have regretted it (although I have not seen any apology from him, apart from the one he apparently gave to the team) but bottom line is that he fucked up, and he deserves all the criticism that comes his way.  I have seen a number of comments from his defenders that he is a great guy and someone who puts his body on the line for the team, etc, but that is completely irrelevant.  He fucked up and has to be man enough to deal with it.  When everyone else fucks up in their job they have to cope the flack and he should be no different.

^ agree

If Jacob Burns did something like that, Hard News would explode.

I like Siggy. I just don't like his mates...stompy Siggy, lack of contrition Siggy...hoofy Siggy

I have never met the guy, which seems to make the minority on here as everyone seems to be bloody great mates with him.  He did check out my wife's ass when she walked past him in a bikini by the pool in Bahrain, but I have done that to many (many) other people over the years, so who am I to judge.

Cue Mrs Siggy getting on here yelling at me about how her husband would never do that, that I am a keyboard warrior and how if I know so much about looking at asses in bikini's then why aren't I playing football for NZ?

Frankie I agree with you completely.

I have no doubt that off the pitch, he has all the qualities that everyone says he does which make him a champion guy. I ask those same people who know he plays this way (and again I raise the Adrian Leijer and Robbie Kruse cheap shot) would he be an aggressive asshole in his personal life?

The answer is that the two are not related. He could be the sugar plum fairy away from football and cure cancer but on the pitch, he plays a certain way and it gets him in trouble. The incidents I highlight above prove it's not isolated or out of character. For Ben Sigmund, father/dad it is. For Ben Sigmund, professional footballer, not at all. The key is that common joe blow cannot separate the two and hence we get his missus and the Facebook episode. She should be smart enough to distinguish his personal life from professional life (cause it is his job). I guess in a different context, everyone hates lawyers but I would suspect for 99%, it's the job they do and not an indicator of them in their personal life.

I do agree that there has been a bit of over reaction from some quarters. There have been far worse challenges than this in football in the last 2 days since this happened I am sure. I heard Durante in Radio Sport this afternoon and he said Sigmund would be fronting the media tomorrow about this so I guess with flight times etc, he has gone back into the country, written down some comments, gotten it polish up and approved by NZF and will front. That's cool. We may get a tear or two for effect. As Durante says, he has to take the flack coming his way for what he has done. To the eyes of the public, he will now be known as a professional footballer that is dirty and a thug. That contrasts with his personal life but that's all anyone every sees. 

I think going forward and looking at the solution, Ben has to think about the way he plays. He is now tagged and when you are tagged as a thief and something goes missing, people look at you first whether you did it or not. If strikers drop in a crowded penalty area and he is nearby, refs are gonna watch him. He is 32, not known for pace, coming off a down year, plays on the edge, with a mouth and now this incident. He is not going to get any quicker or time those tackles better so he really needs to look at what he does and be 1000 times smarter about it. I hope he identifies with that.

Goodness JV, you are getting lucid. I agree fully with that

Wake up Siggy

I don't remember an All White intentionally hurting another player without provocation like that - Reid's tackle was bad but at least he looked like he was going for the ball.

Most of the comments are one way or another. The fact is nobody knows Ben like Ben. Have known players that are fantastic blokes off the park but animals on it. Nobody knows zip except the person involved.

So we may as well not talk about it then? Sounds boring. 

Ha ha ha 

So if he doesn't apologise he is a bad person (or whatever you want to call him). If he does apologise, its clearly just something that he was made to read and he is still a bad person (or whatever you want to call him). 

What do you want him to do? 

come out straight after the game and apologise.  Is that a weird  thing to expect?

ie, make an apology based on what he felt about what happened (as opposed to make an apology based on what someone else has told him he feels).

So I guess Siggy will be banned for the October friendly which means he will make the Nix Roar game.....I guess Adams now is going to miss out on his first start for the Nix! Sliver lining for some...shiite for someone else! With Dura now a kiwi and obviously not a midfielder that shunts Siggy further down the pecking order of AW central defenders.

some of the comments in this thread are honestly some of the most baffling I've ever read in this forum. Paraphrasing:

* probably wasn't intentional. We can't know anyway.

* it was a tactical foul, and so required

* the only person who know what happened is Siggy himself

* he apologised

* he shouldn't have to apologise, because someone would just be telling him he should

* he's a nice guy so just get over it

* Winston Reid did a bad tackle once

* we shouldn't talk about it cos we're not Siggy

* just get over it; let's talk about other inane shit for pages and pages instead. Much more important. Like the fucking new jersey. 

And Frankie Mac is the voice of reason. Absolutely bizarre.