Post World Cup Friendies Angst

AMI to get All Whites home game, Sometime.
You can have Paraguay and Honduras we'll take one of these.

1      Spain     
2      Netherlands     
3      Brazil     
4      Germany     
5      Argentina     
6      Uruguay     
7      England     
8      Portugal

No point going backwards in the quality.

Not England.  We want a good team.

So who do ya reckon will come back, barring 'injuries' who can we expect to fly down to play one game or even both the games. Heard rumblings around Nelsen and Reid.

Would anyone be overly annoyed if it was just a team of A League and NZFC based players? linds2010-08-18 23:07:09

Everyone will be annoyed and no one will attend.

Huge, huge challenge for NZ Football.  Not helped by the media putting together a Matt Morrisesque read between the lines campaign on Ryan's interview this morning.

yes id be massively disappointed if we couldnt get european players back.

and does anyone know if the time for the honduras game has been confirmed? i want to book my flight up

No it hasn't but I will chase tomorrow.

Looks like (similar to Bahrain) there will be a pre-sales for White Noise Zone at both grounds.  Just need to do a little work organising where the White Noise zone will be at NHS.

I think the players HAVE to bust ass to come back.  I wouldn't expect it for every future friendly but when they themselves have been leading the call for the world cup success not to be wasted they have to pay their part.  They got a very large chunk of the FIFA money, which I don't begrudge, but the only way they can show that the cash isn't a waste is to turn up and support NZF in putting on these matches.

Reports that West Ham have cleared Reid are good. Lets face it, if they hadnt he wouldnt have been able to play the next EPL game anyway.
As a supporter of both teams I can see that in both cases, the club/country have invested a lot in this and other players, and the fans, club and country deserve some return.
More importantly, if FNZ bow to the pressure from these clubs then we will be back to the old days of never seeing Nelsen Rufer etc play in NZ. We presently have some credibility that is not always going to be there, so we should capilalise on it while we can. I would expect these games would be two of the few we will see in the next few years as most other internationals will be played in Europe. Unfortunately, then it will be the Phoenix with the jet lagged players.

No EPL fixtures from 4/10-15/10, Championship 3/8 to 16/8  so end of story....and of course top players returning wil influence attendance..me included at hopefully both venues.

JD and Uiron both speaketh well. Agreed

I heard that interview with Nelsen at the time and don't think you had to read to far between the lines to hear that he wasn't that keen to come back and didn't think Reid should be pushed into coming back either.

Allardyce has a policy against letting players travel great distances for international friendlies. Not sure about Grant.

I think we'll be lucky to get either back.

Most managers/clubs hate the FIFA windows.

Michael Glading says he's working on the game being at 7:30pm against Hondoras.

I appreciate the argument put forward by Nelsen about those players such as Reid risking their starting place in their teams by coming over, etc, but these games are just too great not to have them. This is golden opportunity to have the All Whites back in the limelight, to sell out two stadiums, to remind the public of the World Cup success, to satuate the media, once again inspire New Zealand's youth and to build the game in New Zealand. It is vital to have Nelsen and atleast two others from Europe, if not all those who started for us in South Africa, plus Wood. Without them forget the limelight, forget the sell outs, and forget the hype.

I don't think you appreciate the magnitude such a decision has on a Premier League club Paul.

tbf, we don't care about the premiership club.

Alot of these players were very vocal about making sure we build on the events of the last six months and we're forever hearing the mantra 'we musn't repeat '82'.  Well this is their chance to make a contribution to ensuring that isn't the case.

They talked about wanting games quickly to thank the support in New Zealand, and they talked about wanting to have a meaningful international program.

Now we get a chance to see if that is just lip-service or something they genuinely want to contribute to.

Reid, Nelsen, Wood and Smith are key to the success of these matches.

So you're asking them to choose between their livelihood and their country?

I think he is asking them to back up their words with actions.

No.  They'll still be paid 10's of thousands of pounds a week even if they miss selection the following fortnight or 4 weeks.

Reid has a 3-year deal.  He's not going to suddenly be unemployed if he comes back here for a week.  No one is asking him to not play a game for the club, just to be available for an international window. 

I take your point News.. but they are hardly WC qualifiers are they?

How many times has the game been made a fool of by the media and players for not moving on and benefiting from 82. Nelsen is in a strong position at Blackburn to say what he wants to do and if he doesnt come back I hope he never opens his mouth  in the future to criticise what administration is doing, or not doing, in NZ.
 As for Allerdyce being against long distance travel, put that on the list of things that will eventually be his downfall.
SO BUNG THAT BIG SAM!!

No, but for the credibility of the game here and the momentum they are almost more important.

Like Ricki when he said he would take the 18 who took part in the Bahrain tie to the World Cup?

Same scenario here. It was said with plenty of emotion and in the heat of the moment. No i am not saying they didn't mean it (to clear that up in case someone mis-quotes me), but it just isn't that simple or clear cut.

yeah, we have a modest international programme compared to most countries. our players will be required in nz only once this season and i imagine only once next season. the managers needs to understand that and it was good to hear from glading that herbert will be meeting with the managers at some point to explain our long term programme to them.

We play so few international friendlies at home anyway. I don't think it is too much to expect them to make the trip two or three times a year maximum.

[QUOTE=Footpaul]We play so few international friendlies at home anyway. I don't think it is too much to expect them to make the trip two or three times a year maximum.

Attendance.  true supporters are going to go and watch the AW's not matter what but these are the names the general public watched play and caught on the news or on the front page of the papers. 

plus i want to win

We got beaten by Dunfermline in 02.

Much as I despise North Harbour Stadium, I'll be going to the game. Jag2010-08-19 12:47:03

ok, All Whites unbeaten at home since 02!

Sauce?

the game is not until bloody october - how can he be ok to play on saturday but not ok to fly in two months time??? Marius Lacatus2010-08-19 15:33:46

let the bs games begin...this really is  no brainer.  NZFA will insist and players wil come..barring injury..all they do in the window is train for the weekend afters game anyway so this is two more games practise..and in Reids case will do him good.  If the English clubs dont release then thats our defence gone..with respect to Siggy of course...2x 20K will be astretch without the WC playing team....and even then it will test the public's wallets.

Also, I understand the point that Ryan Nelsen is making but going on air and saying the Winston Reid - who wants to come back and play these games shouldn't - isn't really "on message".  It's ok for Ryan to think like that, NZF owes him nothing and we need him more than he needs us.  But Winston Reid has had a large career boost playing at the World Cup, which he to his credit seems to appreciate, and he wants to play, so why is Ryan trying to discourage him? james dean2010-08-19 21:14:24