Musings From Richie Langley

[Farmah]

Naminirt, I disagree re: Hyde and Cousins. Micah Hyde, as solid a midfielder he has been over his career, is now 33 y/o with tired legs. He will be 36 at WC2010. I would leave him out seeing that we have Rudy Austin; Damien Francis; Oneil Thompson, Khari Stephenson and to a lesser extent Granny Marshall to use at the def mid position.

Cousins is young, gifted and fit. He needs to be in the squad.

Langley, well it's left to see in February how well he comes back from his injured knee, and if The Prof will see it fit to call him to camp.

[Pepsi]

mi neva knoo still seh Micah hide a 33 yrs old.I would love for the average age of the jamaican team for Qualifiers to be 27 yrs old.

[Farmah]

Yeah Mon! Him born Nov. 10,1974. So unless him can find some impossible to detect steroid to use, him won't last throughout the games.

[Tilla]

To cite a quote from the Farmah on December 17, 2007

Why is it that other nations (with much bigger player pool than ours) will use older players but we think that we are above that? If the player can still contribute then he should be considered. Mosiah asked if he played in '98? Yes, and so di Bibi, Beckham, Michael Owens et al.

Portugal played Luis Figo and Luis Costa in the 2006 World Cup, and France did likewise with Zinedine Zidane. Oh...all three were 34-year-old players, with birth dates in 1972.

You were making a case for the recall of Pepe who is two years older than Micah Hyde. Are you telling me that you only take a position when it is convienient for you to do so?

If Pepe's age should not be an issue, so too with Micah's.

[Gamma]

is not age alone.....other factors should be considered too.

i agree though if a player is playing well enuff then he should get a look. what would you rather 90 minutes of youthful enthusiasm running around without much focus or 45 of minutes of same 45 or more minutes of focused football?

latapy if used better could have made a huge difference with t&t ...certainly in the match against england.

[Tilla]

I am not saying age alone should or should not be used. I am just pointing out the Farmah saying one man (Micah) is too old because he is 33, but a week or two before he was making the case for another player (Pepe) who is even older and saying age should not be the deciding factor then and how we tend to throw away our older players.

I am for giving both a chane to impress. If they cannot handle it, then so be it.

[Naminirt]

Plus you all can get jobi mr cruff francis and king of watford ...

[Farmah]

But you all didn't buy that reasoning then, so why buy it now? I basically withdrew then because if I couldn't beat unnuh then mi had to join.....

So now I guess the reasoning I was trying to relay then has actually sunk in? Or is this just to point out my double standard?

Well let's reason a bit further. I'm for using older older players so long as they can (a) contribute positively and (b) win a spot while in camp by beating out other players. So the question becomes: how many defensive midfielders do we need in our pool? If the coach/TD slates x spots for def mids and Micah proves that he belongs, then so be the case. However, looking at the totem pole it's hard to imagine Micah beating out Rudy Austin, Oneil Thompson, Damien Francis and Khari Stephenson at that position. And I say this based upon the age factor considering that he will be up against at least four good players who are younger than he is. But yes, if The Prof thinks he is better than what we have then bring him in.

[Lionpaw]

Naminirt you are a Genious,I saw Micah hyde play against USA 2004 WCQ and he is capable to command di centre, cousins nuh ready yet(not to put him down).This is not like when simoes was training jamaica like a club team where he could equip the younger Bibi at the time in the centre.Naminirt a so mi knoo Trini know dem ball.respect.

You do realize Trinibait is being sarcastic right? He is always bigging up Hyde, making jokes bout how he is our best player and ting and he should be marshaling the midfield, because him know mi cant stand him. Bwoy some a unnuh a real joke. U deh deh a talk bout the man know him ball when him a mek joke. U a real sample.

[Naminirt]

But on a serious not hyde is the man fuh the job he has the experience

[Tilla]

So now I guess the reasoning I was trying to relay then has actually sunk in? Or is this just to point out my double standard?

More like the latter.

Anyway, those are some good younger players with good playing experience. We might can argue that Hyde's game may be waining with his age and tyad feet. You never did mention the level of the man's game in your argument however, hence me taking the chance to jump on your post.

[Tilla]

Triniman, why you want to pick Reggae Boyz team for us?

[TheDread]

how many defensive midfielders do we need in our pool? If the coach/TD slates x spots for def mids and Micah proves that he belongs, then so be the case. However, looking at the totem pole it's hard to imagine Micah beating out Rudy Austin, Oneil Thompson, Damien Francis and Khari Stephenson at that position. And I say this based upon the age factor considering that he will be up against at least four good players who are younger than he is. But yes, if The Prof thinks he is better than what we have then bring him in.

Farmah, I understand where you are coming from. Still, I would not take any chances what so ever with qualifications. We need a large pool of players and Hyde should be part of the pool if he is in form and still has the desire. The competition for midfield spots will be very tight indeed, and we should use the best player for the position that is available. We can't throw away any player as injuries happen, players lose or gain form, and teams might not want to release our prefered player. Incidentally, Damien Francis is an attacking midfielder that is also good at closing down the middle. If he is in form he will add a different dimension to our attack without giving up much defensively.

[Farmah]

You never did mention the level of the man's game in your argument however, hence me taking the chance to jump on your post.

And it was a quality "jump" Tilla. Because no mater how hard I try to spin out of this one I can still see a "double standard in my argument(s)." An excellent counter Tilla, as these are the sort of retorts which give life to debates.

That said, I still think it will be hard for Micah to beat out the players I mentioned (Austin, Thompson, Stephenson and Francis). And to boot, three of those are already playing in professional leagues. So the question, as I asked previously, is how many defensive mids will The prof be looking to take in his pool of ~50? If Micah can show some versatility in camp and out-hustle people, then he could surprise a few naysayers(including yours truly).

[Lionpaw]

Farmah, I understand where you are coming from. Still, I would not take any chances what so ever with qualifications. We need a large pool of players and Hyde should be part of the pool if he is in form and still has the desire. The competition for midfield spots will be very tight indeed, and we should use the best player for the position that is available. We can't throw away any player as injuries happen, players lose or gain form, and teams might not want to release our prefered player. Incidentally, Damien Francis is an attacking midfielder that is also good at closing down the middle. If he is in form he will add a different dimension to our attack without giving up much defensively.

He isn't in form ppl. Off the bat, can u tell me which team he is playing for now? I know I cant, and don't go search it on google either. The fact that we haven't heard from him, and how he has been performing, clearly proves that he isn't in form. Pepe in a low league yes, but at least di man a collect player of the year awards and ting. Hyde dem a play low league and not even a get player of the year inna dem household.