Please drop Robbo, Macca
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PAUL ROBINSONÂ’S latest blunder has increased the pressure on Steve McClaren to axe him for EnglandÂ’s crunch Euro 2008 double header. The Tottenham keeper was at fault for LiverpoolÂ’s first goal yesterday when he spilled Steven GerrardÂ’s free-kick, allowing Andriy Voronin to score in the 2-2 draw.
RobinsonÂ’s clanger will increase the calls for boss McClaren to drop his first-choice stopper before Estonia and Russia are able to take advantage of another mistake and wreck the nationÂ’s Euro dream. RobinsonÂ’s confidence has been fragile since his nightmare in Croatia a year ago this week, when his errors left McClaren with a mountain to climb to reach Austria and Switzerland.
No matter what the former Leeds star achieves in the game, he will probably always be remembered for ‘that’ goal in the 2-0 defeat when he completely missed his kick trying to hoof clear Gary Neville’s backpass. Robinson showed last Monday how little belief he has in himself when he gifted Aston Villa two goals as Spurs found themselves 4-1 behind with little under an hour played. He was rescued by his team-mates on that occasion. And Robbo had his skipper Robbie Keane and referee Mark Halsey to thank yesterday for diverting the focus away from his 12th-minute error at Anfield.
Gerrard’s free-kick was a bread and butter take. Yet Spurs chief Martin Jol leapt to the defence of his man when he insisted: “I am not concerned about his form because the shot got a deflection off Jermaine Jenas. “It hit his knee and no one went with Voronin, so it was a bad goal to concede because of that.”
And Jol is certain that Robinson is the man who should get the nod for England’s qualifiers against Estonia on Saturday and then Russia four days later. He added: “Every game is different and if he makes one good save, then he is back.”
Liverpool grabbed a last-gasp leveller through Fernando Torres — but only after ref Halsey had dropped a clanger of his own to let the Reds off the hook. Keeper Pepe Reina was caught in no-man’s land as he chased his own clearing header with Gareth Bale bearing down on him.
The Spanish stopper tumbled theatrically as he realised he was never going to reach the ball, handing Pascal Chimbonda a clear run on the unguarded net. But Halsey, after advice from his linesman, amazingly gave Reina a free-kick and ruled that Bale had obstructed him — and two minutes later the Reds had equalised.
Jol would not get into a slanging match over the official but admitted: “I could not understand that one. I don’t want to focus on that one particular moment but it was a big decision.” The draw still leaves Jol’s future in the balance, even though he is hoping the speculation could disappear with the international break. He added: “I am not pulling the strings in these sort of scenarios. If I was, everything would remain quiet.
Liverpool had a bad defeat against Marseille and we knew they’d want to do better. “We feel we deserved a win. It’s a disappointing result but hopefully we will get a lot of confidence from it.” -
who else??
james?? -
James retired from internationals, didn't he?Originally posted by iceFatboy:who else??
james??
Anyway, what happened to Richard Wright? -
his performance has been really bad of late.
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David James still around.Originally posted by iveco:James retired from internationals, didn't he?
Anyway, what happened to Richard Wright?
Richard Wright currently at West Ham Utd. -
Scott Carson!
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Jol backing for under-fire 'keeper Robinson
Martin Jol gave his support to under-fire Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson ahead of England's two crunch Euro 2008 qualifiers.
Robinson made another blunder in the 2-2 draw at Liverpool yesterday when he spilled a Steven Gerrard free-kick to present Andriy Voronin with the opening goal.
Robbie Keane scored goals in each half to put Spurs ahead, only for Fernando Torres to pop up with the equaliser two minutes into injury time.
But it was Robinson's error that will concern England fans ahead of the next two internationals against Estonia and Russia, with the party joining up this week.
But Jol refused to accept that the goal was Robinson's fault.
He said: 'I am not concerned about Paul Robinson's form and suggestions he made another mistake.
'If you see the replay you see that it got a deflection off Jermaine Jenas, hitting his knee, it was not a mistake. It hit him and Voronin was first to the rebound.
'Nobody went with the runner, it was a bad goal from the defence's point of view.
'I have no worries about Paul. Every game is different, he has confidence and that is why I played him in midweek against Famagusta, and at Anfield.'
Jol's side made it six games undefeated as the north Londoners claimed a deserved point at Liverpool, but he still admitted he does not know what his future holds.
The Spurs chief has been under pressure all season as Spurs have struggled around the foot of the table.
But Jol insisted: 'I do not know about the future, I do not pull the strings and I do not have any control over the scenario. If I did everything would be quiet.
'But see my team, they want to fight and they fight every game. The players always stay the same, it is very positive.'
Voronin put Liverpool ahead early on, but Spurs attacked constantly and looked as if they were heading for their first Anfield win since 1993, and were 2-1 ahead until the last seconds.
Jol said: 'We could not get the third, we had the breaks and that would have ended it. I just couldn't understand how we didn't achieve that.
'Everyone has said we deserved to win, and that is how we feel. In particular in the second half we were on top of them and caused a lot of problems.
'But in the end it was a bad result for us. But we have got a great spirit, everyone can see that, we have done a lot of travelling in midweek to Cyprus and then up here to Liverpool.
'It has been a difficult time for us. But we took a lot of confidence from this.'
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez must have felt his side were going to lose for the second time at Anfield in five days, following the 1-0 Champions League reverse against Marseille.
He said: 'Of course we are disappointed. The character was fine, we worked hard but we conceded two very bad goals, the sort we do not normally let in.
'Those two mistakes cost us. They were so clear, so easy to stop. It is not normal to see us concede goals like that.
'We were much better than them in the first half, we could have scored a few more. But we didn't and that left us with a difficult second half.' -
so was it a blunder?
i didnt watch the liv vs tot match. -
robinson really blundered that.
he parried the ball from the free kick straight to Voronin -
So Jenas's deflection didnt make a huge impact on the flight of the ball ar?Originally posted by Nadare:robinson really blundered that.
he parried the ball from the free kick straight to Voronin -
Jenas deflection was a very slight one... didnt cause Robinson to dive the wrong way.. however from my opinion the shot was rather tame and he could have parried the ball for a corner if he couldn't hold on to it. If u looked at the replay.. the ball was parried into the incoming Voronin's path... Keane was with Vernonin but its clear that he didnt expect Robinson to make the error.. =(Originally posted by omgukilledkenny:So Jenas's deflection didnt make a huge impact on the flight of the ball ar? -
I just watched the highlights.
He made 2 blunders in fact. Luckily the defence cleared it away or else Torres would have scored a similar goal to Voronin. -
i hope he will be more consistent from now on.. hes a good keeper who can take good goal kicks.. eg. the second spurs goal
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All the Spurs goals were route one actually.
Robinson kicks, Berbatov knock down and Keane latches onto the rebound. -
its rather straightforward. im surprised it can be used repeatedly. haha...
as long as they find the net im happy.. however they should not always let in late goals which always cost them dear... -
Liverpool played well also. I say it was a good match
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it's such a travesty that robert green is not even in the england squad.....
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i dun think mcgoreng will drop robinson. he is a stubborn and old-fashion fellow who keep sticking to his favourite players n not base on merit.
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really?? I thot he put in Heskey..Originally posted by 798:i dun think mcgoreng will drop robinson. he is a stubborn and old-fashion fellow who keep sticking to his favourite players n not base on merit.
no other goalscorer in form, right?? Crouch, Defore, bent, andrewJ lah..
and he did dropped lampard...
in your books, who are his favorite players??