That part is true. The Serbian striker struck home Jonathan Spector's cross in the 87th minute. Article from earlier today: Boss praises Birmingham City midfield duo Keith Fahey and Jonathan Spector
Here are highlights: http://watchsocceronline.blogspot.com/2011/11/spector-gets-assist-in-birminghams-2-2.html
Spector went 74 minutes starting as a central midfielder as Birmingham lost on the road today against Cardiff City 1-0. Central defender Curtis Davies was sent off in the 63rd minute and Cardiff scored 5 minutes later.
With Stephen Carr out with a minor injury, Spector made his second straight start at right back today. Birmingham City beat Blackpool at home 3-0. Spector was not mentioned in the Birmingham match report.
Good week for Birmingham City. On Wednesday they made up one of the games in hand they had due to their Europa League run beating Ipswich Town at home 2-1. Spector went the distance at right back. Yesterday Birmingham City went to London and crushed Millwall 6-0. Millwall had two men sent off. Spector went the distance at left back. Birmingham is now 2 points off the last playoff spot with a game in hand.
Now that we have Fabian Johnson and Timmy Chandler as fullbacks, there's really no place for Spector on the national team. It's a shame though, I think he's a very good squad player. And let's not forget his epic assist to Dempsey for a goal against Brazil at the Confederations Cup in 2009. But if Birmingham get promoted, I think we could see Spector back in the picture as a back-up, especially given the advancing age of Cherundolo.
Spector is a great guy to have when we play those WCQs with 7 man benches. I mean, the guy can reliably fill 4 roles (LB, DB, DM, #8) and in an emergency can play central defense and RW. He's an odd case; he's essential for qualifying, but come the World Cup, where you can have your whole 23 man roster dress for a match, he may get left out.
Ah yes, now that we have Fabian Johnson, who has never lined up at RB or LB for the national team, I guess Spector, who has roughly 30 more caps, has lost his place. Does Johnson have to do anything else besides be German in order to get penciled in on most people's US squads?
He's playing for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. Spector is playing for Birmingham in the Championship.
Oh yeah, you're right!! A players worth is directly determined by the team he plays for!! How could I forget this essential piece of football knowledge. That is why Park Chu Young is so much better than Demba Ba right? Because he plays for a bigger club, so he is automatically better. Have I captured your logic correctly?
No, he's not automatically better but that's a piece of information that goes into deciding whom to call up for the NT. Spector has not played well in the outside back position for the past few years at West Ham. I have no idea how he's doing this season aside from the fact that he's played a lot of outside back recently and Birmingham is doing fairly well. Johnson on the other hand hasn't played a lot of outside back but he has done well when he did this year for Hoffenheim, which was doing pretty well in a better league. Of course the best thing to do would be to call up all the candidates and evaluate them in training.
Late and all as it is, I thought I'd post on Spector and last weekend's FA Cup tie vs. Chelsea. He was subbed in due to injury after 25mins and went the distance. Looked very comfortable against an absolutely awful Chelsea side.
Spector has looked very good recently. I think he definitely earned this callup, and with Chandler pulling up injured, I expect to see him get a chance against Italy
Spector started against Chelsea tonight. Involved in some Birmingham chances in the first half but, like the rest of his team, faded after the break. Chelsea looking very comfortable at 2-0.
Spector was subbed in on left side defense and, to the surprise of many, did a pretty good job against Italy. Italy didn't score - must have been because of him!. .
Really? I have seen both play and while positions have to be maintained, Johnson at his best is a lot better than Spector at his best (which is mediocre as demonstrated by his performance against Chelsea).
thats a pretty unfair comparison. its true spector didn't look great against chelsea. no one on birmingham did. they were outmatched and got beat by a stronger side. does this mean that spector's best is mediocre? nope. we have yet to see spector at his best for the national team
Interesting. I wonder how this could affect Specs. I'm affraid more and more clubs in England will flirt with administration. The English game is supposedly rife with money. I wonder if it was all a farce and they tossed cash around they didn't necessarily have on hand; if they were doing business on "potential" earnings instead of what's actually in the bank. That would probably explain the money owed to creditors. In the back of my head I have a feeling that the " rich" Premier League and Champion will lose its luster as these clubs either go into or flirt with administration. They should all take a lesson from the Bundesliga who seems to have a perfect model for financial stability.
There is a lot of money in the English game, but yes they do speculate on it. Clubs take out loans on future earnings and often player transfers are paid for in installments. What can happen is if you don't keep up, either CHampion's league for a club like Arsenal or the Premier league for a club like Birmingham, you suddenly can't pay the bills.
Aston Villa is also losing quite a bit of money which has to do a lot with the fans hating the coach and the owner. Birmingham clubs seems to be struggling at the moment. The owner of Birmingham FC got in a lot of trouble last year and he had his accounts frozen. I don't think Birmingham's future looks bright. I'd advise Spector to leave the club during the summer. He has done pretty well at Birmingham. I am sure plenty of Championship clubs or some EPL teams would take him.