Schalke will be a middle table team. They just need to beat the bottom dwellers. They don't have attackers that will punish opponents mistakes, They can score but they need lots of chances to just knock one in.
Glad to see him go 90 (even with an extra time sub). I know folks are saying he is ready to start or should be superior to this player or that player. Frankly, I am just glad to see him get 90 minutes in a professional match and have it develop from there. Good to see he has the coach's confidence and will be given the opportunity to grow. He is not a finished product, so I like how he is being used so far.
TBH, today Schalke got some help from the ref, who didn't see at least a couple of yellows for the local players but gave cards to the visitors like they were candy.
So if their attack is impotent all season would that make them more likely to promote Wright and Taitague to the first team next year, or go the opposite way and seek help on the transfer market?
I think they are probably going to look at both options. I just don't see Wright being ready in 12 months unless something enormous changes with his current team. For Schalke, a lot has to do with the current contracts if they can unload and upgrade they will. There has been talk that Taitague might be ready for a serious try by the end of this season, I like his game but he would need to get physically stronger.
No, I half agree with you. I tend to disagree with others on this board about Wes' qualities but I posted this on YA in Nand A today. I think Wes' qualities on the front foot for Schalke mite go a little under-rated because their front three are a little too easily defended. Maybe they should go for Atanta's Almiron.
Schalke's coach keeps playing Weston because he sees where he's going to be by the end of the year. I wish there were other coaches who felt the same way.
His adopted father (and agent) said Bailey was "retired", suggested he would instead look to represent Belgium, and then set out a whole set of demands that the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) would have to meet before he played for Jamaica. The real issue was Craig Butler's personal issues with KSAFA (Kingston St. Andrew Football Association, a region confederation in Jamaica that encompasses the capital city and is by far the most powerful within the broader JFF) and the JFF. Years ago, Butler tried to register a club and, for whatever reason, was found to be out of line by KSAFA. The JFF backed KSAFA and banned Butler, and there's been bad blood ever since. However, much has changed in the last year or so since Butler publicly announced Leon's "retirement". The previous president of the JFF (the one with whom Butler establshed the bad blood) has passed away. The previous national coach (who Craig also criticized heavily) is gone. Craig ran for president of the JFF and lost, but he very enthusiastically endorsed Michael Ricketts, who won the presidency (and soundly defeated opponent Ambassador Stewart Stephenson in that election - Stephenson is an old KSAFA leader who Butler despises). Further, Craig has also very enthusiastically endorsed the current coach, stating publicly on his facebook that this coach has the "model of football" that the previous one did not and that Leon would need to see in order to represent Jamaica. Butler's old excuse before was that Leon couldn't represent Jamaica because Jamaica doesn't have a "plan", and just recruits too many foregn-born players as a short term fix (the implication being that the situation was too disorganized and poorly planned for a player of Leon's caliber to grow properly). The new coach has explicitly built a plan based on local-born/based talent, and he's totally banned all the English-born Jamaicans from the side. Craig has publicly praised this on social media, and even gushed about it publicly during the Gold Cup. The new coach has done what he wanted. So, on paper, all of the pieces are in place to end Bailey's hold out from Jamaica. Butler is the reason Bailey hasn't played, and Butler has gotten all he wished (except the presidency): -The old president he hated is gone and replaced by one he is close to. -The old KSAFA foe who helped preside over his exile (Ambassador Stephenson) lost the presidency. The rural parishes Craig has backed have way more power now in the JFF and hold the presidency through Ricketts. -The old German coach is gone and replaced by a coach Craig supports and, very importantly, whose assistant (Jerome Waite) is a coach Craig is VERY close to and has gushed about for years (Waite has worked with many of Craig's players during their time on the island, Bailey likely included). Craig is a madman, so anything can happen, but if I were a betting man I'd suggest that the Bailey hold out probably is going to end sooner rather than later. Too many things have gone Craig's way.
Having watched Schalke's last four games I think he's simply one of their best 11 players. I don't think Schalke are particularly good this year. Probably going to finish 10-15th range.