Just read an interview with this bloke. Firstly, he blames PSG's poor season on their entering the InterToto )althoFugh he also admits that it was he who suggested it) and secondly, he blames it on the loss of Laurent Robert who is, to quote him, irreplacable. He says that you can't just lose the French Footballer Of the Year and expect to win the Championship. He claims that Lolo wanted to leave and Lolo claims that it was Fernandez who wanted him to leave. However, that aside, it's interesting that Fernandez is so adamant that losing Robert has been so damaging to PSG. Well, I thought it was interesting.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Answers

Also, read an interview that I hadn't seen in the Independent in which Lolo says that he doesn't like being compared with Ginola and that our season begins now, with what happened before Christmas being largely irrelevant. He says that we haven't played really badly twice in a row and that the media aren't giving us enough credit (for example he whines about the Leeds match being dominated in the press by a discussion of Lee Bowyer instead of our remarkable second half performance). He adds "The Frenchman adds: "We are a tight-knit group who play good football, possess a massive stadium and have the greatest supporters. People out there might not take us seriously, but every single member of our squad believes that we can do it, and that's all that matters". He then says, we would score more goals if we played on the left more although he knows that we haven't had a natural left winger since Ginola so we are used to playing on the right. He concludes by saying that he used to have a big head but now he just wants to be part of a successful Newcastle side and knows that he will only get a call up to the French national side if he sets Newcastle's season alight.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Well, if he wants a French Cap (better than a Dutch one, eh!) it'll have to be a big one.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Screach, I knew it was you saying that before I'd scrolled down to read your name ;o).

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Funny that. Everybody knew who had started this thread without even opening it ;-)

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Everyone ignores us and we don't care. :-D

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2002

Quite encouraging words from Robert, especially the tight knit group (assuming he's been made part of this group of course). Perhaps his time on the sidelines has given him the opportunity to reflect.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Perhaps if he got off his lazy arse and made himself more available for the ball we WOULD play more down the left. I'm losing patience with this man.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Nick, Sorry, but you don't get the be Footballer of the Year in any country by being lazy. I personally witnessed him running about thirty yards to get the ball off Elliott who promptly hoofed it in to touch. He may be faulted but he isn't helped by team-mates who refuse to pass the ball to him.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

PS. I sat in the Milburn the other week and heard him bawling for the ball only to be roundly ignored by Elliott yet again. Fortunately Bobby saw incident and took Elliott off almost immediately afterwards.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Similarly with the Arsenal game when he came on - acres of space on a couple of occasions and never got the ball. Reminds me of the advert with Macmanaman on the left screaming for the ball, only to miss it completely when it does arrive. Not that Robert would do that of course. Seriously though, his recent comments seem to be along the right lines as I suspect that his DEMANDING the ball narks the other players and has the opposite effect. Sounds like the whole things been discussed openly. Probably reading far too much into it of course.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Pete, he has also commented on the left being underused when he isn't playing so it is something that he can see fairly objectively.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Notice how Dyer chose to roam around everywhere but down the left against Man United for the same reason.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

dyers left foot = a little bit to be desired

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Screach (talking to you a lot today mate!), isn't that why the French call a "you know what" (FL), "un chapeau d'anglais"?

;7)

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

BR has definitely realised it though, the lack of left sided-ness.

Recently, Bellamy has played far left for a lot of the game. Whether this was to keep the nice new grass in good condition or to spread the attack I don't know.

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002

Perhaps it's an attempt to spread the sunshine coming out Bellamy's @rse. ;-))

-- Anonymous, January 10, 2002