News Round Up : Cahill, Elmander, Bogdan
Gary Cahill For England
England manager, Fabio Capello was at St. Andrews to watch Bolton versus Birmingham which sparked further speculation that Gary Cahill would be called upon for international duty once again.
Gary Megson believes that Cahill will be ready for The World Cup next year.
“Gary is ready in terms of England. I said that six months ago, probably longer than that. He is ready for the World Cup if called upon. All he can do is keep putting in good performances.
Megson rightly went on to point out that Gary will face competition for a place in England’s starting 11 from John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
“He does have to accept he has got two world class centre-halfs in front of him but he can’t do much other than he is doing now.”
Meanwhile, Cahill’s told The Bolton News:
“I had no idea he [Fabio Capello] was in the stands, and that is probably a good thing. You just go about your game the same way as you’d normally do — but I hope he took some positives from my performance.
I keep trying, giving 100 percent and then we’ll see where it takes me. You have to be positive, and confident in your own ability. I am hungry to get there and hopefully it will work out for me in the end.”
Cahill Not For Sale
Thankfully, Megson revealed that Gary will not be put up for sale following his contract renewal this summer.
Speculation about January’s transfer window has started already and Gary Cahill, has been link with AC Milan, Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur — apparently Harry Redknapp has £20m set aside for the Bolton defender. Meanwhile Bolton have been linked with “Maccabi Haifa’s highly promising midfielder Lior Rafaelov”.
Megson told the Bolton News:
“Football-wise it would be suicide to sell him in January.”
Megson may not want to let Cahill go, but come on — 20,000,000 quid! Surely The Board wouldn’t let such an offer pass them by.
Sporting Life —Megson Backs Cahill For World Cup
Yahoo! Sport — Megson Not Interested In Selling Cahill
Johan Elmander’s Double Blow
Gary Megson has favoured his latest signing, Ivan Klasnic, over Elmander in Bolton’s last two matches. Megson implies that the Swede is failing to impress during training.
“Johan is part of the squad but he needs to accept like everyone else that he has got to deliver. It doesn’t matter to me how much he cost, where he came from, reputation. He has to deliver. He has got to start doing more. He has got a great touch, great awareness but he has got to start doing a lot more for us.
“We know what we are getting with Kevin Davies. We know his quality in the air, the size, power and pace of him and, most of all, the work-rate that Kevin puts in.
“It doesn’t matter to me whether Johan is an international player from Sweden, or whether they have cost a lot of money, or whether they are young players who have cost nothing.”
Elmander did eventually ‘deliver’ after replacing Klasnic in the League Cup match against West Ham United with his first goal of the year. Sadly Elmander may miss further matches because of a recurrent hamstring injury sustained during a reserves match.
Sky Sports —Elmanda Told to Deliver
Burnden Aces — Elmander Suffers Injury Blow
Birthday Boy Bogdan Off to Crewe
Bolton’s Hungarian goalkeeper celebrated his 22nd birthday last Sunday and agreed a one month loan deal with Crewe Alexandra of League Two. He should be making his debut for the club tonight (Tuesday) when they play Bury at The Alexandra Stadium.
Megson told the Official BWFC Website:
“He is a good lad, hard working, and learning his trade and this is a good opportunity for him to get some first team football under his belt.”
Official BWFC Website — Bogdan Joins Crewe On Loan Deal
