Hull City: Call-ups give Barmby a Blackpool headache
NICK Barmby admits he faces an unwanted headache after Corry Evans and Tom Cairney were called up for internationals next week – just 48 hours before Hull City's vital trip to Blackpool.
Evans has been named in new Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill's first squad for the friendly fixture against Norway in Belfast next Wednesday, while Cairney will join up with Scotland under-21s for their clash with Holland on the same day.
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Corry Evans, centre, and Tom Cairney have been called up for Northern Ireland and Scotland respectively
With City's trip to promotion rivals Blackpool already brought forward by 24 hours to Friday, March 2, both midfielders face a demanding week to start an already hectic month.
Given that Northern Ireland's fixture is not competitive, Barmby has spoken with O'Neill and hopes leniency can be shown to City and Evans.
"In an ideal world you wouldn't want those games for Corry, Tom and Joe," the City boss told the Mail.
"With the TV commitments bringing the Blackpool game forward to the Friday, it's not an ideal situation.
"I've spoken with the Northern Ireland manager and he's aware we've got a game on the Friday.
"It's his first game in charge of his country and I'm sure he'll want to name his strongest possible squad. Corry Evans, I'm sure, will be a part of that.
"I would never be on the phone telling any international manager not to play any of my players because that would be disrespectful and I'd never do that.
"It's great for them to be called up for their countries and it's a feather in the cap for this club to have international players. But the timing of it is obviously not great on this occasion."
City could also have been left to monitor the fitness of Joe Dudgeon next Wednesday but Northern Ireland under-21s' trip to Macedonia was yesterday postponed due to the freezing conditions in the Balkans.
Two starts for club and country inside 48 hours would surely be unfeasible and Evans, in particular, would be a significant loss for the Tigers.
The Belfast-born midfielder has been an ever-present during Barmby's reign and City will hope he is spared a full 90-minute run-out in the Windsor Park fixture. Blackpool will hope the same understanding is extended to defender Craig Cathcart, another named in O'Neill's 24-man squad.
Cairney's international commitments carry greater significance as Scotland's under-21s side look to qualify for the 2013 European Championships.
A 2-1 away win over Holland in November ensures a double would see them leap-frog the group-leaders at St Mirren next week.
Barmby will not rule either player out of the trip to Bloomfield Road, but says a decision will rest upon their international exertions.
"I would never rule them out because they are all fit lads," he added. "I would have to see how many minutes they played and make a judgement based on that."
City's first concern will be to boost their promotion claims when fellow promotion hopefuls Brighton visit the KC Stadium tomorrow night.
The rearranged fixture will be the only outing in a 17-day period for the Tigers, with Saturday's scheduled trip to Cardiff postponed due their League Cup final commitments.
Barmby is likely to turn to Peter Gulacsi as the understudy to Vito Mannone after the Hungarian's return to fitness alleviated the need to extend the loan of Sunderland keeper Trevor Carson.
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10 Comments
by valencian
Wednesday, February 22 2012, 2:14PM
“Britanical2010 he has to earn his place in training as do all players. If you listen to Barmby he has mentioned many times that players have to train hard, from a young lad he did himself, and that is what he expects from his players. I am not saying Olofinjana does not train hard but according to the HDM he was due to replace Evans for the Pompey game which we know was called up. Then for the next game Evans is in the team and Cairney on the bench so what happened? The same could be said about Simpson a reasonable player but he is not wanted at Millwall and is now behind Cullen Is it down to attitude or is just that Barmby rates other players higher?”
by joeyboaz
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 11:22PM
“Barmby shouldn't have a headache he should simply play Olofinjana who is better than Evans. simple. Good on the ball, scores goals, creates goals, ariel threat, can track back and clear the lines, match them qualities against Evans and Oli is the better player, i don't mind Evans but Oli deserves his chance surely now. UTT!”
by Britincal2010
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 3:38PM
“I agree with the comments on here and I don't understand why Seyi is not a regular member of the team unless there is some contractual problem, he is fit and ready to play and for me is a better player than Evans. He scored six goals in his season long loan spell with Cardiff and eight for Wolves in 2007 when they made the playoffs and was their leading scorer that season. At 6' 4" his height makes him a threat from set pieces and those half dozen potential goals would make a huge difference to our playoff chances. It's fine to say that he has to earn his place but I don't see how he can do that when most of the time he doesn't even make the bench.”
by valencian
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 12:03PM
“I cannot see a problem. Firstly I doubt that Evans will play 90 minutes for Ireland and since he will not have played for a week and that assumes that he will play against Brighton. After Blackpool we have four days to recover before we play some small team from the West Riding. Secondly the whole purpose of a squad is to cover for instances such as this. We still have Olofinjana who can come in if Evans gets injured or tired. Oli like everybody else needs to earn his place and he cannot be guaranteed a game just because he earns the most money. If he gets the chance he must take it. In the case of Cairney he has not played much football lately and a competitive game for Scotland will help him retain match fitness the same for Dudgeon should he play.”
by F_enchTickler
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 10:59AM
“First of all Oli is on nowhere near 29k a week since relegation despite what some may think. 2nd Oli is not yet match fit due to postponed matches and Evans is way ahead at the moment,
Oli will get his chance when the time is right. Cardiff City away is one game i expect Oli to start. Dont see an issue with Evans playing 2 games in 3 days as he has hardly played of late.
The lads young and fit and can play every day at that age. Simples. End of. UTT”
by strummer1961
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 10:51AM
“I agree with what has already been said here but can't help feeling that the Club seem to have a problem playing Oli.Has he got one of these ridiculous contracts that promise more money after a certain amount of appearances?.
It's interesting to note that N.B isn't interested in rocking the boat with the respective international managers(which seems fair to me),a far cry from Holloway who seems to be fizzing over the inclusion of Matt Phillips with Scotland.Personally I hope Phillips plays the full 90 minutes for Scotland and doesn't play against us,the kid looks a bit of a handful.First things first though...Massive game coming up on Weds night and not an easy game at all.We really need to start finding the net to compliment our flair football and chances created stats,if we can do that we'll move up the table fast!!UTT.”
by clipper102
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 9:27AM
“Oli should be played. This would alleviate the problem of cover in the midfield and certainly would not weaken the team.”
by GarethC2010
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 9:13AM
“Not a headache at all. Oli should be in front of Evans everyday of the week. It will be nteresting to see how things improve with him in the team. He is still a premiership player for me and at £28k per week we need to play him every week or sell him. Putting him on the bench is not an option. UTT.”
by MikeMadrid
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 8:34AM
“Have to agree. Time for Oli to step up. It's his chance to become a regular.”
by RobL1968
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 8:00AM
“Play Oli instead against Blackpool! Simple!”