Hey, let's hope that Bibi will be given an honest chance to compete for a starting role, and not just consigned to the bench or the stands by Owen Coyle. He has been a stalwart at Bolton for a long time, and this is the least that they can do for him.
Gardner aims to be injury-free
Friday 16th July 2010
Ricardo Gardner is optimistic he can stay injury-free for Bolton in the coming season and put his repeated hamstring problems in the past.
The Jamaica international has suffered with persistent fitness complaints over the years to limit his appearances for his club.
But he has been given a specific training programme by physio Andy Mitchell which is designed to eradicate his nagging hamstring injuries.
"It is all about keeping injury-free this pre-season," he told the Bolton News as preparations continue for a first game of the season at home to Fulham.
"I have been working really hard with the backroom staff to try and do things a bit differently to make sure I stay fit and play a part against Fulham.
"I have done a lot of core work. Mitch' has come in and set up a programme designed to prevent the hamstring injuries, so hopefully that will help too."
From the Bolton News, following the squad's 2-0 victory over the Charleston Battery on the weekend:
Ricardo Gardner also figured in a deeper lying role than he has been accustomed to in the past, protecting the back four alongside Fabrice Muamba, and allowing Matt Taylor and Petrov to raid from the wings.
If Coyle has placed him in a special training programme just for him to be fit all season then I think that's a good sign. You wouldn't waste your physio resources on a guy you want to sit on the bench.
Well, I think that it is now obvious that Bibi will be no more than a bit part player for Bolton. He has not made the bench for either of the first two games, and I wonder if he will even make Carling Cup or F.A. Cup squads. Yes, there will be injuries to other players and so on where he might get the odd look in, but I doubt that he will see much time.
It would be nice if he could be moved to a team where he could get some decent game time before the window closes, but that seems unlikely. I am sure that Coyle would have released Bibi had he not signed his last contract. And no doubt, Bolton's management probably thought that it would look callous to dump their second-longest-serving player.
But at least we still have one Ricardo still in the EPL.
Gardner has always been a professional and i know he loves it at bolton. However if he wishes to remain a competitive professional player then he needs to just move on. A different atmosphere is needed for progress sometimes. Bolton has held back garner all these years.
Normally one should experience different settings to grow as a player, staying at one club too long often leads to regression of a players talent. Especially if it is not a top club. Take giggs and scholes for example they have been at ManUre their entire pro careers i think. The difference being that "sh!t" is actually a top tier club which constantly has some of the best players coming through. So even though their growth might get retarded over the years the fact that they work in such an environment is conducive to maintaining a high level of skill.
Where as Bolton has always been a second to third tier premier league club, they flirted with Europe a couple times but never had the top caliber of players consistently coming though. Yes they had Okacha, campo and youri djorkaeff but those were rare drops of talent in an other wise mediocre team.
In short he should have moved on a long time ago, now he is near the end of his career and he's slowly being pushed out, it must hurt to know that he is no longer valued. Such is the life of a footballer. He gets paid well enough anyway.
'Big Sam' Allardyce took Bolton Wanderers from a very mediocre Premiereship 'drop zone' side to some level of respectability while he was there and had his own methods to keep them in the Prem.
Big Sam's football at Bolton never attracted any plaudits from the football purists but it was effective.
The 'Bibi' Gardner we saw coming from France 98 into English football was a potentially great attacking midfielder at 19 years old. I don't believe that there were many 19 year olds in England who were as good or better than him at the time but....
Practicalities became the priority for Big Sam and Bolton and Bibi's athletic abilities was used by Bolton to the detriment of his development as an attacking midfielder who would have scored many more goals and made a real name for himself in the Prem.
If all you're allowed to do is run your arse off for a side throughout your entire career, your running ability will decrease with age; the comparison with ManU and Scholes and Giggs is a bit ubfair because ManU's entire team are all top class footballers, ManU has no 'journeymen' footballers because they don't need them.
Scholes, in particular, is looking as good as he ever has because he can play 'football', not run himself silly to keep in the side.
I saw Bibi play last season and to be honest, at Prem level, he is now a spent force, absolutely no disrespect intended.
A move to MLS might do him some good in the last years of his career but you can't help thinking that he was a much better footballer than we were allowed to see over the 10 or more years he's played in England.
He's staying at Bolton for his testimonial and you can be sure that the club will give him a heroes send off next summer.
At the end of the day, many a player in England would have settled for the career that the little lad from Harbour View has had in the Premiereship and his bank account will certainly reflect that, even if the football that he's played didn't reflect his true abilities as a player.
so basically they are saying he's another fuller, a player that has been held from playing to his full potential due to poor management and injuries ?
Ricardo Gardner was never a 'Fuller' type player.
Gardner started as an attacking midfielder and Simoes converted him to an attacking left back for the Reggaeboyz.
When Ricardo Fuller burst pon the scene he was seen as the best young striker Jamaica had produced since Walter Boyd; Fuller was running international sides like Japan to sickness in his early games for Jamaica.
His transfer to Charlton Athletic fell through because of a back injury, he moved on to Crystal Palace, up the Scotland with Hearts for a season, back to England with Preston North End, where he made his name and the rest is history.
Fuller has never been mis-managed or played out of position;he is a striker and goalscorer, period.
What has hampered Fuller's career is a number of serious knee injuries and a dodgy disciplinary record.
He is still rated by most managers in the BPL as probably the most skillful striker playing in the Premiereship.
so basically they are saying he's another fuller, a player that has been held from playing to his full potential due to poor management and injuries ?
Ricardo Gardner was never a 'Fuller' type player.
Gardner started as an attacking midfielder and Simoes converted him to an attacking left back for the Reggaeboyz.
When Ricardo Fuller burst pon the scene he was seen as the best young striker Jamaica had produced since Walter Boyd; Fuller was running international sides like Japan to sickness in his early games for Jamaica.
His transfer to Charlton Athletic fell through because of a back injury, he moved on to Crystal Palace, up the Scotland with Hearts for a season, back to England with Preston North End, where he made his name and the rest is history.
Fuller has never been mis-managed or played out of position;he is a striker and goalscorer, period.
What has hampered Fuller's career is a number of serious knee injuries and a dodgy disciplinary record.
He is still rated by most managers in the BPL as probably the most skillful striker playing in the Premiereship.
Ric, behave. We all love Fuller, but you are fibbing about EPL managers. No manager worth his salt would see Fuller anywhere in the same "skill" league as Drogba, Torres, Van Persie, Rooney, Tevez, Adebayor and some others. They can all do all that Fuller can do and more, and they have all done these things at the highest levels of the game. Fuller is a very fine player, and one that JA should be proud of, but it does him a disservice to misrate him.
As for Bibi, when Megson came to Bolton he changed Bibi's position from defence to midfield, sometimes central midfield, as opposed to wing, and Bibi was forced to adapt to learning new approaches and tactics. For years he had played in a certain mode for Sam, and now he had to get up to speed quickly. Because he was a great athlete and a very skillful and astute player he adapted, and added goals to his game; indeed, Bolton often depended on him to ignite their offence, because of his quickness and dribbling skills.
Megson started messing with him last year, and injuries also started to affect his appearances. But Bolton fans were on record praising Bibi, and barracking Megson. Once the latter was fired, Coyle came in and barely gave Bibi a look in. His game suffered, because he had little consistent playing time, and no support from the manager.
There is no way that you can tell me that Bibi is no longer up to EPL standards. If one saw him at his best moments last season, which I did, he was still playing well, if suffering a bit from the malaise, which I previously noted. This season he has been given no chance at all, so questions about his form are moot.
Yes, Bibi needs a new context, because things are not happening for him at Bolton. He is a better player than a number of their starters, but will only get to prove this if he moves elsewhere. I doubt that that will happen, but I salute the most accomplished "big league" player that we have produced in the modern era. Fuller's age means that he won't last as long in the EPL as Bibi did, and we have no young players who are set for a "top league" at the moment, so let's show respect to one who accomplished so much.
so basically they are saying he's another fuller, a player that has been held from playing to his full potential due to poor management and injuries ?
Ricardo Gardner was never a 'Fuller' type player.
Gardner started as an attacking midfielder and Simoes converted him to an attacking left back for the Reggaeboyz.
When Ricardo Fuller burst pon the scene he was seen as the best young striker Jamaica had produced since Walter Boyd; Fuller was running international sides like Japan to sickness in his early games for Jamaica.
His transfer to Charlton Athletic fell through because of a back injury, he moved on to Crystal Palace, up the Scotland with Hearts for a season, back to England with Preston North End, where he made his name and the rest is history.
Fuller has never been mis-managed or played out of position;he is a striker and goalscorer, period.
What has hampered Fuller's career is a number of serious knee injuries and a dodgy disciplinary record.
He is still rated by most managers in the BPL as probably the most skillful striker playing in the Premiereship.
Ric, behave. We all love Fuller, but you are fibbing about EPL managers. No manager worth his salt would see Fuller anywhere in the same "skill" league as Drogba, Torres, Van Persie, Rooney, Tevez, Adebayor and some others. They can all do all that Fuller can do and more, and they have all done these things at the highest levels of the game. Fuller is a very fine player, and one that JA should be proud of, but it does him a disservice to misrate him.
As for Bibi, when Megson came to Bolton he changed Bibi's position from defence to midfield, sometimes central midfield, as opposed to wing, and Bibi was forced to adapt to learning new approaches and tactics. For years he had played in a certain mode for Sam, and now he had to get up to speed quickly. Because he was a great athlete and a very skillful and astute player he adapted, and added goals to his game; indeed, Bolton often depended on him to ignite their offence, because of his quickness and dribbling skills.
Megson started messing with him last year, and injuries also started to affect his appearances. But Bolton fans were on record praising Bibi, and barracking Megson. Once the latter was fired, Coyle came in and barely gave Bibi a look in. His game suffered, because he had little consistent playing time, and no support from the manager.
There is no way that you can tell me that Bibi is no longer up to EPL standards. If one saw him at his best moments last season, which I did, he was still playing well, if suffering a bit from the malaise, which I previously noted. This season he has been given no chance at all, so questions about his form are moot.
Yes, Bibi needs a new context, because things are not happening for him at Bolton. He is a better player than a number of their starters, but will only get to prove this if he moves elsewhere. I doubt that that will happen, but I salute the most accomplished "big league" player that we have produced in the modern era. Fuller's age means that he won't last as long in the EPL as Bibi did, and we have no young players who are set for a "top league" at the moment, so let's show respect to one who accomplished so much.
Distributor
I base my opinions on what I see and hear on the TV media and football press here in Britain on a weekly basis.
Maybe your understanding of the term 'skill' is different from how skill is seen here in the BPL.
'Skill' in this context is still adjudged as dribbling ability and the ability to create chances by individually beating your defender or defenders.
By those terms, Fuller is judged to be one of the most skilled fowards in the BPL by the weekly TV pundits.
It does not put him in the category of the other players you have mentioned in the other areas of the game and he is certainly not the finisher that Drogba,Torres, Rooney and some of the others are.
Absolutely no disrespect to 'Bibi' Gardner but he is not even in Bolton's playing squad on match days now;he doesn't even make the bench and no other clubs have come in for him or made any offers to take him or offer him a new contract.
Absolutely no disrespect to 'Bibi' Gardner but he is not even in Bolton's playing squad on match days now;he doesn't even make the bench and no other clubs have come in for him or made any offers to take him or offer him a new contract.
What does that tell you ?
This argument is weak at best, any one with football knowledge or a football brain can pick the holes out of this logic that you are presenting.
To put it simply every manager is unique in the way he sets up his team, the type of talent he prefers, the type of talent he wants to rely on and the type of talent he wants to groom. There are different tactics, systems and methods to training that are employed. What simoes sees in a player will be vastly different from what tappa or barnes sees in a player we know that much from our experience. So why is that different from other foreign club managers. You assume that all see the same thing in a player.
E.g look at gio dos santos, many would argue a very exciting prospect and talented yet for the last 2 years he has rarely even seen the bench at spurs, so according to you he is not up to standard. Lol.
In short you are assuming that because Coyle no longer values Bibi's contribution to the team that he is automatically a spent force? Laughable is your conclusion at best. You are entitled to your opinion though, however silly it may seem.
i have never been a fan of Gardner bu i do respect what he has done and wish him the best for the season and hopefully when retired he could help clean of the JFF mess
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NO MORE AUSTIN NO MORE ONEIL NO MORE WORTHLESS BALLA FI REAL
Just a Few Years ago bibi was one of the best LB in the Premeirship even Arsenal fans were touting him as a replacement for Ashley Cole. some man just nuh have no respect. Spent force at 31 ?
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Me name MIDDLEAGEBALLA NOW, man dem nuh stop call man likkle youth pon di forum iyah.
Absolutely no disrespect to 'Bibi' Gardner but he is not even in Bolton's playing squad on match days now;he doesn't even make the bench and no other clubs have come in for him or made any offers to take him or offer him a new contract.
What does that tell you ?
This argument is weak at best, any one with football knowledge or a football brain can pick the holes out of this logic that you are presenting.
To put it simply every manager is unique in the way he sets up his team, the type of talent he prefers, the type of talent he wants to rely on and the type of talent he wants to groom. There are different tactics, systems and methods to training that are employed. What simoes sees in a player will be vastly different from what tappa or barnes sees in a player we know that much from our experience. So why is that different from other foreign club managers. You assume that all see the same thing in a player.
E.g look at gio dos santos, many would argue a very exciting prospect and talented yet for the last 2 years he has rarely even seen the bench at spurs, so according to you he is not up to standard. Lol.
In short you are assuming that because Coyle no longer values Bibi's contribution to the team that he is automatically a spent force? Laughable is your conclusion at best. You are entitled to your opinion though, however silly it may seem.
Maybe you believe I'm making assumptions based on second-hand opinions; I'm basing my opinions on watching Gardner on the pitch last season in person.
For the player that he has been who has been forced into using his athletic ability for Bolton, he can no longer get up and down the pitch as he used to and Bolton has no other role for him to play.
I maintain my opinion, at Premiership level, Ricardo Gardner is a spent force, from what I've seen on the pitch, not on TV or in the press.
Bibi played about 65 minutes yesterday. Coyle has been trying to quell speculation of unrest at the club:
Ivan Klasnic marked his first start since rejoining Bolton with his first goal to see off Saints at St Mary’s and the Croatian, plus the likes of [Matt] Taylor, Sam Ricketts, Andy O’Brien and Ricardo Gardner, have been told by Coyle their chance will come.
However, they may have to bide their time following the Trotters’ unbeaten start to the season with Coyle likely to revert to the team which beat West Ham last weekend for Sunday’s clash with Birmingham.
He added: “We made nine changes from Saturday and that was for two reasons - to get a bit of freshness, and also to give these lads some game time under their belts because they will all be called upon in the Premier League.
“It’s very early days. It’s been a decent start but no more than that.
But lest we forget Bibi's importance in the history of Jamaican football, here is a tidbit from Norman Hubbard on ESPN in response to a fan's question:
Who is the most capped player in the Premier League? asked Amponsah Tabiri from Ghana.
He is not a current international, but the man with the most international appearances to his name is Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who played a record 130 times for Holland before retiring in 2008. Second, to my surprise, is Bolton's Ricardo Gardner with 109 games for Jamaica. He is just ahead of Manchester City's Patrick Vieira, who has represented France 107 times.
22 more matches for Jamaica and bibi hold the record?Will he even play that many games for us again? Big bibi fan from attending Wolmer's with him in 95' but he may be out of the EPL before he acheive that milestone.
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Chelsea,Barca,AC Milan,Galaxy and H.View mi seh fi life!!!
