Tjay withdraws from Gibraltar squad (not injured)
I guess he wants to secure his starting place at Wycombe. It's a risk though, because Julio Ribas has a reputation for holding petty grudges against players who turn down callups.
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I guess he wants to secure his starting place at Wycombe. It's a risk though, because Julio Ribas has a reputation for holding petty grudges against players who turn down callups.
Comments
I find that a bit sad if I'm honest
Hard to blame the lad , especially if Vokes is still injured.
Stay here and a chance to retain his starting spot and enhance chance of getting a contract for next year
Go , see very little of the ball in two heavy defeats, someone else comes in here and does well and keeps TJ place and perhaps no contract at WW next season
To be honest the fun in playing for a small international team putting ten men behind the ball to keep the score down must fade after a few games. Hard to blame him in the call he has made.
I agree entirely
I dare say representing Gibraltar means a whole lot more to TJ than you've made it sound there. I imagine it was a horrible decision for him to have to make
I agree, i personally think you should never turn down representing your country
I mean the head coach is a somewhat divisive figure at the moment with his old boys club of players he will always select no matter whether or not they're playing for their club. Other teams in Gibraltar are starting to speak out against perceived biases holding back the NT while he's in charge.
Selfishly, I’m glad he’s made this decision but it can’t have been easy for him. Hopefully it‘Ll pay off for him here, and he’ll be back with Gibraltar ASAP.
Massive club.
It must be an awkward one for international players at levels where there's no international break, but playing for Gibraltar is hardly likely to be the pinnacle of his career.
It could well be the pinnacle of his career if he doesn’t make it at Wycombe!
This does seem to point to Vokes still being out, unfortunately.
He's got his whole career at a crossroads and is currently starting games for us for the first time in his career.
It's probably quite a smart move, and putting us first is definitely very endearing.
Let's hope Vokesy isn't out for much longer though.
Depends on how much playing for your country means to you doesn't it?
He will. I'm fully aboard the De Barr bandwagon now.
Oh yeah I agree. He definitely needs some tweaking, but the talent is absolutely there. He has a lot of potential in my opinion. Could be our best player in 12-18 months.
Pure cult hero material.
Wonder who else we'd put in that category in recent years.
Sergio of course.
Bayo was too key a player to be called one arguably.
Beany. Sido?
Potentially yes.
Good to see Sido still turning out at the top of the Conference South for Ebbsfleet.
You would think his international manager would understand the situation - if explained clearly and openly. As a national coach, he should see an opportunity to try different options. Unless he thinks he has a master plan whereby Gibraltar are going to pick up 6 points and top the group early doors, then the logical thing is to accept that TJ wants to grab his chance domestically, allow him to try and take it, and leave the door open to him for the summer round of internationals, where hopefully he will turn up a better, stronger player. It's not like he's just snubbing his country, he is in a difficult situation and has made a difficult choice. He should be supported by all parties and not be subject to any 'petty grudges'. It's not like he's said: "you know what, I just can't be arsed..."
Cue Tjay hat trick on Saturday 🙏🙏🙏
Playing for your country is special, you make it sound awful.
Having seen him play for Gibraltar the month after we signed him against Turkey he saw plenty of the ball and had three shots on goal. One at the beginning of the second half was well saved in the bottom corner of the goal.
They should put up a good fight against the Greeks tomorrow night but they then have the Netherlands and France. Imagine giving up an opportunity to play on the same pitch as Van Dijk, Depay and possibly missing out against the French if he's dropped.
I take my hat off to him on this decision, especially coming from such a small country where this decision will be felt by his family and friends. He's got a chance to shine with Vokes out and I hope he smashes it on Saturday if he plays.
Would be interesting to know what players for the likes of Andorra,Gibraltar, San Marino, Liechtenstein really feel about international football. I imagine the first few caps must be exciting and the chance to play sometimes at he really big stadia must be nice but travelling long distances knowing you are going to lose - possibly heavily - must be a bit depressing. Suppose it varies from player to player
TJ: ‘playing for my country is the best feeling in the world.’
https://twitter.com/wwfcofficial/status/1638923941660983298?s=46&t=MXj_dXc6l_z44oHP077XZQ
I think you're dead wrong on this one. The only times players don't accept a call-up is usually when the country is unstable and/or the facilities and pitches are absolutely abject to the point of being dangerous.
Cult hero after only one start and a handful of sub appearances is good going. There's a lot on here who seem to think he's only good for barging into people, but then there's us cult members who can see so much more to him.
Not really expressing an opinion to be honest - I don't know how they really feel. As I say different players probably have different levels of enthusiasm - they are all just humans after all.
In competitive away games in 2022 they lost 4-0 to both Georgia and North Macedonia. In honesty I think I would have struggled to get enthused by the next trip a few weeks later- another long flight to pay Bulgaria in from of 1540 supporters. They lost 5-1. But then I have never experienced playing international football (I woz robbed....)- Perhaps all the players - even those who have done this 20 or 30 times before still love it. I hope for their sakes they do.
Must have been a big decision, however 'small' the country and I hope it does his future international prospects no harm.
I’d imagine the smaller the country, the greater the honor of representing them on the world stage.
You can't empathize with most fans let alone a player lucky enough to represent his country
I guess it's worth pointing out that De Barr is a born and bred Gibraltarian, unlike a lot of the players who've pulled on that shirt.