By FRANCO PANIZO
Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers' hopes of claiming the Premiership's Europa League spot may be grim, but those dreams stayed alive on Wednesday.
Currently in eighth place, Bolton Wanderers stayed within distance of fifth-place Tottenham Hotspur by defeating Wolves 1-0. The win kept Bolton eight points shy of the Spurs with three months of league action left to play. Holden started and went the distance in the match that was decided through a stoppage-time goal.
In a race of their own, Maurice Edu and Rangers stayed in Celtic's rearview mirror for the top spot in the Scottish Premier League by beating Heart of Midlothian 1-0. Rangers are now five points behind Celtic with two games in hand. Edu started and played 90 minutes in Wednesday's win, helping Rangers preserve the lead after its 4th-minute goal.
Holden and Edu weren't the only Americans with games on Wednesday. Here is how a few other Americans Abroad fared:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-0 win vs. Newcastle United.
- Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-0 loss vs. Bolton Wanderers.
- Jonathan Spector did not dress in West Ham United's 3-1 win vs. Blackpool. He is recovering from a hamstring injury.
- Stuart Holden started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers' 1-0 win vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers.
- Jermaine Jones started, played 64 minutes and received a yellow card in Blackburn Rovers' 1-0 loss vs. Tottenham Hotspur.
Scotland
PREMIER LEAGUE
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes in Rangers' 1-0 win vs. Heart of Midlothian.
France
LIGUE 1
- Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 2-1 loss vs. Chambery in the Coupe de France.
————-
What do you think of these performances? Still think Bolton can claw its way back to the Europa League spot? Do you see Rangers and Edu catching and surpassing Celtic in the SPL? Happy or sad that this might be the last time in a while that you see Davies' name on this list?
Share your thoughts below.
You know what the difference is? Suarez is 23, and has already scored more goals than Clint Dempsey will ever dream of scoring.
Numbers don’t lie, and just because Dempsey said “f— it” and pulled off a once in a lifetime chip against Juventus, it put him in the same league with Suarez, who’s quite clearly one of the worlds best finishers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUWcYbHUCog
like that volley against Ghana, from outside the area. In the world cup.
That is too small a sample size to determine whether a player is one “class” or another.
Go back and do more research.
One reason why Ozil rounded the keeper is because he’s an awful shot when anywhere near the box. I bet he’ll go for that every time when he’s in that situation.
The Germans give him all kinds of grief about that.
That’s just a ridiculous post. Why would you bother to even type it.
Try again troll!
Wouldn’t a ‘Deuce Parade’ be worse than rain to begin with?
I predict it now. Everton offer 5 million pounds for Dempsey come summer. Him and Cahill on the team will definitely make up for the crappy strikers they have.
Agreed. World class he is not, but he has scored some world-class goals. Well 2 from my recollection but he’s bound to score more. Dempsey is an interesting figure. Half the time he gets flack and is underrated because of his nationality, critics calling some of his goals accidents and his consistency to be a fluke. Whereas the other half of the time, he may be overrated since he is American. Not many Americans can play with the consistency he has played while in England over 4 years.
Dempsey is simply the man. He would never start for a top4 or top6 club but I bet you he could fight for a starting spot at Everton or Sunderland anyday. I can’t wait for my WC Dempsey #8 jersey arrives in a few days.
Not to my recollection but there was that time at band camp…
All I’m saying is why a loan to MLS? Why not a team in the 2nd division of FRance? Did Sochaux set this up or was it Davies agent? I mean I know this will help him definitely get back on the GC squad. But will it help him with the manager at Sochaux?
I apologize if I’m unaware with how the allocation system works in MLS.
Agreed. Bolton’s starting XI are better than Fulham’s starting XI but Fulham has greater depth. I feel Fulham can make a run to the FA Cup’s semi’s for sure. Bolton I don’t see finishing in the top 8 much less top6.
Why would you or anyone else be that interested in seeing MB and Clint “going at it”? Does anyone really want to see Clint abuse MB for 90 minutes; and MB resort to fouling Clint everytime he got beat by Clint? I don’t, and I certainly don’t want to see Clint get injured by a USMNT teammate!
Fulham has quite a lot of strength in depth, now that people are getting healthy. AJ, Zamora, Dembele, Kamara, Gudjohnson, Kakuta, Davies, Gera, Dempsey, Duff, Murphy, Sidwell, Etuhu. That’s some depth at mid and striker. Not top class, but they should be able to cope with injuries, and they seem to be pretty clearly on the upswing.
I can show you a thousand times Suarez or Ozil spazzed some great chance. Im pretty sure neither has done anything like Dempsey’s chip vs. Juventus or the wondervolley vs. Stoke. Don’t rain on my Duece parade man.
Whats up with the Scandinavian rumors about Davies? Hadn’t heard anything about them.
Bradley will make the bench AND score a goal. Book it.
This is another reason why its so fortunate for the USMNT to have this midfield “problem” since both he and Edu have a history of picking up knocks. Bob may never have to make the tough midfield call everyone debates since neither can stay healthy for very long.
I’d say Suarez got pretty lucky on his. The defender got all the way back, and even managed to try and clear it but a lucky bounce took it into the net…
While Sturridge will help Bolton, I think Fulham has a better chance of sneaking a Europa League spot than Bolton, and that’s not even considering that they’re still in the FA Cup. Bolton is still a very thin team and can ill afford any injuries or suspensions while Fulham, admittedly a few point back, have a deeper squad and get Bobby Zamora back in the next month or so.
I wouldn’t be suprised if Bradley takes Petrov’s spot. Obviously its a tough hurdle for the reasons you mention, but Bradley hasn’t sat the bench anywhere at any time in his career. Also- will FSC broadcast the match?? It would be sick to catch a MB vs Duece matchup
While Dempsey is pretty good, he’s not world class. The difference between world class and pretty good can be seen in Ozil’s Real madrid goal from yesterday, and Suarez’s. Both were in almost identical situation to Dempsey. Breakaway, one on one vs. the keeper. (suarez was almost exactly the same, left side of the field with a defender right behind him), but they both had the presence of mind to round the keeper. Dempsey, spazzed his. Pretty good is being in the position to make that play, world class is finishing it
Because DC is at the top of the allocation list. They have the right of first refusal within MLS, for the next national team player coming to MLS.
It’s funny despite being on a small team, Dempsey looks just about nearly to score a goal every game he plays in. He has 8 league goals. I can see him finishing with 10 for the season. Maybe 12 even.
He isn’t getting to choose where in MLS. DC has the top allocation spot, so the only way he’d go somewhere else in MLS is if DC declined.
is your brain damaged? if so, resort too not speaking.
O/T but what do BMG fans think of Bradley’s loan? Do they blame him or the manager?
If I can piece together the month of January. The manager says Bradley is not up for sale as he’s their best player. Suddenly Sunderland shows interest and supposedly Bradley presses for the move. BMG will only sell for a big offer. Suddenly other English and Turkish teams come sniffing for him. He suddenly signs with AV on loan.
That’s not quite right either — Evaluation in this case really is the equivalent of a trial…unless you’re referring to medical test today and a trial period to begin tomorrow.
stfu!
I don’t understand why he would go to DC. Why not to LA or New England or Houston? Or why go to MLS anyway? 2nd division French club might be better. Or a team in the Swiss league?
Just saying, how often does a player in a Euro league gets loaned to MLS? But regardless hope this helps his career. why a 12month loan? Should be 4months at best? He needs to get back into groove and fight for a place in August.
Enjoy Dempsey playing in FULHAM colors. He’s leaving come summer. I’m just positive of that. If he can score 3-4 more goals and Fulham can make a deep run in the FA Cup, he will be off.
either that or he will be getting a huge wage increase at Fulham.
Actually, if you want to get technical, it IS a trial. Davies is on trial for one week before a possible 12 month LOAN. It’s not like he’s going to go on “trial” for a year.
But it’s all semantics. Trial=Evaluation. The actual move, should it go through, would be a loan.
If you’re going to be so nitpicky, please try to be more accurate. What the heck is “being evaluated before a trial”? You can say he’s on trial or he’s being evaluated right now — those are essentially the same thing. After which he’ll either be on loan or back to Sochaux.
Saw on twitter this morning that his paperwork is complete and he is on his way back to England today. Hoping he makes the bench this weekend (fingers crossed).
Watched the 1st half of the Blackburn game and the 2nd half of the Fulham game:
Jermaine did not impress me. Kean had him sitting directly in front of the back 4, very deep in his own half. He didn’t venture forward too often. His 1st priority was clearly defense. He lost the ball ala Rico Clark vs. Ghana when he earned a soft yellow card (he fell into van der vart who stole the ball from him). I did not come away impressed, but he also did not play poorly. Fairly invisible.
Dempsey impressed the hell out of me. He should have scored once and had another near post shot well saved. He wreaked havoc all 2nd half. I can’t help but see him moving up top alongside Jozy with Holden taking his place wide right against Argentina. He is so lethal up top/dropping off. Very smart player, continues to get better.
oh, and if you’re a real euro snob you’d know its Ligue 1, and Davies, not league 1 and Davis
It’ll be interesting, as Bradley’s got some good competition at center mid. Jean Makoun looked really good the other day, so I rate him as a lock starter.
The incumbents before the transfer window were Stiliyan Petrov and Nigel Rio-Coker. But they haven’t been playing well, hence why Houllier brought in Makoun and Bradley. Rio-Coker isn’t too far from Houllier’s doghouse, so I figure Bradley’s ahead of him.
Petrov is a little more complicated since he’s the captain. But he really hasn’t played well this year. But you can’t straight bench the captain without losing the team. So I expect Makoun and Petrov to start and Bradley to come off the bench for Petrov for the first few matches.
Ultimately, I think Bradley’s competing for Petrov’s spot. But he’ll have to earn it through some quality sub performances first.
(Villa has another younger kid, Fabian Delph, at center mid as well, but he hasn’t made the roster lately so they may be leaving him on the reserves for now.)
he’s not on trial, he’s being evaluated BEFORE a trial. There’s a chance he could wind up back at Socahux, or somewhere in Scandinavia,
(SBI-No, it’s a trial. Call it an evaluation or a trial, but once this week is up D.C. will decide whether it picks him up on loan. That’s the definition of a trial.)
J Jones also got a poor rating for when he was on the pitch, and left in the 64th minute with a back injury. It didn’t look serious, but it was enough to take himself out of the match, and I’m wondering if the guy can ever stay healthy.
It does not make a lot of sense to list Charlie Davis under League 1 when he is currently on trial with DCU.
Hopefully this weekend? They play Fulham, would be awesome to see he and Clint going at it
Skysports didn’t think much of Holden’s game the other day: “Poor in possession.” Gave him a rating of 5 (from 10).
Any word on when Bradley will make his Villa debut? Too soon to expect this weekend?
I would love Bolton to get a Europa spot, but I don’t think that it’s going to happen. It’s a very long season and, as we’ve seen with the size of their bench in the past few months, they don’t necessarily have the depth to deal with the injuries that will inevitably occur.
What do you think of these performances?
Thought Stu and Demps were strong (didn’t see Edu)
Still think Bolton can claw its way back to the Europa League spot? Maybe
Do you see Rangers and Edu catching and surpassing Celtic in the SPL? Not 100% sure
Happy or sad that this might be the last time in a while that you see Davies’ name on this list? Bittersweet, it will be nice not to possibly see Did not Dress. I think this is a good move for him.
England actually sends three teams into europa play. Depending on who win the domestic cups, bolton might only have to finish 7th to qualify.
Basically if both cups are won by a team in the top 7, the teams that finish 5,6 and 7 in the league are in.
Arsenal have birmingham in the carling cup final. United, arsenal, chelsea and city are all still alive in the FA cup. As are bolton.