| Burgess vs. Blackburn 23:24 - Mar 19 with 3044 views | BlueBlueBlood |
Having read his interview piece, there's surely little chance of him being involved on Good Friday after playing in Australia on the Tuesday? |  | | |  |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:01 - Mar 20 with 2629 views | iamipswich |
Agreed. I would expect Edmundson or Axel to start at CB. |  |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:05 - Mar 20 with 2611 views | Dennyx4 |
Agree, doesn’t help us. It is also, why the Premier League will not play on Good Friday.
We also have Sarmiento likely to be playing on the Tuesday, expect he may make the bench for us on the Friday. |  | | |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:21 - Mar 20 with 2541 views | iamipswich |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:05 - Mar 20 by Dennyx4 |
Agree, doesn’t help us. It is also, why the Premier League will not play on Good Friday.
We also have Sarmiento likely to be playing on the Tuesday, expect he may make the bench for us on the Friday. |
The EADT article suggests Sarmiento's second game is on Sunday in New York. Not too bad to get back from and should see him on the bench on Good Friday. | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:26 - Mar 20 with 2519 views | Herbivore |
Think that makes sense, with two games in three days I'd probably prefer to save him for Saints on the Monday. Actually think Edmundson should be quite well suited for the Blackburn game as well. |  |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:28 - Mar 20 with 2514 views | portmanking |
I have to say, I think it's a shame he didn't speak with Graham Arnold and ask to sit out this international period.
We need as many of our starting XI mentally and physically fresh for the final eight games. | | | |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:30 - Mar 20 with 2504 views | IPS_wich |
The game will finish at about 10pm local time in Canberra. You can't fly back to Europe from Canberra, and the last flight out of Canberra to Sydney is about 8pm. Which means he would at earliest be on the first flight out in the morning at 6am - by which time he's probably only had 3-4 hours sleep max.
Get into Sydney around 7:30am Wednesday but by then the morning flights to Europe will have all departed. The next wave of European departures will be about 1-2pm Sydney time - which gets him into London around 6-7am Thursday (UK time). Then has to trek around the M25 back to Ipswich - unless he flies Emirates and can come into Stansted instead of Heathrow; but even so he won't be back to Ipswich until about 10am.
At that point he will have been travelling for about 36 hours having only had 3-4 hours sleep on the Tuesday night - I suspect the last thing we would do is then chuck him on a 5 hour coach trip up to Lancashire (assuming we travel up on the Thursday).
Even if the Australian FA or ITFC stump up for business class travel and lounge access at Singapore/Dubai he'll be exhausted and sore.
Not forgetting the fact that at 6ft5in tall even the best business class setup will be pretty cramped.
The only possible option really is to fly him back to Manchester from Sydney - which would see him land there at about 9-10am on Thursday - but I can't see us taking the risk when we have Fridge or Axel who could step in. | | | |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:33 - Mar 20 with 2482 views | Zx1988 |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:28 - Mar 20 by portmanking |
I have to say, I think it's a shame he didn't speak with Graham Arnold and ask to sit out this international period.
We need as many of our starting XI mentally and physically fresh for the final eight games. |
I don't blame him for not doing so.
He's only been involved with the senior Australia setup since last year and, at 28, may well see the 2026 World Cup as his best/last chance of playing at the tournament.
I don't know anything about how the Australia setup works, but if I was him I wouldn't want to jeopardise my chances of going to the USA in 2026 if the Socceroos take a stance along the lines of "well, you weren't available for the qualifiers, so why are you suddenly available for the finals?". | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:38 - Mar 20 with 2461 views | Zx1988 |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:30 - Mar 20 by IPS_wich |
The game will finish at about 10pm local time in Canberra. You can't fly back to Europe from Canberra, and the last flight out of Canberra to Sydney is about 8pm. Which means he would at earliest be on the first flight out in the morning at 6am - by which time he's probably only had 3-4 hours sleep max.
Get into Sydney around 7:30am Wednesday but by then the morning flights to Europe will have all departed. The next wave of European departures will be about 1-2pm Sydney time - which gets him into London around 6-7am Thursday (UK time). Then has to trek around the M25 back to Ipswich - unless he flies Emirates and can come into Stansted instead of Heathrow; but even so he won't be back to Ipswich until about 10am.
At that point he will have been travelling for about 36 hours having only had 3-4 hours sleep on the Tuesday night - I suspect the last thing we would do is then chuck him on a 5 hour coach trip up to Lancashire (assuming we travel up on the Thursday).
Even if the Australian FA or ITFC stump up for business class travel and lounge access at Singapore/Dubai he'll be exhausted and sore.
Not forgetting the fact that at 6ft5in tall even the best business class setup will be pretty cramped.
The only possible option really is to fly him back to Manchester from Sydney - which would see him land there at about 9-10am on Thursday - but I can't see us taking the risk when we have Fridge or Axel who could step in. |
I see that 18 out of the 25-man squad for this round of matches are based in Western Europe.
Would the Australian FA expect them to all make their way over on commercial flights, or would they see it as a better option (particularly in terms of player welfare) to charter a flight to get them direct from Canberra to a European hub in order to save travel time at a congested time of the season? | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:39 - Mar 20 with 2446 views | pointofblue |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:01 - Mar 20 by iamipswich |
Agreed. I would expect Edmundson or Axel to start at CB. |
Left side so 99% sure it will be Edmundson. | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:56 - Mar 20 with 2366 views | Dennyx4 |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:21 - Mar 20 by iamipswich |
The EADT article suggests Sarmiento's second game is on Sunday in New York. Not too bad to get back from and should see him on the bench on Good Friday. |
Thanks, makes it a little easier for Sarmiento.
Edmundson is likely to play on Friday and hopefully Burgess will be back for Easter Monday. | | | |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:06 - Mar 20 with 2328 views | Guthrum |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 09:33 - Mar 20 by Zx1988 |
I don't blame him for not doing so.
He's only been involved with the senior Australia setup since last year and, at 28, may well see the 2026 World Cup as his best/last chance of playing at the tournament.
I don't know anything about how the Australia setup works, but if I was him I wouldn't want to jeopardise my chances of going to the USA in 2026 if the Socceroos take a stance along the lines of "well, you weren't available for the qualifiers, so why are you suddenly available for the finals?". |
Indeed. On top of that, the national team is a real aspect of his football career. Why would he not give a high priority to playing for his country - an emotional connection rather than simply the club who hired him?
I think fans sometimes forget the players don't necessarily have the same kind of all-consuming attachment to the club that they do. |  |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:07 - Mar 20 with 2322 views | ITFC_Forever |
I said this a little while ago...
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:19 - Mar 20 with 2283 views | portmanking |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:06 - Mar 20 by Guthrum |
Indeed. On top of that, the national team is a real aspect of his football career. Why would he not give a high priority to playing for his country - an emotional connection rather than simply the club who hired him?
I think fans sometimes forget the players don't necessarily have the same kind of all-consuming attachment to the club that they do. |
But we're not talking about any old club/journey/period are we?
We're talking about (possibly) Burgess' only shot at becoming a Premier League player. Hell, Luongo even retired to focus on Town. I'm not saying Burgess needs to do that, Luongo's had a much longer international career than he is, but missing a couple of relatively easy qualifiers with Lebanon would surely have made more sense?
Of course, having Good Friday games within hours of an international period finishing is another matter, as another poster has just said. | | | |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:32 - Mar 20 with 2209 views | Guthrum |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:19 - Mar 20 by portmanking |
But we're not talking about any old club/journey/period are we?
We're talking about (possibly) Burgess' only shot at becoming a Premier League player. Hell, Luongo even retired to focus on Town. I'm not saying Burgess needs to do that, Luongo's had a much longer international career than he is, but missing a couple of relatively easy qualifiers with Lebanon would surely have made more sense?
Of course, having Good Friday games within hours of an international period finishing is another matter, as another poster has just said. |
Burgess might see it as (possibly) his only shot at nailing down a place in the Australia squad.
And he might think he's got a decent chance of getting to the Prem whatever.
On top of which, we have got a decent player to cover for him in Edmundson. Who did perform well against Stoke, Sunderland and Leicester. | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:40 - Mar 20 with 2151 views | Herbivore |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:19 - Mar 20 by portmanking |
But we're not talking about any old club/journey/period are we?
We're talking about (possibly) Burgess' only shot at becoming a Premier League player. Hell, Luongo even retired to focus on Town. I'm not saying Burgess needs to do that, Luongo's had a much longer international career than he is, but missing a couple of relatively easy qualifiers with Lebanon would surely have made more sense?
Of course, having Good Friday games within hours of an international period finishing is another matter, as another poster has just said. |
It's not like he's a massively established figure in the Australian set up who can pick and choose when he plays and nobody will mind because of the extra quality he brings. If he pulls out of these fixtures there's a chance it negatively impacts his international prospects in the longer term. That's a huge risk for a player who has only just broken into the national team. I think you're being massively unrealistic and unfair in expecting him to do that. | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:57 - Mar 20 with 2078 views | Stenvict |
He wouldn't have this issue if he chose to play for Scotland. He'd also be winning an international tournament this summer... | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 11:20 - Mar 20 with 1992 views | franz_tyson |
Could well have been agreed in advance with McK that he sits out Blackburn... and McK is happy to give Edmondson a nod which could add a bit to squad contentment. We can afford to lose Burgess for a game.
For balance, we should be happy that Morsy and Luongo aren't involved anymore..... oh... and our Anglo-Jamaican loanee. | | | |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 11:38 - Mar 20 with 1906 views | BLUEBEAT |
Plenty of time for him to fly back. He could even rest on the plane.
No worries, cobber. |  |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 13:43 - Mar 20 with 1697 views | Zx1988 |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:40 - Mar 20 by Herbivore |
It's not like he's a massively established figure in the Australian set up who can pick and choose when he plays and nobody will mind because of the extra quality he brings. If he pulls out of these fixtures there's a chance it negatively impacts his international prospects in the longer term. That's a huge risk for a player who has only just broken into the national team. I think you're being massively unrealistic and unfair in expecting him to do that. |
He's far from the only player involved in an important run-in, either. The lads from Leicester, St Pauli, Portsmouth and Bolton (purely based on my own knowledge, there are probably others in the squad as well) are all involved in promotion pushes for their respective clubs.
It's all part and parcel of being a successful footballer. Unless you're a bona fide legend for the national team, you don't get to pick and choose your availability and still expect to be called up for the more glamorous matches. | |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 19:59 - Mar 20 with 1419 views | Coastalblue |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:57 - Mar 20 by Stenvict |
He wouldn't have this issue if he chose to play for Scotland. He'd also be winning an international tournament this summer... |
Not sure he's that good at marbles though. |  |
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| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 20:06 - Mar 20 with 1389 views | WicklowBlue |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 19:59 - Mar 20 by Coastalblue |
Not sure he's that good at marbles though. |
Caber tossing shirley? |  | | |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 20:35 - Mar 20 with 1315 views | Pinewoodblue |
| Burgess vs. Blackburn on 10:32 - Mar 20 by Guthrum |
Burgess might see it as (possibly) his only shot at nailing down a place in the Australia squad.
And he might think he's got a decent chance of getting to the Prem whatever.
On top of which, we have got a decent player to cover for him in Edmundson. Who did perform well against Stoke, Sunderland and Leicester. |
He presumably has done it before after previous internationals.
Second game is Tuesday evening, fly to Sydney lunchtime Wednesday, Fly to Heathrow arrive Thursday morning. ( but with an 11 hour time difference) so by now been travelling for 30 hours. Bodyclock by now all over the place.
Suspect he makes the bench . |  |
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