Ljajic Watch

[ILBB15]

Strange request from Mihailovic, mind you.

Probably has to do with installing some discipline and unity in the team. Since the 90s the national football team has been plauged with lazy primadonnas and no discipline in the team, leading to some embarrasing results.

A fun fact, I remember when Mihajlovic played for the NT, he was the only one singing the old Yugoslav anthem (which was still the anthem of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro) while everybody else was booing it

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Nothing strange in that, Laurent Blanc did the same when he took over the French team

Well exactly.

I don't think anyone should follow the lead of the French NT when trying to promote squad unity.

That's not even getting into the chequered history of the balkan states and the mixed emotions his request might cause players with muslim backgrounds.

 

[Ferguson]

Brandon Roy, an NBA All-Star, would stand in the tunnel during the national anthem and pray a Muslim prayer.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was another Muslim NBA player who did the same thing.

In the U.S. the response has been to tolerate their religious scruples, but of course the players have been subject to the kind of open criticism in a democracy you can expect for such behavior.

Here is the Muslim teaching on not standing for any national anthem off a website: http://islamqa.info/en/ref/111877

It's got nothing to do with Serbia or its history. It would be true for any Muslim in any country if they accepted that this was Muslim teaching.

 

[Nani Nana]

Well exactly.

I don't think anyone should follow the lead of the French NT when trying to promote squad unity.

That's not even getting into the chequered history of the balkan states and the mixed emotions his request might cause players with muslim backgrounds.

Laurent Blanc has done more than enough to restore squad unity in the wake of the 2010wc

As for not getting into said chequered history.. Well it's unfortunate because it would have allowed you to understand this particular issue better. Anyway Ljajic will probably come back and learn the lyrics in time for the start of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers

 

[Nani Nana]

It's got nothing to do with Serbia or its history. It would be true for any Muslim in any country if they accepted that this was Muslim teaching.

Players like Sulejmani don't have problems singing the Serbian anthem, so I really don't know why Ljajic would make a fuss.

 

[gooDevil]

I wonder if Pogba is contacting the 'Last Bet' match fixing investigation to find out if Juve will still be in the first division for next season before he joins.

 

[Amar__]

I wonder if Pogba is contacting the 'Last Bet' match fixing investigation to find out if Juve will still be in the first division for next season before he joins.

wrong thread.

 

[Ferguson]

Players like Sulejmani don't have problems singing the Serbian anthem, so I really don't know why Ljajic would make a fuss.

It seems there are more permissive views within Islam.

Like the one expressed here, although this cleric doesn't seem to deal with the Islamic teachings quoted by my previous link: http://en.islamtoday.net/node/1383

Maybe Ljajic is more conservative than Sulejmani.

 

[Ferguson]

My only point is that he is not the first Muslim to do such a thing, nor is Serbia the first country to have to respond to such behavior.

So Ljajic deserves the benefit of the doubt that his is an honest religious scruple. After all if he hates Serbia and loves Bosnia, then why would he be playing for Serbia?

 

[ILBB15]

My only point is that he is not the first Muslim to do such a thing, nor is Serbia the first country to have to respond to such behavior.

So Ljajic deserves the benefit of the doubt that his is an honest religious scruple. After all if he hates Serbia and loves Bosnia, then why would he be playing for Serbia?

Well the logical step would then be to inform the manager before being called up that he can't sing the anthem (for whatever reason) but still wants to play for the NT and reach an agreement with the manager about what to do instead of just agreeing and then piss all over the managers authority.

 

[KM]

If he knew best we wouldnt have signed Tosic in the first place or taken Ljajic to train with the United players every few months, bigging him up as if he's going to be one of our best players in the future.

He does seem to be causing trouble, but some might say thats only started happening since we messed about with him.

He got some negative reports about his attitude before we signed, presumably that's why we inserted the get-out clause for the deal we had with Partizan.

 

[Ekeke]

He got some negative reports about his attitude before we signed, presumably that's why we inserted the get-out clause for the deal we had with Partizan.

Where are these reports?

 

[KM]

Where are these reports?

I'm just assuming, it's very rare to have a get out clause in the contract.

 

[Ekeke]

I'm just assuming, it's very rare to have a get out clause in the contract.

Or they are just never used, so we dont hear about them.

 

[vuc]

I think the biggest issue here is that Ljajic agreed to this agreement that Mihajlovic had set up with all of the NT members, that they would sing the anthem - and then he went back on his word.

Mihajlovic is trying to instill discipline in the NT setup, something as ILBB15 said, has not been there for a long time. Simply put, Ljajic went back on his word and Mihajlovic has punished him.

As for Ljajic not feeling Serbian. Well he said since age 10 he always wanted to play for Serbia, so not singing the anthem must be something he doesn't want to do because his family and friends in Sandzak (the muslim dominated area of Serbia) would not approve of. This is hyperbole, I can't be certain.

 

[vuc]

Also fact is, he's not really anywhere close to being a starter for the NT. Mihajlovic did him a massive favour giving him the opportunity to play against Spain, and that shows that he believes Ljajic still has the talent to make it.

Increasingly though, it seems his attitude isn't there. Another in the long line of talents from the Balkan who's attitude got the better of them.

 

[Trionz]

This is like that remorse discussion in that recent 'suicide case'.

Unity & Patrotism can't be instilled by asking them to sing a song.
It's there or it's not.

Say Adem Ljajic sang it. Are we sure he would have felt patrotic or disciplined?
Quite ridiculously romantic non-sense people come up with, sometimes.

As for Ljajic,
He shouldn't hae agreed, if he felt his family would not like it.
If It's the song that is difficult, God damn, Kid, It's just a song, lipsing, insert random words.

 

[Trionz]

Ljajic sjould retire from International football, if religious politics is in action here.
There is no point in International football anyways, especially for relatively weaker nations.
I believe they don't get paid for Internationals as well.

 

[Moonwalker]

Ljajic sjould retire from International football, if religious politics is in action here.
There is no point in International football anyways, especially for relatively weaker nations.
I believe they don't get paid for Internationals as well.

It's exactly the opposite.

It means the world to the weaker nations, where club football is on an incredibly poor level.



As for this Mihajlovic Ljajic thing. Neither one of them has an exemplary record of behavior, so an incident of some sorts was always on the cards. I guess we should all be happy Mihajlovic didn't decide to spit in his face. For him that's progress of a kind.

And Ljajic well, if he expects tolerance and understanding for individuality or ethnicity, then he really picked the wrong bunch to hang out with.

 

[vuc]

It's exactly the opposite.

It means the world to the weaker nations, where club football is on an incredibly poor level.



As for this Mihajlovic Ljajic thing. Neither one of them has an exemplary record of behavior, so an incident of some sorts was always on the cards. I guess we should all be happy Mihajlovic didn't decide to spit in his face. For him that's progress of a kind.

And Ljajic well, if he expects tolerance and understanding for individuality or ethnicity, then he really picked the wrong bunch to hang out with.

Comments like this do nobody any favours, but seeing as you're quick to slander Serbs let me remind you that Serbia is the most multi-cultural country in Ex-Yugoslavia.

Ljajic's dad has spoken out btw, and said that he spoke with Ljajic before the Spain game and Ljajic told his dad that he didn't know the words to the anthem.

In which case, he should have just spoken with Mihajlovic before signing the agreement.

I think it will blow over and Ljajic will play for the NT again. Mihajlovic gave him a chance for a reason, both in the game vs Spain and at Fiorentina. He still believes in his ability.

 

[Trionz]

It's exactly the opposite.

It means the world to the weaker nations, where club football is on an incredibly poor level.

I meant from a players' prospective.

 

[Moonwalker]

I meant from a players' prospective.

Well disregarding for a second the fact that most players never miss a chance to speak of great pride and passion of playing for their national sides, and looking for a second past patriotism and all that, for these 'weaker' nations of which Serbia is no doubt one, it can be a great platform to launch a club career.

If you're playing for a domestic or a lesser known club, it can be a great way of 'recommending' yourself to European scouts and managers, and possibly signing for one of the big clubs, or playing in one of the big leagues, and a chance to earn some money. When the national team fails in a tournament this is often stated as one of the reasons by the general public and the media, that the players were concerned more about impressing scouts and 'selling' themselves than helping their prideful nation. Which I think is bollocks by the way, I don't think there's a blind bit of difference what your motives for wanting to perform well are, but there you have it, that sort of motivation is also definitely there for some.

And the lesser your national team, the better is the chance that you're not already a member of some big club. Generally speaking, even from a players perspective international football is not pointless, and especially not for weaker nations.


@Vuc- None of my post was slanderous.

 

[Hellboy]

Starting against Juve, and just missed a sitter. He's looking good though.

 

[Ekeke]

Playing up front with Jovetic right? Seems to be where he's playing these days

 

[Sky1981]

Score 2 goals today against inter

 

[vuc]

For anyone interested in how he's doing.


Got a hat trick against Pescara yesterday too. He is really developing well under Montella, as is the whole of the Fiorentina team.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

21(7) games 11 goals and 8 assists for the season. 8 of those goals and 4 of the assists came from 10 appearances as a left sided attacking midfielder akin to Kagawa when he plays out there.

It will be interesting to see how he develops from here.

 

[Platato]

For anyone interested in how he's doing.


Got a hat trick against Pescara yesterday too. He is really developing well under Montella, as is the whole of the Fiorentina team.

Impressive. Do you remember what happened? He was supposed to come here but something broke down. Glad the lad is making something of himself. Heard he was heartbroken that he couldn't join his dream club.

 

[mufcwarm92]

Christ, joke of a dive at 2.28.

 

[Red Pavan]

Comparisons to Nedved.

If we are his dream club and he keeps developing, we have good chance of landing him then.

 

[Commadus]

We let him go even though we had the money and bought Bebe.

Never understood why we did it and still don't.

Perhaps it was Ljajic was a midfielder and they are the devil spawn and Bebe was a winger so must automatically be needed.

 

[vuc]

Christ, joke of a dive at 2.28.

Shocking, but an epic run before that.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

Comparisons to Nedved.

If we are his dream club and he keeps developing, we have good chance of landing him then.

Where did he say that? We kicked him to the curb and broke his little heart into a thousand pieces. I am not sure if he would want to come back. He has also been involved in some serious discipline issues.

 

[vuc]

Impressive. Do you remember what happened? He was supposed to come here but something broke down. Glad the lad is making something of himself. Heard he was heartbroken that he couldn't join his dream club.

As the Chin said above, I don't think he would want to come to United after how things ended with his supposed transfer.

He's had 3 years at Fiorentina, and now he is starting to show some of his potential. I would want him to stay at least another year there, because 1) it's too early for him to leave and 2) Fiorentina are a really good team (they play great stuff) and he is developing all the time under Montella.

 

[Platato]

vuc, do you remember why we didn't go for him in the end? That was my original question. I only remember it breaking down but forgot why.

 

[Pexbo]

It was a work permit issue, the mistake the club made was announcing our intention to sign him. We had him at the club with Tosic and decided they were good enough to sign, had to sign and announced we were doing just that and they had their photo taken with Fergie and the shirt.

It came around to the following January when he was old enough to sign on a professional contract and his work permit was denied. The club at that point chose not to appeal and in my opinion used it as a bit of an excuse because it was known at this point that he had personality issues.

 

[Platato]

I see. Cheers for that. All I remember was something broke down and the media made a big deal out of how the club shafted the boy.

 

[vuc]

Almost 100 pages in this thread. Some pretty classic material in there after the move broke down

I have to say once again though, as well as Ljajic is playing it's all down to Montella. The football Fiorentina play is great. Really refreshing to see after 2-3 years of pretty uninspiring play under Rossi and Mihajlovic.

 

[vuc]

Cocks out. It could still happen.

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...otball-news+(Daily+Express+::+Football+Feed)

 

[Buchan]

I think he'd be a shrewd acquisition. His technical ability is unquestioned and he'd be a step up from the likes of Young and Valencia in the regard.

Imagine the link-up football himself and Shinji could produce...