Andy Polo

[PaulMcC]

Tim Vickery is normally spot on.

[Kevin D]

Gutted we've missed out on him. I've always thought he could be the final piece of the jigsaw.

[King Gheedorah]

Tim Vickery is normally spot on.

 

He normally is but he got this one wrong:

 

Tim Vickery column

By Tim Vickery

South American football reporter

 

 

 

Scheidt proved to be a misfit at Celtic

There are many ways of making yourself look foolish.

 

One of the surest is to predict what is going to happen on the football field.

 

The glorious unpredictability of the game is one of its most appealing aspects.

 

And it can make pundits look as ridiculous as the general who, when advised to take cover, responded with the famous last words "they couldn't hit an elephant at this dist....".

 

My personal equivalent of "they couldn't hit an elephant..." goes by the name of 'Rafael Scheidt'.

 

I still wake up sweating in the middle of the night when the ghastly truth comes back to me.

 

Back in 1999 I really thought the Brazilian centre-back would be an excellent buy for Celtic.

 

How could I have been so wrong?

 

Since returning from Scotland, Scheidt has played for Corinthians and Atletico Mineiro, and he currently captains Botafogo.

 

I've watched him several times, and always with a wince.

 

In hindsight it's all so clear.

 

There's no way that could have succeeded in Scotland. He's way too slow.

 

In Brazilian football he can hide his defect to a certain extent. Defences line up much deeper, so if the ball is played behind the centre-back there's a good chance the keeper can deal with it.

 

My big error was to have been too carried away with the good side of his game.

 

Scheidt can pass well out of defence, long and short off either foot.

 

 

Kleberson failed to make an impact at Manchester United

 

I imagined him doing it in Europe, and forgot that European football would give him less time on the ball and take him into positions on the field where he would be made to look uncomfortable.

 

It was a bad mistake.

 

But I don't reproach myself for Kleberson.

 

Manchester United got next to nothing out of the Brazilian midfielder, but I'm sticking to my guns.

 

The Kleberson of 2001 and 2002 had everything to be an Old Trafford success - two good feet, acceleration and the capacity to work box to box.

 

Brazil's current management team of Carlos Alberto Parreira and Mario Zagallo thought the world of him.

 

They were not in charge for the 2002 World Cup, but took the view that Brazil began to win the tournament from the moment that Kleberson was introduced to the team.

 

They gave him every chance to stay in the frame. They took him to the 2004 Copa America, and then selected him for the World Cup qualifier away to Ecuador.

 

Since then they seem to have given up.

 

The problem is that the Kleberson of 2001 and 2002 has not been seen since - anywhere.

 

It's not just that he didn't adapt to England. It's bigger than that.

 

It seems truer to say that he has been unable to adapt to success. He won the World Cup just after his 23rd birthday.

 

At United he was earning the kind of money that must have been beyond anything he dreamed about when he was a kid.

 

In his case, perhaps so much success so suddenly had the effect of dampening the flame of desire.

 

It all goes to show the importance of the human element in football.

 

The game's competitive environment will elicit wildly different responses. Some will grow when faced with a challenge, and some will shrink.

 

It's all part of the glorious unpredictability of football, and it lays plenty of banana skins for the pundits.

 

BBC SPORT | Football | Tim Vickery column

[Gym Beglin]

Pidge, it's all a bit of fun. But at the same time, you say he's not Mystic Meg, but that's how he's making his money, by pretending to know all about how these little negrito's are going to turn out.

 

He knows about as much as me or you.

[navbasi]

Arsenal miss out on 'the new Aguero' as Peruvian Polo chooses Real MadridBy Sportsmail Reporter

 

Peruvian striker Polo is considered one of the exciting attacking players to come out of South America since Sergio Aguero, with Jose Mourinho's side and the Gunners just two of a number of clubs monitoring his situation.

 

However according to South American media reports, the 17-year-old has already set his heart on a switch to the Bernabeu rather than the Emirates. Polo currently plays for Universitario de Deportes where last year he helped his club win an Under 20 version of the Copa Libertadores.

 

The strong, powerful runner, compared previously with Jefferson Farfan, has since made the comfortable transition into the senior side where this season he's scored three goals in 16 appearances.

 

 

Read more: Arsenal miss out on Andy Polo to Real Madrid | Mail Online

[moof]

Pidge, it's all a bit of fun. But at the same time, you say he's not Mystic Meg, but that's how he's making his money, by pretending to know all about how these little negrito's are going to turn out.

 

He knows about as much as me or you.

 

He knows a darn sight more than you, be sure of that.

[Gym Beglin]

Is that so?

 

Whatever lad, you go chat with Uncle Tim about football in 2019, save you the hassle of watching it all.

[The Dude Abides]

He knows a darn sight more than you, be sure of that.

 

that wouldn't be hard though in fairness. My wank sock knows more about football than him.