Quote from Burley about Berra

[Benzinho]

"Christophe Berra showed he's got a lot of pace at the back which was very valuable when he came on so that's very encouraging for the future."

 

Sounds like Berra impressed him. Hopefully he might get more of a chance now, although it'll be hard to split the McManus/Caldwell partnership.

[Generic Username]

"Christophe Berra showed he's got a lot of pace at the back which was very valuable when he came on so that's very encouraging for the future."

 

Sounds like Berra impressed him. Hopefully he might get more of a chance now, although it'll be hard to split the McManus/Caldwell partnership.

 

But wasn't the rest of the quote;

 

"...but he doesn't play for the OF so he'll just have to keep sitting on the bench like a prize ***** until everyone else is injured or he moves to Glasgow."

[Oh the hibees are gay]

But wasn't the rest of the quote;

 

"...but he doesn't play for the OF so he'll just have to keep sitting on the bench like a prize ***** until everyone else is injured or he moves to Glasgow."

 

Too true.

[Jambo83]

Berra will get his place in the team eventually. Caldwell & McManus seem to do well together, although it's actually calamity that is looking the most impressive of the two these days... One of them will get injured / suspended and it will be up to Berra to impress when he gets the chance. I love seeing him skin strikers, who think they're pretty pacy, to a 50/50 ball

[Buffalo Bill]

I'm happy for Berra to continue playing well for his club above everything else.

 

He's a good young player who is on great form just now. If he keeps that up, Scotland will happen for him.

 

Buffalo Bill

 

.

[Thig Ar Latha]

"Christophe Berra showed he's got a lot of pace at the back which was very valuable when he came on so that's very encouraging for the future."

 

Sounds like Berra impressed him. Hopefully he might get more of a chance now, although it'll be hard to split the McManus/Caldwell partnership.

 

To be honest, I really don't rate their partnership very highly, although their very good players. They seem to lose concentration too often and leave gaps.

[Benzinho]

To be honest, I really don't rate their partnership very highly, although their very good players. They seem to lose concentration too often and leave gaps.

 

I don't necessarily either, it's just that I can see why an international manager would play a defensive pairing that play with each other week in, week out rather than splitting it and putting a defender who they're not so familiar with in there.

 

Unfortunately I can see Berra being yet another Hearts player who is consistently passed over, unless of course he joins the OF a la Clubfoot. Just thought it was encouraging that Burley seemed to single him out when others (Lee Miller ffs!) had longer on the pitch than him.

[Mr Romanov Saviour of HMFC]

Sorry guys but Berra isn't good enough for Scotland yet.

 

I am at a loss to work out why people think he should be a definite starter. Him and Zaliukas are horrific at times and that's against guys like Hamish French.

[Rawrrrrrrr]

As accomplished a SPL centre half he is I feel berra has a lot of waiting in the wings to do.

 

Putting my anti celtic, anti caldwell, anti mcmanus stance aside, they two are better than berra, at least at this time.

 

Unless one suffers a serious injury berra like pressley will have to wait until late in his career to get a regular chance.

 

Also he is 24 in about 2 months, how much better is he going to get? I think we need to stop thinking of him as some hot prospect as he isnt far off his prime, he may improve a little bit but I dont think he is going to go much further than he has already.

[Special Agent Dale Cooper]

Burley also called him Christopher Berra. You'd reckon after being his club manager, Burley would know his name?

[K1874M]

As accomplished a SPL centre half he is I feel berra has a lot of waiting in the wings to do.

 

Putting my anti celtic, anti caldwell, anti mcmanus stance aside, they two are better than berra, at least at this time.

 

Unless one suffers a serious injury berra like pressley will have to wait until late in his career to get a regular chance.

 

Also he is 24 in about 2 months, how much better is he going to get? I think we need to stop thinking of him as some hot prospect as he isnt far off his prime, he may improve a little bit but I dont think he is going to go much further than he has already.

 

I'd say he's got another 4 - 5 years possibly before peaking, so to speak.

[Guest JamboRobbo]

Very few centre halfs of Berra's size and strength also have the pace that he has. Quite an attribrute and will go a long way towards ensuring he has a good career.

[Coco]

Very few centre halfs of Berra's size and strength also have the pace that he has. Quite an attribrute and will go a long way towards ensuring he has a good career.

 

Other than general experience as a defender which he will get as he progresses - I want to see him becoming much more aggressive in the opposition penalty box. He wins headers in our box, but often seems too timid in the opposition box.

 

Adding goals would make him into a really good player.

[chimpto]

But wasn't the rest of the quote;

 

"...but he doesn't play for the OF so he'll just have to keep sitting on the bench like a prize ***** until everyone else is injured or he moves to Glasgow."

 

Belter!

[speedbump]

Very few centre halfs of Berra's size and strength also have the pace that he has. Quite an attribrute and will go a long way towards ensuring he has a good career.

 

Other than general experience as a defender which he will get as he progresses - I want to see him becoming much more aggressive in the opposition penalty box. He wins headers in our box, but often seems too timid in the opposition box.

 

Adding goals would make him into a really good player.

 

2 very good points. Sums up my thoughts on the lad.

[Benzinho]

Very few centre halfs of Berra's size and strength also have the pace that he has. Quite an attribrute and will go a long way towards ensuring he has a good career.

 

Other than general experience as a defender which he will get as he progresses - I want to see him becoming much more aggressive in the opposition penalty box. He wins headers in our box, but often seems too timid in the opposition box.

 

Adding goals would make him into a really good player.

 

2 very good points. Sums up my thoughts on the lad.

 

Would agree with all of the above. His pace especially plus his willingness to occasionally foray forward into the midfield may be something that Burley would like to add to his team further down the line.

 

Definitely agree that he could be more aggressive in the opposition penalty box.

[Corrie Jambo]

His game would really improve if he had an experienced centre half beside him every week.

 

It would also help the Hearts as well - understatement of the century!!!

[Spellczech]

His game would really improve if he had an experienced centre half beside him every week.

 

It would also help the Hearts as well - understatement of the century!!!

 

Not sure about this. He had experience beside him in his first year in the team and it helped but at this stage he has to show that he can stand on his own two feet, and be the leader.

 

He was made captain at a time when he was also asked to take on more responsibility in his own role as well as to lead the team, and this affected him last season.

 

I reckon he was made captain with a long-term view in mind as he is not a natural leader, but the signs are there that he is beginning to develop the confidence to be captain.

 

I'm not sure if making him captain at the time it happened was good or bad. It was a definite "sink or swim" tactic, and I think he is now beginning to swim after struggling to stay afloat for much of the last year.

[hawaii]

Do people actually watch Caldwell & McManus defending in the Champions League and for Scotland??

 

The pair are fine playing for Celtic, where lets face facts here, they aren't exactly stretched most weeks. They also benefit from tolerant Scottish refs and so can get a good kick in at the opposition.

 

However, when you see them up against international strikers it's quite frankly embarrassing. Did you watch the opening goal from last night? Did you see McManus launch himself to block a shot only for the player to check back inside and make him look like the clogger he is? Did you see Caldwell try his now infamous nip in front of the striker only to be stranded in midfield allowing the striker a clear run in at goal?

 

It doesn't matter that the pair of them have an understanding at club level if they are clearly out their depth at international level.

[Guest JamboRobbo]

Do people actually watch Caldwell & McManus defending in the Champions League and for Scotland??

 

The pair are fine playing for Celtic, where lets face facts here, they aren't exactly stretched most weeks. They also benefit from tolerant Scottish refs and so can get a good kick in at the opposition.

 

However, when you see them up against international strikers it's quite frankly embarrassing. Did you watch the opening goal from last night? Did you see McManus launch himself to block a shot only for the player to check back inside and make him look like the clogger he is? Did you see Caldwell try his now infamous nip in front of the striker only to be stranded in midfield allowing the striker a clear run in at goal?

 

It doesn't matter that the pair of them have an understanding at club level if they are clearly out their depth at international level.

 

 

Which Scotland centre halfs aren't in that situation though. None?

 

The only conceded one last night, not too bad considering.

[hawaii]

When you look at the CB's available to Scotland you can see the problem. Have a think about the SPL teams CB's and you struggle to come up with any Scots who stick out.

 

Aberdeen? If Broadfoot can get a game then there might be hope for Diamond admittably.

 

Dundee Utd? Wilkie & Dodd - taller & harder cloggers granted

 

Hibs? No Scots.

 

Killie? Not even SPL class, but good at injuring opponents.

 

Falkirk? Don't even know the names of their CB's

 

Rangers? Weir - past it now

 

If GB can find Commons in the Championship then I think we must hope that he can also find some CB's from there as well.

[scott_jambo]

When you look at the CB's available to Scotland you can see the problem. Have a think about the SPL teams CB's and you struggle to come up with any Scots who stick out.

 

Aberdeen? If Broadfoot can get a game then there might be hope for Diamond admittably.

 

Dundee Utd? Wilkie & Dodd - taller & harder cloggers granted

 

Hibs? No Scots.

 

Killie? Not even SPL class, but good at injuring opponents.

 

Falkirk? Don't even know the names of their CB's

 

Rangers? Weir - past it now

 

If GB can find Commons in the Championship then I think we must hope that he can also find some CB's from there as well.

 

Just proves you dont know what your on about then.

[Guest JamboRobbo]

Falkirk? Don't even know the names of their CB's

 

so a bit harsh to slag them then? Barr was in the Scotland squad and has played of late. He's done extremely well to get there as a young Falkirk player IMO - I'm sure it's even harder to get a call up at Falkirk than HMFC.

[Seymour M Hersh]

Imo Berra is not ready for international games as the no.1 starter. Remember the sellik pair (whether you rate them or not) play together each week so there will be a connection there (same as Pressley and Webster had). As Coco says CB needs to get more aggressive not only with opponents and in attacking set play opportunities but, more importantly he needs to develop significantly as a leader on the pitch.

[Teuchterjambo]

His game would really improve if he had an experienced centre half beside him every week.

 

It would also help the Hearts as well - understatement of the century!!!

 

Doesn't need to be experienced although Karapidis fits that bill - I would be happy with Rapnik or McGowan as well.

Get my drift ?

[jambojim52]

Will never understand why Berra is on the bench and Weir gets a game. Weir is already too old and will never be able to play for Scotland into the next comps.

[Smoked-Glass]

won't be long till Weir is out the picture so we'll be looking for a new central defender.

 

Webster is out of favour, russel Anderson is gash and out of favour. Berra will feature at some point maybe on the bench to start with.

[ecjambo]

"Christophe Berra showed he's got a lot of pace at the back which was very valuable when he came on so that's very encouraging for the future."

 

Sounds like Berra impressed him. Hopefully he might get more of a chance now, although it'll be hard to split the McManus/Caldwell partnership.

 

Berra should be in the team. He is faster than Caldwell and McManus put together. One thing you need at the back is pace especially against the top teams/players. When we played Norway Carew was out running Caldwell all the time. Im dreading them coming up against Holland. Babel and co will fly past them. Another point, Berra has barely put a foot wrong this season.

[Benzinho]

Berra should be in the team. He is faster than Caldwell and McManus put together. One thing you need at the back is pace especially against the top teams/players. When we played Norway Carew was out running Caldwell all the time. Im dreading them coming up against Holland. Babel and co will fly past them. Another point, Berra has barely put a foot wrong this season.

 

There was one point last night when the ball was played through for Lavezzi I think and even though Caldwell had a head start of a yard or two Lavezzi caught him almost immediately and was about to overtake him and be clean through on the keeper before the ref stopped the game for an Argie injury. It was embarassing how slow Caldwell was.

[ecjambo]

There was one point last night when the ball was played through for Lavezzi I think and even though Caldwell had a head start of a yard or two Lavezzi caught him almost immediately and was about to overtake him and be clean through on the keeper before the ref stopped the game for an Argie injury. It was embarassing how slow Caldwell was.

 

My point exactly. And if you were at or watched the Norway game you would have seen how Carew, who isnt the fastest player in the world, was also flying past him on a few occasions.

[rudi]

Will never understand why Berra is on the bench and Weir gets a game. Weir is already too old and will never be able to play for Scotland into the next comps.

 

Don't remember Weir being in the squad never mind on the pitch,I did however did see Berra playing for about 15 mins.

[Kenny ******* Powers]

Do people actually watch Caldwell & McManus defending in the Champions League and for Scotland??

 

The pair are fine playing for Celtic, where lets face facts here, they aren't exactly stretched most weeks. They also benefit from tolerant Scottish refs and so can get a good kick in at the opposition.

 

However, when you see them up against international strikers it's quite frankly embarrassing. Did you watch the opening goal from last night? Did you see McManus launch himself to block a shot only for the player to check back inside and make him look like the clogger he is? Did you see Caldwell try his now infamous nip in front of the striker only to be stranded in midfield allowing the striker a clear run in at goal?

 

It doesn't matter that the pair of them have an understanding at club level if they are clearly out their depth at international level.

 

I agree with this 100%. Caldwell especially is terrible. I used to love seeing his name in the hibs team when he played for them.

As you say though he get's away with a lot more playing for celtic and has better players around him to make him look better.

The fact this clown scored against us was the most embarrassing thing for me about the 2-0 defeat recently.

[ramrod]

in the last few games i've seen a marked improvement in berra's game..........................

 

there is no doubt in my mind,that on current form,berra is the best centre half in the spl right now.....................

 

for what its worth,mcmanus is one of the most overrated players in the spl and caldwell is caldwell,a good honest pro who lacks pace and positional awareness.....................

 

we are now seeing the fruits of berra's apprenticeship and in my opinion,he will leave hearts and head down south within the next year................

 

he will be a regular for scotland but probably when st george has moved on imo.................

[Rawrrrrrrr]

in the last few games i've seen a marked improvement in berra's game..........................

 

there is no doubt in my mind,that on current form,berra is the best centre half in the spl right now.....................

 

for what its worth,mcmanus is one of the most overrated players in the spl and caldwell is caldwell,a good honest pro who lacks pace and positional awareness.....................

 

we are now seeing the fruits of berra's apprenticeship and in my opinion,he will leave hearts and head down south within the next year................

 

he will be a regular for scotland but probably when st george has moved on imo.................

 

 

Take off the specs

 

Bougherra is a complete class act

Caldwell is on the form of his career

 

I dont think berra is much better if at all than the likes of Barr, Diamond ,McManus ,Easton etc etc based on current form

 

He' is playing well but I think some people completely overhype Berra. He is a decent SPL centre half and not much else. I think Burley is pretty much spot on with his centre half decisions

[jambojim52]

Don't remember Weir being in the squad never mind on the pitch,I did however did see Berra playing for about 15 mins.

 

Sorry, I wasn't refering to this game inparticular.Just a general observation.