PBD Will Not Be Allowed to Play Int'l Friendlies

From soccernet.com:

Fulham manager Chris Coleman has accused the Senegalese national team of failing to care for their players on international duty after Papa Bouba Diop returned unfit from last week's African Cup of Nations qualifier against Burkina Faso.

The 28-year-old midfielder subsequently picked up a knock during Fulham's 2-1 win over Charlton on Monday night, and will miss Saturday's trip to Aston Villa.

Coleman said: 'When he comes back (from international duty) there's a problem.

'He doesn't perform like he should.

'They keep him longer than they should and we don't get the best out of him when he gets back.

'It's difficult for us, countries can pull rank and there's nothing we can do.

'Every time there's an international game he comes back and he's not the same.

'Whatever they're doing with him I don't know, but it's not working for us when he gets back.'

Coleman laid blame with the Senegalese national team's setup.

He said: 'Paul Jewell had the same problem with Henri Camara last year.'

When it was suggested that he might have to send a minder to accompany Diop on international duty, Coleman jokingly replied: 'We might have to!'

Diop is one of Fulham's key players, bossing the heart of midfield, but remains most famous for scoring the Senegal goal that consigned France to defeat in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup.

Coleman has now moved to stop Diop playing in Senegalese friendlies.

Coleman said: 'I discussed it with him this morning and told him I'm not going to let you go anymore.'

But the Fulham manager has stated he will never pressure Diop to stop playing in competitive internationals, explaining how he remembers what it was like to represent Wales.

He said: 'I was an international player and it meant a lot for me to play for my country.'

Last season the six-foot-four-inch midfielder missed the majority of the second half of the campaign after getting injured in a Senegal friendly.

 

RE: PBD Will Not Be Allowed to Play Int

Cookie does bring up an interesting point about International players leaving so often and coming back either hurt or fatigued. Perhaps the bigger clubs can cope with injuries and tiredness from an international break, but for Fulham, we need our players fresh and injury-free.

It will be interesting to see if anything ever happens with this fine line between International matches and league matches. Ultimately, the clubs are paying big wages for these players to play week in and week out.

 

RE: PBD Will Not Be Allowed to Play Int

Ah... and now we'll be hearing from a 'Consortium of African Nations Football Managers' who will issue a statement about the Club Managers 'discriminating' against them.