For all that hype across the Tasman and... He’s not going anywhere! Thanks boys. Keep giving us more hot air.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/3955101/Winston-Reid-may-be-on-the-road-to-nowhere

Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers say they're out of any supposed race for All Whites star rookie Winston Reid.

Arsenal's senior media officer dismissed reports tying Reid, 22, to the English Premier League giant as "local people having a good story to write about" and said the same rumours are not doing the rounds in the UK.

And a Blackburn Rovers spokesman dismissed the transfer talk as "just rumours" , saying he knows of no move to bring Reid to the same club as his All Whites skipper, Ryan Nelsen.


Also: This report was doing the rounds also, Maybe a few realities are starting to hit home now:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/3953730/All-Whites-still-waiting-for-that-phone-call

Two of New Zealand football's pioneers aren't surprised the overachieving All Whites have failed to land contracts with glamour overseas clubs.

The World Cup final was played 12 days ago and none of the significant transfer rumours have eventuated for New Zealand's 23-man squad...

Despite the All Whites finishing the tournament as the only unbeaten team, they also attempted the fewest number of shots and strung together the fewest passes of any team in South Africa.

"Realistically, if somebody was interested in the players, they were probably tracking them beforehand and wanted to look at them in that arena over three games," Sumner said...

Rangers need players and he suits there style he should go there

Rangers haven't bought a player in 2 years and if Reid's Danish club want a transfer fee on top of Reid's wages he won't be going. Ranges are in huge debt.

The thing is with a guy like Reid, it's not THAT far fetched - He's long been a well rated young player and playing for Denmark's Under 21s just reflects the quality of his talent. And the high standard of his performances in South Africa just further reflect what a catch/re-coup he has been for NZ's NT.

And, in the end, Denmark's top league is a very, very good league to be featuring in, especially regularly, just ask some of our leading talents like David Williams and Michael Beauchamp, both of whom DID feature for their sides in stints there, but struggled to cement regular football with them.

I think EPL may be a 'slight' stretch for Reid at this stage, unless he's prepared for a fair bit of reserve football (So poor move for his development). But, regular football at the Championship level is very realistic, as too Eredivisie and even the Bundesliga is worth a shot (IF he impresses enough with his Danish club) - the latter two leagues can be especially seen as a logical stepping stone for a Danish based player.

Another bright new, NZ young gun, Tommy Smith, is again, a boy already well rated enough in Europe (Well, England), with Championship side Ipswich Town. He spent atleast part of last season on loan to League Two club Brentford, and with that invaluable first team under his belt, as well as those wonderful World Cup opportunities, his standing within Ipswich Town and even within the wider Nationwide League in England, will have risen far further in a short amount of time.

As Sumner suggested, in this day and age, most of the guys worth a look, have or already are, being looked at. But for those like Reid, the very fact they've already been long set up in Europe and in Reid's case, even seeing regular action at a decent level there, their WC stints can only boost their profiles to a level well beyond where it would not have been, without that WC.

It's also known that NT can boost a player's status on the club scene, including his value and like so many things in life, it's a great event to show/market your wares.

BTW Let's just throw this kind of perspective in - a League Two side, Brentford, just had one of their loanees season playing at the World Cup! How proud would they be? How lucky would they have felt? I wonder what press that may've received in that area? As too in Ipswich? Sure it may've ONLY been NZ, but heck, it's still alot better than where a vast majority of the League Two, League One and even Championship players, have reached - And this is a 20 year don't forget!

Surely Ipswich Town manager, Roy Keane, may give young Smith greater consideration now, especially given the composure he displayed against very fancied individuals from much fancied opposition the likes of Slovakia, Paraguay and especially Italy. Gareth McAuley and some of these others, they're getting older, and another rival young 20 year old CB at the club, Shane O'Connor, he may've featured for Keane a dozen games last season, but he didn't feature at a WC!

Edited by GloryPerth: 26/7/2010 12:10:40 AM