i wonder why the announcement took so long

must have taken so long so they could give his injury as long as possible to heal...only thing I can think of given that he wasn't given any game time despite easily being good enough....I am filthy at strachan....we've lost a good young player who also offers versatility....

He handed the team sheet in this morning thou.

I can't imagine that there'd be any other reason behind it. I have no idea why Garcia is in the squad at all, he doesn't bring anything to the team.

shame for williams. of course he is injured, it was common knowledge he was injured when playing for middlesbrough and he hasnt featured in the last 2 friendlies.

Explains why culina has been playing on right wing in the last 2 friendlies. He is cover for wilkshire/emerton.

Devastated.

Oh well, he has plenty of time to play in a world cup. We have plenty of strength in defence without him though so we'll be alright.

If Kennedy is injured in the first game, we'll have no strikers, only midfielders. LOL. Pim being Pim he'll probably throw Chippers up forward and play Carney. Might work.Can anyone see Ruka getting game time, given he hasnt really been seen?
If it becomes clear Harry can't play, (but I really hope he can) who will be on the left? Oar would have been a handy sub as young as he is.

Good luck to them one and all. (Even Holman, Grella and Moore)

Chippers has been playing up front (rather successfully) for Basel lately.

Shame on Gordon Strachan , let him look Rhys Williams in the eyes and explain why his mismanagment of the kid resulted in him missing out on a World Cup. To the 23 who have made it ...
Do yourselves and Australia Proud.

You can both sleep easy now, look:

Australia blame Middlesbrough after Rhys Williams cut from squad

guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 2 June 2010 13.09 BST

The Australia coach, Pim Verbeek, has publicly named his 23-man final squad for the World Cup. The announcement comes a day after the Fifa deadline, but Fifa has confirmed that the squad was submitted before the midnight time limit – despite not being publicly announced – and plans to take no action against Australia.

Verbeek, who delayed making the list public while he spoke to the players who didn't make the cut, used the announcement to attack Middlesbrough for their handling of the young defender Rhys Williams, who missed out through injury.

Williams was one of five players left out – the others being Shane Lowry, Tommy Oar, James Holland and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic. Verkeek said 21-year-old Williams would have been in his final 23 but for a long-running pelvic injury which, he claimed, had gone untreated at Middlesbrough.

"He trained without confidence: he could never train fully, he's not free to play and his recovery is not quick enough to make it," Verbeek said.

"Gordon Strachan let him play for weeks with an injury. He let him play with an injection every game. If you do that with a 20-year-old player you take a risk.

"I'm 100 per cent sure if they had given him the normal treatment for a player, he should be in the World Cup."

Williams, clearly upset, told the media he was "heartbroken but proud to have made the 27."

"I have been struggling for a long time, but the coaching staff gave me every possible chance to be fit. It obviously just wasn't meant to be. I'm looking forward to working out a plan with the physios and looking to the future."

Australia's World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Adam Federici (Reading), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough).

Defenders: Lucas Neill (Galatasaray), Craig Moore (unattached), Scott Chipperfield (Basel), David Carney (Twente Enschede), Luke Wilkshire (Dynamo Moscow), Mark Milligan (JEF United), Michael Beauchamp (Al-Jazira).

Midfielders: Tim Cahill (Everton), Mark Bresciano (Palermo) Vince Grella (Blackburn Rovers), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers), Jason Culina (Gold Coast), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar), Carl Valeri (Sassuolo), Mile Jedinak (Antalyaspor), Richard Garcia (Hull City), Dario Vidosic (Nuremberg).

Forwards: Josh Kennedy (Nagoya), Nikita Rukavytsya (Twente Enschede).



Edited by diego's son: 3/6/2010 01:00:25 AM

Well surprise, surprise !

Cannot believe Verbeek even included Rhys in the squad in the first place. Rhys knew it, Verbeek knew it and we all knew that he was carrying a serious injury for weeks prior to the squad selection, yet Verbeek includes him hoping that he might come good. Does he not listen to his medical staff, who I would have thought told him that he has little chance of getting right for the wc.

Verbeek has really screwed this up and the best he can do is blame Gordon Strachan for his treatment of Rhys, which by the way, Rhys no doubt agreed to.

I just feel sorry for the likes of Carle, McDonald etc. etc. who have sufferred as a result of this dumb decision.