International Callup?

[Dutch Uncle]

Matt Smith in Welsh initial 31 man squad for World Cup Qualifiers on 24 and 30 March

Being selfish hope he is not in the final squad this time, but all the very best to him if he is 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56400247

[donnievic]

I would think he will be

[Filo]

The way we are going, he’ll be injured by then

[RoversAlias]

He will be in the final squad, he's a regular starter for Wales. So he'll be out of the MK Dons game at the very least, so let's hope Bostock and Robertson are alright by then!

[Dutch Uncle]

He will be in the final squad, he's a regular starter for Wales. So he'll be out of the MK Dons game at the very least, so let's hope Bostock and Robertson are alright by then!

I think Matt's only really been a starter in the friendlies recently RA, and I think Wales hope to have fewer players not available through injury this time (particularly Ramsey & Allen in midfield). I am not sure which way it will go for Matt. Viva Rovers will be the one on here with the best insights as he (like me) is Welsh, and follows the Welsh team very closely.

[VivaRovers]

He's started friendlies and Nations League games, but only really due to injuries or unavailability of other players, particularly Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen as Dutch Uncle says. I'd be surprised if he doesn't make the final 23, but he's probably about 5th/6th on the central midfielder list for Wales behind the two mentioned, plus Joe Morrell, Jonny Williams and Ethan Ampadu...

(Ampadu has been playing centre-back for Wales due to a number of injuries in that position, and I believe he's been playing there for Sheffield United too, but he is primarily a holding midfield player).

[Dutch Uncle]

Thanks Viva

[Draytonian III]

All the bases covered ,a Welshman, who lives in Northern Ireland, supports an English team, and goes by the user name of Dutch Uncle

[drfchound]

Smith is shocking right now, can’t find a team mate with a pass to save his life and consistently loses the ball in dangerous places.
Not worth paying in washers.
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The above is for the attention of the Welsh football team manager.

[Dutch Uncle]

All the bases covered ,a Welshman, who lives in Northern Ireland, supports an English team, and goes by the user name of Dutch Uncle

Lol D3

At least you are now not the only DRFC supporter who follows Glentoran - you must be delighted with the results this season against Linfield!

Actually the above just follows my life's fortunate path from Swansea to school years in the People's Republic of South Yorkshire, to well over 30 years working in the Netherlands and now retired to my wife's native Northern Ireland. The only thing missing are my University years in both the John Smiths-less south of England and in Aachen in Germany with its brilliant beers.

The Doncaster Rovers connections dominate everything. The players who have played for Swansea and Doncaster are many, notably Dave Penney, Jason Price, David Cotterill, Les Chappell and Pat Lally. Thorsten Stuckmann played for Allemannia Aachen and our very own Omar Bogle played for ADO den Haag (where I spent most of my time in NL). And of course Luke McCullough is currently playing for Glentoran a very short distance from my wife's childhood home.

It must be those red and white hooped tinted spectacles that I wear............

[Alickismyhero]

Dutch...............you are a gem

[Dutch Uncle]

Dutch...............you are a gem

Not really 

I am merely a happy beneficiary, who as a teenager in the 1960's fell in love with a lower league football club which was a big part of the community (OK, two championship titles helped a bit ). As I have moved around in my life, Rovers have been the one constant, and it is great to see that after the perilous days of the 1990's that our club is still an important part of that community, however changed they both are. The internet is such a great place to follow so many things from a distance - gone are the days of trying to find a radio signal at 1800 (German/Dutch time) on a Saturday to listen to the football results, of walking from one side of Aachen to the other to the main train station - the only place to sell English newspapers - to find out the result of a match the night before.   

It can be amazing when and where the conversations can start about Rovers. For a while I played veterans cricket for a club called Ajax in Leiden (older then the famous Amsterdam one who actually had to ask the Leiden one for permission to use the name) against Sparta (they are a joint cricket and football club in Rotterdam). I discovered that a couple of the Sparta cricketers were scouts for the football team and their main area of search was lower league English clubs - they knew all about Rovers, Mansfield, Lincoln, York, ............ we had yearly conversations about so many players and grounds. And of course later they took on Darren Ferguson as a player but I had stopped playing cricket by then.   

[BobG]

It might be testsingn the grey cells a bit this Dutch, but can you remember the place where you introduced me to 'international' cricket? Albeit briefly! I've always wondered. It was a matting wicket on what had originally been, I believe, a slag heap.

BobG

[roversdude]

Do we have any other potential call ups - Danny Amos, Liam Ravenhill, how many do we need to effect a postponement
What about our opposition MK Dons do they have internationals ?

[Dutch Uncle]

It might be testsingn the grey cells a bit this Dutch, but can you remember the place where you introduced me to 'international' cricket? Albeit briefly! I've always wondered. It was a matting wicket on what had originally been, I believe, a slag heap.

BobG

I can Bob. It was in the small Dutch town of Brunssum which is not far from Aachen and Maastricht. It belonged to a NATO Headquarters there, which was then called HQ AFCENT (has been renamed a few times since). The HQ was originally established in Fontainebleu, but had to be moved rapidly when de Gaulle brought France out of the standing NATO Military Structure (although still remaining a political member of NATO), I think in 1966. The HQ was moved to the vacated site of a disused mine, and I believe the pitch was indeed built on a slagheap - certainly that is what we all called it.

[BobG]

I didn't realise it was actually in Brunssum. Thanks. I remember the place fairly well. Likewise I remember that place outside the Westwall in the valley that marked the border, not far outside Aachen, where we once spent a pleasant night? Lol. Gangelt  the Drielandenpunt and Naafi prices too.

Bob

[ForsolongaRover]

...Dude: Would we want a postponement? Where would we we fit in another fixture?

[roversdude]

Yeah I know but our squad looks threadbare at the minute