Saw Wiseman play here against Georgia last night. He did well I thought, but they were outclassed and easily beaten 4-0. Nice to see an ex-Red in Tbilisi!
That’s one player who really doesn’t deserve to be regarded as a Red. His lack of effort on the pitch coupled with his remarks about the club once he’d left (realised on day one he didn’t like us) mean he shouldn’t be regarded in the same way as Ronnie, Redders, Winnie and others.
I visited a few years ago and I thought it was incredible, loved it. Has pre Soviet, Soviet and post soviet architecture all over the city, lots of history and the views are stunning. The people are extreme welcoming, alot of Russians holiday there despite tensions between the two countries. We went in a few bars and they toast before every drink, most of it was peace to us all in this room, except any Russians among us. There’s a region on Georgia that the Ruskis have taken and they keep extending the border further into Georgian territory, so tensions were quite high when I visited as (not sure if it’s still the case) but they had a slightly pro Russian leader at that time which didn’t sit well with the people. Amazing country.
Thanks for that! Sounds like I'd enjoy a trip there - I've been to Russia a couple of times but can't see me going back there anytime soon so Tbilisi appeals.
To be fair, I think he has every right to hold no affection for the club. I think the fact that he was brought in early in Keith Hill's tenure to basically replace club legend Bobby Hassell did not sit well with the fans and frustrations were taken out on him right from day one. Hassell has been player of the year 12 months earlier but for Hill's first match, he was dropped and Wiseman played the full 90 minutes in his place. He was moving up a level from Rochdale and didn't have the sort of debut you need to oust a fans favourite, yet was picked to start virtually every match since. I think the end result of mutual disregard is fairly inevitable.
What he doesn’t have every right to do, though, is display a clear lack of effort pretty much every week and slag off the club saying he hated it from day one. That wasn’t our fault (despite what Keef would have us believe).
Tbilisi is a great place to live. I’m not a digital nomad as I have a real job, but there are loads of them here from all over the world. Makes the hip places to go very international. But I’m a bit too old for hip. Eating out and drinking is cheap and good value for money. People are friendly. Lots of stuff do do in Tbilisi and great countryside to visit for mountains and forests. The Russians do ‘occupy’ 20% of Georgia, Abkhazia since the 90s and South Ossetia since 2008. They are breakaway provinces backed by Moscow and only recognised by each other and Russia. Lots of Russians and expats who lived in Russia moving here at the moment to avoid Russia. A fair number of Ukrainian refugees as well. But apart from some inflation, no real impact from the war. Georgians are massively pro-Ukraine, the government is a little more realistic and has kept the border with Russia open for trade and tourism. We’ve lived here for 5 years now and will continue here for at least another 4. It’s a fantastic place to visit and live.
I never got all the stick he got and never bought into the lack of effort campaign the boo boys whipped up around him. He was a good, quick defender and decent going forward. Not surprised that there was no love lost by the time of his departure. Can’t help feeling he was harshly treated and took a lot of flack arising from the general malaise around the club at that time. Glad to hear he’s still getting a game.
A lot of my Russian clients have moved to Georgia, and love it. Although rents rose sharply in the first quarter of the year, unsurprisingly. Russia's loss is Georgia's gain, as it's generally the young, educated creative crowd that have relocated. I've still never been, but certainly intend to soon. How are you getting on with the language by the way? I've heard that it's so complex it makes Russian seem easy!
I think that he was a **** defender. Had pace going forward but couldn't defend to save his life. You're right though, he took a lot of stick because of the awful man management that was hill and flitcroft. However Wiseman also brought a lot on himself. I remember that he and his partner were very volatile on twitter and she in particular had an ego and a victim complex and would hit out at and create drama with fans for no reason.
Just looked at her Twitter handle for the times she's mentioned 'Barnsley' and to be fair to her she didn't rise to what Whitey said
Yep- nowhere near as bad as many make out. Not a world beater though Whipping boy - then when he speaks out they don’t like it His pace came to our rescue many a time
Like a lot of our players at that time he had a good 5 months in the great escape season but wasn’t quite up to championship standard overall just like his team mates Dagnall, Kennedy & Dawson. I’m not sure I agree that he didn’t try I think it was more his positioning that was his downfall. He’d get caught wrong side plenty of times. He actually did ok as the middle centre back on occasions, he seemed to be better with the game in front of him rather than having to be constantly switched on at runners getting in behind him.
League 1 at best. His career bears testament to that. A couple of seasons in the championship. The rest below. I'm not sure what he thought his best position was in the defence. But bang average from what I recollect. I never agree with the booing of your own individual players as it only destroys their confidence. But I'm astonished how some managers don't appear to see what we see. Persisting with out of form or not good enough players. Struhber was a prime example. Walton and Styles on the bench for far too long. When he introduced em that's when our fortunes turned around.
