Is Smith back for Birmingham?

[fulhamben]

It's quite an interesting little one that nobdy I've asked seems to know for sure.

One would think that the FA's website should be definitive.

The regs say 3 of the Club's competitive matches, without mentioning the player's eligibilty for these games.

That is how i understand it, its 3 of the clubs games irrespective of if a player is available or not. Imagine if the player was injured, would the 3 game ban not start until he was fit? or if he got injured in training during a ban is it then suspended?

you can still play a game injured though.

not if you have a hamstring issue or such, my point is the rules stae it to mean games that the club has and not games the player is available for

yes but an injured player is still legible to play, its just they dont, a cup tied player isnt

[shnlwswlkr]

Do we even want him to play? I like the line up how it is.

[westcliff white]

It's quite an interesting little one that nobdy I've asked seems to know for sure.

One would think that the FA's website should be definitive.

The regs say 3 of the Club's competitive matches, without mentioning the player's eligibilty for these games.

That is how i understand it, its 3 of the clubs games irrespective of if a player is available or not. Imagine if the player was injured, would the 3 game ban not start until he was fit? or if he got injured in training during a ban is it then suspended?

you can still play a game injured though.

not if you have a hamstring issue or such, my point is the rules stae it to mean games that the club has and not games the player is available for

yes but an injured player is still legible to play, its just they dont, a cup tied player isnt

under the rule as written it is irrelevant as its on the clubs games, some people in the past have asked for this to be changed including if a player is injured, stating a ban should only apply to games the a he is illegible for and b is available for selection (as in being fit). so from that perspective and according to the FA site he is now available. if we want to pick him. from Kits perspective it is good news as he has as many fit players as possible to choose form. Personally i think we should be playing Woodrow and Ross up front, with Dembele and Hugo and Smith as their back ups.

[Deanothefulhamfan]

I for one do not want him to start. He should never have been bought in the first place, If FM wanted a big target man, we should have turned to Trotta who is a good target man, but also very capable of playing the ball on the floor.

In an ideal world Woodrow would be ahead of Rodallega and Smith.

[ToodlesMcToot]

I for one do not want him to start. He should never have been bought in the first place, If FM wanted a big target man, we should have turned to Trotta who is a good target man, but also very capable of playing the ball on the floor.

In an ideal world Woodrow would be ahead of Rodallega and Smith.

I'm guessing we'll know good and well how the club views Marcelo by how Kit treats him in his time as caretaker/manager.

[grimmynz]

"a ban should only apply to games the a he is illegible for "

I guess that means you can't see his name on the team sheet ?

[hovewhite]

As it stands he should be available for sat v brum.

[J.Perkins]

A straight red is a 3 match ban. This ban is only for games he is eligible for. As he wasn't eligible for Doncaster due to being cup-tied, he should have 1 more game of his ban left.

[HatterDon]

We need to check it out carefully before playing him and not rely on what's on a website!

you mean in fantasy football? Cause, you know, WE don't play him otherwise.

[cmg]

A straight red is a 3 match ban. This ban is only for games he is eligible for. As he wasn't eligible for Doncaster due to being cup-tied, he should have 1 more game of his ban left.

Thank you for clarifying that in such a dogmatic fashion.

Will you tell the FA they are wrong, or shall we take a chance that they don't notice?
He no longer appears on their current suspension list.

[domprague]

David Beckham intentionally committed a yellow-card foul against Wales in a World Cup qualifier played in October 2004. He later explained he'd sustained a rib injury which he knew would sideline him for the next match, so wanted to get his second caution of the qualifiers to allow him to serve the one-match ban while hurt and then be all square afterwards.
It didn't matter that he was unfit to play so clearly injuries don't count.
I think the club does need to check about Smith. It doesn't matter if the FA has made a mistake, if we play Smith and he later turns out to be ineligible - even if we picked him in good faith - we'll lose the points.

[westcliff white]

that actually may not be the case anymore, Sunderland played an ineligible player last season and got a warning.

[cmg]

David Beckham intentionally committed a yellow-card foul against Wales in a World Cup qualifier played in October 2004. He later explained he'd sustained a rib injury which he knew would sideline him for the next match, so wanted to get his second caution of the qualifiers to allow him to serve the one-match ban while hurt and then be all square afterwards.
It didn't matter that he was unfit to play so clearly injuries don't count.
I think the club does need to check about Smith. It doesn't matter if the FA has made a mistake, if we play Smith and he later turns out to be ineligible - even if we picked him in good faith - we'll lose the points.

Points? Sorry, not familiar to me. Please explain.

[FFC1987]

David Beckham intentionally committed a yellow-card foul against Wales in a World Cup qualifier played in October 2004. He later explained he'd sustained a rib injury which he knew would sideline him for the next match, so wanted to get his second caution of the qualifiers to allow him to serve the one-match ban while hurt and then be all square afterwards.
It didn't matter that he was unfit to play so clearly injuries don't count.
I think the club does need to check about Smith. It doesn't matter if the FA has made a mistake, if we play Smith and he later turns out to be ineligible - even if we picked him in good faith - we'll lose the points.

I know some parts of the club have been ran dreadfully but I'm sure they're on top of eligible players!!!!

[dannyboi-ffc]

that actually may not be the case anymore, Sunderland played an ineligible player last season and got a warning.

Apparently the premier league has different rules to the football league. Had they done that in the championship they probably would've been deducted points. I personally think its dodgy and maybe we should just not play him saturday.

[domprague]

Exactly.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/may/03/gus-poyet-sunderland-points-ji-dong-won-ineligible

that actually may not be the case anymore, Sunderland played an ineligible player last season and got a warning.

Apparently the premier league has different rules to the football league. Had they done that in the championship they probably would've been deducted points. I personally think its dodgy and maybe we should just not play him saturday.

[The Enclosurite]

I think the big question is: Do we trust the administration at the club to get this right?  On their recent showings I would say no and to err on the side of caution would probably be the best move.

[sunburywhite]

Just ring the bloody FA and get an answer in writing. Then if it is wrong it is down to them

[HatterDon]

these last couple of posts are kind of hilarious