Sunday 15 April 2012

TIME FOR KLASNIC?

After three fairly successful seasons at Bolton Wanderers, Ivan Klasnic is likely to leave the Lancashire club in the summer. However Owen Coyle's team in the bottom three of the English Premiership, it appears time for Klasnic to leave his mark on the club if the team is to avoid relegation. Klasnic is the teams top goalscorer with 9 goals. Kevin Davies and David Ngog however have struggled severely and Tuncay has been afforded little opportunity.

Klasnic is unlikely to start all of the remaining fixtures. But it is hoped he will make a telling contribution as in his crucial winner against QPR when the time is needed. Klasnic, also still has a unexpected chance to make Croatia's Euro 2012 squad with Eduardo and Niko Kranjcar struggling with injury. Nikola Kalinic and Mladen Petric appear to have fallen out of favor with Slaven Bilic, who may look at Klasnic should he save Bolton.

Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Perisic and Nikica Jelavic also seem to have found their form just at the right time to secure their places in Croatia's squad. Ivica Olic's Champions League strike for Bayern Munich against Marsielles also showed he still has enough to be considered and should play for his country in his last tournament this summer. Palermo's Igor Budan also could not have done more to turn Slaven Bilic's head. However Bilic has been conservative in his approach to management with Croatia in recent year and is unlikely to plump for the 31 year old, despite his 7 goals.

In midfield Tomislav Dujmovic, Ogjnen Vukojevic, Dario Srna, Daniel Pranjic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic all look to have done enough. However Hamburg's Ivo Ilicevic and Koln's Mato Jajalo look likely to miss out after quiet second half to the season. Dinamo Zagreb's Milan Badelj and Sammir look to stand a chance should injurys strike. Marin Ljubicic has also done well with Tavria and Ivica Vrdoljak has enjoy a good couple of season as captain of Legia Warsaw and will stake their claim if Croatia lose a defensive midfielder.