Perhaps it's fitting that the man now tutoring striker Iain Hume is mildly famous for once having talked a suicidal woman off the Humber Bridge.
Hume delivered new manager Phil Brown an immediate gift the past weekend, scoring an injury-time equalizer - his second goal in three matches and fifth this season - against Leicester City to give relegation-threatened Preston North End a valuable 1-1 draw.
One league match is far too early to draw conclusions about the flourishing relationship between manager and player. But I can't deny that upon learning of Brown's appointment at Preston I fantasized over Hume convincing him to one day take the reigns of the Canadian mens' team, and how his amateur psychology skills would be put to such excellent use treating the team's hardcore supporters.
But Canada has a manager, and the bigger implication from Hume's continued good form is that he is playing himself into the starting eleven for Canada's upcoming friendly against Greece.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Writing about Canadian strikers that aren't Simeon Jackson can be a delicate matter at Some Canadian Guys, given that my colleagues would nominate him for FIFA player of the year if they could. But starting spots should go to players who are playing and scoring, and Jackson is doing not much of the former and even less of the latter.
Here's what the Guardian said about Hume's performance:
Ok. That dampens somewhat the enthusiasm for a vital injury-time goal, but rather than dwelling on how many goals Hume didn't score let's focus on the one he did. The one confirmed call-up for the Greece friendly at striker is Olivier Occean. He got off to a great start in the German 3rd division this season, but that's also part of the problem. He plays in the German 3rd division.Iain Hume's goal was a long time coming, the striker having missed the target several times, a sore reminder of a desperate lack of firepower.
Other notable Concacaf and Canadian performances abroad the past weekend:
- Pedro Pacheco won his first start of the year for Santa Clara in the Portuguese second division. He played 85 minutes in 1-1 draw against Freamunde in an apparent midfield attacking role. This builds on two recent substitute appearances and maybe indicates a more permanent role in the side.
- David Edgar came on as a 85th minute sub for Burnley in a 0-0 draw with Queen's Park Rangers. Those five or so precious minutes rank alongside the injury time runout against Sheffield United on Jan 1 as the first time Edgar has seen the pitch since a substitute appearance also against Sheff. Utd way back on October 16.
- Julian Uccello made his first start of the season playing the full 90 minutes in a 5-0 thumping by Pro Patria. Wait, Pro Patria doesn't play in Serie B, and it turns out neither does Julian Uccello at the moment. He's on loan to Casale Calcio in the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione A (the Italian fourth division). Am I happy to have another striker in the national team player pool demoted to a lower league? No. But based on the work Uccello put in to get to Italy in the first place, I'm sure he'll ride this opportunity with everything he's got.
- Canada's eternal Concacaf rival Honduras has placed another player in Europe's top leagues. Georgie Welcome left the Honduran squad early at the Copa Centroamerica to complete his physical and sign papers with French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.