Sunday, June 10, 2001
FOOTBALL: WE CAN BE EURO STARS WITHOUT CANIGGIA!
DUNDEE keeper Jamie Langfield knows the critics have put the kettle on for his side to fail spectacularly this season without Claudio Caniggia.
The Argentinian superstar will officially sign for Rangers within the next fortnight in a pounds 750,000 deal after a spectacular six-month spell at Dens Park.
All eyes will now be on Ivano Bonetti's men to see how they cope.
And they'll get their chance next Saturday when the Dark Blues entertain Yugoslavian side Sartid in the Inter-Toto Cup. The club had the players in yesterday for the start of a gruelling pre-season schedule.
Langfield believes Dundee will be ready for the challenge and feels it is disrespectful to suggest otherwise. And he has the statistics to prove it.
The Scotland under-21 star said: "People will want to see us flop and will not expect us to do well without Claudio. During the break there was a newspaper article with stats that proved we won more games when he wasn't in the side.
"We have quality players and it's ignorant to dismiss us because of one man. Fabian Caballero is different class and he'll do well for us this term.
"The downside is that he, too, will attract attention from other teams and we could end up losing him. But the club have shown ambition by giving him a contract and Beto Carranza, Gavin Rae and Giorgi Nemsadze will be up for it. We need team effort to beat Sartid in the Inter-Toto.
"We are treating this seriously and I know the gaffer has a couple of videos of them for us to watch.
"We want to go all the way and make it into the UEFA Cup. Sartid rested top players in their last couple of games to make sure they are fully fit."
Langfield has been guaranteed the No.1 spot by Bonetti after proving in the final two months of the season he was a better all-round keeper than Italian Marco Rocatti, who has now returned to his homeland.
He beamed: "The gaffer said I will start as first choice and it's up to me to make sure that doesn't change.
"I'm out of contract at the end of the new season and want to impress to get a new one or to attract interest.
"The most important thing is that the club does well and we prove a few points. People will expect us to run out of steam come January or February as we started early but it won't happen.
"If you're winning games and doing well, confidence is high. We'll aim for a place in Europe at the end of this season without having to play in the Inter-Toto. That's our target - we don't want to be a middle of the road side."