DADI NO JOKE IN ROYALS BID FOR SURVIVAL
REJECTION WAS MAKING OF SHAQ
PAUL LAMBERT reckons being dumped by Pep Guardiola helped make Xherdan Shaqiri a star for Stoke.
Guardiola offloaded Shaqiri (with Lambert, left) 18 months into his reign at Bayern Munich to Inter Milan in 2015.
The Swiss ace is in the form of his life ahead of tonight’s reunion with Guardiola and Lambert says that experience of playing for Bayern and Inter shaped him as a player.
“Big clubs bring you on no end,” said the Stoke boss. “You’re playing with great players and have the expectancy of having to win trophies.
“Shaq has been at those type of clubs and, when he stops playing, to have all those big clubs on your CV is not too bad. At this minute, he is playing incredible football for us. He’s enjoying his football. He’s on top of his game and a threat.”
Lambert claims it is no slur on Shaqiri, 26, that he did not prosper under Guardiola.
“He was a young player at a massive club with Arjen Robben in front of him,” added the Scot.
“You could say things never worked out for him at Bayern, but he was good enough to be there in the first place.” OFF the pitch at Reading Jon Dadi Bodvarsson is the butt of jokes, but on it he is banging in the goals to keep the Royals in the Championship.
The Iceland international (above) scored for the 10th time this season to move the club a point closer to safety.
Bodvarsson joined from Wolves last summer and full-back Leandro Bacuna admitted he is the fall guy for gags in the Madejski dressing room.
“He’s doing a great job,” said Bacuna. “He is a great lad, is always fighting and is quite funny. He’s not a joker, he’s just a bit slow. That’s the way he is. I get on with him very well.
“He doesn’t get the jokes in the dressing room but as long as we give him confidence then he’ll be there for us when we need him. He always wants to do the best he can.”
Bodvarsson has 32 caps and is set to go to the World Cup. Bacuna added: “It’s good for him to score some goals as maybe the manager from Iceland will be looking and he will get a chance.”
Pontus Jansson and Pablo Hernandez replied to Bodvarsson’s opener to put Leeds ahead, but Eunan O’Kane deflected into his own goal to make it nine away games without a win for the Yorkshiremen.
Leeds are 11 points off the playoffs and O’Kane said: “We’ve not won enough games this calendar year. I think it’s only been one and it’s disappointing not to come away with three points here.”