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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Josef Herbert Scharner[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 11 March 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Scheibbs, Austria | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Central defender, Midfielder, Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | West Bromwich Albion | ||
| Number | 33 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987–1993 | SVG Purgstall | ||
| 1993–1996 | VSE St. Pölten | ||
| 1996–1998 | Austria Wien | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2004 | Austria Wien | 84 | (3) |
| 2004 | SV Salzburg | 18 | (3) |
| 2004–2006 | Brann | 32 | (7) |
| 2006–2010 | Wigan Athletic | 145 | (14) |
| 2010– | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | (6) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1995 | Austria U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Austria U18 | 7 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Austria U21 | 12 | (5) |
| 2002– | Austria | 32 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:04, 21 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Paul Josef Herbert Scharner (born 11 March 1980) is an Austrian footballer who plays for West Bromwich Albion of the Premier League. He usually plays as a central defender or midfielder. He is noted for his positional flexibility having played every outfield position for Wigan except left back.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Early career in Austria
In the Austrian Bundesliga, Scharner played for Austria Wien and SV Salzburg, before joining Norwegian club SK Brann in 2004.
[edit] Brann
Scharner was voted player of the year by the Brann fans in 2005, and one of the best players on all the major player rankings in Norwegian newspapers and TV channels in 2005. All together, his time in Norway was very successful, and soon, clubs from bigger leagues were keen to sign him.
[edit] Wigan Athletic
Scharner signed a 3.5 year deal with Wigan Athletic on 22 December 2005, and joined the squad after the holidays. Wigan agreed a fee of £2,500,000 (€3,700,000, 29,500,000 NOK), making it the biggest transfer in SK Brann's history.[4]
In his first match for Wigan, Scharner scored the winning goal against Arsenal in the Carling Cup. He went on to start in the final for Wigan that season.
On 22 March he became the first Wigan Athletic player to play 100 Premier League games which he played against Hull City.
On 30 August 2009, he scored his first goal of the season against Everton. After a 5–0 defeat to Manchester United, Wigan manager Roberto Martinez preferred to use Scharner in an attacking midfield role. Scharner was a part of the team in November 2009 that lost against Tottenham 9–1, scoring Wigan's only goal in the fixture although when controlling the ball prior to shooting, he appeared to handball it. On 19 April 2010, he announced his decision to leave Wigan Athletic at the end of the 2009–10 season.[5]
[edit] West Brom
On 30 August, Scharner joined West Brom on a two-year deal, having been a free agent since his release by Wigan.[6] Teammate James Morrison has since praised his performances, saying that although Scharner is "a weirdo", has made a positive impact on the team.[7] He made the switch to West Brom with the intent of no longer playing in central defence when manager Roberto Di Mateo told him he will be used as a midfielder.
Scharner has found his best form for Albion playing in his more favoured role of central midfield alongside Youssouf Mulumbu, scoring 4 goals, including the winner in the 3-2 away win vs Sunderland.
On 21 December 2011, Scharner scored an 85th minute at Newcastle to secure a 3-2 victory[8] and the Baggies first league win at St. James' Park since 1977.[9]
[edit] International career
Scharner retired from playing international football for his country after falling out with the Austrian FA (ÖFB). He labelled the set-up a shambles and blamed the unprofessional set-up of the national FA as the reason behind his decision.
In 2008 he showed interest in returning to the Austrian squad, and also had a personal meeting with head coach Josef Hickersberger regarding a possible return, but did not show up in the Austrian 31-player pre-selection for Euro 2008. Scharner made his comeback under the new coach Karel Brückner in August 2008. On 12 October 2010, Scharner was sent off for violent conduct during the second half of the 4–4 away draw against Belgium in a Euro 2012 qualifier.
[edit] Statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 2010–11 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4 |
| Wigan Athletic | 2009–10 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 4 |
| 2008–09 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 1 | |
| 2007–08 | 37 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 5 | |
| 2006–07 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 3 | |
| 2005–06 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 4 | |
| Total | 173 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 185 | 21 | |
[edit] National team statistics
| Austria national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2002 | 4 | 0 |
| 2003 | 5 | 0 |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005 | 2 | 0 |
| 2006 | 3 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 6 | 0 |
| 2009 | 8 | 0 |
| 2010 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | 0 |
[edit] Honours
- Austria Wien
- Austrian Football Bundesliga (1): 2003
- Austrian Cup (1): 2003
- SK Brann
- Norwegian Cup (1): 2004
- Wigan Athletic
- League Cup Runner up: 2006
[edit] References
- ^ "Premier League clubs submit squad lists". Premier League. 2011-09-02. http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headlines/0,,12306~2440123,00.html. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
- ^ "BBC Sport Football player profile Paul Scharner". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/shared/bsp/hi/football/statistics/players/s/scharner_201521.stm. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ^ "Baggies snap up Scharner". Sky Sports. 30 August 2010. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_6349138,00.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter.
- ^ Wigan complete deal for Scharner BBC Sport, 22 December 2005
- ^ Bosman/Free Transfer List: England – Premier League Goal.com, 7 May 2010
- ^ "Baggies announce Scharner deal". ESPN Soccernet. 2010-08-30. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=819374&sec=transfers&cc=5739. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
- ^ http://football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6433976,00.html
- ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=318012&cc=5901
- ^ "Newcastle 2-3 West Brom". BBC News. 21 December 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/16173188.stm.
[edit] External links
- Paul Scharner career stats at Soccerbase
- Official site (German)
- Player profile – Austria Archive
- Career stats – National Football Teams
- BBC Sport profile of Paul Scharner
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- 1980 births
- Living people
- People from Scheibbs District
- Austrian footballers
- Austria international footballers
- Austrian expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Norway
- Expatriate footballers in England
- Association football defenders
- Association football midfielders
- Association football utility players
- FK Austria Wien players
- FC Red Bull Salzburg players
- SK Brann players
- Wigan Athletic F.C. players
- West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
- Austrian Football Bundesliga players
- Premier League players
