Dinosaurs

Like the Greek god Prometheus I am here to bring the fire to the masses and education to the uninformed, hopefully I won't share his same fate by doing so if you don't know what happen to him google it, I'm about the football today ancient Hellenic mythology is for a time. If you are not aware this a section I like to call Dinosaurs it is the after thought to the series which I call the Hatchlings and the pre cursor to my Fossils segment. This section may fall between the two spectrums but don't be concerned it won't settle for mid table mediocrity like Wigan its compelling, amusing and colorful literally. Dinosaurs is all about players in the sunset of their careers the old guard if you will, players who are a bit long in the tooth their not dead but in a couple of years their careers will be.









Name: Ludovic Magnin




D/O/H: 04/20/1979 (age 30)




Place of Hatching: Lausanne, Switzerland




Position: Defender (Left Back/Center Back)




Prefered Claw: Left




Height: 6'1ft/inches




National Team: Switzerland




Caps:47




Club Teams: FC Echallens (1987- 1996), Lausanne Sport (96-97), Yverdon Sport (1997- 2000),




Lugano (2000-02), Weder Bremen (2002-05), Stuttgart (2005-present)

You know life is a bit unfair when you grow up to be bald and ginger but this is no issue to Switzerland's hard man Ludovic Magnin. Ludovic was born in Lausanne a district in the French speaking Canton of Vaud on the 20th of April 1979 to parents of French descent.If the list of clubs shown above is not an indicator of his age it should indicate that the 30 year old is a fairly nomadic palyer. In all fairness to him his travels have only taken him to various cantons of his homeland and across the Rhine to Deuschtland(Germany). It all began at club level for the vocal Swiss in 1987 when he joined up with FC Echallens where he spent nine years before moving onto Lausanne Sport for just bearly a year. Magnin got his first professional start in the town of Yverdon les Bains with Yverdon Sport FC where in his three year tenure accumulated 45 appearances and netting two goals he was not as prolific at his next club Lugano where he could not find the twine in his 45 appearances over a two year span. Don't worry lad that's not your job anyway, soon the brighter lighters of the Bundesliga were calling and Magnin took heed to its allure joining up with then at the time a very hungry Weder Bremen in 2002 making 45 cameos until he departed in the season of 05 for pastures a new but not before chalking up a Bundesliga medal and getting a touch of the DFB Pokal in a double title winning season of 2003-04. The pastures surely could not been as bountiful as the one he was leaving. Or was it?Stuttgart was his next destination and like his glory hunting countryman Roger Federer seem to find yet another title this time in 2006 his second Bundesliga badge only to date having played 87 time for VFB.

Internationally Ludovic is a bit of a late bloomer finally catching the eye of then coach Kobi Kuhn. The father of Swiss football decided to give the old boy a run out in August 2000 against Greece since then he has amassed 47 caps for his nation and is a steady preformer even chipping in with the odd goal three to be exact.A nice surprise for his opposition is his cannon like free kicks which on one ocassion knocked team mate Marco Streller unconscious for apporximately four minutes more extra time was needed warm the heart that one.

Magnin in my opinion is a felxible player in terms of team formation but in terms of skill he falls short, a lot of determination is expected from a man whose friends call him Pitbull but he simply is not that skillful. He is stuck in a crossroads between the modern and traditional fullback, to often he bombs up the flank to only find himself dangerously out of position and does not have the legs to get back calling on his center backs to plug his holes if you are relying on Djourou and Senderos to help you out, you are pretty much raped. That being said I adore the man if I was not an unfit musk ox, google that, I would want to be just like him he gets in your face tough tackler and would flash kick a priest if he had too, was that a bit to far maybe. My best quote I could tie to the Swiss is one of my favourite biblical quote involving the Man up stairs which is, " Well done, Good and Faithful Servant." Magnin you had your time in the sun with the likes of Mario Eggiman gunning for your spot give us a couple seasons more and equilibrium will return to the world.

Reptile