John O'Shea

An Irish contingent at reading to rival PNE now

Edited by Charlton's Child - 06 Jun 2018 at 6:01pm

Has 2 kids with another on the way. Even if he had offers from there, which I'd say would be unlikely, moving the whole family over would be a tricky move.

Jimmy Bullard - "Favorite band? Elastic."

Het-field wrote:

Well done to JOS on a great contribution to the Irish setup. Over 100 caps, two major tournaments (unfortunate it wasn’t more), unwaveringly committed to the cause. His membership of the top 5 Most decorated Irish players is just reward for his outstanding contribute.

Enjoy retirement.

Exactly a fantastic servant to Ireland and a top man.

Double Maxim without doubt the greatest drink in the world

Double Maxim wrote:

John is retiring at the end of the season.

I'd imagine he will be looking for a coaching job as he's done his coaching badges.

As long as he doesn't do any more punditry or commentary I will wish him all the best!

Happy retirement to him, a top player for us. He did really well to get another 10 years after that terrible injury in 2009 which seemed to rob him of his athleticism.

We're decent enough..

mully_85 wrote:

The O'Shea wrote:

Happy retirement to him, a top player for us. He did really well to get another 10 years after that terrible injury in 2009 which seemed to rob him of his athleticism.

what injury was that??? did it affect him badly

He went off with a dead leg in the play-off game against France in Paris and subsequently developed a blood clot which ruled him out of the remainder of that season.

Maybe a place for him in the NEW look fai

The O'Shea wrote:

mully_85 wrote:

The O'Shea wrote:

Happy retirement to him, a top player for us. He did really well to get another 10 years after that terrible injury in 2009 which seemed to rob him of his athleticism.

what injury was that??? did it affect him badly

A blood clot in his leg. He was never really able to play at full back again after it.

There was some doubt as to whether he could before that! In saying that, he turned into a wonderful centre-half and has had a fine career. He always came across as one of the more likeable players in the game.

Gerry Geary wrote:

Tbh. Better center back than full back. But Alex used him cleverly as a support for a back 3 when needed. Clever scottish. That is my pont of view. A good defender so he could slot anywhere there plus as holding mid. In a Mark Lawrenson mould as a versatileplayer but Lawro was much better.

He was a dreadful holding midfielder. He played in midfield in a league cup game for United against Burnley in December 2002 and did ok. For the next few years, our old friend Cathal Dervan (now one of Delaney's crew), devoted plenty of column inches to the idea of O'Shea playing for Ireland in central midfield.

Brian Kerr finally took the brave step of picking O'Shea in the middle of the park for the critical final qualifying game for the 2006 World Cup when Ireland faced Switzerland at Lansdowne. O'Shea was abysmal that night and looked lost. He was completely outplayed by Johann Vogel who was a very competent midfielder for the Swiss. It was the wrong selection at the wrong time, and a contributing factor to the anaemic performance which led to Kerr losing his job.