Players eligible for Ireland

irishmufc wrote: Irish2011 wrote: I see no surrender got a nice airing during god save the queen today. How any Catholic could play with them is beyond me. Any Catholic? Grow up

why? I sure wouldn't play for them.

Looking at it in a purely footballing sense, and in terms of what would be the better move as from a career perspective, Northern Ireland are ahead of us right now. That obviously has to play a part in these players' decision-making process too.

NewtNewbie wrote: Looking at it in a purely footballing sense, and in terms of what would be the better move as from a career perspective, Northern Ireland are ahead of us right now. That obviously has to play a part in these players' decision-making process too.

Maccatacca wrote: NewtNewbie wrote: Looking at it in a purely footballing sense, and in terms of what would be the better move as from a career perspective, Northern Ireland are ahead of us right now. That obviously has to play a part in these players' decision-making process too. In FIFA rankings only.  Wales are still a good bit ahead of us in the rankings. We still managed to stumble past their 'golden generation'.  In terms of whats coming through, we'll be miles ahead of the North, with the right manager in place. Our under-15's all the way up to under-21's are far better than their northern equivalents. And while there are several Northern-born Irish men who we should be targeting, many of them are no better than what we already have. Even Paul Smyth, who I'm a fan of, is no better than Ryan Manning at QPR, both play in a similar position.  The difference is, Smyth can become the main man for Northern Ireland within the next two-three years, it would take him significantly longer to become a regular starter for us. As a left-sided attacker, Smyth would be in direct competition with James McClean, Robbie Brady, Callum O'Dowda, Daryl Horgan, Ryan Manning, Aiden McGeady (Meh), and then even the likes of Callum Robinson who is due to join up with us, is capable of playing on the left of attacking midfield, while Alan Judge could also be deployed in a similar position. And that's without mentioning players like Johnny Hayes, and a few under-19's / under-21's who will break through in the coming year or two.  If Smyth does stay with the North, and he most likely will, then it will be the correct career decision for him, but not because they're 'ahead' of us, but because he has a better chance of featuring and showcasing his talents more regularly, and I'm sure he's aware of that. I'm fairly certain he was quoted as saying that it would be 'quite difficult' for him to break into our senior set-up.

NewtNewbie wrote: Maccatacca wrote: NewtNewbie wrote: Looking at it in a purely footballing sense, and in terms of what would be the better move as from a career perspective, Northern Ireland are ahead of us right now. That obviously has to play a part in these players' decision-making process too. In FIFA rankings only.  Wales are still a good bit ahead of us in the rankings. We still managed to stumble past their 'golden generation'.  In terms of whats coming through, we'll be miles ahead of the North, with the right manager in place. Our under-15's all the way up to under-21's are far better than their northern equivalents. And while there are several Northern-born Irish men who we should be targeting, many of them are no better than what we already have. Even Paul Smyth, who I'm a fan of, is no better than Ryan Manning at QPR, both play in a similar position.  The difference is, Smyth can become the main man for Northern Ireland within the next two-three years, it would take him significantly longer to become a regular starter for us. As a left-sided attacker, Smyth would be in direct competition with James McClean, Robbie Brady, Callum O'Dowda, Daryl Horgan, Ryan Manning, Aiden McGeady (Meh), and then even the likes of Callum Robinson who is due to join up with us, is capable of playing on the left of attacking midfield, while Alan Judge could also be deployed in a similar position. And that's without mentioning players like Johnny Hayes, and a few under-19's / under-21's who will break through in the coming year or two.  If Smyth does stay with the North, and he most likely will, then it will be the correct career decision for him, but not because they're 'ahead' of us, but because he has a better chance of featuring and showcasing his talents more regularly, and I'm sure he's aware of that. I'm fairly certain he was quoted as saying that it would be 'quite difficult' for him to break into our senior set-up.  That's not quite true, if we are to be really honest with ourselves. The North are clearly the more cohesive and formidable force these days. They have a momentum behind them and an ability to put in the sort of performances we just don't see from Ireland at this period of O'Neill's reign. They stayed competitive throughout both legs of their World Cup play-off with the Swiss, only missing out due to a terrible refereeing decision, despite being drawn against superior opposition to us. We, in contrast, ended up being crushed 1-5 at home by a mediocre Denmark side. It's a statement of the obvious to point out that we have greater depth to the players available to us. The Netherlands also have more players to pick from than Iceland. So what? When drawn in the same European Championship qualifying group, Iceland finished 2nd, ahead of Holland in 4th, qualifying automatically. Iceland won their World Cup qualifying group. The Dutch finished theirs in 3rd place, not even securing a play-off spot. We might have better players coming through than the North, and of course our prospective fortunes may eventually change, but be aware I used the phrase 'right now'. Your contention that Smyth is 'no better' than Manning also leaves you on shaky ground, and isn't really borne out by the respective playing time those players have seen over the last few of months. Smyth looks a genuinely exciting prospect with has the sort of pace and directness that I think we'd love to be able to call on. Even O'Neill enthused over him in a way I've never seen him display with regards to Manning.

Edited by Maccatacca - 25 Mar 2018 at 2:10pm

On the subject of players eligible for Ireland. 21 year-old Irish born striker Jon Gallagher scored two goals in Atlanta United II’s first ever game last night.

It’s difficult to get excited about someone scoring in the the MLS’s second division, but the lad absolutely has talent, and was one of the top rated prospects during the draft, a good season this year and he should be up to playing MLS next season.

He’s extremely technically gifted for an Irish born player, and is comfortable playing at number 10, left-wing, and as an all out striker.

Again we’ll have reservations about the standard of the MLS, but if this lad can make an impact at that level next season, he’ll be a viable option for us.

Noel King was in contact about calling him up to the under-21’s but a call-up didn’t materialize this time. He was also invited to play underage for America a year or two ago but didn’t have the correct paper work to represent them at the time.

Maccatacca wrote: On the subject of players eligible for Ireland. 21 year-old Irish born striker Jon Gallagher scored two goals in Atlanta United II’s first ever game last night. It’s difficult to get excited about someone scoring in the the MLS’s second division, but the lad absolutely has talent, and was one of the top rated prospects during the draft, a good season this year and he should be up to playing MLS next season. He’s extremely technically gifted for an Irish born player, and is comfortable playing at number 10, left-wing, and as an all out striker. Again we’ll have reservations about the standard of the MLS, but if this lad can make an impact at that level next season, he’ll be a viable option for us. Noel King was in contact about calling him up to the under-21’s but a call-up didn’t materialize this time. He was also invited to play underage for America a year or two ago but didn’t have the correct paper work to represent them at the time.

Edited by NewtNewbie - 25 Mar 2018 at 7:09pm

Paul Smyth scored the Winner for Norn Iron against South Korea and appears as committed to playing for them as Declan Rice does for us!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/mar/24/northern-ireland-south-korea-international-friendly-match-report

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/northern-ireland-vs-south-korea-highlights-video-result-score-paul-smyth-goal-debut-a8272201.html

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43529184

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/northern-ireland-goalscorer-paul-smyth-dismisses-suggestion-he-might-have-switched-allegiance-to-the-republic-of-ireland-36741806.html

The North are a better team than us and have been for a year or 2. Kills me to say it but it's true. We are very poor and by the looks of things, will be for the foreseeable future.