Underage squads: Best Prospects

Eoink21 wrote: You don't think there have been many Irish fellas playing for the North? Or just none of the standard that would be good enough for Ireland, underage and senior? I think GC is right in that regard. There is pragmatism at play. Even among underage set ups Daithi McCallion (am I allowed to say who his mother is i.e. an SF politician) is with NI. I have no idea if he is good enough for ROI but I can't imagine NI is his first choice.

Ah don't.

You Tell Me wrote: It's definitely easier in a case like Moore's where he hasn't played competitively for the north. Once any of these lads play competitively for the north at under 17, under 19 or under 21, they've put themselves in a position where any switch to us is final. Looking at the depth or emerging talent we have coming through compared to the north there's no question senior international football is going to be a long shot with us, compared to with them. Probably the best thing they can do is one of these two things: 1. Don't take any competitive caps from NI at the early age groups - if there is interest from Ireland go with us initially, NI will then still be there as a fallback for lads that don't make the grade with us. or 2. Take the competitive underage caps for the north but, if preference is to play for Ireland, refuse any competitive senior caps until they're out of age group football. At that point they'll have a better idea what their prospects are and whether they're likely to be good enough to make it with us. Probably Conor Bradley should have done one of those. He's facing into a long international career now in a team that looks like it will be very poor and within an organisation that doesn't want to reflect the identity of people like him. When he actually may well have been good enough to play for us in time. It's definitely a different decision process for the nationalist lads in the north though, there's no point pretending otherwise.

Edited by You Tell Me - 08 Feb 2023 at 9:50am

Steven Beacom broke the news in the Belfast Telegraph about the FAI’s interest in Sean Moore. Yesterday he was crediting Tom Mohan for taking a personal interest from an early stage and showing more initiative than his northern counterparts. Maybe his source is somewhere in Tom’s camp. I would be surprised if Michael O’Neill did not try to intervene now but hopefully Sean has already made his mind up. The sky will be the limit for him when he goes to the PL and reaps the benefits of full-time training as a professional footballer.

The comments in the BelTel are certainly interesting.

This chap has the potential to be the next Mikey Johnston!

Heimatklange wrote: horsebox wrote: The comments in the BelTel are certainly interesting. Examples?

Edited by horsebox - 08 Feb 2023 at 12:40pm

The funny thing is the poster is usually the one with a sash around their neck.