Joe Hodge

The O'Shea wrote: So once again, no evidence whatsoever that Hodge isn't committed to representing Ireland. Bizarre and predictable that that is the main talking point of a young Irish player starting in the Premier League.

Not as toxic as the abuse Stephen Kenny has been getting for not calling him up when people don't know whether he tried to call him up or not.

Nialler wrote: Criticising every player underage who has a shot of playing for Ireland who was not born here is far far more damaging than questioning how an international manager builds a playing pool. Kenny's mandate is to oversee a transition to a different style and bring through the young players.  I have been firmly behind Kenny for a few years and feel it is perfectly rational to judge him on that criteria. He has done some things well but he is failing at this stage on a lot of things. He is between a rock and a hard place and is in need of a miracle in qualifiers.

How would you suggest any Ireland manager builds the playing pool differently? I previously listed dozens of the best players eligible for us who were either already in the setup or approached several times and didn't want to play for us. Coaches at underage level like Noel King were literally calling up every eligible player with a pulse because they were working on a commission. If Kenny tried to call up Hodge and Hodge declined, would you prefer Kenny keep it in house, or mention it to the media and risk ostracizing the player? If he did the previous instead of the latter, then it would probably be good man-management, but people want to jump to conclusions. It doesn't really make sense that he'd call up Ferguson but not Hodge, considering how much of a problem position midfield is. And Hodge, like it or not, has played for England in the past. He's committed now. So were Grealish and Rice at the same stage of development. So were Ronan/Crowley/Michael Keane (I know Ronan back in the fold now).

Glad to know someone knows what Kenny’s mandate is. Any chance it also includes winning games or qualifying for tournaments?

Kenny needs to cap hodge ASAP. If the likes of hourihane is in the squad over him come March. Kenny should be sacked on the spot.

Great talent and enthusiastic to play for the senior team, get him in by all means.

SeaSharp wrote: Fans don't seem overly enamoured with him on social media. To be fair he's getting fairly decent minutes in a relegation battling side despite having zero senior experience, always going to be tough.

A lot of people saying he should be ahead of Hourihane, and I agree, but Hendrick, Browne, Cullen, Molumby, Knight, McGrath and probably Smallbone are all ahead of him as things stand so I don't know if it's realistic for him to get any meaningful game time against Latvia on the current trajectory, regardless of whether Kenny tried to call him up against Norway and Malta or not. I know people are anxious for him to be integrated as soon as possible given what happened with Rice and Grealish but the former has proven that even friendly starts, let alone token minutes, aren't necessarily going to tie anyone down. Leaving aside the eligibility issue, I don't think he's ready to be fast tracked yet. And Kenny is probably more worried about improving his win record and setting us up for a hiding to nothing against France and Netherlands than playing to the peanut gallery. He's fine in the 21's for now. Let him get a campaign under his belt at that level and let the chips fall where they may. 

Nialler wrote: SeaSharp wrote: Fans don't seem overly enamoured with him on social media. To be fair he's getting fairly decent minutes in a relegation battling side despite having zero senior experience, always going to be tough.  They are bottom of the league and hate evevyone right now. Socmed means nothing.

Edited by SC92 - 05 Jan 2023 at 1:10am