Mipo Odubeko

yeah, not knocking anyone. Glad to see Idah, Afolabi, et al in green

kevin100 wrote: DeclanDaly wrote: Obviously, Nigeria focuses on players with Nigerian lineage - and there are a lot. They have a very sophisticated camp structure for recruiting players and integrating them. I’m not sure how successful it has been overall, but the intent is there. And the fans are all over tracking the diaspora. Their disadvantage is that their international calendar conflicts with the domestic calendar for players based in Europe. I guess that’s not appealing for young players who are starting their careers. Any Irish born lad with Nigerian parents have opted to play for us. You really can’t knock them.  I’d be far more understanding of them opting to play for Nigeria as they would be raised to have real loyalty to their own roots then I would the likes of Will Keane Dan Crowley Declan Rice etc who played for us dumped us and in the former 2s cases came running back when they realised they weren’t playing for England. That’s charlatan behaviour.

How many have actually switched back to African countries from this part of the world? can only think of Zaha and Victor Moses and they were already pretty well established at club level at the time ........think it could be seen as a hinderance to the development of a young player making his way switching with the travel involved ......there's certainly never been a plethora of young black English born players going that way......has there been any Irish born as of yet

I think Ogbene, Afolabi and Kioso have all at least spoken about representing the African countries they qualify for at some point or another. Roberto Lopez and Eamon Zayed have actually gone and done it, but in both cases they would never have been capped by Ireland.

Howdo wrote: You Tell Me wrote: I think Ogbene, Afolabi and Kioso have all at least spoken about representing the African countries they qualify for at some point or another. Roberto Lopez and Eamon Zayed have actually gone and done it, but in both cases they would never have been capped by Ireland. I suspect a few of the lads of African background might like to do it, but the practicalities of it make it difficult in terms of travel, match timings and so on. Also, while we knock the FAI, I'd say some of the African associations probably make our lads look like Liverpool or  Man City in terms of organisational structure and professionalism in comparison. The reality is that while becoming English increases a player's value and potential income, becoming an international for an African nation probably has the opposite effect. The main issue with Irish born players with two overseas born parents is always the risk that they will move abroad without becoming as attached to their country of birth as players with one or more Irish born parents might. We have already seen this with Dennis Cirkin, who appears to have no interest at all in representing us, it will be England or, maybe more likely, Latvia for him. Afolabi has stated his mother wants him to play for them but that he himself is committed to us

Fozz wrote: You Tell Me wrote: I think Ogbene, Afolabi and Kioso have all at least spoken about representing the African countries they qualify for at some point or another. Roberto Lopez and Eamon Zayed have actually gone and done it, but in both cases they would never have been capped by Ireland. With due respect to the three lads, I think it is ambitious of any of them to be talking about International football.  And I am not suggesting they are but likely being asked by journalists or whomever so need to produce some sort of answer, that then goes on to be over-analysed by fans. All have shown glimpses of quality at various stages but none are doing much to suggest they would be selected for an International team like Ireland or, less so, a Nigeria. I'd be delighted if all three turned out to be excellent pros, moved up the leagues and went on to represent us in any meaningful way, but I'd be surprised if any were to.  As surprised as if the likes of Curtis, Harness, Sykes, Sadlier and even Cassidy etc. were to do the same.  I mean players in that 'League 1' quality bracket, for want of a better description. I'm as excited (more so!) as the next lad for the future with what seems to be a conveyor belt of talent coming through the ages but as we have seen on so many occasions, most won't make the grade as a regular senior Irish Internationals as that grade is simply exceptionally hard to achieve. Back to Mipu, now this lad is knocking on the door of a decent PL team having had a good time at a top academy, so we're looking at a different creature here. Am very excited about his prospects.

 

Edited by kevin100 - 24 Jan 2021 at 10:01pm

Howdo wrote: You Tell Me wrote: I think Ogbene, Afolabi and Kioso have all at least spoken about representing the African countries they qualify for at some point or another. Roberto Lopez and Eamon Zayed have actually gone and done it, but in both cases they would never have been capped by Ireland. I suspect a few of the lads of African background might like to do it, but the practicalities of it make it difficult in terms of travel, match timings and so on. Also, while we knock the FAI, I'd say some of the African associations probably make our lads look like Liverpool or  Man City in terms of organisational structure and professionalism in comparison. The reality is that while becoming English increases a player's value and potential income, becoming an international for an African nation probably has the opposite effect. The main issue with Irish born players with two overseas born parents is always the risk that they will move abroad without becoming as attached to their country of birth as players with one or more Irish born parents might. We have already seen this with Dennis Cirkin, who appears to have no interest at all in representing us, it will be England or, maybe more likely, Latvia for him.   Afolabi has stated his mother wants him to play for them but that he himself is committed to us

I don't think international football is something Afolabi needs to worry about

Edited by BaileNuisBhoy - 25 Jan 2021 at 1:37am

Deco79 wrote: Look at the club this lad is at! If they could convince Rice who played from underage to seniors for us to switch to England then I'm pretty sure they'll try it here too. If the U21's are playing in March expect to hear "carrying a knock/injury" or "concentrating on making the first team/season" if he's unsure of who he wants to represent. If he was to choose Nigeria then fair enough because his folks and heritage are Nigerian and he'd be pretty proud of that I'm guessing

His name is Ademipo, or Mipo, not Mipu.

horsebox wrote: Rice has a lot of family in Cork.