Murf, if my memory serves me correctly, Paddy Kenny asked Staunton to not consider him as his wife walked out on him and he went through some personal hell. He has made himself available since without success. If I am correct in this opinion I think you are being a little harsh on him as regards his commitment to Ireland.
Canaries midfielder Pilkington focussing on Norwich City.
The Lancashire-born left winger, however, is in no rush to pledge his allegiance to the country of his birth or that of his ancestors. “If they both came in I’d have to think about it, but I’m not thinking about that. I’m just enjoying my football down here at Norwich,” he said. “I’m not thinking about any international call-ups or anything like that, I just want to concentrate on getting the three points each week and playing well.
I think Trapattoni should call him upOriginally Posted by Sullivinho
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
If they both came in I’d have to think about it.Now how on earth could anyone stand by this guy after saying the above. He's as much as issued a "come and get me" to England in stating that despite who he represented as youth he doesn't feel he's declared for a country and is willing to listen to any who'd come forward. People like this guy are whats wrong with the international game and supporters who tolerate or even encourage mercenaries such as this to play for their country.You look around and there’s young British players, but there’s so much quality in the changing room and I think people underestimated us coming into the season.
This lad can **** off. He can enjoy his summer off preparing for the championship while Wes is in Poland.
You're being a bit harsh in judging Pilkington on one comment. Pilkington will not be going to Euro 12, but is certainly one for the future. I remember when Clinton was first asked about representing Ireland, he was unsure where his allegiance lay. However, once he came on board, he gave 100% and even turned up to watch a B International. Pragatism must overcome emotion if you want success when you only have a tiny population!
Mercenaries haven't exactly done us any harm in the past like.
Someone's got their knickers in a twist. Most of the Norwich squad can be described as British. Pilkington has one Irish grandparent. I presume he is 3/4 British. He is both Irish and British. He's just being honest and a bit naive in coming out with these commments. The most damning thing he said in that piece was “If they both came in I’d have to think about it" and that's fair enough. Who here thinks he'd play for Ireland over England? Who would Andy Townsend have played for if he had the choice?
or in this case "mer-canaries"...
wah, wah, wah.
Stop ruffling feathers, SkStu...
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
Yes, your team have to be in beak condition to avoid being sent pecking from the perch of the premier league.
Taxi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quoting years at random since 1975
...ambulance, more like!
And have the resus team on standby for our collective puns!
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
As things stand he's just another "good player but in a midfield of 5" option. He's closer to Liam Miller than Andy Townsend so I wouldn't be getting carried away. I doubt trap would find room for him in the short to medium term. I'm pinning my hopes on Meyler stringing a good run of games in the latter two thirds of the season. He's currently the best outside bet option to improve Trapp central midfield model.
To illustrate this is the kind of thing I detest in internationals and what I'd gravely like to avoid at any cost with ourselves.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15592408.stm
Kevin Prince Boateng is essentially a german guy who wasn't good enough to play for Germany (he's brother is even a german international, and Kevin represented Germany at under 15, under 16, under 19 and under 21 levels.). When this was apparent and his stock from the hottest young talent in the Bundersliga declined to Spurs reserve and then a relegated Portsmoth has been he was surely about ready to give up on that and jumped at the chance of representing Ghana at the World Cup. A move purely engineered to get himself noticed on the biggest stage in that competition. It worked and he moved to AC Milan afterwards where he's reignited his career.
And now guess what happens? He's retiring from Ghana at the age of 24. ....24.
So yes I'm cynical because that kind of wavering loyalty from foreign based players sets a bad precedent, holds back players who'd love to play for their country and embarrasses the nation when stories like this emerge.
Since he's 23, I can't help thinking that maybe he was one eye on representing GB in the Olympics and we're the fall back option...
Lets just say he were to play in the Olympics for GB could he then go on to still represent us afterwards? Since he wouldn't be capped by any of the home nations.
Stephen Ireland.
Kevin Kilbane.
Andy Townsend.
So your solution is to only pick Irish born players with 100% Irish blood?
Murf you love rugby but do you ignore this scenario for rugby?i gather you do cos there is no way you could watch it with the likes of the "countries" that represented the teams at the world cup gone by.
Id never watch the rugby if it bothered me that much.
Proving things by extreme examples always works well, yes. *eye roll*
All I ask for is commitment that our selected players identify Ireland as their homeland without hesitation or reservation. Which is not too much to ask and they've no business representing this country if they can't do this.
Paul, I don't know what scenario you're referring to. 28 out of the 30-man world cup squad were born and bred in Ireland. The remaining 2 qualify through grandparents (Issac Boss and Tom Court), both have lived and worked here for the past 6 years. Which is a somewhat different scenario to the englishman unaware of his Irish heritage, living and working in England and who may or may not have ever even been to Ireland.
If some guy playing for the Toulouse reserves decided he wasn't getting anywhere with France and made himself available to Ireland through his grandmother's birthplace who he only found out about last week then I'd have the exact same reservation.
Like your KPB example?
So people with split allegiances are out of the running for a place in your squads? How do you enforce your above criteria? Some kind of exam? Get a mind reader in?
As far as I'm concerned, if someone is eligible and declares then they win and maintain their place in the squad on footballing merit.
Last edited by Irwin3; 05/11/2011 at 1:47 AM.
Murf, I think POS was referring to the mercenary aspect which is endemic in international rugby as a whole. England have a number of 'poaches' such as Hartley and Tuilagi. You can find plenty of Australian, NZ and SA-born players playing for second tier countries like Japan, Italy and Canada. Even SA have the odd Namibian or Zimbabwe-born player (Mtawarira, for example), while the All Blacks have been accused of 'poaching' players from the Pacific Island nations for years. Irish rugby is relatively 'clean' in that regard, but then, a lot of our rugby players come from more privileged family backgrounds, where emigration isn't so common.
Having said that, I would prefer our English-born players to have declared at the first opportunity, and I'd agree on that point - the likes of McGeady, McCarthy, Foley and Walters all played underage for us and never hesitated to answer the call. Late bloomers like Lawrence and St. Ledger both jumped at the chance to play for us and have been very committed. On the other hand, players like Jon Macken and Paul Butler never really passed the 'gut test'; it took me a while to warm to Clinton Morrison, and the idea of someone like Jermaine Pennant or Mark Noble playing for Ireland would leave me feeling a little bit disillusioned. We have to draw the line somewhere.
I'd put Pilkington slightly closer to Lawrence's situation than Pennant's, in that international football was simply not a consideration for him when he was playing in the lower leagues. My 'gut' says that I'd rather see Coleman or Robbie Brady blooded on the right wing.
I wondered a while back about what Pilkington's situation was. He played one game for the U'21s in 2008 and then wasn't seen again. Was it a self-imposed exile or did the management deem him to be not up to standard? Maybe his past rejection has made him hesistant to make a public declaration and to keep his options open?
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