Shane Long

**Stuttgart88** · 25/09/2016, 4:51 PM

Long would have had a tap in after great work by Steven Davis, but a defender just got a touch to intercept it and set up a tap in for Ward-Prowse instead. Unlucky for him in a way.

**tricky_colour** · 25/09/2016, 7:23 PM

West Ham have gone down hill a bit since last season!! Wonder is Long will remain on the bench? Don't think this was the game for him though against a poor West Ham.

**DeLorean** · 30/09/2016, 9:34 PM

They just showed a list of players with the most headed PL goals since 2012 on Friday Night Football. Benteke was the topic of conversation and is joint top with Giroud with 19, but interesting to note that our Shane made the list with 10. Think he might have been around 7th or 8th. He was amongst some serious company when it comes to aerial ability, the likes of Lukaku and Andy Carroll to name a couple more.

**CraftyToePoke** · 01/10/2016, 11:13 PM

Bentekes header today was a thing of real greatness.

**DeLorean** · 20/10/2016, 9:27 PM

Went off injured at the San Siro this evening

**OwlsFan** · 21/10/2016, 9:05 AM

If it's a hamstring as I heard on RTE and if the tear isn't too bad, he should be available for Vienna otherwise our striking options (James McLean centre forward anyone?) are becoming very stretched.

**DeLorean** · 21/10/2016, 9:26 AM

Walters was far better when he moved into the centre in Moldova so I presume that's what O'Neill would do.

**Stuttgart88** · 21/10/2016, 11:29 AM

Walters the better lone forward option. Long is unlucky. The game O'Neill seems to play asks him to go everywhere fighting for scraps. If we could play a game that allowed him to run onto the ball rather than have to fight for it on behalf of others he'd be more productive. But would I drop Long to play Walters upfront by himself? No.

**DeLorean** · 21/10/2016, 1:18 PM

I definitely wouldn't drop Long for this game either. Austria need to take the game to us and their defence looks pretty suspect. They're likely to leave space in behind and, for all his other qualities, Walters just wouldn't be able to expose this to the same extent (or at all really!). Maybe Walters up front alone might be a better bet for games similar to the Georgia one, where winning free kicks around the box seems to be the name of the game. Always nice to have Long in reserve too as there are few better impact players.

**TrapAPony** · 22/10/2016, 12:12 AM

Walters as the lone forward for me regardless of whether Long is fit or not. Long is better coming on as a sub for us just like against Poland and Germany.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 01/11/2016, 7:57 PM

Long up top. Murphy up top with Long replacing him. Murphy and Long up top together which worked so well in Euros and again in Serbia when Daryl put him clean through.

Only one of these is a potential option - though with Hendrick, Brady, Pilkington and McClean you have some good players to play either side and then the likes of Arter or Hoolahan to play behind.

But that would entail playing football the right way.

In which case, Walters up top may be the lesser of two evils if he's guaranteed a start no matter how bad his performances get. He doesn't have the legs to play wide right anymore.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 15/11/2016, 7:00 PM

Congratulations to Shane on the birth of his first son, Jax (yes, really).

**samhaydenjr** · 16/11/2016, 1:35 AM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

Congratulations to Shane on the birth of his first son, Jax (yes, really).

Seriously? That's awful. You could call social services on him for that. You could forgive him if he was from another country and didn't know the double meaning but he's Irish born and raised and should really be thinking about the quality of life of his son will have growing up. Crikey, he can't even have a child without starting a whole debate about doing the hard build-up work well and then messing up the bread-and-butter finish.

**Kingdom** · 16/11/2016, 9:22 AM

I've no issue with unusual first names or what-have-you but sometimes you've to use a bit of cop on. I know a girl whose surname is Fonda, and married a chap whose family name is Cox. She choose to have a double-barrelled surname.

My eldest went to school with a boy who had the double barrelled surname Kenon Dicks.

That is 100% true.

**DeLorean** · 16/11/2016, 9:53 AM

Classics!

I know a guy called William Cumming who, inexplicably, goes by Willie.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 16/11/2016, 12:16 PM

Jackson Long has a decent ring to it but Jax?

I'm going to the jax.

**nigel-harps1954** · 16/11/2016, 12:20 PM

I once knew a man called William Dick. Naturally, he's known to his friends as Dick Dick.

**paul_oshea** · 16/11/2016, 1:08 PM

I worked with a guy called Ram Shagga. His email appeared as Shagga, Ram.

I've actually got a lot of these, Wanks is another one a german. Lotte Wanks or something was her name, i wrote them down at one point i came across so many. Bad joke not intended.