Glenn Whelan

[Closed Account]

Randolph being a bit too kind to Glenn here:
https://streamable.com/wp8jt

[Fixer82]

Hell of a strike though

[irishfan86]

A really explosive run into the box from Hogan who took the initial shot, too. Would like to see more of him in an Ireland shirt.

[samhaydenjr]

A really explosive run into the box from Hogan who took the initial shot, too. Would like to see more of him in an Ireland shirt.

You'd think a player capable of a run like that would have played more than 56 minutes all season

[seanfhear]

Call him up Mick .

[Fizzer]

He picked up the senior award tonight for Duffy,who won it,thank Christ,ahead of Rice.Anyway there was a brief chat about Glenn’s retirement and he basically said ‘someone’ retired him.A not to subtle nod to O’Neill (Tony,presenting the award was all smiles).I think there may be a lot more to come out about the shambles and old-school Cloughie type stuff that was going on behind the scenes.We’re really short personnel wise going into this campaign.as bad as I’ve ever seen us,but hopefully Mick will lift the spirits of the squad and repair the damage to confidence done by Trap and O’Neill.Theres no major superstars on the short-term horizon (albeit a few very promising kids on the way),so we really more than ever will have to play above ourselves to get anywhere.Glen’s done it all before and unfortunately we may need him quite a bit over the qualifiers.

[backstothewall]

Best player on the pitch for Villa yesterday it seems. I've no issue with him being unretired but not sure his legs have 2 games in quick succession in them. We shouldn't need him v Gibraltar anyway so he should probably be held back for Georgia.

[triggsrevenge]

There's always a role for a senior figure like Glenn in the squad for experience, even if he doesn't end up playing, he'll be good around the place

[CraftyToePoke]

Captained Villa today next to Hourihane in the middle to their eighth consecutive league win, best run of league results at the club since 1975.

[Fixer82]

Captained Villa today next to Hourihane in the middle to their eighth consecutive league win, best run of league results at the club since 1975.

What’s the Villa fans’ consensus on Whelan?

[CraftyToePoke]

What’s the Villa fans’ consensus on Whelan?

Lazarus of late.

[Fixer82]

Lazarus of late.

Fantastic!

[Olé Olé]

Renaissance man. He never relied on pace and the mind is getting sharper. Have massive respect for him and think he'll get another go in the PL and will be a great coach.

[tricky_colour]

His stats are not good!

[tetsujin1979]

What stats

[tetsujin1979]

Whelan one of eight players released by Villa: https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2019/06/01/eight-players-to-leave-aston-villa
He's 35 now, 36 in January, so might get a one year contract.

[CraftyToePoke]

Maybe Stoke will suck it up. They could do with him.

[Diggs246]

Villa could do a lot worse then sign James McCarthy as Glenn's replacement

[osarusan]

I was watching Youtube highlights of Croatia's win over Wales and down in the comments is one from Shane O'Connor (a poster on here by any chance?):

Bale reminds me of a young Glen Whelan, Blistering pace , technically gifted but no where near as handsome.

[DeLorean]

I was watching Youtube highlights of Croatia's win over Wales and down in the comments is one from Shane O'Connor (a poster on here by any chance?):

Bale reminds me of a young Glen Whelan, Blistering pace , technically gifted but no where near as handsome.

Maybe it was inspired by this! - https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status/1136702752816603138?s=19

[Fixer82]

Has he still got no club?

[irishfan86]

Has he still got no club?

There was talk earlier this month that Blackburn and Charlton were competing for his signature but my understanding is that he's still a free agent.

[Eirambler]

Rumoured to be in Edinburgh speaking to Hearts.

He'll be taking quite a pay cut if he goes there. Must be no decent offers in the Championship for him.

[Yard of Pace]

Rumoured to be in Edinburgh speaking to Hearts.

He'll be taking quite a pay cut if he goes there. Must be no decent offers in the Championship for him.


Speaking sounds ok.....I'd worry for Hearts if he actually was lining out for them. A terrible player. We all know it.

[irishfan86]

Speaking sounds ok.....I'd worry for Hearts if he actually was lining out for them. A terrible player. We all know it.

His legs are gone but he still anticipates play well and his positioning is excellent. He can play the holding role better than anyone else we have available bar James McCarthy, whose durability remains a question mark.

So my view is he can still do a job for us in a five man midfield.

But I don’t think he can play in a 4-4-2 anymore because he can’t cover enough ground.

[The Fly]

Glenn Whelan and excellence don't go together.

[mark12345]

Speaking sounds ok.....I'd worry for Hearts if he actually was lining out for them. A terrible player. We all know it.

Have to agree. Stuns me that people still talk of him in semi-glowing terms.
Maybe one day he will be a great manager or assistant manager, but apart from one sumptuous goal against Italy, his playing days for Ireland are very forgettable.

[Colbert Report]

I couldn't disagree more. The guy was an amazing player in terms of the role he was asked to perform, namely shielding the back four and breaking up the opposition's attack. As others have stated, his legs are gone but surely there's a team in League 1 who could used him for ten or fifteen matches this season. He'd be a great player to have on the bench to sub on when holding a lead.

[Closed Account]

I'll disagree with Colbert on the word amazing but the i think the critiscism of Whelan is misplaced most of the time. He's been consistently picked by a succession of managers because of his strengths. Every manager knew what they would get from him, no more, no less. As a manager that's a great asset in a player. He wasn't an 8 out of 10 ala Denis Irwin but he was 6.5-7.5.

The fact that no player came into squads he was a part of and took his place says a lot.

[Charlie Darwin]

10 years in the Premier League and people think he's crap... mind-boggling.

[DeLorean]

I don't think anybody said 'crap'. Extremely limited but he obviously had something about him. If I was to judge him solely on his Ireland performances there's no way I would have thought this fella was a PL regular for so long. I do think he was almost symbolic of how limited we were as a team throughout his career with us, but it wasn't his fault he was the best available at times.

I think it's just lazy to say loads of managers picked him so he must be good, even if our own eyes told us otherwise at times. He could obviously read the game reasonably well but he was slow, uncomfortable on the ball, reluctant to receive it and generally not much of a physical presence in there either.

There was always a notion amongst his defenders that we'd miss him when he's not there and that we wouldn't have conceded certain goals if he had been on the pitch but, in general, we have got most of our better results over the years without him.

[Diggs246]

I don't think anybody said 'crap'. Extremely limited but he obviously had something about him. If I was to judge him solely on his Ireland performances there's no way I would have thought this fella was a PL regular for so long. I do think he was almost symbolic of how limited we were as a team throughout his career with us, but it wasn't his fault he was the best available at times.

I think it's just lazy to say loads of managers picked him so he must be good, even if our own eyes told us otherwise at times. He could obviously read the game reasonably well but he was slow, uncomfortable on the ball, reluctant to receive it and generally not much of a physical presence in there either.

There was always a notion amongst his defenders that we'd miss him when he's not there and that we wouldn't have conceded certain goals if he had been on the pitch but, in general, we have got most of our better results over the years without him.
Nail on the head. Whelo fans alway say but but but he was in the prem. Use your own eyes and make a decision
imo james McCarthy is playing a different sport to whelo.
However what we will all agree on he has a heart of a lion and was and is a patriot

[Charlie Darwin]

Well for the last two years McCarthy has been playing a different sport because it's rarely been football. And I'd hardly say most of our better results have been without him. Yeah, Italy at the Euros and Germany at home he didn't play, but away to Germany, Austria away, both Bosnia games he was in the team.

[Olé Olé]

I think it's just lazy to say loads of managers picked him so he must be good, even if our own eyes told us otherwise at times. He could obviously read the game reasonably well but he was slow, uncomfortable on the ball, reluctant to receive it and generally not much of a physical presence in there either.

I agree he was slow but I don't agree that he was uncomfortable on the ball or reluctant to receive it. I think that has been his greatest quality for us in recent years. He has been willing to take possession in all situations, particularly situations where those around him would be unable to retain the ball (e.g. Hendrick).

[Diggs246]

I agree he was slow but I don't agree that he was uncomfortable on the ball or reluctant to receive it. I think that has been his greatest quality for us in recent years. He has been willing to take possession in all situations, particularly situations where those around him would be unable to retain the ball (e.g. Hendrick).
Austria away is bad example tbh. They were all over us when he was in the pitch. He goes off injured and boom we are all over them.

[mark12345]

I agree he was slow but I don't agree that he was uncomfortable on the ball or reluctant to receive it. I think that has been his greatest quality for us in recent years. He has been willing to take possession in all situations, particularly situations where those around him would be unable to retain the ball (e.g. Hendrick).

What Glen Whelan did over the years in an Ireland shirt, did not work by any stretch of the imagination. Yet he kept doing the same thing game in and game out and was hoping, I assume, for a different result? Someone pointed out earlier that it is not his fault he was picked all the time. Absolutely true. And also true that he was and is a patriot. But in terms of ability, that's a different story. Glen Whelan is like a multitude of Irish players over the years who were not of international standard but who benefitted from a reluctance by managers to try out an alternative player, or play someone in a different role.

[jbyrne]

Austria away is bad example tbh. They were all over us when he was in the pitch. He goes off injured and boom we are all over them.

i suggest you have another look... austria pummelled us for the last 15 mins or so of that game

[DeLorean]

Well for the last two years McCarthy has been playing a different sport because it's rarely been football. And I'd hardly say most of our better results have been without him. Yeah, Italy at the Euros and Germany at home he didn't play, but away to Germany, Austria away, both Bosnia games he was in the team.

He didn't play in Stockholm, definitely one of our better performances around that time, probably our best. He didn't play in Cardiff either and, as Diggs says, Vienna is a strange example given he went off injured after 24 minutes. Even the Germany away game he went off after 54. Granted we conceded afterwards and needed to chase they game, but we easily played our best football in that match without him. I'll reluctantly give you Bosnia in terms of results, but we were pretty poor over there and he was dreadful that night.

[DeLorean]

I agree he was slow but I don't agree that he was uncomfortable on the ball or reluctant to receive it. I think that has been his greatest quality for us in recent years. He has been willing to take possession in all situations, particularly situations where those around him would be unable to retain the ball (e.g. Hendrick).

Sorry but we've been watching a different Glenn.

[DeLorean]

Signs for Hearts - https://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/article/glenn-whelan-signs-with-hearts

[Eirambler]

Effectively a move to a League One team. Would have McCarthy ahead of him if fit obviously, but if Cullen and Molumby are playing regularly in the championship this season they should now move in front of him in the pecking order as well.

There must have been no championship interest in him at all for him to end up there.

[DeLorean]

Leaves Hearts by mutual consent - https://www.the42.ie/glenn-whelan-4-4955981-Jan2020/

Great choice of photo to be fair.

https://c2.thejournal.ie/media/2020/01/heart-of-midlothian-v-rangers-ladbrokes-scottish-premiership-celtic-park-3-390x285.jpg

[Eirambler]

Reportedly refused to do any interviews or media work during his time at Hearts. Supposedly had a bad attitude there and wasn't a good trainer etc.

Nonetheless a short term contract for a League 1 or League 2 team should guarantee his starting spot against Slovakia.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Manager certainly wasn't impressed by him going by the criticism in the linked article, but then again few in that club to be impressed by.

[jbyrne]

Reportedly refused to do any interviews or media work during his time at Hearts. Supposedly had a bad attitude there and wasn't a good trainer etc.


yet he managed 17 appearances in four months and appeared to be doing quite well from the accounts I read.
more likely to do with club finances or using him as a scapegoat for a rubbish season so far.
i've never known Whelan to be anything other than a dedicated pro.

[Eirambler]

I certainly wouldn't put it past that particular club to pull something like that, but realistically they had a very poor squad and a bad run of injuries so he was always likely to get games there. I don't think the reviews of his performances had been so good recently and then the manager removed him from the squad completely so clearly something not right.

Hearts are bottom of a league that contains three of four teams that would be Non-League level in England and he wasn't standing out even at that level, so given that we have at least three better options in his position, hopefully we will be moving on from Glenn now.

[Olé Olé]

Did you watch any of his recent games for us? He has been a damn sight better than those beside him in the middle in the last 2 or 3 games.

[jbyrne]

Hearts are bottom of a league that contains three of four teams that would be Non-League level in England and he wasn't standing out even at that level, so given that we have at least three better options in his position, hopefully we will be moving on from Glenn now.

in the papers this morning that he received 5 man of the match awards in the 8 home games he played for hearts

daily record comment on his recent performance at home v rangers:
Back in from start and was Jambos’ best performer in middle of park up until pulling up with a hamstring problem after 26 minutes. Replaced by Andy Irving and his experience badly missed

[NeverFeltBetter]

Given the harsh nature of the manager's comments, you have to presume there is an off-field issue between them.

[tetsujin1979]

Whelan interviewed in the independent: https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/it-feels-like-i-have-been-thrown-under-a-bus-glenn-whelan-his-hearts-exit-and-the-christmas-night-text-message-38842836.html