Potentially eligible players thread

[CraftyToePoke]

I mean, when you cannot even bring yourself to type "NI", when that is accurate, respectful and quicker etc

Ah now, there there EG
Don't cry so easy like that, they'll only do it more, the nasty Mexicans. It won't matter soon enough what it used to be called anyway, so don't be so troubled by this & try to enjoy whats left.

[Razors left peg]

I've been hearing that since 1966 (50th anniversary and all that). It's now more boring than anything else, esp since it is invariably brought up by someone on your side of the house, and after your results have been crap.

Besides which, there's always this:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/02/hong-kong-beat-china-at-football-for-first-time-in-29-years

Note the date. And the result. :wink:

Cool we'll throw a few token training games to Unionist FC once the country is united if keeps ye happy. It'll be their prize for winning the LOI 3rd division

[CraftyToePoke]

Cool we'll throw a few token training games to Unionist FC once the country is united if keeps ye happy. It'll be their prize for winning the LOI 3rd division

The odd 21s match in Belfast.
As a symbol.

[elatedscum]

The odd 21s match in Belfast.
As a symbol.

Can’t see Casement being ready in time for it tbh

[Fixer82]

Who do you mean by "we"?

That assumes that I and other NI fans are up for it. While the (ahem) simple fact is, we don't want to combine with ROI any more than we want to cmbine in a UK team (the only option which FIFA would countenance as things stand btw).

Either way, you might be happy to lose your* team, but we don't want that, nor should we have to. As for being "more competitive", so what? I support my team win, lose or draw.

Or what is so difficult to understand about such (ahem) simple concepts? You know, belonging, affiliation, tradition, history etc, the things which go towards making a fan.


* - Unless, of course, you see this proposed team as merely being a further continuation of your old team, with a few extra Prods added.

What's rugby got to do with any of this other, perhaps, than to remind everyone that Ulster Rugby never broke away from the all-Ireland governing body? Unlike your people with Football.

Meanwhile, I'll probably get censored for the sin of sticking up for my own team, even though it was someone else who brought up the hoary old subject of a "united" [sic] team. Again.

Wow!
You truly were triggered weren’t you?!
You could just respectfully disagree but you’ve kind of gone nuclear here. Paranoid I would say.
It’s just a suggestion. I understand you not wanting it.
For me it makes sense. For you it doesn’t. That’s fine.
Thought you were better than name-calling.

‘We’ of course refers to the people who live on this island who have ‘Ireland’ in the title of the team

[Eirambler]

You picked out CCC and Eoin Toal (for their Nationalist background), but never even considered the likes of Ethan Galbraith, Trai Hume, Ross McCausland or Dion Charles, playing at a similar standard. (Charles plays in the same team as Toal, btw).

I mean, when you cannot even bring yourself to type "NI", when that is accurate, respectful and quicker etc, it shows what you really think.

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=Dog+Whistle+statements

You're just howling at the moon at this point EG. Any player eligible to play for Ireland is welcome to declare for us, but presumably you of all posters on this forum will understand why CCC and Toal might hold more of an interest in doing so than players like Galbraith and McCausland. They'd be just as welcome and would have been picked if they had been good enough and willing to wait (which again, they're currently not). But they most likely wouldn't want to, and we wouldn't expect them to stand for a flag and anthem if they don't believe in it. If only the same was the case in the north...

Anyway, getting back on point, you've made a wildly false assumption that I was accusing the IFA of capping players to keep them from the FAI and completely failed to back it up afterwards. Not your greatest moment in truth. So we'll move on.

[John83]

The question of Northern Irish players is off topic, contentious, and derailing the thread. Futher such posts will be removed and may come with infractions.

[Demesne Lad]

The question of Northern Irish players is off topic, contentious, and derailing the thread. Futher such posts will be removed and may come with infractions.

Amen to that!

[elatedscum]

Amen to that!

No need to throw the powder keg of religion into this

[geysir]

It's a potentially eligibility players thread but can't discuss anything about a large chunk of potentially eligible players?

Why not sanction EG? he can post/ reply any topic except about NI players. I have full confidence that he can restrain himself (perhaps with the help of a straight jacket) and make this ultimate sacrifice for the greater good.

[Crosby87]

What if we changed it to Potentially Ineligible Players? Surely that would cover all the bases.

[John83]

It's a potentially eligibility players thread but can't discuss anything about a large chunk of potentially eligible players?
People can discuss specific players' eligibility. Bickering over who's stealing whose players, names and nicknames of national teams, and politics can just **** off to Off Topic or r/ireland or wherever you want. And yes, there have been infractions and posts deleted. Back on topic please.

[Eirambler]

Jake Clarke-Salter is being linked with a couple of Premier League teams again.

[elatedscum]

Highly thought of 16 year old Ireland eligible George Feeney (son of Warren) is signing for Spurs. He represented the north in 2023 and Wales (his place of birth) in 2024. Pretty unlikely to want to represent us, but the Wales choice was also surprising…

No competitive games afaik so no official switch needed if he were so inclined

[Olé Olé]

Highly thought of 16 year old Ireland eligible George Feeney (son of Warren) is signing for Spurs. He represented the north in 2023 and Wales (his place of birth) in 2024. Pretty unlikely to want to represent us, but the Wales choice was also surprising…

No competitive games afaik so no official switch needed if he were so inclined

That is a funny one alright. I assume he just happened to be born there whilst his father was playing in Wales and has no other real connection to Wales? His mother isn't Welsh?

I was trying to figure this out via Wikipedia and there's a bizarre 4 generation connection to Wales. George's grandfather was also born in Wales - whilst his great grandfather was also playing football in Wales. He was playing for Swansea.

[tetsujin1979]

Worth noting that Warren, his father(Warren Snr), and grandfather were all capped by Northern Ireland, so George would be the fourth generation to play for them, if he's capped

[Olé Olé]

Worth noting that Warren, his father(Warren Snr), and grandfather were all capped by Northern Ireland, so George would be the fourth generation to play for them, if he's capped

The grandfather played for Ireland, regardless of which association...

[EalingGreen]

George Feeney (son of Warren) is signing for Spurs. Pretty unlikely to want to represent us,
Trust me, there's more chance of me representing ROI. :cool:

(Well two of my grandparents were from the south.)

[seanfhear]

Trust me, there's more chance of me representing ROI. :cool:

(Well two of my grandparents were from the south.)
Are you a midfielder ? !

[EalingGreen]

The grandfather played for Ireland, regardless of which association...Correct, for "Ireland" was the official name of the Irish Football Association team. As it happens, the first footballing Feeney, Jim, was born in Belfast a month after Partition, so never had any real connection with the FAI (or FAIFS as was), even though he played at a time when there were a number of "duals".

And as noted, he was playing for Swansea Town when his son, Warren Sr., was born there.

Warren Sr. was brought up in Belfast (played for Linfield, Glens, briefly for Crues), where Warren Jr. was born.

While Warren Jr. was playing for Cardiff City when George was born.

Meanwhile, young George's mother (i.e. Warren Jr's wife) is English, so he qualifies for them, too.

P.S. Dunno about Jim or George, but Warren Sr. who only ever got one cap, was imo potentially a far better player than Warren Jr. (29 caps), since he was a brilliant natural finisher. But istr he had a dodgy knee, which prevented him from withstanding the rigours of a f-t professional career. This may have become apparent when he had a couple of years at Stoke City v.early in his career? (Never actually played for their first team)

[John83]

...connection with the FAI (or FAIFS as was)...
We should add the F***'s Sake back in.

[third policeman]

Chelsea the latest club inked with Dewsbury-Hall.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5597351/2024/06/27/chelsea-dewsbury-hall-transfer-leicester/

Are we making any effort to recruit him? England have a superfluity of midfield talent (several qualified for us), so his chances of carving out an extended career with them must be very limited. I can't help feeling that the managerial position is a serious impediment to recruiting dual nationals. This is one player who could make a massive difference in an area where we are depressingly weak, yet I don't think any serious effort is being made to secure his declaration.

[seanfhear]

Chelsea the latest club inked with Dewsbury-Hall.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5597351/2024/06/27/chelsea-dewsbury-hall-transfer-leicester/

Are we making any effort to recruit him? England have a superfluity of midfield talent (several qualified for us), so his chances of carving out an extended career with them must be very limited. I can't help feeling that the managerial position is a serious impediment to recruiting dual nationals. This is one player who could make a massive difference in an area where we are depressingly weak, yet I don't think any serious effort is being made to secure his declaration.
Would actually playing for us make him less attractive to bigger clubs ? !

Also there is a big premium on transfers and wages for English players in England !

[JR89]

He's 26 in September and believe he's never had a call up at any age grade whatsoever for England. Either he's got no interest whatsoever or doesn't qualify.

Now days, being an Irish international means nothing for your career for someone like KDH. Managers would rather these lads stay away from international football unless it's an England call up.

[seanfhear]

He's 26 in September and believe he's never had a call up at any age grade whatsoever for England. Either he's got no interest whatsoever or doesn't qualify.

Now days, being an Irish international means nothing for your career for someone like KDH. Managers would rather these lads stay away from international football unless it's an England call up.
It could actually be said that being an international for a team like Ireland, could be bad for your career at the higher level clubs or even mid-level clubs at this stage.

Harsh but sadly true, in todays soccer at those levels.

[JR89]

It could actually be said that being an international for a team like Ireland, could be bad for you career at the higher level clubs or even mid-level clubs at this stage.

Harsh but sadly true, in todays soccer at those levels.

Yeah I doubt they care one bit and probably see it as a nuisance that this lad will be off playing 10 games extra a year on top of the 40+ games he might play at club level.

[EalingGreen]

I daresay the difficulty of getting into the English set-up might cause some Duals like KDH to consider their "other" country. But as against that, if that other country isn't qualifying regularly for major tournament finals, there's probably less incentive, esp when their managers may be urging them to concentrate on their club football.

[seanfhear]

I daresay the difficulty of getting into the English set-up might cause some Duals like KDH to consider their "other" country. But as against that, if that other country isn't qualifying regularly for major tournament finals, there's probably less incentive, esp when their managers may be urging them to concentrate on their club football.
If a " smaller " country had a, Gareth Bale / maybe another quality player or two, they you might get some players to take the opportunity alright !

[Olé Olé]

Realistically, getting Dewsbury-Hall in with us underage was our main hope here, assuming he qualifies. He's at a level where he'd be too good for Ireland and perhaps not good enough for England. Compare him to Josh Cullen - we had him in since underage and naturally he graduated to the senior fold. Even if Cullen wasn't with us underage, he'd probably jump at the chance to play senior for us given that he's on the "good enough" point in the spectrum. I'm sure it did him no harm in getting his move to Anderlecht where they referred to his Irish spirit. Would have had less of a bearing on a move to Chelsea...

[JR89]

KDH also qualifies for Malaysia. A player like him would be better off playing with an Asian country over a small European country. Commercially would boost his profile in Asia and likely make him a few quid in sponsorships playing for Malaysia than Ireland.

[third policeman]

Realistically, getting Dewsbury-Hall in with us underage was our main hope here, assuming he qualifies. He's at a level where he'd be too good for Ireland and perhaps not good enough for England. Compare him to Josh Cullen - we had him in since underage and naturally he graduated to the senior fold. Even if Cullen wasn't with us underage, he'd probably jump at the chance to play senior for us given that he's on the "good enough" point in the spectrum. I'm sure it did him no harm in getting his move to Anderlecht where they referred to his Irish spirit. Would have had less of a bearing on a move to Chelsea...

Generally very fatalistic views here about our chances of persuading dual nationals who are ‘too good’ for us. Bit of a catch 22, as we would be good enough for these guys if they were playing for us, but probably won’t be good enough until we supplement our talent pool with a few better players.

[seanfhear]

Generally very fatalistic views here about our chances of persuading dual nationals who are ‘too good’ for us. Bit of a catch 22, as we would be good enough for these guys if they were playing for us, but probably won’t be good enough until we supplement our talent pool with a few better players.
Chicken or Egg ! !

[third policeman]

Chicken or Egg ! !


Maybe a chicken farmer - a manager who could instill direction and confidence that is sadly lacking, and could persuade dual nationals that declaring for us might just be an adventure.

[Olé Olé]

Generally very fatalistic views here about our chances of persuading dual nationals who are ‘too good’ for us. Bit of a catch 22, as we would be good enough for these guys if they were playing for us, but probably won’t be good enough until we supplement our talent pool with a few better players.

I'm generally a little more positive about topics like this but tell me what evidence you have to support your assertion that our chances of persuading dual nationals are any better?

[seanfhear]

Maybe a chicken farmer - a manager who could instill direction and confidence that is sadly lacking, and could persuade dual nationals that declaring for us might just be an adventure.
We are definitely scrambled at the moment anyway !

[samhaydenjr]

Generally very fatalistic views here about our chances of persuading dual nationals who are ‘too good’ for us. Bit of a catch 22, as we would be good enough for these guys if they were playing for us, but probably won’t be good enough until we supplement our talent pool with a few better players.


Chicken or Egg ! !

Or we could look at it/present it this way: We now have decent talent in a few areas but we have a couple of gaps that cost us in tight games against middling teams that we need to win, and a middling Premier League midfielder might just fill one of those gaps well enough to turn some games (along with a middling Premier League left-back). Unfortunately we need a decent manager also and the FAI seems hell-bent on not having that.

[elatedscum]

It’s not always logical. Szmodics logical choice was to declare for Hungary and play in the euros…

[seanfhear]

It’s not always logical. Szmodics logical choice was to declare for Hungary and play in the euros…
You'd have thought that would be a good tempter alright !

Especially if you had an interest in playing international football as he has. Maybe we were more patient with him or something like that ? !

[punkrocket]

We've been historically very good at poaching players

[seanfhear]

We've been historically very good at poaching players
I would say that international football for teams at Ireland's level is not nearly as attractive as it once was ~ ~ Sad, but that is the way it is.

[ColourfulPeanut]

It’s not always logical. Szmodics logical choice was to declare for Hungary and play in the euros…

Not being able to speak the language and having no cultural similarites would have been tough.

Us being English speaking and being so similar the English culturlally makes it easier for players to commit to us and mesh into the squad. See Ben Brererton Diaz initially being left out of Chile's Copa squad due to not learning Spanish.

[Olé Olé]

Dropped into the squad, to play a tournament in Germany, with people you don't know, that speak a different language to you, and probably dislike you because you already declared for another country, that you weren't even born in.

I dunno... Feels a bit of an alien experience to me.

[Stuttgart88]

Not being able to speak the language and having no cultural similarites would have been tough.
I read somewhere that the language of the Hungarian dressing room is English. I think also this Hungarian team is very much a diaspora team (I'm open to correction) including a Barnsley lad Callum Styles, and the fans sing a soft rock anthem about greater Hungary and its lost people. Ken Early had a great piece on CEE/Balkan ethno-nationalism last week (https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2024/06/29/nationalism-takes-you-to-peculiar-places-especially-at-euro-2024/).

[pineapple stu]

Had a look on wiki and only 5 of the Euro 2026 squad were born outside Hungary, and that includes Loic Nego, who has no connection with Hungary at all other than that he played in the league for eight years.

[EalingGreen]

Ken Early had a great piece on CEE/Balkan ethno-nationalism last week (https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2024/06/29/nationalism-takes-you-to-peculiar-places-especially-at-euro-2024/).Thanks for that - Irredentism, eh? :wink:

Meanwhile, I shall return the compliment with this BBC piece, which digs down a little deeper into Hungary's recent footballing revival:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cekk4zp5rg8o

[SkStu]

This is probably a waste of the internet in terms of how relevant it will be to us, but KDH has signed for Chelsea for 30M

[Diggs246]

This is probably a waste of the internet in terms of how relevant it will be to us, but KDH has signed for Chelsea for 30M

Haha
Yep another one bites the dust due to success...it's a cruel game football

[liamoo11]

This is probably a waste of the internet in terms of how relevant it will be to us, but KDH has signed for Chelsea for 30M

Golding going from Chelsea to Leicester has played under 16s for us and hos brother has played under 19s

[Olé Olé]

Speaking of Dewsbury-Hall, I see Michael Golding has gone the other way for £5m. He's the young brother of recent Ireland under 19s player, James.

[John83]

Off topic posts removed. If anyone wants to discuss moderation policy, they're welcome to do it in Support.