Potentially eligible players thread

[Stuttgart88]

I'd be surprised if MON is even aware that the Davies situation is even getting any media or Internet forum coverage, so there's not really anything for him to draw a line under.

I don't think the media focus has been particularly intensive which is unusual for our lot given their propensity to make a fuss over nothing as far as our footy team is concerned.

[DannyInvincible]

I'm not having a go at Curtis. It's just bemusement as to why anyone would want the likes of Davies, Noble or O'Hara to play for Ireland when their heart isn't in it.

There is no campaign to get Davies in the team. As Tets says, it's a non-story perpetuated by the media.

[TrapAPony]

Martin O’Neill will have no problem exploiting FIFA’S rules

Ireland boss has been given a positive reaction by players who could qualify for the country under the so-called ‘granny’ rule

Martin O’Neill says he won’t be afraid to unleash controversial ‘granny rule’ rookies in the middle of the Euro 2016 qualifiers.


The Ireland boss has revealed that he’s been given a positive reaction by players who could qualify for the country under the so-called ‘granny’ rule, and claims if things are organised in time, he would be willing to throw them into action if he deems them good enough.


The four-game end of season schedule has come too early for any potential new players to be involved, but O’Neill is excited by the possibility that some will pull on the green shirt in the next 12 months.


“So far, the people have been really positive, some decent people,” he said.


“It takes a bit of time and a bit of work which we are doing in the background at this minute.


“All of it has been really positive. People I think could help us along the way have not knocked it back.


“I have been encouraged and at this stage they want to look for us to develop it to see where it leads. Of course, by the time we develop it they might have improved that much that some of the ‘normal’ countries would want them to play.


“They have not knocked that.


“Am I happy to bring in during Euro campaign? Absolutely. If we can look at this here and they genuinely want to play and have that *enthusiasm to play, of course.


“And if they’re good enough to play in the side – and some of the people we are looking at would certainly be good enough to play in our squad – I would have no problems bringing them in.


“But it is a process that you have to go through. Sometimes it can be relatively straightforward and other times more complicated.”


There have been a host of names mentioned as possible call-ups, both before and since O’Neill’s appointment, with Tottenham’s Harry Kane the latest.


He joins Kyle Naughton, Nathan Redmond, Curtis Davies and Patrick Bamford on the
‘watch’ list.

Hull defender Davies has made clear his desire to play for England, while Kane spoke only last month of how eager he was to add to his full house of underage caps for England.


But O’Neill insists there are interested parties, and he’s spoken to both players and agents already.


“I would make the initial approach,” he revealed. “I have heard from one or two of the players’ agents for instance that they have done some homework and they’d know that we are aware.


“If they show that enthusiasm to want to continue to do it, that’s great for me.


“If they knocked it at a pass, let’s say I phoned up an agent and he said he has no interest, well, that has not been the case so far.




“The only way you’re really going to find out though is by meeting the player. Of course you would be sceptical [about agents putting names forward] but I’d put that to the side if I thought the player wanted to.


“It’s happened already and there are one or two players that I’ve met who fall into our category and who I think are of decent enough quality for us.”


O’Neill admitted: “The USA trip is too early, but during the course of the qualification I wouldn’t have a problem bringing someone in if I thought they were good enough and wanted to play for us.”


http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/martin-oneill-no-problem-exploiting-3523088

[Metrostars]

There is no campaign to get Davies in the team. As Tets says, it's a non-story perpetuated by the media.

He's also 29. They would hardly look at players over 25.

[DannyInvincible]

Funny little anecdote from work this morn; I take phonecalls from the public and a Lonergan from Preston came through on the line so, to fill the dead air and build a bit of rapport, as they say, I asked him if he was anything to Andy Lonergan, the former Preston North End goalkeeper. I doubted there'd be too many unrelated Lonergans around that neck of the woods. Turned out I was speaking with Andy's younger brother, so I explained I was familiar with Andy as I used to play Football Manager/Championship Manager and used to call him up when I "managed" Ireland due to him, of course, being eligible to play for us. (That was definitely the less weird explanation to rely on rather than me trying to explain my unhealthy fixation with all things Irish eligibility!)

He told me their roots were in Ballybofey (they used to head back a lot and attend Finn Harps games, drink Guinness, go to Mass, the usual... :p ) and spoke about Andy playing for Brian Kerr at under-16 level with Andy Reid et al. The latter fact had slipped my mind before I mentioned the possible connection. I was dying to ask would Andy seriously consider playing for Ireland now but I already felt I was crossing a bit of a professional boundary and, although the guy was perfectly amicable and friendly, I sensed I might have been coming across as a little inquisitive or intrusive. I also had it in my head that Andy might have expressed disinterest at some point in the past so didn't want to provoke any further unease or awkwardness. So, I just left it at that and wished him a nice day.

Thankfully, I've since been able to check that Andy announced he would be open to an Ireland call-up in 2010, so I've been able to expunge any feelings of guilt or "what might have been?..." knowing I didn't blow my big chance to do a handy bit of recruitment work for the FAI!

[Deckydee]

http://sportsnewsireland.com/soccer/soccer_irish/martin-o-neilla-number-of-players-who-have-declared-more-than-an-interest-in-joining-us/

http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/oneill-bides-his-time-on-recruits-30459510.html (http://sportsnewsireland.com/soccer/soccer_irish/martin-o-neilla-number-of-players-who-have-declared-more-than-an-interest-in-joining-us/)

[TrapAPony]

Hope those that O'Neill says are interested are Premiership level players and not journeymen lower Championship level. Anybody know if Harry Maguire who's joining Hull is eligible?

[Olé Olé]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/martin-oneill-in-search-for-the-next-andy-townsend-30462280.html

In this article he states: “I mean, you are talking about boys who were playing for really good clubs, not Championship clubs. These boys (Aldridge, Houghton, Townsend) were playing top level football. And at the minute I would prefer to be looking at boys who are higher up the leagues." He also states that these players have the quality to get into the squad.

Should be interesting to see what comes to fruition. Very difficult to know who he's been talking to. Kane, Redmond and Bamford are the names which keep popping up but could be the case that there are others we don't know about.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Great. Another new campaign, another manager constantly being asked about eligible players as if good ones grow on trees in ready supply and wanting to play for us. They are not the answer to our problems and even with the good ones, it is not worth the multi-year process of demeaning ourselves by calling them up and begging them to play for us.

It says it all in the thread title. Nolan, O'Hara, Noble, Naughton, Ferdinand and myriad others haven't declared and years later they are still being talked about as prospective players. Now it's a new set of players who haven't shown any public interest or enthusiasm in playing for our country. There is no point querying about Redmond, Kane and Bamford. They are all young kids playing at PL level and established in England youth set ups. There is no point reading too much into platitudes from Martin O'Neill.

We don't need this sideshow distracting us from a very serious Qualifying campaign that kicks off in little over a month. O'Neill and Keane have better ways of using their time, focus and energy.

If Grealish takes off at Villa or the Championship and establishes himself first, call him up; don't fast track him into the team on the back of his performances for Notts County in League One, a 1 minute PL cameo or worry about England. The lad isn't naive; he isn't going to play for us just because we give him a token call up or 5 minutes against Georgia.

As for the Granny rule players. It's simple. They should come to us, not the other way around - as much as I slate people with ideas above their station like Richard Stearman.

[paul_oshea]

If he plays for us against georgia the decision is taken out of his hands.

I agree with the overall sentiment but do you not think matt holland would have chosen England over us if he had the choice? of course he would but he gave his all for us and scored some very important goals. Nowadays kids are a lot more fickle even more so patriotically, all I care about is how hard they try if/when selected and their impact. Besides that article never mentioned about oneill begging anyone in fact it said the opposite!

[Stuttgart88]

The article reads like O'Neill is already in discussions with people or their agents and knows exactly what sort of response or attitude he's looking for. I suspect he has a timeline in mind too.

I still have an inkling that Stephen Ireland will enter the fold.

I don't think we're as desperate or threadbare as O'Neill makes out. There are players who have yet to play under O'Neill or who have only barely featured who could add something to our team and squad from day 1.

SSL and his roommate Clark. Robbie Brady. Gibson. Stokes. Dunne. Westwood. Duffy. Reid. These would all count as de facto new recruits. Grealish would be a nice bonus. McGoldrick has declared strong interest and has a chance of contributing. Stephen Ireland if it happens.

I think Rob Kiernan may make a step up this year, and I'm hoping the likes of Murray, Hoban etc all come into squad contention later in the campaign.

[paul_oshea]

Duffy played stutts. Reid features also, albeit as a Kinger player.

[DannyInvincible]

Great. Another new campaign, another manager constantly being asked about eligible players as if good ones grow on trees in ready supply and wanting to play for us. They are not the answer to our problems and even with the good ones, it is not worth the multi-year process of demeaning ourselves by calling them up and begging them to play for us.

It says it all in the thread title. Nolan, O'Hara, Noble, Naughton, Ferdinand and myriad others haven't declared and years later they are still being talked about as prospective players. Now it's a new set of players who haven't shown any public interest or enthusiasm in playing for our country. There is no point querying about Redmond, Kane and Bamford. They are all young kids playing at PL level and established in England youth set ups. There is no point reading too much into platitudes from Martin O'Neill.

We don't need this sideshow distracting us from a very serious Qualifying campaign that kicks off in little over a month. O'Neill and Keane have better ways of using their time, focus and energy.

I'm sure O'Neill and Keane are astute enough to know what is a reasonable enough amount of time to devote to trying to unearth further eligible players interested in playing for us. They won't let it distract them from the main focus. As Paul says, nobody's doing any begging. O'Neill made it clear in the piece to which you provided a link in the Randolph thread that he has absolutely no interest in chasing after time-wasters and dawdlers. He said the same when Stephen Ireland messed him about. The ball is in Stephen Ireland's court.

As for the thread, which is a few years old, it has since developed into a general discussion on potentially-eligible players. There's nobody chasing after Noble, Nolan or O'Hara at the minute (or even discussing them), so it's not as if simply discussing possible recruits is doing any harm to anyone. If we can get one or two committed additions to our squad on the back of some inquiries, surely that's a good thing? I'm sure there are players out there with Irish heritage but who've never really considered playing for us because it didn't really cross their mind. Playing for us can also be a way in which players like these can realise their Irish identity. It's well-known that Andy Townsend didn't really feel all that Irish before he played for us - he was supporting England against us in 1988 - but once he did start playing, he was immensely proud to do so and it meant a lot to him. He was able to assume what you might call his sleeping heritage or identity. It's very easy for you to adopt a purist stance and take the moral high-ground here; you're not a dual national with mixed loyalties.


If Grealish takes off at Villa or the Championship and establishes himself first, call him up; don't fast track him into the team on the back of his performances for Notts County in League One, a 1 minute PL cameo or worry about England. The lad isn't naive; he isn't going to play for us just because we give him a token call up or 5 minutes against Georgia.

You think he'll reject a senior call-up for a competitive fixture? If he plays against Georgia for five minutes, he'll be cap-tied.


As for the Granny rule players. It's simple. They should come to us, not the other way around - as much as I slate people with ideas above their station like Richard Stearman.

So it's a no-win situation for potential recruits with you?... :rolleyes:

[Stuttgart88]

Duffy played stutts. Reid features also, albeit as a Kinger player.

I said played or have barely featured.

Was there really any point in making your post? My original point is wholly in tact. :)

[paul_oshea]

I seemed to have jumped form oneill to who...

[gastric]

McGoldrick makes his comeback tonight for Ipswich. I hope he joins us, I reckon he could bring another dimension to our forward line. He seems genuine in his interest and if he already has his passport, he could possibly play in the upcoming friendlies.

http://www.greenun24.co.uk/ipswich-town/latest-news/ipswich_town_hotshot_david_mcgoldrick_set_to_make_ comeback_from_injury_against_southend_united_tonig ht_1_3704542

[paul_oshea]

I wonder is harry maguire eligible, they should get onto him quick...

[paul_oshea]

That Harry Maguire has an under 21 for England, I'm not sure of the spelling, but who do you email in the FAI about possibly eligibility?

[DannyInvincible]

That Harry Maguire has an under 21 for England, I'm not sure of the spelling, but who do you email in the FAI about possibly eligibility?

Sending an e-mail to info@fai.ie should do the trick. The reception will pass it on to the relevant department.

What gives you the impression he might be eligible? Just the surname? TOWK won't like that! :p

I've had a look around the net but can't see any mention of him having Ireland-born parents or grandparents.

I see he has a Twitter account though: https://twitter.com/HarryMaguire19

[paul_oshea]

Done. Thats why you will always be answering phones DI. No initiative , didn't the "who do you"(as opposed to whats the email address) knock some cogs off eachother and set the wheels in motion in your head?! :P

[DannyInvincible]

Done. Thats why you will always be answering phones DI. No initiative , didn't the "who do you"(as opposed to whats the email address) knock some cogs off eachother and set the wheels in motion in your head?! :P

Haha, I would have and it crossed my mind, but I'd say the chances of Maguire being eligible and having escaped the net up to now are extremely slim. Plus, I didn't want to upset TOWK; I nark him enough!

I did e-mail the FAI once about them looking into the possible eligiblity of Thomas Delaney of Copenhagen as he was based in Denmark and I thought he might have slipped under the radar, but it turned out his Irish roots were too far back and his family arrived in Denmark via America.

Anyway, the e-mail address (which could have been freely accessed on the FAI's homepage (which could have been easily found through Google if the URL was unknown) by someone demonstrating a bit of initiative) might be of help to you in future. :p

If you really want me to though, I'll send Maguire a tweet personally. :)

[tetsujin1979]

PhilliyK from the YBIG forum checked Maguire out before. As far as I remember, he's not eligible

[paul_oshea]

I don't have use/ twitter -or LinkedIn I bet stutts uses that one tho - so something along the lines of is your paternal grandfather irish should be enough unless it's a smokescreen and in fact his maternal grandmother is irish.

[Stuttgart88]

Reading Paul's posts is like my French aural comprehension in school. By the time I understood the first bit, the second and third bits had already gone past.

[paul_oshea]

What was your French Oral like stutts?

[Eminence Grise]

It may have included something like the last three lines of this.

http://foot.ie/threads/175292-Richard-Keogh?p=1769433&viewfull=1#post1769433

[Stuttgart88]

It was more like this

http://www.boredpanda.com/funny-test-answers-smartass-kids/

[TrapAPony]

Young Daniel Crowley of Arsenal is still undecided

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/football/arsenal/arsenal_starlet_dan_crowley_faces_a_decision_betwe en_england_and_ireland_1_3708120

[paul_oshea]

Jack Grealish and now Daniel Crowley but nothing to suggest they will play for England :D

I hope they dont turn out to be world class midfielders. Hopefully just better than average who can make a difference for Ireland ; )

Hopefully Martin calls them up for the Gilbratar game and plays them all.

[Supreme feet]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/international/2014/0829/640065-reports-noble-ready-to-commit-to-ireland/

This wouldn't really pass my 'gut test'.

[TrapAPony]

Mark Noble is a decent player. Himself and McCarthy could be a good midfield pairing. I presume Noble will now be the first of many ex-England U21's to switch.

[DeLorean]

The ultimate sloppy seconds. Welcome aboard.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Someone who doesn't feel Irish in the slightest, who never had any interest in playing for Ireland, who spent 3 Qualifying campaigns neglecting to declare for Ireland amid strong interest, someone who was said to have wanted guarantees of playing time, someone who is a quite mediocre West Ham player ready to declare.

Who next, Jamie O'Hara?

Well, Stutts, does he pass your gut test?

Presumably Noble won't have to earn his place in team at all so he will jump ahead of one of Gibson, Hendrick, Meyler, Hoolahan or Reid. Does that sound fair? Again, what kind of message does this send to young players when their passage to the first team is going to be blocked by a crap 27 year old English player who spent 3 qualifying campaigns turning down call ups?

If English born players come up through the youth teams, declare at a young age, have the right attitude, are of a decent standard and will improve the team and won't cause friction within the squad then fair enough but this is a ****take from O'Neill and Keane; just like the Given call up to be completely honest.

Majorly disappointed if this is true.

[TrapAPony]

crap 27 year old English player



West Ham player of the season last year. He ain't crap, he'll be a good addition.

[nigel-harps1954]

Is he better than Gibson or McCarthy though? Centre mids aren't exactly what's required in the Ireland team at the minute.

[gastric]

Someone who doesn't feel Irish in the slightest, who never had any interest in playing for Ireland, who spent 3 Qualifying campaigns neglecting to declare for Ireland amid strong interest, someone who was said to have wanted guarantees of playing time, someone who is a quite mediocre West Ham player ready to declare.

Who next, Jamie O'Hara?

Well, Stutts, does he pass your gut test?

Presumably Noble won't have to earn his place in team at all so he will jump ahead of one of Gibson, Hendrick, Meyler, Hoolahan or Reid. Does that sound fair? Again, what kind of message does this send to young players when their passage to the first team is going to be blocked by a crap 27 year old English player who spent 3 qualifying campaigns turning down call ups?

If English born players come up through the youth teams, declare at a young age, have the right attitude, are of a decent standard and will improve the team and won't cause friction within the squad then fair enough but this is a ****take from O'Neill and Keane; just like the Given call up to be completely honest.

Majorly disappointed if this is true.

How can you say Noble will be first choice? O'Neill nor Keane would never make such a guarantee. Noble would start as a squad player at best and would have to earn his spot like anyone else. What he is is another midfield option which increases our options and depth.When I watched Algeria in the WC, I enjoyed their honesty and endeavour, their background was a secondary issue. The same applies to us.

[TrapAPony]

Is he better than Gibson or McCarthy though? Centre mids aren't exactly what's required in the Ireland team at the minute.

He is not better than McCarthy but Gibson is very injury prone. Would be very useful to have someone like Noble in the squad IMO.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Anything's better than Glenn Whelan FFS.
If he wants to play and is eligible, who cares...

[Deckydee]

Im just glad that the subject of the thread now makes sense ;)

[Deckydee]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2737152/Mark-Noble-ready-play-Ireland-West-Ham-midfielder-gives-England-call-up.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

[Supreme feet]

I'm a bit torn. The idea of a 27-year-old player - who has repeatedly turned down the chance to represent us before - suddenly coming on board, now that he knows he'll never get an England call-up, doesn't sit well with me. I'm excited to see how the likes of Hendrick, Gibson, Meyler and Reid can do in this campaign, and someone like Noble coming in and possibly jumping the queue seems a bit distasteful.

Jack Charlton's squad, however, did have a few English-born players with tenous lineage, who declared late in their careers. Our success under Charlton inspired a whole generation of young Irish-born players - including Duff, Robbie Keane, Dunne, O'Shea and Andy Reid - to play football, win tournaments at underage level and become full internationals. If we qualify for tournaments, it generates interest, which is good for the game. To qualify, we need to play the best available players (while also laying adequate foundations to ensure that the next crop of young Irish talent is managed properly). I dont like exploiting the granny rule to this extent, but it may be a necessary evil.

[brine3]

This is what happens when you base the economic model of a country on mass emigration.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

This is what happens when you base the economic model of a country on mass emigration.

That is nonsense. The vast majority of people who emigrate have/had jobs over here when they leave. A significant amount of Irish people who emigrate go to America and Australia without any guarantees of work. A lot remain there when their visa's expire.

If people don't want to remain in Ireland for whatever reason, that's their prerogative, but let's not pretend they are forced into it.

Edit: OK modern context.

As for Noble, he doesn't deserve to be in the starting 11 on merit so how is he going to be the difference in us qualifying and not qualifying? It's an oxymoron. If he does get regular playing time straight away, does this effect squad harmony? It's the same thing with Given.

[Charlie Darwin]

Harry Kane's ruled himself out: http://www.tottenhamjournal.co.uk/tottenham-hotspur/tottenham_hotspur_2_3754/kane_i_ve_proved_i_can_be_a_lone_striker_for_spurs _and_i_ve_shown_my_character_1_3749558

We really are beginning to look like beggars.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

This isn't anything new. In fairness, at least he isn't messing around.

I'm sure Noble would have categorically said the same thing when he was Kane's age so no point completely ruling it out.

[Supreme feet]

Noble getting a good bit of stick across all forums now. Part of me thinks the Mail 'source' could have been part-constructed by Noble himself to measure how Irish fans would react to him. If he's paying attention, he'll probably think it's more hassle than it's worth.

Just out of interest, how would people react if it were an uncapped Spanish or German player, lets say Illarremendi, Arteta or Lasogga, who just discovered a long-lost Irish granny? I'd imagine we'd be slightly more welcoming!

[TrapAPony]

Noble getting a good bit of stick across all forums now.

Where? On the West Ham forum nobody has said anything. On ybig it's just the same old 'Little Irelanders' but apart from that where is he getting stick? If you look at the poll from independent.ie so far 81% of people are in favour of him.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Something isn't right. Presumably, if Noble is declaring, he would have been one of the players O'Neill vaguely referred to as "close to declaring" weeks and months ago.

Yet.....

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/mark-noble-i-will-never-give-up-on-my-england-dream-9668659.html

Just two weeks ago, Noble said he would never give up on his England dream.

[Supreme feet]

Where? On the West Ham forum nobody has said anything. On ybig it's just the same old 'Little Irelanders' but apart from that where is he getting stick? If you look at the poll from independent.ie so far 81% of people are in favour of him.

The rte.ie article, the most 'up-voted' comments are slating him. Not a great reaction on Football365 either. Like it or not, it is a polarising issue, and you don't need to be a 'Little Irelander' or 'Armchair Nationalist' to have misgivings about it - same as people would have misgivings about Diego Costa's 'transfer' from Brazil to Spain. It's a rather demeaning element in the international game, and I'd have more respect for people like Dave Kitson who turned down an Irish call up because, in his own words, he didn't 'feel Irish', and didn't want to take a spot from a player who would value it more.

I've already said that I'd accept it as a necessary evil, but with a certain degree of distaste.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Brilliantly said, Supreme feet.