Potentially eligible players thread

[The Fly]

That Tabi bloke who played for our U17s has just defected to England.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/fai-lose-out-to-england-in-battle-for-u17-arsenal-starlet-34218104.html

Here's a companion piece to that -

'Five English-born Irish qualified players who could be future starts in green'
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/five-englishborn-irishqualified-players-who-could-be-future-stars-in-green-34219615.html

[DannyInvincible]

Marcus Tabi’s defection from Ireland to the Auld Enemy highlights the lengths England are going to at underage level to snap up dual-nationality talent.

To be fair, we go to considerable lengths ourselves to snap up dual nationals, so it's not as if we can cry "foul" or hold it against them. Fallon hasn't explicitly stated it's a problem, but I just got a sense of mild disapproval.


England tried and failed twice to entice Grealish onboard in his teens and it was only after Martin O’Neill blew his chance of capping a talent gift-wrapped to him by U-21 manager Noel King that the blunder was seized upon to Ireland's detriment.

Is this is a new interpretation in hindsight? It's rather harsh. Which chance did O'Neill blow? Is Fallon referring to the US friendly tour, in which none of the games would actually have tied Grealish, who was, it should also be pointed out, playing at League One level for Notts County at the time? "Gift-wrapped" for senior level? I'm not so sure. Any time O'Neill offered a competitive call-up, it seems Grealish got cold feet. That's not O'Neill's blunder. Nor was O'Neill to know that Grealish was to eventually switch; Jack and his father appeared to have given O'Neill the impression that the chances of him sticking with Ireland were high, so there appeared to be no urgent need to push the matter. Not that O'Neill could have forced the issue anyway considering it was entirely up to Grealish. It is also worth remembering that Grealish was unwilling to continue playing for King too.

[TrapAPony]

I also think it is very harsh to put the blame on O'Neill and say it's his fault that Grealish jumped. It seems to me that Grealish always thought he was too good for Ireland. If anything Grealish started to believe in his own hype, hype created in the media by his own father who no doubt loved the International tug-o-war. Grealish believed he was a superstar. You can also be sure the influence of his agent Jonathan Barnett of Stellar Group & the likes of Tim Sherwood telling him he wouldn't be sold not even for 60 million pounds didn't help. Moral of the story - Blame Jack 100% & not MON.

[Yard of Pace]

I don't think he's a bad lad but I think he was very poorly advised by grown men who should know better and I don't think he'll ever play in a major tournament in his career.

[gastric]

Would have to disagree with you. I think once he starts to play consistently he will force his way into England's reckoning, but not for next year's Euros. In saying that I hope you prove correct! Would he have made our squad if he hadn't changed allegiance? I think he would have, so he will have time to reflect on his decision over the summer. Also, in regards to Bamford, if he did come on board, who would be dropped from the Euro squad? It would be harsh on One of the probable 4 strikers - Walters, Murphy, Long and Keane. Murphy would possibly be the one to be left out, though Robbie's lack of game time for us would suggest he is certainly 4th choice now. It would be great if a few players did come on board, more for the upcoming WC campaign than the Euros.

[tetsujin1979]

Here's a companion piece to that -

'Five English-born Irish qualified players who could be future starts in green'
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/five-englishborn-irishqualified-players-who-could-be-future-stars-in-green-34219615.html

I read that earlier, they misspelled "and" under the photo as "abd" and are still describing current England u19 player Daniel Crowley's chances of staying green as "moderate"

[boysingreen]

What IS the latest on Crowley?

Was reading the article on the recent kid to leave Irish set-up for England, and it referenced Crowley as a goner. Never saw much reported, is it a sure thing? Or do they mean that he left us awhile back?

He was in the Irish set up, now he's with the England (has been for a bit), but I thought the talk was that he was considering a switch back?

Is it that he got a call-up recently (maybe to a higher age group) and took it? Think everything I've questioned is accurate, but all this back and forth is confusing.

[Charlie Darwin]

He's been with England for a year or more. Recently scored a fine individual goal in a win over Japan. His loan at Barnsley ended early as the coach there didn't feel he was making enough progress to warrant continuing with the first team, so for the time being he doesn't have to make a final decision.

[tricky_colour]

Some of these are quite funny. Nothing offensive.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/uefa-euro-2016/jack-grealish-trolled-mercilessly-by-fans-as-republic-of-ireland-qualifies-for-euro-2016/ar-BBn7KwD?li=AA572I&ocid=iehp

Jack would never hear the end of it!
Wouldn't it be good if Ireland do better at the Euros than England!!

[tricky_colour]

I also think it is very harsh to put the blame on O'Neill and say it's his fault that Grealish jumped. It seems to me that Grealish always thought he was too good for Ireland. If anything Grealish started to believe in his own hype, hype created in the media by his own father who no doubt loved the International tug-o-war. Grealish believed he was a superstar. You can also be sure the influence of his agent Jonathan Barnett of Stellar Group & the likes of Tim Sherwood telling him he wouldn't be sold not even for 60 million pounds didn't help. Moral of the story - Blame Jack 100% & not MON.

I got the impression his father wanted him to play for Ireland, but I put a lot of blame on Sherwood trying to hype up his value.
Plus I think the likelihood of international football would be a factor, things didn't look as bright for Ireland at the time.
You don't want to sitting at home when you could be playing at a major tournament however as it turns out he may have made
the wrong decision on that score.

[nigel-harps1954]

Charlie Austin to switch allegiances to be in with a chance of playing in the Euros?

[Deckydee]

Charlie Austin to switch allegiances to be in with a chance of playing in the Euros?

Link? :p :o :D

[DeLorean]

Also, in regards to Bamford, if he did come on board, who would be dropped from the Euro squad? It would be harsh on One of the probable 4 strikers - Walters, Murphy, Long and Keane. Murphy would possibly be the one to be left out, though Robbie's lack of game time for us would suggest he is certainly 4th choice now. It would be great if a few players did come on board, more for the upcoming WC campaign than the Euros.

Yeah I wouldn't dangle any carrot of a place in the squad for the Euros, I'd simply sound him out and let him know that we'd be very interested in giving him opportunities, if he was to switch back. A place for the Euros might not really be practical at this stage anyway, isn't there a lot of paper work and various clearances that have to go through that take a few months. Danny knows more about that stuff? And like CD said, it wouldn't send a very good message to the guys that got us there.

His international prospects are probably the least of his worries at the moment anyway. (http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/chelsea-loanee-patrick-bamford-bemoans-upsetting-crystal-palace-loan-spell-1526685)

[tetsujin1979]

Some of these are quite funny. Nothing offensive.

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/uefa-euro-2016/jack-grealish-trolled-mercilessly-by-fans-as-republic-of-ireland-qualifies-for-euro-2016/ar-BBn7KwD?li=AA572I&ocid=iehp
The more offensive ones were omitted, here's what was sent to him between Monday and Wednesday: https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=to%3AJackGrealish1%20since%3A2015-11-16%20until%3A2015-11-17
(click the "Live" tab and scroll down)
Some are funny, some are pretty vile

[TrapAPony]

Charlie Austin to switch allegiances to be in with a chance of playing in the Euros?

He said he would play for Ireland if he could find a link. Could he not get Irish people to adopt him now or something? ;) Surely the FAI could get around it...

[Olé Olé]

Instagram post by Daniel Crowley yesterday of him and his brother watching the football, presumably PL matches: https://instagram.com/p/-WTjftxXgo/?taken-by=danielcrowley10

His younger brother is wearing an Ireland jersey. And last week Crowley was wearing the England jersey.

[seanfhear]

Decisions can be complicated when it comes to playing international football !

[DannyInvincible]

Yeah I wouldn't dangle any carrot of a place in the squad for the Euros, I'd simply sound him out and let him know that we'd be very interested in giving him opportunities, if he was to switch back. A place for the Euros might not really be practical at this stage anyway, isn't there a lot of paper work and various clearances that have to go through that take a few months. Danny knows more about that stuff?

The administrative side of the switch process can take between 3-6 months, so I think there would be time yet if he did want to try and aim for it, but he'd need to get moving. Whether or not he'd be worth a place is another matter, whilst the potential effect such a call-up might have on squad morale would also have to be taken into account.

[SkStu]

Grealish dropped from Villa first team squad for the foreseeable future

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34930220

[CraftyToePoke]

Coupled with our qualification, he is the gift that keeps on giving at the moment. Loving it.

[Olé Olé]

Coupled with our qualification, he is the gift that keeps on giving at the moment. Loving it.

It's hilarious. Circumstances much different etc. but Brady, Hoolahan and Long had matches at the weekend and a few days beforehand could be seen enjoying themselves in a Dublin bar. That was met by adoration by the Irish media and public.

I had a good chuckle to myself the other day when I heard Gareth Bale's agent being mentioned on Second Captains podcast. Reminded me of the link that was drawn between the agent urging Bale to play with England and the possibility of him doing the same with Grealish. Incidentally, Bale had only one English-born grandparent but he neglected to play for them. Grealish, similarly, only has one English-born grandparent but made the opposite decision! Different circumstances, but funny in an ironic kinda way.

[Fixer82]

I don't think there'll be many players forcing their way into the squad if any. O'Neill is an excellent motivator and man-manager and won't want to upset the apple cart unless really necessary. I can't see a player coming out of the woodwork and into the squad a la Babb, McAteer, McLoughlin in the 90s.

The only newish players I see possibly making the squad would be Arter and Judge

[tetsujin1979]

Brady, Hoolahan and Long had matches at the weekend and a few days beforehand could be seen enjoying themselves in a Dublin bar. That was met by adoration by the Irish media and public.

Funny how things change, remember when Robbie Keane was crucified in the press for going out in Dublin a week before the qualifier against France in 2005?

[Olé Olé]

Funny how things change, remember when Robbie Keane was crucified in the press for going out in Dublin a week before the qualifier against France in 2005?

Haha I don't. The media didn't seem as interesting, memorable or accessible in my tweens.

[DannyInvincible]

Must have been a slow news day in RTÉ Sport. This is one of their main "stories" at the minute: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/irish/2015/1127/749733-grealish-international-transfer-still-on-complete/


Almost two months after switching his allegiance from Ireland, Jack Grealish is still not eligible to represent England.

FIFA has confirmed that his paperwork hasn’t been processed, though they have given no reason for the delay.

A simple phone-call to the FAI would have told them that there is no delay because the process can take up to 3-6 months.

[Closed Account]

Must have been a slow news day in RTÉ Sport. This is one of their main "stories" at the minute: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/irish/2015/1127/749733-grealish-international-transfer-still-on-complete/



A simple phone-call to the FAI would have told them that there is no delay because the process can take up to 3-6 months.

But why does it take 3-6 months?

[TrapAPony]

But why does it take 3-6 months?
.....Especially for someone that's actually born in England.

[DannyInvincible]

But why does it take 3-6 months?

It just does. :)

I have no idea why, to be honest. There are probably documents to be sent back and forth between three international parties. The documents need to be checked and verified. I'll try find out more.

[DannyInvincible]

Lamar Neagle is moving from Seattle Sounders to DC United: http://www.soundersfc.com/post/2015/12/07/sounders-fc-trades-midfielder-lamar-neagle-dc-united-allocation-money

[Park_Lane]

But why does it take 3-6 months?

It's Fifa. You won't get anything done in Fifa without the correct paper(preferably in bundles of 50's)

[DannyInvincible]

But why does it take 3-6 months?

I said I'd try find out more so I got in touch with Yann Hafner (http://foot.ie/threads/147164-Eligibility-Rules-Okay?p=1805271&viewfull=1#post1805271) again to see if he had any further info or insight into the switch process.

In respect of the length of time it takes for FIFA's Player Status Committee to process a request for a change of association, I posed the following to him:


I understand that the actual process of a player switching from one international association to another can take 3-6 months for the FIFA Players' Status Committee to complete. Have you any insight or inkling as to why it takes this length of time? I presume documents have to be sent back and forth (and verified) between three international parties - FIFA and the two associations concerned - but 3-6 months still seems like quite a long time for what one might think would be a fairly straightforward process on the face of it.

Yann provided me with the following insight:


The process comprises two phases :

i) the investigation of the FIFA administration;

ii) the Decision of the Judge of the Players’ Status Committee.

It can happen that the FIFA administration has to wait for documents from the previous association before it is able to process the case. This may be the case if the national federation the player no longer wishes to represent fail to submit the relevant documents or if the authorities of a certain country are not in a position to provide the FIFA administration with said documents (due to war, absence of written records, etc.). Then, the Judge has to rule on the case. This again can take time. In light of the foregoing, a time frame of 3 months is not that long when you take into consideration all the steps of the process.

So evidential documents may well be required from both relevant associations and states. I wondered then if an unhappy association could stall a switch by refusing or delaying to send the necessary documents and asked the following:


Presumably FIFA have some way around potential stalling and an unhappy association cannot ultimately stand in the way of a player's request? How can FIFA force the issue if an association is delaying matters?

Presumably, so long as everything is in accordance with the Regulations, the Judge will ratify the switch or are there any other reasons as to why he may reject the request, assuming all the documents are otherwise in order?

Yann responded as follows:


If you read the article regarding Breel Embolo [http://foot.ie/threads/147164-Eligibility-Rules-Okay?p=1805274&viewfull=1#post1805274], you will see that the Football association of Cameroon did not submit all the relevant documents at first and that it had the effect to delay the process. In order to avoid such stalling tactics, I am assuming that FIFA sets a deadline to comply and clearly indicates that it can decide based on the record as it stands.

The judge has to appreciate all the documents, especially if an exemption from Article 7 is requested. To date, only one request to change affiliation has been denied. All the other requests - not complying with the relevant regulations - have been withdrawn before they were submitted to the Judge. This is why there is a pretty high success rate.

Of course, the case of Breel Embolo concerned the granting by the Players' Status Committee of an exemption from an application of the article 7 criteria rather than a request for change of association, but the judgment process is similar in practice. The reason why the football association of Cameroon had to be involved was so that they could confirm that Embolo had no international cap with them.

This is Circular n° 877 dated the 21st of November, 2003, which outlines all the documents required to switch association: http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/ps_877_en_89.pdf

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc12/poguemahone85/Capture1_zpsrpw5lfyu.png
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc12/poguemahone85/Capture2_zps5rdfberi.png

[CraftyToePoke]

So evidential documents may well be required from both relevant associations and states. I wondered then if an unhappy association could stall a switch by refusing or delaying to send the necessary documents and asked the following

Maybe da boyaz in Dublin are holding out on the paperwork pending the safe return of our U21 POTY gong ;)

Anyway, Danny, a question, NI & Scotland are after this player, presently according to this :

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/posh-latest-three-clubs-and-two-countries-are-chasing-peterborough-united-striker-1-7127017

Conor Washington, 11 this season, 9 in his last ten when this went to print. Peterborough fans very twitchy about him moving up in the Jan window. Qualifies through NI grandparents, can he play for us ? Or is is not certain ?

[samhaydenjr]

Still eligible Will Keane going back to Man United: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/english/2016/0101/757263-goal-shy-manchester-united-recall-will-keane/

Hasn't been prolific at Preston, with 2 goals in 22 games. But watch him get 10 by the end of the season, break into the England senior squad next season and we'll be kicking ourselves for not testing the waters with him, at least.

[DannyInvincible]

Maybe da boyaz in Dublin are holding out on the paperwork pending the safe return of our U21 POTY gong ;)

Anyway, Danny, a question, NI & Scotland are after this player, presently according to this :

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/posh-latest-three-clubs-and-two-countries-are-chasing-peterborough-united-striker-1-7127017

Conor Washington, 11 this season, 9 in his last ten when this went to print. Peterborough fans very twitchy about him moving up in the Jan window. Qualifies through NI grandparents, can he play for us ? Or is is not certain ?

My understanding is that Washington would be entitled to Irish citizenship through his (Irish citizen or citizenship-eligible) grandparents (http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/irish_citizenship/irish_citizenship_through_birth_or_descent.html) and, if he did acquire citizenship (by registering in the Foreign Births Register, presuming he hasn't done so already), would then be eligible to play for us by virtue of article 7 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes (http://www.fifa.com/mm/Document/AFFederation/Generic/02/58/14/48/2015FIFAStatutesEN_Neutral.pdf), which relates to the acquisition of a new nationality.

FIFA appear to consider the whole island the "territory of the [FAI]" for the purposes of ascertaining eligibility to play for Ireland under article 7 as Irish nationality law has island-wide application. If article 7 was to be interpreted and applied literally, however, I'm not convinced the likes of Washington would actually be eligible to play for us and I think the IFA could actually have made a compelling case here to the CAS had they wanted to. In saying that, the CAS might well have dismissed such an appeal and have adjudged FIFA to be justified in applying a purposive interpretation rather than a strictly literal one.

To the best of my knowledge, Alex Bruce and Adam Barton were able to play for us on account grandparents who were born north of the border, just to provide some examples of players who would have been in the same shoes as Washington.

[Murph 1]

Hope Martin O Neill/Keane have a look at Washington and at least give him the option of Declaring for us if eligible. While we're reasonably well served up front at the moment -that will not always be the case, As we approach a New World Cup Qualifying campaign post Euro 2016 the options look a little light.

[DannyInvincible]

Just saw this (https://twitter.com/RobBrennan82/status/688814178434428928) on Twitter; Australia-born River Plate (Argentina) player Gavin De Niese (https://twitter.com/gavindeniese) possesses an Irish passport, so is presumably eligible to play for us too.

Some further info on him: http://www.outsider-mag.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Gavin-De-Niese-Outsider-Mag.pdf and http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/gavin-de-niese

[tetsujin1979]

Friend of mine is Argentinian, and lives in Buenos Aires, so I asked him did he know anything about Gavin. Unfortunately, he was released by River Plate earlier this month, and is currently a free agent: http://lapaginamillonaria.com/river-plate/31146/gavin-de-niese-encabeza-listado-futbolistas-quedaron-libres-river
(via google translate)

The Australian flyer was released and no longer belongs to River. 25 other young players also failed to integrate the smaller divisions of the band. Gavin De Niese is an Australian born in 1996 flyer who shot to fame when he began to integrate the lower divisions of River. The midfielder arrived in first-name terms with the Reserve and had aspirations to get to first, but failed.
Finally, De Niese was released along with other 25 youth who were part of the Millionaire quarry. Pablo Barboza, Peter Formosa, Mark Muller and Santiago Ojeda are the remaining members of the 1996 class were free.

[eekers]

Surely Tom Carroll at Tottenham might be eligible. I've watched him come through for years. He's really turned a corner now and shown he can dictate tempo in the middle of the pitch in the premier league. He's the type of passer we need in the Ireland midfield.

[TrapAPony]

FAI are trying to convince 19 year old Coventry midfielder James Maddison to play for us. Looks a talent this lad & there are a good few Premiership teams looking at him.
https://twitter.com/IrishSunSport/status/690313176051798016

[Olé Olé]

FAI are trying to convince 19 year old Coventry midfielder James Maddison to play for us. Looks a talent this lad & there are a good few Premiership teams looking at him.
https://twitter.com/IrishSunSport/status/690313176051798016

Coventry has really become a real hotbed for us with some successful and unsuccessful attempts i.e. Cyrus Christie, Daniel Crowley, Jack Grealish (not too far away), Callum Wilson (doesn't appear eligible though) and now Maddison.

[Murph 1]

Think Tom Carroll is an England U21 so that's more than likely the end of that.

[DannyInvincible]

Lee Carsley is now working for the FA to ensure no future Jack Grealish-type sagas: http://www.balls.ie/football/lee-carsley-fa/322378

Balls.ie seem to get their info from this article by Paul Rowan in the Sunday Times, although it's behind a pay-wall: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/ireland/article1660036.ece


Martin O'Neill and Republic of Ireland U-21 manager Noel King have tried to influence a lot of young English born talent in recent seasons, with Jack Grealish being the most notable. The two latest players set to start a tug-of-war between the FAI and the FA are Arsenal's Dan Crowley, and Coventry's James Maddison.

Maddison in particular has been heavily sought after by King for the U-21's, at the same time that Tottenham are looking to bring the 19-year-old to the Premier League. But it now appears that the FA have been alerted, thanks to a former Irish international in their ranks.

The 40-times capped Lee Carsley now works for the FA at the youth level, trying to make sure that fiascos like Jack Grealish don't drag on that long again. For Ireland, it means that the under-the-radar recruitment could be in jeopardy.

Carsley is now playing the role of the Republic of Ireland's biggest adversary when it comes to winning over the hearts of players who have the option of playing for England or the Republic of Ireland.

In the Maddison case, Carsley's experience working with the Coventry development squad and knowledge of Maddison would have been invaluable in securing Maddison's international future. Now it seems that Carsley's influence will keep Maddison with England.

It could have been all so different for the FAI. Three years ago, Carsley and Kevin Kilbane came to the association offering their services in identifying and helping to convince Irish qualified players to choose the Republic of Ireland. But the FAI rejected their offer, failing to find a place for either player in the association.

Unfortunately for Ireland, the FA have been woken up after Ireland were so close to bringing the likes of Grealish, Harry Kane, and Maddison to their set-ups before they broke through - and it seems as though Lee Carsley will be the biggest thorn in their side for the future.

I hadn't been aware that both Carsley and Kilbane had approached the FAI to work on recruiting England-born players with Irish roots, but the FAI turned them away.

[tetsujin1979]

balls.ie did the same thing with an article last week on Gary Breen's long-rumoured move to Inter Milan. They lifted an entire article wholesale from an Independent article that's behind their paywall. Whether or not the Independent sue them is another story.

[Charlie Darwin]

balls.ie did the same thing with an article last week on Gary Breen's long-rumoured move to Inter Milan. They lifted an entire article wholesale from an Independent article that's behind their paywall. Whether or not the Independent sue them is another story.
Balls is owned by the Off the Ball team, who are all on DOB's payroll.

[tetsujin1979]

Balls is owned by the Off the Ball team, who are all on DOB's payroll.
Actually, I'm wrong there. They took the article from the Sunday Times, same as the article linked by Danny above, not the Independent: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/sport/football/I_nationals/article1656829.ece

[Murph 1]

Hi, Think the important point here is how influential someone like Kevin Kilbane could be in outlining the attraction of playing for the Republic to a confused young lad from Coventry who is eligible through either a parent/grandparent. The FAI need to have high profile ex Internationals employed in order to ensure that a young lad such as Maddison is given every opportunity to declare for Ireland. With all due respects to Noel King he is finding it difficult in the face of a very agressive approach being taken by the English FA. Their attitude is get them in and if they don't make it down the road-good riddance. This lack of success in attracting the likes of Patrick Bamford, Daniel Crowley , Jack Grealish and now young Maddisson is going to have serious consequences for the U 21 and Senior teams into the future. The FAI need to invest real money in employing the right people in order to improve the situation- even if it means John Delaney having to take a pay cut.

[Olé Olé]

Hi, Think the important point here is how influential someone like Kevin Kilbane could be in outlining the attraction of playing for the Republic to a confused young lad from Coventry who is eligible through either a parent/grandparent. The FAI need to have high profile ex Internationals employed in order to ensure that a young lad such as Maddison is given every opportunity to declare for Ireland. With all due respects to Noel King he is finding it difficult in the face of a very agressive approach being taken by the English FA. Their attitude is get them in and if they don't make it down the road-good riddance. This lack of success in attracting the likes of Patrick Bamford, Daniel Crowley , Jack Grealish and now young Maddisson is going to have serious consequences for the U 21 and Senior teams into the future. The FAI need to invest real money in employing the right people in order to improve the situation- even if it means John Delaney having to take a pay cut.

Very true.

Recent PL players and Irish internationals like Steven Reid and Kevin Kilbane have spoke well in the media in relation to playing for Ireland instead of England. I'm sure that they could translate that to discussions with players.

[Kingdom]

That's the worrying thing. Carsley and Killer would both have comfortable existences I would expect, and I cannot imagine (certainly in Killer's situation) them asking for stupid money from the FAI, if they asked for money at all.
So how much could this have cost? Would 100k down from Delaney's wages have covered expenses for the pair?

You have to look at the long-term here Mr Delaney. Dan Crowley and Maddison could be the difference between qualifying for Euro 2020 (on home soil) or not. That would bring in a cash bonanza to the FAI coffers, for the sake of a small outlay in the here and now.

[DeLorean]

This lack of success in attracting the likes of Patrick Bamford, Daniel Crowley , Jack Grealish and now young Maddisson is going to have serious consequences for the U 21 and Senior teams into the future.

Norwich are odds on to sign Bamford on loan, maybe Brady and Wessi will have a word. Hull are in the running too so Meyler might oblige. The Derby contingent weren't really established when he was there, there's no Irish squad players at Chelsea or Middlesbrough and I hope he wasn't talking to Damien Delaney or Andy Reid at Palace/Forest. :)

[DannyInvincible]

This lack of success in attracting the likes of Patrick Bamford, Daniel Crowley , Jack Grealish and now young Maddisson is going to have serious consequences for the U 21 and Senior teams into the future. The FAI need to invest real money in employing the right people in order to improve the situation- even if it means John Delaney having to take a pay cut.

Whilst I think employing Kilbane would have been beneficial, it's not really the long-term answer to our woes though. The real solution would be ensuring we can develop eligible players ourselves - be they Ireland-born or not - rather than having to worry so much about trying to convince ambivalent or uncertain dual nationals who've come through the FA system or English clubs.

There is an argument as well that if a player chooses England first, he can always still switch to us at some point in the future, so long as he isn't capped for them at senior competitive level, whereas, if he chooses us first and then makes a formal switch to England, he can't switch back. Of course, that's ignoring the question of whether or not we're happy to facilitate what you might describe as mercenaries or players for whom we're no more than a back-up option. Personally, I'm happy to judge each case as it comes. I wouldn't have been too keen on Mark Noble or Jermaine Pennant - they just gave off the wrong signals as far as potential commitment was concerned - whereas I was happy enough to acknowledge the difficulty of Grealish's position and he did make a decision early in his career, to be fair to him. There's something about the honesty of Bamford that makes me think that, even if he was to switch to us at some point down the line after having tried for an England place, it wouldn't rub me up the wrong way. He's been clear that he does have sentiment for Ireland and that he'd be happy to play for us, but that England is his preference at present, which is fair enough seeing as he is English too. No bullsh*t and he's respectfully made his position clear; if we're happy to select him at some point in the future after he's made himself available, we can do so. If not, we don't have to.