Potentially eligible players thread

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I’ve been really impressed with Kevin Kilbane on Newstalk of late. He’s a good skin, enjoyable to listen to and really insightful. Dan O’Donnell couldn’t make an assertion on the Irish camp last night without adding the caveat of “but, I don’t know” to the end of his sentences, seemingly mindful of Kilbane’s presence and obvious knowledge. Joe Molloy struck up a discussion on Andre Gray’s, admittedly despicable, tweets. As a presenter, a bit of context on Gray’s background would be within Molloy’s duty to provide. However, it took Kilbane to refer to his stabbing, involvement in gang activity and tough upbringing. He didn’t do it to excuse Gray but just to provide some context.

Anyway, John Cross of the Mirror was on to discuss Jack Wilshere last night and Kilbane couldn’t let him go without asking him what he thought of Sam Allardyce’s willingness to bring in naturalized citizens into the England squad (discussions having been recently held with Steven N’Zonzi). I thought it was really adding value to the show by Kilbane to ask this question of a well-placed English journalist.

After Cross was gone Kilbane struck gold again for the listeners. He discussed how the practice didn’t sit right with him. Most intriguingly, he said that there have been discussions in the England underage set-up whereby young players have been told to cut their teeth at international level in the underage set-ups of other countries, like Ireland, and if it works out they’d be brought into the England set-up. He also stated that England are really going after as many underage players as they can at the moment to hold such discussions or. Otherwise, to get them to switch across. Obviously, Grealish was name-checked in this but the likes of Agyei-Tabi, Crowley and others have began their international career with us before moving across to England also. A worrying practice if they’re doing this on the back of advice from someone like Gareth Southgate, who Kilbane did mention too.

It's what I have surmised to be the case all along.

Kilbane speaks the truth. I find he doesn't sugarcoat anything.

[liamoo11]

It's what I have surmised to be the case all along.

Kilbane speaks the truth. I find he doesn't sugarcoat anything.

the England section on big soccer is well worth a look . It has a dual nationality thread. As bad as England's new approach is for us it seems to prob affect the likes of Nigeria and Jamaica even more. Very informative site

[Olé Olé]

It's what I have surmised to be the case all along.

Kilbane speaks the truth. I find he doesn't sugarcoat anything.

Of course you have.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

English-born Former Ireland U-21 International Callum Morris has been called up for Northern Ireland after failing to get a look-in with us.

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/aberdeen-fc/aberdeen-callum-morris-northern-ireland/

(https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/aberdeen-fc/aberdeen-callum-morris-northern-ireland/)
Callum Morris who played at underage level for us has been called up by the north, another example of our players being shamelessly poached


(https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/aberdeen-fc/aberdeen-callum-morris-northern-ireland/)
Not half as annoying as my comments being shamelessly poached.

[The Fly]

Will Keane would consider declaring for Ireland if Martin O’Neill comes calling

(http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/sport/7234510/Will-Keane-would-consider-declaring-for-Ireland-if-Martin-ONeill-comes-calling.html?CMP=spklr-_-Editorial-_-TWITTER-_-IrishSunSport-_-20160910-_-Football-_-Sport-_-579566341)

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Lynden Gooch open to idea of playing for Ireland; England.


The versatile forward is also eligible to play for England through his Colchester-born father and the Republic of Ireland through his mother, and he has admitted that he would still be open to playing for either country if they decide to pursue his services before he gets another chance in the US setup.

“I could never say no,” he added to the Men in Blazers (http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2016/09/08/men-in-blazers-podcast-usmnt-big-sam-manchester-derby-and-lynden-gooch/). “I think Ireland is a part of me – that’s were my mother’s from – and so is England after living here for four years. Obviously my dad’s from England and I’ve got a lot of family here.

“It would be a great honour to play for any three of those countries.”


http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/09/11/sunderlands-lynden-gooch-opens-up-about-his-recent-conversation/

[Paddy Garcia]

You would like to think that we have the wit to get Gooch & Keane on board!

[Colbert Report]

What do we have to lose by calling Gooch up for our next qualifier and subbing him on at the end for a minute to cap tie him? There aren't many 20 year olds who break into the Premiership, albeit at a weak club like Sunderland. He's exactly what we need what with Hoolahan getting on in age.

[Charlie Darwin]

What do we have to lose by calling Gooch up for our next qualifier and subbing him on at the end for a minute to cap tie him?
I suppose you could **** off all the players who have actually had their earn their caps instead of being gifted one because they have a different accent.

[Colbert Report]

Minutes played in the Premier League so far this season:

Harry Arter 346
David Meyler 342
Glenn Whelan 336
Lynden Gooch 230

Why risk losing him? We capped Joey Lapira!

[Charlie Darwin]

Don't remind me about Joe Lapira. But crucially he didn't get a competitive cap so he can still represent the USA if he wants!

The one thing O'Neill has undoubtedly done, despite criticism of his unadventurous squads, is create a good team spirit. I can see why bringing in a guy who's had less Premier League minutes than Kevin Toner upsetting players for whom a cap is something they've had to work far harder for. Besides, it's unfair to put that pressure on the guy himself who clearly hasn't decided what team he wants to play for anyway, so the worst-case scenario is you get a Grealish situation where he embarrasses the whole set-up by making us look desperate, which we shouldn't be.

[Colbert Report]

I'd just be worried that the USA call him up just to cap-tie him and he can't really turn them down because we haven't been in contact. We're not really in a position to allow anyone who is of Premier League quality to slip through our fingers.

[Charlie Darwin]

If they do, they do. But as far as I know the US only cap-tie German players :D

But I don't think it's clear at this stage that he's Premier League quality. A few minutes at the start (or end) of the season doesn't mean much just yet.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Unless Coleman or O'Shea score tomorrow then it will be four rounds of matches without a goal scored by an Irish player.

Could be a record low in terms of goals scored by Irish players this season.

Brady and Hoolahan good for 4 or 5 a season but they have dropped to the Championship, Walters on rotation and off penalty taking duties, Long short on confidence, Coleman's lost his goalscoring touch..

Last season wasn't so bad in terms of Irish goals scored but it's looking like a drastic drop this year.

[Charlie Darwin]

Lynden Gooch is due a goal I'd say.

[gastric]

Wouldn't a B international be a good idea? It would gauge who is really interested and who is not without affecting the first team morale and unity as Charlie mentioned above.

[tetsujin1979]

listening to the full interview here - http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2016/09/08/men-in-blazers-podcast-usmnt-big-sam-manchester-derby-and-lynden-gooch/ - it sounds like a throwaway comment more than anything. I'd be surprised if he plays for anyone other than the US

[tetsujin1979]

not much use now, but Trevor Sinclair was eligible to play for the Republic through his Sligo-born mother - https://twitter.com/trevor8sinclair/status/775057422482300929

To all the people asking why I support Celtic? Only choice as my mum is from Sligo and my step dad is from Glasgow and a big fan #COYBIG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash)
According to his wiki page, he had U21 caps in 1993, so the FAI would have wanted to act fast!

[Murph 1]

Agree with Gastric, the notion of a B International would allow O Neill the opportunity to explore those who qualify. There hasn't been a B game for quite a while now and given the need to increase the options available-this is most regrettable.

[Stuttgart88]

We'd all love B internationals but the club calendar is so congested now it's really unlikely we'll see any of them I reckon. Club managers are miserly enough releasing players even when they really have to these days.

[dr_peepee]

I think a B international is warranted, but only if it's used to give a platform the those currently without one. ie those who are over 21 but on the edges of the squad or just beyond a call up. I recall a recent B international which was primarily U21s and players who had been in Squads already. Which defeated the purpose in my mind

[OwlsFan]

Scott Hogan in the EFL team of the week http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/sky-bet-efl-team-of-the-week-3303936.aspx?utm_source=emailmarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=efl_weekend_round_up_matchday_12sep20 16&utm_content=2016-09-12_1741

[samhaydenjr]

Scott Hogan in the EFL team of the week http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/sky-bet-efl-team-of-the-week-3303936.aspx?utm_source=emailmarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=efl_weekend_round_up_matchday_12sep20 16&utm_content=2016-09-12_1741

Scored a couple of crackers against Brighton and was a constant menace to the defence, if these highlights are anything to go by:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw61cTuxuTs

As regards how to incorporate new players, this is what I think we should do - an autumn friendly to give more game time definitely to Christie, Arter and Duffy, maybe to Elliot, Cunningham and judge; try to build Murphy's confidence now that he's off the mark; give Scott Hogan his debut if he's willing to commit and maintains his current form. A couple of post-season friendlies or a tour and take the opportunity to blood some of the following players, depending on their seasons: Browne, Byrne, Lenihan, Doherty, Egan, Shodipo, Hoban, Hourihane, O'Dowda, Williams (and Will Keane if he's serious about joining up)

[Charlie Darwin]

Will Keane is an interesting one. He's done nothing in his career to suggest he's a potential international for anyone but he's signed for Hull and he's agents doing a bit of work so all of a sudden he's in the Ireland frame.

[Wolfman]

Didn't his twin brother play for Ireland, so he's definitely eligible!

[BonnieShels]

He's the brother of Michael who's now firmly in the bosom of Tanland

Will hasn't played for us underage whereas Michael has switched to Ingerland.

[Stuttgart88]

Didn't two brothers play against each other at the Euros? Switzerland v Albania? Zhaka v Zhaka?

[geysir]

Didn't the Boateng brothers play against each other at WC 2014? Ghana v DDR+GDR?


B intls are not very likely
There are always a few dates in the intl calendar which are vacant, any one or two potential eligible players can be called up to one of MO'N´s extended squad.
They are not taking anyone's place. If a player refuses citing a broken toenail, then move on.
An official or non-official intl friendly involving the non combatants in the squad could be arranged, preferably after one of the qualifiers.

[Kingdom]

I’ve been really impressed with Kevin Kilbane on Newstalk of late. He’s a good skin, enjoyable to listen to and really insightful. Dan O’Donnell couldn’t make an assertion on the Irish camp last night without adding the caveat of “but, I don’t know” to the end of his sentences, seemingly mindful of Kilbane’s presence and obvious knowledge. Joe Molloy struck up a discussion on Andre Gray’s, admittedly despicable, tweets. As a presenter, a bit of context on Gray’s background would be within Molloy’s duty to provide. However, it took Kilbane to refer to his stabbing, involvement in gang activity and tough upbringing. He didn’t do it to excuse Gray but just to provide some context.

Anyway, John Cross of the Mirror was on to discuss Jack Wilshere last night and Kilbane couldn’t let him go without asking him what he thought of Sam Allardyce’s willingness to bring in naturalized citizens into the England squad (discussions having been recently held with Steven N’Zonzi). I thought it was really adding value to the show by Kilbane to ask this question of a well-placed English journalist.

After Cross was gone Kilbane struck gold again for the listeners. He discussed how the practice didn’t sit right with him. Most intriguingly, he said that there have been discussions in the England underage set-up whereby young players have been told to cut their teeth at international level in the underage set-ups of other countries, like Ireland, and if it works out they’d be brought into the England set-up. He also stated that England are really going after as many underage players as they can at the moment to hold such discussions or. Otherwise, to get them to switch across. Obviously, Grealish was name-checked in this but the likes of Agyei-Tabi, Crowley and others have began their international career with us before moving across to England also. A worrying practice if they’re doing this on the back of advice from someone like Gareth Southgate, who Kilbane did mention too.

I heard that full spot on the show. It should be held up as an example of what an irish sports show should aim to achieve. journalism gold.

[backstothewall]

Will Keane is an interesting one. He's done nothing in his career to suggest he's a potential international for anyone but he's signed for Hull and he's agents doing a bit of work so all of a sudden he's in the Ireland frame.

All true but given our dearth of strikers under 30 have we any better options?

Murphy is 33. Walters is 33 next week.

Looking to the future we have Long, and after that Mason, Stokes, Shodipo, McGoldrick & Cox. If he is interested he must be worth a look in a friendly or 2.

[Dunners]

It would be good to have a look at him (W Keane) but we also have Scott Hogan and Mason to have a look at , just seems we know that but not sure about the guy picking the team

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

In fairness Mason is the only one to have shown interest until recently - and he has been in and out the team at Cardiff and Wolves.

If people had suggested a call up for Hogan 6 months ago they would've been laughed out the door.

Keane has done nothing to warrant talk of a call up, regardless of whether he is allegedly interested.

There are plenty of lads who want to play for their country unconditionally.

Pick them.

[Charlie Darwin]

Clinton Morrison could still do a job. Seriously, though, I'd rather have McClean up front that any of the above named, although I'd like to see more of Hogan.

[tetsujin1979]

In fairness Mason is the only one to have shown interest until recently - and he has been in and out the team at Cardiff and Wolves.

If people had suggested a call up for Hogan 6 months ago they would've been laughed out the door.

Keane has done nothing to warrant talk of a call up, regardless of whether he is allegedly interested.

There are plenty of lads who want to play for their country unconditionally.

Pick them.
if, in March, you were calling for a player who hadn't played since August 2014 because of injury to be called up, you'd deserve to be laughed at
However, his form since returning is positive, and he deserves to be looked at

[Paddy Garcia]

not much use now, but Trevor Sinclair was eligible to play for the Republic through his Sligo-born mother - https://twitter.com/trevor8sinclair/status/775057422482300929

According to his wiki page, he had U21 caps in 1993, so the FAI would have wanted to act fast!

We tried. I remember a big article in the Irish Post - around 1994 - reported he had picked England over us.

[CraftyToePoke]

Apologies if it has been covered previously, but do we know anything about the Wembley born Murphy twins at Norwich ? Jacob now has four from six apps this term after last nights double, and a real eye catcher on Saturday.

[gastric]

In fairness Mason is the only one to have shown interest until recently - and he has been in and out the team at Cardiff and Wolves.

If people had suggested a call up for Hogan 6 months ago they would've been laughed out the door.

Keane has done nothing to warrant talk of a call up, regardless of whether he is allegedly interested.

There are plenty of lads who want to play for their country unconditionally.

Pick them.

As I often feel a little malicious when you start your usual whinge about commitment, I look forward to the day when a team something like this lines out for us. It won't be good for your blood pressure! I know there are many others I have left out.

Bunn
Christie
Keogh
Pearce
Harness
Noble (C)
O'Hara
Crowley
Jacob Murphy
Will Keane
Hogan

[Dunners]

TOWK

How about naming your all time English born Ireland x11

thought i start you off

Dean Kiely

Jason Mcateer - David O'Leary - Paul McGrath - Terry Phelan

Tony Galvin - Andy Townsend - John Sherridan - Kevin Kilbane

Tony Cascarino - John Aldridge

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Apples and oranges.

Scott Hogan, Will Keane, Jamie O'Hara, Kyle Naughton, Curtis Davies, Mark Noble and Patrick Bamford etc, etc are not committed to playing for Ireland. Until they are, they are not part of the discussion. How can you blame Trapattoni or O'Neill for not selecting players who don't want to play for us?

Cyrus Christie, Harry Arter, Callum O'Dowda and David McGoldrick are all eligible players brought into the fold under O'Neill and people still complain.

This is because they realised they weren't good enough to play for England and declared for Ireland.

It's a two way street. The management have to be proactive about these things but there has to be a pull, and a bit of pragmatism, from the players as well.

And excuse me for not being enamored with the idea of players who aren't good enough to be in the reckoning for England togging out for us.

I just mentioned Christie and McGoldrick. I could name four or five Irish born players who are arguably better than them.

We are not talking about Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon type players here. We are talking about players who aren't remotely good enough to get near the national team of a country that got outplayed by Iceland a few months ago.

I think we should give ourselves a bit of credit.

It's funny you mention Kilbane. He's firmly against the idea of selecting players like Hogan and Bamford!

[tetsujin1979]

Apples and oranges.

Scott Hogan, Will Keane, Jamie O'Hara, Kyle Naughton, Curtis Davies, Mark Noble and Patrick Bamford etc, etc are not committed to playing for Ireland. Until they are, they are not part of the discussion. How can you blame Trapattoni or O'Neill for not selecting players who don't want to play for us?

Cyrus Christie, Harry Arter, Callum O'Dowda and David McGoldrick are all eligible players brought into the fold under O'Neill and people still complain.

This is because they realised they weren't good enough to play for England and declared for Ireland.

It's a two way street. The management have to be proactive about these things but there has to be a pull, and a bit of pragmatism, from the players as well.

And excuse me for not being enamored with the idea of players who aren't good enough to be in the reckoning for England togging out for us.

I just mentioned Christie and McGoldrick. I could name four or five Irish born players who are arguably better than them.

We are not talking about Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon type players here. We are talking about players who aren't remotely good enough to get near the national team of a country that got outplayed by Iceland a few months ago.

I think we should give ourselves a bit of credit.

It's funny you mention Kilbane. He's firmly against the idea of selecting players like Hogan and Bamford!
Arter's been playing for Ireland since U17

Listen back to tonight's Off The Ball, Kilbane seems to be in favour of Hogan

[samhaydenjr]

Apples and oranges.

Scott Hogan, Will Keane, Jamie O'Hara, Kyle Naughton, Curtis Davies, Mark Noble and Patrick Bamford etc, etc are not committed to playing for Ireland. Until they are, they are not part of the discussion. How can you blame Trapattoni or O'Neill for not selecting players who don't want to play for us?

Cyrus Christie, Harry Arter, Callum O'Dowda and David McGoldrick are all eligible players brought into the fold under O'Neill and people still complain.

This is because they realised they weren't good enough to play for England and declared for Ireland.

It's a two way street. The management have to be proactive about these things but there has to be a pull, and a bit of pragmatism, from the players as well.

And excuse me for not being enamored with the idea of players who aren't good enough to be in the reckoning for England togging out for us.

I just mentioned Christie and McGoldrick. I could name four or five Irish born players who are arguably better than them.

We are not talking about Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Aaron Lennon type players here. We are talking about players who aren't remotely good enough to get near the national team of a country that got outplayed by Iceland a few months ago.

I think we should give ourselves a bit of credit.

It's funny you mention Kilbane. He's firmly against the idea of selecting players like Hogan and Bamford!


O'Hara, Naughton, Davies, Noble, fair enough - I think we all know they have no interest or interest only as a last resort but the story with the others is different:

Will Keane recently expressed interest in an interview and I think that's what started this present round of speculation, along with his transfer to Hull. And remember, his brother did play underage for us. As regards how we should approach it, obviously there's no reason to call him up on the basis of 20 minutes Premier League action (and an underwhelming career to date). But we should definitely approach him and let him know that if he has a good season, he could become an option for us (and yes, as you said, we have a number of players who been involved with us for longer-unfortunately they're all Championship midfielders and defenders-we really need strikers fast).

Scott Hogan was called up to the U-21 team towards the tail-end of his break-out season at Rochdale but he was needed by his club (must've been a friendly). Shortly after, he moved to Brentford and almost immediately got injured. Since returning he's been on a scoring rampage. His attitude in May towards playing for Ireland can be summed up as "yes, I qualify, but I haven't thought too much about it as I'm focused on establishing myself at Brentford" which is understandable for somebody who had just come back from a career-threatening injury. A few months down the road from that, it's surely worth our while for the management team to have a word and find out where he stands. And again - we need strikers.

Patrick Bamford's interest is, admittedly, less tangible than even Keane's and Hogan's somewhat limited expressions of interest as he has been more openly focused on an England career. But he has said that his Irish family links are strong enough that he regularly has family members trying to persuade him to change his affinity. And even when he talked about turning them down, he also left the door slightly ajar by saying "I feel English, or I think so anyway"

I think it's a little unfair to say that Christie, Arter, O'Dowda and McGoldrick only chose us because they weren't good enough to play for England. Arter is a Premier League player, who played under-age for us and was only called into the squad at the tail-end of a successful premier League season. Christie and O'Dowda are both young enough and good enough that they can justifiably aspire to becoming established Premier League stars by their mid-20s (like Lallana, Lambert, Vardy, Drinkwater) - and O'Dowda's now playing at the same level as a certain other 21-year-old that we lost to England and whose name shall not be mentioned for fear of a ban for me. McGoldrick, admittedly, is not likely to become a top Premier League goalscorer at this point of his career, but in interviews has said he had an interest in playing for the country of his adoptive parents but thought that he didn't qualify because there was no blood connection and when his biological mother told him that one of her parents was Irish, he jumped at the chance to get his passport

[Stuttgart88]

samhaydenjr passes both my gut and common sense tests

[gastric]

O'Hara, Naughton, Davies, Noble, fair enough - I think we all know they have no interest or interest only as a last resort but the story with the others is different:

Will Keane recently expressed interest in an interview and I think that's what started this present round of speculation, along with his transfer to Hull. And remember, his brother did play underage for us. As regards how we should approach it, obviously there's no reason to call him up on the basis of 20 minutes Premier League action (and an underwhelming career to date). But we should definitely approach him and let him know that if he has a good season, he could become an option for us (and yes, as you said, we have a number of players who been involved with us for longer-unfortunately they're all Championship midfielders and defenders-we really need strikers fast).

Scott Hogan was called up to the U-21 team towards the tail-end of his break-out season at Rochdale but he was needed by his club (must've been a friendly). Shortly after, he moved to Brentford and almost immediately got injured. Since returning he's been on a scoring rampage. His attitude in May towards playing for Ireland can be summed up as "yes, I qualify, but I haven't thought too much about it as I'm focused on establishing myself at Brentford" which is understandable for somebody who had just come back from a career-threatening injury. A few months down the road from that, it's surely worth our while for the management team to have a word and find out where he stands. And again - we need strikers.

Patrick Bamford's interest is, admittedly, less tangible than even Keane's and Hogan's somewhat limited expressions of interest as he has been more openly focused on an England career. But he has said that his Irish family links are strong enough that he regularly has family members trying to persuade him to change his affinity. And even when he talked about turning them down, he also left the door slightly ajar by saying "I feel English, or I think so anyway"

I think it's a little unfair to say that Christie, Arter, O'Dowda and McGoldrick only chose us because they weren't good enough to play for England. Arter is a Premier League player, who played under-age for us and was only called into the squad at the tail-end of a successful premier League season. Christie and O'Dowda are both young enough and good enough that they can justifiably aspire to becoming established Premier League stars by their mid-20s (like Lallana, Lambert, Vardy, Drinkwater) - and O'Dowda's now playing at the same level as a certain other 21-year-old that we lost to England and whose name shall not be mentioned for fear of a ban for me. McGoldrick, admittedly, is not likely to become a top Premier League goalscorer at this point of his career, but in interviews has said he had an interest in playing for the country of his adoptive parents but thought that he didn't qualify because there was no blood connection and when his biological mother told him that one of her parents was Irish, he jumped at the chance to get his passport

Never heard that about McGoldrick before, very interesting to read.

[samhaydenjr]

Never heard that about McGoldrick before, very interesting to read.

Yeah, it's actually quite a moving story as he had researched his background hoping to find a link (as he thought his adopted status meant he wouldn't qualify) and learned about his blood connection to Ireland when he got in contact with his birth mother, who sadly passed away shortly after - I was working from memory but I found the original article I read a couple of years ago here: http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2014/02/02/4589701/david-mcgoldrick-hoping-for-ireland-call-up. He also notes that once he found out he was eligible he went out and got his Irish passport without even speaking to the FAI in the hope that he would be picked and I believe there was a TV interview posted here on Foot.ie where he said that even as a kid when he went to football games he'd always try to get the autographs of Irish players. So he definitely passes my gut test

[OwlsFan]

To be honest, I am not bothered about the "gut test". Taking the Premiership as an example, most English footballers even if born in Birmingham or Sheffield would like to play for Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea or Man City. If they don't make it there, they make their way down to the Evertons, Sunderlands or West Hams of this world and if that doesn't work out they move down to the Sheffield Wednesdays, Prestons, Derbys and so on. Does that make a Derby supporter any less fond of the player because he'd like to be playing for a bigger team and only chose Derby because the others wouldn't have him. I think not. Should international football be any different ? To me it makes no difference the motive of a player who dons the green jersey provided he gives 100% on the field. Perhaps he grew up dreaming of walking out on Wembley to sing "God Save the Queen" and then found his country didn't want him. He wants to play international football and his old granny who used to sit by the fire peeling potatoes was Irish and he finds out that he can realise that ambition by playing for Ireland and he joins us. So what? He qualifies, he gives 100% even though he doesn't feel Irish (whatever that means) and helps our cause.

The motives don't bother me in the slightest but I know it's important to others. Ireland is the team I support. The make-up, origin, motives of the players don't cast me a thought provided they do their best. International football is just a form of club football except instead of cities, we have countries. I would take anyone who would improve the side who qualify under the rules be they opportunists, second generation adopted or born in Mayfield.

[tetsujin1979]

Requesting a ban is a bannable offence

[osarusan]

The motives don't bother me in the slightest but I know it's important to others. Ireland is the team I support. The make-up, origin, motives of the players don't cast me a thought provided they do their best. International football is just a form of club football except instead of cities, we have countries. I would take anyone who would improve the side who qualify under the rules be they opportunists, second generation adopted or born in Mayfield.
+1.

If it turns out that the player who scored the goal/saved the penalty/made the goalline clearance that sent us into the world cup was a pure opportunist who felt little to no affiliation to Ireland and who'd much rather be playing for a different team, it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to me.

I know it would make a difference to others, but I have a sneaking suspicion that in many cases, this desire for a sense of Irishness would decrease at a rate inversely proportional to the talent of the player and the benefit they would bring to the team.

[backstothewall]

Requesting a ban is a bannable offence

Forum equivalent of waving an imaginary yellow card at the ref.

[tetsujin1979]

It's a slight reference to this
https://frinkiac.com/meme/S06E16/928743.jpg?b64lines=IERJU1BBUkFHSU5HIFRIRSBCT09UIE lTIEEKIEJPT1RBQkxFIE9GRkVOU0Uu
Very disappointed none if you got it

[dr_peepee]

Not recognising a Simpsons Quote?? That's a paddling!!