Potentially eligible players thread

[Noelys Guitar]

Now all elligble to play for Ireland. And Stephen Ireland has made it clear through Shay Given that he wants to come back into the squad ( I guessed at that yesterday). Interesting times.

[joema]

Ireland said what to Given?

I really hope Noble, O'Hara and Nolan don't go on to play for us! (Ireland too, for that matter!) Don't think the three mentioned want to play for us anyway!

[irishfan86]

Kevin Nolan could be useful to look at in the centre of the park if he was willing to play for us.

Not sure it would be a massive improvement over Whelan and Andrews, but he had a lot of impressive seasons with Bolton.

Noble would be a great acquisition if he was interested, but he's young and I'd be surprised if he didn't try to bide his time for an England call-up.

Jamie O'Hara has been less impressive than last season, but could still be a good player for us when he matures. I doubt he'll ever be good enough for an England call-up, so if he's smart he'll sign up with us.

I don't think he would fit into Trap's system though- not disciplined enough for the middle, and not skilled enough for the wing.

And, do you have a link about Shay Given's comments?

[Noelys Guitar]

From my WH supporting friends Mark Noble of the 3 will declare for Ireland. And thankfully Trap will have the final say anyway. Stephen Ireland is coming back whether you, me or anyone else disagrees.

[Noelys Guitar]

Kevin Nolan could be useful to look at in the centre of the park if he was willing to play for us.

Not sure it would be a massive improvement over Whelan and Andrews, but he had a lot of impressive seasons with Bolton.

Noble would be a great acquisition if he was interested, but he's young and I'd be surprised if he didn't try to bide his time for an England call-up.

Jamie O'Hara has been less impressive than last season, but could still be a good player for us when he matures. I doubt he'll ever be good enough for an England call-up, so if he's smart he'll sign up with us.

I don't think he would fit into Trap's system though- not disciplined enough for the middle, and not skilled enough for the wing.

And, do you have a link about Shay Given's comments?

This is from the Monday Examiner
Irishfan86
And then, of course, there is the unique case of Stephen Ireland. Trapattoni confirmed that he is keeping the lines of communication open with the absentee Manchester City player through direct contact, through his manager Mark Hughes and through the player’s Irish team mates – Shay Given and Richard Dunne – at Eastlands

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/sport/ireland-hit-the-right-notes-93627.html#ixzz0HnNkgDPE&C
Remember football can be a really cruel game ala Gary Waddock losing out to Jason Macateer 1994. Also Radio 5 have been saying for almost a week that Ireland wants to return.

[joema]

Kevin Nolan could be useful to look at in the centre of the park if he was willing to play for us.

Not sure it would be a massive improvement over Whelan and Andrews, but he had a lot of impressive seasons with Bolton.

Noble would be a great acquisition if he was interested, but he's young and I'd be surprised if he didn't try to bide his time for an England call-up.

Jamie O'Hara has been less impressive than last season, but could still be a good player for us when he matures. I doubt he'll ever be good enough for an England call-up, so if he's smart he'll sign up with us.

I don't think he would fit into Trap's system though- not disciplined enough for the middle, and not skilled enough for the wing.

And, do you have a link about Shay Given's comments?

I hate your attitude.

Where's the pride? Depressing stuff

[Noelys Guitar]

I hate your attitude.

Where's the pride? Depressing stuff

Trap like Charlton (Cascarino, Houghton, Aldridge, Houghton) and Giles (Heighway, Mancini, Dempsey, Rpbinson) will call up who he believes will help the team within Fifa rules. The pseudo morality you seem to be alluding too is laughable when you consider the make up of our country. We have nationalties friom all over.

[joema]

Trap like Charlton (Cascarino, Houghton, Aldridge, Houghton) and Giles (Heighway, Mancini, Dempsey, Rpbinson) will call up who he believes will help the team within Fifa rules. The pseudo morality you seem to be alluding too is laughable when you consider the make up of our country. We have nationalties friom all over.

There lies the difference...what you call "pseudo morality", I call "pride". :rolleyes:

Still, if Trap goes on to achieve anything like the success of Charlton than I'll be as happy as anyone.

I'll support my country regardless. I'll do so for the Irish born lads and the lads who, although born abroad; are Irish.

I will not be happy to see Noble, Nolan or O'Hara play for Ireland, because they want to play for England...simple as that.
It is here that I have particular respect for the likes of Kilbane...who turned down England when he was younger.
The only laughable thing is you describing my outlook as such!

[Noelys Guitar]

There lies the difference...what you call "pseudo morality", I call "pride". :rolleyes:

Still, if Trap goes on to achieve anything like the success of Charlton than I'll be as happy as anyone.

I'll support my country regardless. I'll do so for the Irish born lads and the lads who, although born abroad; are Irish.

I will not be happy to see Noble, Nolan or O'Hara play for Ireland, because they want to play for England...simple as that.

The only laughable thing is you describing my outlook as such!

Lets be honest here. A large percentage of players who declare for Ireland are players who have NOT been selected by England *or in a few instances Scotland, Wales or NI). They declare for us because it is a professional decision. They want to further their football careers. Cascarino is a prime example. But when we have home grown players not interested in playing for Ireland (SI)then someone like Cascarino seems like a hero because he put in a shift every time he put on the Green jersey.

[joema]

Lets be honest here. A large percentage of players who declare for Ireland are players who have NOT been selected by England *or in a few instances Scotland, Wales or NI). They declare for us because it is a professional decision. They want to further their football careers. Cascarino is a prime example. But when we have home grown players not interested in playing for Ireland (SI)then someone like Cascarino seems like a hero because he put in a shift every time he put on the Green jersey.

And you don't think I'm aware of that?:confused:

I know what you are saying, and the Irish national team has a long history of recruiting such players...often to great results!

That, however, does not mean that supporters should adopt the attitude of "we'll take anyone"!

[irishfan86]

And you don't think I'm aware of that?:confused:

I know what you are saying, and the Irish national team has a long history of recruiting such players...often to great results!

That, however, does not mean that supporters should adopt the attitude of "we'll take anyone"!

I'm a pragmatist. If a player can improve us, and he is eligible, he should be contacted. Instead of "we'll take anyone," which I disagree with, I would say, "we'll take anyone who can make us better."

Furthermore, things are a bit more complicated than "I love England, therefore I shouldn't represent Ireland."

If a guy is born in England, and raised by English parents, he may love England; however, if he has an Irish grandparent, he may also have a love of Ireland as well.

Just because a player wants to play for England first, doesn't mean he doesn't want to play for Ireland at all- indeed, perhaps it didn't occur to him that he could ever play for Ireland.

To add to my argument, a lot of the "grannie rule" acquisitions have been legends in the green shirt, and helped us achieve great things by our standards.

We are a nation of only 4 million, and our diaspora is a resource we simply must make the most of.

[irishfan86]

I thought I'd also add some other players who could play for us as a result of this:

Dave Kitson- Not sure he'd improve us but he could be an option (has turned us down before and I don't know if he would add to the squad).

Anton Ferdinand- Could be useful given our lack of depth at centre-half.

Gary Cahill- I know he's just been called up to the England squad, but I also read somewhere he is eligible.

Kyle Naughton- May become an option later if England chances don't materialize.

Barry Maguire- This ruling eases the pressure on him to make a decision in the next little while.

Please add confirmation for these players if you know. I'm sure there are others out there as well that normally we wouldn't think of as well, so feel free to add others you know of.

[DeNiro]

Firstly, did anyone notice that Newcastle got relegated. I don't hear of a clamour of prem clubs looking for Nolan. That might tell you all you need to know. He's had enough chances to declare and didnt. Secondly, Noble is a more interesting proposition, but does a competitive U21 England cap not rule him out anymore? I gave up following those rules on eligibility so I may be wrong. O'Hara has done nothing. It reminds of Dean Marney who scored a cracker for Spurs in one game and someone found out he had an Irish parent. Flash in the pan. O'Hara is probably the same. If I was going after anyone it would be Kyle Naughton of Sheff Utd, seemingly Man U are interested in him.

[irishfan86]

Secondly, Noble is a more interesting proposition, but does a competitive U21 England cap not rule him out anymore? I gave up following those rules on eligibility so I may be wrong.

Under the old rules, yes it would rule him out if he didn't switch to us before his 21st birthday; however, FIFA have changed that rule, so that you can switch nationality at any age assuming you haven't received a senior cap for another country.

[jbyrne]

Anton Ferdinand- Could be useful given our lack of depth at centre-half.


no thanks. far too error prone and not good enough. simple as

[irishfan86]

no thanks. far too error prone and not good enough. simple as

We're just very thin back there at the moment. What if a nightmare situation happened where Dunne was injured and O'Shea suspended?

We're left with Sledge and McShane at the heart of our defense...I'm not championing Ferdinand as a starter for us, but I think he would add to our squad in terms of providing cover.

[Mayo Red]

Could be wrong on this but I think I read in the papers before that when the FAI enquired about O'Hara's eligibility they discovered that his Irish connection was a generation too far back, i.e. Great Grandfather or something.

[elroy]

Whatever about the others, calling up Nolan would not sit easy with me. He has been approached in the past and didnt show much interest, in fact i think there is a fairly extensive thread on him here.

Generally, Im all for diaspora been called up. However i prefer it when its not the case that the particular has little or no chance of been called up for his native country. Take a few from the past and present, McCarthy, Aldridge, Houghton, S Reid for example, its not inconceivable that these players couldve realistically played for their native country but all opted for us at a relatively young age.

As for SI, i really dont think Trap should call him up this campaign unless the squad are unanimously in agreement with the decision.

[drummerboy]

The only one I'd be interested in would be Noble. I wonder if there are any decent left backs out there who would qualify. I not sure I actually like this rule, but if it improves the team is probably the duty of the manager to explore any possibilities.

[irishfan86]

As for SI, i really dont think Trap should call him up this campaign unless the squad are unanimously in agreement with the decision.

Trap, although a gentleman, doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to be sentimental.

He's not going to bend over backwards to get Ireland back. He's just going to let him know that he's welcome back.

Obviously there is a cutoff point, and for some that would have been the Nigeria friendly, or perhaps the friendly we had before that.

If Ireland returns now, some would call it a chicken little situation, but I don't think of it that way. Although the squad have accomplished much so far, our ticket to South Africa isn't confirmed yet.

We look on pace for the playoffs, but what good is it making that far if we can't advance because of a lack of quality?

Ireland could be the difference maker, and it's not too late for redemption.

If I were Trap, I'd invite Ireland to the friendly against Australia. This would let him learn Trap's system and methods, and would allow the media to go nuts about his return in a non-crucial match.

With that distraction out of the way, we would go into the competitive situation in September with a player that could make our team significantly better.

I've seen some hate filled, vitriolic posts on this issue, but I don't think it's the way forward for us.

I'm not a religious man, but the parable of the prodigal son is probably one I'd recommend for the lot of you.

Let's forgive Ireland, who made some bad decisions (who didn't in their early 20s?), and be men about it as supporters. Let's show some maturity and take a step forward by giving the lad a second chance.

Ireland will be stronger with Ireland in the lineup, and he will enjoy a more fulfilling career by playing a key role for us.

It's easy to be bitter and resentful, and hurl childish insults towards Ireland, but it doesn't get us anywhere.

Let's forgive him, bring him back, and move on.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Remember football can be a really cruel game ala Gary Waddock losing out to Jason Macateer 1994.

Alan McLoughlin in 1990 surely? Waddock had retired long before 94. What made it worse for Waddock was that he was in the original squad but doubts over Ray Houghton's fitness convinced Jack he needed McLoughlin for cover. Jack said afterwards that Frank Stapleton was the one he should have left out as he had no intention of playing him but thought he deserved to be in the squad due to his service to Irish football over the years. Said the Stapleton did nothing but walk around with a face like a smacked @rse the whole tournament and was a complete pain in the hole to have around!

On topic I'm not overly comfortable with the rule change but not naive enough to think we won't utilise it. And if we use it we might as well make the most of it, Noble would be a great addition, O'Hara I'm not sure off, bit of a party boy and I think Noan is past his best and needs a move out of Newcastle before he should be considered. Thefact he had his chance and turned us down would be a black mark for me.

[Razors left peg]

O Hara would be a great addition if he played for us

[elroy]

id be all for forgiving and forgetting but you have to ask yourself would SI be coming back if we had lost to Italy and Bulgaria and if our remaining games were only for pride????

If he comes back he should NOT be put in the starting XI in the first competitive game, what kinda message would that send out? yes i do think he would improve the team, but its apparent there is a good squad harmony there now and im not sure if bringing SI back would have a good effect on that.

[seanfhear]

Just out of curiosity why do FIFA keep changing the rules.

I am all for players that are eligible to play for Ireland playing for Ireland if they are willing to give the expected commitment.

But I do not believe that FIFA do anything for the credibility of International football with their too often tinkering with the rules.

[Drumcondra 69er]

id be all for forgiving and forgetting but you have to ask yourself would SI be coming back if we had lost to Italy and Bulgaria and if our remaining games were only for pride????

If he comes back he should NOT be put in the starting XI in the first competitive game, what kinda message would that send out? yes i do think he would improve the team, but its apparent there is a good squad harmony there now and im not sure if bringing SI back would have a good effect on that.

All fair enough but you'd be surprised how quick footballers can forgive and forget if it's the difference between qualification or not. And much as I despise the way Stephen Ireland has behaved he could be the difference if we end up in a play off.

[tetsujin1979]

It reminds of Dean Marney who scored a cracker for Spurs in one game and someone found out he had an Irish parent.That was discussed many moons ago here - http://foot.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=20946 - it was his great-grandparent who was Irish, despite being reported as qualifying for Ireland by the Star

[youngirish]

Trap like Charlton (Cascarino, Houghton, Aldridge, Houghton) and Giles (Heighway, Mancini, Dempsey, Rpbinson) will call up who he believes will help the team within Fifa rules. The pseudo morality you seem to be alluding too is laughable when you consider the make up of our country. We have nationalties friom all over.

Heighway was a Dub like meself. He only moved to England as a child I think.

[geysir]

Just out of curiosity why do FIFA keep changing the rules.
The fundaments of the rule are the same just a a time limit has been removed for a player who has not been capped at senior competitive level.
No big deal.
Favours the player who has been ditched /made a choice way too young.

Out of the lot that have mentioned, Barry Maguire would be a very good example of who this rule favours.

[Wangball]

Just out of curiosity why do FIFA keep changing the rules.
.

The cynic in me would think that this is just some sort of ploy by Sepp Blatter to get African nations onside, because no matter how we may benefit from these rule changes African Nations will be all over them especially when it comes to picking up French born players that may of played for France at underage levels but never progressed to senior level.

Getting back to the Ireland thing, it's Trap's job to chose the best team available to him, if that includes O'Hara or Noble or Kilgallon or whoever so be it....one person it would definitely include is Stephen Ireland though

[John83]

id be all for forgiving and forgetting but...
We have a six million page thread on Stephen Ireland. Could we keep this bloody circular argument confined to it?

[francesco_1]

Do ye remember the talk about getting vinnie jones to play for us many moons ago

[drummerboy]

Another name I heard mentioned in an international uturn is Andy Lonergan of Preston. Could be a runner especially when you consider the Irish contingent already there. Don't think Henderson would be too impressed though.

[Wangball]

Do ye remember the talk about getting vinnie jones to play for us many moons ago

...and then he ended up Welsh! I remeber around the same time there was talk of Brian Kilcline playing too

Is Lonergan any better than what we already have?

[SunderlandBohs]

Trap like Charlton (Cascarino, Houghton, Aldridge, Houghton) and Giles (Heighway, Mancini, Dempsey, Rpbinson) will call up who he believes will help the team within Fifa rules. The pseudo morality you seem to be alluding too is laughable when you consider the make up of our country. We have nationalties friom all over.
The above players were profesionals and always gave 100%. But football is different now. Some players only think about themselves and money.

I've no problem with 'foreign' players playing for Ireland if they give 100% and play with pride. And with some many foreign nationals living here its one thing we have to accept.

But for players to play us just to get an easy chance for a few caps and a move to a bigger club. Then no.

I'd hate it if a player like Fahey, Mooney, Walters or Garvin to miss out on playing for there country because of some English player looking for few bob.

But if a 'foreign' player would jump at the chance to play for us in the place of young Irish men (Stephen Ireland and Joe Murphy) who rather be on a beach than play for there country then let him play.

[SunderlandBohs]

I thought I'd also add some other players who could play for us as a result of this:

Dave Kitson- Not sure he'd improve us but he could be an option (has turned us down before and I don't know if he would add to the squad).

Anton Ferdinand- Could be useful given our lack of depth at centre-half.

Gary Cahill- I know he's just been called up to the England squad, but I also read somewhere he is eligible.

Kyle Naughton- May become an option later if England chances don't materialize.

Barry Maguire- This ruling eases the pressure on him to make a decision in the next little while.

Please add confirmation for these players if you know. I'm sure there are others out there as well that normally we wouldn't think of as well, so feel free to add others you know of.
Phil Bardsley I think. Would be good addition.

[as_i_say]

Not this boll0x about Nolan again. Its bad enough that our current no 2 goalie is Kieron "good catholic boy, I love Ireland, not doing it for career advancement" my arse Westwood. Theres a difference between players who declare for us at an early age (Kilbane/McGeady etc) who are clearly interested in Ireland/consider themselves Irish and my above example. I think most Irish fans know the difference.

If Westwood suddenly got signed by a prem team and then England came sniffing for some reason he'd leg it from the Irish set up faster than a hot snot on a cornetto.

[Wangball]

If Westwood suddenly got signed by a prem team and then England came sniffing for some reason he'd leg it from the Irish set up faster than a hot snot on a cornetto.

Unless you have some smoking gun piece of evidence that confirms he's of that mentality I don't think you should make these kind of stupid statements.

I don't think anyone is calling for a return to the days of 8 or 9 British born players in the team, all this rule change does is is provide options for the National team, and it will help deepen our playing pool, something that is drastically needed - this is surely a good thing!

Another player that would become available is Matthew Connolly from QPR...he could be worth a look

[misterk]

Ireland, the football team, should be representative of this country. People playing for this country should have things in common with the people living in this country. I cannot for the life of me understand how some people here would want the likes of Nolan, Kitson and the others who have previously declared to have no interest in playing for Ireland representing us. They represent nothing about me, in fact, it may well be that some of them have never even been to Ireland.

A memory of mine from an Ireland match of years ago was Clinton Morrison making his debut, after weighing up the English, Jamaican and Irish option, and deciding that he hadn't a hope with England. He got a massive cheer upon entering the pitch.

John O'Shea made his debut in the same game, someone who actually learnt his football in Ireland and won underage medals for us A respectful applause was received by him. Why do we champion these players who are born in England and elsewhere ahead of our own homegrown players? It strikes me as a massive inferiority complex.

[as_i_say]

Unless you have some smoking gun piece of evidence that confirms he's of that mentality I don't think you should make these kind of stupid statements.

I don't think anyone is calling for a return to the days of 8 or 9 British born players in the team, all this rule change does is is provide options for the National team, and it will help deepen our playing pool, something that is drastically needed - this is surely a good thing!

Another player that would become available is Matthew Connolly from QPR...he could be worth a look

What you mean the "im not Irish as such, Im a good catholic boy" quote from him?

http://www.sundaymercury.net/midlands-sport/midlands-football/coventry-city-fc/2008/06/21/coventry-city-new-boy-keiren-westwood-aims-to-set-record-straight-66331-21135286/

Get a grip. My 2 favorite Irish players of all time Gary Breen and Kev Kilbane were both British born. I've no problem with British born players playing for us-as a country that has our past history of emmigration to Britain we are always going to have british born players in the squad-but this lads inclusion is highly suspicious and opportunistic and there remains the possibility that if he is not capped as a full international in a years time then England may well come in for him.

The Kevin Nolan thing is a total joke as well. As far as Im concerned both of them are on a par with Vinnie Jones playing for Wales along with random Brazilian rejects getting Qatar passports.

[shakermaker1982]

signing up half of the English U21 side will make us look like a laughing stock. Anton Ferdinand & Kevin Nolan? I bet they haven't even set foot in Ireland.

[Scooby Doo]

Now I know wikipedia is not always the most reliable source. However I am assuming that most of the time a players wiki page is updated/edited by themselves or somebody close to them?
I've been checking Nolan's wiki page regularly the last few days since the new eligability rule came in. Where it previously stated that that Nolan could no longer declare for the Ireland or Dutch squads, today it reads:

Republic of Ireland

'On Friday, the 5th June 2009, article 18 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes was ammended by FIFA Congress to allow players who have competed as a junior for one country to still follow an international career with another. This is excellent news for Kevin as it now enables him to offically declare for the Republic of Ireland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_national_football_team). Nolan is known to be keen to pull on the green of Ireland and has had numerous discussions with previous Irish management teams on this matter. However, he has previously played for England at under-21 level, albeit in a friendly, which disqualified him from playing for the Republic of Ireland's senior team.'

Interesting.

[Deckydee]

Unless you have some smoking gun piece of evidence that confirms he's of that mentality I don't think you should make these kind of stupid statements.

I don't think anyone is calling for a return to the days of 8 or 9 British born players in the team, all this rule change does is is provide options for the National team, and it will help deepen our playing pool, something that is drastically needed - this is surely a good thing!

Another player that would become available is Matthew Connolly from QPR...he could be worth a look

Point 1 - Bang on, dont say such things! He has made his choice and is happy with it.

Point 2 - Fantastic idea!! Get him onboard trap! Will solve the right back issue and even plays better as a center

[Deckydee]

Now I know wikipedia is not always the most reliable source. However I am assuming that most of the time a players wiki page is updated/edited by themselves or somebody close to them?
I've been checking Nolan's wiki page regularly the last few days since the new eligability rule came in. Where it previously stated that that Nolan could no longer declare for the Ireland or Dutch squads, today it reads:

Republic of Ireland

'On Friday, the 5th June 2009, article 18 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes was ammended by FIFA Congress to allow players who have competed as a junior for one country to still follow an international career with another. This is excellent news for Kevin as it now enables him to offically declare for the Republic of Ireland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_national_football_team). Nolan is known to be keen to pull on the green of Ireland and has had numerous discussions with previous Irish management teams on this matter. However, he has previously played for England at under-21 level, albeit in a friendly, which disqualified him from playing for the Republic of Ireland's senior team.'

Interesting.


Scooby, do you have a link for this? Oh hang on I found it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Nolan


VERY Interesting!

[EalingGreen]

Just out of curiosity why do FIFA keep changing the rules.As I understand it, this amendment was not initiated by FIFA itself - in fact, they probably weren't even expecting it.

Rather, the Algerian FA raised it at the recent FIFA Annual Conference in the Bahamas, managing to get 54% support for their proposal in a vote by delegates.

(Afaik, Algeria and a lot of other former African colonies are p1ssed off by France, Belgium, Portugal etc, picking young players of African descent at under-age level right up to they are 21, then blithely discarding them from consideration for senior caps. Many of these players might still do a job for the country of their ancestry, but were not allowed to after they passed their 21st Birthday)

[Noelys Guitar]

Alan McLoughlin in 1990 surely? Waddock had retired long before 94. What made it worse for Waddock was that he was in the original squad but doubts over Ray Houghton's fitness convinced Jack he needed McLoughlin for cover. Jack said afterwards that Frank Stapleton was the one he should have left out as he had no intention of playing him but thought he deserved to be in the squad due to his service to Irish football over the years. Said the Stapleton did nothing but walk around with a face like a smacked @rse the whole tournament and was a complete pain in the hole to have around!

On topic I'm not overly comfortable with the rule change but not naive enough to think we won't utilise it. And if we use it we might as well make the most of it, Noble would be a great addition, O'Hara I'm not sure off, bit of a party boy and I think Noan is past his best and needs a move out of Newcastle before he should be considered. Thefact he had his chance and turned us down would be a black mark for me.


Waddock was still playing in 1994 for Bristol Rovers. He retired in 1995/96

[pete]

While I accept some may this as hypocritical view IMO recruiting english players en-mass would destroy the Irish team. Recent games should highlight that its not just about results & fans need to feel a connection with their team.

[Weatherman]

At the end of the day lads this is'nt a compitition to see who is the most irish! yeah anton ferdinand, nolan and the likes might have never set foot in ireland but if they are better players then we have then why not bring them on board?? it will give us more strenght and dept that we need and plus it could force stephen ireland to come back cause lets face it he knows he can just walk into the team at the moment but if nolan, noble n o'hara do decide to come on board then trap wont be so desperate for ireland to return.

[Noelys Guitar]

Trap's comments on the rule change.
"It's very important," said Trapattoni. "I know we have players in England who are already U-21 with the English team, but sure, we can look for these players in the future. But it depends on if they are willing to play for us. There are one, two, three players who can strengthen our team."

[Den Perry]

There lies the difference...what you call "pseudo morality", I call "pride". :rolleyes:

Still, if Trap goes on to achieve anything like the success of Charlton than I'll be as happy as anyone.

I'll support my country regardless. I'll do so for the Irish born lads and the lads who, although born abroad; are Irish.

I will not be happy to see Noble, Nolan or O'Hara play for Ireland, because they want to play for England...simple as that.
It is here that I have particular respect for the likes of Kilbane...who turned down England when he was younger.
The only laughable thing is you describing my outlook as such!

What has Noble done to irk you? by the way, did you support Ray Houghton?

[Wolfie]

Trap's comments on the rule change.
"It's very important," said Trapattoni. "I know we have players in England who are already U-21 with the English team, but sure, we can look for these players in the future. But it depends on if they are willing to play for us. There are one, two, three players who can strengthen our team."

A sensible response from Trapp. If this rule change unearths one or two established players with a real commitment to the cause, its a bonus.