Conor Clifford

[Paddy Garcia]

The manager of Plymouth was interviewed on radio tonight. Asked what the reason for their slump in form over recent months was - had a few excuses - however the first thing he said was that we lost a very good player in January - Conor Clifford!

[Crosby87]

Still plenty of time for him to make it. He should go to a team like Reading. Or Wolves if they go down, start playing regularly and go from there.

[tommy_c12000]

Interview with Conor on Chelsea's website (http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2359665,00.html)

[tetsujin1979]

According to this article on tribalfootball, Clifford is likely to go on loan this season: http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/chelsea-field-offers-fullback-aziz-deen-conteh-1735721

The Sierra Leone-born full-back is one of a number of young Chelsea prospects who will be made available for loan, with Portuguese attacker Kaby Djaló and Irish midfielder Conor Clifford also interesting several clubs.Not sure how reputable or accurate tribalfootball is


also, Conor has a twitter account now: https://twitter.com/#!/conorclifford91
Not too many updates though

[CraftyToePoke]

According to this article on tribalfootball, Clifford is likely to go on loan this season

I reckon it is likely, but I hope he gets a better loan destination than last season when he was sent to two struggling League 1 sides. I think I said at the time on this thread that compared to the destinations of similar aged players from the bigger Prem clubs, he was generally a divison and a half below his peers.

[Kingdom]

last season's loan was deliberate - it was to get him used to being stuck in a battle for a slight fella, against hardened cynical professionals. It worked.

The plan was to get a better quality (championship) loan this season and see what comes of it.

[Paul90]

Can anyone see him being near Chelseas first team next season or would another loan spell be more realistic.

[Charlie Darwin]

It's impossible to know what Villas Boas will do but developmentally he's still behind the likes of McEachran.

[CraftyToePoke]

last season's loan was deliberate - it was to get him used to being stuck in a battle for a slight fella, against hardened cynical professionals. It worked.

The plan was to get a better quality (championship) loan this season and see what comes of it.

Well, I hope this is the case so, and I hope they are a bit more considered in where they send him as Ince didnt play him or start him often enough for that to bear fruit. Other players, including loanees, were getting in ahead of him as that loan progressed despite him generally doing ok from what I can gather.

[CraftyToePoke]

It's impossible to know what Villas Boas will do but developmentally he's still behind the likes of McEachran.

I think McEachran has overtaken him, McEachran is also a year younger, thats the worry. This coming season will tell a lot, still only 19 though, it could still all happen for him.

[Kingdom]

Well, I hope this is the case so, and I hope they are a bit more considered in where they send him as Ince didnt play him or start him often enough for that to bear fruit. Other players, including loanees, were getting in ahead of him as that loan progressed despite him generally doing ok from what I can gather.

I was bemused by that post. I'd forgotten he was at County - I was talking about his move to Plymouth where Peter Reid had raved about him. It wasn't extended due to them being in administration, hence the reason he went to Notts County.

[Crosby87]

It's never a good sign for a player when Kingdom is bemused. :eek: Starting to think CC is going the way of the Cranberries.

[Fixer82]

It's never a good sign for a player when Kingdom is bemused. :eek: Starting to think CC is going the way of the Cranberries.

Only decent in Turkey?
I'd rather he stayed in England to be honest

[CraftyToePoke]

I was bemused by that post. I'd forgotten he was at County - I was talking about his move to Plymouth where Peter Reid had raved about him. It wasn't extended due to them being in administration, hence the reason he went to Notts County.

Ahh, fair enough. It was going fine at Plymouth, but the Notts County sojourn seemed to turn a bit messy. The fans there did like him though, going on what they said about the little bit they saw. I still would have liked to see him at Champoinship level after Plymouth though.

[tetsujin1979]

Clifford's closed his twitter account: https://twitter.com/#!/conorclifford91/statuses/93207775198445569

Have to delete twitter due to weird girls msging my gf! ! Can't deal with the stalker bye tweeps x

[tommy_c12000]

Clifford's closed his twitter account: https://twitter.com/#!/conorclifford91/statuses/93207775198445569

Christ tets I'm beginning to think that you've shares in Twitter, with the ferocity that you are pushing the social networking site on here.

Back to footballing matters, Clifford didn't make the Chelsea touring squad of 26 to Malaysia. Interestingly, a few of his youth winning team seem to be doing well. Billy Clifford, member of that youth team, is in the squad. He plays in midfield, also at right back. Must be a frustrating when you have captained the youth team to victory and even scored the winning goal, to see other team mates move ahead of you in the pecking order. Fingers crossed he will get a loan move to a good championship side in the next couple of weeks.

[tetsujin1979]

Christ tets I'm beginning to think that you've shares in Twitter, with the ferocity that you are pushing the social networking site on here. I wish! Friend of mine is working for facebook, he's going to make a fortune when they go public next year. Anyone working for twitter will be the same if/when they float
Twitter is pretty much where I get my news from now, I read about whatever is happening there first and I'd always post links to anything I've read instead of just quoting the whole thing.
Follow quite a few footballers, majority of them being Irish players, to keep up with what they're doing. Noel Hunt is mental, Meyler gives frequent updates on his progress, and just recently started following Clifford. Incidentally, he's posted a few updates since that one about closing his account.

[Manblue]

Christ tets I'm beginning to think that you've shares in Twitter, with the ferocity that you are pushing the social networking site on here.

Back to footballing matters, Clifford didn't make the Chelsea touring squad of 26 to Malaysia. Interestingly, a few of his youth winning team seem to be doing well. Billy Clifford, member of that youth team, is in the squad. He plays in midfield, also at right back. Must be a frustrating when you have captained the youth team to victory and even scored the winning goal, to see other team mates move ahead of you in the pecking order. Fingers crossed he will get a loan move to a good championship side in the next couple of weeks.

Think he may be only returning from an injury which may be why, not sure where i read that

[Sullivinho]

Called into the senior squad. (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0809/ireland_croatia.html)

[Sullivinho]

Clifford: They want to get me out as soon as possible on loan. (http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/clifford-chuffed-by-senior-call-up-163782.html)

Season long loan on the cards with Hamburg mentioned as a possibility.

[tetsujin1979]

Yeovil Town's manager reveals he tried to sign Clifford on loan: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/01092011/63/skiverton-woe-missed-deals.html

[Closed Account]

Yeovil Town's manager reveals he tried to sign Clifford on loan: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/01092011/63/skiverton-woe-missed-deals.html
He managed it in the end. Started and played 62 minutes for them today.

[tommy_c12000]

He managed it in the end. Started and played 62 minutes for them today.

That's great. Was just thinking today about how he really needed to get out on loan again ASAP. Hopefully he will do well and will secure a championship loan come the new year

[tommy_c12000]

Here's a nice little article on his loan move:

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Chelsea-youngster-Clifford-comes-Yeovil-search/story-13753680-detail/story.html (http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Chelsea-youngster-Clifford-comes-Yeovil-search/story-13753680-detail/story.html)

[liamoo11]

Read in the star today that he just signed a 2 year extension at chelsea. Fair play to him it shows some confidence on chelsea s part. Same lenght of deal as Brady at utd. Seemingly he has had back injury but is now fit and looking to go to championship in next few weeks. Said he was bit sorry he did not go to hamburgon loan. I think he is class footballer who will look better the higher up the divisions he plays

[IsMiseSean]

What was the reason he didn't join Hamburg on loan?

[liamoo11]

What was the reason he didn't join Hamburg on loan?
Seemed to be saying he felt it was better to stay in england at the time but on reflection maybe wishes he had given a top club a chance.

[Carrigaline]

Has signed a 1 year extension to bring him up to 2013 - http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/7523167/New-Chelsea-deal-for-Clifford

He'll be 21 soon, so maybe needs to consider a move away this Summer.

[liam1289]

think Conor has another year at chelsea..very hard t see him get any game time...possibly a loan move...he needs to start playing regular

[tetsujin1979]

Clifford on the bench today for Portsmouth on trial for a possible move. No indication yet if it's a loan or permanent deal

[Charlie Darwin]

Is there such a concept as a "permanent" move to Portsmouth anymore?

[Colbert Report]

Portsmouth have no money so I don't understand how he can be considering moving there. Has his stock gone down that much? I thought he was our one hot-shot prospect.

[Charlie Darwin]

It seems he's being lined up for a loan move if the club still exists next week.

http://thechels.net/2012/08/conor-clifford-lined-up-for-portsmouth-loan/

[IsMiseSean]

The sooner he leaves Chelsea permanently the better. His chances of making it there are slim.
Drop down a league or two and put in the effort to make it back up.
Irish internationals have been doing it for years...

[Serb]

It's disappointing that he doesn't have a single Premier League, or even Championship appearance, under his belt at the age of 20. He seems like he has real quality, but no-one at Chelsea have been willing to take the gamble on him. A move to a Championship side for a full season would do him a world of good. Even Darron Gibson, the man most of us held high hopes for but complained that he wasn't getting enough football, had a full season at Royal Antwerp and Wolves by the age of 20. In contrast, Conor has had 2 months in League 1 with each of Plymouth Argyle, Notts County and Yeovil Town, making a total of 26 appearances.

[tetsujin1979]

The prospective buyer for Portsmouth is rumoured to be pulling out of the deal, so there might not be a club for Clifford to move to by the end of the week

[tetsujin1979]

confirmed on Twitter that he's signing on loan for Portsmouth tomorrow

[Charlie Darwin]

He also added on the proviso there is a Portsmouth tomorrow. (No he didn't, but he should have).

[Acornvilla]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19284581?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Manblue]

Played 10 mins at weekend and bagged one in injury time of a 4-2 loss.

[Crosby87]

Well a goal is better than nothing right? Maybe he can somehow right the ship. Roy Keane was a late bloomer!
(I know,Cue Crickets)

[Carrigaline]

Portsmouth have played 4 league games so far and he has only made two substitute appearances and played 43 minutes. Portsmouth are currently playing Bournemouth in the Johnstone Paints Trophy and he hasn't started that match either. At this stage of his career, he needs to start playing games. Perhaps he needs to consider dropping down to League 2 to get more game time? Needless to say, it's almost certain that he won't make it at Chelsea now.

[Charlie Darwin]

He's injured for this game - he had to pull out of the Ireland U21 squad too, and he may have been ineligible to play in any case. His lack of game time at Portsmouth has been disappointing but midfield is the one area of the pitch where they actually have a bit of experience, so he will just have to bide his time.

[Carrigaline]

Didn't know he was injured. Hopefully when he's fit he can force his way into the first eleven. Having watched the first 30 minutes of Portsmouth play, it shouldn't be too hard for him to establish himself.

[Charlie Darwin]

Terrific second half so far - two cracking goals from 30 yards. Ex-Cork City player Kevin Long at centre half for Portsmouth too.

[Charlie Darwin]

Ok, Clifford just came on for Portsmouth - not sure why he pulled out of the international squad then? I'll have to look this up. Good to see he's not injured anyway.

[Carrigaline]

Played right wing and looked ineffective in his cameo. If I was to pick the best Irish player, I would have to say I thought Harry Arter had a cracking game, although he should have scored at least one.

[the bear]

Solid enough 10 mins in spell of game which were dominated by Bournmouth. Seemed to be playing on the right. Not much to note. 1 good tackle and 1 good cross field ball that was mis controlled by receiver. Spent the rest of the time harrying so Trap would prob of loved it. If he was watching;)

[Charlie Darwin]

Good penalty from Arter too. I thought Clifford looked good.

[tetsujin1979]

Looks like his loan could over before it ever really began: http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/pompey/pompey-past/pompey-boss-contemplating-shock-player-exit-1-4261213