Ciaran Clark D Free agent b.1989

[tetsujin1979]

Here you go: https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1516066/LiveStatistics/International-FIFA-World-Cup-2021-2022-Ireland-Luxembourg
WhoScored say Clark completed 86.4% of his 81 passes

[Olé Olé]

Here you go: https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1516066/LiveStatistics/International-FIFA-World-Cup-2021-2022-Ireland-Luxembourg
WhoScored say Clark completed 86.4% of his 81 passes
Stevens at 76.3%. That was where I felt the blame should be.

[Snapshot]

Here you go: https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1516066/LiveStatistics/International-FIFA-World-Cup-2021-2022-Ireland-Luxembourg
WhoScored say Clark completed 86.4% of his 81 passes

Thanks for that. So you agree?

[Colbert Report]

Left on the bench for today's draw with Spurs. Same with Hendrick.

[Snapshot]

It wouldn't surprise if Clark retired from international football after the qualifiers (if we don't qualify!). Egan looks a walk-up start and Kenny is likely to favour O'Shea alongside. Nathan Collins will also be a factor. Clark is experienced, dedicated and a proven PL defender. He's (in my always humble opinion) surprisingly undervalued by Irish fans.

[John83]

It'd be a pity to have to lean on the younger lads too much in the short term, as good as O'Shea seems to be and however promising a few others may be. At a minimum, Clark's experience is important in a squad. Egan won't necessarily be fit for every game as we've seen.

[Snapshot]

Every right to be disappointed at squad omission. EPL player, experienced and reliable. Other than defence it's a threadbare panel but desperate situations beget desperate measures - I would have considered O'Shea or Clark for a defensive midfield role, especially in Portugal. Unfortunately, lateral thinking is foreign to the manager.

[Diggs246]

Every right to be disappointed at squad omission. EPL player, experienced and reliable. Other than defence it's a threadbare panel but desperate situations beget desperate measures - I would have considered O'Shea or Clark for a defensive midfield role, especially in Portugal. Unfortunately, lateral thinking is foreign to the manager.

Maybe clark is the anti vaxer. Who knows

[Eirambler]

Can't understand the logic of bringing two uncapped centre backs ahead of him for these games, it feels like Kenny is trying to get fired sometimes. Realistically I can't see both Collins and Omobamidele playing, so why not leave one with the Under 21s and bring in Clark's experience as cover in the senior squad in case any of our first choice centre backs get injured.

[Diggs246]

Can't understand the logic of bringing two uncapped centre backs ahead of him for these games, it feels like Kenny is trying to get fired sometimes. Realistically I can't see both Collins and Omobamidele playing, so why not leave one with the Under 21s and bring in Clark's experience as cover in the senior squad in case any of our first choice centre backs get injured.

If he isnt vaccinated he cant come. Kenny was clear that someone has chosen not to get the jab. It might not be Clark but his exclusion is bizarre even for sk

[John83]

If he isnt vaccinated he cant come. Kenny was clear that someone has chosen not to get the jab. It might not be Clark but his exclusion is bizarre even for sk
It seems unusually pointless to be discussing the manager's decisions when some of them - we can't know which - were out of his hands.

Collins and Omobamidele seem like very good prospects, and it's nice to see players coming through, but Clark is a strange omission.

[Snapshot]

If he isnt vaccinated he cant come. Kenny was clear that someone has chosen not to get the jab. It might not be Clark but his exclusion is bizarre even for sk

https://www.premierleague.com/news/2194724

Clark getting jab last month.

[Diggs246]

Haha, goad job, that's what I call evidence

[Bielsa´s irish]

Clark should be in the eleven. With egan and duffy now. Oshea as center mid. He will flourish there

[irishfan86]

I've always liked Clark, and to the best of my knowledge he's always shown up for us when able. Hard to see what's up here with his omission. Even in terms of style of play, he's good technically for a centre back and can run the ball up into midfield -- I just don't get this.

[zero]

as a newcastle fan he's a bit of an enigma. he doesn't seem to do anything particularly wrong in a game and is usually a 6 or 7 out of ten. at the same time when he's not playing you don't miss him. i know very little about him but he's seems a quiet lad, rather than a captain type.

he used to be a threat from set pieces but that seems to have waned. i'd like to see him at a club where he's the main centre back and plays 30+ games a season. norwich could do worse than looking at clark.

[Snapshot]

as a newcastle fan he's a bit of an enigma. he doesn't seem to do anything particularly wrong in a game and is usually a 6 or 7 out of ten. at the same time when he's not playing you don't miss him. i know very little about him but he's seems a quiet lad, rather than a captain type.

he used to be a threat from set pieces but that seems to have waned. i'd like to see him at a club where he's the main centre back and plays 30+ games a season. norwich could do worse than looking at clark.

Interesting perspective. He's certainly not top notch but he's a solid EPL defender. I'd guesstimate he's the Irish CB who's faced most Premiership strikers in recent years. Yet Kenny doesn't rate him among our top five CBs! He also captained Ireland (under MON) in Paris. I've already opined he's probably the most undervalued Irish player in recent history. Clark was rated 8/10 against Burnley in his last game (admittedly, he didn't start first two). I reckon he'll be about the EPL for another two years - as zero indicates - during which time he'll probably accumulate more appearances than the bulk of our current squad will over their careers. I'd also wager, if he doesn't retire following this ridiculous squad omission - he'll still be around after Kenny is gone.

[CraftyToePoke]

He can also play left back.
Its a strange one definitely.

[Demesne Lad]

Stephen Kenny may not be keen on him since the Serbia away game, and the Newcastle Evening Chronicle soccer writers have recently been suggesting that he and Hendrick will be on their way out of St James' Park soon, but -- average goals conceded by The Toon this season when Clark starts (including the recent one where he was sent off after 9 mins) = 1.91. Average goals conceded when he doesn't = 2.50 I wonder what he would look like in a team with a midfield and any kind of threat up front.

[Jd2793]

hes very poor with the ball, dont think he'll be in again unless theres an injury crisis

[Snapshot]

hes very poor with the ball, dont think he'll be in again unless theres an injury crisis
Can you support that? Or is it just another heavily-discounted line about Clark? No one will ever claim he's a top EPL defender but his record and stats suggest he's a good one. He's 31 and likely to be swept out (alongside the vast majority of his teammates) by the disturbing takeover at Newcastle. I don't believe any of our extensive crop of CBs, finding themselves in a similar situation, wouldn't suffer a similar fate.

[seanfhear]

There is going to be some clear out at Newcastle as time goes by. They just seem to have a lot of players who are either not good enough / don’t try. When you look at it down through the years Newcastle seem to be forced ( because a lot of Players / their wives / girlfriends don’t want to go to Newcastle ) to buy these sort of players i.e. Players that are Not wanted by clubs in the kind of places ( the above would like to go ) / successful clubs.

Perhaps the Saudi Money can get better Players and Players with better attitudes ~ Time will tell.

[irishfan86]

hes very poor with the ball, dont think he'll be in again unless theres an injury crisis

This is an absurd statement. Clark has his limitations but is probably one of our better centre halfs when it comes to carrying the ball out from the back.

Perhaps the fact he’s taking those risks sometimes leads to mistakes but it’s part of any team playing a possession game.

My main issue with him over the years has been not being tight enough to his marker/questionable positioning, that type of thing.

[Jd2793]

Can you support that? Or is it just another heavily-discounted line about Clark? No one will ever claim he's a top EPL defender but his record and stats suggest he's a good one. He's 31 and likely to be swept out (alongside the vast majority of his teammates) by the disturbing takeover at Newcastle. I don't believe any of our extensive crop of CBs, finding themselves in a similar situation, wouldn't suffer a similar fate.

Yeah look at his numbers, hes a poor passer/progressor albeit in a team that is poor anyway. He was poor v lux in that 0-1 game and he struggled big time in build up. Not someone Id be keen on seeing in a starting line up again

[Jd2793]

This is an absurd statement. Clark has his limitations but is probably one of our better centre halfs when it comes to carrying the ball out from the back.

Perhaps the fact he’s taking those risks sometimes leads to mistakes but it’s part of any team playing a possession game.

My main issue with him over the years has been not being tight enough to his marker/questionable positioning, that type of thing.

Absurd? Really? Hes like 6th choice, dont get the clamouring for him. Hes not suited to how kenny wants us to build up from the back and he was really poor in those 2 qualifiers he started in , especially Lux at home,.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah look at his numbers
Which numbers in particular?

[third policeman]

Absurd? Really? Hes like 6th choice, dont get the clamouring for him. Hes not suited to how kenny wants us to build up from the back and he was really poor in those 2 qualifiers he started in , especially Lux at home,.

He’s better on the ball than Duffy, and is probably better suited to the Kenny style in that respect. We’ve got younger players coming through to cover the CB positions, but until the last couple of weeks was one of the few players we have who was playing regularly in the PL. I suspect given Newcastle’s result yesterday, he may get a recall before too long.

[Snapshot]

Yeah look at his numbers, hes a poor passer/progressor albeit in a team that is poor anyway. He was poor v lux in that 0-1 game and he struggled big time in build up. Not someone Id be keen on seeing in a starting line up again
His figures against Luxembourg (tetsujin, post#1352) suggest he was far from the worst against Luxembourg. What was the build-up in which he struggled big-time?

[Demesne Lad]

Pass completion figures from infogol.net and refer to all domestic games this season, not internationals: Duffy 87%; Keogh 87%; Egan 85%; Clark 77%; Lenihan 65%; O'Shea 47%.

For comparison: Stevens 78%; Coleman 76%; Knight 80%; Browne 79%

[pineapple stu]

Presumably style of play at club level will play a big part in those figures?

He's also playing at a higher level than all of those bar Duffy and Coleman, which should be considered as well. 80% pass completion in the top flight is, ceteris paribus, better than 80% pass completion in the second tier.

[Stuttgart88]

What's his brain fart %?

[seanfhear]

If Dunphy was in his Pomp ~ ~ Clark would probably be the Un-Picked Messiah ! !

Dunpher’s was always a great one for the ~ ~ Un-Picked Messiah !

[sadloserkid]

What's his brain fart %?

A better number than Coleman's in the last month I'd say. :/

[SkStu]

What's his brain fart %?

57% of brain farts attempted were successful.

[Stuttgart88]

Coleman barely put a foot wrong in his last Ireland appearances.

I'm not fussed about Clark tbh. I doubt any results would have been different if he'd played more games. Deficiency at CB certainly wasn't something that has cost us anything material under Kenny. Duffy's return to form has been brilliant, Egan has been superb, Coleman has played well, O'Shea and Omobamidele have had really promising early performances and I'd much rather try to integrate these youngsters and Nathan Collins than go back to looking at Clark.

If we're talking about left wing back, then maybe but again there are others I'd prefer to see ahead of him.

[Snapshot]

Coleman barely put a foot wrong in his last Ireland appearances.

I'm not fussed about Clark tbh. I doubt any results would have been different if he'd played more games. Deficiency at CB certainly wasn't something that has cost us anything material under Kenny. Duffy's return to form has been brilliant, Egan has been superb, Coleman has played well, O'Shea and Omobamidele have had really promising early performances and I'd much rather try to integrate these youngsters and Nathan Collins than go back to looking at Clark.

If we're talking about left wing back, then maybe but again there are others I'd prefer to see ahead of him.
Classic generic ambivalence to Clark.

[Stuttgart88]

If he spelt his name properly I'd have more time for him :)

[Snapshot]

What are you on about?

[John83]

What are you on about?
Clarke is the dominant spelling, in my experience. I guess he's referring to that.

That or it's a fada in Ciarán.

[pineapple stu]

I think it's the latter - possibly ref the other thread where I was giving out about Cieren/Keiron/Kieran/Kyron and everything except the right way of spelling it.

[Stuttgart88]

It's actually both. Clarke is the dominant Irish spelling, Clark the traditional English spelling. It really annoys me, for reasons I'm surprised Stu doesn't appreciate.

But spelling Ciaran normally is almost inconsiderate at this stage.

[pineapple stu]

Can we agree on Ó Cléirigh instead so? :)

(I wonder is the difference in spelling because there is a separate English surname derived from the occupation of a clerk?)

[Crosby87]

We actually discussed this years ago, it had something to do with class distinction. IIRC.

[Stuttgart88]

Jeez, Crosby. Haven’t seen you in ages, unless I haven’t been paying attention. Welcome back.

[pineapple stu]

Last post almost six years ago. I was thinking I didn't remember that class discussion - if it was at least six years ago, that'd explain it!

(No idea how Crosby remembers it tbh...)

[CraftyToePoke]

We actually discussed this years ago, it had something to do with class distinction. IIRC.

Thought you were barred for life. Welcome back.

[John83]

Thought you were barred for life. Welcome back.
He was. Dahamsta pardons one in time for Christmas.

[SkStu]

We actually discussed this years ago, it had something to do with class distinction. IIRC.

Welcome back sir.

[third policeman]

Can we agree on Ó Cléirigh instead so? :)

(I wonder is the difference in spelling because there is a separate English surname derived from the occupation of a clerk?)

Apparently Clark without the e is often derived from the French Clerc. In which case he could have Huguenot ancestry.

[Stuttgart88]

"Clark" isn't top of the signatories of the Proclamation of Independence. That's what matters here!