Michael Keane

[boovidge]

In Man United's squad for their game against Leeds tonight.

[bwagner]

what about william? Michael is the irish one right?

[Crosby87]

Yes, the next generation of Keane.

[paul_oshea]

Is he a nosey neighbour?

[Dunners]

William is his English brother

[Longfordian]

Yes William is his English twin brother! He's in the squad too. I've seen Michael Keane in United Reserve/Youth games a few times. He didn't stand out greatly but must be doing something right.

[AlaskaFox]

On the bench
http://i55.tinypic.com/whbg4k.png

[ArdeeBhoy]

Weird that two brothers would declare for two different countries, especially twins...

[theworm2345]

Weird that two brothers would declare for two different countries, especially twins...
Not necessarily, especially if they're identical twins sometimes they will do just about anything to get something that sets them apart. Deep down they probably do have the same allegiance at heart. Imagine the nightmare a commentator would have if these two and Fabio and Rafael were ever in the same 11.

[ArdeeBhoy]

.....

[paul_oshea]

Not necessarily, especially if they're identical twins sometimes they will do just about anything to get something that sets them apart. Deep down they probably do have the same allegiance at heart. Imagine the nightmare a commentator would have if these two and Fabio and Rafael were ever in the same 11.

Commentators wet dream.

Are you a twin wormie?! :)

[Irwin3]

It's weird enough with brothers playing for different countries but twins is even stranger. I think there was a quote where Michael couldn't get his head round the fact that Will doesn't feel Irish.

[theworm2345]

Commentators wet dream.

Are you a twin wormie?! :)
Nope, I've just known a few who tried everything to be different from each other.

[tricky_colour]

Weird that two brothers would declare for two different countries, especially twins...


Brothers playing for different countries isn’t as unusual as one might expect, most recently there has been Christian Vieri (Italy) and his brother Max (Australia), Tim Cahill (Australia) and brother Chris (Samoa), Steve Mandanda (France) and Parfait (DR Congo), José Luís Vidigal (Portugal) and Lito (Angola), Joseph Kizito (Uganda) and brother Manfred (Rwanda), and closer to home Joe and Steve Gallen (Ireland u21) and their brother Kevin (England u21). The 2010 World Cup also saw Germany’s Jerome Boateng and Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng take to the pitch to face each other in a group game.

[theworm2345]

Brothers playing for different countries isn’t as unusual as one might expect, most recently there has been Christian Vieri (Italy) and his brother Max (Australia), Tim Cahill (Australia) and brother Chris (Samoa), Steve Mandanda (France) and Parfait (DR Congo), José Luís Vidigal (Portugal) and Lito (Angola), Joseph Kizito (Uganda) and brother Manfred (Rwanda), and closer to home Joe and Steve Gallen (Ireland u21) and their brother Kevin (England u21). The 2010 World Cup also saw Germany’s Jerome Boateng and Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng take to the pitch to face each other in a group game.
Jon Nurse (Dagenham and Redbridge) plays for Barbados while his brother Chris Nurse (U.S. minor leagues) plays for Guyana. The two actually played against each other two weeks ago in a World Cup Qualifier.

[AlaskaFox]

Brothers playing for different countries isn’t as unusual as one might expect, most recently there has been Christian Vieri (Italy) and his brother Max (Australia), Tim Cahill (Australia) and brother Chris (Samoa), Steve Mandanda (France) and Parfait (DR Congo), José Luís Vidigal (Portugal) and Lito (Angola), Joseph Kizito (Uganda) and brother Manfred (Rwanda), and closer to home Joe and Steve Gallen (Ireland u21) and their brother Kevin (England u21). The 2010 World Cup also saw Germany’s Jerome Boateng and Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng take to the pitch to face each other in a group game.

Thanks for quoting me without the link ;)

[Crosby87]

I think this has officially surpassed "Worm talks about his upcoming College exams" as the most boring thread in the history of Footie, if not the whole internet. Did Cahills brother REALLY play for Samoa? Come on now no Fing chance Jo played for Uganda whist Manfred played for Rwanda!
"POSH mentions try with Bi Lesbians" was a close second though in fairness it excited me. And of course, it was a moment, not a thread.
:beer:

[Longfordian]

Not necessarily, especially if they're identical twins sometimes they will do just about anything to get something that sets them apart. Deep down they probably do have the same allegiance at heart. Imagine the nightmare a commentator would have if these two and Fabio and Rafael were ever in the same 11.
They're not identical.

[Royal rover]

their father is from dublin - both played gaelic in manchester in their youth until united made them stop - michael has more of a chance of making the breakthrough at united than Will

[boovidge]

really? what makes you say that? William Keane is generally touted as a future England striker.

[Longfordian]

Only thing Michael has going for him over William is his position in that it's easier for defenders to come through at United. William is the better footballer from what I've seen of them but there's always going to be a hell of a lot of competition up front at a club like Utd.

[OwlsFan]

After all that, did he actually come on to play ?

[pineapple stu]

Nope. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14893498.stm)

[theworm2345]

They're not identical.
I didn't say they were.

[Longfordian]

I didn't say they were.

That's fine then. Good!

[Charlie Darwin]

Well playing for England doesn't guarantee you'll make it at United. Ask Kieran Richardson. I'd say the competition up front for United is a lot tougher than it is in defence. Of the current strikers, only Welbeck is a product of the youth system, while a handful of defenders came through the academy.

[greendeiseboy]

According to YBIG he's declared for England.

Sean McGinty supposedly on his way too........I actually got wind of this a few weeks ago but the poster on YBIG has also stated this

[Kingdom]

It's in today's Star.

[greendeiseboy]

It's in today's Star.

Pity.....does that article mention McGinty. In surprised at him but as I said I heard that during the summer that he wanted to declare for England.

We seem to be losing out on a lot of players at the moment

[Kingdom]

yeah it's a comment from Doolin. Saying that he couldn't include McGinty in his squad just to try and dissuade him from switching. mentions he's on the standby list,

[Irwin3]

Unreal.

[greendeiseboy]

Mc Ginty is a huge loss. Highly thought of by the FAI and Man Utd.

Definitely going to be a future star but it looks as if it'll be with the 3 Lions

Massive kick in the teeth

I suppose we're beginning to get a taste of what NI are going through by losing these players who have been developed at international level by us.

McGinty, Keane, Rodgers, Lowry are the main ones I can think of of note who would have had a longterm future with us. You could add Gorman as well.

There's also a campaign to get Adam Barton an England call up.....can he still do a runner?

[boovidge]

very disappointing. good luck in their future club careers.

[Treaty Gooner]

very disappointing. good luck in their future club careers.

I heard that as good a player as McGinty is,the players and management had real issues with his attitude to training and playing for Ireland. Exactly what we don't need. Bullet dodged I'd say.

[TrapAPony]

The senior squad really need to qualify for a few tournaments IMO. None of these lads would hop then.

[SwanVsDalton]

The senior squad really need to qualify for a few tournaments IMO. None of these lads would hop then.

These two guys were born in England though right? Imagine if they feel a bigger affinity for England, they'd probably stick with them.

Though be interested to see if they don't make it and reconsider in 5-10 years

[Sullivinho]

Hands off our kids England! Stop the poaching! They've cost us millions in lucozade.. etc. etc.

I think this kind of international toing and froing is to be expected from players with dual eligibility, not least at that level when potential has yet to be capped. (No pun intended) Wasn't it just recently that a family member/friend of Jack Grealish tentatively nailed his colours to the Irish mast 'for now'? I haven't been aware of the issue long enough to know whether this kind of thing is more prevalent these days or not. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if these guys do eventually play for Ireland again, albeit after having their England ambitions adjusted variously.


There's also a campaign to get Adam Barton an England call up.....can he still do a runner?

He'll have to do more than run about to justify that kind of campaign.

[Junior]

Completely being lazy here as Im sure its been covered in numerous threads but when the does the 'switch association' rule kick in? Is this counted as one switch and therefore they couldnt switch back even if they wanted to at a later stage in their careers (i.e if they dont make the big time with the 3 lions)?

[greendeiseboy]

Just read the article and while we've definitely lost Keane, there's nothing in the article to suggest McGinty is going.

He hasnt being picked as Doolin reckons he has sufficient cover at the back.

And as Doolin said just because a player is not picked dosent mean that they're going to get the hump and declare for someone else.

Just wait and see what happens if he does get a call up

[Irwin3]

Anyone definitively know FIFA's rules on changing nationalities? I thought you could only change once and if you hadn't played a senior competitive match. However, these two confuse me:

Zahavi has played for three teams at underage level and may change back to USA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Zahavi

Motta played competitively for Brazil but was allowed to change to Italy aged 28
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiago_Motta

Anything goes?

[Irwin3]

Is this the first time a player has switched from Ireland to England? Can't get my head round this. What has caused this?

- Falling out with the old fella.
- Making the bench for Man Utd has skyrocketed his own or others perception of his potential.
- Will talked him into it.

Good luck to him but hopefully he can't/won't come crying back.

[Kingdom]

In fairness to Keane, he's the fella who's (twin?) brother plays for England at the same level, and he was born over there, so it's fairly unique. Plus aren't the England teams at 15's and 16's picked through the schools? Might be one of the reasons why he played for us for a bit.

[BonnieShels]

Anyone definitively know FIFA's rules on changing nationalities? I thought you could only change once and if you hadn't played a senior competitive match. However, these two confuse me:

Zahavi has played for three teams at underage level and may change back to USA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Zahavi

Motta played competitively for Brazil but was allowed to change to Italy aged 28
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiago_Motta

Anything goes?

He didn't play competitively for Brazil. Brazil were invitees to that competition so were in my view playing friendlies. FIFA don't give you any chances when you play competitively in senior. Once and done.

Actually, he played for the under-23 side at that competition so it wasn't an A international team he played with so he remained eligible for Italia.

[Irwin3]

It was an A international and it counts as such in the record books. It's the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the equivalent of the European Championships. Just because Brazil were invitees and selected an U'23 squad for the competition doesn't change that fact. He had to appeal to FIFA and they must have had your point of view and gave him special dispensation because the Brazil squad was U'23s.

[Charlie Darwin]

There's something confusing on his wiki there that seems to say it was a full international but it also wasn't.

[Irwin3]

It was 100% a full A international. It's just that Brazil sent their U'23/Olympic squad as the senior squad had the Confederations Cup a month before.

Mexico sent their senior squad to the Gold Cup this year and they sent their U'23 squad to the Copa America. The Copa America games were obviously A internationals as well even though Mexico were invited and sent their U'23s.

[Paddy Garcia]

Is this the first time a player has switched from Ireland to England?



Andy Lonergan

[Irwin3]

Andy Lonergan

Maybe Michael should ask Andy if it was worth switching?

[Predator]

It's unfortunate to hear when a player doesn't want to play for Ireland, but I won't lose sleep over it. It is their choice, after all and it must be respected.
What I find worrying, however, is that Doolin has McGinty on standby - has he fallen out with him?

[liamoo11]

It's unfortunate to hear when a player doesn't want to play for Ireland, but I won't lose sleep over it. It is their choice, after all and it must be respected.
What I find worrying, however, is that Doolin has McGinty on stanby - has he fallen out with him?

I couldnt imagine Doolin falling out with a young footballer!!!