Under-19 Squad

[tetsujin1979]

Armstrong Oko-flex, Conor Noß, and Jamie Bowden included in the under 19 squad for two friendlies against Denmark in Sligo later this week: https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/ireland-u19-mohan-names-squad-for-denmark-friendlies

[Closed Account]

Armstrong Oko-flex, Conor Noß, and Jamie Bowden included in the under 19 squad for two friendlies against Denmark in Sligo later this week: https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/ireland-u19-mohan-names-squad-for-denmark-friendlies

Harvey Neville, son of former Manchester United player Phil Neville

What?

[Eirambler]

Phil's wife's name is Julie Killilea. He must qualify through his mother or grandparents on that side of the family.

Great to see Okoflex back in the fold. Noss and Bowden are welcome additions too. Great to see Ryan Cassidy back fit. Hopefully Hodge will come back in later on as well once he gets back to fitness.

Would be great to make the finals again, they are on in NI and the five best performing teams make the Under 20 World Cup so a big opportunity there for these lads.

[IsMiseSean]

Harvey Neville, son of former Manchester United player Phil Neville

Another Rice situation waiting to happen.

[Olé Olé]

A heavy concentration of lads born outside of Ireland in this squad. I would be interested to hear some of them come out and say Ireland was their first choice, particularly the son of England women's manager and former England international.

[Olé Olé]

Great to see Okoflex back in the fold. Will playing for us competitively be his use of his one switch or is he still sitting on that?

[tetsujin1979]

Great to see Okoflex back in the fold. Will playing for us competitively be his use of his one switch or is he still sitting on that?

Hasn't played competitively for England yet, so possibly still sitting on it.

[Eirambler]

I don't think Oko Flex qualifies for England anyway, but he could still switch to Nigeria. So far none of the Nigerian Irish have shown much interest in doing that though.

[tetsujin1979]

Same time as the u21 game, which is on eir sport, so the crowd might be lower than expected

[Olé Olé]

Yes, I hope that is indicative of their feeling comfortably integrated into Irish society. Afolabi spoke about it recently and said his mother wanted him to play for Nigeria but he wanted to stick with us.

It's probably difficult for an underage player to throw his lot in and travel to play with Nigeria. Let's see if we do lose anyone over 21 in the coming years.

Ogbene is the only lad to have voiced a preference for Nigeria and he hasn't come near senior recognition for us.

[CraftyToePoke]

Ogbebe was born and raised in Nigeria though, for ten or twelve years, I think.

[CraftyToePoke]

A heavy concentration of lads born outside of Ireland in this squad. I would be interested to hear some of them come out and say Ireland was their first choice, particularly the son of England women's manager and former England international.

Maybe he thinks his da is a bit of a dick, which, y'know isnt too much of a stretch. Seriously though, I agree, no way given a choice is this lad choosing green, surely.

[SkStu]

Ours to lose at this stage, Crafty.

Wondering whether Neville will pass the Stutts gut test though...

[ColourfulPeanut]

Ogbebe was born and raised in Nigeria though, for ten or twelve years, I think.
He was born in Nigeria but moved when he was quite young. He's as Cork as they come and is/was a cracking Gaelic Football player too.

Personal choice for him really but I doubt he makes it to either national team at this stage anyway.

[ILIA2]

Phil's wife's name is Julie Killilea. He must qualify through his mother or grandparents on that side of the family.

Great to see Okoflex back in the fold. Noss and Bowden are welcome additions too. Great to see Ryan Cassidy back fit. Hopefully Hodge will come back in later on as well once he gets back to fitness.

Would be great to make the finals again, they are on in NI and the five best performing teams make the Under 20 World Cup so a big opportunity there for these lads.


I have been told Hodgey is working hard to get back fit. All is going well so far and he is on target for a return shortly after Christmas of things continue as planned.

[Olé Olé]

Maybe he thinks his da is a bit of a dick, which, y'know isnt too much of a stretch. Seriously though, I agree, no way given a choice is this lad choosing green, surely.

I count 10 lads born in England: Jones, Greenwood, McGuinness, Richards, Bowden, Grant, Neville, Cannon, Gilbert and Nunn.

Is it wise to have such a heavy concentration of potential flight risks in our squad?

[tetsujin1979]

It is a friendly squad, so possibly a lower risk than a competitive (ie qualifier or tournament) squad

[TrapAPony]

I count 10 lads born in England: Jones, Greenwood, McGuinness, Richards, Bowden, Grant, Neville, Cannon, Gilbert and Nunn.

Is it wise to have such a heavy concentration of potential flight risks in our squad?

They can't all play for England.

[Razors left peg]

They can't all play for England.

If we keep going the way we are going with front options there will be lads choosing England because they cant get a game for us :p

Delighted to see Oko-Flex back involved.

[Eirambler]

Actually wouldn't be surprised if a few of our overseas born youth players ended up with the North at senior level if we find ourselves with a surplus in some positions, particularly in attack, in a few years time.

They don't seem to have much coming through, and our youth players will qualify for them also, so it gives them another option to play international football if they don't make it here.

[Razors left peg]

Are we starting to see the results of a change in how youth football has been run since Ruud Dokter was appointed? Surely its not coincidence that we are not getting good crop of players in what seems to be all levels?

Does Delaney deserve and credit for this? Might be the wrong thread for that sort of question, but I'm curious about peoples thoughts since we know about all the wrong things he has done.

Are we improving inspite of FAI or because of policies they have implemented? Is this just an anomaly?

[liamoo11]

Really delighted and excited to see oko flex back quality player I would say that is the end of the England thing maybe was good ploy to get deal from Nike and big Celtic move.

Bowden is a nice surprise involved heavily at spurs 23s hopefully a really talented creative midfield addition.

Ogbune hasn't been in since 16s with us but has played centre half for arsenal 23s so nice addition. Interestingly McGuinness hasn't played 18s or 23s for arsenal this season so bit surprised he is here thought he must be injured

That cannon has been banging in goals for everton 18s as a centre forward. Just checked there he is very young he is eligible for next season at 19s and only misses out on been eligible for our 17s this season by 3 days.

Those 2 bohs lads look like lovely footballers

This group needed to bring in some new talent with the number of lads who are eligible but have moved past this level bazuna,Collins,ledwidge,idah,knight,parrott.

Still have lads like ferry, mceneff , Flynn from Leicester and Thompson from wolves and everitt to come into this as well without even looking at some of the best lads in the 18s group like McCann and furlong

Really exciting squad and great potential

[Eirambler]

Bowden played for Spurs Under 21s tonight. Subbed off after an hour, hopefully didn't pick up an injury.

[Stuttgart88]

Are we starting to see the results of a change in how youth football has been run since Ruud Dokter was appointed? Surely its not coincidence that we are not getting good crop of players in what seems to be all levels?

Does Delaney deserve and credit for this? Might be the wrong thread for that sort of question, but I'm curious about peoples thoughts since we know about all the wrong things he has done.

Are we improving inspite of FAI or because of policies they have implemented? Is this just an anomaly?
Unpopular answer I'd say, but I think there must be a link between the Emerging Talent Prgramme and the players coming through now. It's the least you'd expect from an association though, an actual strategy. Even corrupt and inept organisations get some things right. I've heard the amount of quality time these kids get is still lower than in many other countries but, yeah, I think Dokter deserves credit. Kerr thinks it's a bit too tippy tappy still though!

[elatedscum]

I don't think Oko Flex qualifies for England anyway, but he could still switch to Nigeria. So far none of the Nigerian Irish have shown much interest in doing that though.


Saying that, you'd wonder why Ayodeji Sotona and Mipo Odubeko aren't in the squad. Haven't represented either the 18s or the 19s this year. Only logical things I can think of are:


a) not accepting call ups cause a competitive game would rule them out of playing for England in the future as they would be eligible upon 5 years or residency - that would also explain the u17 squad last summer


or


b) not interested in playing for ireland and would rather go with nigeria


or


c) sulking due to not being selected for 17s


or


d) neither Tom Mohan nor Colin O'Brien rate either of them.


-


Not sure which is the likeliest of all 4 scenarios - all seem implausible. Mipo is a better striker than anyone we had at the championships last summer and he'd be ahead of Oluwa in my book anyway for the current squad...

[Razors left peg]

Mipo is a long way from first team football where as most of the lads picked are at least regulars in the reserves / U23s for their clubs. Has Mipo even played for the United u23s yet?

[elatedscum]

Mipo is a long way from first team football where as most of the lads picked are at least regulars in the reserves / U23s for their clubs. Has Mipo even played for the United u23s yet?


Mipo is currently out of contract and there’s difficulties over compensation. Whoever he joins, he'll go to u23s if it's a side in England. He scored 35 goals last season, he's graduated beyond 18s.


I could be wrong, but I expect we'll see him accelerate pretty quickly through the ranks over the next year or two. It’s 19s, sublime talent is enough to keep you in a squad. I could understand at 21s or first team that an out of contract player wouldn’t be considered but 19s and 17s are about something slightly different.





Actually wouldn't be surprised if a few of our overseas born youth players ended up with the North at senior level if we find ourselves with a surplus in some positions, particularly in attack, in a few years time.


They don't seem to have much coming through, and our youth players will qualify for them also, so it gives them another option to play international football if they don't make it here.


In terms of Northern players, this lad is a player i would pursue heavily. https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/06/29/news/aghyaran-st-davog-s-team-mates-give-conor-bradley-fond-send-off-as-he-signs-for-liverpool-fc-1652041/ I've seen him play for Liverpool's U18s and he's an incredible young player. The IFA call players up at a very young age, so you could see him being capped in a year, just so he can't consider other options (Lavery, Smyth, Lewis etc etc).


I understand why they do it but it means you have to be proactive with young players like we were with Shane Duffy.

[Razors left peg]

Mipo is currently out of contract and there’s difficulties over compensation. Whoever he joins, he'll go to u23s if it's a side in England. He scored 35 goals last season, he's graduated beyond 18s.


I could be wrong, but I expect we'll see him accelerate pretty quickly through the ranks over the next year or two. It’s 19s, sublime talent is enough to keep you in a squad. I could understand at 21s or first team that an out of contract player wouldn’t be considered but 19s and 17s are about something slightly different.


I hope you are right, but I do think that this is a pretty positive squad with Oko-Flex, Cassidy and Noss along with others so I wouldnt be too caught up on who didnt make it

[elatedscum]

I hope you are right, but I do think that this is a pretty positive squad with Oko-Flex, Cassidy and Noss along with others so I wouldnt be too caught up on who didnt make it


Agree totally. It's actually a very encouraging squad with Okoflex back in the fold, Noss involved, Cassidy back from injury. And the trio of Bowden, Neville and Cannon weren’t on my radar at all. Ross Tierney has looked great at Bohs. Along with natural progress of guys from the 17s and 18s and 19s from last year, it’s a really good squad.

I’d still always look at a squad and in the way I’d wonder about McCarthy leaving out McCarthy or Kenny leaving out Barrett, I’d question why those two lads aren’t involved, along with Tom Gaston, James Furlong, Adam O’Reilly and Matty Everett (some could be injured)

[Olé Olé]

Mipo got a goal in two games for the United 18s. He did not get the 35 goals for the United 18s.

[liamoo11]

On sotona he has really only played bits and pieces so far for utd 18s in comparison to Neville who is same age and McCann who is same age but has stepped up to 23s this season. Tgars not to say he wont be a star just to show it's a very competitive squad to get into. McCann is not in this but was in our 18s last month.

Mipo needs to get a club and play games. As ole ole says his goals were mainly at under 16/17 level for utd this would have been his season to try to be the main striker at 18s level for them.

Mipo, okoflex, parrott and everitt played in that victory shield winning side a few years ago at 16s and at that stage the other 3 were I thought more technically astute . I'm sure mipo will be back once he gets a club. I do agree he should have been in that 17s squad for the euros once parrott was out .

[CraftyToePoke]

Liamoo, the Bowden lad at Spurs who was called up, do you know his links ? YBIG lads saying we are his first choice but no links or interviews that I can see so far. He was on the bench for the CL final they played.

[liamoo11]

Liamoo, the Bowden lad at Spurs who was called up, do you know his links ? YBIG lads saying we are his first choice but no links or interviews that I can see so far. He was on the bench for the CL final they played.

https://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/forum/threads/spurs-youth-2018-19.27438/page-124. There is a lad on that spurs thread who does match reports for the spurs 18s and 23s and that's where I saw him Say a few times last season that bowden was Irish qualified but I dont know what his family connection is

[Olé Olé]

I would have to guess it's maternal or else paternal grandmother. Many Bowden's in Ireland?

[Stuttgart88]

Bally-Bowden, Duffer's home town

[greendeiseboy]

I would have to guess it's maternal or else paternal grandmother. Many Bowden's in Ireland?

His father is Irish, trying to find the interview where he states this. There's a few Bowden's around the Kilmacthomas area in Co. Waterford

There ya go,


https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2019/october/bowden-eyeing-all-three-points-in-leasingcom-trophy/

[Olé Olé]

Great stuff. That's promising. I wonder if he has turned England down for us or if it's a Rice job?

[CraftyToePoke]

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/new...ingcom-trophy/


After the game, the midfielder will be heading straight off to Ireland as he is set to link up with their Under-19s side for the first time ahead of a pair of youth international friendlies with Denmark. “My dad and his family are Irish - I’m really excited for it and I’m hoping we can get a win against Denmark and kick-on from there," he added.


Now that could still be a generation removed, when speaking about his dad.

[SkStu]

I steadfastly refuse to get excited about these players anymore. :(

[seanfhear]

I steadfastly refuse to get excited about these players anymore. :(
You worry about them leaving by the South-Gate !

[Stuttgart88]

We should accept a time limit on the backstop in exchange for a "one cap at any age and they're ours" agreement.

[gally]

Is the game today, anyone know what time?

[tommy_c12000]

Is the game today, anyone know what time?

7:30pm

https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/ireland-u19-mohan-names-squad-for-denmark-friendlies

[Razors left peg]

I always feel that games like this should be streamed live on the FAI website. They dont need great production quality or even a commentator. To be fair the FAI social media team always have decent content behind the scenes in the underage games build up so I dont think it would be much of a stretch for them to have these games live online

[tetsujin1979]

I always feel that games like this should be streamed live on the FAI website. They dont need great production quality or even a commentator. To be fair the FAI social media team always have decent content behind the scenes in the underage games build up so I dont think it would be much of a stretch for them to have these games live online
I think Dundalk looked into streaming one of their European games on Youtube a few years ago, but the infrastructure for it just wasn't available. They even looked into using a local business' broadband connection, but it just wasn't possible.
could be the same situation in Sligo

[Razors left peg]

I think Dundalk looked into streaming one of their European games on Youtube a few years ago, but the infrastructure for it just wasn't available. They even looked into using a local business' broadband connection, but it just wasn't possible.
could be the same situation in Sligo

It never crossed my mind that the internet connection wouldnt be strong enough for it to happen... thats actually shocking!

[tommy_c12000]

Anyone with the team?

[tommy_c12000]

Anyone with the team?

here it is
1182721273815846913

A strong side: okoflex, Bowden, Cassidy, Mcentee, the Norwich centre half Omobamidele, Noss, and Coffey all starting

[Olé Olé]

Mark my words. Omobamidele will play senior for us.

[Razors left peg]

https://mobile.twitter.com/KennysKids/status/1181992564716650496

Great thread of Tweets giving background of all the lads involved. Fair play to the lad who runs that account