Under-19 Squad

[Paddy Garcia]

Michael Drennan scored again

Grealish left on the bench.

[pateen]

When do we play the Germans.
Sick of all the Trap stuff so looking for something to cheer me up

[tetsujin1979]

tonight at 6, team hasn't been announced yet, but Conor Wilkinson tweeted earlier he would be starting

[tetsujin1979]

team announced: http://www.uefa.com/under19/season=2013/matches/round=2000318/match=2009317/index.html
Grealish starting on the bench again

[Charlie Darwin]

It must be a very good team if he's able to leave players like Hoban, Grealish and Byrne on the bench. Doolin has shown quite an independent streak throughout his management of the 19s.

[Charlie Darwin]

Half time and 2-0 to Germany. Déja vu...

[Closed Account]

20 mins left,

2-2 now. Byrne and Coombes, both substitutes scoring.

[Charlie Darwin]

Germany top on goal difference as it stands.

[Charlie Darwin]

It seems to be all Germany now - they just hit the post and are finishing much the stronger.

[Charlie Darwin]

Full time, 2-2. That apparently means we are through.

[tetsujin1979]

some comeback from two down.
we were through anyway, the game was only to decide who finished first and second

[Charlie Darwin]

Does placement in the group matter in terms of what group we're drawn in for the Elite stage?

[Dodge]

Delighted for Ryan Coombes.

[tommy_c12000]

Really disappointed to see Grealish not even getting off the bench over the 3 games. Let's hope it won't sour his commitment to Ireland. Really don't understand Doolin. Between Brady, McGinty and Duffy he has quite the record already of doing his best to try to drive the most talented Irish youngsters away from international football.

[Charlie Darwin]

Really disappointed to see Grealish not even getting off the bench over the 3 games. Let's hope it won't sour his commitment to Ireland. Really don't understand Doolin. Between Brady, McGinty and Duffy he has quite the record already of doing his best to try to drive the most talented Irish youngsters away from international football.
Once again, he made some controversial choices that have paid off with another unbeaten campaign. If you're this annoyed about winning, you'll be sorely ****ed off if he ever starts actually losing games.

[Stuttgart88]

Dem Germans have no big game mentalitee.



Tommy has a point to some extent. Of course Doolin's decisions have been vindicated but hopefully everyone's behaving like grown ups. You wouldn't bet on it these days though.

[Charlie Darwin]

I just find it funny that people are criticising Doolin for picking players on form rather than reputation. If Trap did that he'd be crucified.

[Stuttgart88]

Point accepted. I'm not sure any of us can offer informed comment either way. I wouldn't recognise Grealish if he was standing next to me, would you?

[Charlie Darwin]

How do you know he's not standing next to you right now?

[liamoo11]

I just find it funny that people are criticising Doolin for picking players on form rather than reputation. If Trap did that he'd be crucified.


Grealish absolutely is in form he has been been excellent in the next gen series the champions league for under 19sthis season and as well as villas youth team and reserves. Brady and duffy were absolutely in form when doolin fell out with them as well.I think grealish is well committed to us but I do hope this was not some attempt to test Grealishs resolve. Fair play to them great campaign and congrats players like byrne, drennan and sadlier are very exciting. If anyone has never seen bradley garmston play then they are in for a treat he is lightening quick.

[tommy_c12000]

Hats off to Doolin for qualifying the team. But the Grealish situation is tenuous enough at the moment and I definitely think he should have been given game time regardless of the results. This guy is potentially the real deal and England are still actively pursuing him. In my opinion, an underage international manager's job is to provide as many players as possible for the senior team, any success in doing so is just an added bonus. Brady and Duffy are the only ones that are knocking on the door and these two were alienated by Doolin. Granted he's only in the job a couple of years so won't see the full fruits of his work for a while. But the bottom line is that Grealish could be an Irish great and is undoubtedly the player in the squad with the most potential. He should have been given game time regardless.

[liamoo11]

Just a quik point Kealon dillion and miele were late additions to squad due to injury withdrawals yet played significantly over the 3 games and fair play to them. It then seems strange that grealish who was in the original squad got no time especially considering that at villa grealish has played right and left mid in 442 systems, right and left in an attacking forward 3 in a 433 and also as the most attacking midfielder in a midfiled 3 behind the striker in a 443 so lots of versatility. When we add george from celtic and roberts arsenal/inverness back in to that attacking set up we should have have excellent options. Bryne from man utd , grealish and wilkinson are eligible for the next under 19 campaign next year and obviously noe baba is eligible for the next 2 campaigns! Amazing how many strikers recently from millwall we have had in underage squads such as sadlier,quigley,gaynor,o brien and now wilkinson. At least 2 of them have league winners medals!

[Dodge]

But the Grealish situation is tenuous enough at the moment and I definitely think he should have been given game time regardless of the results

There's absolutely no way a player should be selected solely to keep him happy enough to continue to be Irish. Pick the best players, and if Grealish isn't happy and decides he's not irish, then so be it.

I'd bet there's only a handful of people on this forum that have seen the majority of players involved, so its a bit much to have a go at a manager who's just seen his side qualify for the next stage unbeaten. At any level, a 2-2 draw with Germany is a fine result.

[Olé Olé]

Grealish absolutely is in form he has been been excellent in the next gen series the champions league for under 19sthis season and as well as villas youth team and reserves. Brady and duffy were absolutely in form when doolin fell out with them as well.I think grealish is well committed to us but I do hope this was not some attempt to test Grealishs resolve. Fair play to them great campaign and congrats players like byrne, drennan and sadlier are very exciting. If anyone has never seen bradley garmston play then they are in for a treat he is lightening quick.

His mother, Sonia Lannaman, has a gold medal from the Commonwealth games. Does anybody know how he qualifies for Ireland?

[Olé Olé]

There's absolutely no way a player should be selected solely to keep him happy enough to continue to be Irish. Pick the best players, and if Grealish isn't happy and decides he's not irish, then so be it.


I think the point that some people are trying to make is that Grealish is one of "the best players." He was made it on the Aston Villa bench for Premier League games at at least one stage last year and I'm not sure how many of the players that received game time ahead of him can say that for their club careers. Grealish is a tremendous prospect.

[Dodge]

Specifically i replied to this which is not about whetther he's good enough or not


But the Grealish situation is tenuous enough at the moment and I definitely think he should have been given game time regardless of the results

And being on the bench for a premier league team is no real indication to anything. We've all seen players actually play at that level only to become complete duds. Doolin has the players with him training and he picks what he thinks is the best team. I'm quite happy that he doesn't care if a player is with a premiership team or Castlebar Celtic.

You'll note I'm not saying Grealish isn't the best player there. I've no idea. I hope he turns out to be world class. but nobody knows anything about most of the players involved so I don't see how anyone here can be annoyed with the team given the results

[liamoo11]

Specifically i replied to this which is not about whetther he's good enough or not



And being on the bench for a premier league team is no real indication to anything. We've all seen players actually play at that level only to become complete duds. Doolin has the players with him training and he picks what he thinks is the best team. I'm quite happy that he doesn't care if a player is with a premiership team or Castlebar Celtic.

You'll note I'm not saying Grealish isn't the best player there. I've no idea. I hope he turns out to be world class. but nobody knows anything about most of the players involved so I don't see how anyone here can be annoyed with the team given the results

Its a complete joke to say that people know nothing about these players. Grealish has played with us since under 15s.If you have any interest in youth footbal it is fairly easy to head to home games which now thankfully are not always in dublin but spread around country. Channels like mutv and liverpool tv which most of us have if u have sky show youth,under19 and reserve games practically every week plus most teams have inhouse tv channels such as villa that have youth team highlights that are cheap to subscribe to or easy to find posted on line. Alot of us are prob involved a bit in underage football with work or just as a hobby as well meaning we see players at these levels before they head away.Some of us also spend time in uk for work or to go to premier league games and it is always fairly easy on a saturdeay morning to head off to a youth game if you want to see irish lads in action.Doolin has a track record of trying to dominate players such as brady and duffy which I think has no place in youth football. If the same is happening with grealsih then that is not right. I have seen nothing to make me think grealsih is not completely commited to us but you have to nurture that and not try to knock the love of playing for ireland out of kids

[Stuttgart88]

I don't have those cable channels and I don't live in Ireland. I have no way whatsoever of checking out who our best teenagers are, and time would also be a constraint. I'd say that's true of most fans and of all sports in Ireland. We keep an eye on the underage teams in the papers and garner opinion from sources like foot.ie on who's good. I admire your knowledge Liam, but it's not realistic to expect there to be many more among us like you. I'd be agreeing with Dodge in post 76 above.

[liamoo11]

Ok then, compare the relative traits of Grealish and Ryan Coombes to me.

I have never seen Ryan Coombes in my life or if I have I was not aware of it.Has he been involved in this age group in the last 3 or 4 years cause if he has he has escaped my attention. All I can say is if he is a better wide player or behind the strikers player than grealish then St Pats have some player on their hands and hopefully that is the case. The attacking players that I think are competing with grealish in that squad are byrne,garmston,sadlier,miele and maybe dreennan and wilkinson who are more out and out strikers though drennan can play wide.Garmston plays left full alot for west brom but seems to be wide midfield for us this week.I think for grealish to be the only one of that attacking 6 who got no game time can not be based on simple football ability

[liamoo11]

I don't have those cable channels and I don't live in Ireland. I have no way whatsoever of checking out who our best teenagers are, and time would also be a constraint. I'd say that's true of most fans and of all sports in Ireland. We keep an eye on the underage teams in the papers and garner opinion from sources like foot.ie on who's good. I admire your knowledge Liam, but it's not realistic to expect there to be many more among us like you. I'd be agreeing with Dodge in post 76 above.

Sure thats fair enough isnt it. Im not claiming to be any expert Im just saying that if u are ireland or uk based it is easy enough to have knowledge of players if you have an interest. Of course that dosent mean we know more than doolin but when u see a trend in his handling of players like brady and duffy u have to ask questions.The under 16s/17s manger who recently left the fai seemed to do alot of work to encourage lads who are irish born in england to be nurtured into the setup and I admire that. For instance Hoban,smith,garmston,grealish,sadlier,roberts and wilkinson are all english born or at least eligible for england which shows how well previous underage managers have been at integrating england born irish lads into the setup and the thought of Doolin trying to upset that is annoying. The only reason mccarthy is with the irish seniors now is cause he was nurtured underage. When grealish plays 5 games for villa people on here will be going bananas saying he needs to be capped or big bad england will get him which wont be neccesary if he and all others are well treated underage cause they wont want to move. If fellas only want to discuss senior football on here then fair enough lets stop putting up threads for underage football

[Charlie Darwin]

Its a complete joke to say that people know nothing about these players. Grealish has played with us since under 15s.If you have any interest in youth footbal it is fairly easy to head to home games which now thankfully are not always in dublin but spread around country. Channels like mutv and liverpool tv which most of us have if u have sky show youth,under19 and reserve games practically every week plus most teams have inhouse tv channels such as villa that have youth team highlights that are cheap to subscribe to or easy to find posted on line. Alot of us are prob involved a bit in underage football with work or just as a hobby as well meaning we see players at these levels before they head away.Some of us also spend time in uk for work or to go to premier league games and it is always fairly easy on a saturdeay morning to head off to a youth game if you want to see irish lads in action.Doolin has a track record of trying to dominate players such as brady and duffy which I think has no place in youth football. If the same is happening with grealsih then that is not right. I have seen nothing to make me think grealsih is not completely commited to us but you have to nurture that and not try to knock the love of playing for ireland out of kids
No he doesn't. He left Brady out because Brady had club commitments, and subsequently was unable to reach him by phone. Duffy, from what I recall, was ineligible for competitive U19 games and was picked when he became eligible before Noel King promoted him to the 21s. This ridiculous idea that Doolin is playing power games and intentionally leaving out talented players is just that, ridiculous. He's picking what he thinks is the best team and so far he's achieving more than previous managers and playing good football from what I've seen. If Grealish is so upset by being left on the bench that he discovers he's English after all, then so be it.

[Stuttgart88]

I think you're over reacting Liam in that we're all interested in the underage set up, and actually this forum and your posts are great sources of info.

I think our meeja has had a track record in making out there are player / manager tensions at all levels, sometimes making stories when there probably aren't any, so we're a bit suspicious that this may be happening here. I think it's fair for CD to simply query whether Doolin is picking his best players - a manager's prerogative - or picking players based on other issues.

Keep posting updates on the squads and the games - I appreciate it and I'm sure others do too.

[liamoo11]

No he doesn't. He left Brady out because Brady had club commitments, and subsequently was unable to reach him by phone. Duffy, from what I recall, was ineligible for competitive U19 games and was picked when he became eligible before Noel King promoted him to the 21s. This ridiculous idea that Doolin is playing power games and intentionally leaving out talented players is just that, ridiculous. He's picking what he thinks is the best team and so far he's achieving more than previous managers and playing good football from what I've seen. If Grealish is so upset by being left on the bench that he discovers he's English after all, then so be it.

Duffy, Mcginty and brady played in the original qualifiers for the 2011 european championships but were subsequently droped/not included in the under19s finals tournament that summer.There were no club commitments for these players in July 2011 they were simply ommited so your arguments are not correct. How could brady and duffy not be good enough for the under 19s in the summer of 2011?Nobody is saying Grealish is upset and as you say if he is a commited irish man as i hope he is he will take his chance when it comes. All I am saying is I would rather see underage managers nurture young talent and do there best to not alienate them before they move on to senior where there is plenty of time for that!

[Dodge]

I have never seen Ryan Coombes in my life or if I have I was not aware of it.Has he been involved in this age group in the last 3 or 4 years cause if he has he has escaped my attention.

First of all I deleted my previous post asd it may have overly aggressive, so apologies there. I wasn't trying to suggest you don't know your stuff about the underage set up

Coombes has been part of the Ireland schools set up for the last couple of years (I know its different to the youths) and was on stand by for the last squad.

And yes, he looks a terrific prospect. He's an attacking midfielder

[Charlie Darwin]

Duffy, Mcginty and brady played in the original qualifiers for the 2011 european championships but were subsequently droped/not included in the under19s finals tournament that summer.There were no club commitments for these players in July 2011 they were simply ommited so your arguments are not correct. How could brady and duffy not be good enough for the under 19s in the summer of 2011?Nobody is saying Grealish is upset and as you say if he is a commited irish man as i hope he is he will take his chance when it comes. All I am saying is I would rather see underage managers nurture young talent and do there best to not alienate them before they move on to senior where there is plenty of time for that!
Far enough, I remembered the Duffy situation wrong - seems he was just left out of the elite stage having played in the qualifiers, while Brady and McGinty were playing for Manchester United. Doolin then went with the squad that won the elite stage for the final tournament. Like I said before, if Grealish is Irish he'll play for us; if he's not, he'll go to England. Being left out of a winning team won't change that.

edit: was Duffy not playing in the 21s by the time of the elite qualifiers?

[liamoo11]

First of all I deleted my previous post asd it may have overly aggressive, so apologies there. I wasn't trying to suggest you don't know your stuff about the underage set up

Coombes has been part of the Ireland schools set up for the last couple of years (I know its different to the youths) and was on stand by for the last squad.

And yes, he looks a terrific prospect. He's an attacking midfielder

Thanks for that information thats the reason I like discussing underage players so when maybe I see a pats game occasionally I can have a look out for a fella like coombes whereas otherwise I would know nothing about him. To be honest if he was at wolves or villa or someone cross channelI prob would be aware of him which shows a complete bias on my part towards cross channel compared to league of ireland which is obviously bad on my part.Best of luck to him and again thanks for info

[liamoo11]

I think you're over reacting Liam in that we're all interested in the underage set up, and actually this forum and your posts are great sources of info.

I think our meeja has had a track record in making out there are player / manager tensions at all levels, sometimes making stories when there probably aren't any, so we're a bit suspicious that this may be happening here. I think it's fair for CD to simply query whether Doolin is picking his best players - a manager's prerogative - or picking players based on other issues.

Keep posting updates on the squads and the games - I appreciate it and I'm sure others do too.

Absolutely cheers might have overeacted abit alright it was a bit of a diva moment! Listen Im happy to not question underage managers motives from now on and any info people provide about players who are not been regularly picked can just be seen as extra knowledge for us that are interested

[Manblue]

Clear from Grealishs twitter that he is very fed up

"Done with this sh*t, get me home asap"

and other Irish players seem disappointed in his omissions too based on comments

[tetsujin1979]

Clear from Grealishs twitter that he is very fed up

"Done with this sh*t, get me home asap"

and other Irish players seem disappointed in his omissions too based on comments
that was a few days ago, he's also posted that he was delighted to see the team qualify for the Elite round.
seemed really happy that his Villa teammate Drennan was captain

[Manblue]

that was a few days ago, he's also posted that he was delighted to see the team qualify for the Elite round.
seemed really happy that his Villa teammate Drennan was captain


It was two days ago and hes hardly going to say hes raging they qualified or not be happy for his teammate in all honesty. Its clear hes not happy and he is trying to emphasize he hasn't played a minute by saying it to numerous people.

[Dodge]

It was two days ago and hes hardly going to say hes raging they qualified or not be happy for his teammate in all honesty. Its clear hes not happy and he is trying to emphasize he hasn't played a minute by saying it to numerous people.

Again, why would he be happy that he's on the bench? Why would any player be happy? Just because he tweeted it, that doesn't it make it any more legitimate. These are still kids we're talking about. He's happy we qualified and annoyed he didn't get enough (any) time on the pitch. No different to every one of the squad that didn't play. No big deal. Standard football response (which doesn't usually go on twitter)

[Manblue]

Again, why would he be happy that he's on the bench? Why would any player be happy? Just because he tweeted it, that doesn't it make it any more legitimate. These are still kids we're talking about. He's happy we qualified and annoyed he didn't get enough (any) time on the pitch. No different to every one of the squad that didn't play. No big deal. Standard football response (which doesn't usually go on twitter)

Someone mentioned they didnt know if he was unhappy or not, I was simply pointing out that he doesn't seem to be. Granted this is reasonable, and its better than people who are content to sit on the bench so I dont see it as a big negative. The manner in which he's vented his frustrations is disappointing but is one of the problems in modern day football I suppose with social media.

Being put out by not playing is one thing but looking to go home is another, he still had a squad part to play when he posted this, and regarding the conversation with Williams, I'm sure he could of done this in private if he wasn't trying to make a point of it.

[Charlie Darwin]

Every player who sits on the bench gets upset about it. Even Paul McShane. Stephen Kelly got annoyed about it but he still ultimately got on the plane.

[Manblue]

Every player who sits on the bench gets upset about it. Even Paul McShane. Stephen Kelly got annoyed about it but he still ultimately got on the plane.

Haha you would think, but some are happy to take the money and sit on the bench.

[Charlie Darwin]

I don't think substitutes get appearance fees unless they appear in the game, unless I'm very much mistaken.

[Manblue]

I don't think substitutes get appearance fees unless they appear in the game, unless I'm very much mistaken.

I was being sarcastic, referring to some premiership players with big pay packets rather than dropping down and playing with poorer teams.

[Charlie Darwin]

Ah right, no comprendo. Not sure what Darron Gibson was so annoyed about then, he's a pro at sitting on the bench.

[liamoo11]

in fairness grealish didnt seem that annoyed on twitter not exactly in the james mcclean catagory of outbursts.He will get his chance cant beat class

[liamoo11]

grealish in under 18 squad and he bought a new friend from villa with him which is nice http://www.fai.ie/international/youth-teams/under-18/102873.html interesting few new faces.Good to see young mcloughlin who played a good bit for dundalk this year right full before move to everton. Wixted in from derby who seems to have good reputation at club level but was not involved massively with us at under17. The american Gooch is in the squad his mum is irish

Edit :Apologies to Cornflakes who posted this in the irish abroad section earlier which i didnt see

[bwagner]

Young Guns: Lynden Gooch
Published: 08 November, 2012
by Stuart Vose

American U18 star in the spotlight.

Football has always been something of a family affair for budding star Lynden Gooch.

The American is in the first year of his scholarship on Wearside after making the long journey from Santa Cruz, California, to join the Black Cats.

Gooch, an attack-minded midfielder, was born in the US and holds a British passport.


My brother was my role model football-wise and I just wanted to do what he was doing

- Lynden Gooch

His English father was a big influence but brother Anthony was the model for young Lynden’s footballing ambitions.

The older Gooch has followed a different path to his sibling and is currently playing for San Diego State University, where he is studying kinesiology.

“I started playing basically because of my brother and followed in his footsteps,” Gooch explained when met up with safc.com at Sunderland’s Academy of Light training ground.

“He was my role model football-wise and I just wanted to do what he was doing. My dad, who’s from England, always coached us.

“I played for my local club, the Santa Cruz Breakers, and for the state team in California.

“I probably realized at the age of about 10 that I wanted to play football professionally.

“The US held an Olympic development programme and I did that, went through everything and got into the national team from there.”

Having gained a taste for the game, Gooch made rapid progress and came to Sunderland’s attention thanks to a chance trip to the UK aged 10.

A hat-trick in a friendly impressed Academy staff and kicked off a long relationship which has blossomed into a full-time scholarship on Wearside.

“I was playing with a centre of excellence in my local area and we headed over to England on a trip which Sunderland were involved with,” he explained.

“I scored a hat-trick in my first game and everything went from there.

“It started off with me coming over twice a year for two weeks at a time and playing and training so they could monitor me and watch my progress.”

The American made the decision to leave home and follow his dream after being offered scholarship terms, arriving at the Academy of Light in July.

Gooch has made a good start to playing football full-time and he dreams of following in the footsteps of the likes of Clint Dempsey by playing in the Barclays Premier League.

“Getting into the swing of things has been fine,” he added. “I was already familiar with the club and knew everyone which made things easier.

“I was playing well right off the bat and managed to score a few goals too, which helped me settle.

“I’ve found training full-time to be a little bit hard as I was only training three times a week back home.

“It didn’t take long to get used to it though and I would much rather be playing football full-time than part-time!”

He added: “We’ve done well in some games but lately we’ve been making silly mistakes which have been letting us down.

“I still think we’re playing well and doing well and we still have two games in hand, so we can climb the league.”

As well as his club career, things are blossoming on the international front too following an approach from the Republic of Ireland.

Gooch, who qualifies through his Irish mother, will fly out to join the under-18 squad this weekend ahead of two friendlies against Switzerland next week.

Having swapped the US for Europe to ply his footballing trade, Gooch has seen the continent’s obsession with the game first hand but believes football is also carving out a significant niche in his homeland.

“Football is getting bigger, definitely,” he explained.

“In Santa Cruz we are close to the San Jose Earthquakes and they are a club who are definitely expanding.

“The ex-Premier League players coming over is definitely getting people interested and the game is growing with kids, for sure.

“I think eventually football will be contending with the other major North American sports