Jack Byrne (M Shamrock Rovers b.1996)

[ColourfulPeanut]

He still can't be considered a serious contender for us until he performs consistently at a much higher level. He's got bags of technical ability but we need to see it being done at a level where the quality and intensity matches the level he'll be playing for us at. Lad needs to make the jump now.

Look at Sean Maguire, smashed in goals for fun at Cork City and now he's a below average Championship striker.

[Olé Olé]

I can see your point. But Byrne also looked at the requisite level against Milan. Further, he executes pieces of elite skill in terms of finishing like that and his dead balls.

As I said though, I can see your point.

[jbyrne]

jack byrne does things that none of our other players seem to be doing elsewhere at any level. he must be in the slovakia squad and he must be considered an option, at least off the bench.

[Stuttgart88]

jack byrne does things that none of our other players seem to be doing elsewhere at any level. Self praise is no praise.

[Stuttgart88]

I think Byrne should be a nailed on starter, seriously. Who else can protect a ball so well? Who else is so unfraid to receive it, anywhere? Who else makes telling passes look so simple? Who elsde has that little but of unpredictablity in his play? Who else is so unerringly accurate with his corners? Shane Duffy could break Niall Quinn's haul before long with Byrne taking our corners! I don't care what level he is playing at. If Hourihane was playing last night (or in any of Rovers' last 5 games) would he have been any more effective? I doubt it. Come on Stephen Kenny, grow a pair. Make the first big telling call of your Ireland stint.

[Olé Olé]

Incredible goal. Reminded me of this...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=371VVIaTEIc

Yes! Great shout. Salah's is a slightly tighter angle but Byrne's doesn't bounce until it is over the line. Incredible.

Is that Byrne's weaker foot?

[ColourfulPeanut]

I think Byrne should be a nailed on starter, seriously. Who else can protect a ball so well? Who else is so unfraid to receive it, anywhere? Who else makes telling passes look so simple? Who elsde has that little but of unpredictablity in his play? Who else is so unerringly accurate with his corners? Shane Duffy could break Niall Quinn's haul before long with Byrne taking our corners! I don't care what level he is playing at. If Hourihane was playing last night (or in any of Rovers' last 5 games) would he have been any more effective? I doubt it. Come on Stephen Kenny, grow a pair. Make the first big telling call of your Ireland stint.
Does everyone forget that he couldn't get into Wigan's team and got released by both Oldham and Kilmarnock 2 years ago? He's a good player and he's lauding it in a league with the best team against very mediocre players. Everyone needs to calm down about him. If he keeps playing this way, he'll get his move and we'll see what he's made of then.

People who are calling for him to start have seriously underestimated the step up in quality from the Aertricity League to international qualifiers.

[DeLorean]

Yes! Great shout. Salah's is a slightly tighter angle but Byrne's doesn't bounce until it is over the line. Incredible.

Is that Byrne's weaker foot?

Yeah, both players 'weaker' feet. Larsson at Ibrox is another than comes to mind, but Salah's more similar.

[CraftyToePoke]

Does everyone forget that he couldn't get into Wigan's team and got released by both Oldham and Kilmarnock 2 years ago? He's a good player and he's lauding it in a league with the best team against very mediocre players. Everyone needs to calm down about him. If he keeps playing this way, he'll get his move and we'll see what he's made of then.

People who are calling for him to start have seriously underestimated the step up in quality from the Aertricity League to international qualifiers.

But couldn't you say we lost a lot of Graham Kavanagh and Wes Hoolahans time as players because of focusing on the level their clubs were playing at ? Byrne is worth looking at in our circumstances.

[Stuttgart88]

Does everyone forget that he couldn't get into Wigan's team and got released by both Oldham and Kilmarnock 2 years ago? He's a good player and he's lauding it in a league with the best team against very mediocre players. Everyone needs to calm down about him. If he keeps playing this way, he'll get his move and we'll see what he's made of then.

People who are calling for him to start have seriously underestimated the step up in quality from the Aertricity League to international qualifiers.I'm not underestimating it at all. I just think I can see with my own eyes a guy who does exactly what our senior international team needs, and I'm prepared to take the leap that right now he can do this job better than anyone in our current set up. Playing with better players may even bring out more in him.

[Trequartista20]

I'd probably have him in the squad if Brady fails to make it, simply because he offers something a bit different from our other midfield options.

That said, it would be a helluva of a brave (some would say foolhardy) call by Kenny to leave out a Premier League midfielder like Hendrick, Hourihane, McCarthy, Brady, or whoever, and start someone operating at the level Byrne is in such a crucial game.

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[tetsujin1979]

I think it'll be Brady missing out, if his rib injury hasn't cleared up

[ColourfulPeanut]

I'm not underestimating it at all. I just think I can see with my own eyes a guy who does exactly what our senior international team needs, and I'm prepared to take the leap that right now he can do this job better than anyone in our current set up. Playing with better players may even bring out more in him.
You're still underestimating the step up in pace and quality. The lad couldn't cut it in League 1 or SPL at 22 and two years playing against part timers is suddenly has him ready to be the creative force in a Euros Playoff?

Look at Graham Burke when he went to Preston or even Richie Towell is probably the best example. Towell absolutely bossed it with Dundalk and is a similar player to Byrne and he's had a decent but meddling spell in the lower leagues.

[Razors left peg]

I think Byrne should be a nailed on starter, seriously. Who else can protect a ball so well? Who else is so unfraid to receive it, anywhere? Who else makes telling passes look so simple? Who elsde has that little but of unpredictablity in his play? Who else is so unerringly accurate with his corners? Shane Duffy could break Niall Quinn's haul before long with Byrne taking our corners! I don't care what level he is playing at. If Hourihane was playing last night (or in any of Rovers' last 5 games) would he have been any more effective? I doubt it. Come on Stephen Kenny, grow a pair. Make the first big telling call of your Ireland stint.

I really want to agree with this, he even looked very good in the half hour he got in the friendly against Bulgaria. But I just cant get past the fact that he seems to have settled for being comfortable in the LOI. Maybe he wants to win the League and then push for a move, but as Ive said before I never even see him being linked with anyone and that just seems weird.

He held his own against Milan, I definitely think hes capable of stepping up but he has proven in the past that if things are not going his way he becomes a passenger and wants out very quickly

[seanfhear]

Hopefully he is the Messiah because we have had a lot of Naughty Boys ! !

[geysir]

I'm not underestimating it at all. I just think I can see with my own eyes a guy who does exactly what our senior international team needs, and I'm prepared to take the leap that right now he can do this job better than anyone in our current set up. Playing with better players may even bring out more in him.

Even I can see past the horrid hooped shirts and appreciate Jack's class. He's about the only player, that if he was in the opposing team, you'd applaud his audacity when it comes off.

[mark12345]

Your point is well taken, and there's certainly is a risk with playing him. But the fact that we are even having a conversation about a LOI player being in contention for the biggest international game in quite a while tells its own story. We are lacking any type of creativity in midfield and Byrne is the most creative player available to us. I would love to see Kenny take the plunge and play him. Not much chance of it happening though.

[Olé Olé]

You're still underestimating the step up in pace and quality. The lad couldn't cut it in League 1 or SPL at 22 and two years playing against part timers is suddenly has him ready to be the creative force in a Euros Playoff?

Look at Graham Burke when he went to Preston or even Richie Towell is probably the best example. Towell absolutely bossed it with Dundalk and is a similar player to Byrne and he's had a decent but meddling spell in the lower leagues.

I think that is over-simplistic. He was better able to do it against AC Milan than he was against Accrington Stanley? That's not a levels issue or a "step up" issue. Apples and oranges.

[Charlie Darwin]

He has freely said that he became very lonely and disillusioned during his years abroad and it affected his performances. Right now he is playing the best football of his career and I suspect if a deal hasn't been made with a club for him to move up a level, it will be soon.

As far as underestimating the step up to international football... I guarantee in a couple of weeks' time we will have people slating Premier League players like Jeff Hendrick and Conor Hourihane for not being good enough. Maybe they struggle with the step down to international football?

[Stuttgart88]

It's not an exercise in Aristotelean logic. If Towell can't impress at a higher level, then Byrne can't either. I think Byrne has looked better than Towell too, fwiw. Bear in mind Byrne did very well in Holland. Everyone's circumstances are different. We've had players doing well enough in the EPL who can't even look better than their immediate opponent for Gibraltar.

I'm just taking a view here - something many here never do, they only attack others' views. I think this lad has something different about him and given the utterly underwhelming performances from our midfield over the last 15 years I'd be inclined to include him. From what I have seen he has the technical ability and speed of thought / reaction to cope with a much higher level, especially as he'll have others around him also used to a higher level.

Yes, picking him would be high risk but as they say, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results doesn't reflect well on your predictive powers, or something like that.

[DeLorean]

He was on standby anyway, wasn't he? So surely with O'Dowda & Brady major doubts, he should make the squad at least, unless SK is completely anal about needing like-for-like replacements. Obviously making the starting XI is a long-shot, though I'd be fine with him coming in for Hourihane also.

[jbyrne]

It's not an exercise in Aristotelean logic. If Towell can't impress at a higher level, then Byrne can't either. I think Byrne has looked better than Towell too, fwiw. Bear in mind Byrne did very well in Holland. Everyone's circumstances are different. We've had players doing well enough in the EPL who can't even look better than their immediate opponent for Gibraltar.

I'm just taking a view here - something many here never do, they only attack others' views. I think this lad has something different about him and given the utterly underwhelming performances from our midfield over the last 15 years I'd be inclined to include him. From what I have seen he has the technical ability and speed of thought / reaction to cope with a much higher level, especially as he'll have others around him also used to a higher level.

Yes, picking him would be high risk but as they say, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results doesn't reflect well on your predictive powers, or something like that.

spot on. our midfield has been poor for a while now so I don't see it as a risk. Unless he makes a complete howler and gives away a goal I bet we wouldn't notice the slightest diss-improvement in our midfields performance. Instead there's a fair chance he could come up with a moment (it might only take 1 to win it) that none of our other options appear to be capable of.

[paul_oshea]

Forgetting the talk about step up step down, playing at a higher level. You just need to look at the midfield and defenders in the Slovak squad, they are not playing at Tier 1 leagues, not even Tier 2 in some instances. Jack would be at that level now anyway, he wouldnt have to step up down or in between.

[mark12345]

It's not an exercise in Aristotelean logic. I'm just taking a view here - something many here never do, they only attack others' views. I think this lad has something different about him and given the utterly underwhelming performances from our midfield over the last 15 years I'd be inclined to include him. From what I have seen he has the technical ability and speed of thought / reaction to cope with a much higher level, especially as he'll have others around him also used to a higher level.

Yes, picking him would be high risk but as they say, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results doesn't reflect well on your predictive powers, or something like that.

You mention Aristotle, Stutts, but you have the perception of a philosopher with the above post. You clearly recognize the fact that our midfield has lacked creativity for a very long time - and you call for the inclusion of Jack Byrne. Fair play to you, you are spot on. As you say, you think this lad has something about him - so do most of us, but that old fear of taking a chance which pervades Irish football supporters, soon kicks in and we never take the chance.

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result has us in the situation we are in today - ie being played off the park by the likes of Finland and Iceland.
And for me, the appointing of Stephen Kenny to the top job has paid dividends with his including Jack Byrne in the squad. Don't care if we lose to Slovakia (actually I do) but it shows me that Kenny has identified the problems in the Irish team (quicker than a myriad of his predecessors I would add) and is setting about fixing them.

[paul_oshea]

Settle there 25 man squad he could be left out of the 22 yet

[sbgawa]

Does everyone forget that he couldn't get into Wigan's team and got released by both Oldham and Kilmarnock 2 years ago? He's a good player and he's lauding it in a league with the best team against very mediocre players. Everyone needs to calm down about him. If he keeps playing this way, he'll get his move and we'll see what he's made of then.

People who are calling for him to start have seriously underestimated the step up in quality from the Aertricity League to international qualifiers.


He left Oldham because they were going bust and were not paying peoples wages, (he gave an interview about this, they werent even cutting the grass at the training gound due to cuts. He was popular with fans down to his performances......went to Kilmarnock in the transfer window and couldn't get into a team that were having their best start to the SPL n years......
In his interview he said going to oldham was a mistake.

I think his next move will be abroad but he needs to go to a side that play football....

[irishfan86]

It's one thing to select Byrne. It's another thing to actually put him on the field in a meaningful situation. Will Kenny be willing to use Byrne from the start or in a meaningful situation off the bench? I really want Byrne to succeed but this is not an easy call, even for those shouting for his inclusion.

It would take tremendous courage to start a League of Ireland player above many Premier League and Championship players -- even bringing him off the bench ahead of them would set Kenny up for a public drubbing if it doesn't go well. Of course he'll be a genius with huge balls if it works out!

[nigel-harps1954]

Are we happy enough to start Shane Duffy against Slovakia, or are the giants of football Ross County, Inverness and Hamilton too big of a step up for him?

Some of the nonsense you read on here would make you cry, or laugh...whatever.

[ColourfulPeanut]

Shane Duffy is a Premier League level footballer and has proven it. Jack Byrne got released by a League 1 club.

The nonsense being spouted here is that the lad can pop into an international level and be the creative spark when he's playing against part timers. If LOI translated, we'd have Seanie Maguire banging in goals up top for us.

He's a good player but expectations need to be low and I won't he sold until he performs at a high level and don't come at me with a few nice touches against Milan when Rovers barely had the ball the whole game.

[Trequartista20]

And Richie Towell would be our midfield metronome.

I do find it odd when Premier League-class players like Hourihane and Hendrick are regularly rubbished and then you see the likes of Byrne being lauded to the extent he is, often by the very same people. Some fans need a slight reality check, it seems.

Is this a peculiarly Irish thing?

[seanfhear]

The fella that is not playing is always mighty because he is not making mistakes ! !

Sure I’m Mighty Myself ~ ~ Undroppable until ya picked me ! !

[DeLorean]

I'm somewhere in between. He has it all to prove but he's got something very different to our other options so it's worth seeing if he can make the step up. Agreed it's highly unlikely this will be in Slovakia but no harm to have a look in the NL anyway. I do think the accusation that SK has bowed to some sort of pressure by including him is nonsense and pretty insulting. Who's Byrne actually keeping out that's so much more deserving?

[Diggs246]

When is the last time we have had an international player who lives with his mum.... I jest.. but it's got to be 40 or 50 years since that happened

[Razors left peg]

When is the last time we have had an international player who lives with his mum.... I jest.. but it's got to be 40 or 50 years since that happened
She lives with him...

[seanfhear]

She lives with him...
So long as she is sound on football tactics , I don’t see any problem !

[John83]

Probably wouldn't hurt a few more of them to live with their mums. There's been studies that show that kids who live at home do better in college. Whether they figured out whether it's because they often have things like food and laundry handled for them, or because their parents pressure them to study, I don't recall. Plenty of lads coming back from England with their tails between their legs have stories of miserable life in digs.

[seanfhear]

Probably wouldn't hurt a few more of them to live with their mums. There's been studies that show that kids who live at home do better in college. Whether they figured out whether it's because they often have things like food and laundry handled for them, or because their parents pressure them to study, I don't recall. Plenty of lads coming back from England with their tails between their legs have stories of miserable life in digs.
Great Post.

[Diggs246]

"Their laundry handled for them"
You weren't in my gaff as a young man

[ColourfulPeanut]

Probably wouldn't hurt a few more of them to live with their mums. There's been studies that show that kids who live at home do better in college. Whether they figured out whether it's because they often have things like food and laundry handled for them, or because their parents pressure them to study, I don't recall. Plenty of lads coming back from England with their tails between their legs have stories of miserable life in digs.
Byrne is 24 years old, he's not a 15 year old child living with an English family and 5 other team mates while studying at the same time.

[seanfhear]

Byrne is 24 years old, he's not a 15 year old child living with an English family and 5 other team mates while studying at the same time.
Perhaps his Mum is getting more out of him Football Wise than all those Coaches in England !

[Diggs246]

Perhaps his Mum is getting more out of him Football Wise than all those Coaches in England !

Perhaps the fact he is on about 400 quid a week doesn't help either

[seanfhear]

Perhaps the fact he is on about 400 quid a week doesn't help either
His Mum may well be the Best Football Coach in Ireland.

[The Lilywhites]

542 posts in a thread about someone who is a good LOI player, and then some people don't think it's fair to call it a "hype train".

The constant nonsense surrounding Byrne is all a bit crazy, to be honest.

[DeLorean]

542 posts in seven years is pretty tame really. And he wasn't a LOI player for the majority of them. Can't wait to laugh at you when he wins the Ballon d'Or.

[pineapple stu]

542 posts in a thread about someone who is a good LOI player, and then some people don't think it's fair to call it a "hype train".
Given (a) he wasn't an LoI player for much of that and (b) recent posts are about his mum rather than him, I think it's entirely reasonable to dismiss your claim of a "hype train"

[The Lilywhites]

This has been a 7 year campaign?!

Just start him against Slovakia, let him get found out (just like he was abroad), and then everyone can move on to fixating on Obafemi's exclusion.

[youngirish]

If he's really as good as people on here think then surely someone in the Championship would be willing to take a punt on him. He's hardly going to cost an arm or a leg so its not a big gamble.

What I will say for him though is that he did look decent playing for Cambuur at a respectable level in Holland a few years ago but they were a terrible team and finished bottom that season.

He also looked good for Oldham but his issues there were less about football and more related to his professionalism.

To sum up I personally think he could do a job at the moment for a middling to poor Championship team and progress from there.

[nigel-harps1954]

People seem to be working off the assumption he hasn't had offers from elsewhere.

Some of the posts have been a bit pathetic. My Shane Duffy remark was entirely tongue in cheek.

From part time players, to 400 quid a week, you'd swear some Irish 'football fans' would prefer to see our league as some sort of laughing stock, rather than proud to see a day where a player from it becomes a genuine contender for a spot in our national side.

Let's not get started on the lone Dundalk fan who seems to have some sort of personal problem with Byrne.

Comparing Seani Maguire...who really only had one good season at Cork. He failed at several LOI clubs too.

Richie Towell who did look excellent at Dundalk, but spent the best part of his first year at Brighton injured and played catch up at Rotherham, before taking the easy option at Salford.

People are keen to point out LOI failures but forget our national team captain also came from here, as did several other members of the squad.

[pineapple stu]

This has been a 7 year campaign?!
Campaign?

What are you on about?

Most of these threads start off when a young Irish player shows a bit of promise. That doesn't make it a "campaign" though

[sbgawa]

The problem with the Oirland best fans in the world (watch us sing to the baby) is that a lot of them are Premier league fans who cant see beyond the Premier league.
Everything else is crap.
They would have similar to varying degrees views about Spanish, Italian , French leagues etc.

Boo the English National Team but then tell you how much they love Man Utd / Liverpool etc.

Rant over :)