Andy Reid(b 1982)

[TheBoss]

I think that A Reid is an average player like most of the squad, I think people are over reacting about it, me personally, I would have him in the 22/23 man squad, but not a starter for me.

[paul_oshea]

to be honest tets, i even know club sides give up the drink for the season, or very rarely drink certainly around 2 weeks before a championship game would be the norm.

[Stuttgart88]

also, most gaa championship players in large stay off the sauce for the entire championship. if its advisable for amateurs surely its obligitory for professionals?

capello has introduced similar rules and strictness for england and look at their recent form compared to where they where under mcclaren. if they dont like it they can disappear. i go without lots of things so i can afford to follow the team so surely they can do what they are told while having the privilage to be on international dutyhear hear.

[dr_peepee]

I think that A Reid is an average player like most of the squad, I think people are over reacting about it, me personally, I would have him in the 22/23 man squad, but not a starter for me.

I think he's a very good player but a poor athlete and that ten or 15 years ago he'd have been a higher profile player than he is today. I keep going back to it on other threads and topics but Frank Lampard should be a role model for a hell of alot of players, esp Andy Reid...

[DeLorean]

I think he's a very good player but a poor athlete and that ten or 15 years ago he'd have been a higher profile player than he is today. I keep going back to it on other threads and topics but Frank Lampard should be a role model for a hell of alot of players, esp Andy Reid...

What about Lampard exactly? and what is Andy Reid not doing that he should start doing?

[Stuttgart88]

playing for Ireland?

[Stuttgart88]

One thing that Juande Ramos has rightly been given credit for is to get his players fitter & leaner. Tom Huddlestone lost lots of weight when Ramos arrived. Even Robbie Keane got in much better condition. Despite all the assurances about Reid's fitness and his weight I'd love to have seen how his physical condition and consequently his form would have fared under Ramos' regime.

I think Reid's problem is that the top clubs who feel they can afford the luxury of a playmaking midfielder can go out and buy the best available. The rest of the EPL feel they get results better by being physical and scrapping for points. The likes of Sunderland probably view Reid's type of player as a luxury, though it's clear to anyone watching that they're a better side when he plays.

[DeLorean]

playing for Ireland?

Ha, that'd be a good start alright I suppose!!

[DeLorean]

One thing that Juande Ramos has rightly been given credit for is to get his players fitter & leaner. Tom Huddlestone lost lots of weight when Ramos arrived. Even Robbie Keane got in much better condition. Despite all the assurances about Reid's fitness and his weight I'd love to have seen how his physical condition and consequently his form would have fared under Ramos' regime.

I think Reid's problem is that the top clubs who feel they can afford the luxury of a playmaking midfielder can go out and buy the best available. The rest of the EPL feel they get results better by being physical and scrapping for points. The likes of Sunderland probably view Reid's type of player as a luxury, though it's clear to anyone watching that they're a better side when he plays.

Maybe he'd be better suited to league on the continent. He's running out of English clubs anyway!!

[Stuttgart88]

I think he's a very good player but a poor athlete and that ten or 15 years ago he'd have been a higher profile player than he is today. I keep going back to it on other threads and topics but Frank Lampard should be a role model for a hell of alot of players, esp Andy Reid...
I agree with the first part and if I wasn't so prejudiced I'd possibly agree with the last part too! I thought Lampard was always vastly overrated pre-Mourinho but credit where it's due, he's been a really important player for Chelsea and his goals have been crucial. Lampard certainly has worked extremely hard on his game & on his condition. By all accounts he's a superb trainer who is very dedicated to hard work on technique etc. You can't knock that.

I do think that Lampard & Reid are very different types of player though. I maintain that if Lampard was in midfield for, say, Middlesbrough, he'd be far less influential. He certainly benefits from being surrounded by quality.

[tetsujin1979]

I maintain that if Lampard was in midfield for, say, Middlesbrough, he'd be far less influential.
Or England. Same player, same position (more or less). Far less effective.

[dr_peepee]

I agree with the first part and if I wasn't so prejudiced I'd possibly agree with the last part too! I thought Lampard was always vastly overrated pre-Mourinho but credit where it's due, he's been a really important player for Chelsea and his goals have been crucial. Lampard certainly has worked extremely hard on his game & on his condition. By all accounts he's a superb trainer who is very dedicated to hard work on technique etc. You can't knock that.

I do think that Lampard & Reid are very different types of player though. I maintain that if Lampard was in midfield for, say, Middlesbrough, he'd be far less influential. He certainly benefits from being surrounded by quality.

Not so much comparing playing styles, more advocating the the whole package that is Lampard. As mentioned, his dedication to technique & training (I'd say he's gonna balloon when he retires too, the puddin). But there's also the ability to overcome adversity from the media and the terraces. I think he's over rated too but I like him as a player to be honest.

[dr_peepee]

Andy Reid not doing that he should start doing?

Dude.. The guy is a quality footballer but is clearly over weight. There's no to ways about it. There's few better with the ball at their feet.His weaknesses lie in where he or we do not have the ball, and I can only speculate but I believe his all round game would benifit from getting in better shape. His tackling is dyer. He's a liability in the last 20 minutes of games, esp in a 4 man midfield. I'd question his sharpness but he does things in posession to counter that.

[DeLorean]

Dude.. The guy is a quality footballer but is clearly over weight. There's no to ways about it. There's few better with the ball at their feet.His weaknesses lie in where he or we do not have the ball, and I can only speculate but I believe his all round game would benifit from getting in better shape. His tackling is dyer. He's a liability in the last 20 minutes of games, esp in a 4 man midfield. I'd question his sharpness but he does things in posession to counter that.

So you're basically putting it down to laziness. I'm not so sure, some guys are just built differently to others and find it hard to shake off the extra few pounds. I agree he looks out of shape but I don't think his performaces reflect that, last 20mins or otherwise. I thought he was excellent against Arsenal a few weeks back when he played a full 90mins and he's hardly played since.

My main question really was why u chose Lamps as the role model? I don't particularly disagree I was just wondering why Lamps? has he done something extra special that I don't know about?

[NeilMcD]

I think the way he turned around the fat frank jibes and became a very professional and player known for his fitness.

[DeLorean]

I think the way he turned around the fat frank jibes and became a very professional and player known for his fitness.

Fair enough but he wasn't exactly fat in the first place, and if there wasn't such a nice ring to it I'm not sure he would have ever been called Fat Frank at all. As far as I'm concerned he's a really good pro and top player in the position he plays but a source of inspiration to other professionals, I think that's stretchin it a bit. I would be more inclined to take inspiration from guys like Woodgate, who's career looked over at one stage.

[irishfan86]

I think if we're looking at role models, we've got our own Richard Dunne to look at.

Once called the Honey Monster, now he's just A Monster, one who has been our rock at the back since Cunningham retired.

But on Reid specifically, I honestly think he's just stocky.

Some people aren't natural athletes, no matter how hard they try to lose weight through exercise or dieting, while other people are chiseled from stone with the bare minimum of exercise.

I'm sure you know of people who fit both descriptions.

Good player, but he has his limitations off the ball (not as limited as Trap or some people think however!).

[FahyForever]

Maybe he'd be better suited to league on the continent. He's running out of English clubs anyway!!

I think he actually would be well suited to the Spanish league. People like Riquelme run games without running.... Reid has great control and vision, but the premiership is hardly the place for him. The pace alone is too much..

[Qwerty]

One thing that Juande Ramos has rightly been given credit for is to get his players fitter & leaner. Tom Huddlestone lost lots of weight when Ramos arrived. Even Robbie Keane got in much better condition. Despite all the assurances about Reid's fitness and his weight I'd love to have seen how his physical condition and consequently his form would have fared under Ramos' regime.

I think Reid's problem is that the top clubs who feel they can afford the luxury of a playmaking midfielder can go out and buy the best available. The rest of the EPL feel they get results better by being physical and scrapping for points. The likes of Sunderland probably view Reid's type of player as a luxury, though it's clear to anyone watching that they're a better side when he plays.

I'm surprised that Keane hasn't improved Reid's fitness, I am NOT saying Reid is not fit but he is carrying extra weight.

Keane says Irish players need to improve fitness:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7743179.stm

[co. down green]

One thing that Juande Ramos has rightly been given credit for is to get his players fitter & leaner. Tom Huddlestone lost lots of weight when Ramos arrived. Even Robbie Keane got in much better condition. Despite all the assurances about Reid's fitness and his weight I'd love to have seen how his physical condition and consequently his form would have fared under Ramos' regime.

I think Reid's problem is that the top clubs who feel they can afford the luxury of a playmaking midfielder can go out and buy the best available. The rest of the EPL feel they get results better by being physical and scrapping for points. The likes of Sunderland probably view Reid's type of player as a luxury, though it's clear to anyone watching that they're a better side when he plays.

Keane has made it clear this week that he does not believe a top-flight midfield can support a playmaker who does not offer a physical presence and Reid seems to have accepted the fact.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/3936527.Reid_accepts_he_must_adapt_to_manager___s_ demands/

[mackannovic]

So you're basically putting it down to laziness. I'm not so sure, some guys are just built differently to others and find it hard to shake off the extra few pounds. I agree he looks out of shape but I don't think his performaces reflect that, last 20mins or otherwise.

Some guys like yer average Joe down in Jackie Skellys have trouble shaking it off. Professional footballers are given top notch dieticians(possibly spelling error), doctors and coaches whos job it is to whip them into shape. Thye have no excuse not to be "shaking it off", Andy Reid is clearly not sticking to the plan and he's wasting away the possible talent he has because of it.

[Sligo Hornet]

Some guys like yer average Joe down in Jackie Skellys have trouble shaking it off. Professional footballers are given top notch dieticians(possibly spelling error), doctors and coaches whos job it is to whip them into shape. Thye have no excuse not to be "shaking it off", Andy Reid is clearly not sticking to the plan and he's wasting away the possible talent he has because of it.

Love the irony!:D

[irishfan86]

He's not fat, he's just stocky. Criticizing Andy Reid for his body type is like criticizing Crouch for being too tall.

Andy has his limitations, but he's still a hell of a footballer if you utilize him correctly.

[dr_peepee]

He's not fat, he's just stocky.

Andy Reid is over weight.. He's a good footballer, but is over weight.

[ifk101]

I think it's time we calculate Andy Reid's BMI.

What's his height and current weight?

[tetsujin1979]

According to this - http://www.football.co.uk/sunderland/players/andy_reid_55215.shtml - he's 5"7 and 11st 8lbs, which is 162 pounds
Plug it in to the BMI Calculator at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ and it gives a BMI of 25.4, which is overweight.
However, people who exercise regularly, and have a higher muscle mass can also have a BMI which classifies them as overweight. A friend of mine is a body builder, his BMI is more than 30, which puts him in the obese category.

[Stuttgart88]

Anyone who says Reid isn't overweight is in denial!

There's a simple visual test: almost all elite quality athletes have hollow cheeks (facial, before any smart arses get on my case) illustrating low body fat levels. I'm afraid our Andy fails this test miserably!

[elroy]

Poor performance from Reid on sat, however having said that all of the Sunderland team were woeful.

[shakermaker1982]

All the rugby lads would fail the BMI test. I'm 6 4" and around 16 stone and would be classified as being overweight - if I lost a stone I'd look like Peter Crouch!!!!

Andy Reid is a little on the large size but he has always carried a bit of excess weight since his forest days. It's not as if he's just discovered cream cakes and Guinness.

[Sligo Hornet]

Anyone who says Reid isn't overweight is in denial!

There's a simple visual test: almost all elite quality athletes have hollow cheeks (facial, before any smart arses get on my case) illustrating low body fat levels. I'm afraid our Andy fails this test miserably!

Perhaps Andy should grow a beard like his Boss!!;)

[Drumcondra 69er]

Vincent Hogan's take on the Mainz incident in the indo today. Reid was some idiot if it's true.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/defiant-reid-to-blame-1558847.html


Defiant Reid to blame

By Vincent Hogan


Monday December 01 2008

"They say some of my stars drink whiskey, but I have found out that the ones who drink milk-shakes don't win many ball games" -- Casey Stengel, former New York Yankees and Mets manager.

This isn't a story about drink and its delinquent hold on professional football. It may serve the interests of knee-jerk philosophy to paint it as such, to tart it up into another keening parable on Ireland's relationship with booze and our native immaturity.

But, through the eyes of a worldly-wise Italian, it can only be about one thing. When Andy Reid kept on strumming his guitar after Giovanni Trapattoni's call for bed that night in Germany, he pretty much tossed the most basic concept of authority into an open fire.

True, there were -- purportedly -- nine others involved in the sing-song. Yet, they quickly dispersed the moment Trapattoni was seen to become animated at 2.0am in the hotel bar.

Reid, it is said, "challenged" the Irish manager and their argument reputedly came "close to blows".

Since Trapattoni articulated his version of events last week, our national team -- sadly -- has been gratuitously depicted as a rag-ball collection of Oliver Reeds, for whom little is of consequence beyond the next drinking session.

As a country, we have form here. When Roy Keane fell out with just about anything that moved in Saipan, the squad he left behind was conveniently flayed by every two-bit moralist this side of Heaven's door.

This worked on two levels. Firstly, it elevated Keane to messianic status in the eyes of his lovesick congregation. He was a man essentially sacrificing himself for the greater good. Secondly, it depicted his team-mates as feckless cads for whom the World Cup amounted to little more than an extended binge.

'Genesis' put the lie to that first piece of hokum by concluding that the Irish captain actually did not want to be at the tournament in the first place. The team's performances, in which -- physically -- they outlasted every opponent that they faced, pretty much belittled the second.

Drink was not the issue in Wiesbaden. Drink is not the issue with this Irish team. Yes, you can wheel out any number of physiologists or sports scientists who will tell you that alcohol is best avoided by any athlete at any time. Then again, most doctors will tell you and I that, if we take four drinks on a night out, we officially qualify as binge drinkers. And both conclusions, I imagine, are inviolably correct.

But there is a hopeless conceit at work in depicting the Irish players who broke that curfew in Germany as some kind of mongrel sub-species of, say, those who ply their trade in Trapattoni's homeland, as some commentators did last week.

It is not an uncommon thing in Italy and France to see footballers smoking after games. In English football, a smoker would draw disbelieving stares.

Trapattoni is a man of the world who knows that football is played by people not automatons. He had no difficulty with the players drinking in Wiesbaden, nor should he have had. It was Saturday night. The game in Podgorica was four days away. So long as the 1.0am curfew had been adhered to, this was hardly a night in Babylon.

The problems arose when the curfew was broken. A sing-song, reputedly kept alive by Reid and his guitar, had run a full hour over time before Trapattoni's patience snapped. If there were 10 players in the bar at the time, nine of them seemed to absorb their guilt pretty instantly and retired, without argument, to bed.

Reid, who had not featured in the night's victory over Georgia, chose - for whatever reason -- to stay and argue.

Perhaps something the manager said had angered him. Perhaps he simply felt that, as the musician in the group, he was being held largely culpable for the curfew being defied. Perhaps he was hurting a little over not being used in Mainz. None of this actually matters.

The fundamental here is that Reid rushed into a fight he had no business taking. In doing so, he challenged the authority of his manager on a level simply unimaginable in any serious dressing-room.

That was the story of Wiesbaden. Not the drink. Not the sing-song. Not even the careless breaking of the curfew. It was one player's decision to pick an idiotic fight when every intelligent muscle in his body should have been tugging him upstairs.

- Vincent Hogan

[paul_oshea]

the drink was the side effect that caused the arguement, what is hogan going on about. IF reid hadn't any drink on him the fight wouldn't have occured. To try and separate the two from eachother is stupid.

[shakermaker1982]

Andy Reid should call up Trap and apologise for his actions if this version of events is accurate. I don't feel sorry for him if he has been dropped because of this. Your trying to force your way into the team and you end up behaving like an asbo? Very clever. The players should leave the drinking to the supporters. Drink on the 14th October 2009 when he have hopefully qualified.

[Stuttgart88]

I wonder if telling Reid to get warmed up in Montenegro and then not putting him on was Trap's way of showing him who was the boss? (In response to Geysir's assertion that something must have happened between Montenegro, Cyprus & last month).

[Drumcondra 69er]

the drink was the side effect that caused the arguement, what is hogan going on about. IF reid hadn't any drink on him the fight wouldn't have occured. To try and separate the two from eachother is stupid.

How do you know this? I'm assuming the lads weren't utterly blotto and none of the other 9 players objected. More likely Reid had the hump over not playing and that's why he reacted the way he did, if he gets that lairy after what was probably 4 or 5 drinks tops he shouldn't be drinking period.

[elroy]

You'd know we dont have a game for a couple of months.....slow news time of the year. I cant believe the amount of coverage that sat night in mainz has been given. Wow, a relatively minor argument between player and manager, not exactly uncommon.

Yes that player is no longer in the squad but he wasnt part of the first XI prior to this either.

This incident and more so the growing campaign in the media that an average premiership player who i believe has yet to complete 90 mins this season is seen as the messiah for our team........a team that is undefeated in competitive fixtures and nicely poised before that next game.......in a few months.

[Stuttgart88]

What surprised me was that Hogan seems to have sided with Trap. When I saw that he had penned an article I was assuming it'd be to try and stick the knife into the new management team.

[Den Perry]

What surprised me was that Hogan seems to have sided with Trap. When I saw that he had penned an article I was assuming it'd be to try and stick the knife into the new management team.

I'm not taking sides on this one as I think Trappatoni is getting the results that are important, but I also admire Reid as a player and a person. He should definitely be in the squad and is ten times the player Stephen Hunt is. However, I shall say one thing - Hogan, stick to writing about GAA

[geysir]

I wonder if telling Reid to get warmed up in Montenegro and then not putting him on was Trap's way of showing him who was the boss?
My updated theory on it, based on Trap's press conferences, is that Trap gave Andy time to make the necessary adjustments in discipline/attitude/squad morale. For the Montenegro game, Andy was on probation but not completely out in the cold.
It became more evident when the squad assembled for the Cyprus game that Trap was not satisfied with whatever concerned him about Andy and decided to drop him totally.
On football ability, Andy deserves a place in the squad.
Trap has outlined often enough how it pleases him no end and how he put a value on a players attitude and determination to earn their place in the squad.

[Scram]

I'm not taking sides on this one as I think Trappatoni is getting the results that are important, but I also admire Reid as a player and a person. He should definitely be in the squad and is ten times the player Stephen Hunt is. However, I shall say one thing - Hogan, stick to writing about GAA

Trappatoni is not getting the results. The 7 out of 9 points gathered so far have involved a huge amount of luck which, as we saw v Poland, can only get you so far.

No doubt that the defence looks more organised generally than under Stan, but that wouldn't be difficult!

Andy must be in the squad, and I be trying to get Carlsley and Andy O'Brien back.

O'Shea is not a center back and McShane is not a right back.

[Stuttgart88]

I think O'Shea is a perfectly good centre back.

[geysir]

Perfectly good means a c+?
good enough for us atm.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Trappatoni is not getting the results. The 7 out of 9 points gathered so far have involved a huge amount of luck which, as we saw v Poland, can only get you so far.

No doubt that the defence looks more organised generally than under Stan, but that wouldn't be difficult!

Andy must be in the squad, and I be trying to get Carlsley and Andy O'Brien back.

O'Shea is not a center back and McShane is not a right back.

Absolute nonsense. Whether luck has been involved or not (given the stone wall penalty not given against Montenegro I'd argue not) he actually is getting results (2 wins and a draw are results by any definition). To argue otherwise is frankly deranged.

O'Shea alongside Dunne does far less harm then on the flanks and McShane is playing week in week out at right back for Hull and again does less damage there then in the centre. Ideally I'd like to see O'Brien back but he's made his decision and if Finnan is fit McShane won't be in the team.

[elroy]

Absolute nonsense. Whether luck has been involved or not (given the stone wall penalty not given against Montenegro I'd argue not) he actually is getting results (2 wins and a draw are results by any definition). To argue otherwise is frankly deranged.

O'Shea alongside Dunne does far less harm then on the flanks and McShane is playing week in week out at right back for Hull and again does less damage there then in the centre. Ideally I'd like to see O'Brien back but he's made his decision and if Finnan is fit McShane won't be in the team.

Trap has been lucky - nonsense. In the second half of the Cyprus game we rode our luck at times but had enough chances to kill the game off. Cyprus only had one really good chance close to the end. Georgia was a deserved, lucky Whelan goal, Ill give you that but we deserved to win that game. Montenegro was a tricky potential banana skin where we were denied a stone wall pen and was the better team on the night.

O'Shea has been very good in the games so far and plays well alongside Keane. I'm wary of McShane however its hard not to take notice of his performances for Hull so far this season.

[geysir]

I can't remember any of our qualification achievements that has not been tainted by the "stigma" of luck etc.
Trap has not achieved anything yet, except 7 points. He will be judged on the performance to qualify out of this group.
Unless of course people have the expectation rather than the hope that we finish ahead of Italy.

[geysir]

Anyone notice that HUGE advert banner when you open the main Forum page.

"Why is Your Stomach Fat?"

Must be tagged to any mention of Reid on the www.

[paul_oshea]

No, thats just you geysir.

[NeilMcD]

http://www.tg4.ie/bearla/clar/flc/flc.asp

Tune in tonight for this one.

[NeilMcD]

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/andy-reidunplugged/3470164135

The real reason is that Il Trap hates Damien Rice.

[NeilMcD]

Must say he comes across as a decent skin on the TG4 show, I know who I would like to have a drink with between him and Stephen Ireland.