Dean Marney

[tetsujin1979]

According to yesterday's paper (think it was the "Irish" Star) the boy Marney at Spurs qualifies for Ireland through his grandparents, and hasn't been approached by the England set up yet and could be declaring for Ireland in time for the next U-21 international. With the Irish contingent at Spurs (Keane, Kelly, Yeates and Hughton) he'd have plenty to convince him to do it.

[Stuttgart88]

Oh, oh. Here we go again... :)

[eirebhoy]

Oh, oh. Here we go again... :)
No, this fella is a really decent prospect, I doubt there'll be anywhere near the amount of people that slated Macken for his decision... :rolleyes:

[Stuttgart88]

I was just anticipating another umpteen pages of diverging opinions on the eligibility issue.

I saw him on MOTD against Everton and he looks pretty good alright. No harm in picking him for an U21 game and seeing what he wants to do.

[eirebhoy]

I was just anticipating another umpteen pages of diverging opinions on the eligibility issue.
That only seems to be the case for the older, less gifted players. There's plenty of players at underage level that wouldn't regard themselves as Irish that nobody has a problem with.

[TheJamaicanP.M.]

Is this true that he is being picked for an under-21 squad? This guy is a class act. We are short on right-sided midfielders and this lad could certainly be a great aquisition.

[JimmyP]

Yeah, saw that aswell when MOTD pundits were raving about him.
Hoped there was an Irish connection but just assumed it was wishful thinking, assumed there'd be a lot of English interest.

[Docboy]

As far as I know he only has Irish great-grandparents so I'd be surprised to see him in the green. Good player though,strong with quick feet, we can but hope.

[JimmyP]

Nope, he ain't. He was on Newstalk's Off The Ball tonight denying the rumour.
He does have an Irish great-grandfather alright.
Stephen Kelly has been talking to him about it and even said he'd bring in the press clippings :p

What I do find promising is that, as he tells it himself, the Irish camp approached Spurs over a year ago, enquiring about his Irishness.

[Superhoops]

This guy is a class act......
Before even thinking about his nationality qualification, let's not get carried away here. After wondershow less than a week ago, was benched on Saturday. We've seen too many 'boy wonders' over the years onlyfor them to end up in disappointment.

[1MickCollins]

Before even thinking about his nationality qualification, let's not get carried away here. After wondershow less than a week ago, was benched on Saturday. We've seen too many 'boy wonders' over the years onlyfor them to end up in disappointment.

The last boy wonder at Spurs with Irish 'connections' was Andy Turner, Charlton and Taylor went to war over him and Turner then just went on a brief downward spiral before disappearing off the radar.

Are we so desperate? Marney is not a very Irish name anyhow, it is English in origin

[4tothefloor]

And I suppose Cascarino and Townsend are Irish names? How about Eamon Zayed, not very Irish is it? Even though he is Irish. Point being, who cares where his NAME originates from.

Would be great if we could get Marney, but only if he wants to play for us.

[Superhoops]

Would be great if we could get Marney, but only if he wants to play for us.
and only if he proves to be good enough!

[1MickCollins]

And I suppose Cascarino and Townsend are Irish names? How about Eamon Zayed, not very Irish is it? Even though he is Irish. Point being, who cares where his NAME originates from.

Would be great if we could get Marney, but only if he wants to play for us.

I simply pointed out that Marney is actually an English name, others had suggested it was Irish or suggested an Irish link. His surname could be 4tothefloor for all I care, what is interesting is that a few week ago I posted a question on Keith Andrews which elicited zero comment, Andrews is 100% Irish but my gawd some English kid plays a few minutes of Premership football and we want to snap him up and embrace him in our shamrocky bosom...I really think some people on this board would love to see 11 Brits play in the green.

[Closed Account 2]

He looks a fairly decent prospect. If we can we should put him in the full squad for the next appropriate friendly, even if he only plays a couple of mins it will mean he's marked down as one of ours and then we can drop him or stick him in the u21s (is he u21?) and then see how committed he is to playing for us and look to see if he develops well at Spurs without having to worry about him being tapped up by another country.

[Plastic Paddy]

I really think some people on this board would love to see 11 Brits play in the green.

No, people just want the best available players qualified to represent Ireland. It's that simple.

Oh, and as for Keith Andrews? Not good enough as it stands, I'm afraid. Unlucky with injury a year or so ago with Wolves when a sustained run of games in the Premiership would have been ideal. Unfortunately for Andrews and for us, that's football.

:) PP

[Macy]

On Newstalk this morning that Marney has confirmed to them he doesn't qualify - great grandparent connection only.

[Plastic Paddy]

Does my memory play tricks on me or did John Aldridge play for Ireland despite having only a fourth-level connection with the auld sod? :confused: I also seem to remember that Michael Robinson's connection was tenuous at best. I'm sure there are ways around it if the boy wanted to play for Ireland, but that might mean coming to play in the eL for a few years first... :eek: :D

:D PP

[Macy]

Does my memory play tricks on me or did John Aldridge play for Ireland despite having only a fourth-level connection with the auld sod?
I think they tightened up the rules since those days. I actually think I remember British TV making a big deal of it affecting Ireland. :rolleyes:

[wexfordned]

Parents or Grandparents are the only acceptable link. As Marney said himself this doesn't apply to him & he is ineligible to play for Ireland.

[eirebhoy]

what is interesting is that a few week ago I posted a question on Keith Andrews which elicited zero comment, Andrews is 100% Irish but my gawd some English kid plays a few minutes of Premership football and we want to snap him up and embrace him in our shamrocky bosom...I really think some people on this board would love to see 11 Brits play in the green.
Keith Andrews is almost 25 and has only recently broke into the Wolves team.

[tetsujin1979]

Parents or Grandparents are the only acceptable link. As Marney said himself this doesn't apply to him & he is ineligible to play for Ireland.

My bad on this one, serves me right for believing a red top

[Stuttgart88]

what is interesting is that a few week ago I posted a question on Keith Andrews which elicited zero comment

Did you post it on this section of the board? I never saw it. If I had I'd have said good luck to him but he doesn't look good enough to me.

[TheJamaicanP.M.]

Keith Andrews is almost 25 and has only recently broke into the Wolves team.

While I dont share Mick Collins' excitement for Keith Andrews (he's not good enough), I would just like to point out that Keith Andrews has been involved in the Wolves first team for the past few years. He was in the same underage set-up as Robbie Keane. He broke into the first team after Keane left the club. I think he is the second youngest player ever to captain Wolves. He did so when he was about 21. He was unfortunate to break his leg in an FA cup tie about two years ago which prevented him from having an impact in the Premiership last season. Therefore, the lad has more experience than you think. However, his only chance of playing for Ireland would require him to be playing every week (think he was on the bench last weekend?) at left-back. He is a better left-back that central midfielder.

[eirebhoy]

He was loaned out to Stoke and Walsall last season and you'd have to go back to 00/01 to find the last time he was a regular at Wolves. He started 4 games the following season and 3 games the season after that. In 3 seasons (01/02, 02/03, 03/04) he started just 10 games for Wolves so I think I should have said re-broke into the Wolves team.

[SaucyJack]

On Newstalk this morning that Marney has confirmed to them he doesn't qualify - great grandparent connection only.


yep (http://www.eleven-a-side.com/boysingreen/irish_soccer_detail.asp?newsid=15493)

[1MickCollins]

While I dont share Mick Collins' excitement for Keith Andrews (he's not good enough), I would just like to point out that Keith Andrews has been involved in the Wolves first team for the past few years. He was in the same underage set-up as Robbie Keane. He broke into the first team after Keane left the club. I think he is the second youngest player ever to captain Wolves. He did so when he was about 21. He was unfortunate to break his leg in an FA cup tie about two years ago which prevented him from having an impact in the Premiership last season. Therefore, the lad has more experience than you think. However, his only chance of playing for Ireland would require him to be playing every week (think he was on the bench last weekend?) at left-back. He is a better left-back that central midfielder.

Yeah I posted the question after Hoddle had pretty much said that he wanted to build the Wolves midfield around Andrews a few weeks back, it doesn't look like he has seized the opportunity though. He had tough luck with the brken leg he was gunning along before that and has had productive loan spells at Stoke and Walsall after the injury. He has the potential to be as good as Kinsella :) I'm not sure that I am excited about Andrews, it's just that I was wondering what others thought as I haven't see him play very much, at least he does qualify for us.