View Full Version : Connor Ronan M Colorado Rapids b.1998
But who should receive a call up to our squad? The utterances from Kenny in October are looking even more ridiculous.
The call in October was borderline to be fair - and again, they are not in direct competition as part of the Irish squad. A midfielder is not a midfielder is not a midfielder. I'd be extremely surprised if Hodge didnt make the cut in March.
Diggs246
18/01/2023, 1:22 PM
The call in October was borderline to be fair - and again, they are not in direct competition as part of the Irish squad. A midfielder is not a midfielder is not a midfielder. I'd be extremely surprised if Hodge didnt make the cut in March.
Kenny was asked about Hodge and basically said who cares. Ronan is my guy from wolves
It was p*ss poor management
BOOMSHAKALAKA
18/01/2023, 1:32 PM
The call in October was borderline to be fair - and again, they are not in direct competition as part of the Irish squad. A midfielder is not a midfielder is not a midfielder. I'd be extremely surprised if Hodge didnt make the cut in March.
It wasn't borderline and why was Kenny comparing them if a midfielder is not a midfielder is not a midfielder?
Eirambler
18/01/2023, 1:34 PM
If we take it that this is the end of Connor Ronan's Premier League career, and I'd say it probably is, he must have had one of the shortest of any Irish player. I think he came on in the 90th minute in the one game he played and got that minute plus whatever injury time was added on, and that was it for him.
Conor Coventry came on in the 92nd or 93rd minute for his one PL appearance so will have to get himself one more game at least to better Ronan.
elatedscum
18/01/2023, 1:53 PM
Always think US moves are a bit ****. It’s out of sight, out of mind. I feel it’s far easier to transition from the championship or from a decent European league to a higher level than it is from the US.
Like for example, if Cullen had signed for Atlanta instead of Anderlecht - he’d probably still be there now.
We never seem to call up players playing stateside - Derrick Williams was in and out of the squad when Kenny arrived and then he went to LA and was done.
US clubs are often pretty adversarial when it comes to international duty - which doesn’t help
Eirambler
18/01/2023, 2:04 PM
Conor Coventry came on in the 92nd or 93rd minute for his one PL appearance so will have to get himself one more game at least to better Ronan.
Yes, was looking it up there. Jayson Molumby came on in the 96th minute for his only Premier League appearance, so he currently must have the shortest Premier League career of any Irish player. I wonder if he even touched the ball. Although in Molumby's case, and to a lesser extent Coventry's, I'd have some hope that they'll add to their total down the line. This is it for Ronan I think and I don't know if he'll ever win an Ireland cap now either.
Always think US moves are a bit ****. It’s out of sight, out of mind. I feel it’s far easier to transition from the championship or from a decent European league to a higher level than it is from the US.
Like for example, if Cullen had signed for Atlanta instead of Anderlecht - he’d probably still be there now.
We never seem to call up players playing stateside - Derrick Williams was in and out of the squad when Kenny arrived and then he went to LA and was done.
US clubs are often pretty adversarial when it comes to international duty - which doesn’t help
Well that's just down to **** management if they feel being based that far away from England is too far to track a player. Not like he's down in the Amazon rainforest playing. Executive VP and General Manger at Colorado Rapids is Irish and even worked for the FAI at one stage so should be easy to get onto him for anything they'd need to evaluate Ronan if he's performing well.
Williams was an average CB or LB when needed that played with Blackburn. Might have something to do with having better CBs to choose from that he wasn't selected to make up numbers anymore or feature in squads for friendlies.
I'd say US clubs are no more adversarial to international duty than UK clubs.
pineapple stu
18/01/2023, 3:03 PM
|Executive VP and General Manger at Colorado Rapids is Irish and even worked for the FAI at one stage
Christ - I forgot about that. Used to be on my UCD Superleague team!
Diggs246
18/01/2023, 3:26 PM
Christ - I forgot about that. Used to be on my UCD Superleague team!
Looking at his LinkedIn would it be fair to say he was an illegal superleague player!!
pineapple stu
18/01/2023, 4:00 PM
Hey, he paid his fees and the LoI club benefitted. That's all that matters! :)
(Unless he was an occasional banger actually, which he may have been. It's a while ago now...)
It wasn't borderline and why was Kenny comparing them if a midfielder is not a midfielder is not a midfielder?
probably cos he was asked the question from a Wolves context.
I think it was borderline. At the time, Hodge, if i recall correctly, had 45 minutes of first team football under his belt. Ronan had very few minutes too.
Eirambler
18/01/2023, 4:35 PM
Well that's just down to **** management if they feel being based that far away from England is too far to track a player. Not like he's down in the Amazon rainforest playing. Executive VP and General Manger at Colorado Rapids is Irish and even worked for the FAI at one stage so should be easy to get onto him for anything they'd need to evaluate Ronan if he's performing well.
Williams was an average CB or LB when needed that played with Blackburn. Might have something to do with having better CBs to choose from that he wasn't selected to make up numbers anymore or feature in squads for friendlies.
I'd say US clubs are no more adversarial to international duty than UK clubs.
You've got to factor in the travel distance as well, Colorado is seven time zones away and I'm not aware that there are any direct flights from Denver to Dublin. With the seemingly ever narrowing international windows leaving little time for long haul travel it's always going to be easier to call up a player from the Championship or even League 1 if it comes to it rather than someone from the MLS, unless they're playing so well that it's just impossible to ignore them.
BOOMSHAKALAKA
18/01/2023, 4:38 PM
probably cos he was asked the question from a Wolves context.
I think it was borderline. At the time, Hodge, if i recall correctly, had 45 minutes of first team football under his belt. Ronan had very few minutes too.
It's okay to say that Kenny made an error you know? As Diggs pointed out, Kenny brought Ronan into it.
Kenny was asked about Hodge and basically said who cares. Ronan is my guy from wolves
It was p*ss poor management
Hodge being far younger and getting some game time in the premier league along with the danger of England coming in to have a word was the choice to make. One of Kenny's many poor decisions.
You've got to factor in the travel distance as well, Colorado is seven time zones away and I'm not aware that there are any direct flights from Denver to Dublin. With the seemingly ever narrowing international windows leaving little time for long haul travel it's always going to be easier to call up a player from the Championship or even League 1 if it comes to it rather than someone from the MLS, unless they're playing so well that it's just impossible to ignore them.
Australia have players travelling from Scotland so distance shouldn't be an issue if Ronan becomes worth a call up.
Eirambler
18/01/2023, 5:11 PM
Australia realistically have no choice though. They do it because they have to. We do have a choice, we can choose the lad who's an hour away on Ryanair. Obviously it can be done, but once you factor in the travel time and the jet lag recovery etc it's going to need to be a fairly special player that gets called in from the MLS, especially from one of the Mountain and Pacific time zone teams (e.g. Robbie Keane back in the day).
pineapple stu
18/01/2023, 5:19 PM
Kevin Doyle too of course - but an established international again.
I think if Ronan doesn't get called up if he moves to the MLS though, it's mostly because he's not good enough unfortunately
Trequartista20
18/01/2023, 5:29 PM
If Ronan is playing regularly and well, I wouldn't have any real qualms about giving him an opportunity. We are, after all, crying out for some midfield creativity.
Lots of European teams regularly pick MLS-based players, so I don't see distance being any great issue.
Indeed, wasn't Kevin Doyle called up a number of times during the 18 months he was at Colorado? In a typical display of FAI incompetence, I think his final Ireland call-up came after he'd already announced his retirement as a player due to a head injury! Caleb Folan was called up while at Colorado as well.
As far as the standard of the league goes, it's obviously variable in terms of quality of player, but there are some very good players playing MLS. And if the likes of Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Wales, Hungary etc are happy to regularly draft US-based players into their squads, I don't know why we'd consider ourselves above such a consideration, especially given our current lowly status under Kenny.
I believe I'm right in saying that after the Big Five European Leagues, MLS was the league with the most representation at the recent World Cup.
It's okay to say that Kenny made an error you know? As Diggs pointed out, Kenny brought Ronan into it.
I know and I have done so. Plenty of times. As I said, i just happen to think this one was borderline. Neither player, at the time, could have been said to be so far ahead of the other that Kenny made the wrong *choice* between the two players (even though it wasn't actually an "either Hodge or Ronan" decision). At the time, if i recall correctly, i called out the fact that Hodge was in competition with one set of players; Ronan in competition with a different set of players. Its just not a great example of Kenny making a mistake. There's plenty of other examples out there though.
Diggs246
18/01/2023, 7:28 PM
I know and I have done so. Plenty of times. As I said, i just happen to think this one was borderline. Neither player, at the time, could have been said to be so far ahead of the other that Kenny made the wrong *choice* between the two players (even though it wasn't actually an "either Hodge or Ronan" decision). At the time, if i recall correctly, i called out the fact that Hodge was in competition with one set of players; Ronan in competition with a different set of players. Its just not a great example of Kenny making a mistake. There's plenty of other examples out there though.
The bigger issue is what he said, when asked about Hodge making his premier league debut. He said something like I would prefer if the wolves manager played Ronan!
If the manager of bushy park rangers said that, he would be asked to do the lines on the pitch
Eirambler
18/01/2023, 8:01 PM
That was poor from Kenny alright. But his inability to deal with fairly basic questions at press conferences has been a recurring theme of his time in charge. He has been as poor off the field as his teams have been on it.
BOOMSHAKALAKA
18/01/2023, 8:08 PM
I know and I have done so. Plenty of times. As I said, i just happen to think this one was borderline. Neither player, at the time, could have been said to be so far ahead of the other that Kenny made the wrong *choice* between the two players (even though it wasn't actually an "either Hodge or Ronan" decision). At the time, if i recall correctly, i called out the fact that Hodge was in competition with one set of players; Ronan in competition with a different set of players. Its just not a great example of Kenny making a mistake. There's plenty of other examples out there though.
Kenny was the one who compared the two. Hodge should have been called up. And Kenny's comments were extremely poor. That's 3 mistakes in one swoop by Kenny.
It's not just me pointing this out to you.
mark12345
18/01/2023, 8:51 PM
Always think US moves are a bit ****. It’s out of sight, out of mind. I feel it’s far easier to transition from the championship or from a decent European league to a higher level than it is from the US.
Like for example, if Cullen had signed for Atlanta instead of Anderlecht - he’d probably still be there now.
We never seem to call up players playing stateside - Derrick Williams was in and out of the squad when Kenny arrived and then he went to LA and was done.
US clubs are often pretty adversarial when it comes to international duty - which doesn’t help
Can't argue with any of that but the pitiful thing is that the US standard is very good.
It is not the Premier League which I think spoils Irish fans because of the familiarity. But still, MLS has a plethora of South and Central American talent.
You are correct that it is out of sight/mind but there would be several MLS players I would put in the Irish midfield instead of our current crew.
Exgrad
19/01/2023, 8:59 AM
I hadn't heard the Kenny comments back in October so looked them up:
https://punditarena.com/football/rudi-kinsella/stephen-kenny-will-smallbone-joe-hodge-connor-ronan/
He said that he would have preferred if it was his Wolves teammate Connor Ronan who made his debut instead, as he is further along in his progression.
“Personally, in relation to our squad, I would have preferred if it was Connor Ronan who came off the bench”, said Kenny.
“I spoke to him last week and I was hoping that he might be the one to come on because he can add to us. Joe is obviously very young and will be a significant player for the U21s in the next campaign.
“As a first team player and a senior international, it’s a big jump at the moment but it’s a great achievement to play for Wolves. They have a couple of injuries in that position but it’s a great achievement to go and get into their first team so quickly, a great achievement for him.”
Not great to be honest, no benefit to anyone putting that out there. And while Hodge and Ronan play different positions his comments did effectively put them in competition.
Re Ronan in MLS, most of the players who European teams pick have allready established themselves as internationals. Ronan hasn't and it will be far more difficult for him to do so out of the MLS.
tetsujin1979
19/01/2023, 10:18 AM
sort of interesting that Jack McGlynn is touted as a potential future international, and has only played in MLS, and playing there is seen as a detriment to any future chances that Connor Ronan has of playing for the national side
Eirambler
19/01/2023, 10:28 AM
I doubt McGlynn will ever play for Ireland anyway, but he is five years younger than Ronan. If he's still in the MLS when he's Ronan's age (and unless he's maybe there as a designated player outside the salary cap) I would take that to mean that he's probably not at the required standard.
tetsujin1979
19/01/2023, 11:15 AM
FWIW McGlynn was not included in the training camp squad for the US national side announced earlier this week
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paul_oshea
19/01/2023, 11:54 AM
I know and I have done so. Plenty of times. As I said, i just happen to think this one was borderline. Neither player, at the time, could have been said to be so far ahead of the other that Kenny made the wrong *choice* between the two players (even though it wasn't actually an "either Hodge or Ronan" decision). At the time, if i recall correctly, i called out the fact that Hodge was in competition with one set of players; Ronan in competition with a different set of players. Its just not a great example of Kenny making a mistake. There's plenty of other examples out there though.
But one had just made his debut or played for Wolves in the PL the other hadn't, and yet he singled out the other as the one he preferred. Its poor(man) management at best, destructive at worst. What does Hodge read into that?
I doubt McGlynn will ever play for Ireland anyway, but he is five years younger than Ronan. If he's still in the MLS when he's Ronan's age (and unless he's maybe there as a designated player outside the salary cap) I would take that to mean that he's probably not at the required standard.
That he mightn't be good enough for Ireland or that he wouldn't choose Ireland over the US. On the second point I'd say it will be down to if he wants to play international football his best bet would be with Ireland. US have some talented young midfielders who are gonna be around for years to come.
Gonna be some strong 2+2=5 from the likes of Kenny's Kids with McGylnn not being called up to the US training camp with both Kenny and Crawford being in Philadelphia recently for a conference. Keith Andrews was over to watch him play in the MLS last season too.
Eirambler
19/01/2023, 12:27 PM
I mean, if he genuinely feels Irish and wants to play for us, then great, bring him in. He'd get straight into our Under 21 starting 11 I'd say. My concern though is that, if he feels American first and Irish second, he wouldn't come to us until it became clear that it wasn't going to work out with the US.
The North American teams seem to play a lot more international games than European teams do so, while they probably have more depth than us, it's maybe also easier to win a small number of caps for them. One example that comes to mind is Chris Mueller who came to Hibs on big money as a US senior international with a couple of caps, and he was absolutely stone useless. On that basis, if it got to the point where McGlynn couldn't even win a cap or two for the US, it's maybe unlikely he'd be good enough for us either.
SkStu
19/01/2023, 12:30 PM
But one had just made his debut or played for Wolves in the PL the other hadn't, and yet he singled out the other as the one he preferred. Its poor(man) management at best, destructive at worst. What does Hodge read into that?
Reading it again in full, the comment was weird and ill-placed, I am definitely not going to debate that. I think Eirambler hits the main point in an earlier post - he goes to jelly when he's in front of a camera or microphone (always has tbh). But my original post wasn't actually addressing Kenny's comments at all, it just pointed out the fact that they are not in competition for the same spot in response to Boom after he had made the point that the selection of Ronan over Hodge was ridiculous when, practically speaking, it was not one over the other. In my response, Kenny's comments weren't relevant to the football/selection point I was trying to make i.e. that it wasn't a football/selection mistake.
The quote provided by Exgrad - I think I can see what Kenny is trying to say but holy f*ck does he ever mess it up... what he is trying to say, i believe, is that Ronan plays in a position where we were light and to see him make a breakthrough would have been great while he feels we are covered well in the Hodge roll... but saying "add to us" means he lands an elbow on Hodge implying that Hodge wont add to us (probably unintentionally but there you have it)...
SkStu
19/01/2023, 12:35 PM
I mean, if he genuinely feels Irish and wants to play for us, then great, bring him in. He'd get straight into our Under 21 starting 11 I'd say. My concern though is that, if he feels American first and Irish second, he wouldn't come to us until it became clear that it wasn't going to work out with the US.
The North American teams seem to play a lot more international games than European teams do so, while they probably have more depth than us, it's maybe also easier to win a small number of caps for them. One example that comes to mind is Chris Mueller who came to Hibs on big money as a US senior international with a couple of caps, and he was absolutely stone useless. On that basis, if it got to the point where McGlynn couldn't even win a cap or two for the US, it's maybe unlikely he'd be good enough for us either.
According to KK on twitter, Kenny and others (maybe Crawford) spent last week in Philadelphia courting McGlynn. His omission from the USMNT squad may indicate that a decision has been finalized?
pineapple stu
23/01/2023, 4:44 PM
Move to Colorado Rapids confirmed - https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0123/1350373-connor-ronan-signs-for-mls-colorado-rapids/
Let's see how it works out I guess. But I don't think he's any nearer the senior setup tbh
tetsujin1979
07/02/2023, 12:10 PM
short interview with Ronan after arriving in Colorado
https://www.coloradorapids.com/video/excited-to-finally-be-here-connor-ronan-ready-to-start-2023-with-the-rapids
CraftyToePoke
07/02/2023, 2:41 PM
Any MLS watchers here ?
Where are Colorado Rapids in the scheme of things in that league and what would be expected of them this season ?
mark12345
07/02/2023, 5:29 PM
Any MLS watchers here ?
Where are Colorado Rapids in the scheme of things in that league and what would be expected of them this season ?
Colorado are a decent mid table team in MLS. Not close to winning it any time soon but good enough to trouble the big boys on their day
tetsujin1979
27/02/2023, 12:32 AM
Ronan starts for Colorado in their first game of the 2023 MLS season
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Razors left peg
27/02/2023, 3:23 AM
Ronan starts for Colorado in their first game of the 2023 MLS season
1630003096566009856
I just watched 80 mins of it, felt like penance. Astroturf pitch in pretty windy conditions.
Colorado were awful, but Ronan was by far and away their best player. He was in almost a free role across the pitch, but playing too deep. He created one great chance with a through ball that the striker should have scored from. He didn't seem to have anything around him in midfield and their were acres of space for Seattle.
Hes a nice footballer, and a type of player we are lacking so I can see a role for him in Ireland squad if he plays well every week. Argentina had a player in their WC squad from the MLS so we certainly can't look down our nose at it... I just hope Colorado aren't this bad all season
Eirambler
27/02/2023, 6:13 AM
Had a look through the Colorado Rapids squad there, trying to get a feel for where they would sit in terms of European football - the squad is absolutely terrible to be honest. Looking at the careers of the players that have played in the UK - it's bottom half League 1/bottom half SPL standard. Even their designated players don't look up to much. I'd say they'll have a tough season ahead if there's any little bit of quality in the MLS at all.
I don't really see how Ronan can do much to advance his international case playing in that standard of team. Unless he is an absolute standout and can get a move to a better team over there, or preferably in Europe, I think we should forget about him for the foreseeable.
Incidentally, Ronan was the oldest of that original Stephen Kenny under 21 squad from a few years back, he turns 25 next week. Time is moving on already for that first group, born in 1998 - Ronan, Masterson, Scales, Taylor, Kelleher and Elbouzedi. They haven't achieved much between them to date, Kelleher's small handful of appearances for Liverpool about the highlight and he's the only one from that year to be capped at senior level.
tetsujin1979
11/07/2023, 7:59 AM
Assist for Ronan against Dallas on Sunday morning, at 2:00 below
According to the stats on mls.com (https://www.mlssoccer.com/stats/players/#season=2023&competition=mls-regular-season&club=all&statType=passing&position=all), that's his seventh of the season, in 22 games. No other player at Colorado has more than three in the league this season, and every other player in the club combined only has ten
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tetsujin1979
12/05/2024, 1:42 PM
First appearance of the season last night after recovering from injury
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elatedscum
15/09/2024, 3:34 AM
Watching the Colorado game against Portland. Ronan is playing as part of a deep midfield 2, with Djordje Mihailovic (USA international) as a No.10.
Very silky in possession, I’d call him up to the next squad
Trequartista20
15/09/2024, 10:25 AM
Agree. He's an option we should obviously be looking at. His form over the last year and the fact he plays in a position of which we have precious few options would seem to justify it.
Eirambler
15/09/2024, 3:44 PM
Can't say I agree. We have loads of options in midfield. Just because they're not that good doesn't mean we should be bringing Ronan in. He has done nothing to warrant it that I can see. I don't think he'd be a Hallgrimsson type player anyway, but even if he was as an AM Azaz is much better than him already and Moran has a much higher ceiling. As a DM I don't see Ronan having anything like the athleticism needed to protect a defence at international level. I'll be surprised if he ever wins a competitive cap.
tetsujin1979
03/10/2024, 2:48 PM
Scored the opener for Colorado last night in a 3-1 loss against LA Galaxy
Goal below at 1:20
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elatedscum
03/10/2024, 2:54 PM
good goal for his weaker foot
Eirambler
03/10/2024, 3:38 PM
Seems to have made very little impact there this season - that's his first goal and they're near the end of their season in that league. Only one assist credited to him all season also according to Transfermarkt, and that was way back in February. Poor numbers, particularly in the context of the standard of the league he's playing in.
elatedscum
07/10/2024, 5:15 PM
Seems to have made very little impact there this season - that's his first goal and they're near the end of their season in that league. Only one assist credited to him all season also according to Transfermarkt, and that was way back in February. Poor numbers, particularly in the context of the standard of the league he's playing in.
He's playing much deeper. Watched a bunch of highlights from this season and he's playing in areas where he's feeding the ball out of full backs or wingers or into the No.10.
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