Daryl Horgan (M Wycombe Wanderers b.1992)

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, came on as a sub in the league opener last week, so he can't have been that far from the manager's plans for the season.

Strange one alright. Definitely a drop down.

[tetsujin1979]

Is he eligible for their Europa league tie next week?

[Eirambler]

No, but if they get through he'll be able to play in the playoff tie, probably against Minsk.

Scottish Premier actually undergoing a bit of a resurgence lately, with Celtic, Rangers and Hibs all unbeaten in Europe. Aberdeen took Burnley to extra time last week as well. I think Scottish clubs are something like 17 games unbeaten in 90 minutes in Europe this season.

He'll be playing in front of bigger crowds at Hibs than he was at Preston, albeit the weaker teams in the division drag the overall standard down a bit.

[RiffRaff]

Shocking move IMO. Could well cost him his place in the Ireland squad

[Eirambler]

Doubt it. Compared to not playing for Preston it's likely to increase his international chances if anything.

[liamoo11]

Great Move

[Diggs246]

Doubt it. Compared to not playing for Preston it's likely to increase his international chances if anything.

I wouldnt agree to be honest

MON has yet to start a SPL in a compeditive game

An example of this is Adam Rooney he was one of the top scorers in the league at one stage

[pineapple stu]

And now he's gone to the Conference for a pay rise

[kennedmc]

I don't think it is a good move for him. Championship is very competitive and a decent standard so ensure our players are match ready (Yes technically it could be better) - but week in week out you have tough games. surprised no other championship teams were in for him plus they pay good money.

Also in relation to the "bigger attendances in Scotland" comment I read that the championship has the 4th 5th highest attendance in Europe now.

[seanfhear]

If he plays really well for Hibs , Celtic might sign him . He wasn’t good enough to be a regular for Preston in the Championship . That's the story .

[Diggs246]

If he plays really well for Hibs , Celtic might sign him . He wasn’t good enough to be a regular for Preston in the Championship . That's the story .

Unfortunately you are 100% correct.

[Eirambler]

Attendance comment was just comparing Preston and Hibernian. Hibs would have a consistently higher home attendance than Preston would.

As pointed out elsewhere if he had been getting a regular game for Preston he wouldn't be moving to Scotland. But playing regularly for Hibs will be better for his career than dropping to League 1. Hopefully this doesn't lead to him signing for Celtic in future - they tend to buy other players from the division as squad cover rather than starting players.

Best case scenario is a couple of good years with Hibs and then hopefully a move back to a decent standard club in England.

[Charlie Darwin]

I wouldnt agree to be honest

MON has yet to start a SPL in a compeditive game

An example of this is Adam Rooney he was one of the top scorers in the league at one stage
He's also yet to start Daryl Horgan in a competitive game.

[samhaydenjr]

If it gives him regular playing time (and the option of Europa League football), and the pay is comparable, then sure, it's better than being a fringe player at Preston - he gave the Championship a fair shot and had partial success. At 26, he's entering his peak years as a footballer and it's important that he picks a solid medium-term career option now. But from the position of his international career, it is an indication that he may still be down the pecking order a bit, certainly in the short term. To give you an idea of where he stands, consider that Jake Mulraney started for Hearts today as they beat Celtic. That said, if he has a very good season at Hibs, Horgan may yet get his career back on the up.

[seanfhear]

He certainly need to be playing regular first team football . Surely most people would want that if only for your sanity . All the training and everything else . Surely first team football has to be the Holy Grail with as good amount of money as possible .

[CraftyToePoke]

I was at Villa Park yesterday, McGinn ( who I am guessing Horgan was signed to replace at Hibs ) was MOTM by a long way on his Villa debut, looked a real player so Horgan has big boots to fill there, it's good I guess that Hibs think he can anyway.

[Eirambler]

Think he was signed to replace Brandon Barker, who has moved to Preston but was at Hibs last season, rather than John McGinn.

We could do with a McGinn type of player breaking through into the Irish setup, he's a serious talent.

[Eirambler]

Not a massive fan favourite with the Hibs support these days and way down the pecking order for Ireland but there's no doubt the man has talent if he could just deliver more consistently. Great goal in preseason today.

https://twitter.com/HibernianFC/status/1287060514561036290?s=19

[Eirambler]

Horgan leaving Hibs next week. Wasn't quite good enough for the first team there and was one of the higher earners so they'll be happy to let him go and free up funds. A disappointing spell in the UK for him after Dundalk, failed to make the grade at Preston or at Hibs and nowhere near the international squad these days, will be interesting to see where he goes next.

[Eirambler]

Looks like it will be Wycombe Wanderers for Horgan.

[youngirish]

Looks like it will be Wycombe Wanderers for Horgan.
Good move for him. The Championship is a far better league.

[irishfan86]

A Championship move with a newly promoted side. Not bad for him. Maybe his club career hasn’t gone to plan but I actually didn’t mind the look of him when he was involved with Ireland.

[Fixer82]

He didn't do much wrong in an Ireland jersey. Would love to see him get another chance. It's a good move for him.

[Trequartista20]

Only 5 wins all season for an appallingly awful bottom-of the-table Wycombe side, and yet you just know that Horgan - not even a guaranteed a starter in that team - will be more or less the first name in the starting XI in Serbia. That's where we are right now.

So depressing.

[Snapshot]

Only 5 wins all season for an appallingly awful bottom-of the-table Wycombe side, and yet you just know that Horgan - not even a guaranteed a starter in that team - will be more or less the first name in the starting XI in Serbia. That's where we are right now.

So depressing.
I doubt Horgan will start against Serbia. But using him as a fall guy for our current up front ineptness is unfair. He was excellent against England and far from the worst against Bulgaria - out last two games. Neither Connolly nor O'Dowda - or any other forward - have come near either of those performances. He certainly isn't the future - but he doesn't deserved to be dismissed. If the England performance was a showcase of his ability - then his sitting on the Wycombe bench is a reflection of crap club management that has them heading for League One.

[pineapple stu]

It's nonsense to say he's the first name in the starting XI as well. He might start, but Coleman/Doherty/Randolph/etc would be higher in the "first name on the teamsheet" stakes.

[elatedscum]

I wouldn’t be too surprised if he starts but that’s as much to do with the fact that, as of today, Connolly, O’Dowda, McClean and Brady are all injured. That just leaves Robinson and Horgan, followed by a group of league 1 or LOI wingers: Curtis, Harness, Duffy...

I’d imagine a front three of Idah, Connolly and Robinson will start if fit

[geysir]

For us it's unrealistic to line up with a front 3 in the first away game of the campaign against a stronger team.
We don't have the quality in the rest of the pitch to support that.

[Trequartista20]

I doubt Horgan will start against Serbia. But using him as a fall guy for our current up front ineptness is unfair. He was excellent against England and far from the worst against Bulgaria - out last two games. Neither Connolly nor O'Dowda - or any other forward - have come near either of those performances. He certainly isn't the future - but he doesn't deserved to be dismissed. If the England performance was a showcase of his ability - then his sitting on the Wycombe bench is a reflection of crap club management that has them heading for League One.

'Excellent'? Good grief, you're easily pleased. We simply didn't turn up against England, failing to lay a glove on them. And most of our problems came down the right-side, where he was playing.

[Trequartista20]

It's nonsense to say he's the first name in the starting XI as well. He might start, but Coleman/Doherty/Randolph/etc would be higher in the "first name on the teamsheet" stakes.

I don't believe that's necessarily the case at all. It's unlikely that both Coleman and Doherty will play, and especially given Randolph's rumoured disaffection, and his struggles with the ball at his feet, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Kelleher started.

Horgan has started the last several matches, and will very likely start in Serbia in my view.

[DCWA]

I would agree that Horgan is likely to start and would have fancied his chances even without the inavailability of others.

That being said, I don’t see where the issue is in him doing so he is playing regular Championship football and has been one of our better players in the Nations League and England games.

Does ge deserve to be a starter for Ireland in a more general sense? Probably not.

Does he deserve to be a starter at the minute? Probably.

[Snapshot]

'Excellent'? Good grief, you're easily pleased. We simply didn't turn up against England, failing to lay a glove on them. And most of our problems came down the right-side, where he was playing.
In a relative sense, he was excellent against England. He did turn up and he did play well. Credit where it's due.

[pineapple stu]

I don't believe that's necessarily the case at all. It's unlikely that both Coleman and Doherty will play, and especially given Randolph's rumoured disaffection, and his struggles with the ball at his feet, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Kelleher started.

Horgan has started the last several matches, and will very likely start in Serbia in my view.
I mean, if you're going to assume three weeks out that everyone's going to be injured or is randomly unhappy, then I guess you can concoct a situation where Horgan is thr first name on the teamsheet. It's not really a rational way of doing things though.

I will agree that starting Horgan reflects badly on our squad at present. That's not his fault though; he's done reasonably well when given the chance

[Olé Olé]

I wonder why we, as supporters, haven't managed to adjust our expectations. Horgan is getting a few games in the Championship and the potential for him to start for the national side is met with disappointment. Supporters are also keen to point out when a young players isn't going too well or someone is dropped. I'm not sure why people have to be fatalistic about our present options - we haven't had it great for a long, long time and I would think by now that many would have realised our standards and grown a tad more accepting.

I love coming on here and getting the news about players and their progress or even stagnation if that needs highlighting. But I find it very tough when the negative cloud looms a bit and complaints are flooding about the lack of progression of our younger players, transfers not working out perfectly or players being on the bench.

[ColourfulPeanut]

Horgan isn't very good, he's not young and can't get into what is the undisputed worst team in the Championship. There's no reason to get excited or optimistic about his inclusion in an important qualifier.

The fact that someone is saying he was excellent against England is an indicative of how bad things are.

[Olé Olé]

Horgan isn't very good, he's not young and can't get into what is the undisputed worst team in the Championship. There's no reason to get excited or optimistic about his inclusion in an important qualifier.

The fact that someone is saying he was excellent against England is an indicative of how bad things are.

My point is not directly relevant to Horgan and is more of a broader observation regarding the context for our footballers. But you have used Horgan to support your assertion regarding "how bad things are" - and this type of post crops up a bit in Horgan's thread and it's so negative.

Each to their own I suppose and all views are valid views. But if a fella struggling to get into a struggling Championship side is getting the odd appearance for us and that is prompting posters to say we aren't as good as we should be, then when will posters start to re-calibrate the level we should be at.

[Eirambler]

Let's be honest here, Horgan's recent involvement has been mainly down to management familiarity, he didn't get a look in under the last manager and if he was still in post he wouldn't be getting a look in now either.

He was largely unsuccessful at Preston and Hibs and he's not doing a whole lot at Wycombe either, he's 28 and he's not going to get any better than he already is. Was good in the league of Ireland, but that has to be taken in the context of it being basically the equivalent of the National League in England if we're being honest. Has done nothing much of note since he left Ireland.

Realistically, even with our current lack of high quality options, he probably shouldn't be making a 23 or 25 man Ireland squad.

For me Connolly, Robinson, McClean, Browne, O'Dowda, Brady and McGeady would all be ahead of him for starters and I'd probably be giving the likes of Harness and Shodipo a call up to an extended squad before for a look before I'd bother with Horgan again.

[CraftyToePoke]

I wonder why we, as supporters, haven't managed to adjust our expectations. Horgan is getting a few games in the Championship and the potential for him to start for the national side is met with disappointment. Supporters are also keen to point out when a young players isn't going too well or someone is dropped. I'm not sure why people have to be fatalistic about our present options - we haven't had it great for a long, long time and I would think by now that many would have realised our standards and grown a tad more accepting.

I love coming on here and getting the news about players and their progress or even stagnation if that needs highlighting. But I find it very tough when the negative cloud looms a bit and complaints are flooding about the lack of progression of our younger players, transfers not working out perfectly or players being on the bench.

Its a fair enough point, much is made of having Coleman & Doherty but we once had Carr / Kelly / Finnan ( a CL winner ) and Kenna who won a league title at Blackburn but often couldn't get in the squad, for that spot alone. That was before you looked at the quality in other positions throughout those years, quality we really and simply do not have these days. The Scots have Robertson & Tierney arguably a better pair of players for example, but they are weak in the key positions like ourselves and overall struggle also.

This puts huge focus on our emerging players, that and the fact that we don't have huge quantities of those to talk about anyway. Pressure comes early in an Ireland shirt basically these days. Hence needing Molumby / Idah / Parrott / Obafemi etc to take to first team football like a duck to water which isn't happening and in truth was never likely to en masse.

Criticism is always there, when I talk to people but an answer to - well what would you be happy with ? - isn't always so forthcoming. Much of the core fan base now, were raised on Euro 88 to WC 94 golden age and those seem to be the expectations regardless of player pool limitations and its not inclined to drop from that.

[Charlie Darwin]

Horgan isn't very good, he's not young and can't get into what is the undisputed worst team in the Championship. There's no reason to get excited or optimistic about his inclusion in an important qualifier.
Irish fans have also zoomed in on one player as a symptom of all that's wrong with Irish football. It used to be Glenn Whelan, for years before him it was John O'Shea. Hell, it was even Robbie at one point. It's just that, whereas before at least it was a Premier League player singled out for criticism, now it's players considerably short of that level.

[ColourfulPeanut]

I don't mean to target Horgan because I feel that's unfair because I don't think he's ever not given his 100% for us . I just don't think he should be anywhere near the team even in the sad state things are now. He's a limited player and likely to have minimum impact given his age and trajectory. I'd rather chance the arm with untested younger players like Harness, Shodipo or Ogbene as impact subs to see what we have to supplement Connolly, Robinson and O'Dowda.

I don't think we have a realistic chance of qualifying for 2022 and don't see Horgan featuring in the next campaign into his 30s, so would rather see some new talent be integrated into the squad.

[Snapshot]

Its a fair enough point, much is made of having Coleman & Doherty but we once had Carr / Kelly / Finnan ( a CL winner ) and Kenna who won a league title at Blackburn but often couldn't get in the squad, for that spot alone. That was before you looked at the quality in other positions throughout those years, quality we really and simply do not have these days. The Scots have Robertson & Tierney arguably a better pair of players for example, but they are weak in the key positions like ourselves and overall struggle also.

This puts huge focus on our emerging players, that and the fact that we don't have huge quantities of those to talk about anyway. Pressure comes early in an Ireland shirt basically these days. Hence needing Molumby / Idah / Parrott / Obafemi etc to take to first team football like a duck to water which isn't happening and in truth was never likely to en masse.

Criticism is always there, when I talk to people but an answer to - well what would you be happy with ? - isn't always so forthcoming. Much of the core fan base now, were raised on Euro 88 to WC 94 golden age and those seem to be the expectations regardless of player pool limitations and its not inclined to drop from that.
Expectation management is a lost art. Interesting reads by yourself and Ole Ole.

[Charlie Darwin]

I don't mean to target Horgan because I feel that's unfair because I don't think he's ever not given his 100% for us . I just don't think he should be anywhere near the team even in the sad state things are now. He's a limited player and likely to have minimum impact given his age and trajectory. I'd rather chance the arm with untested younger players like Harness, Shodipo or Ogbene as impact subs to see what we have to supplement Connolly, Robinson and O'Dowda.

I don't think we have a realistic chance of qualifying for 2022 and don't see Horgan featuring in the next campaign into his 30s, so would rather see some new talent be integrated into the squad.
If everbody was fit and firing I wouldn't have Horgan in the squad unless he really stepped up his performance level, but for various reasons he's been in the squad on merit despite his level in recent times, and he's done OK. Even Kenny didn't select him in the wider squad until circumstances dictated it, so I don't know why he's such a major point of discussion.

[nigel-harps1954]

I'm not understanding the "can't get into Wycombe team" remarks. Only two players in their squad have made more appearances than him this season in the Championship.

[Eirambler]

It's more a recent thing I think. He has only started one of their last four games. He has also only played the full 90 twice in their last 13 games. So while he has made a lot of appearances, he hasn't been a recent starter and is rarely seen as being important enough to play the full 90. And that also needs to be taken in the context that he plays for Wycombe, who are terrible.

[elatedscum]

He has also only played the full 90 twice in their last 13 games. So while he has made a lot of appearances, he hasn't been a recent starter and is rarely seen as being important enough to play the full 90.

I don’t think he’s really a 90 minute man. That’s fine for a winger and doesn’t necessarily reflect his over quality. He’s a guy who’s game is based on sprinting and speed and pressing. As he tires, he becomes less effective. Plenty of really good wingers in the same boat. It’s probably the position where it’s most common...

There’s also an abundance of good ‘off the bench’ game changing wingers ala Shodipo.

Don’t see it as an issue at all. Generally half your players in the front 5/6 midfielders and attackers will be taken off in a game.

[Trequartista20]

Failed to start today, or indeed any of Wycombe's last 9 matches, as their relegation was finally confirmed. There'll be various factors involved, but it's worth noting that these 9 matches coincided with Wycombe's best form this season, with 5 wins and only 2 defeats.

[Eirambler]

He's not good enough for the Championship. However, I can see him being more involved next season in League 1.

[Trequartista20]

The Kenny favourite moves to Stevenage on loan.

Good to know our time wasn't wasted with all those call-ups and caps during a supposed 'rebuild'.

[Eirambler]

Hasn't really worked out for Horgan at a decent level, but he went over and gave it a good go. Will have made some decent money at Preston and Hibs. Very unlikely we'll see him for Ireland again, he wasn't up to that level but we've capped worse players all the same and it was during a period of real weakness that he came in.

[Fixer82]

I actually think he always did pretty ok for Ireland