Michael Obafemi F Plymouth Argyle (loan from Burnley) b.2000

[samhaydenjr]

Let's be honest lads
if he is raised "irish". whether that's in Cobh or in East ham to Irish parents or within an Irish community. He doesn't turn down the opportunity to play against Belgium to play against Birmingham in the championship.

Or you could look at it this way - he's a young lad at the start of his career who has been hampered by hamstring injuries and is finally putting a run of games and goals together - why would he risk that progress for a friendly against a second-string Belgium side?

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, its not a perfect science, and I am definitely not claiming it to be.
You kind of are claiming it to be though when you say that Obafemi is more Irish than Kilbane "by the most straightforward definition, absolutely yes"


Why i think country of birth might be the more reliable and straightforward indicator as to for whom any given player will play is based on the high percentage of caps that are distributed globally being granted to individuals who were born in the issuing country - which i would estimate would easily be greater than 80%.
OK, but when I threw in a "citation needed" comment, I didn't mean "make things up" :)

I mean, if that 80% figure is even close to correct, surely it's skewed by a lot of players only really having one choice at international level? Kelleher, Collins, Parrott, Manning, Egan and so on all play for their country of birth - but who else are they going to play for?

By comparison, the 23-man Senegal squad against Egypt in the World Cup play-off last month had 10 players born in France (and one in Spain). That doesn't back up the 80% argument.

I think it's probably more reasonable to say that - in general - a player with strong links with more than one country (eg Jack Grealish or Munir) will be interested in both options but will plump for the best team that will have them. And - in general - a player with a weak link with one country and a strong link with a second (eg Paul McGrath, Dave O'Leary, Curtis Fleming) will tend to go for the one they have the strong link with.

There's always exceptions of course, and maybe Obafemi will be one. It's why I think the June squads will be interesting.

[Olé Olé]

You kind of are claiming it to be though when you say that Obafemi is more Irish than Kilbane "by the most straightforward definition, absolutely yes"


OK, but when I threw in a "citation needed" comment, I didn't mean "make things up" :)

I mean, if that 80% figure is even close to correct, surely it's skewed by a lot of players only really having one choice at international level? Kelleher, Collins, Parrott, Manning, Egan and so on all play for their country of birth - but who else are they going to play for?

By comparison, the 23-man Senegal squad against Egypt in the World Cup play-off last month had 10 players born in France (and one in Spain). That doesn't back up the 80% argument.

I think it's probably more reasonable to say that - in general - a player with strong links with more than one country (eg Jack Grealish or Munir) will be interested in both options but will plump for the best team that will have them. And - in general - a player with a weak link with one country and a strong link with a second (eg Paul McGrath, Dave O'Leary, Curtis Fleming) will tend to go for the one they have the strong link with.

There's always exceptions of course, and maybe Obafemi will be one. It's why I think the June squads will be interesting.

Cookie cutter templates like this may not be as useful for players with ties to 3 countries. And Obafemi is already an exception to the rules of thumb you are using above given that he played underage for us and senior for us when he thought it would tie him.

[geysir]

& you know this do you ?

Or is this the latest bout of your on / off relationship with reality being presented as fact and quietly dropped later on ?

:D
Are you not adequately versed in written English?

I wrote if Obafemi refused a definite call-up to this squad, the conditional.

I did not write Obafemi refused a call-up.

[Diggs246]

Or you could look at it this way - he's a young lad at the start of his career who has been hampered by hamstring injuries and is finally putting a run of games and goals together - why would he risk that progress for a friendly against a second-string Belgium side?

To try get into the starting line up when the competitive games come around, now he has zero chance of starting
As Pineapplestu said June will tell us all

[CraftyToePoke]

:D
Are you not adequately versed in written English?

I wrote if Obafemi refused a definite call-up to this squad, the conditional.

I did not write Obafemi refused a call-up.


Well, what you actually wrote when you rejoined the conversation was he had been shunned in solidarity with Jimmy Crawford, yet now you're speculating on the minutiae & his reaction to his call up a mere two posts later.

Always a pleasure geysir, never a chore, always entertaining, also rarely credible.

We'll leave it there so :) :)

[SkStu]

Remember, all this started with your definitive and subsequently reinforced assertion that Obafemi is "the least Irish player to have ever played for Ireland"... :)


You kind of are claiming it to be though when you say that Obafemi is more Irish than Kilbane "by the most straightforward definition, absolutely yes"

No, not at all, thats a bad take. The statement I made is clearly qualified as being looked at through one lens only and the one that was initially put forward in rebuttal to your claim that Obafemi is "the least Irish player to ever have played for Ireland".


OK, but when I threw in a "citation needed" comment, I didn't mean "make things up" :)

Oh come on! So you can posit the vague category of "cultural influence" as bigger indicator without a citation for your own theory or any data to back it up!! Hardly seems fair that we have a double standard... haha. But, for what its worth, I am happy to add it to the list of indicators.


I mean, if that 80% figure is even close to correct, surely it's skewed by a lot of players only really having one choice at international level? Kelleher, Collins, Parrott, Manning, Egan and so on all play for their country of birth - but who else are they going to play for?

By comparison, the 23-man Senegal squad against Egypt in the World Cup play-off last month had 10 players born in France (and one in Spain). That doesn't back up the 80% argument.

It was an estimate and i am fine if it is wrong but i would be surprised if it was significantly less than that. What would you estimate it at? Also, i did say that it would be nice to see what the rates would be for those who are multi/dual qualified and what that percentage would be as i would imagine it is different. I mean, i am trying to be reasonable in my position. At this point I am just trying to have a conversation, not win a debate.


I think it's probably more reasonable to say that - in general - a player with strong links with more than one country (eg Jack Grealish or Munir) will be interested in both options but will plump for the best team that will have them. And - in general - a player with a weak link with one country and a strong link with a second (eg Paul McGrath, Dave O'Leary, Curtis Fleming) will tend to go for the one they have the strong link with.

There's always exceptions of course, and maybe Obafemi will be one. It's why I think the June squads will be interesting.

I think you are just repackaging the "cultural influence" factor there.

I mentioned "opportunism/opportunity" as a third element. Are there others to add to the conversation? Or are you just interested in proving my point wrong? :)

[Razors left peg]

I must admit Im a bit burned out by the constant "will he, wont he" situations with dual eligible players.

At the turn of this year I would have said that Obafemi is a total bust and more likely to be playing L2 football in 2 years than playing International football. Any time I seen him for the U21s he was crap. Kenny, and McCarthy before him were right not to have him anywhere near the senior team in the last few years.

Then suddenly he gets a burst of form for a couple months and we are all freaking out whether he is going to stick with us or defect somewhere else. Its not long ago we were all losing our minds over Mipo and now he looks a million miles from ever playing International football for anyone even if he has committed to us.

At the time of the recent window I took Kenny at his word that he has spoken with Obafemi and the reasons for him being left out I though were fair enough. Since then though, the more I think about it and look at his past attitude issues at club level theres something that doesnt sit well with me. Nothing I can put my finger on, just my version of the famed Stutts gut test. I just have a feeling that he is having a sulk because he wasnt called up before.

Again, I have a feeling that he wont be called up in the summer games and the excuse we will hear is that he is resting after his 1st full season... but heres the thing, Im still not convinced he will be a top player. He is on a good run, but I've watch some Swansea games and he has looked average enough. Yes, hes got some good strikers goals, but I also would be surprised if he goes rest of season without another goal. We've seen plenty of strikers in the past go on a good run of form for a couple months only to revert to being crap again after, hell I even remember Michael Ricketts looking like a world beater in the Premiership for a season and then never to be heard from again.

My point is that yes, he may turn out to be an excellent player long term and decide he wants to play for England. Then we would have a right to freak out but the chances are he is going to be a pretty good player who will probably get 20 -30 caps for us and in years to come we'll wonder why there was so much fuss

[pineapple stu]

Remember, all this started with your definitive and subsequently reinforced assertion that Obafemi is "the least Irish player to have ever played for Ireland"... :)
Not sure if definitive statements start "probably" in fairness.

But for all the bluster, I don't see anything to solidly challenge that view when it comes to a guy whose sole connection with Ireland is that he was born here and lived here for a few weeks. And I'm not sure what the problem with it is either. As John83 says, it's not meant to be a stick to beat him with, but simply a factor in whether he's liable to have second thoughts.

I don't know the stats for how many players play for the country of their birth, and I don't think it's relevant for the reasons I've given (ie lots and lots of players only have one option).

At the end of the day, while I agree with you that opportunity is a factor in deciding who to play for, I can't at all agree with you when you say -


Birthplace is typically the most straightforward and reliable indicator of where players will end up playing internationally.

I think culture is more important/reliable, and I've given a few examples of people born in England who were never going to play for England to try back this up.

[Eirambler]

My point is that yes, he may turn out to be an excellent player long term and decide he wants to play for England. Then we would have a right to freak out but the chances are he is going to be a pretty good player who will probably get 20 -30 caps for us and in years to come we'll wonder why there was so much fuss

I suppose what might be more of a concern might be that he is talked into taking an England under 21 call up, plays for them at that level, probably isn't good enough to play for them at senior level, but is then ineligible for us after he switches.

[Razors left peg]

I suppose what might be more of a concern might be that he is talked into taking an England under 21 call up, plays for them at that level, probably isn't good enough to play for them at senior level, but is then ineligible for us after he switches.

If that happens let him off. We always have a conveyer belt of the Hogans, Will Keanes and James Collins standard players. If Obafemi is that standard would we really miss him?

[irishfan86]

Obafemi has elite pace and is a good finisher. His ceiling is obviously higher than Hogan/Collins. Keane I think is a different case altogether as I think he probably would have made it at a higher level before injuries. May still play at a decent enough level as this comeback of sorts continues. If Obafemi doesn't want to play for us, fair enough, but I think if he wants to play for us, he could be a very valuable option in the coming years.

[Razors left peg]

Obafemi has elite pace and is a good finisher. His ceiling is obviously higher than Hogan/Collins. Keane I think is a different case altogether as I think he probably would have made it at a higher level before injuries. May still play at a decent enough level as this comeback of sorts continues. If Obafemi doesn't want to play for us, fair enough, but I think if he wants to play for us, he could be a very valuable option in the coming years.

He also has a history of hamstring injuries so he may not always have that elite pace. Yes his ceiling is of course higher than the 3 I mentioned, but not long ago I thought his floor was going to be lower.

Dont get me wrong, I absolutely want to have him on board, he could be brilliant but his current run of form doesnt mean we should all get carried away either worrying that he'll defect to England

[Diggs246]

I must admit Im a bit burned out by the constant "will he, wont he" situations with dual eligible players.

At the turn of this year I would have said that Obafemi is a total bust and more likely to be playing L2 football in 2 years than playing International football. Any time I seen him for the U21s he was crap. Kenny, and McCarthy before him were right not to have him anywhere near the senior team in the last few years.

Then suddenly he gets a burst of form for a couple months and we are all freaking out whether he is going to stick with us or defect somewhere else. Its not long ago we were all losing our minds over Mipo and now he looks a million miles from ever playing International football for anyone even if he has committed to us.

At the time of the recent window I took Kenny at his word that he has spoken with Obafemi and the reasons for him being left out I though were fair enough. Since then though, the more I think about it and look at his past attitude issues at club level theres something that doesnt sit well with me. Nothing I can put my finger on, just my version of the famed Stutts gut test. I just have a feeling that he is having a sulk because he wasnt called up before.

Again, I have a feeling that he wont be called up in the summer games and the excuse we will hear is that he is resting after his 1st full season... but heres the thing, Im still not convinced he will be a top player. He is on a good run, but I've watch some Swansea games and he has looked average enough. Yes, hes got some good strikers goals, but I also would be surprised if he goes rest of season without another goal. We've seen plenty of strikers in the past go on a good run of form for a couple months only to revert to being crap again after, hell I even remember Michael Ricketts looking like a world beater in the Premiership for a season and then never to be heard from again.

My point is that yes, he may turn out to be an excellent player long term and decide he wants to play for England. Then we would have a right to freak out but the chances are he is going to be a pretty good player who will probably get 20 -30 caps for us and in years to come we'll wonder why there was so much fuss

You've touched on what our inner fears really are. .. does he refuse a call up in June to rest his legs ... it would be insane to tolerate that and continue to entertainment him.

[JR89]

You've touched on what our inner fears really are. .. does he refuse a call up in June to rest his legs ... it would be insane to tolerate that and continue to entertainment him.

There'll be four weeks between the end of the championship and first game in June, unless he's actually injured he should be told good luck and goodbye if he doesn't accept a call up. You can give him a modified training schedule so he's not training as hard as the rest of the team, he already has that at club level but there should be no reason he refuses a June call up unless he's injured.

[Razors left peg]

You've touched on what our inner fears really are. .. does he refuse a call up in June to rest his legs ... it would be insane to tolerate that and continue to entertainment him.

Im not a big fan of ultimatums. If he refuses a call up in summer because he says he is resting but starts banging in goals at start of next season and says hes now available do we then say no you've had your chance?

Lets see how it goes, it may all be a storm in tea cup and what Kenny said is 100% true. Thats why I said in my original post that Im kinda over worrying about these situations because the player is rarely as good as we think or rarely switches.... Rice and Grealish being the obvious exceptions.

As the years go on we are going to have more and more scenarios where even players born in Ireland will have genuine decisions to make due to family heritage etc. We need to get past the old way of thinking that Nationality is a simple decision for everyone and as fans we are probably going to have to stop freaking out every time a lad wants to think about it for a while.

[Eirambler]

Yes - it's going to get worse in future if anything. As things stand we have yet to lose an Nigerian-Irish player to Nigeria that I am aware of. That may change but for the most part, while many Nigerian-Irish may have a quiet preference for Nigeria (as Ogbene did), it's a lot more practical to play for Ireland than Nigeria - travel distance, organisation levels in the country, timings of games etc.

Whereas the next generation of Irish born dual nationals will be from Polish, Lithuanian, Slovakian and other European backgrounds. Much easier for them to play for the country of their parents. That's where it's going to get really difficult convincing them that Ireland is the country they should play for.

[elatedscum]

Daniel Jinadu, Barnsley's 3rd keeper has lived most of his life in Ireland but is a Nigeria underage player and played in the u17 world cup for Nigeria. Saying that, I think we'll lose some dual eligible keepers over the next 5-10 years considering the options we have. Good luck breaking in ahead of Bazunu, Kelleher and Travers. Rory Brown began switching back to Northern Ireland 18 months ago due to the quality of Irish keepers (saying playing for Northern Ireland was the best for his career).

Dennis Cirkin of Sunderland is another case, born in Ireland, moved to England at 3. Both parents are Latvian. No real connection to here, bar his birth, but is an Irish citizen. Decent chance he could end up with us. He's currently an England u20. Really doubt he's be good enough to play for England at senior level. Could play for Latvia, but they really are no hopers, so we might be the middle ground that would meet his talent level. That's the unromantic angle. Maybe he doesn't feel Irish and won't ever play for us. Maybe the fact he was born here, has instilled something romantic within him, a deep bond to the place.

As for Ogbene, I know he's said to have professed to want to play for Nigeria, his country of birth as a younger man, but I have no doubt that if the Chio of today could talk to his younger self, he'd push him straight to Ireland. The experiences he's had, the love that the stadium and the country has for him, and the connection that exists at this point - it's the stuff of dreams...

[Olé Olé]

Good point re Ogbene, ES. His experiences should be demonstrative to anyone from a similar background. And the way he speaks and carries himself, if you were Kenny you'd be asking him to pick up the phone to any lad from a similar background over whom there were any questions. Omobamidele, Bazunu and Idah have a Nigerian parent each and seem to love their experience too. A little different given that they were born here and have an Irish parent.

On Jinadu, didn't he play underage for England too before plumping for Nigeria at 17s? Not sure how much of his life he spent in Ireland if he managed to qualify for England so young?

[elatedscum]

Good point re Ogbene, ES. His experiences should be demonstrative to anyone from a similar background. And the way he speaks and carries himself, if you were Kenny you'd be asking him to pick up the phone to any lad from a similar background over whom there were any questions. Omobamidele, Bazunu and Idah have a Nigerian parent each and seem to love their experience too. A little different given that they were born here and have an Irish parent.

On Jinadu, didn't he play underage for England too before plumping for Nigeria at 17s? Not sure how much of his life he spent in Ireland if he managed to qualify for England so young?

No stress. Jinadu did the thing that Okoflex did, played u15s and u16s without being eligible to represent them at that time.

Found the timeline:
Born 2002 in Nigeria
Moved to Ireland 2002/2003
Moved from Ireland to England in 2014
Represented England u15 in 2016
Represented England u16 in 2018
Represented Nigeria u17 in 2019

England give out caps to a couple of hundred kids at u15 level. The basic idea is they take the kids down to St. George's park when it's not being used, where the facilities are absolutely world class. They give them a tracksuit and a jersey and make them feel part of something, tell them how special they are, that if they work hard, they can be training with the senior side in St George's Park one day. They arrange a two friendlies against whoever and they cap them. They believe it deters most of the dual-eligible Irish, Welsh or Scottish players from defecting for a few years at least. I can't remember the number now but I saw analysis someone did in I guess 2019 and it showed for that age group they had either capped more than 200, 300 or 400 players in series of friendlies and squads, whatever number it was, it was hard to believe. Basically any player with an inch of talent gets a cap and then they feel like an English underage player. Whereas in the past, you'd have players ignored and then they might be capped by Ireland or Wales or whatever. Might have been around the time Graham Kavanagh was talking about his son Calum rejecting a call up to England's U15s and Stephen Ireland's kid playing for England u15.

[tetsujin1979]

That sounds familiar, was it youthhawk who wrote that article?

[Diggs246]

Im not a big fan of ultimatums. If he refuses a call up in summer because he says he is resting but starts banging in goals at start of next season and says hes now available do we then say no you've had your chance?

Lets see how it goes, it may all be a storm in tea cup and what Kenny said is 100% true. Thats why I said in my original post that Im kinda over worrying about these situations because the player is rarely as good as we think or rarely switches.... Rice and Grealish being the obvious exceptions.

As the years go on we are going to have more and more scenarios where even players born in Ireland will have genuine decisions to make due to family heritage etc. We need to get past the old way of thinking that Nationality is a simple decision for everyone and as fans we are probably going to have to stop freaking out every time a lad wants to think about it for a while.

I think if he says no in June the only way he will return is if he starts not banging in the goals and wants exposure
If he says no in June and continue scoring I would say he is gone
fingers crossed he just rocks up in June

[seanfhear]

I think if he says no in June the only way he will return is if he starts not banging in the goals and wants exposure
If he says no in June and continue scoring I would say he is gone
fingers crossed he just rocks up in June
Having to have your fingers crossed about Players turning up to Play for your Country just doesn’t seem right ! !

[ColourfulPeanut]

June will tell all and if he plays and plays well, then all of this will be forgotten about. If he opts for Nigeria then best of luck to him.

The situation is fluid and he should get the benefit of the doubt for cap-tying himself at 18. Things can change quickly. It wasn't that long ago that Ogbene was saying he wanted to play for Nigeria, now he's a core part of the team and everyone loves him!
https://www.the42.ie/chiedozie-ogbene-may-2018-4034042-May2018/
“We’ll see what happens if any opportunity comes, but I’m just being up front now in saying that playing for Nigeria is what I’d prefer. I love Ireland and my nationality is Irish, but playing for Nigeria is my dream.”

[Diggs246]

Having to have your fingers crossed about Players turning up to Play for your Country just doesn’t seem right ! !

100% is ridiculous
But at least we will know in 2 months

[seanfhear]

100% is ridiculous
But at least we will know in 2 months
Unless he has an “ injury “ or an injury.

Sadly we have been down this road before. Let’s see.

[Olé Olé]

June will tell all and if he plays and plays well, then all of this will be forgotten about. If he opts for Nigeria then best of luck to him.

The situation is fluid and he should get the benefit of the doubt for cap-tying himself at 18. Things can change quickly. It wasn't that long ago that Ogbene was saying he wanted to play for Nigeria, now he's a core part of the team and everyone loves him!
https://www.the42.ie/chiedozie-ogbene-may-2018-4034042-May2018/
“We’ll see what happens if any opportunity comes, but I’m just being up front now in saying that playing for Nigeria is what I’d prefer. I love Ireland and my nationality is Irish, but playing for Nigeria is my dream.”

The Ogbene story is a real finger in the eye for the people that are very black and white on the subject of nationality and identity. It's grey. It can change. I love Ogbene too. His comments were disappointing at the time but they're not an issue now- just interesting to discuss in this context.

[Diggs246]

Unless he has an “ injury “ or an injury.

Sadly we have been down this road before. Let’s see.

Yep... if that happens and tbf we don't know if he would fake it completely.

But I would be very keen for his "injury" or his injury to be looked at by our medical team. ( which I believe we are intitled to do under fifa rules)

[CraftyToePoke]

The Ogbene story is a real finger in the eye for the people that are very black and white on the subject of nationality and identity. It's grey. It can change. I love Ogbene too. His comments were disappointing at the time but they're not an issue now- just interesting to discuss in this context.

What is interesting here is our fanbase reaction seems to differ when its England. Randolph courted the States fairly openly around 2014 time, Maguire in Holland was open to both, Noss in Germany is at it these days too. We're ok with their grey areas so long as its not shielding a preference for our former colonisers. Then we get real ****y.

[ontheotherhand]

Alan Reynolds (assistant at both Derry and the Ireland u21s) had a bit to say about Obafemi on the LoI Central podcast. Nothing too juicy but said Crawford and Kenny have been speaking to him and are happy enough with the plan and continue to monitor him. Reynolds spoke highly of his personality and said he's a good lad to have around the place. If you listen looking for negativity you might saw Reynolds is pretty non committal and dances around a bit but that's not too shocking as I don't think he's very involved in the call ups.

[pineapple stu]

I suppose what might be more of a concern might be that he is talked into taking an England under 21 call up, plays for them at that level, probably isn't good enough to play for them at senior level, but is then ineligible for us after he switches.
Is he not running out of time for that? He's 22 in July - does he have time to process the change of nationality paperwork and get a call-up and a game for England's 21s? Their next games are in June. I'm not sure what the cut-off is in terms of eligibility dates, though they had some players who turned 22 in Jan in their last squads.

But I could see an agent telling him how great he is and how he could definitely be a senior England international in the next three years and would he not hold off on Ireland until then. I'm sure it'd be worth more money if it came to pass, which is usually all agents think about.


You've touched on what our inner fears really are. .. does he refuse a call up in June to rest his legs ... it would be insane to tolerate that and continue to entertainment him.
The real fear here is he's genuinely injured come June...and so the random foot.ie speculation continues unabated for another three months :p

[Olé Olé]

Probably not the right thread and I don't want to add fuel to the fire but did anyone see the news re Jack Grealish during the week? 7 figure deal with Gucci he signed. Himself and his advisors are laughing all the way to the bank on that call.

[Razors left peg]

I have no memory of Ogbene saying that he wanted to play for Nigeria. Goes to show how fickle these things can be. I'm sure at the time there were plenty of fellas online saying that he should never play for Ireland if thats how he felt etc

[Eirambler]

Is he not running out of time for that? He's 22 in July - does he have time to process the change of nationality paperwork and get a call-up and a game for England's 21s? Their next games are in June. I'm not sure what the cut-off is in terms of eligibility dates, though they had some players who turned 22 in Jan in their last squads.

But I could see an agent telling him how great he is and how he could definitely be a senior England international in the next three years and would he not hold off on Ireland until then. I'm sure it'd be worth more money if it came to pass, which is usually all agents think about.


The real fear here is he's genuinely injured come June...and so the random foot.ie speculation continues unabated for another three months :p

That's not how Under 21 eligibility works. He was born after 1/1/2000 so he's Under 21 eligible for the whole of this campaign, including the finals tournament - which doesn't take place until summer 2023 and which England are highly likely to qualify for.

So plenty of time for him to make that switch if he wanted to.

[pineapple stu]

Fair enough - that's a lot longer than I thought

[JR89]

I have no memory of Ogbene saying that he wanted to play for Nigeria. Goes to show how fickle these things can be. I'm sure at the time there were plenty of fellas online saying that he should never play for Ireland if thats how he felt etc

Was about four years ago and a few months after he joined Brentford and couldn't get a game for them. Doubt anyone cared at the time and thought he'd have been back in the LOI in the following summer.

[ontheotherhand]

He said it would be an honour to play for either given the chance but that his first love would be Nigeria as he carried his dreams of playing for them when he left in 2005.

https://www.the42.ie/chiedozie-ogbene-may-2018-4034042-May2018/

[Eirambler]

Fair enough - that's a lot longer than I thought

Incidentally there's an Under 23 Africa Cup of Nations next year as well. Although Obafemi would be underage and therefore eligible to represent England in the Euro Under 21 finals he would actually be overage and therefore ineligible to represent Nigeria in that Under 23 competition the same year.

[SkStu]

Lovely move and finish from Obafemi. Hamstring looks perfect.

1516074590136676366

[JR89]

Has put a good shift in so far closing down defenders and won the penalty for Swansea's second. Though was probably more sloppy from the Reading defender rather than Obafemi being clever in winning it. Himself and Piroe are developing a good partnership.

[JR89]

Lovely move and finish from Obafemi. Hamstring looks perfect.


Has played 446mins since the international break, which includes a 180mins this long weekend alone. Would be higher than 446mjns as it doesn't include added time and today's game went into the 97th minute. Should have no excuses for not showing up in June.

Finished 4-4 and will be kicking himself he didn't score a second when they were 4-3 up.

[Razors left peg]

Lovely move and finish from Obafemi. Hamstring looks perfect.



Would it be if he hadnt taken the International break off though???? :cool:

[Insidetherock]

I think it'll be absolutely criminal if Obafemi is not called up for the squad in June. We've four games in the space of 12 days so I'd be calling up a squad of 30 players who should be the basis of the Euro qualifiers starting next year. Perfect time to integrate players as part of a big group

Obafemi will be 24 in June 2024, when we hope we'll be at the Euros in Germany, close to his peak as a striker. Get him in in June, and see how he does. All the talk of Parrot (who I think will also turn out to be a great player for Ireland btw), but the reality is, Obafemi is currently playing at a higher level.. and is scoring more.

Obafemi has 10 goals and 1 assist in 28 Championship games

Callum Robinson has 7 goals and 8 assists in 40 games..

There's a very strong case to be made for saying Obafemi is currently our best performing striker.. no way should we be bringing in League 1 strikers ahead of him.

[liamoo11]

I think it'll be absolutely criminal if Obafemi is not called up for the squad in June. We've four games in the space of 12 days so I'd be calling up a squad of 30 players who should be the basis of the Euro qualifiers starting next year. Perfect time to integrate players as part of a big group

Obafemi will be 24 in June 2024, when we hope we'll be at the Euros in Germany, close to his peak as a striker. Get him in in June, and see how he does. All the talk of Parrot (who I think will also turn out to be a great player for Ireland btw), but the reality is, Obafemi is currently playing at a higher level.. and is scoring more.

Obafemi has 10 goals and 1 assist in 28 Championship games

Callum Robinson has 7 goals and 8 assists in 40 games..

There's a very strong case to be made for saying Obafemi is currently our best performing striker.. no way should we be bringing in League 1 strikers ahead of him.

It's not about him been called up though its about him accepting the callup. He didn't accept the call up a few weeks ago due to hamstring concerns so hopefully he will now. He certainly looks like he will give us a good attacking option given how limited we are at present in attack.

[Razors left peg]

It's not about him been called up though its about him accepting the callup. He didn't accept the call up a few weeks ago due to hamstring concerns so hopefully he will now. He certainly looks like he will give us a good attacking option given how limited we are at present in attack.

This is it exactly, he will be called up if he makes himself available. If he doesnt it'll cause a sh1t storm

[CraftyToePoke]

I think it'll be absolutely criminal if Obafemi is not called up for the squad in June. We've four games in the space of 12 days so I'd be calling up a squad of 30 players who should be the basis of the Euro qualifiers starting next year. Perfect time to integrate players as part of a big group

Obafemi will be 24 in June 2024, when we hope we'll be at the Euros in Germany, close to his peak as a striker. Get him in in June, and see how he does. All the talk of Parrot (who I think will also turn out to be a great player for Ireland btw), but the reality is, Obafemi is currently playing at a higher level.. and is scoring more.

Obafemi has 10 goals and 1 assist in 28 Championship games

Callum Robinson has 7 goals and 8 assists in 40 games..

There's a very strong case to be made for saying Obafemi is currently our best performing striker.. no way should we be bringing in League 1 strikers ahead of him.

You been keeping up at all ? He's just turned down a call up using an increasingly flaky looking hamstring story. Im 100% if he isn't called up, it'll have been because he didn't want it.

Im also cautiously optimistic he'll join in.

[tommy_c12000]

Another really nice goal. I’m optimistic he will be playing with Ireland again in the summer

[samhaydenjr]

9 goals in 15 games for Obafemi, 6 in 9 for Parrott, 2 in consecutive games for Odubeko - things are starting to look promising again in the young strikers' department

[JR89]

Scores his 11th of the season.

[SkStu]

Where does he play in the front three for us? Whose spot does he take? From the bits of Swansea I’ve seen recently, he’s definitely playing centrally, almost as a 9, with Piroe in the more 10 position. Physically and stylistically, he doesn’t seem to fit the preferred Kenny mould for a central striker and I could see him being pushed to the left or right of our front three… what do others think?