Dara O'Shea D Burnley b.1999

[Rayzor]

I think Bayern Munich would be pointless, he'd never play, they are stacked with quality centre halves. De Ligt has been deemed not good enough, don't think they'll be replacing him with Dara Oshea.

[EalingGreen]

I'm almost surprised there has been no mention of Kompany coming back in for him, even as a squad player.Veering off topic a little, but even if Kompany were interested, how long does anyone think he (VK) will last at Bayern?

A couple of "Wow!" videos of his time at Anderlecht and Burnley have emerged which seem to show that his approach to Man Management consists of: "I'm going to go on abusing you until your morale improves."

(Language NSFW, btw)

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[liamoo11]

Veering off topic a little, but even if Kompany were interested, how long does anyone think he (VK) will last at Bayern?

A couple of "Wow!" videos of his time at Anderlecht and Burnley have emerged which seem to show that his approach to Man Management consists of: "I'm going to go on abusing you until your morale improves."

(Language NSFW, btw)

1822932103379464543

1822955563510075718

That's why Roy keane has no.place in modern management

[elatedscum]

In fairness, it’s no different to the model that Arteta and Guardiola use

[Olé Olé]

He was coasting in that game last night. He is too fast, too good on the ball and now his defensive instincts are getting too good for that level. O'Shea is very well rounded and good at a lot of things. To EarlingGreen's point regarding Brentford being a forward looking club, I would imagine that they are charting O'Shea's progression year over year. I'll be interested to see the fee but there is little downside on him and evidence of a lot of potential upside. If he were an inch or two taller it could help like Collins but then he isn't needing to iron out the errors that Collins does.

He actually had an effort on goal in the first half where the ball dropped onto his left leg and he had a good effort that was probably too close to the keeper. But it was a very good effort on the bad leg for a centre half the way it fell and he ran onto it.

[JR89]

Out of all the young CBs he was probably the least talked about. Think it was himself and Materson that started when Kenny came into the U21s.

Went out to the 7th tier for his first loan. IMO of all the CBs I'd say he'll probably have the better career. Has future Ireland captain written all over him.

[Drummerboy2]

O'Shea is probably the most consistent centre back we have at the moment. Brentford do their homework when they buy players and it is a very good sign if they are shown real interest. Stat wise, O'Shea was the quickest defender in the PL last season, no mean feat.

[EalingGreen]

Brentford do their homework when they buy players and it is a very good sign if they are shown real interest.Sure do. They have a database of 85k players worldwide (seriously!), drawn from just about every professional league. They don't scout that many (obviously!), but instead use it to exclude theoretically possible candidates (too old, too young, too expensive, unavailable, not yet good enough etc) and then they start whittling down those who are left. For each of the 17(?) footballing positions they've identified, they then do a closer statistical analysis of those left, before homing in on 4 or 5 possible candidates. They will then start to look at them closely, to get it down to two or three. They will have these players scouted up to 20 times (incl if overseas), often without the scout even knowing which exact player he's been sent to watch (excludes confirmation bias). If someone is still in the running, then they look very closely into his background (family, school, friends, teenage years etc), to see whether they pass the club's strict "No Dick Heads" rule. This process can take up to two years to complete, meaning that they are often scouting players to replace ones they've only recently signed. Of course many things can interrupt this process in the meantime (player gets injured, goes elsewhere etc).
A good example was when they were in for Mykhailo Mudryk from Shaktar and were hopeful of getting him for £27m, only for his Agent to start acting the maggot at the last minute, so they pulled out. The idiots at Chelsea then signed him for £62m, potentially rising to £89m.
All of which means that if Brentford really are serious about signing DO'S, they'll already know all about him, and exactly what they hope he'll do for them.


Stat wise, O'Shea was the quickest defender in the PL last season, no mean feat.Not quite - 2nd fastest defender after Mickey Van Der Ven (quickest in entire PL) and 7th in PL overall. (Ogbene was 2nd fastest btw)
https://www.squawka.com/en/features/premier-league-fastest-players-defenders-midfielders-forwards-23-24/

[Drummerboy2]

I stand corrected Ealing. It all reminds me of that film, Moneyball

[Eirambler]

Ipswich back in for him again, but would he be as well doing a season in the Championship with a dominant looking Burnley team as going into another Premier League relegation battle with Ipswich? Possibly he should hold out for Brentford and if it doesn't come off just stick with Burnley.

[Demesne Lad]

Wolves in the mix too, according to FLW, among others, but Wolves may not have enough ££ to spend, and would ex-WBA O'Shea go to the old rivals anyway?

[EalingGreen]

The Times (London) reporting that Bees are in for Liverpool CB, Sepp van den Berg:

"Brentford hope to see off late interest from Bayern Leverkusen to sign Sepp van den Berg, who would become the second player to sign from Liverpool this month.
Liverpool want more than £20million for the Netherlands Under-21 centre back, who would join Fabio Carvalho in west London. Van den Berg, 22, spent last season on loan at Mainz, starting 31 of 34 league games, after previous loan spells at Preston North End and Schalke.
He has not played for Liverpool since appearing in an FA Cup tie in February 2020, having joined for £4.5million from PEC Zwolle, the Eredivisie club, in 2019. He has two years left on his contract.
Brentford believe they can beat Leverkusen in the race, having signed Carvalho, an attacking midfielder, for about £27.5million from Liverpool last week."

This may be connected to speculation that Bees will get £50m from Saudi for Ivan Toney i.e. now got more money to spend on a CB?

[Razors left peg]

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-joe-worrall-undergoing-burnley-medical-after-terms-agreed/

Burnley signing a center half, O'Sheas replacement?

[JR89]

We joke about Ireland having a team of CBs but Burnley have 9 senior CBs and pretty sure none of them were at the club before Kompany arrived.

[seanfhear]

We joke about Ireland having a team of CBs but Burnley have 9 senior CBs and pretty sure none of them were at the club before Kompany arrived.Only Nine ~ ~ Surely you can never have too many centre-backs ~ ~

[Trequartista20]

We joke about Ireland having a team of CBs but Burnley have 9 senior CBs and pretty sure none of them were at the club before Kompany arrived.

Looks like they're about to sign their 10th, in Forest's Joe Worral.

Not sure what this means for O'Shea/McNally.

[JR89]

Looks like they're about to sign their 10th, in Forest's Joe Worral.

Not sure what this means for O'Shea/McNally.

And John Egan is training with them.

[Eirambler]

Looks like they're about to sign their 10th, in Forest's Joe Worral.

Not sure what this means for O'Shea/McNally.

Both will leave by the end of the transfer window I'd expect. No idea why they think they need that many centre backs though.

[Demesne Lad]

Wolves have offered £13m for O'Shea; the offer will be rejected but isn't too far below the £15m which Burnley are thought to want for him. Brentford still interested but the player himself is thought to prefer Wolves, which might not go down well with fans of his former club, WBA.

www.birminghamworld.uk 22 August

[Eirambler]

Looking like it will be Wolves. Good move for him and £13m to £15m seems about right.

[JR89]

Brentford spending 20 odd million on a CB from Liverpool so would assume they won't be pushing for O'Shea.

[JR89]

No Dara O'Shea in the Burnley squad today. Irish eligible Egan Riley starts.

[zero]

wouldn't be a bad option for Newcastle who are very light at the back. fans wouldn't be pleased though after chasing guehi all summer.

[JR89]

For £15M I'm surprised there was no noise about someone like Newcastle showing interest as a squad option even. Covers across the back four.

[JR89]

Signing for Ipswich. Fee of £15M up front with add ons bringing it to £20M.

[Eirambler]

A bit disappointing that he hasn't ended up with a move to a more established Premier League team. Maybe just me but if I was Everton I'd have spent £15m on O'Shea before I'd have spent £17m on O'Brien, O'Brien has huge potential but O'Shea is more ready to do a job at that level right now.

With O'Shea and Szmodics at Ipswich we need to hope that McKenna can keep them up this season but it will be a big challenge for him.

There are now four Irish centre backs in the Premier League this season who have been signed by their clubs for more than £10m. Can we or should we be looking to find a way to get them all in our starting team?

[JR89]

A bit disappointing that he hasn't ended up with a move to a more established Premier League team. Maybe just me but if I was Everton I'd have spent £15m on O'Shea before I'd have spent £17m on O'Brien, O'Brien has huge potential but O'Shea is more ready to do a job at that level right now.

With O'Shea and Szmodics at Ipswich we need to hope that McKenna can keep them up this season but it will be a big challenge for him.

There are now four Irish centre backs in the Premier League this season who have been signed by their clubs for more than £10m. Can we or should we be looking to find a way to get them all in our starting team?

Well Omobamidele needs to actually play games if he wants to make squads and if the only game O'Brien plays is the EFL cup don't think he'll be starting.

Wouldn't be surprised if HH stays with 3-4-3 or some variant of 3 at the back given the players there. Towards the end of his time with Jamaica he started using 3-4-3 and that's the formation used by the interim team also. Especially with

But would likely be Collins, O'Shea, and Scales until either O'Brien or Omobamidele can establish themselves as first choice at club level. Given we might go back to a pragmatic style will be interesting to see how HH views Duffy.

[Eirambler]

I don't think Scales is even remotely of the same standard as the other four. Would still have Egan ahead of him even.

It's far from ideal but I think we're going to need to try O'Shea at left back in a four at some point if nobody else emerges who can play the position. Neither Brady or O'Dowda are anywhere near good enough.

[Diggs246]

I don't think Scales is even remotely of the same standard as the other four. Would still have Egan ahead of him even.

It's far from ideal but I think we're going to need to try O'Shea at left back in a four at some point if nobody else emerges who can play the position. Neither Brady or O'Dowda are anywhere near good enough.

HH needs to drive straight to Sunderland and try get Dennis Cerkin
We need a proper LB and he's ready to roll.

[JR89]

I don't think Scales is even remotely of the same standard as the other four. Would still have Egan ahead of him even.



Well what Scales has that the others don't right now is he's actually playing games and HH made that reference when talking about Kelleher at the Q&A.

Good thing for Egans international career that it's looking like Burnley are gonna sign him. Would expect him to replace O'Shea and Burnley to get promoted. Was worried about what move he'd get this summer after such a long time out with a bad injury.

[Trequartista20]

Move to Ipswich confirmed.

https://www.itfc.co.uk/news/2024/august/25/town-sign-defender-o-shea/

[Olé Olé]

Ipswich are spending a few quid and have a good manager. Is it all that likely that they go down? For example, they signed Delap and now they're in for Broja for 30m but that has apparently hit the rocks. They seem to be playing one striker so between Delap and Broja or an alternative they were lining up a 50m spend.

[Eirambler]

Neither Southampton or Leicester look particularly good, Everton have made a terrible start and there are a few others who might be down there also. So no, it's not a given that they go down. But I'd still have rathered see O'Shea go to a safer mid table team like Wolves or Brentford. He could do without having a third relegation on his CV

[ColourfulPeanut]

People overreacting about Ipswich going straight down. They started against Liverpool and Man City. 0 points was pretty much a guarantee and anything would be a bonus. Southampton and Everton sitting on 0 points too after easier games and the transfer window still open.

[Olé Olé]

Neither Southampton or Leicester look particularly good, Everton have made a terrible start and there are a few others who might be down there also. So no, it's not a given that they go down. But I'd still have rathered see O'Shea go to a safer mid table team like Wolves or Brentford. He could do without having a third relegation on his CV

I reckon there's a slide in Wolves. Their starting 11 doesn't have much quality any more. Aside from Cunha and Gomes they don't have many players opposition will worry about. Hwang arguably.

I would have rathered Brentford but he would have got less games.

At least there's a market for him. Sure he will get another team to sign him if Ipswich do go down!

[CraftyToePoke]

People overreacting about Ipswich going straight down. They started against Liverpool and Man City. 0 points was pretty much a guarantee and anything would be a bonus. Southampton and Everton sitting on 0 points too after easier games and the transfer window still open.

Ah they're ahead of their own best case scenario planning too though, double promotion. Hard to shape a squad for that so quickly. Great story though.

[elatedscum]

Have always thought it was 5 horse race for relegation: Southampton, Ipswich, Leicester, Forest and Everton. Someone else will get dragged in cause there’s always someone but it’s basically 4 groupings.

City, Arsenal and Liverpool who seem certainties for the champions league

Spurs, Villa, Newcastle, United and Chelsea aiming for a champions league place. Various degrees of function, dysfunction, quality of managers and vastly different finances. All evens it up a good bit.

Then Brighton, Palace, West Ham, Wolves, Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham - established premier league teams, good managers, good squads. Broadly speaking looking upwards. Wolves obviously have issues and have lost 2 key players but Gary O’Neill is a good manager and they were absolutely robbed by referees and VAR last season. Robbed of about 10 points. I think they’ll be fine.

Then you’ve got Everton and Forest who are financially a mess - with ownership issues and then you’ve got the 3 promoted teams

[Eirambler]

It's interesting looking at Ipswich's summer transfers in a bit of detail. They've just done a double jump from League 1 to the Premier League and clearly they've worked out that they have no hope of survival with virtually all of the squad of players that took them to where they are.

This summer they look to have decided that they only have one player from that group (left back Leif Davis) who is actually good enough to be a first choice Premier League player. Because they have brought in a like for like replacement for literally every other first team player from last season, two of the replacements being O'Shea and Szmodics.

I'm sure Fulham did similar years ago when they made a quick jump from the third tier to the Premier League. That time Steve Finnan was possibly the only player who successfully made the jump with the team, and he eventually outgrew them rather than the other way around, moving on to Liverpool.

It's a brutal but in this case probably necessary way to go about establishing yourself as a Premier League club. It also makes their season that much harder to predict, as it's basically going to be a completely newly built team. It will depend how all their signings gel in terms of whether they are successful or not, but with McKenna there you'd have to at least give them a chance.

[MancIrishWolf]

O’Shea rated as the 3rd best Summer Signing based upon Whoscored according to the link below.

Interesting stat that “The 25-year-old is winning more aerial duels per game (4.8) than any other defender in the Premier League”. With that and his speed, can see why Kompany rated him so highly. Has great positional sense and defensive intelligence, a pre-requisite of any top defender, which frustratingly always lets Collins down (his stupid over-confidence in situations reminds me of Joleon Lescott in his early career). Could well be an argument for switching Collins to RB and putting O’Shea in the middle. Would much prefer the latter as Captain also - underrated with more grit and less rabbit in the headlights.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2024/oct/12/best-signings-summer-transfer-window-premier-league-football

[seanfhear]

O’Shea rated as the 3rd best Summer Signing based upon Whoscored according to the link below.

Interesting stat that “The 25-year-old is winning more aerial duels per game (4.8) than any other defender in the Premier League”. With that and his speed, can see why Kompany rated him so highly. Has great positional sense and defensive intelligence, a pre-requisite of any top defender, which frustratingly always lets Collins down (his stupid over-confidence in situations reminds me of Joleon Lescott in his early career). Could well be an argument for switching Collins to RB and putting O’Shea in the middle. Would much prefer the latter as Captain also - underrated with more grit and less rabbit in the headlights.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2024/oct/12/best-signings-summer-transfer-window-premier-league-football
Collins strikes me as a player that needs to concentrate on his own game rather than the game of other players on the team ~ Tis a pity that we don't have a top class elder-statesman central defender to let Collins know that !

[Eirambler]

Won Ipswich Player of the Season last night (not entirely sure how he won that ahead of Delap, but anyway). Has had another strong season on a personal level, albeit with another relegation on the CV. He's good enough to play for a mid table EPL club, hopefully one comes in for him.

Not sure how he performs on the algorithms some teams use, but he would seem to be a good signing for Brentford as a kind of pre-emptive replacement for Collins, who probably has a year left there. Or looking at Brighton, he's a better all round player than Cashin for starters. Maybe a player plus cash swap deal might make sense there - for me Cashin doesn't have the height or pace to play Premier League that O'Shea has.

While I'd have said it was a mediocre season overall for Irish players overseas, quite a few have done well at their clubs' end of year awards. O'Shea in the Premier League, Knight and Dunne in the Championship, Phillips and Ferry in the SPL all winning player of the season awards.