Worst ever Ireland Player ?

[zinedineontour]

All these fun votes for best ever ireland player lets go the opposite .. whos the worst player you have seen play in an ireland jersey ?

a few suggestions from me would be
david connolly
alan kernaghan
jonathon macken
ashley grimes

[dynamo kerry]

connolly?

mockery.

alan mahon man. rubbish against greece.

jon macken is in there too.

[Slash/ED]

The likes of Paul Butler and Jim Goodwin have to rank up there

[Fergie's Son]

Kernaghan was bad but he was hardly the worst player ever. He actually had a few good performances.

[eirebhoy]

Maybe you should give a specific time and also cut David Connolly a bit of slack. He's better than the vast majority of the players capped once:

Paddy Andrews (1935), Tom Arrigan (1937), Eddie Bailham (1964), Jimmy Bermingham (1929), Paddy Bermingham (1934), Keith Branagan (1997), Fran Brennan (1965), Florrie Burke (1951), John Burke (1929), Tom Burke (1934), Paul Butler (2000), Jack Byrne (1928), Jason Byrne (2004), Sean Byrne (1931), Jerome Clarke (1978), Mattie Clarke (1950), Tim Coffey (1949), Frank Collins (1927), Hugh Connolly (1936), James Connolly (1926), Ned Courtney (1946), Owen Coyle (1994), Tim Cuneen (1951), Sean Cusack (1952), Paddy Daly (1949), Christy Doyle (1959), Denis Doyle (1926), Larry Doyle (1931), Mick Doyle (2004), Bobby Duffy (1950), Jimmy Dunne (1971), Peter Eccles (1986), Robert Egan (1929), Michael Evans (1997), Eamonn Fagan (1973), Jack Fagan (1926), Kevin Fitzpatrick (1969), Mick Foley (1926), Mick Gallagher (1954), Patsy Gallagher (1931), Mick Gannon (1971), Bobby Gilbert (1966), Christy Giles (1950), Jim Goodwin (2002), Joe Grace (1926), Dick Griffiths (1934), Austin Hayes (1979), Willie Hayes (1949), Jim Higgins (1951), Gary Howlett (1984), Mick Kearin (1971), Fred Kearns (1954), Noel Kelly (1954), John Keogh (1966), Shay Keogh (1958), Joe Kinsella (1928), Alec Kirkland (1927), Dinny Lowry (1962), Miah Lynch (1934), Jonathan Macken (2004), Tony Macken (1977), Owen Madden (1936), Jim Maguire (1929), Gerry Malone (1949), Christy Martin (1927), Jimmy McCann (1956), Mick McCarthy (1932), Johnny McGowan (1947), Bill McGuire (1935), Paddy Meehan (1934), Mike Milligan (1992), Cathal Muckian (1978), Tommy Muldoon (1927), Liam Munroe (1953), Albie Murphy (1955), Barry Murphy (1986), Joe Murphy (2003), Terry Murray (1950), Billy Newman (1969), Lar O'Byrne (1949), Mick O'Flanagan (1946), Kelham O'Hanlon (1987), John O'Neill (1960), Charlie Reid (1931), Richard Sadlier (2002), Ted Scannell (1954), Pat Scully (1988), Mick Smyth (1968), Johnny Squires (1934), Jack Sullivan (1928), Maurice Swan (1960), Tommy Taylor (1958), John Thompson (2003), Johnny Walsh (1982), Fran Watters (1926), Jimmy White (1928), Dick Whittaker (1959), Joe Williams (1937)
http://www.fai.ie/staticarticle.asp?hlid=221653

[TerryPhelan]

Congrats on a fantastic thread!!!

First up I would like to nominate myself for the award - but assuming we are operating under Eurovision-style rules I find myself compelled to propose a number of others for the coveted accolade:

Liam Daish
Liam O'Brien
Mick Milligan
Eddie McGoldrick
Gary Kelly (the Bury goalkeeper)
Don/Jon Goodman
Dominic Foley
Nicky Colgan
Alan Kernaghan (on the 'strength' of his performance against Spain at Lansdowne in 1993)
Curtis Fleming
Alan Moore

I could go on. And to think we have the likes of Lee Trundle waiting in the wings... :D

[dr_peepee]

Did Mike Milligan ever actualy play for Ireland???

Maybe we should have a criterea, like they had to have played over 10 games or something...

[soccerc]

In my time Paul Butler with Pierce O'Leary pushing him close along with Terry Mancini.

Strange, they were all centre halves.

A current eircom League analogy would be Jimmy Aggrey

[Anto McC]

Eddie McGoldrick gets my vote.can't believe he played for us :o

[Thomo]

phil babb!!!!

[TerryPhelan]

Did Mike Milligan ever actualy play for Ireland???

Maybe we should have a criterea, like they had to have played over 10 games or something...

To my knowledge he had one cap for Ireland, the day we played Russia in a WC warm-up at Lansdowne which saw Liam Daish, Liam O'Brien and the three amigos also play out a scintillating 0-0. I think he was in the squad for WC '94 too - frightening thought... :eek: :)

[TerryPhelan]

Bernie Slavin, anyone?!

[brine3]

Kevin Kilbane

In the sense that he managed to get millions of caps.

[Cowboy]

Bernie Slavin, anyone?!

nah he scored

[lopez]

Mick Kearns. Goalkeeper for Oxford United in the old 3rd division or something. A good few players in that 6-0 hammering by Austria in 72 (don't want any foreign based players thanks) should also be nominated.

Terry? You've got as much chance of winning this comp as those two clowns from Athlone had of taking the prix d'or with their rendition of 'My lovely horse.' The competition is too strong. :D

[TerryPhelan]

Mick Kearns. Goalkeeper for Oxford United in the old 3rd division or something. A good few players in that 6-0 hammering by Austria in 72 (don't want any foreign based players thanks) should also be nominated.

Terry? You've got as much chance of winning this comp as those two clowns from Athlone had of taking the prix d'or with their rendition of 'My lovely horse.' The competition is too strong. :D

While I am honoured that you would mention me in the same breath as Donna and Joe, surely my assist for Overmars' goal in '94 must count for something?!

[joema]

QUOTE/Kevin Kilbane

In the sense that he managed to get millions of caps./QUOTE posted by Brine3

Very unfair, Kilbane has plenty of ability and is the current player of the year

[aido_b]

Gerry Peyton ??? could have been good had Bonner not of produced class performances.

Jason Byrne, Glen Crowe ????????????

Have to agree with the Ediie Mc Goldrick comment, how did he ever get a game for anyone?? I remember he scored 1 decent free kick and all the rest of the season the press called him "a deadball specialist".

[Stuttgart88]

Ron Healy

[adamcarr]

Jason Byrne
Yeah he was absolutely shocking for the 4 minutes Kerr gave him! ;)

[Plastic Paddy]

Time for a poll. The ten names are arbitrary and based on my own experiences of watching each and every one of these players through my fingers whilst they were wearing the green. And no, no David Connolly. Anyone who has played forty-odd games and scored nine goals does not come anywhere close to the worst player ever. Have a word with yourselves lads. :rolleyes:

:) PP

[dynamo kerry]

went for alan mahom but dom foley aint far behind

[pineapple stu]

Gary Kelly (the Bury goalkeeper)
Gary never played for Ireland - was only ever named in one squad.

I've gone for Alan Mahon - still got bad memories of that game against Greece! In particular, one corner didn't even get off the ground and was cleared by the first man - straight back to Mahon who, from more or less the same palce, hit the side netting...

Funnily enough, for the Paul Butler game, I was on First Aid duty at the front of the South Terrace - the side Ireland were attacking for the first half. actually never really saw much of Butler as he was 100 yards away, and was really surprised to hear him being castigated so much the next day! Still, everyone in the country can't be wrong!

[zinedineontour]

very harsh about alan mahon quality player imo.. had great season for wigan .. better player than connolly still think he should be in there for lack of commitment anyway

[Slash/ED]

No Keith "Doubt" O'Neill?

[Fergie's Son]

A little harsh on McGoldrick as well. He had an excellent game away against Denmark in the qualifiers for the '94 WC. He was the only player willing to hold onto the ball and actually run at the Danes. He certainly does not deserve to be on this list.

[Snoop Drog]

Eddie McGoldrick gets my vote.

Mine too!

[Fergie's Son]

Mine too!

Well he scored a nice goal and had an excellent game against the Danes in Copenhagen so I'll just have to disagree.

What about Brian Carey! He was utter muck!

[Plastic Paddy]

very harsh about alan mahon quality player imo.. had great season for wigan .. better player than connolly still think he should be in there for lack of commitment anyway

This is not about lack of commitment. It's quite clear from the poll question what we're after here, no?

Forty-odd caps, nine goals. Take your blinkers off. As the old saying has it, there really is no-one as blind as one that refuses to see... :rolleyes:

:ball: PP

[pineapple stu]

No Keith "Doubt" O'Neill?
No way. He was a good player. Probably one of our biggest underachievers through injury and all, but nowhere near our worst player.

Always liked Liam Daish for some reason...

[Stuttgart88]

Nobody else remembers Ron Healy obviously. Stand in goalie against England in eraly 80s. Poor lad just wasn't any where near good enough.

What about Eamon Dunphy?

[carnstien]

Kevin Kilbane

In the sense that he managed to get millions of caps.
Indeed, it is absolutely shocking that a player of his ability could have won that many caps, be our current player of the year and be loved by most of the fans. I just don't get it.

Breen is up there for me too.

[ColinR]

Congrats on a fantastic thread!!!

First up I would like to nominate myself for the award - but assuming we are operating under Eurovision-style rules I find myself compelled to propose a number of others for the coveted accolade:

Liam Daish
Liam O'Brien
Mick Milligan
Eddie McGoldrick
Gary Kelly (the Bury goalkeeper)
Don/Jon Goodman
Dominic Foley
Nicky Colgan
Alan Kernaghan (on the 'strength' of his performance against Spain at Lansdowne in 1993)
Curtis Fleming
Alan Moore

I could go on. And to think we have the likes of Lee Trundle waiting in the wings... :D

disagree with a good few on that list:

daish was an honest centre half, in the mick mccarthy mould, and certainly not even the worst centre half to play for us. butler could be though!

liam o'brien when he was at newcastle i always rated, remember him having a stormer against wales in a friendly at tolka, but he was too much of a ball player for charlton though.

mc goldrick was average at best, but seems to get thought of as worse because somehow he managed to play for arsenal (and win a few trophies). for ireland he did ok, i thought without ever threatening to be a world beater.

nick colgan has never had a poor game for ireland. don't understand was his name has been mentioned?? ok his club form has been poor for a few years now, but try and name a bad game he has had for ireland ( i think he has only let in one goal)

kernaghan was never the best, but despite dubious irish roots, he gave his all, scored a crutial goal in qualification, and apart from one absolute stinker (not the only person that day) had a good-ish irish carear

curtis fleming - cant really remember him doing too much wrong as irish fullback, now he'd be no irwin, finnan or carr, but he's not the worst either.

anyway the winner of my vote - mr paul butler - 45 minutes, after a long battle to prove he was 'irish', and already his intenational carear was over

[monutdfc]

Funnily enough, for the Paul Butler game, I was on First Aid duty at the front of the South Terrace - the side Ireland were attacking for the first half. actually never really saw much of Butler as he was 100 yards away, and was really surprised to hear him being castigated so much the next day! Still, everyone in the country can't be wrong!
I presume you meant the North Terrace, because we definitely were attacking the South Terrace in the second half (who'll ever forget Phil Babb's overhead kick?)

[pineapple stu]

I presume you meant the North Terrace, because we definitely were attacking the South Terrace in the second half (who'll ever forget Phil Babb's overhead kick?)
No, I was definitely South Terrace. Pretty sure we were attacking that in the first half. Any takers to clear it up? Did I see 45 minutes of Paul Butler up close and just not realise it?! :eek:

[ColinR]

No, I was definitely South Terrace. Pretty sure we were attacking that in the first half. Any takers to clear it up? Did I see 45 minutes of Paul Butler up close and just not realise it?! :eek:

my memory says we were attacking the north terrace in the first half

disclaimer : my memory is not always right ;)

[pineapple stu]

Hmmm...rsssf says Ian Harte's goal - which I remember as being North Terrace - was in the first half...which means...I was watching Paul Butler all along and didn't see anything wrong! :eek: :o

[Ash]

I never liked Chris Morris

[Slash/ED]

No way. He was a good player. Probably one of our biggest underachievers through injury and all, but nowhere near our worst player.

Always liked Liam Daish for some reason...

He had ability yes but threw it all away, and he was the reason we conceded THAT goal and didn't qualify for Euro 2000.

[thecorner]

liam miller is tripe

[stojkovic]

While I am honoured that you would mention me in the same breath as Donna and Joe, surely my assist for Overmars' goal in '94 must count for something?!
Sorry to remind you Tezza but it was Bergkamp who scored it after you headed it on for Overmars.

T-shirt at the time ;

Sack Jackie
Drop Packie
Shoot the Blackie

Seriously.

Worst player - Jeff Chandler, played for Leeds.

[stojkovic]

Nobody else remembers Ron Healy obviously. Stand in goalie against England in eraly 80s. Poor lad just wasn't any where near good enough.

What about Eamon Dunphy?
Funny story Liam Touhy told Dunphy once.
When Touhy took the Youth team to the World Cup in Russia in 1985 (i think) he played games with the players to stop them getting bored. The favourite game was to name the Worst Ever Ireland XI.

Dunphy said "I hope I was in it, Liam"

Touhy replied "In it Eamon, you were the fcuking captain".

[Lionel Ritchie]

Alan Kelly always struck me as a very limited player (bit of a cruel thread this ha?)

I'm sure he always did his best and I've heard it said he was a great talker and organiser on the pitch but he always seemed just a bit overweight and sluggish.

I'll never forget a goal he conceded against the North at lansdowne in spring 95. In fairness gillespie should never have been allowed put the cross in but up popped Iain 'the blonde adonis' Dowie with a decent header -not agreat header but on target -and our Alan looked like a hippo trying to fly going for it.

...oh and I suspect the only thing that's keeping Mark Kennedy so far down the pecking order was the wonder goal against Yugoslavia.

[Donal81]

T-shirt at the time ;

Sack Jackie
Drop Packie
Shoot the Blackie



F*cking hell! Awful stuff. Never heard of Jeff Chandler,long before my time. In my experience, the worst would have to be Jon Macken. Comes on, does nothing, fades away. Maybe he really wants to play for us, who knows.

I remember O'Herlihy and the lads tearing into Kernaghan at half-time in the Spain match in 1993. I always thought the guy was grand, he wasn't Paul McGrath but he wasn't Paul Butler either. He got stung with a load of criticism.

[Plastic Paddy]

disagree with a good few on that list

It's my list on the poll Colin, and like I said, it's entirely arbitrary. Dontcha just love football? :D


liam miller is tripe

I couldn't agree more, thecorner. He hasn't quite concluded his stunning career as yet, and so stands chance of redeeming himself (which is why he doesn't yet feature on the list). He'll need at least a few MOMs to do so, of course...

:D PP

[pineapple stu]

Alan Kelly always struck me as a very limited player (bit of a cruel thread this ha?)
Alan Kelly?! :eek: Quality keeper! Took about six or seven games before he conceded a goal, was an unbelievable shot-stopper (the home win against Yugoslavia springs to mind)...One of my favourite players! Very similar career to Graham Kavanagh in a way - never reached the heights he should have...

[geysir]

I remember O'Herlihy and the lads tearing into Kernaghan at half-time in the Spain match in 1993. I always thought the guy was grand, he wasn't Paul McGrath but he wasn't Paul Butler either. He got stung with a load of criticism.

I think Kernaghan received the man of the match award against Denmark 1-1 at home ´93.

[OwlsFan]

Mick Kearns. Goalkeeper for Oxford United in the old 3rd division or something. :D

It was Walsall he played for as far as I remember.

Worst single performance by an Irish player was Alan Mahon in his one and only cap. It was unbelievable - literally every ball he passed went to the opposition. I still wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. However, I think you have to judge someone who played a lot of games for Ireland and to me Chris Morris (he played for the Owls as well) was one of the worst players I've seen. He had a bit of pace but couldn't pass to a team mate no matter how hard he tried.

[Lionel Ritchie]

I think Kernaghan received the man of the match award against Denmark 1-1 at home ´93.

...and scored the goal that killed off Lithuania the following september.

He had a bad game against Spain (but so did everyone else except John Sheridan) on "black Wednesday" (13.10.93) -a day we could've waltzed into the world cup if we'd just stayed upright.

Kernaghan was made take a disproportionate amount of blame for that defeat which was then compounded by another poor performance 5 weeks later in Belfast. At least he had the excuse that, at a time when the troubles were at their worst and life up there was extremely cheap to take, he had gob****es shouting his parents address at him. (I believe they live in Ballymena).

[stojkovic]

It was Walsall he played for as far as I remember.

Worst single performance by an Irish player was Alan Mahon in his one and only cap. It was unbelievable - literally every ball he passed went to the opposition. I still wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. However, I think you have to judge someone who played a lot of games for Ireland and to me Chris Morris (he played for the Owls as well) was one of the worst players I've seen. He had a bit of pace but couldn't pass to a team mate no matter how hard he tried.
I agree.
The criteria for this discussion should be for someone who has approx 20 caps.
Fellas like ;
Chris Morris
Mick McCarthy
Mark Kennedy
Mick Martin
Paddy Mulligan
Eddie McGoldrick
Tommy Coyne
Alan Kernaghan
Gary Kelly (jimmy doyle)