Evan Ferguson F Brighton b.2004

[pineapple stu]

"why are you so committed to Ireland" comes across very poorly, even if it was tongue in cheek. You could hear from Fergusons response he was quite annoyed by it, despite the smile.
Yeah, I think Ferguson found it moronic as well. How very strange that the person with an Irish father born and raised in Ireland feels Irish and not English, don't you think?

[Razors left peg]

Yeah, I think Ferguson found it moronic as well. How very strange that the person with an Irish father born and raised in Ireland feels Irish and not English, don't you think?

The tone of the question just comes across so condescending and smarmy. A little bit of journalistic integrity is a lot to ask for these days it seems. "You've had a great start to your career, early days there was questions floating around that you might choose to play for England, was that ever a possiblity?" If he had put it that way, none of us would even blink

[pineapple stu]

Yep, that's spot on

[CSAD]

Alex Crook
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Pretty sure it was back in March when we played France. That was his fourth appearance for us.

It could be. Im not sure if its 4 appearances or 4 'competitive' appearances but either way he has 5 competitive appearances now so the ship has well and truly sailed!

[texidub]

Ferguson handled the irritating troll well. Bear in mind Evan is probably half the troll's age, but showed more maturity.

[Diggs246]

Not even on the bench today?

[tetsujin1979]

Back injury apparently
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[ifk101]

Does that rule him out for us?

[pineapple stu]

He's a "major doubt" per the Indo anyway (https://www.msn.com/en-ie/sports/football/evan-ferguson-emerges-as-major-doubt-for-ireland-s-euro-qualifier-against-netherlands/ar-AA1jNNSM?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=fdd682f93c9441f8ba386a661df6e14c&ei=23).

[Diggs246]

Let's me honest these are the games we don't need our stars
I hope he promotes someone though.

[JR89]

Yeah no point risking him. Though if Moran is called up for NZ I'd like to see him and Ferguson start. Should be the 9 and 10 combo that the next manager builds his attack around.

[texidub]

Just scored another beauty :)

[SkStu]

Gorgeous goal

[JR89]

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[tetsujin1979]

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[Olé Olé]

He's such a problem for defenders. The NF player thought he had him covered and the keeper probably didn't sense much danger. Absolute pinpoint curler into the corner follows.

[seanfhear]

Tap-in (wink)

[SkStu]

Tap-in (wink)

Not really. I scored one like that when I was 12 against my neighbours, just curled it inside the jumper. More difficult than it looks seanfhear.

[seanfhear]

Not really. I scored one like that when I was 12 against my neighbours, just curled it inside the jumper. More difficult than it looks seanfhear.But you were only a yard out ! ! !

[pineapple stu]

Tap-in (wink)
Pfft. It's only Forest. I won't be impressed till he can do it against the big teams :)

[Eirambler]

It could be. Im not sure if its 4 appearances or 4 'competitive' appearances but either way he has 5 competitive appearances now so the ship has well and truly sailed!

Maybe just worth clarifying this point for future reference. It's four senior caps provided that at least one of them was in a competitive game (qualifier or Nations League). A player could in theory earn unlimited friendly caps and not be tied.

In Ferguson's case his first three caps were in friendlies and didn't in themselves tie him. His fourth cap was the qualifier v France in Dublin in March and as it was both his fourth cap and a competitive cap he's been tied as of then despite all the nonsense from the English media since.

[joey B]

Pfft. It's only Forest. I won't be impressed till he can do it against the big teams :)

Bottom of the Prem is basically a pub league anyway!

[JR89]

Maybe just worth clarifying this point for future reference. It's four senior caps provided that at least one of them was in a competitive game (qualifier or Nations League). A player could in theory earn unlimited friendly caps and not be tied.

In Ferguson's case his first three caps were in friendlies and didn't in themselves tie him. His fourth cap was the qualifier v France in Dublin in March and as it was both his fourth cap and a competitive cap he's been tied as of then despite all the nonsense from the English media since.

Surely this can't be right. I know friendlies are happening less enough but surely there's no way a player could earn 8 or 10 senior caps but because they were all technically friendlies he was still free to change nationalities.

[Eirambler]

Yes that is indeed the case. In practice though, it's unlikely a player would get to double digits in caps without playing a competitive game at some point, especially with there being fewer friendlies now. But, as an example, this lad won seven caps for the USA and now plays for Guatemala.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubio_Rubin

[CSAD]

Yes that is indeed the case. In practice though, it's unlikely a player would get to double digits in caps without playing a competitive game at some point, especially with there being fewer friendlies now. But, as an example, this lad won seven caps for the USA and now plays for Guatemala.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubio_Rubin

It can happen in CONCACAF as they tend to play ALOT more game in a calendar year than teams for Europe for example. It’s very rare you’ll see a player play this many games in Europe and then switch bar extreme circumstances such as Kosovo being recognised for example.

[JR89]

Rubio Rubin also won all his US caps before FIFA decided to change the rules. So hard to judge if he could rack up similar numbers now for one team before switching.

[Eirambler]

He could. Nothing has changed in that regard. The only change of relevance in the last set of rules changes was the four caps before 21 thing where at least one of them is competitive, where previously just a single competitive cap tied a player. Friendlies are treated the same as ever if there are no competitive appearances involved.

[Eirambler]

This might be the most satisfying two minutes of your day:

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And some interesting stats from the Premier League:

https://www.premierleague.com/news/3799854

[Olé Olé]

His finishing is absolutely extraordinary. There's obviously a lot that goes into those goals such as movement and control and all that but the ability to either hammer it or stroke it where he wants to effortlessly is incredible.

[JR89]

His movement is top class and makes finishing look effortless at times. The only negative about watching Ferguson highlights is are we gonna see this Evan Ferguson in an Irish shirt.

[Razors left peg]

His movement is top class and makes finishing look effortless at times. The only negative about watching Ferguson highlights is are we gonna see this Evan Ferguson in an Irish shirt.

Jaysus, hes already got 3 senior International goals in a team that was massively struggling.

[JR89]

Jaysus, hes already got 3 senior International goals in a team that was massively struggling.

Against Latvia and Gibraltar. Could do a raffle for a fan to play against Gibraltar and I'd put money on that fan having a chance of scoring against that lot.

[Razors left peg]

Against Latvia and Gibraltar. Could do a raffle for a fan to play against Gibraltar and I'd put money on that fan having a chance of scoring against that lot.

Ah the old tripe that used to be thrown at Robbie Keane, until he was gone and we had no one to score against even the likes of them. The lad had 3 international goals at the age of 18 and you are wondering if he'll ever perform for Ireland....

[nigel-harps1954]

Against Latvia and Gibraltar. Could do a raffle for a fan to play against Gibraltar and I'd put money on that fan having a chance of scoring against that lot.

22 others in a match day squad that didn't score against the goals. If you can find a fan or two good enough, then I'm sure the FAI will be all ears.

[CraftyToePoke]

Against Latvia and Gibraltar. Could do a raffle for a fan to play against Gibraltar and I'd put money on that fan having a chance of scoring against that lot.

Nonsense

& exactly what Nigel said. Why didn't all the other pro ballers get them so.

[SkStu]

Watching the end of this game. VAR is a farce. Sent the ref to review a possible penalty for Brighton that NEVER was but where the natural outcome would be a corner. Because the on field review was done, it was a drop ball and Brighton get denied a chance for a corner. Ridiculous.

[Razors left peg]

Watching the end of this game. VAR is a farce. Sent the ref to review a possible penalty for Brighton that NEVER was but where the natural outcome would be a corner. Because the on field review was done, it was a drop ball and Brighton get denied a chance for a corner. Ridiculous.

VAR reminds me of when they brought in the rule that a player must leave the pitch for treatment instead of holding the game up. The idea of it was good, in practice not so much!

VAR if used correctly could add to the game, but there has to be limits to it. Should be a max of 30 seconds to look at an incident, if its not clear and obvious in that time frame that the ref has made an error then we move on. Taking 2 mins to see if an eyelash was offside or something is ridiculous. The problem isnt in the technology, its in the intelligence of the people using it....just like the rule that a player must leave the field to get treatment. It worked initially, then they allowed serious injuries to get treated and now they have just forgotten! Everyone gets treated on the pitch and just walks off and wants to come back on immediately. The whole point of the rule was simply forgotten!

[seanfhear]

Maybe, Artificial Intelligence / Artificial General Intelligence, will be able to Referee Soccer ? !

[John83]

Some of it, sure. It's already fairly plausible to make an image processing tool that'd make off-side calls effectively instantly, not unlike Hawkeye for wides in the GAA or the tennis. People would still argue borderline cases, but it'd be quick anyway. It would need to be limited to multi-camera games for now, but the day may come you could deploy some cheap digital cameras around an LoI ground and it'd be good enough. Fouls are probably harder, but I think I'll likely see it attempted in my lifetime.

[Razors left peg]

Some of it, sure. It's already fairly plausible to make an image processing tool that'd make off-side calls effectively instantly, not unlike Hawkeye for wides in the GAA or the tennis. People would still argue borderline cases, but it'd be quick anyway. It would need to be limited to multi-camera games for now, but the day may come you could deploy some cheap digital cameras around an LoI ground and it'd be good enough. Fouls are probably harder, but I think I'll likely see it attempted in my lifetime.

There are some things that will always remain subjective and they should. There are tackles that are let go in big games that wouldnt in others etc. Thats part of the game. AI will never replace that. Let AI handle E-Sports.

Is the ball over the line, did the ref miss something off the ball, was it a handball... all things that VAR should flag and have ref take a 2nd look, but only a quick look. Has to be a time limit to stop slowing down the momentum of games. Or maybe we give the managers a couple of challenges per game like the NFL does. Only when the manager makes a challenge of the refs decision does VAR take a look.

Anything to stop the nonsense that happens now

[SkStu]

Is the ball over the line, did the ref miss something off the ball, was it a handball... all things that VAR should flag and have ref take a 2nd look, but only a quick look. Has to be a time limit to stop slowing down the momentum of games. Or maybe we give the managers a couple of challenges per game like the NFL does. Only when the manager makes a challenge of the refs decision does VAR take a look.


I always thought that would have been the best way to implement - and I'm not a huge fan of NFL/CFL. Put the primary responsibility in the hands of the referees and VAR to get it right; give Managers 2 challenges per half where they can request a second look; impose a penalty (e.g. lose a substitute and/or lose one of your remaining challenges) for a failed challenge so you minimize the likelihood of gamesmanship. Ball over the line is almost fully automated now (in the big leagues anyway), VAR intervenes on a potential red card (serious foul play?). Everything else, incl. penalties and offsides are the club managers responsibility. Oh... and advantage should be the default for most tackles where the player retains the ball or makes the pass - and can be reversed if the ball is lost in the next 5/10/whatever seconds.

[Buckett]

Instead of VAR, the ref could just have a smart phone and watch replays of incidents he's not sure of or told by the lino/4th official to double-check

[seanfhear]

A random fan should referee the games !

[John83]

A random fan should referee the games !
Multiball!

Also, release an ornery goose onto the pitch at random intervals.

[Razors left peg]

A random fan should referee the games !

Well random fans would score International goals apparently so why not!!!

[pineapple stu]

What about the players though?

Fans pay good money and don't expect the sort of mistakes you see from players. Damn it all but the tea-lady's job is at stake here.

The game would be much improved if we brought in perfect robots to replace the players. No errors at all then

Can't believe no-one's thought of it before now

[seanfhear]

Every controversial decision should be decided by lottery. A lottery in a computer !

[tetsujin1979]

Nike thought of it before the world cup in Brazil.
It didn't work out well for the robots
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[John83]

We're not quite there yet.
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I can't find it now, but an older video featuring the Nao robots saw one shuffle and shuffle and shuffle with the ball at the half way line, before it falls over, clipping the ball, which then rolls the length of the pitch and into the goal.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Mark O'Mahony was on the bench for Brighton today