Joe Hodge M Huddersfield (loan from Wolves) b.2002

[elatedscum]

He literally turned down England at U17 level to play for Ireland. There has to be a reason for that. (Admittedly Grealish did the same at either 17s or 19s, so there’s never a guarantee with dual national players). But Joe Hodge is irish, no ifs, no buts, Joe Hodge is Irish.

[Diggs246]

He literally turned down England at U17 level to play for Ireland. There has to be a reason for that. (Admittedly Grealish did the same at either 17s or 19s, so there’s never a guarantee with dual national players). But Joe Hodge is irish, no ifs, no buts, Joe Hodge is Irish.

Technically question. Became he played for us u16 then eng u17 and then back to us for u19 and u21. Does that mean one competitive cap for us and he is committed to us as per the rules? Or is it still 3 caps?

[Eirambler]

I don't think he ever played a competitive game for England, so it wouldn't really matter.

So, it's three caps as things stand. He turns 21 in September so a single competitive cap after that would tie him.

[JR89]

Yeah all his games for England were friendlies before playing for our U17s.

[Paddy Garcia]

Lunacy! And I'm the paranoid one
He's staying and he is Irish unlike Hodge.

Let's get hodge involved asap

Appalling post - no understanding of the Irish diaspora.

[Diggs246]

Appalling post - no understanding of the Irish diaspora.

Is Declan Rice Irish? In your opinion is he Irish

[third policeman]

Is Declan Rice Irish? In your opinion is he Irish

Well he clearly was an Irish citizen. I don’t think identity is as simple as that for 2nd or 3rd generation. People can identify with different aspects of their heritage. I’m sure Ogbene had talked about his Nigerian heritage, but he’s also Irish and proud of it.

[John83]

Guys, keep it civil.

[texidub]

These days, it's just not realistic to demand some kind of national purity on the part of players. Families often have complex ties to different places/countries/societies/football associations. Rice left a bit of a bad taste in the mouth after playing for the seniors, but with national purity being less important than it was, we can expect stuff like that to happen. Complaining about it is p1ssing against the wind. And any talented player that wants to play for Ireland should be welcomed.

I will say, regarding Grealish though, that we dodged a bullet there. Imagine Hendricks and Grealish running around midfield with those stupid, Brian-Clough-would-have-scalped-the-pair-of-them haircuts?! I'd be seriously considering changing international allegiance meself if that had ever came to pass. :D

[paul_oshea]

Considering the smaller lads were raised in England (Hodge, Cullen, Obafemi) and the taller lads were raised in Ireland (Bazunu, Kelleher, Travers, Collins, Omobamidele, Idah, Ferguson) - I don’t think so

You'd hope for our keepers and Centre Backs to be big lads though wouldn't you? I'm thinking more along the lines of keane, hoolahan, reid, carr, kinsella, browne, knight, Ireland, connolly. You can probably come back with others but theres been so many small players outside of the required height positions like CB/CF/GK down through the years that I think its fair to draw conclusions that our smaller players are coming from non rugby/gaa backgrounds. Of course you have exceptions like Long and even Kevin Doyle

[paul_oshea]

Missed a pen.

[JR89]

Gutted for the lad. Stepped up to take the fifth penalty but missed with Forest going through 4-3.

[paul_oshea]

He'll sadly be blamed for losing it

[SkStu]

Does his miss now make him more English?

[JR89]

He'll sadly be blamed for losing it

Adams Traore bitching out and not wanting to take a penalty will probably be the bigger focus from fans. See a lot of fans saying complaining how more senior players stayed quiet with Hodge taking responsibility.

[Eirambler]

Does his miss now make him more English?

More Irish, if anything.

Pens don't seem to be our thing this century, we were great at them back in the 90s.

[Stuttgart88]

Lopetegui supportive https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023/0112/1346208-lopetegui-hodge-will-grow-improve-after-penalty-miss/

[paul_oshea]

He'd fit well into the Irish team given what I've seen of him for a full game, makes himself anonymous

[Jd2793]

He'd fit well into the Irish team given what I've seen of him for a full game, makes himself anonymous

weird comment

[CraftyToePoke]

Several reports today of a new long term contract offer from Wolves. Doing well after so much time lost to injury.

https://www.molineux.news/news/joe-hodge-in-talks-over-new-contract-at-wolves/

[SkStu]

Why was Hodge withdrawn at HT last night? Stinker?

[JR89]

Cause Wolves were **** and hadn't one proper attacking midfielder on to support attacks. Don't know what they were expecting with a midfield trio of Neves, Moutinho, and Hodge. Didn't have a stinker but someone in midfield had to come off for a midfielder that was gonna make runs into the box.

[joey B]

Signed a new 4 and a half year contract at Wolves.

[Diggs246]

And his pal off the the MLS!!!

[Razors left peg]

And his pal off the the MLS!!!

Kennys quote that he wished it was Ronan getting the gametime looks worse all the time.

[The Fly]

Joe Hodge: Let me be clear – I only want to play for Ireland’

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joe-hodge-let-me-be-clear-i-only-want-to-play-for-ireland-w0nl8fl3x


Is there any chance that he might “do a Declan”?

“No, I only want to play for Ireland.”
Hand on your heart?

“Hand on my heart. I don’t have a problem saying that I want to play for Ireland. I am clear on it. I don’t have a problem coming to do an interview like this because I am not fazed by that question. Up until I was 16 I played for both and never turned down a call up, but when I had the choice I picked Ireland and I wouldn’t turn back on that.”

Does the question annoy you?
“I don’t get too much of it. I think all the lads on the Under 21s know that I’m committed to playing for Ireland, but yeah it does get annoying because I have never given any suggestion that I would play for England. I have never turned down a call up for Ireland or done anything like that.”

Hodge and Kenny share the same Dublin-based agent and should have plenty more in common before too long. On Friday, perhaps the Ireland manager wanted to congratulate him on the new Wolves contract he is signing or perhaps it was to sound him out about a senior call up for the internationals in March – or possibly both. Either way, Kenny is keen to keep him on side. Eyebrows were raised when Hodge wasn’t included in the last senior squad back in November, but not by the player himself.

“Hopefully Stephen picks me,” says Hodge. “If he doesn’t then it doesn’t change anything for me. I will keep working hard and try to get in the squad and, if that doesn’t work, then get in the squad after that.”

[liamoo11]

Joe Hodge: Let me be clear – I only want to play for Ireland’

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joe-hodge-let-me-be-clear-i-only-want-to-play-for-ireland-w0nl8fl3x

Thanks for posting.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

"I'm fully focused on playing for Ireland," he asserted. "There's no decision to be made. If I didn't want to be playing for Ireland, I wouldn't be here."

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/declan-rice-theres-no-decision-to-be-made-if-i-didnt-want-to-be-playing-for-ireland-i-wouldnt-be-here-36723118.html

I'm just posting the above as it sounds quite similar to what Hodge has said. But I believe Hodge, I think he's an honest fella. Still, I think Rice was influenced to a certain degree by the Irish set up at the time of his decision to commit treason. Having Kenny in charge can't be helpful in keeping Hodge but hopefully he gets called up and plays against Latvia or France.

[Olé Olé]

"I'm fully focused on playing for Ireland," he asserted. "There's no decision to be made. If I didn't want to be playing for Ireland, I wouldn't be here."

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/declan-rice-theres-no-decision-to-be-made-if-i-didnt-want-to-be-playing-for-ireland-i-wouldnt-be-here-36723118.html

I'm just posting the above as it sounds quite similar to what Hodge has said. But I believe Hodge, I think he's an honest fella. Still, I think Rice was influenced to a certain degree by the Irish set up at the time of his decision to commit treason. Having Kenny in charge can't be helpful in keeping Hodge but hopefully he gets called up and plays against Latvia or France.

Did your dislike for Kenny make you miss the fact that himself and Hodge share an agent?

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Did your dislike for Kenny make you miss the fact that himself and Hodge share an agent?

I don't dislike Kenny and I don't know what sharing agents has to do with anything. It's the shambles of a set up and his ridiculous comments that wouldn't help if someone was having a word in his ear about England.

[SkStu]

Hodge not in the squad today as new Wolves signings are called in. Will have to see how this all plays out but he may end up with very little game time unless he goes out on loan.

[Diggs246]

Hodge not in the squad today as new Wolves signings are called in. Will have to see how this all plays out but he may end up with very little game time unless he goes out on loan.

Your a millionaire but your dropped
What a weird week for the lad

[Olé Olé]

I don't dislike Kenny and I don't know what sharing agents has to do with anything. It's the shambles of a set up and his ridiculous comments that wouldn't help if someone was having a word in his ear about England.

Of course sharing the same agent is relevant. Cognitive dissonance is real here.

[tommy_c12000]

As I mentioned previously, Wolves were always going to bring in midfield reinforcements this window (they have), Hodge will need to go on loan to continue optimal development. He has been a passenger in the premier league thus far and below the standard required. A good loan move is needed.

Of course he’s irish and his loyalty is not in doubt. He does not and will not have England as an option. Irish senior caps will be better for his status than some bit part England under 21 caps.

Still good for Kenny to include him in upcoming friendly and help his development, but if he hasn’t played much senior football by the time selection rolls around I would say it’s “mandatory.”

[paul_oshea]

Spot on there, he's not good enough for England so we don't have anything to worry about. He'd have shown it by now like say Collins and Ferguson have on their early starts. So we've nothing to worry about him jumping ship as there won't be an option.

Assuming he gets a loan deal hopefully he can improve And be more involved

I'm not bothered too much about Kenny's remarks given the above but what's worrying is that his judgement of a player might not be so good. Ronan was turfed out pretty quick by those who see him everyday and know he's not good enough yet Kenny saw him as the one we need

[Olé Olé]

As I mentioned previously, Wolves were always going to bring in midfield reinforcements this window (they have), Hodge will need to go on loan to continue optimal development. He has been a passenger in the premier league thus far and below the standard required. A good loan move is needed.

Of course he’s irish and his loyalty is not in doubt. He does not and will not have England as an option. Irish senior caps will be better for his status than some bit part England under 21 caps.

Still good for Kenny to include him in upcoming friendly and help his development, but if he hasn’t played much senior football by the time selection rolls around I would say it’s “mandatory.”

"Does not and will not" - did you ever consider getting into scouting if you are such an all knowing assessor and predictor of young players?

I appreciate his comments and take them at face value. My issue is more with the ceiling you are so confident in placing on him in terms of his potential as a player and how far he would go as a club player - regardless of how that translates to international level (but were I to estimate top half Premiership would be enough for England caps then I could conclude that you believe top half Premiership is beyond him).

Either way, I look forward to seeing how far he will go for club (who knows) and country (Ireland).

[ifk101]

......... I'm not bothered too much about Kenny's remarks given the above but what's worrying is that his judgement of a player might not be so good. Ronan was turfed out pretty quick by those who see him everyday and know he's not good enough yet Kenny saw him as the one we need

In another thread you say "but if we find one more young lad in the middle". Would that be a creative/ attacking midfielder - a Connor Ronan type of player, perhaps? Kenny didn't say Ronan was the one we need, rather inferring that type of player. Hodge is competing with Cullen for a position in the team imo (and presumably Kenny's opinion as well).

[elatedscum]

Kenny’s statement was more like “Ronan might be better than some of Browne, Smallbone, Sykes, McGrath” - who made the last squad - and “the team is missing a creative midfielder of real quality”.

Hodge is competing with the likes of Cullen, Hendrick and Molumby. And his comment after Hodge played his first 45 mins of premier league football was basically “Hodge isn’t quite ready yet”

Since then he’s had 4 starts and 3 sub appearances across all competitions, was on the bench unused another 6 times and not included in the squad once. He’s grown with that playing time and he’s a better player now than he was before.

In my eyes, he should in the next squad but there’s 2 months till that. So if Coventry were to get a championship loan move and shine or Kilkenny was to move to Blackburn and do well, they’d also be competing for that same slot.

[SkStu]

I'm not bothered too much about Kenny's remarks given the above but what's worrying is that his judgement of a player might not be so good. Ronan was turfed out pretty quick by those who see him everyday and know he's not good enough yet Kenny saw him as the one we need

He saw him as the type of player we need ahead of a 6 type or general 8. I still don’t think there’s much wrong with that assessment. Help me understand… We have a cartload of midfielders in the squad with greater experience at a similar standard where Hodge is in the discussion. Kenny is really just saying “we’re covered here”. We don’t have that in the McGrath/Ronan role. We need a player like Ronan to break through because it’s a position where we have a paucity of options.

Regarding judgement, Wolves blocked a loan move for Ronan in the summer because of his preseason performances (and coming off a great spell with St Mirren) and now is looking for a move for himself - he’s hardly being “turfed out”! This is the first time in 6 years that Wolves appear to be open to it being permanent but last November (when the comments were made) Ronan was still someone who Wolves had recently decided they were keeping in the first team squad.

Anyway - all of the above to say I’m not following what the problem is with Kenny’s assessment of what we need, where we need to strengthen and that Ronan is one of the preferred candidates.

[CraftyToePoke]

Regarding judgement, Wolves blocked a loan move for Ronan in the summer because of his preseason performances (and coming off a great spell with St Mirren) and now is looking for a move for himself - he’s hardly being “turfed out”! This is the first time in 6 years that Wolves appear to be open to it being permanent but last November (when the comments were made) Ronan was still someone who Wolves had recently decided they were keeping in the first team squad.

He's only a few weeks from 25 also, with several managers there having kept him around, he must have been very close to the level to remain that long at a PL club who have spent & do favour continental signings. So to say he was 'turfed out pretty quick' by those who see him every day could not be further from what actually happened here.

[Razors left peg]

Your a millionaire but your dropped
What a weird week for the lad
Pretty great week all in all

[third policeman]

Notwithstanding the "what Kenny probably meant" explanation, it was still a deeply ambiguous and potentially self-defeating statement. If that's what he meant, he could have expanded and made the point a little bit more legible. But if that is what he meant, it's a fair point. Ronan is a bit of an enigma. He's generally impressed at the levels at which he's played which is weirdly eclectic (Championship, SPL, Slovakia, Swiss 2nd tier) and yet has never has a chance to prove he can perform at PL level. This is not a dissimilar career journey to Hoolahan. I guess PL managers(and our then international manager) looking at Wessi may have made a similar judgement - "technically gifted, but too small and lightweight for the physical demands of the highest level" - but they were kind of proved wrong in the end. We simply don't know whether he's good enough to play at PL or international level, but Kenny had a way to find out by picking him. It seems ludicrous to implicitly challenge his club to give him game time when he wasn't willing to that himself. But that's Kenny.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Of course sharing the same agent is relevant. Cognitive dissonance is real here.

Completely irrelevant to my point. Maybe have a re-read?

[Olé Olé]

Completely irrelevant to my point. Maybe have a re-read?

"Having Kenny in charge can't be helpful in keeping Hodge" was your point I was responding to. You provide reasons then why it wouldn't be helpful - reasons which were subjective opinions. You ignored that Kenny and Hodge share an agent which is an objective fact and by anyone's measure would "be helpful" in some way towards keeping Hodge.

Not looking for a SWOT analysis here but you pull points to suit your agenda which are subjective and accord weighting to them to suit that agenda and counter any response.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

"Having Kenny in charge can't be helpful in keeping Hodge" was your point I was responding to. You provide reasons then why it wouldn't be helpful - reasons which were subjective opinions. You ignored that Kenny and Hodge share an agent which is an objective fact and by anyone's measure would "be helpful" in some way towards keeping Hodge.

Not looking for a SWOT analysis here but you pull points to suit your agenda which are subjective and accord weighting to them to suit that agenda and counter any response.

Ah I see your mistake. You didn't read my whole post, here's some you missed:

'Still, I think Rice was influenced to a certain degree by the Irish set up at the time of his decision to commit treason. Having Kenny in charge can't be helpful in keeping Hodge but hopefully he gets called up and plays against Latvia or France.'

Now you see your error?

[tetsujin1979]

Treason is a bit much.

[Stuttgart88]

It's not enough!

[tommy_c12000]

Disappointing no loan move secured yet to keep up his momentum and help him get into irish squad. He’s unlikely to see any consistent senior game time at wolves for remainder of the season given superior midfield reinforcements that they’ve brought in.

[tommy_c12000]

"Does not and will not" - did you ever consider getting into scouting if you are such an all knowing assessor and predictor of young players?

I appreciate his comments and take them at face value. My issue is more with the ceiling you are so confident in placing on him in terms of his potential as a player and how far he would go as a club player - regardless of how that translates to international level (but were I to estimate top half Premiership would be enough for England caps then I could conclude that you believe top half Premiership is beyond him).

Either way, I look forward to seeing how far he will go for club (who knows) and country (Ireland).

No sign of Hodge even on the bench for past couple of months, as anticipated. Disappointing to see but not surprising. Manager apparently blocked loan move to keep him around the club in Jan, detrimental to his development. He should get game time with our under 21s later this month, unlikely to see any more senior game time for the rest of the season. Will be 21 at start of next season with minimal senior game time under his belt, would surprise me if he makes it in a top league and as a regular for us.

[Razors left peg]

I disagree with that Tommy. He is highly rated at Wolves but they were in a relegation battle at Christmas and needed more experience in midfield, hard to rely on 20 in that situation. They bought 4 midfielders and still wouldn't loan him out because they still rate him. I think he showed enough that he has talent and at 20 has plenty of time to develop further. I can see him being a regular for us within next 2 years