Sammie Szmodics M Blackburn Rovers b.1995

[Acornvilla]

At this stage of his career he needs football, needs to go back down to the Championship and play. He'd be a good player for a lot of teams
I agree, but I also think if I were him, I'd want to stick around until Christmas and see if I can play in the premier league, it might be the only chance he ever gets.

Good move for Sammie, a team small enough where you imagine he will be a critical part, do really well and either they stay up or he gets one more big move in his career. Worst case scenario he's back where he started this time next year.

[tetsujin1979]

Very similar move to Ogbene's last year, in that respect.

[texidub]

He must be full of confidence at the minute. Hope he plays today (already named on the bench) and more generally that he gets to keep his flow of goals going at a higher level. I want him scoring goals before the England game...

[JR89]

Makes the bench along with Harness and Taylor.

[Eirambler]

Makes the bench along with Harness and Taylor.

If any of the three of them come on today they'll have completed the full set of playing in the top five divisions of English football. In fact Taylor will have played in the top six divisions as he has played in the National League South as well.

[JR89]

If any of the three of them come on today they'll have completed the full set of playing in the top five divisions of English football. In fact Taylor will have played in the top six divisions as he has played in the National League South as well.

All three have come on today. Harness and Taylor just before Liverpool made it 2-0 and Szmodics came on in the 73rd min.

[Olé Olé]

Comes on on 74th minute. Himself, Taylor and Harness all on now.

[Olé Olé]

Can't say I noticed it as much during Ireland games but he must be tough to play with. He is talking constantly to his teammates, organizing the press, looking for the ball etc. Great to see him learn lads' names already!

[Eirambler]

Three Irish Premier League debutants on the same team in the same game is not an everyday occurrence, so well done to the three of them. Will be interesting to see if Harness and Taylor can make the 25 man cut at the end of August but they must at least have a chance at this stage.

[yurt]

Can't say I noticed it as much during Ireland games but he must be tough to play with. He is talking constantly to his teammates, organizing the press, looking for the ball etc. Great to see him learn lads' names already!

I would have thought a vocal player would be easier to play with rather than a nightmare? Assuming obviously, he's doing it with a positive attitude, organizing thing and asking for the ball are good things, no?

[irishfan86]

Honestly the Irish team is in desperate need of leaders. Bring on his talking we haven’t had enough.

[JR89]

Opens his account for Ipswich.

1827361241695666222

[Eirambler]

In terms of HH wanting a bit of a b*stard in the team, Szmodics arguably fits the bill more than anyone. He's a bit of a terrier on the pitch who I'd say is a pain to play against. Should probably be playing him off Idah (assuming no Ferguson) against England and Greece.

[tetsujin1979]

1827416411049722037

[pineapple stu]

Third of the season for Ipswich today as they go 2-0 up away to Spurs at halftime

Delap with a goal and an assist.

[pineapple stu]

Gives Ipswich the lead at halftime away to Fulham. First goal in two months - but if he could get close to ten Premier League goals for a struggling team, he'd be happy enough I guess

[tetsujin1979]

Nice reaction finish
1875915672846213317

[rebelmusic]

Watched the match and he had a great game along with O'Shea. Taylor did well when he came on as well except for a horrendous passback In the 96th minute.

Back to Szmodics - he needed a good game today and he definitely showed up. Quick glance would suggest he was lucky for the goal but he played it really well considering the angle and the flight of the ball.

[Diggs246]

Watched the match and he had a great game along with O'Shea. Taylor did well when he came on as well except for a horrendous passback In the 96th minute.

Back to Szmodics - he needed a good game today and he definitely showed up. Quick glance would suggest he was lucky for the goal but he played it really well considering the angle and the flight of the ball.

If we were playing Bulgaria tomorrow, I would start him at 9, with Finn beside him in 10.

He was a great find for us

[SkStu]

And in typical fashion is set for a longish spell on the injury table after injuring his ankle in the game.

[elatedscum]

that's a team full of injuries if you cast your net wide enough:

Bazunu
Coleman
McNamara
Brady
Smallbone
Browne
Sykes
Ogbene
McAteer
Szmodics
Ferguson

[samhaydenjr]

that's a team full of injuries if you cast your net wide enough:

Bazunu
Coleman
McNamara
Brady
Smallbone
Browne
Sykes
Ogbene
McAteer
Szmodics
Ferguson

Crikey, that's a bad list. With Ogbene out for the season, and MCAteer doubtful, any modest objections I had to calling up Rocco Vata are probably gone, so... call him up, Heimir!

[pineapple stu]

On the bench tonight (and indeed the last game before the window) as Ipswich won 5-0 against Sheffield United. Did get the last half-hour and seems to have done ok but nothing special

Not a great night for the Irish involved - Taylor was an unused sub, McAteer was one of the lowest-rated Ipswich players, Cannon and Barry did nothing up front for Sheffield United, McGuinness was booked. Only O'Shea had a decent game going by the whoscored ratings.

[Eirambler]

His inevitable return from injury for the first game back after the international break seems to have angered the social media crowd.

[Crosby87]

What a Szmodic!

[Trequartista20]

Would his potential availability really have altered our fortunes in a hypothetical alternative reality scenario during the previous international window? Non-white/Irish-born players will always provoke hostilility and suspicion amongst a great many Ireland supporters.

[backstothewall]

Does it really matter? He's had the 10 caps now that i've been talking about in the other thread. There isn't really a Sammie Szmodics moment that sticks in the memory.

He had to be called into the squad when he was after that season for Blackburn, but it's starting to look like a one season wonder. I don't see that he's any better than much younger players like McAteer with far more games ahead of them.

at this stage I'm not sure that Ireland should be any more interested in Sammie Szmodics than Sammie Szmodics appears to be in Ireland.

*Insert AlanPartridgeShrug.gif

[pineapple stu]

Non-white/Irish-born players will always provoke hostilility and suspicion amongst a great many Ireland supporters.

Player plays straight before a window, is injured for a window, plays straight after a window, and all you can think of is the colour of his skin or where he was born?

**** me

[elatedscum]

Player plays straight before a window, is injured for a window, plays straight after a window, and all you can think of is the colour of his skin or where he was born?

**** me

That’s a really common timeframe for a grade one tear. For example, Liverpool had two players who missed the international break for their countries despite playing in the last game before the break. Endo is still injured, whereas Konate was fit for the return, matching the Szmodics timeline. So often you’ll see a 7-10 day injury where a player is back fit two weeks later.

Mark Sykes had the exact same timeline and was called up as a replacement for this squad and then couldn’t take part and he played in the game before and the game after the window and yet no one is accusing Sykes of anything.

[pineapple stu]

And do you think the comments about Sammie are because he's a dirty fordner, or because it's the third time this year he's withdrawn from a squad?

[Trequartista20]

Just some background to this...

I believe I'm right in saying Szmodics started every Ireland match in 2024 - the only player to do so.

This having rejected overtures from another, rather better, international team in Hungary and a potential (perhaps likely) place in their Euro '24 squad.

2025 saw Szmodics sustain an injury very early on in the year (5 January) in a scoring performance against Fulham. This was to be his final start of the 24/25 season, and would lead him to have to undergo ankle surgery days before the Bulgaria Nations League Play-Off matches in March.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0306/1500612-ankle-surgery-rules-szmodics-out-of-ireland-matches/hip

Szmodics only made a couple of very brief cameo appearances for Ipswich before the June friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg and wouldn't have started a match in more than 5 months. Probably understandably, Halgrimsson allowed him to remain with his club to continue his rehabilitation.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2025/05/29/seamus-coleman-and-sammie-szmodics-to-miss-ireland-friendlies-against-senegal-and-luxembourg/

Szmodics started against Hungary in the September window before withdrawing ahead of the Armenia game having obviously been assessed by the Irish medical staff due to a flare-up of his ankle problem.

He had to have a course of injections after the derby game with Norwich ahead of the last Ireland games and is having to strap up his ankle to get through games.
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/sport/25544775.ipswich-town-sammie-szmodics-sindre-walle-egeli-injury-updates/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/crkj1v2vd51o

Prior to the last international window Szmodics had only started 5 league matches since 5 January.

So are the non-footballing-based social media rants, attacking him based on his heritage and birthplace and calling into question his commitment and loyalty, really justified?

Make your own mind up.

[pineapple stu]

And Roy Keane never got any stick for pulling out of friendlies of course.

I've no truck with racism, but equally I've no truck with people who can only see things in terms of race and as a result see racism where it isn't.

[Exgrad]

The fact he has done nothing of note whatsoever in an Ireland jersery probably isnt helping his cause.

[Razors left peg]

The fact he has done nothing of note whatsoever in an Ireland jersery probably isnt helping his cause.

He hasnt done anything of note in football in general other than that one season.

[elatedscum]

He hasnt done anything of note in football in general other than that one season.

very few of our squad have

[Trequartista20]

Undergoes surgery for the second time this year.

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/50618/szmodics-undergoes-surgery

[Trequartista20]

Hits out at the 'hate messages' sent to him and his family.

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/50619/szmodics-gutted-to-pick-up-minor-knee-injury-and-hits-out-at-hate-messages

[irishfan86]

Definitely not a good look for some Ireland fans. Seems now he was just trying to manage an injury during international breaks (reasonable in the circumstances). Anyway, hopefully it doesn’t sour him on Ireland altogether. I still think he can be a useful player for us when fully fit.

[Fixer82]

Definitely not a good look for some Ireland fans. Seems now he was just trying to manage an injury during international breaks (reasonable in the circumstances). Anyway, hopefully it doesn’t sour him on Ireland altogether. I still think he can be a useful player for us when fully fit.

I agree. It's crept in the last 10 years or so. I blame social media. Remember the horrible abuse Cyrus Christie got after the 5-1 Denmark defeat?

[Razors left peg]

Definitely not a good look for some Ireland fans. Seems now he was just trying to manage an injury during international breaks (reasonable in the circumstances). Anyway, hopefully it doesn’t sour him on Ireland altogether. I still think he can be a useful player for us when fully fit.
The social media stuff is so toxic. You could have a video of the players surrounded by puppies and rainbows and there would be someone on social media complaining

[pineapple stu]

Absolutely it's social media. Anonymous messages, easy to send - and then you've got pure wind-up merchants joining in too. Russians and Israelis just stirring ****. 80% of posts directed at the England team and deemed criminal in the wake of the Euro 2020 final came outside Britain for example

Social media should be burned. Except foot of course:)

(Slightly related, but cheating in online chess is a significant issue, way out of proportion with cheating in real games. It's a mix of relative anonymity, cheating being much easier online, plus not being able to see your opponent, which really depersonalises things and makes it easier to be a *****)

[John83]

The internet was a mistake.

[texidub]

I got so angry at the Internet one time, I printed it all out and burned it in the garden. Sure, by the time I got back in the house they had it back online. Waste of firelighters.

[rebelmusic]

I've made the mistake of reading the comments section in the journal for some of our matches. It's wall to wall horrible comments about the team. That premier league supporting class in the country who only knows Irish teams as places. I'd like to believe the players are aware that there's two very seperate groups in Ireland when it comes to supporting soccer

[Fixer82]

Unfortunately, morons who never had a platform outside the bar stool now have the world at their fingertips

[texidub]

I suppose there's many aspects to it, but I think the Internet amplifies and celebrates snap judgments about everything from footballers to politcians to religions to politics and entire peoples... the lack of reflection is exhausting.

Fair play to Sammie for kicking back a bit all the same. Should be left at that at this stage.