Jake O'Brien D Everton b.2001

[zero]

Dyche gone - Coleman and Baines in charge for tonight's cup game at home to L1 peterborough.

[seanfhear]

Dyche gone - Coleman and Baines in charge for tonight's cup game at home to L1 peterborough.
Unless Everton have a top manager lined up ~ ~ This is madness !

[Eirambler]

Surprised at that. He's a dated manager but he'd have kept them up and made sure they went into their new stadium as a Premier League team. With Ipswich playing decent stuff it's not a given that the three promoted teams will all go down again and Everton could be at serious risk now of finally getting relegated after countless near misses over the years.

[Predator]

David Moyes has been touted as a potential successor to Dyche. If so, it may not be good news for O'Brien. Moyes is another coach who likes his centre-backs to be experienced and is slow to throw in younger/inexperienced players at the back.

[Eirambler]

Howard Kendall shouldn't have gone back to Everton - almost got them relegated but for Gareth Farrelly - and Moyes should probably stay away as well.

New US owners recently gone in there, often don't really understand football and could go for a big name ex player or something, anything could happen.

[EalingGreen]

Howard Kendall shouldn't have gone back to Everton - almost got them relegated but for Gareth Farrelly - and Moyes should probably stay away as well.Not a fair comparison imo, since Kendall sadly had personal problems which held him back second time round.

Whereas even at 61, Moyes could still hope to do a good job, at the right club at least. (Whether EFC is currently such a club is another question.)


New US owners recently gone in there, often don't really understand football and could go for a big name ex player or something, anything could happen.I doubt even the new lot in charge could be stupid enough, but I'd love to see them appoint Rooney, for the comedy value alone! :D

[seanfhear]

Not a fair comparison imo, since Kendall sadly had personal problems which held him back second time round.

Whereas even at 61, Moyes could still hope to do a good job, at the right club at least. (Whether EFC is currently such a club is another question.)

I doubt even the new lot in charge could be stupid enough, but I'd love to see them appoint Rooney, for the comedy value alone! :D
Maybe time to give Colleen Rooney the managers job ~ ~ She seems to be the brains of the Rooney marriage ! !

[SkStu]

Bizarre timing alright but if I was to pick one manager who wouldn’t necessarily increase Evertons relegation risk compared to Dyche, it’d be Moyes. I’m hearing it’s a short term gig.

On another note great to see a gem like Coleman getting his first managerial role even if it is for one game only. I think he has the drive and people leadership attributes to be successful in football management.

[third policeman]

Carsley?

[Olé Olé]

Starts at home to Spurs.

Not sure the position. Tarkowski and Branthwaite start. There's no obvious right wing back so hard to tell whether he's right of a back 3 or right back.

Edit: looks to be right back.

[Eirambler]

The main thing is that he's playing. The centre back spot alongside Collins is wide open for someone if him or Omobamidele could get a run of games. It will probably need to be a Championship loan for Omobamidele, so if O'Brien can get a run in the Premier League he'll probably go straight into the team.

[Eirambler]

Played about 85 minutes and did fine, nothing spectacular but Everton were 3-1 up when he went off. Hopefully he can start to play more regularly - even if he isn't a starter every week he has shown he can play centre back and right back so can hope to get decent minutes for the rest of the season across the defence.

[irishfan86]

Unspectacular but steady is how I’d describe O’Brien’s performance. Another encouraging development— Ashley Young came on in the second half in a wide midfield/wing position so hopefully O’Brien has a window here to get more game time.

[seanfhear]

Good that Moyes gave him a game so soon ~ Is this just Moyes second game ?

I think that most people would say that Moyes was a pretty conservative manager, and not too quick to make too many changes ~ ~ It would have been easier / more likely considering Everton's form though !

[John83]

He also made Everton's defense better than the sum of its parts, last time around. If he likes O'Brien, it's probably a good sign.

[seanfhear]

He also made Everton's defense better than the sum of its parts, last time around. If he likes O'Brien, it's probably a good sign.Yeah, sometimes a new manager comes in and basically sees a player or two that he just doesn't fancy ~ So it's good to see Moyes give O'Brien a chance from the start of his reign.

[CraftyToePoke]

Keane replaced him on 88 minutes in an experienced head, see it out substitution & in the little bit of time he had, he made three errors, he tried to thread a pass which was cut out, then he chased the error to near halfway by the touchline and got spun, Spurs played a one two and were inside the Everton penalty area with Keane scrambling hopelessly. After getting away with that he then lost Richarlison at the back post to make it 3-2 & set up a twitchy ending. So from our point of view that substitution couldn't have gone better.

Dyche likes experienced CBs & we know that but he treated O'Brien almost like a player he hadn't wanted, or that was signed by the club without his blessing. So hopefully he gets a few opportunities & is judged then, on those performances. Michael Keane, in my opinion, is not an immovable object in his path, he's a poor player these days whenever I've seen them.

[SkStu]

Keane always has mistakes like that in him. Bit of a trademark. I thought Jake would have dislodged him as #3 choice quite early in his Everton career but Dyche likes what he knows. I thought Jake did quite well to be honest. Solid and played some really intelligent balls up to Calvert-Lewin from the RB position which compared well to the service he’d been getting from Young and Patterson in prior games. He also just didn’t do a lot wrong overall.

[irishfan86]

One thing I’d add is that Spurs were clearly targeting his side in the first half assuming he could be a weak link and they didn’t really expose him. All in all it wasn’t an ideal moment for his full premier league debut, coming in cold after sitting on the sidelines for so long and ultimately out of position — and in that context you’ve got to respect his professionalism because he just seemed steady and ready to go.

[Eirambler]

Sean Dyche has gone from having a pub renamed after him in Burnley to becoming seen as a kind of outdated Sam Allardyce type dinosaur figure fairly quickly in the last few years, even though he's not actually that old. Top level football has likely moved on from him now, his next job is likely to be down in the Championship.

[seanfhear]

Sean Dyche has gone from having a pub renamed after him in Burnley to becoming seen as a kind of outdated Sam Allardyce type dinosaur figure fairly quickly in the last few years, even though he's not actually that old. Top level football has likely moved on from him now, his next job is likely to be down in the Championship.Maybe Man Utd ( wink ) ? !

[Snapshot]

Keane always has mistakes like that in him. Bit of a trademark. I thought Jake would have dislodged him as #3 choice quite early in his Everton career but Dyche likes what he knows. I thought Jake did quite well to be honest. Solid and played some really intelligent balls up to Calvert-Lewin from the RB position which compared well to the service he’d been getting from Young and Patterson in prior games. He also just didn’t do a lot wrong overall.
Every player has a mistake in him. It's ubiquitous. How many of Keane's "trademark" blunders can you instantly recall over his EPL career of near 400 games?

[Predator]

From that highlights video, he looked fairly comfortable playing in the wide areas, which not all CBs do. I wonder, given his apparent pace, does he have it in him to be a full-back too, similar to how Dan Burn evolved for Brighton and Newcastle.
I wondered about his potential as a right back just over a year ago. Interesting to see Mr Moyes saw the same potential as I did! :)

[SkStu]

Every player has a mistake in him. It's ubiquitous. How many of Keane's "trademark" blunders can you instantly recall over his EPL career of near 400 games?

Ah very good. You got me. He was directly responsible for a number of the goals that Everton conceded early in the 2024/25 season with fans calling for him to be dropped. It was only after this that Branthwaite was brought in by Dyche. He has scored a few thunderb@stards to make up for it though. And he has actually been quite a bit better this season when he has played but, as CTP pointed out, made a few howlers yesterday. Which led me to make the comment that i made which was, a small part of the point I was making overall which was about the O'Brien and Dyche dynamic. Congratulations on the post though and taking the thread into an irrelevant space.

[Snapshot]

Ah very good. You got me. He was directly responsible for a number of the goals that Everton conceded early in the 2024/25 season with fans calling for him to be dropped. It was only after this that Branthwaite was brought in by Dyche. He has scored a few thunderb@stards to make up for it though. And he has actually been quite a bit better this season when he has played but, as CTP pointed out, made a few howlers yesterday. Which led me to make the comment that i made which was, a small part of the point I was making overall which was about the O'Brien and Dyche dynamic. Congratulations on the post though and taking the thread into an irrelevant space.
O'Brien's situation is related to that of Keane who is 32 and leaving soon. So Dyche brought in another CB. Quelle surprise. Your analysis that it was a direct result of Dyche reacting to boo-boys is silly. O'Brien's fate is with Moyes now.

You branding Keane with the howler trademark is unfair. It joins other classic green tinting. Dunk denying Duffy, Sergeant and Pukki blocking Idah, Romero with Doherty, McCarthy with Bazuno, that awful Wellbeck frustrating our Evan etc. It's a disease.

Taking the thread into "irrelevant space" is nonsense. Such a mindset is taking this forum into irrelevant space.

[CraftyToePoke]

You branding Keane with the howler trademark is unfair. It joins other classic green tinting. Dunk denying Duffy, Sergeant and Pukki blocking Idah, Romero with Doherty, McCarthy with Bazuno, that awful Wellbeck frustrating our Evan etc. It's a disease.

Had myself an aul Google of Michael Keane & the words error prone there & I'm inclined to agree with Stu after it. His propensity toward calamity is clear & present. Well established in fact you could reasonably argue.

Other players in our players way as they broke through has nothing to do with whether Calamity Keane ( as one article put it ) is error prone or not.

Which he is, both. In the way & error prone.

[Snapshot]

Had myself an aul Google of Michael Keane & the words error prone there & I'm inclined to agree with Stu after it. His propensity toward calamity is clear & present. Well established in fact you could reasonably argue.

Other players in our players way as they broke through has nothing to do with whether Calamity Keane ( as one article put it ) is error prone or not.

Which he is, both. In the way & error prone.
Keane being in O'Brien's way? Of course it has. Please post the link to the "Calamity Keane" article.

[SkStu]

O'Brien's situation is related to that of Keane who is 32 and leaving soon. So Dyche brought in another CB. Quelle surprise. Your analysis that it was a direct result of Dyche reacting to boo-boys is silly. O'Brien's fate is with Moyes now.

You branding Keane with the howler trademark is unfair. It joins other classic green tinting. Dunk denying Duffy, Sergeant and Pukki blocking Idah, Romero with Doherty, McCarthy with Bazuno, that awful Wellbeck frustrating our Evan etc. It's a disease.

Taking the thread into "irrelevant space" is nonsense. Such a mindset is taking this forum into irrelevant space.

I actually just affirmed Craftys point about Keane making errors and that it’s not out of character. It was innocuous and I didn’t infer that Jake was signed to replace Keane. I think I’m on record saying that I thought he was signed to eventually cover/replace Branthwaite if/when he left and I fancied him to eventually (and somewhat quickly) replace Keane as #3 based on how he performed in Ligue 1 and that Keane was poison last season. I watch a lot of Everton. It’s not that big a deal to have that opinion but you’re trying to make it a big deal and are connecting dots that just aren’t there related to commentary on other Irish players. You have this weird obsession with calling me out.

[Snapshot]

I actually just affirmed Craftys point about Keane making errors and that it’s not out of character. It was innocuous and I didn’t infer that Jake was signed to replace Keane. I think I’m on record saying that I thought he was signed to eventually cover/replace Branthwaite if/when he left and I fancied him to eventually (and somewhat quickly) replace Keane as #3 based on how he performed in Ligue 1 and that Keane was poison last season. I watch a lot of Everton. It’s not that big a deal to have that opinion but you’re trying to make it a big deal and are connecting dots that just aren’t there related to commentary on other Irish players. You have this weird obsession with calling me out.
Distancing your O'Brien/Keane green-tint from examples I provided is laughable. Same for CTP. If memory serves, you're usually the caller outer. In fact, you once dedicated nearly a full page to having a go. The weird obsession is yours - about English-born Keanes. Own it.

[John83]

Lads, less venom please.

[SkStu]

Jake keeps his spot at right back against Brighton. Up against Mitoma so should be another good test for him.

[Eirambler]

Sounds like he had another solid outing. Hopefully will get a decent run of games now.

Seems to have been involved in a bit of an altercation with Brighton players at full time.

[SkStu]

He was really solid and the Everton fans online are really positive about him.

[rebelmusic]

From the sky commentary

"The local radio commentators behind me have just described 'that No 15' as a 'big bruiser'. Jake O'Brien, they are referring to. Yes, he is, and he is doing a mighty fine job of keeping Mitoma quiet so far.

"It's the major change to the Dyche era, Moyes bringing in the Republic of Ireland defender, and he is standing tall out there."


The experience at playing right back and switching to a back 5 later in the game can only be good for us as well.

[Eirambler]

If he stays at right back it will give us a few options for March. Do we play him there too, and put O'Shea back in the centre alongside Collins. Or do we leave O'Shea where he is and play O'Brien alongside Collins?

Obviously Omobamidele and others could come into this conversation as well, but Collins and O'Shea didn't really work well as a partnership the last time it was tried, so maybe you would play both but in opposite roles to their club positions, with O'Shea staying on the right and O'Brien coming in at centre back.

[MancIrishWolf]

Rated second highest for their fans MOTM and getting a load of plaudits….

https://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/threads/jake-obrien.120134/page-70

[Olé Olé]

Rated second highest for their fans MOTM and getting a load of plaudits….

https://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/threads/jake-obrien.120134/page-70

Great to see.

I think someone sums up my thoughts in that thread on him going into this season from having seen him for Ireland and a couple times for Lyon. He's big. He's fast. He's good on the ball. A defender is off to a good start with those attributes.

And I think I said here before that I hadn't seen him for a window of a year or so between his Ireland under 21 caps and mid/end of last season and his ability on the ball was night and day. He looked cumbersome beside Mark McGuinness and McGuinness looked to have the highest ceiling from that pair at 21s.

O'Brien has developed a lot. Moyes will surely fancy a lot more development and maybe the right back exposure is the first step towards him becoming a regular at centre back beside Branthwaite.

Seamus Coleman is such a legend too. They'll battle for that spot but you'd imagine that Coleman will spur O'Brien on and further support the coaching and improvement.

He's in a great position right now.

[Eirambler]

After all the right backs Everton signed down the years to compete with Coleman it would be funny if it was an Irish centre back who was the one who finally fully took the jersey off him. Coleman seems to struggle to stay match fit for any length of time now and may be restricted to the odd sub appearance from here on. It seems unlikely that Everton could justify retaining him in a playing capacity beyond this season.

[Olé Olé]

After all the right backs Everton signed down the years to compete with Coleman it would be funny if it was an Irish centre back who was the one who finally fully took the jersey off him. Coleman seems to struggle to stay match fit for any length of time now and may be restricted to the odd sub appearance from here on. It seems unlikely that Everton could justify retaining him in a playing capacity beyond this season.

Surely fairly clear he will walk into coaching at Everton is it?

It would be some last few months as a player to stunt the development of a young Irish man and take his minutes in that case!

[Eirambler]

Would expect him to get a coaching job there next season alright. A shame he probably won't get a season playing in the new stadium. I don't think he'll stunt O'Brien much because he'll probably only sub on for him when he's fit. They have Nathan Patterson in that position as well but he doesn't seem to be too highly rated at the club.

[mark12345]

If he stays at right back it will give us a few options for March. Do we play him there too, and put O'Shea back in the centre alongside Collins. Or do we leave O'Shea where he is and play O'Brien alongside Collins?

Obviously Omobamidele and others could come into this conversation as well, but Collins and O'Shea didn't really work well as a partnership the last time it was tried, so maybe you would play both but in opposite roles to their club positions, with O'Shea staying on the right and O'Brien coming in at centre back.

Some welcome selection problems for sure. And for set pieces we should be well equipped also - O'Brien, O'Shea, Collins and quite possibly Ferguson to aim at.

[CraftyToePoke]

He was really solid and the Everton fans online are really positive about him.

Something for sacked Seanie Dyche to suck hard on as he updates his CV by the sounds of it.

No sign of Calamity Keane off the bench either this week, but as we saw last week, you need a two goal lead & less than four minutes remaining to give him a jolly out safely.

Fair play to O'Brien so far, great to see. Leicester & Bournemouth up next for Everton, then at home to Liverpool.

[SkStu]

Something for sacked Seanie Dyche to suck hard on as he updates his CV by the sounds of it.

No sign of Calamity Keane off the bench either this week, but as we saw last week, you need a two goal lead & less than four minutes remaining to give him a jolly out safely.

Fair play to O'Brien so far, great to see. Leicester & Bournemouth up next for Everton, then at home to Liverpool.

He was so good in preseason too. There were loads calling for him to come in beside Tarkowski in week 1 with Branthwaite out - but he went for Calamity. And loads tipping him to be at least first off the bench if there was an injury to either. Good to see it now and for Moyes to trust him so quickly (and ahead of Patterson/Young at rb) is really positive. If Everton are safe with a few games to go, would love to see him and Branthwaite together in the centre. Formidable pairing potential there. Both big, fast and brick sh!thouses. Put Mick Kegger up front to keep a few posters here happy.

[Snapshot]

. . . Other players in our players way as they broke through has nothing to do with whether Calamity Keane ( as one article put it ) is error prone or not. Which he is, both. In the way & error prone.
I agree that Jake is a fine prospect. As requested, please post link to this "article". Not interested in foul and scurrilous garbage in Reddit and X.

[Eirambler]

Dyche had said that he felt O'Brien needed a bit of time to adapt to the pace of the Premier League. Which might have made sense if he had given him sub appearances for the first month or two until he was ready to start games, and not played Michael Keane (a later career Ciaran Clark level journeyman) ahead of him. But how he was supposed to adapt by sitting on the bench unused every week is beyond me.

You can get a certain amount out of training with players who play in the league, but presumably he would have already done that in his Crystal Palace days. Once Dyche left him sitting there week after week it suggested that there was something more to it than just that. Whether it was a personal issue between them or just a very backward view towards a younger player from Dyche I don't know. Or maybe O'Brien was signed over his head in the summer and he was trying to make a point about that. But in the end it seems to have contributed to him losing his job because he left out a player who clearly could have improved his team.

[Snapshot]

Dyche had said that he felt O'Brien needed a bit of time to adapt to the pace of the Premier League. Which might have made sense if he had given him sub appearances for the first month or two until he was ready to start games, and not played Michael Keane (a later career Ciaran Clark level journeyman) ahead of him. But how he was supposed to adapt by sitting on the bench unused every week is beyond me.

You can get a certain amount out of training with players who play in the league, but presumably he would have already done that in his Crystal Palace days. Once Dyche left him sitting there week after week it suggested that there was something more to it than just that. Whether it was a personal issue between them or just a very backward view towards a younger player from Dyche I don't know. Or maybe O'Brien was signed over his head in the summer and he was trying to make a point about that. But in the end it seems to have contributed to him losing his job because he left out a player who clearly could have improved his team.
Is Keane a journeyman? Following a few cameos with Man Utd he has played for Burnley and Everton. Loans hardly count, do they? If so, is Troy Parrott a journeyman? So is Jake!

Maybe it was neither a personal thing nor Dyche not rating him. Maybe he just didn't think it fair to throw the relatively inexperience O'Brien into a relegation dogfight.

Calamity Clark? Has a ring to it. Howler against Belgium, otherwise as calamity safe as Kelleher, Bazunu, Collins, Coleman, Duffy, Egan et al. Probably a close runner-up to Glenn Whelan as the most maligned international in recent history.

[pineapple stu]

Has to be said, defence wasn't really Everton's problem under Dyche in fairness. 15 for and 25 against strongly suggests the problem was at the other end. And that was after 4-13 in the opening four games, so it really tightened up then. I don't think it holds that leaving out O'Brien is a stick to beat Dyche with. But it's good to see him get a game now

[SkStu]

Taking it back to Keane for a second... while Everton's defense has been decent under Dyche and Moyes... here is a stat... Keane played 9 of the first 10 games this season - full 90 - Everton conceded 16 in those 9 games. He has played 2 minutes across the 12 games since then and Everton have conceded 11 (4 in one game). One of those 11 was with him on the pitch where he was directly responsible. Going back even further, a simple google will tell you all you need to know about Michael Keane's horrendous form over the last 5-6 years. Pundits, fans, analysts - you name it.

Jake, top prospect that we all agree he is, has a low bar to clear.

[CraftyToePoke]

Taking it back to Keane for a second... while Everton's defense has been decent under Dyche and Moyes... here is a stat... Keane played 9 of the first 10 games this season - full 90 - Everton conceded 16 in those 9 games. He has played 2 minutes across the 12 games since then and Everton have conceded 11 (4 in one game). One of those 11 was with him on the pitch where he was directly responsible. Going back even further, a simple google will tell you all you need to know about Michael Keane's horrendous form over the last 5-6 years. Pundits, fans, analysts - you name it.

Jake, top prospect that we all agree he is, has a low bar to clear.


This article ; https://www.footballfancast.com/everton-michael-keane-transfer-value-market-koeman-dyche-waste/

Goes to some lengths in detailing why Calamity Keane is actually Evertons worst ever signing with Perry Groves saying

Error-prone and often too slow to make up for his mistakes, talkSPORT pundit Perry Groves issued a particularly scathing rant back in 2022 after one torrid showing: “He always looks to me like he's not in control of his own body. You know when someone's always struggling or trying to make last-ditch tackles.

In recent days I've given some attention to coverage of the player, prior to that I just knew he was someone in O'Briens way & its not good reading for those in Calamities corner.

In fact, we're, IMO, entering Clusterf**k territory to accurately describe the man. Clusterf**k Keane.

But underpinning all this, this is a guy O'Brien, if he's what we hoped, can displace with a fair go from a manager not carrying out some weird agenda.

[tetsujin1979]

Knock off the nicknames CTP, Keane is a far better footballer than any of us could ever hope to be