Stephen McPhail?

[Donal81]

McPhail back up in the Championship with Barnsley. I always get a pang of frustration when I see this fella's name, such a talent.

Is he worth keeping an eye on, now he's back in the second tier?

[NeilMcD]

Andy Ritchie was on Sky this morning saying he will be giving Staunton a call urging him to give him a call up for the Dutch match.

[pete]

He didn't look that good on tv. Still he was better than Colgan :eek:

[Plastic Paddy]

Andy Ritchie was on Sky this morning saying he will be giving Staunton a call urging him to give him a call up for the Dutch match.

I heard that but wondered what the noise in the background was all about. I realised afterwards it was the sound of a barrel being scraped.

:ball: PP

[as_i_say]

waste of space mcphail.

[Donal81]

I've always found his decline interesting and frustrating at the same time. Did he simply fail to impress or has football passed him by? Would he have made an ideal midfielder in the Liam Brady era or did he just never develop on his early promise?

[Fergie's Son]

The thing is, the game is so much faster now that I wonder if in today's game even Liam Brady would be the Liam Brady of old! Midfielders just aren't getting the time on the ball that they used to. I just watched the 1979 FA cup final between Man. U. and Arsenal and it looked like they were going in slow-motion.

[drummerboy]

Excellent point about Liam Brady. The modern player is far more athletic now than 20 years ago. I remember O'Leary saying at Leeds years ago that he didn't know if McPHail was enough of an athlete to make it in the premiership. I hate to have to say it but he was proved right. The days of the 5 5 midfield dynamo seem to be gone.

[FarBeag]

Judging by the way he played against Barnsley last weekend he is a very average player playing at the level he is capable of . Its a pity Rory Fallon is not Irish. I still think that Trundle should be called up to the Irish squad as well.

[geysir]

The thing is, the game is so much faster now that I wonder if in today's game even Liam Brady would be the Liam Brady of old! Midfielders just aren't getting the time on the ball that they used to. I just watched the 1979 FA cup final between Man. U. and Arsenal and it looked like they were going in slow-motion.
A football genius like Brady would in all probability be able to adapt. He proved his adaptability throughout his career. Not only proved it but he defined it.
I have no doubt Brady would not only survive today but he would in all likelihood be an even better player, probably two footed and probably fitter. Probably you could sell 8 of Ireland's current squad of midfielders at their club value and still only be able to make a down-payment on a Liam Brady mid -career playing today.
Brady answered when he was asked a couple of years ago if he could fit in the present Arsenal side, he had no doubt and especially if he could have Viera protecting his rear.
The thread is on McPhail who maybe displayed 5% of what Brady had when aged 18.
Mc Phail has had 2 years of injuries to contend with and at no stage ever ventured near the same path that Brady blazed. McPhail has done well to get his football career back on some decent enough track.

[Stuttgart88]

I've seen McPhail up close several times. Beautiful passer of a ball. No physical presence whatsoever. I can understand, say, Liam Miller, not having a physical presence as he's tiny, but McPhail's quite a tall, athletic lad.

The final straw for McPhail under Kerr was at the Unity Cup in 2004. I think it was the Nigeria game he played. One woeful back pass was intercepted and Nigeria missed a sitter. But that can be forgiven. What couldn't be forgiven was the way the game just passed him by, something that definitely could NOT be said about Alan Quinn. If people think JO'S sets the benchmark for looking disinterested & lazy, you should have seen McPhail. The same applied when I last saw him play for Leeds, against Fulham in their relegation season.

An enigma alright.

The Sunday Times suggested that Liam Miller would be well advised to get himself off to Spain where technique is appreciated over brawn. The same applies to McPhail. Totalfootball on this site suggested something similar a few months back, not specific to McPhail, but some of our midfielders in general would do far better abroad than in England.

That said, keep an eye on him by all means.

[youngirish]

The Sunday Times suggested that Liam Miller would be well advised to get himself off to Spain where technique is appreciated over brawn. The same applies to McPhail. Totalfootball on this site suggested something similar a few months back, not specific to McPhail, but some of our midfielders in general would do far better abroad than in England.

That said, keep an eye on him by all means.

I think Andy Reid would benefit more than both the above from a move abroad as he seems to be the type of player that would benfit from the slower pace of the game and the extra time he would get on the ball to make the killer pass we all know he likes to try.

He would also equally benefit from staying off the pies for a while.

[Stuttgart88]

Andy Reid's physique astounds me. I find it incredible that given the modern day footballer's fitness & diet regime that he can look so overweight. There must be more to it than meets the eye. Jol wouldn't think twice about turfing him out if he didn't conform to the club's standards.

I used to think Reid would struggle to make it as he was too slight, now look at him!

[eirebhoy]

Andy Reid's physique astounds me. I find it incredible that given the modern day footballer's fitness & diet regime that he can look so overweight. There must be more to it than meets the eye. Jol wouldn't think twice about turfing him out if he didn't conform to the club's standards.

I used to think Reid would struggle to make it as he was too slight, now look at him!
If you look at a pic of him:
http://eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/ng/sp/empics/2591888

He doesn't look overweight, it's just his legs, shoulders, chest, etc. are as thick as the average 6 footed player. :) Maybe he just needs to change his gym regime.

[Stuttgart88]

Umm, maybe he's just beefed up in pure muscle. I do recall him taking his shirt off after the home Cyprus game and he had no muscle definition / tone whatsoever. Since then I've always assumed it was poor conditioning. But the latter is almost inconceivable given today's emphasis on fitness on diet.

Ronan O'Gara said last year, after Ireland shared a hotel with Man United, that he couldn't believe how modern day footballers are just skin & bone. Not our Andy!

[dr_peepee]

I do recall him taking his shirt off after the home Cyprus game and he had no muscle definition / tone whatsoever.

Do you think about it much??:p

Think he just has a broad rib cage that makes him look bigger than he is.

If feel (based purely on my exposure at amateur level) if you're training twice a week and playing on the weekend it should be enought to keep the weight off the average "joe". I always wonder how players that train every day and play sometimes twice a week can suffer weight issue.

I don't know much and it's just an uninformed gues but I think training/playing so much from a young age must impact their metabolism so that the minute there's a let up in the regime they "balloon".

[Stuttgart88]

Do you think about it much??:p
I knew that was coming!

It's true that your metabolism gets used to exercise so varying your training is what's required. Good diet too obviously.

I think John Hartson is one who will just get enormous once he stops playing.

[geysir]

I knew that was coming!
It's true that your metabolism gets used to exercise so varying your training is what's required. Good diet too obviously.
I think John Hartson is one who will just get enormous once he stops playing.
Have you not seen Hartson lately? he's already enormous, he has lost the ability to even have a turning circle, then you are talking about an increase of Michelan man proportions.
Eirebhoy's link to the picture of Reid is conclusive proof that he is a fit young lad. Give or take a few imperceptible ounces, he always looks to have the same physique. I think most people who think he's overweight must have neglected to adjust the tv from widescreen.

[John83]

Have you not seen Hartson lately? he's already enormous, he has lost the ability to even have a turning circle, then you are talking about an increase of Michelan man proportions.
You've seen the first Ghostbusters movie?
http://xenafan.com/movies/ghostbusters/crowd.jpg
Just add ginger hair.

[geysir]

Very good one.
At least he looks happy.

[Stuttgart88]

Anyway, eleven-a-side.com says McPhail could be on his way back to Leeds, or more likely, Sheff Weds. Bad news for Glenn Whelan if that's the case.

[robbie_B]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/5061308.stm

[DmanDmythDledge]

Hull are after him as well according to Aertel.

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/p229.htm

[OwlsFan]

Suppose it can't be bad that a lot of clubs are looking at him. However, he's unlikely to kick on in his career now unfortunately.

[The Legend]

He's looking a bit unfit compared to his younger days actually... anyone else notice that?

[drinkfeckarse]

He's not an option anymore....good luck to him but he's had his chance and didn't make it, we should move on.

[Rory H]

i disagree.....he looked good in the play offs and now that he led his club to promotion and is being tracked by several clubs its only right he gets another chance because they wouldnt be after him if he wasnt doing well

everyone seems to be talking about joe gamble getting a chance,i dont see why mc phail shouldnt get another chance if thats the thinking

[tetsujin1979]

He's at Ninian Park for a medical to sign for Cardiff

[drinkfeckarse]

i disagree.....he looked good in the play offs and now that he led his club to promotion and is being tracked by several clubs its only right he gets another chance because they wouldnt be after him if he wasnt doing well

everyone seems to be talking about joe gamble getting a chance,i dont see why mc phail shouldnt get another chance if thats the thinking

Gamble hasn't had a chance - that's the difference, McPhail wasn't good enough for us or for Leeds and has been on a downward spiral.

He did well well in the play offs of the English THIRD division which is hardly inspiring. If he was young then I'd say yes it sounds promising but the fact is he has been there and done it...he just couldn't do it well enough.

[youngirish]

i disagree.....he looked good in the play offs and now that he led his club to promotion and is being tracked by several clubs its only right he gets another chance because they wouldnt be after him if he wasnt doing well

everyone seems to be talking about joe gamble getting a chance,i dont see why mc phail shouldnt get another chance if thats the thinking
Mc Phail isn't good enough. In midfield I'd give J O'Brien, Ireland, Garvan and Chris Mc Cann all a runout before him. At least they are on the up. Don't want to see him in the Ireland squad again at the expense of younger talent he's too old now to improve.

I wouldn't give Joe Gamble a chance either though at the expense of any of the others mentioned above.