Darron Gibson

[elroy]

Only one word for it, WOW!! Out with the old and in with the new. Come on Daz, tonights the night to step up!!

[boovidge]

good luck Gibson! Hope he scores a screamer.

[seanfhear]

Best of luck Darron.

[Charlie Darwin]

I've never seen Gibson play well with Carrick in the team. They always seem to get into the same positions and try to do the same things.

[ofjames]

i reckon carrick will be sitting pretty deep. fletcher and gibo will be tasked with tearing up and down the park

hopefully he does great.

[The Fly]

Biggest game of his club career so far, come on Darron

Seconded.

[DannyInvincible]

Best of luck to the lad. Hope he has a good'un.

[DannyInvincible]

You beauty!

[boovidge]

get in!

[SkStu]

boo ya!

[geysir]

:D
I hardly had time to sit down but he sticks it in the back of the net.
Lovely clean strike

[kingdomkerry]

Good man gibs. Keep it up now get MOM

[ofjames]

he's had a smashing first half.

playing very far up the pitch and is working his socks off.

united making things hard for themselves as usual

[seanfhear]

Who I am to question Ferguson (soon to be british ambassador to Germany, pause and await the next war) but with the benifit of hindsight I would have left Darron on as he might have had an opportunity to have a potshot or two.

This managment stuff is easy with hindsight.

[MuckaTucka]

I'm still wary about Gibson. There's been so much talk about him that I don't think he's deserving of it all. He's a bit of a luxury to be honest. I'd love to see him succeed and think he obviously has a fine shot. I just don't think that he has that drive that's the making of a top class player.

Who does he play alongside in an Irish midfield?

McCarthy, Meyler, Whelan, Andrews are all better bets now, and in the future.

[eaststand85]

Decent goal and ok first half but fairly anonymous (as usual imo) after the break.

[MuckaTucka]

I'm still not convinced about Gibson despite the fleetingly good first half performance tonight.
Holding on to the idea that because Darren Fletcher came good after a long period of mediocrity means that Gibson will come good is a bit flimsy to be honest. James McCarthy has done more in one season in his all round play than Gibson has in the last two-three years of this hype. I feel that Gibson just doesn't have that "fire in the belly" or drive that sets the better players apart. He's more likely to go the way of McPhail than Andrews, more Berbatov than Rooney.

I think he's a luxury that Ireland are never going to be able to get the best out of.
Just who does he play alongside in midfield for Ireland that doesn't leave us lacking in a department whether that be defensive stability or attacking mobility?

[Charlie Darwin]

Hard not to be anonymous when you're chasing the ball the entire time. Unlucky the referee ran across his path when Nani cut it back to him.

[Cuyahoga]

Was George Hamilton asleep for Gibson's goal.The ball was in the back of the net for about 10 seconds before he reaised it was a goal?

[Charlie Darwin]

Commentary was delayed.

[Yard of Pace]

Was George Hamilton asleep for Gibson's goal.The ball was in the back of the net for about 10 seconds before he reaised it was a goal?

There was a sound delay on my Sky box anyway. A good couple of seconds. I restarted it and it was fine.
Gibson seems a bit lazy or something at times? There was definitely moments when he passed it in the middle of the park and could have burst forward to receive a return but just resumed walking instead. That's the way it looked to me anyhow.

[geysir]

To asses Gibson you have to look at the team performance. He is not the type to grab a game. He functions fine when everything is buzzing around him. Up until his midfield partner Carrick gifted a goal, I thought he was foot perfect. A player gets set off, the whole team play as if they need a an extra second, the touch and passing is poor, Gibson is going to look as clumsy as the rest of them. They would have needed an experienced player in the middle to control the game. I thought he was much better than Carrick and just as good if not better than Fletcher, but I don't know if that says much.

That chance for his second, if only - those type of chances in such games are career defining.

[irishfan86]

Well, I think he had a good game, but he had the potential to become a legend tonight with that late opportunity.

I think he just needs a run of games to get established. I thought Carrick had an absolute nightmare and didn't do Gibson or any of his teammates any favours.

[Charlie Darwin]

I think Carrick took one for the team by staying the hole and not venturing forward, but I thought he was culpable for both goals and generally offered very little. For the first though, he should never have been competing with Olic - it was a complete mismatch. You have to ask why Ferdinand or, more likely, Vidic didn't pick up his run.

I think Carrick is too slow for this level of football, and Gibson would do well to avoid falling into the same trap. To be fair, he looks to have really quick feet and his decision-making will surely improve with practice (Carrick hasn't really progressed much since breaking through for West Ham).

[sean r]

ok i have a rules question i was born in the usa but have an irish passport if i was good enough would i be able to play for the north? since they can play for us can we play for them? like for example would robbie kean be able to play for the north? (if he had not already played for the roi)

[Colbert Report]

It depends on when your grandparents were born. My grandmother was born in Cork in 1921, before partition, so I would be eligible to play for the North were I so inclined.

[elroy]

Gibson on current status would be a bit of a luxury player for us. I dont think we can employ him in CM alongside Whelan or Andrews or whoever. Perhaps would could play him wide right or more so just off the striker akin to the role played with Rooney last night.

[Metrostars]

That was Gibson's best performance for Man Utd by a mile. When we've seen him in other Prem games, he comes across as bit a tad slow and not knowing exactly what to sometimes. But he did not look not out of place last night and showed a much better level of concentration and focus out and was the best of the Man Utd midfield trio. He also looked a lot quicker and more mobile than I've seen him be for a while which suggests he's working hard behind the scenes to get himself up to par.

I think Carrick is in the Fergie doghouse after a few very poor performances recently and Gibson will get a few chances in Man Utd's last 5 games. I also think that Fergie will be out to get a new midfielder in the summer and that one of Carrick and Gibson will go. So maybe Gibson's future will be decided on how he will perform in the few chances he'll get.

[geysir]

I think Gibson is closer to the dugout that the doghouse.

[OneRedArmy]

I'm not convinced about Gibson, yet. Whoever above said he was a luxury is spot on IMO. He isn't the kind of a midfielder who can run the game. His passing/vision isn't the best and he seems to lose the ball an awful lot. He hits a good strike, makes a few good runs and pops up at the edge of the box a lot in good positions, but he isn't going to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and thats exactly where United lost the game last night. He and Fletcher are similar players who need a water carrier playing beside them to do the donkey work and more importantly, control the tempo of a match. When the game started going against United their midfield went completely AWOL and they couldn't get the ball.

That said, he is developing as a player and Ferguson seems keen on him, so the more big matches he plays the better for Ireland.

[MuckaTucka]

I'm not convinced about Gibson, yet. Whoever above said he was a luxury is spot on IMO. He isn't the kind of a midfielder who can run the game. His passing/vision isn't the best and he seems to lose the ball an awful lot. He hits a good strike, makes a few good runs and pops up at the edge of the box a lot in good positions, but he isn't going to grab a game by the scruff of the neck

It was me who said he was a luxury. I think that you have to accommodate him in order to find a place for him in the team. I just don't think right now that it's worth Ireland doing that. I definitely don't think him playing in a two, as has been shown with Ireland is good enough for our team. Playing 5 across midfield, would suit him but that would mean dropping Doyle or Keane, which isn't worth it.

[twoenz]

I feel sorry for Gibson, and I'm going to say something that could be a bit controversial: I don't think he gets the credit that he deserves because he's from Derry.

Before jumping down my throat, I just want to point a few things out: I was listening to the Today FM sport at 7pm after the teams had been named and the sport's headline was that Rooney was in the Man United starting 11. The report went on to mention that O'Shea was back on the bench, but not one mention of Darron at all. A few weeks ago on RTE they showed the first 3 goals that were scored for United in the Bolton match but left out the Gibson strike. Bet if Robbie Keane or Kevin Doyle had have put the icing on the cake they would have cut one of the other goals.

Sure Gibson's shot is a luxury, but so was having Ian Harte on the pitch 64 times.

[MuckaTucka]

Maybe the fact that Gibson was starting and it didn't get mentioned shows how far he has come with Man Utd. As in, it's not a huge shock. The main news story was O'Shea's first game since Paris, whereas Gibson starting isn't that extraordinary.
Pity the goal wasn't shown, perhaps more ignorance on RTE's part not knowing a player who mightn't be as well established yet as Keane or Doyle are. An anti-Derry thing is a bit much I'd say.

[geysir]

Compared to what the Cork lads have had to suffer would you not feel a bit embarrassed raising that little bit of evidence.

But to add a few feathers to your conspiracy, on the English Telegraph, Game at a glance, only 13 out of 14 players come up on the flash screen for Team Stats and guess who is missing - only Derry born Darron Gibson.

However he does come up in the Formation Stats

[elroy]

A Daily Telegraph sourced article in the indo today quite complimentry of Gibson

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/gibson-offers-solace-as-uniteds-old-soldiers-head-towars-the-exit-door-2129290.html

[Predator]

I have to laugh at some of the comments about Gibson. What exactly do people mean by saying they're 'wary' of him? 'Wary' of a player who has the ability to score a good goal from midfield? 'Wary' that he can do a solid job in the midfield of one of the best clubs in the world? I don't understand. In the game against Bayern he was easily one of United's better performers and contributed a good goal to their cause; I wonder had United won, would the likes of Dunphy have recognised that Gibson's contribution was important? I would have thought that the fact Ferguson saw fit to start him ahead of a seasoned professional like Scholes would be enough evidence to suggest that this player is talented enough.

It truly is laughable that Dunphy et al. cannot let a Gibson performance pass without making cheap, almost worthless comments like, "he's a nothing player", or something to that effect. Alex Ferguson and Giovanni Trapattoni are arguably two of the greatest managers of our time and they both rate Gibson as a player. That tells me something; a lot more than the weak criticism he receives from some quarters.

[yapster]

Darren will be a good player for Ireland.....

[DannyInvincible]

I feel sorry for Gibson, and I'm going to say something that could be a bit controversial: I don't think he gets the credit that he deserves because he's from Derry.

What do you think him being from Derry would have to do with it? Not necessarily disagreeing with you as it does seem like he's not getting the same exposure his compatriots are getting, but I'm just not a great believer in conspiracy theories and would need something more to go on than simply believing that it's merely because he's from Derry that he's missing out on this exposure.


Maybe the fact that Gibson was starting and it didn't get mentioned shows how far he has come with Man Utd. As in, it's not a huge shock. The main news story was O'Shea's first game since Paris, whereas Gibson starting isn't that extraordinary.

I wouldn't have said this to be the case at all. I felt excited when I heard Gibson was starting and was chuffed to see him score such a great goal. Maybe that's due to a local connection, but he was the player who people were talking about on here before the game, and still are afterwards, more so than O'Shea, and I think this would be a pretty good indicator as to what the bigger news of the night should have been for Irish football fans.

Accusations of an active anti-Derry agenda do seem a bit strong though. A careless overlooking of "nordie" talent, as if it's from an alien world, or something, maybe?... I dunno.


It truly is laughable that Dunphy et al. cannot let a Gibson performance pass without making cheap, almost worthless comments like, "he's a nothing player", or something to that effect. Alex Ferguson and Giovanni Trapattoni are arguably two of the greatest managers of our time and they both rate Gibson as a player. That tells me something; a lot more than the weak criticism he receives from some quarters.

I think Dunphy managed to call every player currently within the world of football a "nothing player" last night, with the exception of Messi and Rooney. I think he even singled O'Shea out as being one at one stage, which was peculiar as it was at odds with his standard analysis of Ireland games where O'Shea fits as one of the main characters into his usual narrative of Ireland having a squad of world-class players with a manager who's too inept to get the best out of them.

[Charlie Darwin]

There was an article on the Irish Times minutes after the team was announced saying "Gibson & Rooney start" in that order.

[DannyInvincible]

There was an article on the Irish Times minutes after the team was announced saying "Gibson & Rooney start" in that order.

Yeah, maybe this supposed lack of exposure or credit doesn't exist at all. Who knows? It's peculiar that he wouldn't get a mention on Today FM or whatever, but it's a nigh impossible thing to quantify unless you were to sift through the outpourings from all media outlets in Ireland relating to the game.

[yapster]

I cannot understand the negativity about Gibson... I think he is going to be a very important player for Ireland.

[Junior]

Maybe the fact that Gibson was starting and it didn't get mentioned shows how far he has come with Man Utd. As in, it's not a huge shock. The main news story was O'Shea's first game since Paris, whereas Gibson starting isn't that extraordinary.
Pity the goal wasn't shown, perhaps more ignorance on RTE's part not knowing a player who mightn't be as well established yet as Keane or Doyle are. An anti-Derry thing is a bit much I'd say.

I wouldnt agree with that. I think Gibson starting was seen as a strange one, may be not utter shock but certainly something the pundits hadn't anticiapted.

[OneRedArmy]

I have to laugh at some of the comments about Gibson. What exactly do people mean by saying they're 'wary' of him? 'Wary' of a player who has the ability to score a good goal from midfield? 'Wary' that he can do a solid job in the midfield of one of the best clubs in the world? I don't understand. In the game against Bayern he was easily one of United's better performers and contributed a good goal to their cause; I wonder had United won, would the likes of Dunphy have recognised that Gibson's contribution was important? I would have thought that the fact Ferguson saw fit to start him ahead of a seasoned professional like Scholes would be enough evidence to suggest that this player is talented enough.

It truly is laughable that Dunphy et al. cannot let a Gibson performance pass without making cheap, almost worthless comments like, "he's a nothing player", or something to that effect. Alex Ferguson and Giovanni Trapattoni are arguably two of the greatest managers of our time and they both rate Gibson as a player. That tells me something; a lot more than the weak criticism he receives from some quarters.He didn't do "a solid job". He gave the ball away quite a bit and Bayern COMPLETELY dominated midfield for 60 odd minutes. How on earth is that "solid"?

It takes two to tango, and Fletcher was no better, but I wouldn't hold Wednesday up as a great performance.

[ofjames]

He didn't do "a solid job". He gave the ball away quite a bit and Bayern COMPLETELY dominated midfield for 60 odd minutes. How on earth is that "solid"?

It takes two to tango, and Fletcher was no better, but I wouldn't hold Wednesday up as a great performance.

thats nonsense as far as i'm concerned. at half time, he was easily one of united's most impressive performers. his workrate was second-to-none and he kept the ball extremely well. he played a number of excellent through balls that created opportunities for united as well, including the one for rafael that he managed to screw up.

i challenge you to watch that first half back again and find more than a couple of occasions he lost the ball.

he drifted out of the game, like every other united player except the defenders and goalkeeper soon as rafael was sent off which was on the 50 minute mark. that changed the game utterly and his role changed from a predominantly attacking one to a defensive role.

bayern were played off the park in the first half and only dominated the match once rafael was sent off. saying they dominated midfield from the 30th minute onwards is tosh.

as for dunphy and giles. they are complete idiots who have zero credibility remaining. they dont even know the players names yet they come out with these outrageous opinions. and as an earlier poster said, they think everyone bar messi and rooney is ****. RTE need to put them out to pasture ASAP. They were talking about fergie having had his day and not knowing it... talk about the pot calling the kettle black

[Wolfie]

........as for dunphy and giles. they are complete idiots who have zero credibility remaining. they dont even know the players names yet they come out with these outrageous opinions. and as an earlier poster said, they think everyone bar messi and rooney is ****. RTE need to put them out to pasture ASAP. They were talking about fergie having had his day and not knowing it... talk about the pot calling the kettle black

Did they specifically say that Ferguson has had his day??

I heard John Giles on Newstalk last night an he was saying Ferguson hasn't had his day. Giles felt that Ferguson had made a few errors of judgement in the last year but that he was still a great manager who could well pro-long his tenure for at least another season.

On the topic at hand - Gibson has a lot of potential but is far from what Ireland require from central midfield right now.

[Predator]

He didn't do "a solid job". He gave the ball away quite a bit and Bayern COMPLETELY dominated midfield for 60 odd minutes. How on earth is that "solid"?

It takes two to tango, and Fletcher was no better, but I wouldn't hold Wednesday up as a great performance.
I didn't say it was a great performance. It wasn't quite on par with the type of Rooney or Messi performances people seem to expect from him, but it was a solid performance nonetheless. As ofjames said, the only time Bayern 'COMPLETELY dominated midfield', was when United were reduced to ten men - even then, United had some chances, and Gibson could well have had another if the referee hadn't obstructed him

[DeLorean]

He and Fletcher are similar players who need a water carrier playing beside them to do the donkey work and more importantly, control the tempo of a match

I wouldn't really agree with this bit. Fletcher is all about the donkey work but does need a better player alongside him. I thought Gibson was as poor as ever the last night and looks a complete liability to me so far. He did seem to make an extra effort the close people down early on in the match but that should be a minimum requirement. If he wasn't Irish I really don't think opinions would be as divided on him.

[Longfordian]

Carrick was the worst of the three in midfield by a mile as far as I could see. I thought Gibson was quick to support Rooney and his passing was decent. Most people on other sites seem to agree Gibson did well, Glenn Hoddle was praising him on Sky after the match he reckoned he's got "a terrific future".

[elroy]

as for dunphy and giles. they are complete idiots who have zero credibility remaining. they dont even know the players names yet they come out with these outrageous opinions. and as an earlier poster said, they think everyone bar messi and rooney is ****. RTE need to put them out to pasture ASAP. They were talking about fergie having had his day and not knowing it... talk about the pot calling the kettle black

Whatever about Giles, Dunphy is getting progressively worse, OTT, sensationalist just to get a reaction.

But if you think they're bad you shouldve switched over to Fat Pat on Setanta, oh sweet jesus. For some reason, he felt the result was a great reason to say how overrated Rooney was and how he is only rated by people who watch english football and think they know football as a result etc etc.
Sorry for the offtopic.

[culloty82]

Considering when Gibson starts I'm usually as worried as people used to be about O'Shea until he developed, I was surprised by how well he did in the first half. Took his goal excellently, had a few more decent attempts and linked up well in midfield. Granted, he faded out after half-time, but he definitely had more of an impact than Fletcher or Carrick, and he's certainly in contention to start tomorrow.