Stan calls up unknown 22 year old St Ledger [Archive]

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bwagner

28/08/2006, 12:31 PM

guys i forget is he with us or against us ??
playin all the time for preston

soccerc

28/08/2006, 6:14 PM

Republic of Ireland Senior International Manager, Stephen Staunton has been forced to make two changes to his squad ahead of the UEFA EURO 2008 Championship Qualifier v Germany on 2nd September in Stuttgart.

Paddy Kenny (thigh strain) and Stephen Kelly (calf strain) have both withdrawn from the squad while Nicky Colgan (Barnsley) and Sean St. Ledger (Preston) have both been called-up on International duty as they link up with the Republic of Ireland squad for their first training session in Malahide, on Wednesday morning.

Soper

28/08/2006, 6:16 PM

Surely has something agaisnt Paddy Mac then

DmanDmythDledge

28/08/2006, 6:20 PM

Surely has something agaisnt Paddy Mac then
Kelly was a FB so we have to presume that this fella is as well.

joema

28/08/2006, 6:25 PM

Seems he is a Cb but can also play full back

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_St_Ledger

jbyrne

28/08/2006, 6:28 PM

... as they link up with the Republic of Ireland squad for their first training session in Malahide, on Wednesday morning.

why wait til wed morning to have the first session for a big match on sat? a lot of our fans will have started their pre match "preparations" before then!!

Paddy Garcia

28/08/2006, 7:25 PM

guys i forget is he with us or against us ??
playin all the time for preston

........good timing.:)

Perhaps you could ask about a central midfielder next?

NeilMcD

28/08/2006, 7:30 PM

Where is this sourced as I cannot find it anywhere. Its not on the RTE or FAI websites.

Irish_Praha

28/08/2006, 7:32 PM

pete

28/08/2006, 7:32 PM

Where is this sourced as I cannot find it anywhere. Its not on the RTE or FAI websites.

I can't find anywhere either but soccerc might have inside sources.

Stan seems to be making it up as he goes along. No consistency & doesn't inspire confidence.

Irish_Praha

28/08/2006, 7:34 PM

Stan seems to be making it up as he goes along. No consistency & doesn't inspire confidence.

Well at least he's not predictable like Kerr but maybe that can be bad too.

NeilMcD

28/08/2006, 7:39 PM

Would have went for Kevin Foley myself if it was a direct replacement for Kelly.
Maybe Shane Supple ahead of Colgan too but at least Clogan has some international experience. Who comes on if Given gets injured? Colgan or Henderson? Scary :eek:

To be fair there is not many countries that could deal with 2 of their first choice keepers injured England with a huge population and vast resources would not be in a good position if they lost their 1st and 2nd choice keepers. GIven is our most important player but I think we were very lucky when we had Bonner then Kelly then Given and Kielyl all overlapping with each other.

NeilMcD

28/08/2006, 7:41 PM

Preston have completed the signing of Peterborough defender Sean St Ledger, for an initial fee of £225,000, which could eventually reach £350,000.

The 21-year-old has now agreed personal terms on a three-year contract at Deepdale, and passed a medical.

"Sean is a player who I have been monitoring for about 12 months," boss Paul Simpson told Preston's website.

"He can play centre-half or right-back, he's very athletic, very quick and comfortable in possession of the ball."

St Ledger recently had a spell training with Birmingham City, and played 45 minutes of a behind-closed-doors friendly at Northampton for City on Wednesday.

Simpson added: "When we found out Bitmingham were interested in doing a deal, we decided to act quicky and get in there before we lost him.

"He's a Birmingham lad, but it speaks volumes for the attitude he's got that he felt Preston was the right place for him to be."

Paddy Garcia

28/08/2006, 8:18 PM

Stan seems to be making it up as he goes along. No consistency & doesn't inspire confidence.

...well he has been consistent in not selecting McCarthy.

Scram

28/08/2006, 8:31 PM

WTF:eek: If we are desparate for coverage at the back, he can play Doherty there but we are not desparate. We are desparate at midfield so why didn't he call Andy Reid in ?!!!

The poor aul stomach is just recovering from the Dubs being beaten and I fear that this weekend may bring more of the same...pass me the Rennie. :(

soccerc

28/08/2006, 8:36 PM

co. down green

28/08/2006, 8:42 PM

I can't find anywhere either but soccerc might have inside sources.

Stan seems to be making it up as he goes along. No consistency & doesn't inspire confidence.

full story below

http://www.ireland.com/sports/soccer/2006/0828/1156711978955.html

ccfcman

28/08/2006, 9:06 PM

Shame he didnt go to the eL for a player if he needs some proven pedigree?

NeilMcD

28/08/2006, 9:24 PM

Fair play to soccerc u were certainly on the ball

loscherland

28/08/2006, 9:28 PM

PaulB

29/08/2006, 7:18 AM

Stan scares 2 buckets of **** out of me. He just come sout with these beauts every now and then. Let's hope we're wrong and this guy turns out to be a class act :rolleyes: , but do we need another central defender in the squad. Dunne, O'Brien, O'Shea, Doherty..

Paddy Garcia

29/08/2006, 7:24 AM

Seems a little non-sensicle to throw 'whoever this is' into a full international squad having never even been called up to the squad -- even when half the team dropped out of the dutch squad.
- If stan knew about him then, why wasn't he drafted in? Even just to see him in training.
- Or is he english-irish & only just declared for us?
- Or was he injured
- Or is stan actually a magician & able to pull players out of a big black hat when it pleases him?

http://www.unison.ie/sportsdesk/stories.php3?ca=12&si=1678413

"Staunton's fellow Dundalkman, Foreign Affairs minister Dermot Ahern, last night instructed embassy staff in London to expedite the issuing of a passport to St Ledger, once they were satisfied that the Birmingham-born player qualifies through his Carlow-born grandmother.

The 21-year-old will receive his Irish passport today "

...though to be fair someone on this forum reported that he trained with the U21s about 6 months ago.

By the way he is not an unknown - he is the star of "Big Ron Manager" (when is this on?).

drummerboy

29/08/2006, 8:20 AM

SeanieBoy

29/08/2006, 9:09 AM

Sky One and 2 are showing a programme called Big Ron, Football Manager, in which Ron works as a consultant with Peterborough Utd FC. Its a fly-on-the-wall documentary based on last seasons campaigh. One of the main characters in the programme is Peterborough player Sean St Ledger. Let you guys judge for yourself. Next episode is on tonight.

Yeah, I saw that last week & was shocked to hear that we had called him up. But it seems that he was very highly regarded by Peterborough. No harm having a little back up at CB, might turn out to be a great move by Stan!!

eirebhoy

29/08/2006, 9:10 AM

He has been mentioned on this site a few times after training with the U21s. I haven't seen him play but seems a strange call up with McCarthy still "not ready".

NeilMcD

29/08/2006, 9:10 AM

I was reading 4-4-2 and the Peterborough fans said there start man for this year was going to Be Sean St. Ledger. Now I know that They are are a level far below us but it look like he was the start man for them and Preston snapped him up. He has started well by all accounts at Preston

tetsujin1979

29/08/2006, 9:27 AM

Slightly off topic, and I mentioned this on another board, did Kilbane get his first cap for us at Preston, and if not does that mean that the last Preston player to declare for us was Lawrenson?

Stuttgart88

29/08/2006, 9:55 AM

It's all academic anyway I reckon, as he's little or no chance of actually playing.

Finnan, Carr, O'Shea & Kilbane are full back options, though I'm pretty sure that JOS will start in midfield.

I'm actually glad Doherty is ahead of McCarthy for this game though I'm surprised SSL is ahead of McCarthy. Not that I've any great belief in Doc but I don't think this is any game for either of the other two to be making a debut & Doc might be better suited to marking Klose if either Dunne or O'Brien gets injured. According to some here he's been playing well.

Again, this is a case where we've got to trust Stan's judgment. I'm more concerned with what he does with the 15 players most likerly to play than with those on the fringes.

To some extent he's being consistent with his "building for the future" statements but I'd personally feel more comfortable with Rory Delap as back-up due to his versatility & experience - he can play both full back positions and central midfield - and I have a hunch he'd be a half-decent centre back given his physique.

I just hope that Stan doesn't have grudges against Reid & McCarthy and others. Kerr omitted the likes of Dunne & Steven Reid on an ongoing basis. But as Neil said above, if nothing else, at least predicting Staunton's squads is interesting.

DotTV

29/08/2006, 10:08 AM

I thought the St Ledger was a horse race?

Anyway, as Stuttgart says he probably won't get a game but at least it is extra cover at CB

Paulie

29/08/2006, 10:14 AM

I reckon that the main reason McCarthy is not in the squad is his poor disciplinary record. He already has 3 yellow cards this season

BrayUnknowns

29/08/2006, 10:17 AM

This bloke is in the Sky 1 programme "Big Ron Manager" at the moment (on tonight AFAIK), it was filmed while he was still at The Posh. Seems to be highly rated but surely he's not the answer ? FFS, from league 2 to a WCQ in the space of a few months, theres not a chance he is ready for this yet.....

EDIT: I didn't see the above post.... Oops

NeilMcD

29/08/2006, 10:24 AM

Has Big Ron replaced Sir Bobby as our international consultant?
Tuesday August 29th 2006
ADVERTISEMENT

click here to enlarge
pu,CAPRON

A FEW weeks ago Steve Staunton's phone rang. He looked at it and saw the name 'Big Ron' flashing on the screen.

Ron Atkinson, Staunton's former manager at Aston Villa, is now a football troubleshooter, called in to help managers in crisis, with the results shown each Tuesday night on Sky One's 'Big Ron Manager'.

No doubt apprehensive that his old boss was going to offer to bring himself and his film crew to help out the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Staunton answered the phone.

But all 'Big Ron' wanted was to offer one piece of advice. "Check out Sean St Ledger at Preston North End. He's got an Irish granny," advised Atkinson.

"He can play right-back or centre-back and could even do a job at left-back. But I think he'd make a great attacking midfielder.

"He is a very, very energetic player. He has got great attacking pace, good energy and is a tidy player who works hard," added Atkinson.

'Big Ron' explained to Staunton that he had come across St Ledger when he was at Peterbrough earlier this year filming his television programme and was very impressed by the 21-year-old Birmingham-born player.

"He is an old fashioned type of player," he observed before adding that Preston had paid £225,000 to Peterbrough to sign him in July.

Staunton, who stated his his intention to use the 'Granny Rule' on his first day in the job, had St Ledger watched because Atkinson doesn't gave away recommendations cheaply.

"Over the last four years I have only recommended three unknown players to clubs in the higher divisions - Marlon Harewood, now with West Ham, David Nugent, now with Preston, and Sean St Ledger. I told a number of clubs about St Ledger but Preston were the first to move," explained Atkinson.

St Ledger has played every minute of Preston's six games this season and the reports back were so encouraging that Staunton placed him on the standby list for this weekend's Euro 2008 opener against Germany in Stuttgart.

When Birmingham City's Stephen Kelly pulled out after picking up a calf injury in Saturday's top-of-the-table defeat by Cardiff City, Staunton called up St Ledger and then discovered his newest recruit didn't yet have an Irish passport.

Contacted

The FAI immediately contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and when Minister Dermot Ahern, himself a keen football fan, heard about the problem he asked his staff to expedite the application once they were satisfied that St Ledger qualified for a passport through his Carlow-born grandmother.

The Irish embassy in London will issue St Ledger with his Irish passport later today and the Preston defender will fly into Dublin this evening and report to the Ireland squad's HQ in Portmarnock.

Tonight, the Irish squad will no doubt take the opportunity to check out St Ledger by staying in to watch the latest episode of 'Big Ron Manager'. St Ledger admits that he is unhappy with the Sky One programme because he is being portrayed in it as the 'bad boy'. He said: "There were bits in last week's show I was not happy with - and there is worse to come.

"I'm not happy with how I'm being made to look and viewers have been given the wrong impression of me.

"Even the linesman (on Saturday against Southampton) had a pop at me about last Tuesday's show when I ran to the touchline to get water." St Ledger and Peterbrough's rookie manager Steve Bleasdale didn't see eye to eye and their bust-ups figure prominently in the television series. "It's strange watching myself on telly - I feel like I'm in Big Brother.

"Some of it is cringeworthy and some is funny. There's a lot of arguing and I can see now why Steve was worried about Ron coming in.

"Steve and I didn't have the best of relationships but the TV company wants to portray me as having an attitude and being a bad lad around the ground.

"There's a time in one of the episodes when I look like I have an attitude because Steve asked me to do a little extra training. But that wasn't the reason.

"What the cameras didn't show was Steve implying that I was an alcoholic. That's why I was annoyed. He just started talking to me and telling me stories about George Best.

"I might have the odd drink at weekends but I never drink in the week. Yet the show made it look like I didn't train. If you ask any of my friends, they would say I am a good lad. The programme is not a true reflection.

"I am just pleased the show came out after my move to Preston as I don't think many clubs would want me after seeing me on it." Atkinson also leapt to St Ledger's defence by stating he didn't observe anything that would have set alarm bells ringing.

"I thought his attitude was first class. He was a very good trainer. I think he had a problem with the regime and the previous manager and that was manifested when Steve took over as caretaker."

Steve Bleasdale has been appointed caretaker manager in January following the dismissal of Mark Wright. In his final days in charge Wright had dropped St Ledger for a game against Lincoln for showing a lack of respect to Bleasdale, then his coach, in the build-up.

Attitude

"Sean has a big future but his attitude was not right," said Wright at the time. "I don't care who the players are, if they don't abide by the rules then they won't be in the side."

Atkinson admits that he has been watching Staunton's rookie year in international management with great interest and believes his former player can be a success.

"I think he will be very honest, very open and very strong. He's in a bit of a transition period with the squad. "But he does have outstanding individuals in Damien Duff, Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne and Shay Given whom he can build a team around."

Atkinson's involvement in the recruitment of Sean St Ledger and his vast experience as a manager is sure to catch the eye of the FAI if they find themselves in a position where they have to go and look for a new international football consultant, should Bobby Robson's doctors advise him to relinquish the role in the coming weeks.

But only if he leaves the television cameras at home!

Gerry McDermott

Over the post

29/08/2006, 10:29 AM

Maybury, Delap and Flood can all play full back and have international experience. As mentioned in an earlier post, the lad has no chance of a game this time round and Stan may have drafted him in so that he gets and idea of what the international set-up is like. Fair enough I suppose, but if it's merely a question of giving someone a chance to link up with the squad, SSL would be fairly far down the list of candidates.
We have two fit right backs in the squad and while Carr is no great shakes, I can't see SSL getting a game ahead of him. I read that Big Ron said he could probably play on the left but we need specialist options in that position.
Initially when Stan starts calling up relatively unknown players you begin to think "he must have found some teenage prodigy" but after a while it begins to smack of desperation.

CraftyToePoke

29/08/2006, 10:30 AM

i went to see him play last season for posh and he went to bits after an early goal-costing error, i did a report in the irish in britain thread,

here, http://www.foot.ie/showthread.php?t=19834&page=43

i thought the occasion got to him that day as it was a game for playoff/automatic spots, but a season ticket at p'boro assures me he is much much better than that days performance and was their best player many times last year.

John83

29/08/2006, 10:58 AM

Why are people talking about St Ledger getting in ahead of McCarthy? While he can play centre half, he's also a right back, and it's clear that he was brought in to replace Kelly, who's a right back. McCarthy isn't, AFAIK, able to play full back.

pete

29/08/2006, 11:05 AM

Bizarre call up & would be surprised if Staunton has not seen him play much. Says a lot when have to find him a passport in a hurry.

I am no person to defend Don Givens but if Staunton is picking a player who could not get in the U21 squad does his mean he has no confidence in the U21 manager?

:confused:

DotTV

29/08/2006, 11:18 AM

Ron Atkinson phoned Staunton and told him St Leger has an Irish granny and is a solid player who plays right back, centre half or even left back.

shakermaker1982

29/08/2006, 11:24 AM

Very strange decision - he has very little chance of playing but the lads overlooked won't be too chuffed.

Pablo

29/08/2006, 11:44 AM

The Irish national team is now officially a laughing stock

shakermaker1982

29/08/2006, 11:46 AM

oh and cheers Big Ron for the St Ledger tip.

dr_peepee

29/08/2006, 11:47 AM

I haven't seen much of our centre halves in the Championship (McCarthy, McShane or St Ledger) so I can't say if there's much to call between them... But if, as mentioned he's been brought in as cover for full back I would've thought Foley from Luton would have got the call...

St Ledger maybe a diamond in the rough though so I'll reserve judgement.

Stan is full of Surprises though.

Stuttgart88

29/08/2006, 11:54 AM

[QUOTE=dr_peepee;But if, as mentioned he's been brought in as cover for full back I would've thought Foley from Luton would have got the call...[/QUOTE]

me too. maybe they've deemed to u21 qualifier as more important for foley to be involved in?

Dotsy

29/08/2006, 12:33 PM

me too. maybe they've deemed to u21 qualifier as more important for foley to be involved in?

I'd say you are spot on. Realistically neither is going to get a game on Sat so they probably thought Foley is more important to the U21's then warming the bench on Sat.

youngirish

29/08/2006, 1:21 PM

I'd say you are spot on. Realistically neither is going to get a game on Sat so they probably thought Foley is more important to the U21's then warming the bench on Sat.

Surely the senior team should always come first. What if Carr and/or Finnan get injured before or during the game. We are fu**ed. Surely Foley should be in the squad instead as he's young, highly rated and has a seasons experience behind him playing in the Championship while Ledger has 6 games.

Another day. Another bizarre decision by Staunton and his cronies. He's so far:

1. Named Terry Dixon, who can't even get into the Spurs reserve team, in a number of squads ahead of far more deserving forwards (too numerous to mention) for no obvious reason.
2. Continued to leave P Mc Carthy the young Leicester captain out of the squad for unexplained reasons.
3. Played Kilbane at centre back.
4. Brought in Heath St Ledger or whatever his name is straight (almost) from League 2 football after watching him on Big Ron's Championship manager.

And finally the most baffling of all:

5. Left Andy Reid a proven premiership footballer now playing regularly out of a squad containing Alan O'Brien, Liam Miller and Johnathan Douglas all well known names in the reserve leagues.

Staunton is turning out to be a joke. I'm beginning to think that the man isn't all there as even the dodgiest of all managers couldn't justify all of the above.

geysir

29/08/2006, 2:00 PM

SeanC

29/08/2006, 2:09 PM

There's a picture in today's Indo, if St.Ledger is the big lad in the white shirt sticking the boot in the tackle, then at least he looks the part.

How true. Sledge is the man!

I bet most of ye are to young to remember Paul McGee?

:D

Stuttgart88

29/08/2006, 2:11 PM

Of Sligo Rovers? And QPR?

Stuttgart88

29/08/2006, 2:19 PM

youngirish, my guess is that it's so unlikely that St Leger will actually play that it's thought Foley playing in a competitive match rather than warming the bench is more important.

However, my point on another concurrent thread, is that the press should be asking him to explain this decision, and Reid's ommission etc. It's all about communication.

The manager is paid to make value judgments and we've got to allow him to make those decisions, but letting speculation & rumour fester is unhelpful. My guess is that few in the press would even think that Kevin Foley was even an option, or few think that Reid's ommission is important. Insignificant rubbish like Portsmouth's win at Middlesborough probably gets more attention.

DotTV

29/08/2006, 2:25 PM

How true. Sledge is the man!

I bet most of ye are to young to remember Paul McGee?

:D

I trained with him last week.

dr_peepee

29/08/2006, 2:33 PM

Agreed...

It was a problem I had with the last regime when it came to Harte, S Reid and Dunnes absences. But I felt that even if the manager felt he shouldn't have to explain his decisions to the fans or media he should at least keep the players on or about the fringe of the squad in the loop. Judging by the noises they made in the media at the time it was clear that Kerr wasn't in contact with them to explain their absence or, more importantly, what they'd to do to get back in.

As it stands there's been no grumblings from anyone. Now it's unlikely someone at McCarthy's level and experience would feel justified in making comment over exclusion but Andy Reid would have a point if he felt agrieved..

Anyway, point is, maybe Staunton has been in touch with them and talked through some things and they know where they stand so their just gonna stick the head down and plough throught til their oppertunity comes.