O'Dea starts for Celtic

[sligobhoy67]

lets see how this goes - could be good news for Ireland's centre back difficulties

[therock67]

lets see how this goes - could be good news for Ireland's centre back difficulties

He's playing left back though which is the problem. Looks a decent centre half but he's not quick enough to be a full back.

[eirebhoy]

He's playing left back against decent opposition. He's played in that position twice before against weak opposition and been exposed for pace. Milan game on Tuesday so O'Dea could be playing for his place.

[co. down green]

Its about time he got some first team football this season

Put in some solid defensive performances last season

[sligobhoy67]

He's playing left back against decent opposition. He's played in that position twice before against weak opposition and been exposed for pace. Milan game on Tuesday so O'Dea could be playing for his place.

I agree, LB or RB aint his spot - but it will be interesting to see how he handle Hertz RW Velicka who has genuine pace

[sligobhoy67]

I agree, LB or RB aint his spot - but it will be interesting to see how he handle Hertz RW Velicka who has genuine pace

well a clean sheet of sorts - that man Velicka did score from a undeserved injury time penalty - but O'Dea played well today, solid, efficient and set up a few attacking chances - one of which JvoH should have scored from.

encouraging!

[eirebhoy]

Was left on his arse a couple of times with tackles but did well with the ball at his feet as usual.

[Junior]

Ive not seen much of him (I was away when he had most of his performances for cEltic last season), looks a solid enough defender, committed in the tackle and more often than not came out with the ball or was first to it in the 50/50's. No pace, which is a concern anywhere but particularly if hes playing fullback.

Needs more appearances for Celtic before he would be challenging for Ireland, though Keenedys injury now means who could possibly get a chance at CH depending on how Pressley/McManus get on injury/suspension wise....

By the way Hearts penalty was fully deserved, stupid challenge by caldwell.

[sligobhoy67]

I heard that he didnt play that well in the Ireland v England U-21 game.

Anyone confirm/deny!?

[CollegeTillIDie]

He's in the shakeup for Celtic because of Kennedy's injury and who ever else got injured at centreback.

[zenokelly]

I have been very disappointed that he didn't get a decent crack this season by Strachan because I was really impressed with him last season especially in the San Siro, where I thought he was MOTM.

But what can I say, I'm not there for training but he deserves more opportunities than he's getting in my opinion. He's just lucky Kennedy got that injury. He should get a bit of a run now. He had a good game today, especially with no match practice.

[FarBeag]

I heard that he didnt play that well in the Ireland v England U-21 game.

Anyone confirm/deny!?



I have seen O’Dea play a couple of u21 games in the centre. He did ok and didn’t do a lot wrong. There is no doubt he has potential but needs to be playing on a more regular basis. In the Bulgarian game I really thought O’Cearuill outshone him though but this is only my opinion.

[kingeric]

i think he's 10 times the player O Cearuil will ever be...but that's just my opinion

[Stuttgart88]

All the signs are that O'Dea will be a better player than O'Cearuill and it's a big worry that O'Cearuill "failed" so many recent club trials. But on the night in Athlone O'Cearuill had the better game for the U21s I thought.

[NeilMcD]

I heard that he didnt play that well in the Ireland v England U-21 game.

Anyone confirm/deny!?


I was at the game and I tought he played well. One thing I noticed at that level he was very much the talker of the back four and he was constantly telling players what to do etc. It was more down the right side that Ireland got done that night.

[Junior]

He's just lucky Kennedy got that injury. He should get a bit of a run now. He had a good game today, especially with no match practice.

It was really Naylors injury at LB that created the opening for Odea. Pressley has stepped in to the CB role and Id imagine he is ahead of O'Dea in the pecking order for that position

[DmanDmythDledge]

I was at the game and I tought he played well. One thing I noticed at that level he was very much the talker of the back four and he was constantly telling players what to do etc. It was more down the right side that Ireland got done that night.
That's good to hear as Dunne is the only organiser we have in defence at the moment.

[irishfan86]

That's good to hear as Dunne is the only organiser we have in defence at the moment.

Yeah I remember him barking at Balde when he played his first game in the Champions League.....I was thinking, who's the veteran centre half here? :eek:

[elroy]

I heard that he didnt play that well in the Ireland v England U-21 game.

Anyone confirm/deny!?

ya watched that game and he was quite poor, but the Irish defence in general was poor that night. Was tuning in expecting to see good performances from O'Dea and Garvan that night but both were a long way short. Having said that Don G played 433 that night against arguably one of the best U21 sides in Europe.

[as_i_say]

yeah england u21 are superb, we can never compete with the likes of them at that level.

[eirebhoy]

Having said that Don G played 433 that night against arguably one of the best U21 sides in Europe.
And our 3 midfielders were attack minded too. Crazy team selection. On the ball though I really thought we were better than England in the first half.


Yeah I remember him barking at Balde when he played his first game in the Champions League.....I was thinking, who's the veteran centre half here? :eek:
Yeah he also captains Celtic reserves which usually contains 3 or 4 senior players.

[scottish_bohs]

It was really Naylors injury at LB that created the opening for Odea. Pressley has stepped in to the CB role and Id imagine he is ahead of O'Dea in the pecking order for that position

Yeah, that's spot on. I'd imagine Pressley will partner McManus for the forthcoming games. The vast majority of Celtic fans back home would rather O'Dea was given a go rather than Pressley though. I agree too. He's a great talent and deserves to be given a go at either centre back or left back. Strachan is very stuck in his ways though so as soon as Naylor is fit again O'Dea will no doubt be back on the bench.

[sligobhoy67]

I reckon O'Dea was Celtics best performer are the San Siro.

McGeady had a great first half but O'Dea shone throughout

[drinkfeckarse]

I only saw the first half but he certainly didn't let himself down in that. He looked comfortable and composed without being brilliant.

[scottish_bohs]

I thought he was excellent last night. A little nervous at the start perhaps but he was composed throughout and didn't really put a foot wrong. Not frightened to have the ball at his feet either. Hard to believe he's so young with a mature performance like that.

[sligobhoy67]

I thought he was excellent last night. A little nervous at the start perhaps but he was composed throughout and didn't really put a foot wrong. Not frightened to have the ball at his feet either. Hard to believe he's so young with a mature performance like that.

wouldnt disagree with that - especially out of position. I'd be happy to see him keep his place tbh

[eirebhoy]

O'Dea was dropped for tonights match in place of the attacking Conroy (for his Celtic debut). Strachan said after the match that he noticed the full backs had been getting a lot of the ball recently and there wasn't a lot of creativity coming from Caldwell and O'Dea. In Strachan's words: "I decided to leave Darren out cos he's gonna be a terrific centre half". So obviously he rates him as a central defender which you'd be starting to doubt considering the lack of game time he's getting there.

[irishfan86]

O'Dea was dropped for tonights match in place of the attacking Conroy (for his Celtic debut). Strachan said after the match that he noticed the full backs had been getting a lot of the ball recently and there wasn't a lot of creativity coming from Caldwell and O'Dea. In Strachan's words: "I decided to leave Darren out cos he's gonna be a terrific centre half". So obviously he rates him as a central defender which you'd be starting to doubt considering the lack of game time he's getting there.

In fairness I think any young defender would struggle to get in ahead of McManus and Pressley.....Caldwell is also good by SPL standards.

The fact that Celtic defenders rarely have much to deal with in the SPL also means their places are fairly secure- an EPL defender wouldn't have that safety week in and week out; if he has a nightmare he's going to get dropped and someone else is going to slot in, end of.

[therock67]

Pressley came off injured tonight - so maybe O'Dea will get a run now.

[drummerboy]

Think O'Dea should be looking to go on load to a championship side until Celtic are ready to play him regularly. He will not improve playing in Celtic reserves.

[tetsujin1979]

Think O'Dea should be looking to go on load to a championship side until Celtic are ready to play him regularly. He will not improve playing in Celtic reserves.Or on the bench.

[dr_peepee]

All true.... But I worry. Wasn't too long ago Anderson was regarded as one of the best centre half's in Scotland, and McShane was getting in ahead of him at Sunderland. I know he's young, but if O'Dea gonna be an asset to Ireland and dare i say the answer to who best to partner Dunne, he's got to be able to usurp players better than Pressley. Admittedly I don't watch much SPL, but would i be right in saying that given the standard of some of the oppostion, there's ample opportunity to blood a young centre half if he's got 'the potential'???

[EAFC_rdfl]

Dr peepee you would be right enough alright and other managers (eg ferguson, wenger etc) would probably be blooding him by now, but there are 2 reasons why this won't happen:

Strachan consistently doesn't change the team if possible, especially when doing well. Take last nights game, I was expecting a number of changes but the only one was Conroy in for O'Dea, other managers would have rested McGeady for Riordan, JVOH for Killen for example.
2nd point is that Strachan wil not play two left-footed centre backs together. McManus is no 1 CB so O'dea's chances could be limited.

on the plus side Strachan said after lastnights game that he sees O'Dea as a future centre back & wants to limit the amount of time he spends at full back

[SuperDave]

In fairness I think any young defender would struggle to get in ahead of McManus and Pressley.....Caldwell is also good by SPL standards.

The fact that Celtic defenders rarely have much to deal with in the SPL also means their places are fairly secure- an EPL defender wouldn't have that safety week in and week out; if he has a nightmare he's going to get dropped and someone else is going to slot in, end of.

the same spl where the celts haven't kept an away clean sheet (excluding the cup final) for 14 months?

[scottish_bohs]

I was surprised to see O'Dea dropepd in favour of Conroy last night. O'Dea did ok when he came on for Pressley though.

As an aside, Falkirk had Moutinho on the right flank, so i think Strachan was also trying to eliminate his threat by playing a quicker player at left back than O'Dea. Conroy's natural position is apparently left wing.

Glad to hear Strachan sees O'Dea as CB though, rather than a left-back as his attempts at converting players into left backs have been awful (wallace, wilson) and i'd rather he simply went out and bought an out and out left back to cover Naylor, or dipped in to the youth system.

[eirebhoy]

other managers would have rested McGeady for Riordan...
I don't know about that. Celtic's most in form player in a crucial match?

[irishfan86]

the same spl where the celts haven't kept an away clean sheet (excluding the cup final) for 14 months?

I don't know if you watch the games, but most of those goals are the rare counter-attack goal.

Celtic dominates every game they play in the SPL, but in any league, the home team is always going to get a couple of chances.

[EAFC_rdfl]

I don't know if you watch the games, but most of those goals are the rare counter-attack goal.

Celtic dominates every game they play in the SPL, but in any league, the home team is always going to get a couple of chances.

had the same argument not so long ago

http://foot.ie/showthread.php?p=832637#post832637

[SuperDave]

I don't know if you watch the games, but most of those goals are the rare counter-attack goal.

Celtic dominates every game they play in the SPL, but in any league, the home team is always going to get a couple of chances.

the trick is not letting them score from those couple of chances, or restricting counter attacks with, say, speedy, or even positionally aware, defenders.

[sligobhoy67]

I hear that Elvis is possibly out tomorrow - hopefully O'Dea will slot in at CB (and impress!)

[Junior]

Elvis and McManus were rank as a centre partnership today and Id lay that predominantly at Pressly's door. Balde was on the bench but is off to the African Nations shortly so perhaps an opening at CB is on the horizon for O'Dea

[sligobhoy67]

Elvis and McManus were rank as a centre partnership today and Id lay that predominantly at Pressly's door. Balde was on the bench but is off to the African Nations shortly so perhaps an opening at CB is on the horizon for O'Dea


your right Junior - possibly the worst defensive performance of Celtic since the early 90's!!