Finnan retires from International Football [Archive] - Page 5

Maroon 7

13/02/2008, 12:12 PM

Lets hope Don Trappatoni can convince him to change his mind because he is way better than any other fullback we have.

Presumably if he gets a position alongside Trap it would be Brady who would sound out Finnan about coming back for another campaign.

That said Finnan sounded pretty adamant in the paper that he was finished but players have said that before.

Ireland4ever

13/02/2008, 12:47 PM

Surely Finnan is regretting his decision, what with the opportunity to work with legends in the game Trappatoni (All time great manager) Gentille (Legendary Defender) Brady?(Irish legend).....

Condex

19/02/2008, 8:37 PM

We definitely need him back..
Hope 'Trap' can persuade him..

stiffler

19/02/2008, 8:42 PM

I thought he had a good game, though his crossing wasnt great to be honest.

Though, we need him back in the green shirt, 1 more campaign!

paul_oshea

19/02/2008, 8:58 PM

he played so well because he has retired from international football and can solely focus on club football, didnt ye know?!?!

RivaldoBabb

20/02/2008, 12:15 AM

No, thats not what I read on the official Liverpool website...

Finally Steve, can you tell us what was behind your decision to quit international football?

As I said a couple of weeks ago, I felt the time was right to quit. I've enjoyed my time with Ireland. But I thought it was probably right to do it now before a new manager came in, so he has an idea of the squad he's got for the next campaign.

Was the thought of prolonging your Liverpool career a factor?

Not really. If it helps my club form then great. But it was just about it being the right time to do it. If it helps my Liverpool career, great, but that wasn't a factor.

source-
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/archivedirs/news/2008/feb/6/N158741080206-1031.htm

He, along with most of the other players, was probably p1ssed off with the drawn out selection process and gave up.

I wouldnt be surprised if Trap sends the mafia around to 'talk him out of retirement', he was one of Liverpools best performers against Inter and we havent anything near that quality in that position...McShane, Kelly, O Shea, Oh dear.

tetsujin1979

20/02/2008, 9:36 AM

Slightly off topic, Kuyt's opinion of Finnan
From: http://www.icons.com/kuyt/diary.html?19.02.08

Steve Finnan
He’s a really nice lad. He was one of the players who helped me out from the beginning when I arrived at Anfield. We play golf together sometimes. We play computer games against each other as well and with a few of the other lads when we travel to away games.

OwlsFan

20/02/2008, 9:40 AM

Didn't do much for Kuyt's game though ;)

I thought Finnan was excellent last night. He is will be sorely missed by us.

Hibernian

20/02/2008, 10:12 AM

Didn't do much for Kuyt's game though ;)

I thought Finnan was excellent last night. He is will be sorely missed by us.

Don't want him to come back to be honest rather if we get there now without him.

Great player he was but he made the call and would be annoyed if he came back now.

Condex

20/02/2008, 11:05 AM

Don't want him to come back to be honest rather if we get there now without him.

Great player he was but he made the call and would be annoyed if he came back now.

That is OK to say if we had a load of good quality fullbacks..
But we haven't, people like Stephen Kelly are championship players at best...

Morbo

20/02/2008, 11:14 AM

Doesn't really matter because I can't see him coming back, its well known Liverpool have a pretty sh*tty attitude towards internationals, I doubt he has the balls to tell Rafa that he wants to play for Ireland again not that he does want to anyway

shakermaker1982

20/02/2008, 11:19 AM

That is OK to say if we had a load of good quality fullbacks..
But we haven't, people like Stephen Kelly are championship players at best...

but making a living for himself in the PL and regarded by Birmingham fans as their best player this season so far? He's young and will get better. Finnan was/is a good player but I think we should look for alternatives now that he has decided he doesn't want to play for us.

Hibernian

20/02/2008, 11:23 AM

That is OK to say if we had a load of good quality fullbacks..
But we haven't, people like Stephen Kelly are championship players at best...

He let his country down at the time we needed these players the most so on that I would have Kelly ahead of Finnan.

RogerMilla

20/02/2008, 11:25 AM

i think finnan should be asked back , if he says no then we all know where we stand,

Dr. Ogba

20/02/2008, 11:26 AM

i think finnan should be asked back , if he says no then we all know where we stand,

But he retired, we all know where we stand now. why go grovelling back?

Give Kelly/O'Brien a chance now....

RogerMilla

20/02/2008, 11:38 AM

they always come back when asked , he's too young to retire , and we need him.
nothing wrong at all with sending out feelers to him. It's far from grovelling , its more of a statement that we feel he has acted rashly , made a mistake and would be welcome back into the fold.

Wolfie

20/02/2008, 12:10 PM

I think it would be a result to get him back for the next campaign.

Definitely worth sounding him out for a return. He's by far our best full back.

Condex

20/02/2008, 12:30 PM

but making a living for himself in the PL and regarded by Birmingham fans as their best player this season so far? He's young and will get better. Finnan was/is a good player but I think we should look for alternatives now that he has decided he doesn't want to play for us.

Watched him at Spurs and in Prague is a very average player IMO..
If thes the best that Birmingham have to offer then they better get prepared for relegation..

Noelys Guitar

20/02/2008, 12:35 PM

Trappottoni will be fully aware of how good a player Finnan is as he watches a lot of football on the TV. He is sure to make an approach to get Finnan back. I think Finnan can be persuaded by someone like Tardelli.

geysir

20/02/2008, 2:47 PM

I'm sure it won't escape Trap's antenna.
It's not as if the CL is peppered with Irish players.
As it stands now we have McGeady playing in the CL.
Finnan's retirement cut our involvement by 50%.

elroy

20/02/2008, 2:47 PM

I'm sure it won't escape Trap's antenna.
It's not as if the CL is peppered with Irish players.
As it stands now we have McGeady playing in the CL.
Finnan's retirement cut our involvement by 50%.

Dont forget JOSH :D

boovidge

20/02/2008, 3:00 PM

and O'Dea :p

geysir

20/02/2008, 3:10 PM

Playing?

Hibernian

20/02/2008, 3:10 PM

ofjames

20/02/2008, 5:16 PM

If he played for one of the smaller clubs in England nobody would want him back.

I really hope he does not come back his heart is not with Ireland and it's not as if he ever really played well for Ireland anyway never looked happy with Ireland as he does with Liverpool.

Stay where you are Steve.

thats a load of ****e. he was one of our best players in the world cup. and produced a consistency of performance under mccarthy and kerr that very very few could match.

Maybe his apparent unhappiness was with the fact that 3 successive Irish managers chose to play the best fullback we've had since denis irwin out of his natural position. years at left full and right mid have left our stevie cheesed off. trap won't engage in such nonsense so any serious approach to finnan i reckon would have a good chance of success

boovidge

20/02/2008, 10:42 PM

Playing?

He played against milan if i remember rightly

livehead1

21/02/2008, 12:53 AM

Bondvillain

21/02/2008, 1:28 AM

If he played for one of the smaller clubs in England nobody would want him back.

I really hope he does not come back his heart is not with Ireland and it's not as if he ever really played well for Ireland anyway never looked happy with Ireland as he does with Liverpool.

Stay where you are Steve.

Sorry. I appreciate everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that's just wrong.

How could one wish that one of our better players "never came back" ?

How could one who appreciated strong performances in the green shirt assert that " it's not as if he ever really played well for Ireland anyway"?

And since when is smiling like a f�cking loon a prerequisite for selection?

Who gives a damn whether he looked happy or not? I dont recall Figo p!ssing himself laughing during any matches I saw him in. Nor Oliver Kahn , Packie Bonner , Kevin Moran , Henry, nor frankly, anyone else I took seriously in international matches for that matter.
It's not a 5th birthday party, it's international football. Play now, reflect later. Happy clappy not a requirement.

elroy

21/02/2008, 8:21 AM

It basically comes down to if Ireland were playing a qualifier in the morning and Steve Finnan was available for selection, would he start?? Damn right he would, therefore if he makes himself available again, all the better.

Morbo

21/02/2008, 9:08 AM

years at left full and right mid have left our stevie cheesed off. trap won't engage in such nonsense so any serious approach to finnan i reckon would have a good chance of success So its nonsense to play a player out of their preferred position? I disagree, sometimes its necessary, like when you have 2 good right backs but no left back, better to have 2 decent fullbacks than 1 good one and 1 **** poor one, while I agree that this wasn't the case with Stan(he should have just played O'Shea there) there are times when its necessary and a good professional should realize this and not bitch about it

carloz

21/02/2008, 11:50 AM

So its nonsense to play a player out of their preferred position? I disagree, sometimes its necessary, like when you have 2 good right backs but no left back, better to have 2 decent fullbacks than 1 good one and 1 **** poor one, while I agree that this wasn't the case with Stan(he should have just played O'Shea there) there are times when its necessary and a good professional should realize this and not bitch about it

I disagree. When you have one of Europes finest right backs, you dont put him left back to accomidate someone. Id rather have a world class right back and an average left back than a slightly above averge right back and slightly above left back. If Finnan were played out of position the odd game you could maybe understand it, but tha last 5 years of his international career he has been played out of position. You pick your best players in their best positions first, then you worry about your weaker positions

Morbo

21/02/2008, 12:25 PM

I disagree. When you have one of Europes finest right backs, you dont put him left back to accomidate someone. Id rather have a world class right back and an average left back than a slightly above averge right back and slightly above left back. If Finnan were played out of position the odd game you could maybe understand it, but tha last 5 years of his international career he has been played out of position. You pick your best players in their best positions first, then you worry about your weaker positions

Finnan, world class? That’s a bit of an exaggeration anyway I don’t agree that its as simple as play your best players in their best positions first then worry about the weaker positions, you could also argue that your defence is only as good as its weakest link, every situation is different and if your best right back is also your best left back and especially if he is the only player with any experience of playing that position then I think playing him in that position is the right decision.
Not that I agree with Stan since O’Shea is just as good(if not better) at LB than he is at RB but the point is that a good professional should play the position he is told to without complaining after all he is often asked to play LB for Liverpool so why doesn’t he retire from them? The answer is pretty obvious

jmurphyc

21/02/2008, 2:38 PM

Not that I agree with Stan since O’Shea is just as good(if not better) at LB than he is at RB but the point is that a good professional should play the position he is told to without complaining after all he is often asked to play LB for Liverpool so why doesn’t he retire from them? The answer is pretty obvious

That statement is completely wrong. Finnan has barely played 90 minutes at left back for Liverpool this season. Back on point, I think that if he comes back he should play right back for us. He still seems just as good defensively on the left, but his attacking abilities are severely limited on the left, and we could do with full backs who can overlap when needed to in the next campaign.

Morbo

21/02/2008, 3:46 PM

That statement is completely wrong. Finnan has barely played 90 minutes at left back for Liverpool this season. Back on point, I think that if he comes back he should play right back for us. He still seems just as good defensively on the left, but his attacking abilities are severely limited on the left, and we could do with full backs who can overlap when needed to in the next campaign.

Not completely wrong, I probably should have said 'sometimes' instead of 'often' but I'm willing to wager he has spent a fair bit more time at LB during his Liverpool career than his Ireland career, anyway that wasn't even the point, lots of people go on about what a model professional Finnan is but bitching about being played out of positions in not the act of a model professional.

ofjames

21/02/2008, 6:29 PM

Not completely wrong, I probably should have said 'sometimes' instead of 'often' but I'm willing to wager he has spent a fair bit more time at LB during his Liverpool career than his Ireland career, anyway that wasn't even the point, lots of people go on about what a model professional Finnan is but bitching about being played out of positions in not the act of a model professional.

no, you should have said 'hardly ever' instead of 'often'. If he's played 4 or 5 games for liverpool at left back in his 4 years there then i'd be very surprised.

contrast that to his ireland career where about 75% of his career has been spent playing either at left back or right mid. He's a first team regular at a champions league club. He's one of our top 5 players and has at least 2 more years left at the top level. put simply, we need him badly. lets hope trap will get him back and use him far better than his predecessors.

your point about finnan being a model pro is crap, when has he ever complained about playing out of position? he's performed to the best of his ability wherever he's been asked to play over the years. and has been quality whenever he's been picked where he belongs at RB. he has been an excellent pro as far as ireland's concerned.

Morbo

21/02/2008, 9:33 PM

your point about finnan being a model pro is crap, when has he ever complained about playing out of position?

He complained about it in a very recent interview actually, link is probably a page or two back.
BTW telling people their point is crap is not the best way to sway peoples opinions

ofjames

22/02/2008, 12:34 AM

He complained about it in a very recent interview actually, link is probably a page or two back.
BTW telling people their point is crap is not the best way to sway peoples opinions

so he kept his counsel until after he retired, then made the legitimate point that he had been played out of position for the majority of his ireland career.

at no time DURING his ireland career did he say bitch or moan, despite the fact he would have been obviously ****ed off with the situation. that's the hallmark of an honest pro in my books. i said you're point was crap because i think you're talking jive. i'm not too bothered if i sway anyone's opinions to be honest

danonion

22/02/2008, 5:09 AM

I disagree. When you have one of Europes finest right backs, you dont put him left back to accomidate someone. Id rather have a world class right back and an average left back than a slightly above averge right back and slightly above left back. If Finnan were played out of position the odd game you could maybe understand it, but tha last 5 years of his international career he has been played out of position. You pick your best players in their best positions first, then you worry about your weaker positions

Lads there is nothing world class about Steve Finnan. Solid right back yes. World class, not even close. If you had to choose between Gianluca Zambrotta, Willy Sagnol, Maicon, or even Lahm switched to the right, or Steve Finnan, would anyone pick Steve Finnan? To be honest I've seen Cafu play a few times this season and I could even pick him over Finnan. I respect Finnan's consistancy, maintaining his place in that Liverpool side, but realistically he will not make any sort of difference in our next qualification campaign - there is only so much a right full can do.

I might get killed for this, but I'd also take a fit Gary Neville over him :cool:

Morbo

22/02/2008, 8:31 AM

so he kept his counsel until after he retired, then made the legitimate point that he had been played out of position for the majority of his ireland career.

at no time DURING his ireland career did he say bitch or moan, despite the fact he would have been obviously ****ed off with the situation. that's the hallmark of an honest pro in my books. i said you're point was crap because i think you're talking jive. i'm not too bothered if i sway anyone's opinions to be honest
But he hasn't retired, he is still playing for Pool, he just can't be arsed to play internationals anymore and anyone who thinks that being played out of position is the real reason he quit is very naive, Staunton was sacked so theres no reason to conclude that the new manager was going to continue to play him out of position, seems obvious to me anyway that its just a convenient excuse to quit the chore of internationals but save face with the fans

Morbo

22/02/2008, 8:38 AM

Lads there is nothing world class about Steve Finnan. Solid right back yes. World class, not even close. If you had to choose between Gianluca Zambrotta, Willy Sagnol, Maicon, or even Lahm switched to the right, or Steve Finnan, would anyone pick Steve Finnan? To be honest I've seen Cafu play a few times this season and I could even pick him over Finnan. I respect Finnan's consistancy, maintaining his place in that Liverpool side, but realistically he will not make any sort of difference in our next qualification campaign - there is only so much a right full can do.

I might get killed for this, but I'd also take a fit Gary Neville over him :cool:

Agree that he isn't in the same class as Zambrotta and co, I'd rate him slightly better than Gary Neville, he does offer a bit more than ratface going forward, I don't know about him not making any difference to our next qualification campaign, we aren't exactly blessed with an abundence of quality defenders at the moment

Hibernian

22/02/2008, 11:20 AM

You've never played soccer have you...If you had you would realise you don't need to 'look happy' to enjoy playing football.

What a stupid comment you have just made there!! How the hell do you know I have never played "soccer". I was referring to his commitment on the field of play for Ireland rather then actually how much he smiles for the camera, and when I have played (yes shock horror I have) you try your best no matter where you play. I cant say the same for Finnan. Come back with something a little less childish. Endof

Hibernian

22/02/2008, 11:24 AM

thats a load of ****e. he was one of our best players in the world cup. and produced a consistency of performance under mccarthy and kerr that very very few could match.

Maybe his apparent unhappiness was with the fact that 3 successive Irish managers chose to play the best fullback we've had since denis irwin out of his natural position. years at left full and right mid have left our stevie cheesed off. trap won't engage in such nonsense so any serious approach to finnan i reckon would have a good chance of success

So if Kilbane did the exact same thing today as Finnan your saying he would get the same treatment? (as he has played out of position too)

Give me a player with 100% effort anyday of the week.

youngirish

22/02/2008, 11:31 AM

I might get killed for this, but I'd also take a fit Gary Neville over him :cool:
Ha ha Danonion good one. I was almost treating the rest of your argument seriously until I read this. You are such a joker you.

jmurphyc

22/02/2008, 12:59 PM

I was referring to his commitment on the field of play for Ireland rather then actually how much he smiles for the camera, and when I have played (yes shock horror I have) you try your best no matter where you play. I cant say the same for Finnan.

How can you say Finnan doesn't try his hardest? Whilst there is no definitive proof that he has or hasn't, he never really looks lazy on the field. He always tries to run up the field when there's a chance to, he doesn't shy out of challenges, etc. Suddenly now that he's retired people seem to be saying anything to have a dig at him. I'm not particularly happy about his premature retirement, but I won't criticise him for any of his actions beforehand.

Hibernian

22/02/2008, 1:46 PM

How can you say Finnan doesn't try his hardest? Whilst there is no definitive proof that he has or hasn't, he never really looks lazy on the field. He always tries to run up the field when there's a chance to, he doesn't shy out of challenges, etc. Suddenly now that he's retired people seem to be saying anything to have a dig at him. I'm not particularly happy about his premature retirement, but I won't criticise him for any of his actions beforehand.

Because by what I have seen he seems to not want to be there. I'm not having a go just cause he retired I just don't think he should get special treatment.

Hibernian

22/02/2008, 3:46 PM

Sorry. I appreciate everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that's just wrong.

How could one wish that one of our better players "never came back" ?

How could one who appreciated strong performances in the green shirt assert that " it's not as if he ever really played well for Ireland anyway"?

And since when is smiling like a f�cking loon a prerequisite for selection?

Who gives a damn whether he looked happy or not? I dont recall Figo p!ssing himself laughing during any matches I saw him in. Nor Oliver Kahn , Packie Bonner , Kevin Moran , Henry, nor frankly, anyone else I took seriously in international matches for that matter.
It's not a 5th birthday party, it's international football. Play now, reflect later. Happy clappy not a requirement.

What was the point in all that bull? Take a deep breath.

I think the fact he wanted to retire says enough dont you think? I was not actually referring to him having to put on a smile everytime he played more to the point was that I never think he actually wanted to play for Ireland. Didn't he not say that he felt pressure playing for Ireland?

I just don't think he wanted to be part of team.

ofjames

22/02/2008, 4:29 PM

So if Kilbane did the exact same thing today as Finnan your saying he would get the same treatment? (as he has played out of position too)

Give me a player with 100% effort anyday of the week.

kilbane has played at least 60 of his 87 caps in his best position. Besides, we now have 3 players (hunt, duff and mcgeady) who are better players than kilbane in his best position. so you're example is irrelevant in my opinion

Hibernian

22/02/2008, 4:33 PM

kilbane has played at least 60 of his 87 caps in his best position. Besides, we now have 3 players (hunt, duff and mcgeady) who are better players than kilbane in his best position. so you're example is irrelevant in my opinion

If you read my question I was not referring to him playing in his best position but his weaker positions so your answer is irrelevant really