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Very interesting article in The Daily Mirror today about this guy signing from the Japanese side Verdy and going to Bristol Rovers.( Can't find the link at this stage) It has been mentioned before on here that he was brought up in Japan, and as is obvious, has an Irish father and the article refers to him as Irish. Another central defensive option possibly. This time last year we seemed to be lacking in this area, now we lots to choose from! Any strikers out there I wonder?
He has a brother Niall as well who's a goalkeeper. Bit on both here: http://www.goal.com/en/news/3376/goa...an-tokyo-verdy
There's another former Japanese under-20 international I'm aware of called Robert Cullen, or Karen Robato, as they call him, born to a Japanese mother and an Irish father from the north. He plays as a striker and was once with Asian powerhouse Jubilo Iwata, representing Japan in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship whilst there. He's 25 now and playing with Dutch Eredivisie strugglers VVV-Venlo. Venlo finished 17th out of 18 this season, putting them in the relegation play-offs, which have still yet to conclude. He scored one goal in each of Venlo's first and second leg ties against Vollendam of the division below within the past week. The first leg finished 2-1 and the second 2-0 with Venlo winning the tie 4-1 overall. They now play Zwolle, also of the Eerste Divisie, over two legs on the 26th and 29th of May to decide whether they stay in the Eredivisie.
Maybe a bit below the standard we'd expect of our internationals, but he's always worth keeping an eye on I guess. Barry Maguire's playing in the same division, of course, although, bar an invite to watch us play, there's hasn't been any indication that Trap will call him up.
Barry Maguire joins Robert Cullen at Venlo. Venlo came through their relegation play-off against Zwolle yesterday winning 4-3 on aggregate and managed to retain their place in the Eredivisie, but they'll probably be closer to that end of the table again next season. Cullen didn't score in either the first (2-1) or second (2-2) leg.
He'd need to be proving himself at a better standard than League 2 to be considered an option for the national side.Quote:
Originally Posted by gastric
Every player has the potential to move up the divisions through hard work and ability. Keith Andrews is one who comes to mind, Stephen Hunt another. No time limit can be placed on potential options as Andrews only joined Blackburn a the age of 27.Quote:
Originally Posted by kev mcq