Whelan urges parentage route

Whelan urges parentage route


October 20, 2005

Former Republic of Ireland international Ronnie Whelan feels that any new manager must go down the road of attracting foreign-born players of recent Irish descent to declare for Ireland – because the quality of the current national side is below the necessary standard.

Jack Charlton famously nurtured a policy of seeking UK-born players with Irish parentage, with John Aldridge, Ray Houghton, Andy Townsend, Terry Phelan, Jason McAteer, Tony Cascarino and John Sheridan all becoming big favourites with the Green Army.

Although there were notable failures amongst the recruits, such as Eddie McGoldrick and Bernie Slaven, Whelan feels that the policy must be re-enacted in order to bump Ireland back up the world ladder.

He said: “At the moment we have four or five very good players in the likes of Shay Given, Damien Duff and Robbie Keane, but there is not much beyond them. The rest of the squad is much of a muchness.

“It means we will probably have to go down the route Jack Charlton did when he was in charge and find players of Irish descent, like Ray Houghton, John Aldridge, Andy Townsend.

“We will have to trawl places to try and find them. It’s legal, so why not do it? If you do it and they are good enough, so be it.”

Maybe we should but I would bet you anything that Ronnie Whelan knows next to nothing about people like McShane, Doyle, Whelan, O'Brien and others who are clearly very talented. It really irks me when over the years Frank Stapleton, Ray Houghton, Whelan and others have seemingly had no idea whatsoever about what's coming through the ranks yet they get paid handsomely for offering their views on Ireland.

Given the huge dominance of foreign players in the Premiership these days I think you'd be hard pushed to improve our squad by looking to exploit the granny rule. You might get one or two who'd have something to offer but not many. Even the English themselves are struggling for quality outside their top 14 or 15 players.

I genuinely think we can develop our own internationals by playing fringe players more regularly in friendlies and including a small number of youngsters in the squad instead of journeymen (or 3rd 'keepers). To me this was one of the disappointments of Kerr's tenure.

I agree with what you say Stuttgart88, its a bit rich listening to some of those English based commentators who havent a clue about the under age Irish set up and just go on about getting all the english lads in like the English B team we used to have.

Welan hasnt a clue if he thinks Ireland are in decline in the same light as Scotland. There are different type of players coming through now and its just that we dont have any leaders left. The players we do have are technially a lot better than before. We just need a good manager to maximise this current crop of players and hopefully we will make it to the next championship.

I would urge the parentage route too
They crucified the last fella who didnt have a father:D

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Originally Posted by hoops1

I would urge the parentage route too
They crucified the last fella who didnt have a father:D

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Classic!

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Originally Posted by thejollyrodger

I agree with what you say Stuttgart88, its a bit rich listening to some of those English based commentators who havent a clue about the under age Irish set up and just go on about getting all the english lads in like the English B team we used to have.

Welan hasnt a clue if he thinks Ireland are in decline in the same light as Scotland. There are different type of players coming through now and its just that we dont have any leaders left. The players we do have are technially a lot better than before. We just need a good manager to maximise this current crop of players and hopefully we will make it to the next championship.

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Scotland have a good few young players comiting through too and they got 2 very good away wins in the qualifiers we have not beaten a team of the calibre of Norway or Slovenia at home never mind away. I have seen this on here a few times that Ireland is not as bad as Scotland but over the last 2 campaigns they have finished ahead of both times


2nd and 3rd to our 3rd and 4th. I am not saying they are better than us but we our fourth seeds and so are they so at the moment we are basically about the same. Its up to a a new manager to prove that we are better than them

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Originally Posted by hoops1

I would urge the parentage route too
They crucified the last fella who didnt have a father:D

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LMFAO :p

whelan = plank

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Originally Posted by robbie_B

Whelan urges parentage route

“It means we will probably have to go down the route Jack Charlton did when he was in charge and find players of Irish descent, like Ray Houghton, John Aldridge, Andy Townsend.

“We will have to trawl places to try and find them. It’s legal, so why not do it? If you do it and they are good enough, so be it.”

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Whelan shows why he was laughed out of the interview room by Brian Hamilton when he applied last time around!! :rolleyes:

There are not enough players coming through and available in England, and we will HAVE to turn to LOI players over the next 4-6 years for selection. Unlike their English-based brothers, they will play for the pride of their country, instead of some of the current squad, who treat playing for us, as an inconvenient break from their club duties. :mad: