2006 – Winners & Losers – Irish across the water edition
Winners
Kevin Doyle: What a year it has been for the 22 year old striker from Reading. After making a massive impact in his first season in the League Championship and winning Reading’s player of the Year, expectations were starting to build for the young Wexford native (not Cork as repeatedly mentioned in the British press). He has easily exceeded all expectations by being one of the leading scorers in the Premier League at first ask and regularly being Reading’s best player. Has also established himself as Robbie Keane’s first choice regular striking partner for the foreseeable future.
Anthony Stokes: What an end to 2006 Stokes has had. While you can’t argue that the whole year was a success, the last four months have seen Stokes light up the Scottish Premier League in a very mediocre Falkirk side while on loan from Arsenal. Still just eighteen, his composure in front of goal and the sheer weight of number of goals have reportedly alerted Celtic, Wolves, Sunderland and Ipswich to this Dublin native with a big future.
Aiden McGeady: 2006 will be the year when McGeady finally consistently displayed what many have been talking about for a number of years. Still just 20, he is starting to turn in match winning performances as proven by his two young player of the month awards already this season. Will now be looking to show this on the international stage and in the knockout phase of the Champions League.
Shay Given: Although the year has ended with Given being uncharacteristically injured for a good portion of the current season, Given continues to go from strength to strength and is widely regarded as one of the top three keepers in the English Premier League. So consistent that his usual superb performances are considered par for the course now. It would be frightening to think how poor Newcastle’s goals against column would look without him.
Robbie Keane: For some possibly a controversial choice in the ‘Winners’ section, but his form after Christmas last season was some of the best of any player in the League and had he played like that for the entire season there is an argument that he should have been on the shortlist for Premier League Player of the Year. This current season has seen some patchy form for Tottenham and of course his current injuries, but once he hits form again there is no doubt that Keane is approaching the very peak of his career.
Roy Keane: After being marched out of Old Trafford, Keane took a break from the game and went and got all the coaching badges necessary to manage at the top level. It didn’t take long for the job offers to flood in and in typical Keane fashion, the job he took was the one vacated by his nemisis Mick McCarthy at Sunderland. While Sunderland haven’t taken the division by storm, they have improved markedly and despite significant injury problems he has them on the brink of the play offs. All this while mending bridges with Niall Quinn, meeting ‘cordially’ with Mick McCarthy and altering peoples impression of him so that he is now thought of as a pragmatic, even diplomatic and thoughtful manager with all the flair for dealing with the press and players that so many thought would be impossible.
Losers
Damien Duff: What a horrible year for arguably the most talented player of this current generation. At 27, he should be at the peak of his powers and realistically leading Chelsea to a third title. However it is difficult to know what came first, Mourinio’s loss of faith in Duff/wingers or Duff’s loss of confidence and form. Sold by Chelsea for what appeared to be an absolute bargain of 5 million British pounds, injuries and loss of form have continued the nightmare year for Duff. The saying ‘form is temporary but class is permanent’ no doubt applies, however it’s been a frustrating year for fans of Duff and no doubt for the man himself.
Steve Staunton: 5-2. Loss. To Cyprus. It should end there, however it has been a pretty horrible start for the legendary player now manager of the national side. How someone who ‘put the cones out at Wallsall’ ever got the job of managing the Irish national team should be something that baffles us all, but then again we are used to the FAI. The majority of the public were severely disappointed, however most decided that once in place, they would support him. Results like that in Cyprus, the mauling by Holland and the fact that we are all but out of the running for Euro 08 so early in proceedings have seen most of the goodwill evapourate. There are some silver linings however for Staunton. The first is that surely things can’t get worse? But secondly and perhaps more importantly is the emergence of some genuine talent in significant numbers, arguably for the first time in about 7 or 8 years. Names like Doyle, Stokes, O’Brien, Ireland, Garvan, Clarke, McShane, O’Dea, Andy Reid, Foley and many more are regularly popping up on team sheets across the water and with any luck will form the nucleus of the international side for years to come.
David O’Leary: After a promising first season for O’Leary, things could hardly have gone worse in his second season there. However the real litmus test for O’Leary was the O’Neill effect. Once O’Leary departed and O’Neill took over, he turned what appeared to be a dishevelled morale vacuum into a competitive and resilient side. With basically the same squad he inherited from O’Leary. Where to now for O’Leary? He has always liked to talk with the media and has had numerous columns in the newspapers in the past, so a career in the media will no doubt beckon. It is highly unlikely he will get another shot at management in the top flight…although Graeme Souness manages to regularly get work, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
