Andy O'Brien not Returning

Whatever. We have loads of centre backs.

Better off without someone that wants to quit international football at 28 (unless there were personal reasons behind it, which I'm pretty sure there wasn't).

Hopefully St Ledger will be given a chance in the near future to see if he warrants a place in the squad.

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Originally Posted by Colbert Report

Whatever. We have loads of centre backs.

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Dunne and O'Shea are the only CB we have who have proved to be comfortable at this level. The rest are not good enough or umproven. AOB, with regular first team football, would have been in most people's first choice XI.

Not too worried about Andy O'Brien. Average player.

i think he took some terrible stick from the fans in cyprus and you wouldnt wish that on anyone , that being said he is not much good so not exactly gutted at the loss

Centre half is probably the position we are most covered in. However, I am sorry to see Andy O'Brien not returning, we're not in a position to refuse a regular starter in a Premiership side (for the time anyway, Bolton are my pick to get relegated)
He got unfairly slated, along with Paddy Kenny, for the 5-2 game in Cyprus when it was clear the problem was in central midfield. Playing centre half by himself when Dunne was sent off was always going to be a thankless task.

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

I had sympathy with him if he felt he was being made victim for Stan's blunders and could even understand his refusal to play for Don Givens (in truth a bigger clown) after being left off the squad for over a year. I could understand and accept what he was doing up until then.

But refusing at 28 to return is very poor form. I really do think that he's a classic example of an English guy with no personal connection to Ireland but choose to play for us for career reasons. Once he lost his starting place he suddenly had no reason to contribute to Ireland.

Good Riddance. You'll be remembered as a clown who screwed up in Cyprus.

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I'd agree with most of that, but I think he was & still is a better option than O'Shea in the centre alongside Dunne, that said to walk away at 28 is the act of a coward. He should have had the backbone to get back in the shirt and prove himself.

AOB was shockingly inconsistent, he could play well in a game and make great goal saving tackles but somehow manage to sprinkle the performance with 2 or 3 appalling, schoolboy mistakes that'd give you a heart attack! despite some good performances he's too dodgy by a mile! he's no real loss if Dunne stays fit and O' Shea sorts his head out or if we can put a makeshift centre back in there.,
if you look at the group we're in I can't see anyone scoring lots of goals against us unless we're as appalling as we were in the dark days of Stan...

average at best,very slow,not great positional sense,i would like to see st ledger given a chance

No loss, didn't see the point in even chasing after him anyway.

Great to see Finnan back, now what about baldy?

Fcuking disgraceful. There should be no more talk of him from now on unless its in the World football thread

Trap said O'Brien was "upset". He told O'Brien that in any job you will be crititised and you have to get on with it. He didn't tell Trap the exact reason but Trap says "I'm sure in 10 years he'll explain why".

It can't be anything to do with Stan's decision to drop him after the Israel game surely. Maybe he got a bit of stick off fans?

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

Maybe he got a bit of stick off fans?

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Come with the territory doesnt it.

Seemed like the perfect time to make fresh start with Trap coming in. He was never first choice for me I have to say.

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Centre half is probably the position we are most covered in. However, I am sorry to see Andy O'Brien not returning, we're not in a position to refuse a regular starter in a Premiership side (for the time anyway, Bolton are my pick to get relegated)
He got unfairly slated, along with Paddy Kenny, for the 5-2 game in Cyprus when it was clear the problem was in central midfield. Playing centre half by himself when Dunne was sent off was always going to be a thankless task.

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Wasn't Dunne sent off late on? We were already 5-2 down aswell.

Anyway, I never blamed O'Brien for that debacle as you say midfield was non existent and the normally solid Finnan put in an atrocious performance.

Disappointed in his decision. Don't agree with most on here that he's a useless centre half. One of the better ones in the premiership in my opinion. He was outstanding for Bolton from January onwards last season.
And we're certainly not covered at centre half! He'd be competing with O'Shea for that 2nd slot beside Dunne if he was available without a shadow of a doubt.

Despite all that good riddance if as reported he's retiring blaming the media....**** poor excuse.

Would have been little point in having a player return to the squad who wasn't committed to playing for Ireland.

His loss & Ireland's gain.

I think Trap's after a bit more than players just turning up for games.

At least he was honest and gave a clear response unlike Stephen Ireland

I don't recall anybody giving Andy O'Brien stick in Cyprus. Stan bore the brunt of the frustration. Paddy Kenny was the main player blamed. The team was setup badly with 2 central midfielders bombing forward and nobody tracking back.

Sad to see Andy retire so young. We don't have a lot of other options.

He was an honest if average player but no need for grudges. He served us well and thanks for his efforts,

No loss - Good Night God Bless

No loss

On the contrary he is a loss to the squad.
Played well for Ireland, a capable footballer and good enough to partner Dunne.
Sad that it has come to him getting the hump over something.

It's unclear what was the form of the criticism Trap was referring to. If Trap could not talk him out of it then something rankled deep. But as Trap said, over time the loss will be his and his alone.