Tarkowski looking like he got through lockdown on pizza and Mee having a real struggle.
Printable View
Tarkowski looking like he got through lockdown on pizza and Mee having a real struggle.
Kian Flanagan the next man out the door, let go by Crystal Palace. Was once the brightest prospect in their academy but hasn't kicked on for some reason. Hard to know how it will go for him from here - the kind of player that could either rebuild his career in the lower leagues and make it back to the top or could have fallen out of the game completely in a year or two.
Hopefully a club at around League 1 level takes a chance on him and he can get some senior game time. This is not the best year to be looking for a lower league club though, nearly everyone is cutting back at that level.
Flanagan had a trial with Southend earlier in the season, but nothing came of it.
Wasn't happy that there's no real link between their U23/reserve side and their senior side - https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/palac...ugh-the-ranks/
Any time I’ve seen him play for u18s and u23s, probably over the last 5 years, I thought he was excellent - generally the best player on the pitch. Has needed first team football for a long time...
definitely someone who could kick in quickly if he hits the ground running at his next club
COVID-19 provides an unexpected opportunity for our young Irish players? A silver lining. What do people think?
Clubs have reduced financial resources, and will remain cautious with contracts and transfer fees given the ongoing uncertainty of the course of COVID. Older players less likely to get the short term contracts they would have pre-COVID. Delayed season ending, trimming many squads to bare minimum with expanded subs permitted. Clubs will turn to youth out of necessity rather than by choice. We are already seeing Masterson reap the benefits of this. Fantastic opportunity for our youth players! Hopefully, LOI can restart soon also and continue the development of youth players within our national system
Two more out the door, Conor Tee at Leicester and Aaron O'Driscoll at Southampton have both been let go.
On the upside Boric is leaving Bournemouth. If they go down Ramsdale might be sold and Travers could get a run at the keeper spot.
Thanks. O Driscoll could still have a fine career great education at city and Southampton really needed to get out on loan this season like o connor did so successfully at gillingham .Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Dan Rose - the kid that has signed for Schalke from Everton- was interviewed by the Athletic, alongside his father. It turns out his mother is Irish. It also turns out Kenny is taking a fantastic and hands-on approach with our underage players.
From the article:
That potential is recognised widely. Rose is dual-national — Neil is English and Orla, his mother, is Irish — and he played in the Republic of Ireland’s Under-17 European Championship qualifying fixtures last year, when they topped their group (the finals, planned for this month, have been cancelled). He has also attended camps with England and there has been contact with Tim Dittmer, the FA’s head of goalkeeping. “I get the impression they’ve been monitoring him for some time,” Neil says.
Neil recently received a call from Stephen Kenny, Ireland’s new senior manager. “The phone went and I almost dropped cold on the floor,” he says. “Stephen was great; lovely, really friendly. He wanted to know what Dan had enjoyed about Ireland to date, about the transfer to Schalke and how it was going to work, where he was going to live and so forth.
“He talked about how he was really hoping Dan could show his quality this year and was looking forward to seeing what the future might hold with Ireland. He said he’d got his coaches looking out for him. It’s clear that Stephen wants to influence all the under-age teams, so that he can see where there may be players moving through and where they might make an impact in due course. He wished Dan all the best.”
Perhaps, somewhere down the line, another decision will be required, although for now, Rose’s mind is set. “I can play for both Ireland and England, but at the moment Ireland is the country I want to play for,” he says. “They’ve put their faith in me and I think they deserve my loyalty back. That’s what I feel. There are some good Irish keepers at the moment, especially in the first team, but hopefully I can be in that set-up quite soon.”
Really encouraging stuff from Kenny.
Rose, I suspect, may not stay with us. Too many "at the moment" comments in the interviews I've seen from him recently.
Grealish and his representatives were starting and finishing every sentence with those three words throughout his teens.
Smallbone starts for Southampton. Hopefully Kenny has been in touch with him in a similar way to what he has done with Rose.
Looking back at it now it's surprising that he didn't take him to Toulon last year given that some of the players from that squad look nowhere near Premier League or even Football League standard in a few cases a year on.
Looks like he assisted Ings for the first but came off for Armstrong on 65 minutes.
Yes, at this point a call-up for one or more of the Nations League games would be justified, particularly if he plays a part in Southampton's remaining games, so Kenny should definitely be talking to him about making that final commitment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
i suppose the number 8 / number 10s were: Molumby, Ronan, Knight and Taylor. All of whom have had very successful seasons.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
I think Mandriou is the only other player to be called up (as far as I remember, Brandon Kavanagh was a late call up for the first squad against Luxemburg but I think Smallbone would have been in Russia with the u19s when that happened). Mandriou is as talented as anyone in the squad. Whether he'll work hard enough over the next few years is probably a different matter - and you could easily see him regress rather than progress but Mandriou could easily be playing week in, week out in the championship right now...
Parrott played in the No.10 role at some point too when Ronan was injured.
Anyway, great to have all those options coming through - I'd think Smallbone merits a call-up to the senior side on the back of his current performances.
Any idea yet on where he might be going next ?Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
Manning got an assist for QPR and Flashscore have him down as playing central midfield.
Connolly has a thankless task here so far tonight. The first half has seen Brighton's midfield disappear and Connolly live off clipped long balls from the back three of Brighton. He's won a few frees which have been about the only platform Brighton have had to gain a little territory.
Molumby rested. Hopefully, millwall will continue to play him for the rest of the season, now that they have nothing to play for they may be tempted to develope their own players.
Masterson dropped after 2 poor performances, with Cameron replacing him (usually plays defensive midfield) - if Masterson can’t hold down a centre back spot for the rest of the season when there’s only 2 “true” centre backs available then you have to be pessimistic about his long term prospects.
Collins selected at right back again by Michael O’Neill and replaced after 71 minutes - 3-0 down to Wigan. Really disappointing to see Collins not being given a proper chance at centre back, considering the poor performances from Batth, Chester (who was inexplicably brought in on loan), Indi; and the fact Shawcross looks past it and is struggling with injuries.
Connolly isolated, Maupay joins him for second half. Frustrating to watch. Apart from picking up a couple of his trademark free kicks, and one nice layoff...he hasn’t done anything.
Overall, poor night for our youngsters
Something of a forgotten man in terms of our young attacking players but Ryan Cassidy has been offered a two year contract extension by Watford. He would probably benefit from them being relegated to be honest.
That's great it seems to have been a quite season for himQuote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Michael o'Neill has a decent record there since he went but if they go down he will have to take the blame given that he has been there since November, has had a transfer window and had the lockdown to get even more work done. He has not helped Collins developmentQuote:
Originally Posted by tommy_c12000
Good to see Aaron Connolly and Jason Knight staying in their starting line ups for their clubs. However, Norwich have dropped Pukki and replaced him with Josip Drmic, ignoring Idah's contribution the other night. Very disappointing. Drmic has one goal in 17 league appearances this season so it is not as if he has provided a compelling reason for inclusion over Idah.
Connolly deserved it for his efforts against utd. Think he should start for us and let him get games to develop. I remember duff taking a good while to be impressive at senior level for usQuote:
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Connolly didn’t do much. He does get pretty poor service. One big chance, Klose blocked his shot potentially destined for bottom córner.
Idah with 20 minutes. Looked sharp and strong again, one excellent glancing header off post at the end. He will start the next game, Drmic was terrible.
Knight played out wide left for most first half. Typical busy performance, without too much inspiration. Taken off around 60 minutes, had changed to the right wing.
I watched Molumby and Cullen last night. Molumby played the advanced role with Woods sitting. I really don’t think he’s an advanced midfielder, had minimal impact, his off the ball runs weren’t good, looked a bit headless. Subbed at half time. I do think he’s best playing deeper and linking things with his dynamism. Cullen played as sitting midfielder for Charlton, did okay without dominating. Strokes the ball around nicely. I do think Molumby is better longer term prospect with more explosiveness and energy. But right now, Cullen is the better option internationally. Molumby still has a lot to learn.
Derby and Millwall still in contention for 6th place
Molumby is an out and out 6. Not a 4 as he is a little too dynamic to be willing to sit and you could play him 8 if you are being conservative and need a sitter. But he is a 6. The player he most reminds me of, as I've said before, is Roy Keane. Gets his foot on the ball when he has and does not have it.
He had a booking and maybe a knock last night so I forgive him the substitution.
Not sure what all the numbers mean, but agree on similarities on Keane. He was playing too advanced for me last night and seemed a bit lost. Better off a bit deeper. Similar to Keane role yes.
Yes he was carrying a yellow, but I didn’t see any convincing knock. Thompson who replaced him really didn’t impress as well, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if Molumby was dropped for next game or 2.
Interesting to see Will Ferry on the bench for Southampton tonight. Didn't come on but might get a run before the end of the season.
Good going to get that near to the first team at 18, to put it into context he's almost two years younger than Will Smallbone.
He also had a bad injury, which is why he missed the Euro U19 championships last summer. Pretty sure he only returned in December, so he missed 6/7 months.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Just reading here that the SPL reserve league may not resume until January 2021. Sources close to Celtic have told the Athletic that "they are worried Celtic are considering temporarily disbanding their development team for 2020-21."
After a pretty fruitless season for Luca Connell, Jonathan Afolabi and Lee O'Connor, that could be a worrying development. It would also leave Armstrong Oko-Flex and Barry Coffey in a difficult position given their relative lack of senior game time.
I have an awful feeling that the move has gone Pete Tong for the former trio. At least Afolabi has managed to nab his first senior goals during his loan spell at Dunfermline. And all 5 are 20 or younger. However, they should have very busy agents at present seeking loan or permanent moves.
Well Celtic, as well as quite a few other SPL teams, didn't bother with the reserve league last season anyway. The general opinion is that, like most Scottish football, it's worse than useless so no point to it when you're beating Dunfermline reserves 9-0 and the likes. They just played friendlies at reserve level instead.
That said, yes the Celtic moves have been exactly as disastrous as might have been expected for those three. Connell hasn't had a kick of senior football, O'Connor went from looking good in his Ireland debut to a dreadful loan spell in a terrible Partick team and Afolabi was passable and no more at Dunfermline. He looked considerably poorer than his strike partner Nisbet. To cap it off the man who was instrumental in bringing them there has left the club and one of the most overrated managers in British football remains in charge. Think Roy Keane but without the entertaining punditry outbursts. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson for other Irish footballers who consider a similar path. Okoflex has also fallen away badly since going there and Coffey just isn't good enough anyway.
Why any Irish youth player would consider Celtic when there are so many top English academies on our doorstep is beyond me.
Maybe they are not that good !Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Answered your own question thereQuote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Maybe not, but how will we ever know if they continue in the situation they are in at the moment. Certainly Connell looked impressive at Championship level the season before, despite playing for a team in free fall. Afolabi was named as centre forward on the team of the tournament at the Euro under 19s last summer, no mean feat. O'Connor looked good when capped for Ireland and when playing for our under 21s didn't look out of place next to O'Shea, Masterson, Molumby etc.
I would rank all three a little below our top level of young players that we have coming through at the moment. That was, at least in O'Connor and Afolabi's cases, why they were available for free to Celtic last summer. But they strike me as three players who, in the right environment, could be developed into professional, international standard players for us. Celtic's track record at doing this is not particularly good.
And if they signed for Celtic purely because Damien Duff was there they have either been ill advised or not thought through their decision. Coaches and managers come and go without a second thought for the players they leave behind, players only get one shot at their careers and need to go where the best structures are in place for them to develop. Glasgow is not that place.
Hopefully all three can get loans to SPFL clubs for the coming season because, with 10 in a row on the line, they won't be getting much game time at Celtic. Some talk of Celtic signing Martin Boyle from Hibs with loan players going the other way in return - maybe there might be an opening there. The Scottish lower leagues don't start until late autumn this year so no route to football for them in the Scottish Championship right now.
I doubt it was the only reason, but learning your trade under Damien Duff has to be a massive draw for any Irish underage player
Bilic seems to bloody love Dara O'Shea. He is always keen to express how much Dara impresses him on all fronts- technical, tactical, physical, mental.
'He is the present and future of West Brom' - Bilic hails Irish youngster O'Shea https://the42.ie/5143732
Idah missed a sitter from 5 yards out to equalize today. Has to take chances like that
Can't find it on Twitter but apparently Dara O'Shea has scored a good header from a corner to put West Brom 2-0 up.
Utterly dreadful marking but hats off to him. He's getting great reviews on the WBA fans forum: http://westbrom.com/forum/index.php?...seen#msg718378
Most appear to want him to stay right back in the near term. I assume centre half is his spot long term.