Totally agree about the Steven Reid comment, but saying that he's only played for us out of position so i'm still willing to be proven wrong.
Agree on Finnan, don't think his loss will really affect us that much.
Not so much on Andy Reid though...
Thanking you.
For anyone who is interested, the current issue of fourfourtwo, while continuing the slide from decent footie mag, to deplorable rag, has a good article on Barca's academy, and while it may not compare with anything that could be done in this country its still a good article.
In my opinion and while I wouldn't have the time to commit to doing something about it currently, the schoolboy soccer situation in the country is depressing. Utterly depressing. Bar the loi teams that now field schoolboy teams
I don't think its a case of any of our players being over rated its more a case fo the team on a whole under achieving
They're all good players, some could be considered to be great players, if they weren;t they wouldn't be getting paid the fortunes they get
Richard Dunne aside there's not a single player who consistently plays to his potential when he pulls on the jersey Ireland
Stephen Hunt isn't over rated either, he's over hyped, everyone knows he's a limited player but he gets lauded for running around like a headless chicken and running his stupid mouth off
I couldn't disagree more with that comment. Finnan is the best full back we've had since Denis Irwin was in his prime and now we have a Birmingham right full with no sense of positioning to replace him. Ya we won't miss him at all.....................
Kelly will be in the chamionship next season whether Birmingham get relegated or not. McLeish will get rid of him if they stay up
Finnan is a much better player than Kelly - no question about that. But I don't think Kelly is an automatic choice for us in that position following Finnan's retirement. Joey O'Brien and JOSH are better options for right full back than Stephen Kelly IMO.
Nah I'd rather Kelly over O'Brien for right full. O'Brien isn't a right full. O'Shea did well enough there under Stan though.
Joey O'Brien played centre midfield for Bolton again last night, I don't think he's played right full in some time now
I've seen him a few times this season and granted he seems to be paying well at the moment. But I believe he's just having a good run of form which will end sooner rather than later. I don't think he has the reading of the game - which is essential for a full back - to permanently play at a high level
Aye but he can play there. And so can Paul McShane. The good thing about that position is that we have a number of options if Finnan doesn't come back. We unfortunately don't have that many options for the centre half position so getting Andy O'Brien back is a priority.
We will have options if Andy O'brien returns to the flock I think. His return would free up , in my opinion, John O'Shea for one of the full back positions. I would prefer Kilbane to O'Shea at left back while I'd have O'Shea over Kelly at right back.
Absolute nonsense. S Kelly is a walking liability. He is not international class. Thank god he made contact with the ball when he tackled Robino in the box (2nd half v Brazil) because if he didn't there would have been a serious injury. He gave away 3 penalties in the first half of the season and was lucky not to give away 3 or 4 more. Not to mention his shocking performances at LB last September. EB I thought you were the sage of this site? O Shea, Mc Shane, O Brien all before Kelly.
Are you complaining that he made a decent tackle?
So a right fullback, who can't play the ball with his left foot, plays badly at left full? Big shock there. If anyone was at fault for that, it was Stan for playing him there in the first place.
When was the last time O'Shea played right full, for club or country? McShane has only played there a handful of times this season for Sunderland, and doesn't have the pace to be a full back. O'Brien is now playing regularly in central midfield, where he's on record stating it's where he's most comfortable.
duff- by some considerable margin
keane- never really shows enogh goal threat
Kevin Doyle?
He works hard and had a superb season for Reading last year but has never really done the business for Ireland on a consistent basis.