http://www.punditarena.com/football/...femi-decision/
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
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http://www.punditarena.com/football/...femi-decision/
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
That doesn't sit well with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deckydee
He plays against the north and then he might decide he doesn't want to play against Denmark, so he can keep his options open. It's getting ridiculous now.
Sorry Michael. It was nice knowing you.Quote:
Originally Posted by IsMiseSean
Contrast him with Dan Crowley. Danny boy, a far better prospect I would say, is begging to be picked and we can't get it done for whatever reason.
I was on about this before in one of the other threads. it should be a zero tolerance policy. you are called up and if you say no your international career could well end that second.
Its not sustainable we have an 18 year old with 25 mins league experience holding us to ransom! he is now training with our squad, he might play against NI and then leg it
He is very small . Could he not just be thrown on the Pitch at some point !
Its beginning to get this ridiculous .
Seriously this has to stop. If a guy is called up he should be busting with excitement and doing anything he can to play. This nonsence of "he still has a decision to make" coming from the manager is outrageous. That decision is over the second he gets a call up if the manager is doing his job properly. He calls the guy, tells him congratulations you have been picked for the National Team squad. If there and then the guys says no then fine, but when he turns up decision time is over.
Are we going to be in a position where he gets a goal against the North and then the manager having to talk in Fridays press conference about how hes not travelling to Denmark because he needs more time to think about the future?
Its making us a total laughing stock.
It really isn't. The issue is the rules, which are affecting every country, but I will say they are disproportionally affecting lower ranked countries, such as ourselves. Any decent dual qualified player will be subject to the same speculation until they appear in a competitive senior international, if for no other reason than it's an easy story to write. The Independent were pushing the narrative that Matt Doherty could switch to the Netherlands recently
There's a list of dual nationality players on wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...sts_(football)
I have no problem with speculation and I have no issue with guys actually having a difficult decision to make, but as I said we cannot be in a position where a guy will play a full international on thursday and we will still be wondering if he is commited
I can't see any blame on O'Neill here. He has included obafemi and will clearly play him in Denmark if obafemi gets on the plane to Copenhagen. What more can he do?
I would love to know where they get the balls. 18 year old Michael O'B is walking the team hotel in Dublin without a care in the world! While we are pulling our hair out wondering if he will fu*k us!
Scores a hat trick and then says . See ya !Quote:
Originally Posted by Razors left peg
Look at what you could have had ... diddies ....Quote:
Originally Posted by seanfhear
Who knows what the story is
http://www.punditarena.com/football/...itted-ireland/
Probably as reliable as All Nigeria soccer
Less, I would say.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
He could maybe not come out with this sh!te of "still has a decision to make" and simply say "we're happy to have him in and hope he has a big future with Ireland" and tells the lad that he's giving him his ten minutes against Denmark and that'd be all she wrote.Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
If you call someone into the squad, you should have every intention of using that player at some point.
to be fair you cant get every player from a 24 (or whatever) squad game time. MON has a track record of picking lads in the squad to have a look at them and its que sera sera after thatQuote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
This, all day bloody long.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
O'Neill isn't to blame for the rules, but he's to blame for fuelling fires and giving the press ****e to talk about. He can call their bluff for as long as he wants. 'No chance the kid will feature against Denmark' having told the boy he's going to be picked. 'We're struggling up top son, I like what I see from you, I'm going to give you the start in Denmark. It's low-key, we're building for the future, and it's an opportunity for you to give your career the jump-start like those kiddies in Wales have done. If anyone askes me I'll play it down, sure I don't name the team until the ref knocks on the door just before kick-off, so nobody will believe it anyway. What's that? You're not interested? Meyler!!!!"
Exactly. Martin O'Neill always has something arseways to say and always makes things more complicated than they are. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if he doesn't give Obafemi any game time against Denmark because that is the sort Martin O'Neill is.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
All this speculation kinda runs what should be a pretty exciting call up. When is the last time we had an 18 year old striker with some Premiership experience. Hopefully we can get the commitment issue out of the way and this kid can kick on and be a massive player for us.
Agree completely. Fair play to Martin for including him in the squad. But he should have done exactly what Finn Harps says above.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
Here's my optimistic conspiracy theory. Obafemi and/or his agent are playing up the fact he's eligible for multiple countries so he gets fast tracked into the senior Irish team (which he really does want to play for). O'Neill hasn't always been quick to experiment with the squad -- but this situation could see him get minutes sooner rather than later.
Fantasy stuff on my end perhaps but thought I'd throw it out there!
Surely what should happen is O'Neill contacts Obafemi (or any other young player with multiple options) and says "I see you're making great progress and I'm ready to call you up, but I know you have a final decision to make - are you ready to commit or do you want time to think it over first?" If they're not ready, give them space to make their decision but continue with the business at hand of building a team with known resources. I don't like what appears to be happening, where we seem to be trying to manipulate players into staying on with friendly caps or promotions to the U21s and then we're left with egg on our faces if they pull out last minute.
I hope that O'Neill or someone had a word with Obafemi a while back and that he is actually ready to commit (and who knows? Maybe that has happened) but I fear he may have been called up in haste in an effort to ward off England (and maybe Nigeria) but I can't see that making a difference - they will make their approaches and Obafemi will make his decision one way or the other regardless of whether he gets a few minutes against The North. If he decides to switch at that point, then we will have wasted an opportunity to call up Aaron Connolly, who has scored even more this season than Obafemi and is possibly only weeks away from his EPL breakthrough.
With all that said, won't it be great if Obafemi plays against Denmark and continues his progress at Southampton and Connolly makes his first-team breakthrough soon? Combined with the arrival of Callum Robinson, that could mean our striker crisis could be over before the qualifiers begin... with Idah, McAuley, Cassidy, Parrott, Drinan, Afolabi, Hale and Roache still in the pipeline
That list of names is promising. In the short term, you'd hope that Connolly and Hale can kick on, given how prolific Connolly is at under 23 and Hale having senior experience. Any of the rest could lift their head above the parapet but might take a couple of years?
Has Obafemi come out and said anything about playing for Ireland,
I haven’t seen anything yet.
If he wants to play for us, great.
But it’s hard to know these days what the kids think.
I think re Decla Rice, if it wasn’t for his club and his agent, he’d have already properly declared for us.
I hope he signs a massive contract or WH based on playing for England and then declares for us.
I’d say Rice was coming under pressure at West Ham . He would be worth an awful lot more as an England International ; Sadly thats just the way it is .Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
Agent / business point of view ; his earning potential if he is a successful England international and particularly if that was in a successful England team ( ? ) would dwarf anything he could earn with Ireland . His wages just for being an England International would also be higher . Why ; but its true .
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...-37527288.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
What's this call for Troy Parrott about by Fallon? Undoubtedly mercurically talented, but he's got a lot of physical development to do before he can consider senior football.
The last line in the piece is very unfair to Obafemi. It's more nonsense from John Fallon.
There was been no indication whatsoever from Obafemi that he'll refuse to play against Denmark. It's all speculation.Quote:
Obafemi is using the system to pick and choose his country and the manager is facilitating it.
Let's whole back on the criticism of the lad until/if it happens.
EDIT: Ignore my post - I just seen MON's latest remarks.
Dan McDonnell says that Obafemi won't be travelling to Denmark as he wants more time to make a decision. Absolutely embarrassing for Ireland once again.
I can't understand how O'Neill is letting this happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapAPony
He criticised Crowley & Jack Byrne lately for being 'too confident' but will happily put up with Obafemi's nonsense.
O'Neill, the gimp, spent the week planting seeds of doubt in Obafemi's head with the rubbish he was coming out with. The only other lad we had with 'eligibility issues' he dropped him from the squad - Jimmy Dunne. No other nations are having the problem we are with dual nationals. The more I look at it, Martin O'Neill is highly likely to be directly at fault for the losses of Jack Grealish, Declan Rice, Liam Kelly and now Obafemi. All 4 are under his tenure, it's too coincidental at this stage and wouldn't have happened under any other previous Irish manager. Martin O'Neill is doing absolutely nothing for the future of Irish football.Quote:
Originally Posted by IsMiseSean
Lads please can we have a zero tolerance policy going forward.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
Serious basic competency failings definitely. Too arrogant to do the job properly.Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapAPony
We don’t know what the background is. O’Neill May have convinced him to train with us to try and lure him in.
If we missed out on him without O’Neill having made any overtures people would be giving out saying O’Neill missed out on a great lad who would’ve chosen us had anyone been in touch.
The rules need to change.
I believe you should be born in the country or have at least one parent or two grandparents born in the country.
That would still qualify Obafemi and Rice but it might cut this crap out a bit.
I think maybe the idea of nationhood is not as strong among young people as it was when we grew up (80s and 90s).
There’s far less loyalty and affinity in the game. No surprise really when there is no real loyalty at club level. I thought international football was less mercenary but looks like I was wrong
Another player that suddenly wants to consider his international future as soon as he has been called up and seen first hand the state of the coaching staff and “football” practiced...surely not much of a coincidence.
This is sadly true.
The ins and outs of Obafemi's decision are one thing, but I certainly don't think we should be capping someone - even in a friendly - who hasn't decided if he wants to play for us.
But we do know the background, he is here with our squad and isn't committed that's a fact. MON has also made a balls of this one, but the player is a total disgrace. I really really don't want him backQuote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
What should have happened:
MON: Michael I want to call you up for the NI an Denmark double header. but before I announce it, I want to make sure you are committed to be a rep of Ireland player.
MOB: No thanks, Im waiting for England as I was raised there and that's where my loyalties are.
MON: No Problem, goodbye