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I remember Alan Mahon alright-miss kicked the ball on the right touch line trying to cross and fell over himself-- he was incredibly nervous. we didnt need to try another left sided player at the time unfortunatley for him.
By the way things are going O'Shea will get those 50 caps:mad:
Absolute bullsh*t. :mad: Kilbane has always given at least 100%. Sure he has 'bad days at the office' but over the years he has never failed to turn up when selcted for the squad, has played in any position he has been asked to play even to accommodate others and as mentioned previously, no matter what number of caps he eventually gets, his display in Paris that night would ensure he is miles away from being the worst player to amass an unbelievable number of caps. Without any doubt, the player who leads this category by a mile is John O'Shea.Quote:
Originally Posted by fergalr
I thought Kilbane's best performance was Holland away in 2000, and all those other matches when he spent all his time covering for Ian Harte.
He's given 100% since then (can't fault him for that) but he's just not up to the job of international central midfielder. People go on about his Paris performance, but all I remember from sitting in Stade de France is cursing his poor positioning and constant wasting of possession. O.k., he worked his socks off, but we need more than that at international level. That said, if the the more talented players tried as hard as Kilbane we'd be cruising.
Personally I thought it was the 1-0 win over Portugal at home, think he captained the side that nightQuote:
Originally Posted by brine3
I don't know about that Tets, are you referring to the friendly win?
Didn't KK just play half that game?
I thought KK's second half performance against Cameroon in Niigata was immense. He had a very muted first half and my suspicion is that Mick told him (and others) to conserve energy given the heat. From the moment Harte nearly gifted Cameroon their second goal Kilbane made that side of the pitch his own and won so many headers and flicks, the value of which Owls Fan raightly bangs on about.
I have to admit I've started to appreciate Kilbane an awful lot more. He runs round like a headless chicken at times but he tries. I'd prefer to see him on the bench but he gives his all so cannot complain.
As has been said this needs to be divided by caps, an award for those who got less than five caps one for 5-30 and one for 30+
The mid range guys who always astonished me with their appearances were Morris, Coyne and Kernaghan
I agree we should have catagoriesQuote:
Originally Posted by cavan_fan
1-5 caps Paul Butler ?
5-25 John Devine ?
25-50 Chris Morris ?
50+ John O'Shea ?
Anyone remember Ken de Mange getting capped.
Always criticised Hartey when he played but missed him when he left. He had no pace and couldnt tackle but his distribution, corners and free kicks were first rate - remind you of anyone (clue - the most overrated, multi millionaire ever to kick a ball).
I always felt that in 2002 Killer and Hartey should have swopped positions.
Agree that one element needs to be who else was available. A lot of the time Harte was the only option at LBQuote:
Originally Posted by stojkovic
Morris was a solid player. He did well for us and should not be on this list.Quote:
Originally Posted by cavan_fan
Coyne was a limited player but he had a good WC in '94 and did what was asked of him.
Kernaghan was equally limited but was a solid player as well and scored a few nice goals.
Did you know John Devine made a single (record) while at Arsenal? Heard it on RTE radio. Truely dire stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by stojkovic
Did van Morrison produce it :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
:p:p:Quote:
Originally Posted by stojkovic
Not sure! Van might have been a better full back than Devine. Brighter on that side of team and no moondancing.Quote:
Originally Posted by stojkovic
Paul Green
Looking back now on what people were saying about John O'Shea...wonder does everyone have the same opinion now?!
97 posts and I can't believe no perpetually dissatisfied grumpy-drawers has mentioned Robbie Keane!
(:bomb:... lights fuse, throws bomb and runs for cover:soldier:)
Trying to decide whether David Savage or Alan O'Brien deserve the dishonourable mention...
Joey Lapira, Paul Green, Paul Butler & Paul McShane must be on this list....
Any one of Joe O'Cearuill, Alan O'Brien, Alan Bennett, Paul Green, Peter Murphy, Joe Lapira, John Thompson, Paul Butler, Jim Goodwin and Barry Quinn. Cillian Sheridan and Stephen Gleeson could be added to that list in time, but they're still young enough to prove me wrong.
Of those, I think Butler and Quinn were the only ones playing regularly at a high level when they were capped; we've really dragged the murky depths of the barrel with some of our selections over the years. Of those with 20+caps, Keogh, McShane and Miller should get a mention.
Can i add Kilbane, for consistency (another one lobbed in there,lol):p
Jesus, Joe O'Cearuill has disappeared off the radar altogether. Forgot about him completely.
Looking back over the years, surely there could have been players picked from the League of Ireland better than some chosen to play from League 2 clubs, Universities in America, and youth and reserve sides in higher levels of England/Scotland.
I wonder has Trap ever attended a LOI game?
He attends the odd game around international windows, yeah.
he has attended one maybe 2 games. Tardelli has attended a few more than that.
Bit of a shame.
Only if he realistically should actually call up an LOI player surely. Is that the argument being made? I love the league, but I couldn't see who he would call up ahead of those picked.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
He did once mention Conor Powell ages ago if I recall!
James McClean? Oh. Wait.Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
Well yeah but same argument for Coleman, possibly Fahey? McClean's quality but wouldn't have advocated calling him up last March. Now, however, by all means - go, James, go.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
This is a thread in bad taste really, anyone of you would probably love to take the prize.
How can people mention John O'Shea as a bad player? He didn't claim he was the next Paul McGrath - you guys did! Unbelievable.
This thread belongs in the bin ...
screw the LOI, he should drop down to a couple of LSL games at Gannon Park and call Glen Crowe back up.
He isnt/wasnt great either. Remember when i was in a pub in Wales and he came on for united and the whole pub were shaking their head laughing at that substitution, one of those players.Quote:
Originally Posted by Qwerty
It's not necessarily in bad taste, it's pretty light-hearted, and as good a topic as any to discuss on a fans forum. Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy discussing the merits of capped players that faded into obscurity since playing for Ireland, and players who just fitted in because of a lack of alternatives. Helps us to get perspective on our current pool of players.Quote:
Originally Posted by Qwerty
However, I would object to people talking about solid pros like Kilbane and O'Shea; but don't forget that this thread was started in 2007, when O'Shea was in an utterly awful run of form for Ireland, arguably typifying Stauntons inability to get the best from the talent available to him. There are no posts in this thread from the last three years talking about O'Shea in such negative terms.
I am sure that I have mentioned this before on here, but the worst player we have ever had play for us was Mickey Walsh who played for Everton. I believe he got one cap and nearly decapitated an Icelandic player when he tried to huff the ball into touch. He only got one cap I believe and never got a recall, thank goodness!
Everton paid a whole lot of dosh for Mickey Walsh but it was one of those moves that started badly and only got worse. I would still be surprised if Mickey only got one cap for Ireland though.Quote:
Originally Posted by gastric
It would be interesting if anyone has any info on why (injuries or otherwise) Mickey's football career went so drastically downhill ater his transfer to Everton.
He got 21 caps
Mickey Walsh was great!
He got the winner in my first proper Ireland game v.Russia...
Could it be Mick Kennedy you're thinking of? Left-sided player who got a cap during the Iceland tournament in 86? I only remember him from reading Jack Charlton's autobiography, apparently he was a filthy player, threw a nasty elbow in the Czech game, which Charlton wasn't impressed with, and never picked him again.Quote:
Originally Posted by gastric
Quote:
Originally Posted by Supreme feet
There were two Mike / Micky Walsh's who played for Everton. The striker (Micky) came from Blackpool and was a decent player (though not for Everton). I think he went on to play for QPR and had a successful spell in Portugal with either Porto or Sporting. Mike Walsh was a central defender signed from Bolton and was indeed crap. Think he is the one cap wonder. Eamon O'Keefe was another crap player at Everton during that era who played for us.
Ah. So it's this fella you're thinking of? Doesn't mention anything about his international career other than that he played for us.
Not entirely dissimilar to the once-capped and never recalled Joseph Lapira, whose only contribution was to take a shot at goal and huff the ball into touch instead. Although Mickey probably wouldn't appreciate the comparison.Quote:
Originally Posted by gastric