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Quote:
Originally Posted by bwagner
Of course you can bring the matter up, one would think that Nolan
will probably never get called up for England as he didn't get the
call this time, A change of manager might change that but if I were
in Nolans position it would be pretty clear to me that my only realistic
chance of international football would be with Ireland. He might see it
differently though it does look like the writting is on the wall.
But Nolan cannot play for us ,so why continue to even to talk about him, just forget about the man for christ sakes.
Exactly... so what if he didnt get picked by England, he doesnt want to play for anyone but them. If I lived in another dimension where some other country wanted me to play for them... I wouldnt, even if I never got an irish call up.
Aaarrrggghhh no more Nolan talk!!:p
Have to agree with the talk about centre halves...Can't see the point of bringing Breen over. Centre-half is a position where experience is a vital asset so I would have thought that blooding lads like McCarthy and McShane now would have made a hell of a lot more sense than Bringing Breen...
God forbid Dunne and/or O'Brien get injured during the upcoming qualifying campaign, then what are we left with? Breen (useless even in his prime) and a couple of promising young lads (McC and McS) with absolutely no international experience??? Just doesn't make any sense at all...
If anyone wants to talk about Nolan then find the Official Nolan thread & try not to pollute other threads with the wild theories of campaign to the Human Rights Courts 'n such.
Well whether NOLAN WANTS TO PLAY FOR US OR NOT HE DOES HAVE SOME
IRISH BLOOD IN HIM MAYBE NOT AS MUCH A ROONEY BUT THEN HE HAS A
BROKEN TOE :p
SORRY FOR THE CAPS MY COMPUTER HAS GONE MAD :)
Forgot about Delany... Also plays at left full. Must be in his mid 20's by now. Will probably get a shout for the B squad.
Yep, forgot about Delaney too. We've a proliferation of decent Championship level players. Many of these would have been (old) Division 1 players in the 80s I reckon. It's hard to pick between a lot of them and also the eL players. For example, how good would Delaney and, say, James O'Connor be in the eL?
Well if they were playing in the late 80's ?? at least experience is on their side.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Bit of a digression, I know... And also a large leap on my part. But I see Hull would be willing to let Charlton talk to Peter Tayler about the managers role.
Given his history of remembering and giving chances at higher levels to players to from previous clubs (Junior Lewis anyone) and the fact that he had Delaney with him before Hull also..... I wonder ,given the oppertunity, would he take Delaney to Charlton???
well i dont know about that but ill say one thing for sure, if Taylor were to be installed at charlton, ole craftytoepoke would be placing a large wedge on an immediate relegation for them:)Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
that said, you are right in saying he has tended to bring players with him and as ive said before Delaney showed good pace on more than one occasion when he was isolated v leicesters Hume earlier this season, would be interesting to see how he would do uptop.
yeah you're right, they could well excell at that level as Gavin etc are doing currently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Can someone please explain to me why Gary Breen is still in the Ireland squad?,he proved last season that he can't cut in in the premiership and will struggle in the championship next season with his lack of pace,he's well past it and should've packed in international football after the last WC.Surely we have enough cover there without him being picked and if Steve Staunton is planning for the future and the 2010 WC surely P.McCarthy should be in the squad.
It's possible, he had Delaney at Leicester as well, and when he took the Hull job, Delaney was among the first signings he made, if not the very first and has kept his spot through their climb through the divisions.Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
[QUOTE=geysir]Yep its thin at the centre back, our weakest area in terms of back up. QUOTE]
Not sure about that. I think centre midfield is our weakest area in a long time, as long as I can remember anyway. We are used to a raft of CM players at top premiership teams, now we are possibly down to one:- Stephen Reid. We have had lean years before at CB, remember Harte having to play there for Jack. O'Shea could do the same today, even if not desired.
Over the years we have had the likes of McGrath, Townsend, Sheridan, then Keane, Kinsella and Holland in CM. It certainly always felt we had cover & more often than not a stronger midfield than England. Not now.
Now we have one clear candiate, two if O'Shea retains his place at Man U. But frankly no top class backup. One or two injuries in midfield and we are in serious trouble.
Garvan & co. will be needed sooner rather than later.
Agree with your observations on the middle.. I'd even go as far as to say that not only have we no top class back up, but no top class individual CM's full stop...
I do acknowledge S Reids progress this year and still have high hopes for him, but I don't think we can put him in the top class bracket yet. No more than Kinsella and Holland were top class mind you, but if at 26/27 Steven Reid is held in the same esteem by Blackburn fans that Holland and Kinsella were once held in at Charlton and Ipswich respectivley I'll be content. I know he has the attributes to be better than them though but I'm not sure he has the mental strength.
I digress though... The thing is that even as we argue the merrits of our midfield options, there are a number contenders in this squad, but there are very few centre halves in a squad that, for me, should include all potential options over the next year or so
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
Great post.
I agree that our lack of midfield options is a real concern. I'm a big fan of Reid and I think we need to build the midfield around him. Of the up and coming midfielders that I've seen, I'd only be confident of Garvan making the step-up. I'm still not convinced by Stephen Ireland and I think Joey O'Brien's lack of pace could be seriously exposed in an international midfield.
As regards Lee Carsley, I was under the impression that he had announced his retirement from international football. He's a limited player but strangely enough, I believe that himself and Reid might actually complement each other nicely. A number of posts talk about Kavanagh as a holding midfielder, but I don't agree with this. Kav is a lot more creative than he's given credit for and he likes to get forward. However, I have a feeling that Stan doesn't rate him as an international player. I was very surprised he started on the bench against Sweden. People might laugh at this suggestion, but I genuinely believe that Colin Healy's road to recovery will continue and he will return to the international fold. I'd love to see him fulfil his potential alongside Reid in midfield. What an athletic and agressive midfield pairing that would be.
People might not like to hear it but I think Stan is going to persist with O'Shea alongside Reid in midfield for the foreseeable future. I'm not O'Shea's biggest fan but I'll reserve judgement for the moment. Those posts which state that O'Shea won't play for Man U next season are rubbish. The lad has just signed a new four year contract. I'd almost bet that O'Shea will play as many games as any other United player next season. Somebody said that Smith will return and take the midfield place next season. I would argue that O'Shea's stint in central midfield this season has been a lot more impressive than Smith's was. In any case, Smith may never return to full fitness.
As for Gery Breen's inclusion in the squad, I can't fathom the reasoning behind it. I'd prefer if Stan worked with Dunne, O'Brien, McCarthy, Doherty, McShane and Delaney as his group of central defenders.
I think breen is there in the same way that Laurant Blanc was at Utd and Nayet is at Spurs as more of a coach of defenders etc. I dont agree with it but just trying to see a logic behind it as it cannot be to play in my view.
I like Kavanagh & agree that he's far more talented in an attacking sense than just being a holding midfielder, but I think Emmet Malone's recent assessment was right. Something along the lines of him being a skillful, accomplished footballer but without the ability to change the game or exert his influence when up against the best tmidfielders in England.
must be the 'old head' angle Satunton is using to include a guy like Breen, like you say, its the only plausable reason for his inclusion, but i think you can argue just as strongly that the experience gained by McCarthy or McShane at a time like this when theres no real pressure to produce results as yet, would be just as valuable, possibly more so in the long term as Staunton is likeky to have to turn to them at some point in his time as boss.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD