John Joe Patrick Finn M Reims b.2003

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

It does right now, but there's photos of players with tricolours who went on to play for other countries.
Done get me wrong, I'm glad to see it.

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This is all a little pointless.

Is he definitely committed to us? Well, he has only played for us so that demonstrates commitment.
Is he tied down to us? No, he remains eligible for more countries than a lot of people have been to.

Of course he is going to be referred to as Irish and if they're giving him a flag at his unveiling then of course it's going to be an Irish one. That all means something. You said it "doesn't necessarily mean anything."

Simple fact of the matter is that that like any player that qualifies for more than one country, they are not tied to us until they are.

If he kicks on here, he'll get a call up. Who knows what he thinks about the other countries - maybe he feels Spanish for growing up in Spain and if they reckon he's good enough for a cap before we do then that's a threat but that didn't occur at underage level so the chances are low.

I'm typing longer responses than the questions, I know.

Would imagine the most likely outcome here is still that he doesn't end up being good enough for international football at all. But a combination of the previous interest we've shown in him and our issues in midfield probably makes us strong favourites if he ends up nailing down a starting spot in Ligue 1. Which is becoming a league of real interest to us all of a sudden.

Still - it’s kinda mental that Jim didn’t call him up once in the last campaign, whereas guys like Conan Noonan, Kian Leavy, Matt Healy, , Dylan Duffy, Jack Henry Francis, Darragh Burns were - no criticism to any of those boys but none of them are anywhere near starting in Ligue 1.

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Originally Posted by elatedscum

Still - it’s kinda mental that Jim didn’t call him up once in the last campaign, whereas guys like Conan Noonan, Kian Leavy, Matt Healy, , Dylan Duffy, Jack Henry Francis, Darragh Burns were - no criticism to any of those boys but none of them are anywhere near starting in Ligue 1.

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Neither was John Joe, during the last campaign.

No, but I think he was worth a look at some stage. Crawford is way too focused on who is playing first team football when he picks his squads. He should be scouting beyond that and looking at who are the biggest prospects, not who just happens to be playing senior football at a particular point in time.

Highlights package of his debut on Saturday

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Highlights package of his debut on Saturday

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Looks to have been playing deep and central. You'd expect that v PSG but he seems to be tackling and blocking like a midfielder, if that makes sense..

If he could become an option in there it would be useful.

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Highlights package of his debut on Saturday

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The Irish Valderama !

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

The Irish Valderama !

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He certainly looks like Valderama (what a player he was) but his tackling reminds me of a certain Corkman that won everything there was to win with United.

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Originally Posted by mark12345

He certainly looks like Valderama (what a player he was) but his tackling reminds me of a certain Corkman that won everything there was to win with United.

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Denis Irwin (wink ) ? !

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Originally Posted by seanfhear

Denis Irwin (wink ) ? !

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No it was the other lad from Mayfield. Can't think of his name for the life of me.

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Originally Posted by Eirambler

Feels like this lad has been on the "potentially Irish" scene for a couple of years now and I still have no idea either whether he's any good or whether he actually genuinely wants to play for Ireland.

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I was thinking just this when the PSG compilation was sent to me tonight!

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Originally Posted by mark12345

He certainly looks like Valderama (what a player he was) but his tackling reminds me of a certain Corkman that won everything there was to win with United.

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First thing I thought of watching that was a certain Corkman alright.

Better quality than the compilation above

Tricolour is a nice touch Reims!

This lad got another start tonight in Ligue 1. Watched a little bit of it on the French DAZN coverage which was jumping between three games that were on at the same time (including Andy O's game for Bordeaux), so it was hard to follow exactly how he was getting on, but he didn't seem to do anything to write home about while I was watching and was taken off after an hour.

The most notable thing across the three games is how cumbersome the pace of play is compared to the Premier League. I can see why French TV companies weren't exactly tripping over themselves to secure the rights to the league last summer. It definitely looks an obvious level below the other top European leagues.

Now a Ligue 2 player after Reims lost 3-1 after extra time last night. Finn came on after 77 minutes

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Now a Ligue 2 player after Reims lost 3-1 after extra time last night. Finn came on after 77 minutes

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They were 1-0 up when he came on.