Potentially eligible players thread

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Originally Posted by samhaydenjr

While I think it would be a great coup if we could get Kane as it appears more and more like he would be the post-Keane striker we really need, I reckon it's highly unlikely that will happen (as Kane himself has indicated). But we could maybe use his ascent as leverage to get Patrick Bamford to reconsider his international options - perhaps if he goes to a club with Irish players, they should sing Kane's praises in his presence and constantly note that between Sturridge, Welbeck, Kane, Berahino, Rodriguez and Rooney, England should be sorted for strikers for the next decade with No. Other. Forwards. Required.

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Ooh, that appears to be a stretch. From the outside looking in, there's Lambert, Rooney and Welbeck in the current English squad. Anyone scoring and playing regularly must fancy their chances of taking Lambert's spot in the long-term, if not the short-term.

Bamford ain't exactly shooting the lights out in Championship these days. He has 9 goals in 27 games. Joe Mason, for example, has 9 in 14 for Bolton in roughly the same time period (beginning of 2014).

By the above logic, Will Keane can forget about representing England at senior level. He'd fall into the same category as Kane; English-born, Irish father, top PL club, England-committed. Again, as with his almost namesake, I could forgive him for turning to Ireland... I think.

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Originally Posted by Olé Olé

Ooh, that appears to be a stretch. From the outside looking in, there's Lambert, Rooney and Welbeck in the current English squad. Anyone scoring and playing regularly must fancy their chances of taking Lambert's spot in the long-term, if not the short-term.

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Don't forget Sturridge.

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Originally Posted by Olé Olé

Ooh, that appears to be a stretch. From the outside looking in, there's Lambert, Rooney and Welbeck in the current English squad. Anyone scoring and playing regularly must fancy their chances of taking Lambert's spot in the long-term, if not the short-term.

Bamford ain't exactly shooting the lights out in Championship these days. He has 9 goals in 27 games. Joe Mason, for example, has 9 in 14 for Bolton in roughly the same time period (beginning of 2014).

By the above logic, Will Keane can forget about representing England at senior level. He'd fall into the same category as Kane; English-born, Irish father, top PL club, England-committed. Again, as with his almost namesake, I could forgive him for turning to Ireland... I think.

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Course you can forgive him Ole, if he commits and performs! ;) Not aimed at you, but do any supporters ever watch an Irish game and dwell on a player's background and motive for committing to us?

@ Ole

Bamford has 2 in 3 starts this season. Last season he finished on a mini-drought of half a dozen games but even then he only started half of them. He has scored very consistently over the last year and has spoken several times of an ambition to break into the Chelsea team.

There is no indication whatsoever he will play for Ireland. Once he got that move to Chelsea and England started showing interest, he was off like several other young lads around the same time.

You brought up Mason too. If we have a goal drain then surely he would be one of the first players we'd select - rather than Cox or Sammon, so perhaps he too is uninterested in playing for Ireland at the moment?

Really it's a chore to get anyone that has any fraction of talent whatsoever to make a committal to Ireland yet some people think they are the solution to everything.

There is more chance of me getting with one of the French Erasmus students than there is of Harry Kane declaring for Ireland.

Make more of an effort with the younger players we already have and broaden our scope to include uncapped players - Doherty, O'Kane etc...

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Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

@ Ole

Bamford has 2 in 3 starts this season. Last season he finished on a mini-drought of half a dozen games but even then he only started half of them. He has scored very consistently over the last year and has spoken several times of an ambition to break into the Chelsea team.

There is no indication whatsoever he will play for Ireland. Once he got that move to Chelsea and England started showing interest, he was off like several other young lads around the same time.

You brought up Mason too. If we have a goal drain then surely he would be one of the first players we'd select - rather than Cox or Sammon, so perhaps he too is uninterested in playing for Ireland at the moment?

Really it's a chore to get anyone that has any fraction of talent whatsoever to make a committal to Ireland yet some people think they are the solution to everything.

There is more chance of me getting with one of the French Erasmus students than there is of Harry Kane declaring for Ireland.

Make more of an effort with the younger players we already have and broaden our scope to include uncapped players - Doherty, O'Kane etc...

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The reality is we need new forward now, not so much midfielders or defenders as you mentioned. Hence, the emphasis on forwards like Bamford and Kane.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Do you think I give a **** whether John Delaney agrees with me?

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I think AB meant the non-Ireland-born players wouldn't agree that it's no poor reflection on them. I don't see why criticising the management/organisation for begging eligible players who don't want to play for us should reflect badly on non-Ireland-born players who do want to play for us though. If they want to come play, the management won't (need to) be doing any begging, so it's not really a matter that concerns those players. Is it to suggest that non-Ireland-born players would appreciate it if the FAI came begging for their services as that is the only thing stopping them from declaring? We all know that's not the reason why many of these eligible players aren't interested. If a player would only consider switching after we've satisfied his need to be begged to, is he really someone who will have any sense of pride in his Irish heritage anyway?

Whilst we may make initial inquiries, I don't think we have been quite begging, to be fair. A lot of these will-he-or-won't-he-switch stories are vague and quoteless, most likely initiated by players' agents hoping to stir England into action. O'Neill commented on the Noble matter, for example, but he said that he wouldn't be chasing after Noble begging. It's up to Noble to declare his interest. Delaney also commented more generally recently (AB provided a link to the piece in a few threads) and stated we only entertained players who wanted to play for us.

Amen to that chief.

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Originally Posted by Olé Olé

Ooh, that appears to be a stretch. From the outside looking in, there's Lambert, Rooney and Welbeck in the current English squad. Anyone scoring and playing regularly must fancy their chances of taking Lambert's spot in the long-term, if not the short-term.

Bamford ain't exactly shooting the lights out in Championship these days. He has 9 goals in 27 games. Joe Mason, for example, has 9 in 14 for Bolton in roughly the same time period (beginning of 2014).

By the above logic, Will Keane can forget about representing England at senior level. He'd fall into the same category as Kane; English-born, Irish father, top PL club, England-committed. Again, as with his almost namesake, I could forgive him for turning to Ireland... I think.

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I think all six players I mentioned would definitely be considered above Bamford in the pecking order based on current status and form - that could change over the coming years, hence my cunning plan to get potential Irish team-mates to imply that he'll never break into the England squad, taking advantage of the very fact that he hasn't competely hit the ground running at championship level.:wink: Although he hasn't exactly been a flop either and is still only 21.

Joe Mason isn't directly relevant to this debate as this thread is more about, essentially, persuading English-born players to come and play for Ireland over England. As Mason has played for our underage teams he's ours to lose (a bit like Grealish), although of course you're right when you talk about watching his current form with a view to promoting him to the senior side.

As regards Will Keane, I did actually think about mentioning him but, as he has only played a few senior games and hasn't scored a senior goal yet I was unsure whether he could be put forward as someone who could leapfrog Bamford in the England pecking order or, as you imply, could be poached in a similar manner to Bamford. Although, given that he is actually eight months older than Bamford, perhaps you're right and should start applying this plan to him - "you'll never make it to the England squad, Will - even Bamford is ahead of you" ;)

We struggle to get 26 year olds and 27 year olds to declare for us and we are getting our hopes up about 19 year olds and 20 year olds. Despite nothing from the past 15 years indicating a player of Bamford or Kane's stature would declare at this juncture.

Optimistic.

Should not get his own private thread until he declares :D

https://twitter.com/SkySportsPeteO/s...61080010129408

It's funny enough to note how David McGoldrick's name has been bandied about in the media by journos and Ipswich players alike. On the other hand, if this transpires, then Christie will have gone straight from English to the Ireland squad without one column millimetre dedicated to him on the matter.

Jeff Hendrick and Richard Keogh would want to get their heads out of the sand on this one!!

Cyrus Sylvester Frederick Christie.

The FAI's name recognition algorithm must be pretty sophisticated.

Though of course if he was from The Wesht his middle name would be Silvie. I'll never forget sniggering at the Galway hurler Silvie Linnane. We all thought he had a girl's name.

They patented that algorithm and have now consultants working in Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Spain, Portugal etc. How do you think they got the Debt reduced for "nothing"....

They're a bit 'different' in Galway Stutts.

Oh yeah the papers finally have it................................me wonders if they saw my post. I want credit! ;)

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/socc...game-1.1957662

http://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/socc...county-4407132

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30651639.html

Daniel McDonnell: Time to close the door on Noble

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30678029.html

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Daniel McDonnell: Time to close the door on Noble

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30678029.html

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A fair and measured article. However, while he would not be a walk in to an Irish squad, he would be a better option than the likes of Paul Green. Options, options, options....

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Originally Posted by gastric

A fair and measured article. However, while he would not be a walk in to an Irish squad, he would be a better option than the likes of Paul Green. Options, options, options....

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Better player, no question. Better option? No way. Green's commitment to Ireland has been second to none. Noble doesn't even know if he can be bothered playing for us. I'd take Green every day of the week. If we were short of midfielders and needed somebody to step in, which player do you think would hop on a plane at a minute's notice to get here, or somewhere in the arse end of Europe?

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Better player, no question. Better option? No way. Green's commitment to Ireland has been second to none. Noble doesn't even know if he can be bothered playing for us. I'd take Green every day of the week. If we were short of midfielders and needed somebody to step in, which player do you think would hop on a plane at a minute's notice to get here, or somewhere in the arse end of Europe?

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And if I had a choice of a player who could help us beat a team in the arse end of Europe rather than a player who is less gifted, I would take Noble over Green every time. There are no plaudits for nearly qualifying and using inferior players based on commitment. Pragmatism is at the heart of O'Neill's decisions in sounding out players and is good enough for me.

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Originally Posted by gastric

And if I had a choice of a player who could help us beat a team in the arse end of Europe rather than a player who is less gifted, I would take Noble over Green every time. There are no plaudits for nearly qualifying and using inferior players based on commitment. Pragmatism is at the heart of O'Neill's decisions in sounding out players and is good enough for me.

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But will a more talented half-arsed player actually be of greater help in the grand scheme of things than a less gifted committed player?It's not necessarily so, just because he's more gifted.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Daniel McDonnell: Time to close the door on Noble

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30678029.html

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He mentions that Cyrus Christie and Jack Grealish are childhood pals. Is Dan Crowley another friend of both?