Quality players in the international wilderness.

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

Its favourtism towards previous squad members if anything. Folan, Keogh, Bruce etc may have just about been reasonable picks at the start of Traps tenure when Clint was settling into a new club, Delap was just back from injury etc but he doesn't really update his team roster at all. It's taken him this long to get Foley on board and he still hasn't given Lawerence a shot.

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Agreed, but hasn't Foley been in the last few squads?

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Originally Posted by Ciaran

he still hasn't given Lawerence a shot.

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Lawrence was in the B squad for the game VS Nottingham Forest, but had to pull out with injury. Andrews and Folan were both given a chance in that game, and took it well IMO

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Originally Posted by Emmet7

Lee Carsley, a good trier but he's hardly world class.

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Daryll Murphy, don't think he is world class.

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This has cropped up before and I wanted to throw it out there. What is it that people mean when they talk about a player being 'world class'? Does it refer to being able to survive at international level (in which case we might prefer the term 'international class')? Or does it refer to what I would take to be the more accurate interpretation of the term, that the player has qualities which make him well above average in his given position compared to other internationals?

If it's the former, I think our whole squad (with the exception, perhaps, of McShane and Miller who often look off the pace) would fit the bill of being world class.

If the latter, then I would say Given, Finnan, Dunne, JOS, S Reid, Duff, Keane and Doyle would tick the box. But none of the others really.

(And one might also take 'world class' to mean being among the best in the world in one's position. In which case only Given is really in with a shout of meriting the accolade.)

Just a thought anyway.

There is no bias shown by Trappatoni to Premiership over Championship. The only thing they go on is his own idea of what it takes to have a good balanced sqaud. That is not to say I agree with every decision but there is no bias to it only his opinion on players. Simple as that. No ulterior motives

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Originally Posted by TerryPhelan

This has cropped up before and I wanted to throw it out there. What is it that people mean when they talk about a player being 'world class'? Does it refer to being able to survive at international level (in which case we might prefer the term 'international class')? Or does it refer to what I would take to be the more accurate interpretation of the term, that the player has qualities which make him well above average in his given position compared to other internationals?

If it's the former, I think our whole squad (with the exception, perhaps, of McShane and Miller who often look off the pace) would fit the bill of being world class.

If the latter, then I would say Given, Finnan, Dunne, JOS, S Reid, Duff, Keane and Doyle would tick the box. But none of the others really.

(And one might also take 'world class' to mean being among the best in the world in one's position. In which case only Given is really in with a shout of meriting the accolade.)

Just a thought anyway.

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For me world class means a player that would be included in a squad of the best players in the world. As this is very subjective I would say a world-class player is a player that would be considered to be one of the top 5 (or at a stretch 10) players in the world in his position.

I agree Given would be our only world-class player under these conditions.

Good call Terry.

World Class is neither here nor there in conext of Ireland selection. Whether a player is the best we have in a certain position should determine whether he is in the team, the "horse for course" or team balance issue notwithstanding. Whether he is in the top 2 or 3 in that position should determine whether he is in the squad, this time versatality maybe notwithstanding.

Schillaci played under Trap when he was at Juve, he was interviewed before the game against Italy and gave his thoughts on Trap.

"He is from the old school," opined Schillaci of Ireland's boss, "He is a coach 'al antique', from a traditional sense and in that school if you don't follow the plan, you will easily be thrown out of the team.

"But he's used to training with great players who follow his will so if you don't do that, what do you expect? He's a very good coach and he knows what he is talking about."

Unaware of the current Andy Reid situation, Schillaci continued to say: "Naturally, if you continue to ignore what he's asked you to do, you're going to be put out of the team whether you're Baggio or Schillaci or whoever you are."

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Originally Posted by irishfan86

He comes from a pretty diverse background- give him a break if he had a bit of an identity crisis!

Bottom line, once he put the green jersey on, he's given us his all and never turned down a call up.

What really impresses me is that he has never been critical about not being selected- he merely states that he feels he should be in the squad, and talks about the team and their fortunes pretty regularly.

Here are some quotes from an interview from February of this year:

“Obviously the Irish scouts have been coming to a few of our games and it is up to me to start banging in the goals until the end of the season because we have got more qualifiers coming up in March and June,”

“I am sure now that Keiren Westwood has been called up that Mr Trapattoni will have people at a lot of our games so I have to make sure that I am on top of my game every week now to impress them as well as my own manager.”

“I am disappointed because I have been knocking on the door for the last few years. I didn’t play for a while when Steve Staunton was manager because he didn’t pick me."

"It was a case that he said he was going for younger players, which is fair enough, but I told him that you still need some experience but he said that’s the way it was going."

“I am my biggest critic and admit when things aren’t going well, but after that I scored 10 goals and think I have been doing well and my record stands up against the other strikers in the Irish squad."

“I am not saying I should be there and starting for Ireland but I still think I should be there or thereabouts in the squad. "

On Mick McCarthy:

“I have got to give him a lot of credit because he was the one who picked me for Ireland and they were great memories and great times playing for my country, and if it wasn’t for him coming to meet me and persuading me to play for Ireland I probably wouldn’t have in the first place.”

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/cov...2746-22893609/

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He took his time when deciding what country he wanted to represent. IMO he only just Ireland as he realised he was not going to get capped by England.

Yes, he has given his all when he has put on the green, and he is genuinely disappointed at being overlooked in the last few years. This however, is not due to any Irish pride but rather due to the fact that he wants to get the most out of his career....

Simple as that, to believe otherwise is just naive.