I dont agree. The people that they speak to in the FAI will turn them off the idea. Everyone they talk to will turn them off the idea before they even get a chance.
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Or they may look at the UEFA rankings and decide straight away that they don't want to consider any players from a league that isn't one of the top 30 in Europe.
Or then again, maybe they will. (and it's a big assumption to say we'll be in the top 30 in 2 years.) If an EL team manages to get to the UEFA group stages, then it provides a platform from which players can stake a claim for an international spot. Passinginterest spells it out what the EL needs to be aiming for to provide itself with serious credibility beyond its present fans.
Until then however, I have no problem with a manager drawing his team from the premier league and championship in England. There may be an argument to be made about League 1 players versus EL players, but for the most part, they are themselves just squad fillers, with little chance of getting a game. When I look at the Brazil squad, there isn't anybody there that I would omit in favour of an EL player, and there would be several more English based players that I would call up before turning to the EL.
On a final point, I think it would be extremely counter-productive to call up a player as a token gesture when that player hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of getting a game.
I'm not being dismissive...if there are players in the EL good enough to play for the senior national side they're not gonna prove it playing in the EL, Clinton Morrison is scoring goals against international goalkeepers in the Championship whilst being marked by international defenders, Jason Brne will presumably be scoring goals against part timers & in many cases has been defenders - how can you make a case that Byrne should be in the squad ahead of Morrison or any player thats scoring or competing in the Championship??? Same for Gamble - why is he more deserving of a call up than any midfielder from the Championship - players who play against a higher quality of opposition week in week out
Heard tonight that Tardelli will visit all EL grounds. He's going to spend a month in Ireland.
Yes, thats all we can ask. Give the league the respect it deserves. I thought they would. Unlike Staunton and McCarthy they will examine every avenue and leave no stone unturned. Thats called professionalism!
Should they go for Doyle and Parkhouse up front or perhaps Murphy and Gethins would be a more balanced partnership! :cool:
Keith Fahey is 10 times the player Joe Gamble will ever be,Healy is ahead of Gamble in my books
From my limited byt eagle eyed viewing of both players last season I agree. Gamble is a hasher and Healy is a class above him.
If I were to name the 4 best players (1 defender, 1 gkp, 1 midfielder and 1 striker) in the EL they would be:
Murphy (Bohs) Gk
Gartland (Drogs) CB
Robinson (Drogs) RM
Zayed (Drogs) FWD
Murphy is as good and better than most options bar Given. All the other keepers are rejects from various clubs in England and Murphy has had over 20 clean sheets here last season. Bohs are lucky to have him. He is better than Henderson (I am 100% sure about that - I am better than Henderson). I think hes as good as Doyle and Joe Murphy, matter of opinion I suppose. He should be in top 3 I think.
Gartland is way better than O'Dea but thats about it. I think he should also be a squad member.
Robinson is definitely good enough for International level. A class act but at 27 is getting old. Hes not as good as McGeady but is on a par with miller and miles better than Keogh.
Zayed is very good at winning the ball, holding it up and excellent in the air. But hes probably not a very good goalscorer. I don't think that he deserves to be in the panel.
I think in Ireland's weak positions, Gartland and Murphy are credible candidates. Robinson is also good enough.
:)
Yeah I agree with you on Murphy. The thing with goalkeeping is that you can judge how good a shot stopper someone is not matter what the level is, as a top corner shot is a top corner shot and all professional players are able to hit a quick shot with power into the top corner. Also his ability to come for crosses is top class and so is his ability at one on ones. The only thing that lets him down is his kicking but I am sure that could be worked upon. I would have no problem with him being in the squad, and I think he should be in the squad.
Mark Quigley is the best Irish stricker imo
A gross oversimplification. Top players will hit the ball harder, more accurately (i.e. more in the corner) and, most importantly, with less warning (e.g. less backlift)
This would be Staunton and McCarthy, both of whom I have seen at UCD matches for a start?
So you think that Brian Kerr didnt have a knowledge of whether the league was good enough before he took charge, even though his only job in senior management was in Ireland, before taking the national job. Steve Staunton made mutterings about the league as well though that was just to keep the sort of people that are commenting on this forum happy. He should have just come straight out and said he didnt rate the league as good enough for picking internationals.
I think that the standard in the LOI is improving at a rapid rate, while the quality of player being picked for the national side is similarly diminishing. More importantly, it will take an element of cojones to break with the norm on this issue, which is somehting I wouldn't associate with Brian Kerr. I'm also hopeful that someone who won't be swayed by the LOI stigma will be able to make an informed assessment on the best way forward for Irish football without the handicap of the Premiership-tinted glasses sported by his predecessors and the FAI top brass.
I haven't been to a great deal of LOI games, but from the small amount of games that I've seen I would agree with this. I first went in 2005 (a few years after moving back to Ireland) and that season - perhaps in my ignorance - thought the standard was quite poor. But after going to a fair few games last season, I thought the standard had improved an awful lot as the players didn't seem to be making as many errors and seemed to be a bit technically better than from what I previously remembered.
And how do you know Staunton and Kerr didn't have a look around the league, decided it wasn't up to it and looked elsewhere? What would you say if Trappatoni came out and said the Eircom League wasn't up to scratch so he won't be picking any players from there? What if he doesn't pick any eL players in his two years with us? Will you accuse him of having a Permiership bias? Or just having made a sound judgement?
Staunton wouldn't know a good player if one jumped out of his ass, and I've answered your question about Kerr in the post you quoted.
Like I said, I would be hopeful that this wouldn't be the case, but I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. :)