A sub again on a losing Reading team.
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A sub again on a losing Reading team.
2 goals against the Villains. Both goals resulting from him being in the right place at the right time. Great movement for both goals.
Long has now scored more goals in the first 3 months of the year than in the whole of 2009!
His timing was perfect allright. Second goal was really good. To bad they lost in the end.Quote:
Originally Posted by noddy102
Good performances by Irish players this weekend in lower leagues Long, O'Flynn, O'Donavon, lee, Houlahan, Mooney and er... Robbie Keane..
A goal and a penalty miss for Long today against Derby in a 4-1 win.
I delighted he is showing his true quality. Between him and Stokes we are in fine tune for the new campaign.
I'd be alot more excited if they were doing it in the Premiership.Quote:
Originally Posted by bwagner
Long has been doing it in fits and starts for the last few years though. He needs to deliver over the course of a season.
he is easily capable of the step up. He has the agression, the ability and the instinct to make it at a higher level. His potential excites me and can only mean good things for the national team in a couple of years. The only thing lacking right now, preventing him from ripping the champo apart, is a bit of consistency, as Dr.PeePee states.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
spot on
In fairness to Long, he hasn't had a decent run as one of the main strikers during his time at Reading. The squad was too strong during Coppell's days, then the last manager didn't seem to rate him, and it's only now that he is being viewed as first choice.
I agree with the sentiments that he is one to watch though -- I love his aggression.
Got a brace for Reading today, in great form at the moment, scored six in his last five appearances.
SSN reporter raving about Long's performance today.
Up to 10 goals in 24 league games. Not too bad at all — certainly his best season yet. I also thought he was excellent in the Norway friendly. He specifically did well to win the penalty in that game and dispatched it with aplomb as they say. I think he's as close as we have to a natural replacement for Robbie when he eventually retires.Quote:
Originally Posted by elroy
Great to see.
He was getting a bit of stick a from the Reading fans a lil' while back for a poor conversion rate.
'A wasp' is how I heard him described on SSN just before Christmas when he put in a similar performance. Never gives the opposition a moment's peace.Quote:
Originally Posted by drummerboy
Sounds like he's really taken on the Doyle mantle. Can only be a good thing.
Exactly what I thought after the Norway game, wasn't much of a fan of him before but he looked really good that nightQuote:
Originally Posted by Serb
Coleman, McCarthy and Long were the only positives in 2010 from an Irish footballing perspective. Good to see Long starting off 2011 in style. I think he could do a decent job in the PL because of his pace & work rate.
It could be a generation or two before we see anyone of Robbie Keane's ability pulling on the green shirt. To say that Shane Long may step into the breach is nothing short of absurd!
Livehead, you are almost as paranoid as Youngirish, about what other posters are thinking.
Read the previous posts a bit more carefully.
Btw, 'step into the breach' does not mean emulate, or be as good as.
surely long can dress himself well enough. or do you mean when robbie complains to the ref as he clutches his own jersey?Quote:
Originally Posted by livehead1
I'll put my hand up and admit I didn't think Long would even make it in the Championship, much the less the EPL but his performances recently in the green shirt and at club level have me hoping that I may have been misguided. I don't think he'll ever be able to produce the amount of goals Robbie did in the EPL or for Ireland, but when Robbie is done perhaps he could "théam sa bhearna baoil," if you will, as geysir pointed out.
To qualify what I said earlier, he's nowhere near as good as Robbie Keane, and he never will be. However, he's definitely the closest we have to a like-for-like replacement for him once Keane retires. He has the energy and the passion that has been a part of Robbie's game since he was 18, he has an eye for goal, and he takes a decent penalty.
That's not to say he'll come close to 50 goals in the green — no chance — but I'd say he has the ability to put away 15 - 20 (he has 5 already and he hasn't played many games). I think his chances will be quite limited for the next 3 or 4 years though, as I would expect Keane to keep plugging away until 33 at least. Unless Stokes or Rooney can play themselves into contention, it's highly likely Long will be the man pulling on the number 10 jersey in a few years time.
Scored for Reading in a 1-0 victory over WBA. Noel Hunt started up front with him. Ian Harte started at left back too.
4th goal in 3 games VS Doncaster
is that 13 for the season? or 13 league goals?
12, 11 in the league, 1 in the FA CupQuote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Long may this vein of form continue, could be the making of him.
i was sure it said 12th goal after he scored in the fa cup. Thats not saying i think im right though.
Eight goals in his last seven games. Impressive stuff and according to sky earlier he is starting to attract attention from PL clubs. Tonights goal was meant to be particularly well taken. 14 goals for the season, including club and country.
http://www.soccerbase.com/players_de...playerid=41355
What does plugging away mean? Long is a better goal scorer than Keane at this moment in time. Thats all that counts. We already have enough "plugging away types".Quote:
Originally Posted by Serb
Keane said on Pat Kenny over Christmas he wants to beat the English record, I think thats Linekers, not sure. After he has done that we will see how long he sticks around if there is a new manager looking at a rebuild, which there may be, or if we were to qualify and he reached his goal during the tournament. 5 more plugs I make that then, could be wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
If Long sustains this he will be tough to ignore, took the goal at the weekend like there was no keeper to deal with.
Its bobby charltons. Its a realistic record to beat but its another way of keane saying he wants to get to 50.im sure if he gets to 50 he will want to break another record
I can't see Keane retiring from International Football as long as he's still playing Professionally....
I didn't mean "plugging away" in some kind of derogatory sense. Plugging away just meant playing football. To be fair to Keane, Long is in a better goal scorer than Keane right now because it's hard to score goals while you're sitting on the bench. Assuming Keane seals a move during this transfer window, he'll be back to scoring goals regularly at a higher level than Long.Quote:
Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar
As regards his international career, Dr. PeePee makes a good point:
I'd actually go one further and say, I can't see Keane not being picked as a regular starter in international football as long as he's playing professionally. I think it's a silly suggestion to say that his place in the Ireland team is seriously under threat. We have no player like him, even when he's not playing regular club football, and I wouldn't bet on seeing another striker as good as him in the green in my lifetime.Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
Robbie Keane is as good as we've ever had. But he's looked rusty for us the last couple of appearances, most notably in Slovakia. It could have just been an offday, but the problem is once he's not playing regular club football it's not possible to say whether it was an off day or as a result of rustiness.
It will be strange alright. The day will come though and it will be akin to Raul being dropped from Real or the National team.....a strange feeling that something doesnt quite seem right.Quote:
Originally Posted by Serb
Jayzus, Darren Bent handed in a Transfer Request at Sunderland!! 18m Bid from Villa too apparently..... We could see Robbie up in Sunderland afterall!!!
In relation to the national team, I think Raul being dropped is very different. Look at the caliber of strikers that have come through behind Raul: David Villa (who has already equaled Raul's goal scoring record for Spain) and Fernando Torres (whose international scoring record is relatively quite poor, "only" 26 goals in 82 games, but is still one of the top strikers in Europe). Spain have the pool of players that they can afford to drop players like Raul. We don't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Junior