Anthony Pilkington M Fleetwood Twn b.1988

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Originally Posted by DannyInvincible

Don't think he was called up. Apparently, inquiries were made by FAI officials though: http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich...ahan_1_1480743

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Yeah I see there was a report on the FAI news page
Trap welcomes squad for serbia friendly

"Following Wes Hoolahan's withdrawal from the squad on Friday (Achilles), Norwich City were contacted about the availability of Anthony Pilkington. However, Pilkington sustained a hamstring injury and came off after 65 minutes in a pre-season friendly yesterday and is not fit to report."
I suppose that amounts to a request. However, Trap denies that there was such a contact. Could be a case of a FAI official getting ahead of themselves, I wouldn't rule that out :)

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Shouldn't he already have an Irish passport from representing us previously?

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Who knows, Trap just referred to him and passport.
Unextrapolated quote from Trap,
"I sent SMS but at this moment we have to ask as we need to make the passport," Trapattoni told reporters. "We have doubt situation. He has good quality but we need time.
"Until now he must answer us. It’s not the first time. There is no contact, he is not our player," he added

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Originally Posted by geysir

"I sent SMS but at this moment we have to ask as we need to make the passport," Trapattoni told reporters.

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Clearly, the FAI's Passport Production Department aren't what they used to be. Back in the day, I remember they managed to manufacture one for Tony Cascarino in no time!

I reckon if he keeps up these performances then he will surely be called up to England by that stage.

Why ?

Because there is a "doubt situation" existing.

Well, be amazed if England pick him...

Besides them, he's only eligible for Ireland?
Unless he's moving to Qatar...

Goal. Long ball over the top, Pilkington played on side by Kilgallon. Manages to get behind Kilgallon, though forced away from goal by Cuellar, cuts it back and in side Cuellar, and finishes past Mignolet into the corner from about 12 yards out.

Sunderland getting back into the game got they got one back to 2-1 then there was one of the most shocking misses I have ever seen, not sure
which Sunferland player is was, a fair haired one. Kilgallonn. Shocking miss worth seeing.

Wasn't Kilgallon mentioned as possibly being eligible a few years back?

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Originally Posted by JGKyne

Wasn't Kilgallon mentioned as possibly being eligible a few years back?

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He is mentioned here.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055756787

But judging by that miss we aren't missing much!!!

Pilkington goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6lMc3lNOKE

I really can not under stand the mentality of someone who would make a clip cut so short at the start.
The start of the video is almost him drawing his foot back for the shot
The ball is in the back of the net before 2 seconds are up FFS!!

And here is the goal without the set up cut out.
There is a player offside but I don't think he counts, Pilks is close to offside but gets the benefit of the doubt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_HGcbAyj3Y

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Originally Posted by tricky_colour

Sunderland getting back into the game got they got one back to 2-1 then there was one of the most shocking misses I have ever seen, not sure
which Sunferland player is was, a fair haired one. Kilgallonn. Shocking miss worth seeing.

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Good quality view of the miss here
http://www.footytube.com/video/norwi...?ref=wv_relbox

Also not that Mark Bunn actually saved that shot by pushing it onto the post.

Also shows Pilk's goal which I thought was top class.

Not shown is where Killgallon gave away a free kick and also a penalty which was not awarded, however he still got a decent
rating on Sky Sports!! & players (including subs rated worse by users!!). Having said that there were mitigating circumstances
for each incident, ie the missed goal, the ball was fairly high when he put it over, but still a shocking miss.

'Giovanni Trapattoni to persuade Norwich midfielder Anthony Pilkington to declare for Ireland': http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/...ielder-anthony

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Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni is set to persuade Norwich City midfielder Anthony Pilkington that his senior international future lies with the Boys in Green, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

The 24-year-old Canaries midfielder was born in England but has represented Ireland once at under-21 level, appearing against Lithuania in 2008. However, he has yet to make a senior international appearance for Trapattoni's team.

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[A]ccording to the Sunday Times, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has since endeavoured to speed up the process, with goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly said to be assisting Pilkington with passport issues.

Speaking about the issue, Norwich City manager Chris Hughton, who played 53 times for Ireland, described the talk surrounding Pilkington's international future as 'irrelevant'.

"That is irrelevant because at this moment he hasn't had that opportunity (to play for Ireland)," he told the Sunday Times. "If he has the opportunity or a decision to make that would be based on the fact that he is playing very well."

Republic of Ireland international Kevin Kilbane, meanwhile, believes that Pilkington has been overlooked by Trapattoni 'for too long' and must be capped competitively.

"He has been overlooked for too long," said the former Everton midfielder. "There is still that possibility he could play for England and that decision should be taken away from him by giving him a run out in a competitive game."

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Originally Posted by DannyInvincible

'Giovanni Trapattoni to persuade Norwich midfielder Anthony Pilkington to declare for Ireland': http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/...ielder-anthony

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Kilbane is a legend but should we not be giving Pilkington a competitive cap because he is better than other players available to us and not just to stop England from capping him?

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Originally Posted by Irish_Praha

Kilbane is a legend but should we not be giving Pilkington a competitive cap because he is better than other players available to us and not just to stop England from capping him?

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I think Kilbane was alluding to the former by stating Pilkington "has been overlooked for too long".

According to that report, he hasn't got a passport yet.
I think that confirms that you don't need a relevant passport in order to play any friendly at underage level, it appears that nobody gives a fleck who you play in the team.

The same ST article also said he was thinking about holding out for an England call-up, with Hodgson having seen him play a couple of times recently. There was no source for it though.

I'd completely believe this.

But the process of 'greening' him has begun in earnest and presumably he has agreed to participate in this process, which probably means he will be put in a situation where he will have to make a final decision - early next year.

Pilkington on course to make his senior debut

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Anthony Pilkington is on course to make his senior international debut for the Republic of Ireland against Poland, according to Giovanni Trapattoni, who sounded a little surprised yesterday that Darron Gibson’s self-imposed exile from the squad shows no sign of ending.“I can say with certainty that he is very interested in playing for us,” said the Ireland manager in an end-of-year press conference with journalists. “He is honoured with the interest and the paperwork is being processed at the moment. Who knows, we might be able to see him in early February.”

The Italian said he will watch Norwich again over the Christmas period to monitor the form of both Pilkington, who has previously represented Ireland at under-21 level, and Wes Hoolahan, but he left little doubt about his desire to have the English-born winger on board.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I have seen him play in two or three matches and he is a very interesting player. He is a very particular type of player. He is technically excellent and he is very physical.
“He is really at ease playing both off his left and right foot. He is young and very aggressive with the ball. I don’t know if during my time here we have actually had that type of player, who is at ease both on the left and right wing, and who can come in and create difficulties for defences.
“I think he is a great threat in front of goal. There are a lot of different ways he can attack in the air. He has a great strike of the ball and he is not afraid to take a shot. He is excellent at set-pieces; his physical and technical attributes are there for everyone to see.

“He is a bit different from Duff, Lawrence, Hunt and even McClean. He is able to offer a lot in different areas of the pitch

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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...327874307.html