Of course, as soon as I typed that, I found this:Quote:
Originally Posted by samhaydenjr
Quote:
Originally Posted by samhaydenjr
in more disappointing news, they just sign Jordan Hugill from West Ham. £5m fee touted for a guy who West Ham sign for upwards of 10m in 2018. Not huge money but he's a proven championship player who you'd have to imagine they're buying to play. Pukki is also still on their books...
Kenny clearly not convinced by Obafemi, and I don’t blame him. He has been underwhelming in his Irish U21 appearances, and I haven’t been overly impressed with him with Southampton this season, his goals vs Chelsea and United apart. I like the call, let’s see how he responds, his attitude is clearly an issue so this is a nice early test for him. A good motivating factor.
Surprised by O’Dowda, don’t see it. Other than that it’s a nice blend of exciting youth and experience. Future squads will only get stronger, still a lot of very average joes in there
Is O'Dowda a tactical call? Is he someone who can play on the left of the midfield 3 and left of the forward 3? Although he has a few more options for those spots.
O'Dowda has had a turbulent time at club level. He clearly had a few clashes with Lee Johnson. It will be interesting to see if he can kick on at long last now that Johnson has been moved on. Kenny might see something in him. I've liked O'Dowda myself too but he has a lot to prove and, given the bit of competition in the squad, I think he is under pressure to start providing himself.
Jason Knight, for example, can probably cover similar positions to O'Dowda.
Yeah I don't see what O'Dowda offers at all to be honest. He's 25 now and hasn't really developed at all. We're not lacking in left-footed wide players or set pieces either.
I don't know why he was picked.
Any word on Dan Crowley? Seems to have played the whole season with Birmingham City
To a certain extent, the first squad is a bit of a free pass unless there is something outrageously egregious. I’d have had Byrne, Cullen and Maguire in my squad but they’re all marginal calls. Asking a lot of the kids (Troy, Adam) but he’s seen them more than anyone else, so he’s best to make that call...Quote:
Originally Posted by ColourfulPeanut
O’Dowda has always been pretty good for ireland I think. Wouldn’t have been in my squad of 23, but he’s probably ahead of other available wide players who missed out: Curtis, Duffy, Horgan, Harness. I guess Ogbene isn’t eligible yet... He can dribble at players, he’s intelligent and he has quick feet. There’s a lot to like, if he hasn’t really developed in the way you’d have hoped over the last 4 years...
Think we’ll be waiting for the September rule change...Quote:
Originally Posted by brine3
You're going to have to explain that one. What i see is a kid who has forced his way into the premier league team, and was immensely proud when he made his debut for us. It's very unclear to me what the issue is with his attitude.Quote:
Originally Posted by tommy_c12000
When he wasn't called up he tweeted "disgrace" then deleted it and replaced it with "interesting! sic smiley face confused face emojisQuote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
His attitude/professionalism has been criticised by Hasenhüttl too.
Full press conference from yesterday here:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJJEsweu0ow
What's that about? I thought he qualified for us easy...Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
From that, Arter will start anyway in the holding role
I will give him credit, he is the first Irish manager that didn't bit*h about "having no time with the players" etc etc
Hopefully Kenny has been on to him in private and had a stern but fair word with him... but without making it public.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
The likes of Trap, O'Neill and McCarthy would do something foolish like call him out publicly at a press conference.
If Ofafemi refuses a call into the U21s we know what we have on our handsQuote:
Originally Posted by brine3
Absolutely, the complete opposite!Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
"We’ve got really good defenders, you know, I think we’ve got potentially a really creative, dynamic midfield and we’ve got cutting edge forwards"
Any word on the new kit/kit provider? The New Balance deal is 3 years old now and there was a distinct lack of their branding yesterday but that could be due to the new hat deal. Almost everything New Balance is half price on the FAI store at the minute too.
I'm still holding out hope the next one will be sold without a sponsor with 3 ending their sponsorship.
Pretty minor offence there!Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
The Southampton manager has questioned his attitude a few times but has still picked him over 20 times and Obafemi has delivered with some goals and assists too. He is far from finished product but will be interesting to see how he progresses.
Kenny pretty much said that James McCarthy will be the playmaker of his tenure