will anymore eL players get capped next year?
i think a few looked good this season and hoped Europe would helpo more players make the step up...
but from what Kerr said y'day it doesn;t look good...
Kerr warns league stars
19 December
Brian Kerr has warned eircom League players hoping to emulate Glen Crowe and Jason Byrne?s call up to the senior international side: you?ll have to prove yourself at a higher level to get into my team.
Kerr insists that there are few bigger and more passionate eircom League fans out there than him, but he is not convinced that the standard of the players in the league are ready yet to make the step up to senior internationals.
Shelbourne and Cork have boosted the league?s image this year, but Kerr believes that the players still have a long way to go to trouble Robbie Keane and co.
He said: ?The general Irish public who are not interested in the league as much as we would be don?t care about domestic players making it to my team. It?s a nice idea for them but at the end of the day they want to see the best players.
?We?ve seen some progress with the teams in Europe this year but unfortunately the teams we?re comparing ourselves to have not done so well. Rosenborg only got a couple of points this year, while Deportivo, who beat Shels, didn?t score a single goal. It?s getting harder all the time.
?I don?t see things changing dramatically in the near future because if there?s someone in the league that is good enough to be in the International team then clubs in England or Scotland would want to sign them.
?And most clubs here are still delighted if a club wants to sign their player, but we?re still selling players at the price we were selling players ten year ago.
?That might change if we start winning in Europe but for me I doubt there is anyone who has as much respect for league and toughness of competition in the league as me ? but the reality is that the international standard is so much higher.
?Glen Crowe got a go in Greece and he did quite well, but his form dipped in the league soon after that. I took Jason Byrne in then and he did OK, but that?s it.
When you look at Jason in European competition he only got a couple of chances in the games they played and failed to score. But if he was on a pitch every week getting those chances with people breathing down his neck ? how would he be?
?Robbie Keane creates stuff for us and scores goals with his runs but that?s because he?s creating them every week with Spurs ? where he has to face defenders that are all over him.
?We have seen a few players make it to the under-21 side but the reality of the senior side is that I?m not even picking players from the 2nd or 3rd division in England and in Scotland I can?t really look outside the top 2 or maybe Hearts who are being helped with their Euro exposure.
?Change might occur, but it will take a long time and that?s where the technical development plan will help move things along.?