Originally Posted by
backstothewall
He might. It's a risk.
But then Again. He might not. There is only one way to find out.
Sadly I'm old enough to remember the last time Mick was faced with this situation. Aldo and Cass had gobe and there was talk of call ups for guys like Sean Devine or Lee Trundle who were scoring goals down the divisions. In the end Mick didn't go down that path and instead gave caps to kids like David Connolly, Keith O'Neill and Robbie Keane.
If ever there was a game when on paper it looked like a young forward might get kicked out of it it was April 22nd 1998. Argentina came to the old Lansdowne Road a 17 year old Robbie Keane made his home debut up front alongside Quinner. Argentina had Nelson Vivas, Roberto Sensini and Roberto Ayala in defence, none of whom were likely to allow themselves to be embarrassed because they went easy on some punk kid.
Robbie tortured them. Ortega was unplayable and the Argies beat us 2-0, but the next day the guy people were talking about was a scrawny teenager who looked like he was going home to finish his homework after the match.