Sean Maguire F Carlisle United b.1994

[Olé Olé]

Yes, he'll get all of the above with Cork. And I think you're right he will shine and I would back them to make it to the Europa League proper given the level of football they are playing right now.
But the man himself has said he is over the moon about his move to Preston and he can't wait to get started and there is talk of him being a goal-getter for Preston. But he is spreading himself too thin.
He's in his mid season now with City and he'll surely hit the ground running for Preston's pre-season, but he's going to hit a wall before Christmas because he'll have had no break.

That's assuming he gets in the team immediately. Hugill, Barkhuizen and Robinson all played up front last season and don't think any of them will leave. Then you have Horgan and McGeady (with Robinson dropping back) if they go with 4-2-3-1.

Maguire might have to bide his time.

[Olé Olé]

That said, had a quick look at the numbers. None of the 3 are particularly prolific. I think Hugill is the only proper out and out striker of the 3 and he's not banging them in but I know he's highly rated after they rejected a bid from Ipswich for him in January.

I think Maguire is clinical. Once he gets up to speed at pre-Season he should be able to apply that to the Championship. Another consideration is that he's a confidence player. If he makes a good transition and scores early then that's a big win for him.

[DeLorean]

Brian Kerr thinks O'Neill is right in his approach towards Maguire. - https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017...-he-does-it-a/

Martin has said he's a young player, he'd be putting an awful lot of pressure on him.

I think in the expanded squad Martin O'Neill might have used him... but he's not going to be in the Irish team until he goes to Preston and scores goals.

We saw what happened with Daryl Horgan off Dundalk last year and Andy Boyle. The manager of the international team needs to be convinced the player can do it at a better level than the League of Ireland. We've got Cork and Dundalk, two very good sides, competing against each other and he scored three goals.

But what convinced Martin O'Neill to put Horgan and Boyle into the squad ;last year was their performances in Europe.

Both of those players looked like they could rise up to the next level and play at the next level.

I think it's very difficult for the international manger to think a player is good enough playing against the current League of Ireland teams.

The game has improved to a degree but it's not at the level where a manager could say, 'this player is good enough, I could trust him to play against Austria or Serbia in our group'.

The manager needs to be convinced of the player's performances at a higher level.

[DannyInvincible]

I think in the expanded squad Martin O'Neill might have used him... but he's not going to be in the Irish team until he goes to Preston and scores goals.

That's all anyone was asking for over the past month or whatever; to have a look at Maguire in the expanded squad/training camp in Cork and possibly a friendly off the back of that. Somehow the debate has now been contorted disingenuously (not by Kerr, but by O'Neill himself) into whether or not Maguire is ready to step to playing the likes of Austria.

[DeLorean]

Even Kerr says "might" though, so obviously not something he fells strongly about, otherwise he would have said "should".

O'Neill obviously feels LOI form alone doesn't justify a call up, or that he's content with the few forward options he has for now.

It is what it is I suppose, if Maguire doesn't make an impression at Preston O'Neill can probably feel vindicated, if he does well he'll probably be straight into the Irish squad.

At least O'Neill has shown him enough respect to go see him play, after that we have to accept his judgement.

[CraftyToePoke]

Would MON if manager of Preston or similar, have taken a punt on Maguire though. If you see what I am getting at ?
As at the moment Grayson feels he can step up and MON does not. Or MON is at the very least hiding from publicly making a judgment on this player by his inaction, Grayson is not.

There are and always have been players based here who could step up, but our national manager(s) continually duck out of that one.

[DeLorean]

I'm not sure it's comparing like with like. For starters, international football is a bigger step up than playing in the Championship. O'Neill isn't saying he can't make the step up, he just wants more evidence that he can before selecting him.

Grayson seems to be operating on a bit of a shoestring budget at Preston and has probably been encouraged by the performances of Horgan and Boyle in relation to the value you can get by shopping in Ireland. It's a fairly low risk signing and worth a punt from his point of view, not a huge leap of faith.

O'Neill is safe in the knowledge that Maguire isn't going anywhere and will still be available to him if he does well in England. If anything, I think Cillian Sheridan would have been more ready-made to perform in an emergency situation, such as Murphy getting injured in training this week and Walters limping off after ten minutes of the Austria game. Hopefully both players will be involved in due course though.

[Diggs246]

Two strikers in the whole squad is not enough, Sheridan should be drafted in, it wont do any harm

[Olé Olé]

Two strikers in the whole squad is not enough, Sheridan should be drafted in, it wont do any harm

Isn't their league over? It strikes me as stubbornness at this point.

[DeLorean]

In the interview that Tets linked, O'Neill spoke about how Ireland's managers are always questioned more about the players who aren't there, making an example of a fictional player in the Siberian league who couldn't make it at Shamrock Rovers. He was obviously exaggerating and even joking a little, but I couldn't help thinking that the point of reference was probably Sheridan.

[Stuttgart88]

Of course it was!

[DeLorean]

Of course it was!

Ha, well yeah fair enough, but what does it mean? Perhaps that he still sees Sheridan as a St. Johnstone/Kilmarnock flop and not a high flying striker in a semi-decent European league. And maybe he was only being polite when he said that he's on the radar.

[Stuttgart88]

I think people analyse MON's words too carefully. He's a smart arse and enjoys playing with the press.

[OwlsFan]

I think people analyse MON's words too carefully. He's a smart arse and enjoys playing with the press.

Not as carefully as we analyse your words.

Pre-match words: that's all they are: words. The media hover around the camp looking for quotes like O'Kane saying we're going for a win. He's hardly going to say we're playing for a draw. Interviews, player quotes (unless someone says something like MON can stick his goal-keeping position up his jacksie) are all meaningless. The only thing that matters are the injury updates and even then they may not be honest.

[DannyInvincible]

Two more goals for Maguire so far this evening against Limerick in Turners Cross.

Here's a video of the first goal, which was a header from a cross: https://twitter.com/eirSport/status/875798952469299200

And here's video of the second, which came just 16 seconds into the second half after some careless Limerick defending: https://twitter.com/eirSport/status/875809126957416449

Those two goals take Maguire's league tally this season to 18 goals.

[OwlsFan]

Guess who is first up on August 5? Preston v Owls. Never been to Deepdale and with the large Irish interest there, I just might go, especially since a friend of mine who emigrated from Ireland went to College there.

[DeLorean]

That's ideal alright. Would you be in with the home supporters?

[OwlsFan]

Yes, whenever I go to away games I sit on my hands among the away supporters (not that there is usually much cause to get off them). Now to persuade the missus that she's always wanted to go to Preston.

[CraftyToePoke]

Yes, whenever I go to away games I sit on my hands among the away supporters

I was away once with Leicester at Derby, East Mids derby etc etc, but I was in the Derby end, and when Leicester took the lead I was good as gold, sat there stoic but what I hadn't prepared so well for was the Derby leveler, CTP sat there stoic while happiness erupted all round him. A fox can walk among a flock of sheep they say, but I could not.

[DannyInvincible]

A second-half hat-trick from Maguire tonight helps Cork to a 4-2 home win over Levadia Tallinn. Cork progress 6-2 on aggregate and will very likely play AEK Larnaca in the next qualifying round (unless Lincoln Red Imps can overturn a 5-0 deficit in a half and a bit of their match which is still in progress).