Michael Noonan F Shamrock Rovers b.2008

[liamoo11]

Realistically he's due to miss the game away to AEK Athens and the FAI Cup Final. If we reach the final then he'll miss the home game v Shakhtar. Not insignificant for Rovers but you've got to release players for a world cup.

I think Rovers would recognise that in terms of increasing his market value, Noonan having a great tournament could be a game changer and it's also possible that part of the reason Arsenal wrapped up Victor's signing so early was because he was due to head to the u17 world cup and if he had a really excellent tournament then heads could be turned across Europe

I'm not sure how much of a game changer underage world cups are. The under 20 world Cup is on now I've watched a few games very enjoyable but I haven't seen a whole pile of coverage of it in the general media. Even the under 20 world Cup when we finished 3rd didn't do nothing for players careers we actually got very little out of it at senior level outside of duffer obviously. Play I'm a Cup final.in aviva 35 thousand crowd loads of English scouts definitely at it and light it up against men definitely has impact on your value

[ontheotherhand]

TBF scouts aren't using general media. Arsenal bought Victor Ozhianvuna off the back off his performances against them and others in the Hale End Cup. Obviously they continued scouting him but that's where he caught the eye.

Players doing well at an underage cup doesn't mean they are going to have good careers, it just means they are able to stand out against their peers and might be worth investing in.

Agree that lighting it up against men in a senior cup final would probably carry some weight too.

As I said above, I reckon it will all come down to what Michael wants to do. I could see the draw of the u17 WC but.....very hard to miss out on the chance to win a cup final with the club you support in your national stadium in front of a big crowd. That's the stuff of dreams to a lot of people. Tough decision for the kid. Hopefully he can do both, or make the best choice with the guidance of good people around him and have no regrets either way.

[liamoo11]

TBF scouts aren't using general media. Arsenal bought Victor Ozhianvuna off the back off his performances against them and others in the Hale End Cup. Obviously they continued scouting him but that's where he caught the eye.

Players doing well at an underage cup doesn't mean they are going to have good careers, it just means they are able to stand out against their peers and might be worth investing in.

Agree that lighting it up against men in a senior cup final would probably carry some weight too.

As I said above, I reckon it will all come down to what Michael wants to do. I could see the draw of the u17 WC but.....very hard to miss out on the chance to win a cup final with the club you support in your national stadium in front of a big crowd. That's the stuff of dreams to a lot of people. Tough decision for the kid. Hopefully he can do both, or make the best choice with the guidance of good people around him and have no regrets either way.

It would be absolutely nuts for him.to play those first 2 workd Cup games against minnows instead of a cup final and a European game. No one regardless of your scouting credentials is putting any stock in how you perform against Panama and Uzbekistan in front of no spectators. If we can't sort them.out with the rest of the squad we don't deserve to be at the world cup.

[ontheotherhand]

It would be absolutely nuts for him.to play those first 2 workd Cup games against minnows instead of a cup final and a European game. No one regardless of your scouting credentials is putting any stock in how you perform against Panama and Uzbekistan in front of no spectators. If we can't sort them.out with the rest of the squad we don't deserve to be at the world cup.

Ah look im trying to be diplomatic on this side of the forum. The cup final is clearly the more important of the two. Nobody will remember anything about the u17 WC when it's over but he has the chance to make history in the Aviva. Michael might feel otherwise though. He's a proud Irishman as well as a proud hoop.

[John83]

I'm not sure I want to weigh in on the relative merits of the competitions, but good for the kid that he has those choices.

[ontheotherhand]

Well Michael is in the squad and Rovers haven't asked to keep him. As a hoop I'd still hope he could miss one game and play the final but I'd imagine he will stick with the squad. Long auld flight. Shame the dates worked out that way. From what I hear he really wanted to play in the final. Suppose it's all good as we need to sell him before he turns 18 and if he was to finish the group as top scorer that'd help.

[Kingdom]

Suppose it's all good as we need to sell him before he turns 18 and if he was to finish the group as top scorer that'd help.

Am I correct to read that tongue-in-cheek?

[ontheotherhand]

Am I correct to read that tongue-in-cheek?

You'll never know....


But no, not really. Michael's contract is up in Nov of 2026. For us to command a fee a deal will need to be done before then or it will be just compensation. Sort of expected one to be done already tbh, similar to Victors. City were interested in him while he was with Pats but I haven't heard much this season.

[TonyD]

You'll never know....


But no, not really. Michael's contract is up in Nov of 2026. For us to command a fee a deal will need to be done before then or it will be just compensation. Sort of expected one to be done already tbh, similar to Victors. City were interested in him while he was with Pats but I haven't heard much this season.

Yeah, to be honest I'd have expected a deal done by now too. When does he turn 18 ? To me he looks probably at least as impressive as Melia, and I say that as a Pats fan. Its good for Rovers that they have him under contract for another year, and if he keeps going as he is it looks odds on that someone will sign him in the interim. Ideal for Rovers is if they can do a similar deal that Pats did for Mason, and keep him for the full season.

[ontheotherhand]

Yeah, to be honest I'd have expected a deal done by now too. When does he turn 18 ? To me he looks probably at least as impressive as Melia, and I say that as a Pats fan. Its good for Rovers that they have him under contract for another year, and if he keeps going as he is it looks odds on that someone will sign him in the interim. Ideal for Rovers is if they can do a similar deal that Pats did for Mason, and keep him for the full season.

July 31.

Id have agreed that he was as good as Melia earlier in the season but he faded off a bit. But that's to be expected at his age. Melia got better and better but is a year ahead. Smashing player. Hoping to see Michael hit his early and mid season form all year next season. At that age they can jump up quickly. Johnny Kenny was brutal for us in his first campaign and almost unplayable in his second. A little older mind you.

Michael has still been far more effective than Victor this year so I'm hoping for a large fee. It's great to see clubs getting paid closer to what players are worth now. But Victor had his performance in the Hale End Cup v Arsenal and others which put him on the map.

Kovaleskis also looks very talented. Played on Wednesday and was really dangerous. Hope the 3 of them, and the others have a good tournament. We are missing those 3 at the moment. They'd have all played v Sligo tomorrow.

[Kingdom]

What are the chances Noonan is tapped up by an UK club already?

[tetsujin1979]

There were some reports that Man City offered him a contract, and he would have gone on loan to one of their sister clubs until his 18th birthday, but he turned it down

[ontheotherhand]

What are the chances Noonan is tapped up by an UK club already?

Fairly high. As tets says he was heavily linked with man city. Not sure if he had an offer (I'm not that in the know) but he came to Rovers anyway. We'll be due compensation at least if he goes on a free. Can't remember how much. Hopefully he has a good season and clubs want to ensure they get him. He's a joy to watch when he's on it. Such a little terrier.

[Eirambler]

"Stephen Bradley won't stand in way of Shamrock Rovers star playing for Ireland at U17 World Cup"

https://www.the42.ie/michael-noonan-...urce=shortlink

I should bloody hope he doesn't stand in his way, is Bradley looking for a ticker tape parade for his act of outstanding generosity or something?!

Talk about allowing someone to frame the media narrative.

Great to see common sense prevail on this one, despite Bradley's best efforts.

[ontheotherhand]

Great to see common sense prevail on this one, despite Bradley's best efforts.

Narrator: Said best efforts were to fully support Michael's inclusion, as per Colin O'Brien.

As I said above, Bradley and Michael would have sat down and chatted about this. I'm sure Michael himself was a bit torn, and I'm basing that on what I've heard from people who know his family, but we're all happy for him.

Anyway, the weekend's real story is Michael getting his league medal last night. Can't imagine what it must feel like to win a league for the club you support. It's unbelievable just to be a fan but to be player and fan is dreamland stuff. The fact that he played such a big part as well makes it even sweeter for him, especially after the year he's had.

It was a very brave move to join Rovers at that time in his life and I'm delighted it paid off for him.

That said, I do wonder if he would've ended up playing just as much with Pats this season and a front two of Melia and Noonan would have been interesting. Not knocking Pats but I think he still made the right call as he ended up with the league win. Hopefully we see the two of them playing together for the national side in the future.

[Eirambler]

Narrator: Said best efforts were to fully support Michael's inclusion, as per Colin O'Brien.

As I said above, Bradley and Michael would have sat down and chatted about this. I'm sure Michael himself was a bit torn, and I'm basing that on what I've heard from people who know his family, but we're all happy for him.

Anyway, the weekend's real story is Michael getting his league medal last night. Can't imagine what it must feel like to win a league for the club you support. It's unbelievable just to be a fan but to be player and fan is dreamland stuff. The fact that he played such a big part as well makes it even sweeter for him, especially after the year he's had.

It was a very brave move to join Rovers at that time in his life and I'm delighted it paid off for him.

That said, I do wonder if he would've ended up playing just as much with Pats this season and a front two of Melia and Noonan would have been interesting. Not knocking Pats but I think he still made the right call as he ended up with the league win. Hopefully we see the two of them playing together for the national side in the future.

Bradley made it clear quite recently that he was going to try and hold him back for part of the tournament, so while it's good that it has been resolved without a public spat (far from an inevitability when it comes to Bradley) let's not pretend this is anything other than him being told to fall into line.

While it's great that Noonan has won a league title while he is still in Ireland it's understandable that he doesn't want to miss any part of what may well be his only chance to play in a World Cup in his career. The reality for these players is that, if it was still possible for them to move to the UK at age 16, they wouldn't be playing in Ireland anyway. So personally I'd rather see managers celebrating the fact they get access to them for an additional two years rather than going public with an attempt to restrict their involvement in a World Cup, as happened here.

[Kingdom]

Relevant in the context of this discussion

And when you tot up the minutes played within what would be considered to be the adult game, those players have amassed a remarkable 13,392 minutes of action - the equivalent of approximately 148 full games.

But how does that compare to their peers? There are ten other European nations taking part at the U17 World Cup, who unlike Ireland, are not debutants at this age grade.

They are Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, England, Switzerland, Germany, Czechia, France and Austria.

Of those, only the Belgians have a squad that are in a similar ballpark to the Irish when it comes to minutes at what could be deemed men's professional or semi-pro club level. Restricting it only to their second-tier league and above - plus those based at neighbouring Dutch clubs like Ajax's Jorthy Mokio - and including European games, the Red Devils' U17s have amassed approximately 12,812 minutes.

At the other end of the experience scale are Germany and France with 35 and 73 club minutes respectively if the cut-off point is the countries' third tiers and above.

However, that's where the quality of minutes and the manner in which players are fast-tracked through the age grades needs to be acknowledged, as well as the fact that in the more populous elite nations, the pool of talent is such that making it to the highest level is far more arduous.

For example, if you watched the Champions League highlights on RTÉ from the most recent matchweek, one of the standout young talents on show was Bayern Munich's Lennart Karl. He scored the opener in their 4-0 win over Club Brugge - he would also find the net again a few days later in the Bundesliga at Borussia Monchengladbach.

He is still 17 and eligible to play at the World Cup, but Bayern have opted not to release him given his value to the first team, hence why he is not going to be part of Germany's squad in Qatar.

Meanwhile, England's squad have a total of around 557 minutes within the Football League, Ligue 1, domestic cups and European games with Bradley Burrowes (Aston Villa), Alejandro Gomes Rodríguez (Lyon) and Reggie Walsh (Chelsea) the ones to have had brief cameos in the Premier League, French top flight and European games respectively.

None have been loaned out as of yet so the lowest level any of the English have played at at senior level has been the ones based at Championship clubs.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025...to-euro-peers/

Approximate minutes played by the 11 European nations

Republic of Ireland: 13,392 (down to First Divison or equivalent)

Belgium: 12,812 (down to second tier Challenger Pro League and equivalent)

Switzerland: 4,751 (Swiss third tier and above)

Austria: 3,046 (Austrian 2.Liga and above)

Czechia: 1,213 (down to Czech second tier)

Portugal: 1,039 (down to third tier)

England: 557 (League 2 and above)

Italy: 492 (down to Serie D)

Croatia: 289 (down to second tier)

France: 73 (top three tiers)

Germany: 35 (top three tiers)[/I]

[ontheotherhand]

Bradley made it clear quite recently that he was going to try and hold him back for part of the tournament, so while it's good that it has been resolved without a public spat (far from an inevitability when it comes to Bradley) let's not pretend this is anything other than him being told to fall into line.

While it's great that Noonan has won a league title while he is still in Ireland it's understandable that he doesn't want to miss any part of what may well be his only chance to play in a World Cup in his career. The reality for these players is that, if it was still possible for them to move to the UK at age 16, they wouldn't be playing in Ireland anyway. So personally I'd rather see managers celebrating the fact they get access to them for an additional two years rather than going public with an attempt to restrict their involvement in a World Cup, as happened here.

Honestly, you're more upset about this than any of the parties actually involved, and most of the details you're claiming aren't things you could really know. Nothing that happened was controversial and I'm sure Michael himself was delighted his manager wanted to try and play him in the cup final if possible. It wasn't and they've all moved on. As I've said, from what I hear he's disappointed to miss it but excited for the WC. It's a testament to him that he was wanted for both.

Your second paragraph of patronising drivel probably shows us why you're up in arms here. The managers you're talking about are delighted to work with these players and they are doing a fine job of it.

Anyway, I'll stick you on the ignore list now for the good of the thread, which should really be focused on Michael's achievements and development.

[pineapple stu]

Relevant in the context of this discussion



https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025...to-euro-peers/

Belgium is a bit outlier in that regard. Our minutes are in a much weaker league - not to dismiss them entirely, but do Belgium have another potential golden generation coming through that their players are getting so much game time?

[ontheotherhand]

Relevant in the context of this discussion



https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025...to-euro-peers/

I wonder how much this played into their success and would the squad be as strong if they were in academy sides etc. I don't watch enough underage football to have a strong opinion.

Interesting that Bayern didn't release Lennart Karl. Suppose Bradley could've done the same with at least one of the 3 lads who have been playing, Noonan being the obvious pick probably, although Max and Victor would be very useful right about now with our wide players struggling. Dreading Athens.