Séamus Coleman (D Everton b.1988)

[Bungle]

Even if Moyes is there, I don't think it's the right move for him. The atmosphere in that squad is appalling and even if Moyes leaves, I still wouldn't be convinced it's the right place for Seamus.

As bad as Moyes is, he was left a terrible team by Fergie. Having said that Fergie was probably worth 15-20 points to them over the last few seasons, whether through brilliant man management or the aura he had around the place, even if that often involved intimidating rival managers or officials.

United are probably 6-7 players away from being a top team and that might be generous to them. Mata is a great player for a top team, but with their glaring deficiencies, he's not what they need. RVP and Rooney don't even pass to each other and as good as Januzaj might be he's been put in the shade by lads like Sterling and Barkley. That alone isn't the main problems for United, which is that their supporters in the main have a grandiose opinion of themselves. They fail to understand that success is cyclical - ask Liverpool fans. Should Seamus go there and get off to a bad start in the current climate, especially if he was signed by Moyes, they'd turn on him in a way that might not happen at other top clubs.

The club that he would most suit would be Liverpool but there isn't a hope in hell he'd end up there. I would be happy if he went to Arsenal, but I do have a big soft spot for Everton.

[Stuttgart88]

I'm not convinced he should move, but with Sagna rumoured to be leaving I think Coleman would be well suited to Arsenal. The culture of the club would suit him and he'd benefit from CL football. Man U would be an unnecessary career risk right now. On balance I think staying at Everton would be best for him.

[tricky_colour]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/n...rds-youngsters

Everton boss Roberto Martinez set to offer Seamus Coleman a new deal as he rewards youngsters





Seamus riding invisible Harley-Davidson



No wonder he so fast down the wing.

[Charlie Darwin]

How many contracts does Seamus sign a season? This must be the third one he's signed since Martinez took over.

[DeLorean]

That alone isn't the main problems for United, which is that their supporters in the main have a grandiose opinion of themselves. They fail to understand that success is cyclical - ask Liverpool fans. Should Seamus go there and get off to a bad start in the current climate, especially if he was signed by Moyes, they'd turn on him in a way that might not happen at other top clubs.

Success is only as cyclical as United let it though really. A few shrewd/big signings and probably a change of manager and they could be competing again soon. A few more bad decisions and they could be in the doldrums indefinitely. A lot is made of the mess that Ferguson has left, but in fairness he focused on signing young English players in the last few years of his reign to build for the future. Whether the likes of Smalling and Jones turn out to be good enough remains to be seen though, but there is potential there. Coleman is a player I honestly don't think United need. Rafael is a top player in my opinion and there are a few natural centre backs who can do a job at right back if needed. It certainly isn't their problem area. Obviously Rafael takes a bit of stick for being too rash at times but that's just the nature of his approach, personally I like it.

As for the United fans - obviously there are many of the younger generation that know nothing other than almost unbroken success, but I'm not sure they are all that different from most clubs. Remember Blackburn under Steve Kean, now that was hostile and they were a club with seriously limited expectations. If Moyes had taken over at Chelsea, as another example, he'd be afraid to enter the stadium by now. The United match goers have been almost unnaturally supportive, given the understandable frustrations. It won't last forever though.

[John83]

My brother mentioned some rumour about Rafael agitating for a move in the summer. I would think that's the only scenario in which Man Utd would want to sign a right back this year.

[TheBoss]

From my analysis of the situation at United, is that Moyes will be looking tough, rugged and committed defenders, central and full backs. With full backs that are fast in order to attack and defend, Moyes likes a defensive style and the current situation at the club, is that the defenders are not able to play in his system, we have seen this by the games that they have lost that they shouldn't have. So a move for Coleman is very possible imo. Rafael is good, but often does not get back quick enough, although Coleman is not the greatest at defending, he still gets back more often than Rafael.

[tricky_colour]

Man U dropped a huge amount when Moyes joined, hard to explain given it
was basically the same team/squad as the previous season. I wonder if it was due to
a change in style of play, or maybe the players did not respect him so would not put so much effort in?
Or maybe Fergie promised them the earth next season knowing they would never get it.

They certainly have a lot of ground to make up, it would be like a Spurs or Everton or worse winting
the title a few seasons ago ie pretty much impossible.
Having said that Liverpool seem to have come on quite a bit this season, I out a small bet on them
at 12-1 near the start of the season, they are in to 3-1 now.
Still a big ask however one site predicts they will win the title by 1 point, however it does also
put Man City 4th, so it does not seem very credible. I also backed Everton for the same, but
I can kiss that one goodbye!!

I think the reason for the sites prediction of a Liverpool title win may be they have the easier run in,
Man City have some tough away games, ie Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, toughest away
game Liverpool have is West Ham, who are still relegation candidates, albeit fairly unlikely ones (7/2).

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

http://www1.skysports.com/transfer/n...-goodison-park

Coleman speaks on rumours.

[Stuttgart88]

That's him gone then

Martin O'Neill is quoted in the papers today saying that he'd prefer him to stay set Everton. He also says he hopes that Reid will be fit for the friendlies and that he'd hope Everton agree to letting Gibson play if fit.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/socc...fees-1.1734086

[Charlie Darwin]

Feature on Roberto Martinez in the Guardian featuring input from Coleman: http://www.theguardian.com/football/...p-four-arsenal

[Crosby87]

Coleman: Me believe Arsenal are the ones under pressure! Freddie Mercury style!
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/foo...e-this-weekend

[BonnieShels]

He was right.

[Olé Olé]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/watc...-30159848.html

Impeccable stuff from a right-back. I'll say it again, he's the Irish Bale.

Some people tend to question the future of Irish football and look to our under-age sides asking 'where's the next Robbie coming from?'. When Seamie was with Sligo Rovers playing with our under-21s were people chalking him down as our future standout right-back that could be better than Stephen Carr and Steve Finnan? Ronan Murray has one under-21 cap. Maybe he'll be the new Robbie and maybe not.

Because of the way the English academies operate now, scouring the globe for talent, Irish players are against the odds trying to standout at that age. Maybe that's a factor in why we have quite a few 'late(r)-developers' and less academy hotshots like Duff and Keane could have been considered.

[paul_oshea]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30172857.html

Interesting the emphasis on responsibility.

[DannyInvincible]

A piece by Neal Horgan in the Irish Examiner discussing Coleman's move from Sligo to Everton and the broader issue of transfers for peanuts out of the League of Ireland: http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/s...ls-265181.html

Former Sligo Rovers player Seamus Coleman is all the rage these days.

And rightly so. Individually, he has had an outstanding season, with many respected commentators suggesting he and Leighton Baines form the finest full-back partnership in the English Premier League. On top of that, his team, Everton, are close to Champions League qualification.

So it is no wonder that he is being talked about as one of the best bargains in Premier League history. London’s The Metro recently wrote about Coleman’s transfer from Sligo to Everton in 2009: “There’s cheap, and then there’s just plain ridiculous. To discover such a diamond in the rough for the price of a one bedroom flat in Croydon is almost unheard of in top-flight football, and the right back must go down as one of the biggest bargains in Premier League history.”

But where such a bargain exists, there’s a good chance that someone else is being ripped off. Here’s what The Guardian thought of the joint signings in 2005 of Kevin Doyle and Shane Long by Reading from Cork City: “…when Long arrived from Cork City in 2005 in a £92,000 deal — the word bargain hardly does it justice — that also brought Kevin Doyle to the club.”

Our league is synonymous with bargain buys, a sign of its underdeveloped and unprotected nature. No surprises here. However what may surprise some is that when a few League of Ireland clubs became fully professional (roughly between 2004-2009), they began to sell players to the UK for fees more reflective of these players’ true values. For Cork City FC, this meant that, after the initially low fees received for Doyle and Long, there followed players such as Alan Bennett, Roy O’Donovan and David Meyler who were sold for hundreds of thousands of euro. The bargaining powers, though still unequal, were slightly more balanced.

The graphic, above, in this article for the period between 2000 and 2012, according to my figures, shows the club received transfer fees of less than €100,000 on average per player. When the club was fully professional, between 2004 and 2009, the average increases to roughly €275,000 per player. The average for this full-time period would have been higher but for transfers made as the club was in a vulnerable position.

The sale of David Mooney in August 2008 coincided with the club entering examinership and selling Colin Healy and Denis Behan in 2009 was a last-ditch effort to keep the club alive, in the face of High Court proceedings.

By 2012, all of the bargaining chips had slid to the other side of the channel once more. The part-time Cork City FC received roughly €100,000 for Graham Cummins, similar to fees garnered in 2000 for Damien Delaney.

There are many ways to criticise the graph. There are variations within the group of players cited above. Furthermore the figures themselves are merely reported fees, derived from internet sources. Some transfer fees, such as that paid for Meyler, are bolstered by add-on payment. Despite these limitations, the graph supports the theory that a positive correlation exists between full-time professionalism and the transfer fees a club is likely to receive.

Norway’s league is more developed than our own and every club is full-time. Players are sold for millions rather than hundreds of thousands to the UK. Cardiff recently paid €3.6m for 18-year-old Mats Moller Daehli. A League of Ireland player, even if he were Lionel Messi, would never attract such a fee.

Other Scandinavian countries also outdo us. Last year FC Copenhagen sold their 20-year-old striker Andreas Cornelius to Cardiff for €7m, while Gothenburg sold 22-year-old David Moberg Karlsson to Sunderland for €1.75m.

Coleman may soon join the list of Ireland’s best ever players. How much did Everton pick him up for in 2009? £150,000 (including add-ons). His full back partner, Baines was bought for £6m (including add-ons) from Wigan. That’s 40 times more. Have no doubt that at last night’s game there was a scout or two about the ground bargain shopping for the next Coleman, Doyle or Long. And who could blame them?

He refers to an embedded graphic that appears to be missing, but interesting nonetheless.

[osarusan]

Bigger risk taking a player from LOI than from the Swedish or Norwegian leagues. The prices reflect that, as well as the fact that most LOI clubs don't have a pot to **** in.

[tricky_colour]

Man U dropped a huge amount when Moyes joined, hard to explain given it
was basically the same team/squad as the previous season. I wonder if it was due to
a change in style of play, or maybe the players did not respect him so would not put so much effort in?
Or maybe Fergie promised them the earth next season knowing they would never get it.

They certainly have a lot of ground to make up, it would be like a Spurs or Everton or worse winting
the title a few seasons ago ie pretty much impossible.
Having said that Liverpool seem to have come on quite a bit this season, I out a small bet on them
at 12-1 near the start of the season, they are in to 3-1 now.
Still a big ask however one site predicts they will win the title by 1 point, however it does also
put Man City 4th, so it does not seem very credible. I also backed Everton for the same, but
I can kiss that one goodbye!!

I think the reason for the sites prediction of a Liverpool title win may be they have the easier run in,
Man City have some tough away games, ie Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, toughest away
game Liverpool have is West Ham, who are still relegation candidates, albeit fairly unlikely ones (7/2).

Going a bit off topic, but I hear Liverpool were 2-0 up but by the ime i found a stream it was 2-1
and within seconds 2-2, then the stream went down and I heard there had been a goal at liverpool
I thought it would be man city but it was liverpool so now 3-2 but 10 mins to go.

tHEY HAVE ONLY GONE AND WON IT!

[DannyInvincible]

That is pretty off-topic, tricky.

[tricky_colour]

That is pretty off-topic, tricky.

Yes I did admit that but Everton play Man City so it is kind of related to the title
race, a Coleman goal will sink Man Citiy's chances I think, I saw it in a dream.