retired far too early. could have gone to wc2002 if he really wanted and done a job for us too. could never understand why he retired when he didOriginally Posted by fergalr
Irwin is a good one, I didn't realise he only had 56 caps but he only got his first cap at 25 so that would explain that. It looks like he was overlooked at senior level until he moved from Oldham to Man Utd. So maybe if Foley makes it into the Premiership next year he will have a chance of getting into the team.
irwin stated at the time that he was more interested in his move to man utd than going to the 1990 wc finals. to my memory he was only beginning to get notice just before then anyway
as far as i can remember Mick the Pr said that Irwin had to prove himself - imagine Irwin having to do that!!!!! Thats why he wasnt to bothered afterwards playing for Maccarthy
Short end of careers to Irwin, Aldo, Mcgrath and Keane tx to Mick
He was the best Irish left back by a country mile even at this stage of his career.
Do I remember correctly Mick McCarthy playing Denis Irwin as one of 3 central defenders in a friendly against Iceland in one of his first games in charge and it turned out to be a disaster. Micks idea must have been to play Denis as a sweeper.
It seems crazy now and it was then.
I don't think it was too much later that Denis called it a day and I have often wondered if Mick McCarth's mishandling of Denis Irwin was behind a lot of the contempt that Roy Keane had for Mick.
Its just a theory and all above may not be completely accurate, the old memory is not what it..............
That's not really fair; McGrath and Aldrige were both about 38 when they retired from International football. I wouldn't really call that early retirement in football terms. I don't really know about the relationship between McCarthy and Irwin but he was probably good enough to start for us for another few years eventhough he was 33/34 when he retired. I'll leave the Keane issue to another thread
Last edited by Irish_Praha; 07/04/2009 at 7:15 PM.
I thought it was Keane at CB in a 0-0 draw against Iceland at home in a qualifier.
By the time Irwin retired I had the firm impression his heart wasn't in it anyway, playing for MUFC was far more important to him. Maybe it was because he didn't rate Mick and in Mick's case I'd say he was happy managing all the less celebrated players but was maybe intimidated by the 2 MUFC stars. Just an impression..
I might be just imagining this but didn't Ian Harte get a run out in the centre of defence at the start of McCarthy's reign? I don't know if that's right or not but it must of been a disaster if it did happen.
Who was it that asked Irwin to prove himself in 1996????
El Tel the then England manager asked on TV about it laughed and said "Irwin is not only the best left back in the league but the best right back"
Mc Carthy had Irwin wrong.
Harte did get played at centre half at least once; must have been one of his first caps.
I do remember Irwin bringing up that McCarthy having asked him to prove himself, but not when it was supposed to have been said.
You can't spell failure without FAI
Played on 10th November 1996, the team was;
A.Kelly, J.Kenna (K.Cunningham), D.Irwin (I.Harte), R.Keane, G.Breen, P.Babb, A. McLoughlin, J.McAteer, D.Kelly (A.Moore), T.Cascarino, A.Townsend.
Denis Irwin played in 13 games after that and did not play his last game until 3 years later, 17th November 1999 against Turkey in Bursa in the second leg of the 2000 UEFA play off tie.
Last edited by Superhoops; 07/04/2009 at 9:11 PM.
Honest! I am not a secret Tim nor a closet Sham - I really am a Seagull.
Yes it's true, mainly beside Cunningham I think. I thought he did ok at a time where it was obvious we should have cut young players some slack but he got a lot of severe criticism from people I used to speak to.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 07/04/2009 at 9:13 PM.
Irwin scored in our 2-0 win over Croatia in Sept 98. Irwin must have proved himself in the meantime
My point still stands, I think Mick was never fully comfortable with the 2 MUFC guys.
(Edit: just saw superhoops' response)
The point is that the guy should not have had to. He was a legend and one of the greatest full backs ever to play the game, and for Mc Carthy (who I'm a fan of generally) to say that is embarrassing, it had the England manager laughing.Irwin scored in our 2-0 win over Croatia in Sept 98. Irwin must have proved himself in the meantime
My point still stands, I think Mick was never fully comfortable with the 2 MUFC guys.
(Edit: just saw superhoops' response)
Stuttgart88, of course he was going to prove himself all he had to do was play one game and it would have been plain for McCarthy to see what a class act he was!!!
Agreed.
The 1998 WC qualifiers are probably the most hazy period of Irish international football for me since I started following the team for the EC '88 qualifers.
I was only 19 and a bit disillusioned to see Jack and most of our top-class squad go past their sell-by date. Basically the team I had followed since I took an interest in football. Losing the play-off to Holland in 95 was heart-breaking. Then I spent the Summer of 96 living on a campsite in Holland and missed any of the hype involving the start of the new campaign. I came back to my senses for the Euro 2000 qualifiers though
He had his most prolific spell of scoring under MickIrwin scored in our 2-0 win over Croatia in Sept 98. Irwin must have proved himself in the meantime...
Prior to the goal, a penalty, in that 2-0 against Croatia he scored a fizzer of a free kick in the home leg of the 1998 WC Play off tie against Belgium in October 1997. He then got another penalty in the 2-0 against Paraguay in February 1999.
During his 56 cap career, he only scored one other goal, in April 1992 in a 4-1 against USA in Dublin, again from a free kick.
Honest! I am not a secret Tim nor a closet Sham - I really am a Seagull.
wonder do people actually look at football!That's not really fair; McGrath and Aldrige were both about 38 when they retired from International football. I wouldn't really call that early retirement in football terms. I don't really know about the relationship between McCarthy and Irwin but he was probably good enough to start for us for another few years eventhough he was 33/34 when he retired. I'll leave the Keane issue to another thread
Yeah McGrath and Aldo were old - but still good enough to do a job in the qualifiers - McGrath was still getting MOM performances with his club (Including Derby V Man utd/Villa), and he dropped McGrath to play Harte in central defence where Harte proceeded to mess up in two important games (Macedonia/Romania)where he was at fault for two goals (I will never forget this!). Even a McGrath at 38 and with a dodgy knee would still not have made the silly mistakes Harte did -(one was a weak header that went straight to the attacker who then scored)
As for Aldo he desperately wanted to get the record and I thought and many people thought that he could have played against the mighty Lichtenstein
Then the next game was 0-0 versus Lithuania
anyway a lot of foot.ie people love their stats - maybe they should watch the football instead
mcgrath squeezed every ounce out of his international career. after he retired from the international team in 97 he played all of 12 more club games. i was at his testimonial where he could only appear as a sub so badly was he suffering from injurieswonder do people actually look at football!
Yeah McGrath and Aldo were old - but still good enough to do a job in the qualifiers - McGrath was still getting MOM performances with his club (Including Derby V Man utd/Villa), and he dropped McGrath to play Harte in central defence where Harte proceeded to mess up in two important games (Macedonia/Romania)where he was at fault for two goals (I will never forget this!). Even a McGrath at 38 and with a dodgy knee would still not have made the silly mistakes Harte did -(one was a weak header that went straight to the attacker who then scored)
As for Aldo he desperately wanted to get the record and I thought and many people thought that he could have played against the mighty Lichtenstein
Then the next game was 0-0 versus Lithuania
anyway a lot of foot.ie people love their stats - maybe they should watch the football instead
Exactly. If he was a horse he'd have been shot.
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