QuotePaddy Bamford called up to the English squad for the first time.
*cries*
Paddy Bamford has been called up by England at long, long, long last.
Paddy Bamford called up to the English squad for the first time.
*cries*
Deserved . He has always behaved well towards us to be fair he could easily have taken more underage caps or even senior caps like rice. As far as I can remember he only played one under 18 friendly for usOriginally Posted by SkStu
Absolutely. No ill will at all. Stuck to his guns and what he believed in. Didn't eff us around.
Would've been a difference maker for us though. Him and Grealish... oof, it hurts.
Ah yeah, I agree with ye. Hats off to this lad. And I believe the connection is similar to Rice in that he has a parent born to Irish parents and his mother's family would support Ireland. Rice's old man was supposed to be the same. Best of luck to Bamford.
Yeah top lad and very good player. Helps prove you don't need lightening pace if you have other good attributes smart lad by all accounts accepted to oxford and obviously had the emotional intelligence to navigate the dual eligibility issue. I'm sure he still loves his Irish grandparents just knew he didn't feel irish
Moved to Sunderland and playing there. The trouble we've had this week suggests a left back playing in League 1, for a club who are too big to be there, would be an asset to us.
Aiden O'Brien should be told to get in his ear every time he can about coming over to us.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
After playing tonight, Conor Bradley is now 1 appearance away from being tied to N.Iron forever. If I were Stephen Kenny I'd make one last attempt at convincing him. At 18, he could be a guy who never makes it, but equally he could be someone who goes right to the top of the game. I'd hope like James McClean, Shane Duffy, Mark Sykes, Darron Gibson, Marc Wilson, Michael Duffy and Aaron McEneff that in his heart of hearts, he wants to play for Ireland...
At this moment in time he is playing for a better team with a more realistic prospect of qualifying for major tournaments. I don’t think any player with a choice of allegiance will choose us as long as Kenny is there. Maybe a dual wualified Andoran?
We literally had the boy from Derry move across a few weeks ago didn’t we?? He was with the under 21s in Lux but not in the match day squad
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
You have posted in the past that we (FAI) should not pick NI born players. And you have stated affinity to the North's team.
If the kid wants to play for us that's all well and good. It's up to him to make that known, however.
Former Scotland underage player Joel Bagan made his debut for the U21s as recently as this week, Sammy Szmodics was called into the senior squad in June.
Mark Sykes moved after speaking / meeting with Kenny.
A decision he made himself before talking to Kenny is my understanding. Not a case of meeting up for a cappuccino and a chat.
Cappuccino or no Cappuccino my good man, SK didn't put him off is the thing.
Sure, but your initial comment implied Kenny/ the FAI poached the player. As there was no cappuccino and chat, no attempted poaching was executed. :-)
Christ that shows a hell of a lack of understanding of a lot of people in the norths allegiances. It really doesn’t matter who is the better team plenty of us would have no more affiliation to the IFA team if they won the world cup.
I have an affinity with both teams but would prefer to see one. The point was that NI are currently doing better and that might influence the choices made by those with dual eligibility. I thought the point was fairly clear.
I think I’m pretty well informed about the complex allegiances of people from / in NI. The fact is that many players from a ‘nationalist’ background have played for NI for many different reasons. Prospects of getting caps or getting to tournaments are probably material considerations. At the minute it might be a relevant factor given the team’s respective performances.
It feels like Ireland win some and lose some on this - particularly over the past 20 years - and have done okay overall.
I hope for his sake that Bradley turns out to be a good player. Best of luck to him. But I remember another full back from the North that came through the Liverpool academy that we cried out for on here- Ryan McLaughlin. He's spending more time on a boxing podcast than football these days. Rory Donnelly was another we hoped would switch when he refused an NI under 21 call up but he's probably better known for his off field "exploits" too.
Even when I look at the NI squads of late and I see Gavin Whyte, Paul Smyth, Conor Hazard and Shayne Lavery. I would have been one bandying names of the likes of these lads about but I don't think any of them would add anything to our present squad. Maybe the latter pair could reach the level.
And going back to Euro 2016, the North had Michael McGovern, Shane Ferguson, Chris Baird and Niall McGinn and those names don't stir up wistful feelings in me.
On the other hand, I'm loving Shane Duffy and James McClean and their passion and bravery when playing for us. Duffy booting the ball in the sky after our goal v Serbia. McClean giving his jersey to a young lad with a sign post match. I love the pair of them and am delighted they plumped for us.
You win some you lose some but lads like Duffy and McClean knew what they wanted, wholeheartedly pursued it and it has worked out well. Narrow-minded southerners like me ought to sit back and let nature takes it's course.
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