Potentially eligible players thread

[Stuttgart88]

The article reads like O'Neill is already in discussions with people or their agents and knows exactly what sort of response or attitude he's looking for. I suspect he has a timeline in mind too.

I still have an inkling that Stephen Ireland will enter the fold.

I don't think we're as desperate or threadbare as O'Neill makes out. There are players who have yet to play under O'Neill or who have only barely featured who could add something to our team and squad from day 1.

SSL and his roommate Clark. Robbie Brady. Gibson. Stokes. Dunne. Westwood. Duffy. Reid. These would all count as de facto new recruits. Grealish would be a nice bonus. McGoldrick has declared strong interest and has a chance of contributing. Stephen Ireland if it happens.

I think Rob Kiernan may make a step up this year, and I'm hoping the likes of Murray, Hoban etc all come into squad contention later in the campaign.

[paul_oshea]

Duffy played stutts. Reid features also, albeit as a Kinger player.

[DannyInvincible]

Great. Another new campaign, another manager constantly being asked about eligible players as if good ones grow on trees in ready supply and wanting to play for us. They are not the answer to our problems and even with the good ones, it is not worth the multi-year process of demeaning ourselves by calling them up and begging them to play for us.

It says it all in the thread title. Nolan, O'Hara, Noble, Naughton, Ferdinand and myriad others haven't declared and years later they are still being talked about as prospective players. Now it's a new set of players who haven't shown any public interest or enthusiasm in playing for our country. There is no point querying about Redmond, Kane and Bamford. They are all young kids playing at PL level and established in England youth set ups. There is no point reading too much into platitudes from Martin O'Neill.

We don't need this sideshow distracting us from a very serious Qualifying campaign that kicks off in little over a month. O'Neill and Keane have better ways of using their time, focus and energy.

I'm sure O'Neill and Keane are astute enough to know what is a reasonable enough amount of time to devote to trying to unearth further eligible players interested in playing for us. They won't let it distract them from the main focus. As Paul says, nobody's doing any begging. O'Neill made it clear in the piece to which you provided a link in the Randolph thread that he has absolutely no interest in chasing after time-wasters and dawdlers. He said the same when Stephen Ireland messed him about. The ball is in Stephen Ireland's court.

As for the thread, which is a few years old, it has since developed into a general discussion on potentially-eligible players. There's nobody chasing after Noble, Nolan or O'Hara at the minute (or even discussing them), so it's not as if simply discussing possible recruits is doing any harm to anyone. If we can get one or two committed additions to our squad on the back of some inquiries, surely that's a good thing? I'm sure there are players out there with Irish heritage but who've never really considered playing for us because it didn't really cross their mind. Playing for us can also be a way in which players like these can realise their Irish identity. It's well-known that Andy Townsend didn't really feel all that Irish before he played for us - he was supporting England against us in 1988 - but once he did start playing, he was immensely proud to do so and it meant a lot to him. He was able to assume what you might call his sleeping heritage or identity. It's very easy for you to adopt a purist stance and take the moral high-ground here; you're not a dual national with mixed loyalties.

If Grealish takes off at Villa or the Championship and establishes himself first, call him up; don't fast track him into the team on the back of his performances for Notts County in League One, a 1 minute PL cameo or worry about England. The lad isn't naive; he isn't going to play for us just because we give him a token call up or 5 minutes against Georgia.

You think he'll reject a senior call-up for a competitive fixture? If he plays against Georgia for five minutes, he'll be cap-tied.

As for the Granny rule players. It's simple. They should come to us, not the other way around - as much as I slate people with ideas above their station like Richard Stearman.

So it's a no-win situation for potential recruits with you?...

[Stuttgart88]

Duffy played stutts. Reid features also, albeit as a Kinger player.

I said played or have barely featured.

Was there really any point in making your post? My original point is wholly in tact.

[paul_oshea]

I seemed to have jumped form oneill to who...

[gastric]

McGoldrick makes his comeback tonight for Ipswich. I hope he joins us, I reckon he could bring another dimension to our forward line. He seems genuine in his interest and if he already has his passport, he could possibly play in the upcoming friendlies.

http://www.greenun24.co.uk/ipswich-t...ight_1_3704542

[paul_oshea]

I wonder is harry maguire eligible, they should get onto him quick...

[paul_oshea]

That Harry Maguire has an under 21 for England, I'm not sure of the spelling, but who do you email in the FAI about possibly eligibility?

[DannyInvincible]

That Harry Maguire has an under 21 for England, I'm not sure of the spelling, but who do you email in the FAI about possibly eligibility?

Sending an e-mail to info@fai.ie should do the trick. The reception will pass it on to the relevant department.

What gives you the impression he might be eligible? Just the surname? TOWK won't like that!

I've had a look around the net but can't see any mention of him having Ireland-born parents or grandparents.

I see he has a Twitter account though: https://twitter.com/HarryMaguire19

[paul_oshea]

Done. Thats why you will always be answering phones DI. No initiative , didn't the "who do you"(as opposed to whats the email address) knock some cogs off eachother and set the wheels in motion in your head?! :P

[DannyInvincible]

Done. Thats why you will always be answering phones DI. No initiative , didn't the "who do you"(as opposed to whats the email address) knock some cogs off eachother and set the wheels in motion in your head?! :P

Haha, I would have and it crossed my mind, but I'd say the chances of Maguire being eligible and having escaped the net up to now are extremely slim. Plus, I didn't want to upset TOWK; I nark him enough!

I did e-mail the FAI once about them looking into the possible eligiblity of Thomas Delaney of Copenhagen as he was based in Denmark and I thought he might have slipped under the radar, but it turned out his Irish roots were too far back and his family arrived in Denmark via America.

Anyway, the e-mail address (which could have been freely accessed on the FAI's homepage (which could have been easily found through Google if the URL was unknown) by someone demonstrating a bit of initiative) might be of help to you in future.

If you really want me to though, I'll send Maguire a tweet personally.

[tetsujin1979]

PhilliyK from the YBIG forum checked Maguire out before. As far as I remember, he's not eligible

[paul_oshea]

I don't have use/ twitter -or LinkedIn I bet stutts uses that one tho - so something along the lines of is your paternal grandfather irish should be enough unless it's a smokescreen and in fact his maternal grandmother is irish.

[Stuttgart88]

Reading Paul's posts is like my French aural comprehension in school. By the time I understood the first bit, the second and third bits had already gone past.

[paul_oshea]

What was your French Oral like stutts?

[Eminence Grise]

It may have included something like the last three lines of this.

http://foot.ie/threads/175292-Richar...=1#post1769433

[Stuttgart88]

It was more like this

http://www.boredpanda.com/funny-test...smartass-kids/

[TrapAPony]

Young Daniel Crowley of Arsenal is still undecided

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/foot...land_1_3708120

[paul_oshea]

Jack Grealish and now Daniel Crowley but nothing to suggest they will play for England

I hope they dont turn out to be world class midfielders. Hopefully just better than average who can make a difference for Ireland ; )

Hopefully Martin calls them up for the Gilbratar game and plays them all.

[Supreme feet]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/inter...it-to-ireland/

This wouldn't really pass my 'gut test'.