The funny thing is that this story gets reported. He's born in the 6 counties and has represented us. Of course NI will be chasing and making a case. They probably do that for every single lad in the same position, no? Reporting it then to ramp up a little pressure on the lad.Originally Posted by elatedscum
Either way, you'd think he's keen to play with us given that it was his first and immediate inclination. I don't think he's as far down the rankings as Charlie McCann was when he switched so if Harkin's head was ever turned there is surely a compelling case to be made.
Hopefully it doesn't get that far.
CJ Hamilton is now eligible for selection: https://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...-41544071.html
I remember seeing him play for Blackpool in this friendly and he stood out as Blackpool's best player by a good margin. Kept an eye after that and have seen a few games since. Very talented but equally capable of missing sitters, lots of good, lots of bad... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14fqMpHJG2g
https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football...d-for-ireland/
Few quotes re Hamilton here.
Apparently he's done well enough at Blackpool recently after having a tough time with injuries since he joined. At his age and experience he might just be an option as opposed to a pick.
McNamara is probably a good bit closer given his under 21 exposure and age and has played much more than Hamilton and we could do with a young option there.
'CJ is a flying machine, him and Ogbene together would be electrifying for Ireland'
https://www.the42.ie/cj-hamilton-ire...37409-Apr2022/
Add Ebosele and, hopefully, Obafemi at his limit, and we could really start to scare defences.
kinda disappointed that no one in the FAI knew about CJ Hamilton. Pretty sure someone on one of the threads here posted that he was eligible in summer 2020 and there were articles about him and his background a little later.
Not blaming Kenny as I think it's more of an organisational issue within the FAI, and I think we've much improved in that respect under Stephen but I feel there's probably still a lot of stones being left unturned. For example, I could be wrong but I'd doubt there's anyone in the FAI who's heard of Liam Tiernan or Paul Nebel. By all account Mark O'Toole does excellent work in the UK finding kids early in their development but the late bloomers or the people based outside the UK or Ireland seem to often be ignored.
I didn't get where I am today without scrupulously researching players' eligibility.
(I think only posters of a certain generation might get this one)
Yes, CJ.
Visions of a hippopotamus.....
I was doing some googling yesterday after watching this lad and noticed that he qualified. Not sure i was totally aware of that but he would be a coup if we could snatch him. I dont think he is a particularly likeable player (lots of playacting and rolling around, likes a dive too) but he is very, very effective and his ability to relieve pressure would be such an asset to us against the bigger teams. Anyway, the likelihood is probably pretty low as he has been with England right through to U21 and he'll be on the radar but hoping that the FAI has, at least, been in touch with him. He reminds me a lot of Gordon Strachan, looks wise, and sure enough he qualifies for the Scots too.
Played & scored for England U21s in March of this year, having turned 21 in February if my quick Wiki scan is correct ?
& doesn't that tie him to England under current rulings ?
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
Yeah, Conor Gallagher is in the same situation - played a competitive underage international after his 21st birthday
Ah right - thank you both!
about half the interpretations i've read think that the u21 caps aren't binding after a 21st birthday, just senior ones. haven't ever seen anything definitive either way...
So the rule as I understand it is that if you take a competitive Under 21 cap after your 21st you're then limited to only playing for countries that you held the nationality of at the time of your first competitive underage cap (usually under 17 or under 19).
In practice what this seems to mean for potential Irish players is that your eligibility at that point depends on your link to Ireland. If you are born in Ireland or have a parent born in Ireland you are an Irish citizen from birth so you can take the under 21 caps for England or whoever for as long as you want and it won't make any difference - you can still play for Ireland.
But if your qualification is through a grandparent or grandparents it's different because (as we saw with the Ryan Johansson case) then you're not automatically an Irish citizen from birth. Instead you have to apply for citizenship. In that case, if you take the Under 21 cap for another country after your 21st birthday you're then ineligible for Ireland unless you had gone through the Irish citizenship paperwork process before your first competitive underage cap (In the end the Johansson issue was resolved only because Luxembourg capped him before he turned 21 and not after his 21st).
As I understand it Anthony Gordon qualified for us through a grandparent. He has taken an England under 21 cap after his 21st birthday. Therefore, unless he had gone and sorted his Irish citizenship before his first competitive underage cap for England (very unlikely), he's now ineligible for us.
For what it's worth Gordon may actually still be eligible for Scotland as English and Scottish is effectively the same citizenship - the UK. He was therefore a UK/Scottish citizen from birth so could presumably still qualify for Scotland. But it looks like he's gone for us and I'd say he won't be the last to become ineligible through this rule.
In this case, he first played underage for England in 2018 / 19 with their u18s. Played ten games for them so you'd imagine some of those were competitive & yes it is unlikely he sorted out his Irish paperwork as the rule change came after that or it was in flux around that time. Its not impossible though, either. These players are represented from very early on & agents are very attuned to the leverage benefits of a dual qualified client so it would be remiss of them not to take care of the paperwork to keep that avenue open even if there is no intention at the time of using it.
Id say any coming through at the moment would have that side of things taken care of, for whatever reason. Whether we still should have interest in them is another room splitting conversation.
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
Just so you know, U18 games are never competitive.
U17, U19 and U21 can be competitive uefa games.
U17 and u20 can be competitive fifa games if you qualify for the u17 or u20 World Cup.
Certainly you'd hope that for anyone who has come in and played non competitive underage games for us - say Louie Barry for example - that the FAI went and sorted out their paperwork at that point to avoid any such issues in future if he wanted to come back to us.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
Ah, wasn't thinking, sound. Well he has seven 19s caps the following year.
It'd be good to know for sure on this because till today I'd understood it differently to you guys.
Stephen Kenny Saviour, Leader, Winner, An Autobiography - In All Good Bookstores Now
He's a little cun-t so.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
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