Potentially eligible players thread

**Wangball** · 13/03/2015, 11:11 AM

Callum Wilson would be a great addition. Am genuinely intrigued as to who the other palyers he referred to are, will they be guys who have been previously linked with us or will they come from nowhere like Cyrus!

Anyone know about Alex McCarthy from QPR? I know this is less than reliable but he's Ireland and QPR No1 by 2017 in my most recent FM2015 game!

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 13/03/2015, 5:39 PM

Just hope that continuing to acquire 20 somethings that have given up on playing for England won't impinge on our younger lads prospects of coming through; and lest anyone think that is xenophobic, "the younger lads" include English born players who declared at a young age.

Let's face it. They wouldn't be going near Callum Wilson if they could get Harry Kane or Patrick Bamford.

If Kane or Bamford were to declare, fantastic, I don't think we should be acquiring players for the sake of it.

Haven't we enough strikers as it is? David McGoldrick just declared. And Shane Long can't get in the team. Is Wilson any better than them? 23.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 13/03/2015, 6:15 PM

And on the flipside of the coin, the more the merrier and if you are good enough, theoretically, you will get opportunities no matter what.

Callum could turn out better than Walters, Cox and Best et al. have. He is only 23 etc etc...

It's just frustrating that there are two very talented strikers that have no interest in playing for Ireland and now the management team and FAI move further down the English football pyramid for a player of lesser talent. You would question whether he would have any more impact at this level of football than other Granny rulers like Cox, Best, Sam Vokes (Wales), Chris Martin (Scotland) and Jordan Rhodes (Scotland).

**samhaydenjr** · 14/03/2015, 1:56 AM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

Just hope that continuing to acquire 20 somethings that have given up on playing for England won't impinge on our younger lads prospects of coming through; and lest anyone think that is xenophobic, "the younger lads" include English born players who declared at a young age.

Let's face it. They wouldn't be going near Callum Wilson if they could get Harry Kane or Patrick Bamford.

If Kane or Bamford were to declare, fantastic, I don't think we should be acquiring players for the sake of it.

Haven't we enough strikers as it is? David McGoldrick just declared. And Shane Long can't get in the team. Is Wilson any better than them? 23.

In fairness, a quick glance at Wilson's Wikipedia page shows that his strike rate over the last two seasons compares fairly well with Bamford's so he could definitely be an excellent recruit - although I will note that Simon Cox was also prolific in League One and a fairly regular scorer in the Championship early in his career. And while we certainly have a number of decent strikers available to us (and the addition of McGoldrick is certainly welcome), we need someone who can really spearhead our attack when Robbie Keane does finally retire (likely after this campaign, possibly along with Doyle, Walters and Murphy). And while it's unlikely that there's anybody who will come close to Keane's record in the foreseeable future, we could do with somebody who will get 25-30 goals for us.

At the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, all our other strikers will be in their late 20s and none have been particularly prolific at international level - Stokes, Best and Sammon can't be counted on for goals at all, Cox might get a couple, McGoldrick does show promise but it's still too early to say what his impact will be, which leaves Long as the our big striking hope for the next few years and, while I agree that Long is a fine player and take on board the points you've made about him not starting games or being played out off position, at the end of the day he's going to have to seriously add to his solitary competitive goal for us.

As regards this affecting lads coming through, unfortunately our young hopefuls aren't making much of an impact right now - Drennan returning to League of Ireland, Burke and Byrne not playing first team football, Maguire scoring sporadically in League Two. Of course it's entirely possible that one or more of them might break out in the next couple of years, or that Reece Grego Cox turns out to be a star, or that Liam McAlinden settles into a strong career. But if not, we may struggle to find goals in a couple of years and that's why we need to look at recruiting young strikers who qualify for us but have not been involved with us before now.

**gastric** · 14/03/2015, 9:43 PM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

Just hope that continuing to acquire 20 somethings that have given up on playing for England won't impinge on our younger lads prospects of coming through; and lest anyone think that is xenophobic, "the younger lads" include English born players who declared at a young age.

Let's face it. They wouldn't be going near Callum Wilson if they could get Harry Kane or Patrick Bamford.

If Kane or Bamford were to declare, fantastic, I don't think we should be acquiring players for the sake of it.

Haven't we enough strikers as it is? David McGoldrick just declared. And Shane Long can't get in the team. Is Wilson any better than them? 23.

When has Wilson said he has given up on playing for England? Please include a source for this statement or is it just your usual criticism of any foreign born player not in their teens who declare for Ireland. TOWK you confuse me, you are so negative about Irish footballers and yet anyone new who might add depth to our ranks is soundly accused of being a mercenary. What are your ideas for improving Irish football? Some constructive comments would be appreciated rather than the ongoing negativity you display.
On Wilson, he is very mobile and strong and might well be playing in the Premiership next year. At 23, he would be a very welcome addition to us and will add depth to our squad. I don't know how you can make such a silly comment when you say we have enough forwards already, I wonder if the likes of Germany would share this view.

**Olé Olé** · 14/03/2015, 9:54 PM

Originally Posted by samhaydenjr

In fairness, a quick glance at Wilson's Wikipedia page shows that his strike rate over the last two seasons compares fairly well with Bamford's so he could definitely be an excellent recruit - although I will note that Simon Cox was also prolific in League One and a fairly regular scorer in the Championship early in his career. And while we certainly have a number of decent strikers available to us (and the addition of McGoldrick is certainly welcome), we need someone who can really spearhead our attack when Robbie Keane does finally retire (likely after this campaign, possibly along with Doyle, Walters and Murphy). And while it's unlikely that there's anybody who will come close to Keane's record in the foreseeable future, we could do with somebody who will get 25-30 goals for us.

At the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, all our other strikers will be in their late 20s and none have been particularly prolific at international level - Stokes, Best and Sammon can't be counted on for goals at all, Cox might get a couple, McGoldrick does show promise but it's still too early to say what his impact will be, which leaves Long as the our big striking hope for the next few years and, while I agree that Long is a fine player and take on board the points you've made about him not starting games or being played out off position, at the end of the day he's going to have to seriously add to his solitary competitive goal for us.

As regards this affecting lads coming through, unfortunately our young hopefuls aren't making much of an impact right now - Drennan returning to League of Ireland, Burke and Byrne not playing first team football, Maguire scoring sporadically in League Two. Of course it's entirely possible that one or more of them might break out in the next couple of years, or that Reece Grego Cox turns out to be a star, or that Liam McAlinden settles into a strong career. But if not, we may struggle to find goals in a couple of years and that's why we need to look at recruiting young strikers who qualify for us but have not been involved with us before now.

Please correct me on this if I'm wrong, but isn't Anthony Stokes the last Irish-born or under-21 striker to break through and maintain a high playing level (SPL/CL/PL/Championship) and regular spot in our senior squad? He's 26 and hasn't exactly made an impact. That's more worrying than I had thought.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 14/03/2015, 11:03 PM

gastric.

Come on. Just come on.

http://www.thefa.com/news/england/un...d-debut-111114

What I read in that would lead me to question the veracity of some of these latest reports.

Noble, Naughton, O'Hara and several others have been "on the verge" of declaring over the years and it hasn't happened.

I won't be throwing any hissy fits just yet.

**CraftyToePoke** · 15/03/2015, 5:07 AM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

gastric.

Come on. Just come on.

http://www.thefa.com/news/england/un...d-debut-111114

What I read in that would lead me to question the veracity of some of these latest reports.

Noble, Naughton, O'Hara and several others have been "on the verge" of declaring over the years and it hasn't happened.

I won't be throwing any hissy fits just yet.

You are a model of restraint and balanced debate of late TOWK.

Do you feel your experiences here on foot.ie have seen you grow, as a person ?

**Stuttgart88** · 15/03/2015, 8:10 AM

Originally Posted by Olé Olé

Please correct me on this if I'm wrong, but isn't Anthony Stokes the last Irish-born or under-21 striker to break through and maintain a high playing level (SPL/CL/PL/Championship) and regular spot in our senior squad? He's 26 and hasn't exactly made an impact. That's more worrying than I had thought.

Hendrick, Brady, Coleman, Meyler all came on the scene around the same time as, or after Stokes was the next great white hope. Gibson, Wilson, McClean aren't much older are they?

**Olé Olé** · 15/03/2015, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Hendrick, Brady, Coleman, Meyler all came on the scene around the same time as, or after Stokes was the next great white hope. Gibson, Wilson, McClean aren't much older are they?

I said striker, Stutts. You haven't named a striker so you've inadvertently proved my point

In terms of all positions, you're right. You've named 7 players who, bar Hendrick and McClean, are all PL regulars and that pair wouldn't be far off that achievement/have been there before. We are producing players. I just didn't realise how few strikers we're producing.

Even down the leagues, the likes of Ronan Murray and James Collins have gone on good runs but seem to have tailed off. Eoin Doyle's move to Cardiff hasn't seen him get a goal in his first 6 weeks there.

**Stuttgart88** · 15/03/2015, 4:56 PM

Duh, sorry. I didn't read it properly. I just thought you were being beyond pessimistic!

**DannyInvincible** · 15/03/2015, 5:00 PM

Interestingly, Martin O'Neill says that he was contacted by Harry Kane's agent to inform him he'd be keen on declaring for Ireland on the same day that Harry Kane himself publicly revealed he was intent on playing for England: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-31062894.html

Originally Posted by Dan McDonnell

Kane, who has scored 16 Premier League goals this term, is now on the verge of a call-up from Roy Hodgson. He qualifies for Ireland through a Galway connection on his father's side.

O'Neill indicated before the end of last season that he was exploring an option at Spurs without providing further detail. Speaking at the announcement of his squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier with Poland on March 29, the Ireland manager admitted that he was temporarily given reason to believe that Kane was ready to switch allegiance.

"The order of events is that initially the agent got in touch and said that he would have a keen interest and we wanted to go and chase it up," said O'Neill.

"But then I noticed in the newspaper where he said he wanted to play for England.

O'Neill added: "That has remained the same. Someone was speaking to him recently and that was exactly the same conversation. Fine, if that's the case.

"Harry himself always wanted to play for England. It's just as simple as that.

"It would have been really nice. There's a fairly decent chance he might have had a few caps for us before he actually plays for England considering the way he's playing.

"Sometimes what agents do is they have someone who looks after the player who is not actually licensed to buy or sell or be involved as an agent but he was the one who called. He happened to call me on a day when Harry Kane said he wanted to play for England."

A case of the agent trying to stir something that would scare the FA into action?

**TrapAPony** · 15/03/2015, 7:02 PM

Noel King at the Man Utd v Spurs match in his FAI jacket. Denis O'Brien there too....hhmmmmm.....

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAJrlpMWAAIjAtO.jpg

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 15/03/2015, 7:33 PM

Must be scouting one of Tottenham's backroom staff.

**DannyInvincible** · 15/03/2015, 7:45 PM

Originally Posted by TrapAPony

Noel King at the Man Utd v Spurs match. .....hhmmmmm.....

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CAJrlpMWAAIjAtO.jpg

The FAI jacket would suggest he was there in some sort of official capacity, right? Who might he have been watching? Surely there won't be a twist in the Harry Kane tale? Who else might he have been keeping tabs on?

**Stuttgart88** · 16/03/2015, 7:31 AM

Maybe he just doesn't have his own anorak?

**DannyInvincible** · 16/03/2015, 4:33 PM

Originally Posted by Wangball

Anyone know about Alex McCarthy from QPR? I know this is less than reliable but he's Ireland and QPR No1 by 2017 in my most recent FM2015 game!

The FM games are very thoroughly and pain-stakingly researched - plenty of professional clubs actually use the database - so I'd tend to put faith in their findings.

Originally Posted by The Guardian

To ensure authenticity, Sports Interactive has spent the last 22 years building its own network of “scouts”, dedicated Football Manager fans who attend real-life matches and training sessions, and then file detailed reports on players so that the game’s database is authentic. Some scouts watch a single team, others a whole league, and all remain in regular contact with the development studio while swapping tips and experiences on the company’s buzzing forums.

“We have a huge network of 1,300 scouts in 51 countries around the world,” said Sports Interactive director, Miles Jacobson. “We used to look for fanzine writers, but now they tend to be bloggers. They’re extremely knowledgeable and objective; they’re frank about the positives and the shortcomings of the teams they’re covering. Because of this, they tend to get the respect of the clubs themselves, both the coaches and the scouts, so they’re often able to find out more information that way.”

As for McCarthy, he's played for England at under-21 level and was actually in their senior squad when they played us and Brazil in May of 2013. I've never heard of any expression of interest to play for us from him.

**Wangball** · 18/03/2015, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by DannyInvincible

The FAI jacket would suggest he was there in some sort of official capacity, right? Who might he have been watching? Surely there won't be a twist in the Harry Kane tale? Who else might he have been keeping tabs on?

Ryan Mason from Spurs.........