The one that excites me most at the moment is Connor Clifford.Havent seen him play more than 5 or 6 times but he looks like a fantastic prospect
I wanted to ask all of the fine football minds on here, especially you all who have a lot of knowledge of the current player depth, to rate the top 10 Irish prospects in your opinion.
Lets consider for the purpose of discussion any player who is currently in the system and is 21 years of age or younger.
I think it will be fun to see how people expect certain players to develop and how highly some players get rated or left off.
Remember, its about who you think will blossom, not necessarily the best player as of this moment.
I am not informed enough to take a crack at it personally but I hope people will want to.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
The one that excites me most at the moment is Connor Clifford.Havent seen him play more than 5 or 6 times but he looks like a fantastic prospect
Its really not that complicated!!!
I'm with Razor on this one. Connor Clifford seems like a great prospect who might just get his debut with Chelsea during the upcoming African Cup of Nations. I'm cautious about getting too carried away when you look at over-hyped busts we've had in recent years such as Anthony Stokes and James McCarthy.
bit harsh on McCarthy don't you think. what is he 18? hardly crashed and burned now has he? give him a chance...
Jury still out on Stokes
Folding my way into the big money!!!
I don't understand why ye all are so eager to have so much patience with these players. Arsene Wenger knew that Stokes was a bust at age 18, he sold him to Sunderland almost three years ago, in January 2007. Where is he now? Playing semi-professional football for a small team up in Scotland. The average age of the international debut for our starting eleven is 21 years and nine months.
Shay Given - age 19
Kevin Kilbane - age 20
Sean St. Ledger - age 24
Richard Dunne - age 20
John O'Shea - age 20
Damien Duff - 19
Keith Andrews - 28
Glen Whelan - 24
Liam Lawrence - 27
Kevin Doyle - age 22
Robbie Keane - age 17
Aaron Doran, Gavin Gunning, Conor Clifford, Robbie Brady, Conor Henderson, Sean McGinty, Eoin Wearen, Jeff Kendrick, Mark O'Brien, Conor Hourihane and Richie Towell.
I'm still hopeful that Sean Scannell (aged 19) at Crystal Palace might prove useful in the not-too-distant future. He's not getting as many games this season though.
There is still a lot of expectation around Terry Dixon (also aged 19) but, given what he's been through in the last few years, I'd be delighted if he just gets into the West Ham team and works his way back into the reckoning for Ireland.
"There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet" - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Sean McGinty is a good prospect. Hope he doesnt change his mind about playing for Ireland.
Anybody know if Donal McDermot is any good? http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players...123669&cc=5739
Last edited by Nagger; 20/12/2009 at 5:35 PM.
Stu, you of all people dont know Jeff Kendrick? This is going to harder than I thought.
Also I noticed ANOTHER Stu in the other section making me think Pineapple and yourself have another brother. Yikes.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
a brother from another mother, man.
Jeff Kendrick? A quick google reveals a lead guitarist for heavy metal band DevilDriver (sound great!).
The only other Kendrick i can think of is Joe... Sligo Rovers player.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
fair enough - stupid wikipedia making stupid me look stupid.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
"Do you know what the plural for Pussy is? ... it's Pussai! ... Jimmy tought me that"
Sorry, that should have been Hendrick, didn't read what I typed! A guy at work coached Brady, Wearen and Hendrick at St. Kevins and also coached a Dublin representative team and said that Kendrick was the most likely to succeed out of the 11 players he coached who went to England. He has being playing very well for the Derby County reserves this season and is only 17. Wearen is also impressing for West Ham Reserves and scored for the first team in pre-season. Both are midfielders. Mark O' Brien appeared for Derbys first team last season and was on the bench this season but unfortunetly be has been diagnosed with a heart problem and had to have an operation. McGinty was recently signed by Man Utd from Charlton and is a very impressive centre back. He is from London and the English FA have been after him for a while but he appears to be staying with Ireland for the moment. This is the Derby youth team, seven of them are Irish or have represented Ireland at underage level:
http://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/YouthTeam...074350,00.html
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