Agree totally on McGeady and Gibson. Gibson, bar maybe a fit and spritely Jack Byrne, is still our most gifted traditional central midfielder. I'm not saying they should be starting but they shouldn't be automatically discarded either. Byrne is another who could forge a comeback yet. I've always had a soft spot for Gibson it has to be said.
Hoban has what, 7 goals in 65 League 2 appearances, and 0 in 10 in the Conference.
He is banging the goals in at LOI level, but you can't say he is on a par with somebody like Jutkiewicz, who has more than 60 championship goals to his name, and who scored 10 goals in 18 games for Birmingham last season.
Now, Hoban may be a much improved player these days than he was then, but the calibre of opposition player that they have proven themselves equal to (or better than) can't even be compared.
Last edited by osarusan; 27/11/2018 at 3:38 PM.
I know its not a popular stance, but if we look at the recent stars of the LOI who made a move to England its not good:
Richie Towel over all disappointing, but is in a better place now to be fair
Daryl Horgan failed at Championship level
Andy Boyle never took off at all
Graham Burke looks like it hasn't worked
Seani Maguire the jury is still out ( injury hasn't helped)
I agree with osarusan & diggs. There is no way is Hoban good enough and the LOI is not a good standard in general. Player of the month for October Paddy McEleney, while a good player in the LOI, only very recently failed to make the grade at Oldham. That's not the standard required for the national team.
Last edited by TrapAPony; 27/11/2018 at 3:58 PM.
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
Particularly when we don't have so much as a friendly game to test their credentials.
Last edited by DeLorean; 27/11/2018 at 4:15 PM.
I realize there are no friendlies scheduled at the moment -- is there any opportunity in the international calendar to get in a match or two before the Euro qualifiers begin? I would hope we can have at least one camp and a match or ideally two for Mick to at least establish some basics with the group.
I was wondering at the weekend whether Mick might try and have a B international? Clubs would never approve that sort of game though (those days are gone) so looks like the only time he will get to see them up close would be at some sort of training camp on an international week. Not even sure that is feasible.
Popular or not, it's entirely fair. Even Dave McMillan is struggling to make it off the bench at St Johnstone despite a promising start, and you could add Chris Forrester (transfer listed at Peterborough; recently moved to Aberdeen) and Danny Kearns (promising start at Peterborough, but now back at Linfield).
The LoI is a fun league, but it's a weak league. It's partly what makes the insistence that Mick must move aside in two years for Stephen Kenny a bit puzzling.
As far as I'm concerned, if we qualify for the Euros and play well at the tournament, Mick stays on. It would be absurd for any other situation to play out. He's an excellent man manager as well and I suspect senior players will speak out if the original plan is followed out regardless of our performance.
If Kenny is a patriot I would like him to sit out taking the role until an appropriate time for a switch (naïve and wishful thinking on my part I know).
I'm equally naive and wishful. And it could be spun that the U21s are doing well so it'd be disruptive to change, he'd agree to an extension to the handover (knowing an extra 100k a year has simultaneously been added to his pay packet!). He knows he'd be on a hiding to nothing if he took over if Mick is successful, especially if Kenny isn't.
Anyway -- fingers crossed we perform well enough over the next two years to make this an incredibly awkward situation for everyone!
I don't know why that would be the case - LOI fans are a tiny portion of the community/fan base, really - and usually LOI opinions get quickly and easily ignored/dismissed by the rest. So there's very little goodwill on offer to JD in this equation.
I'd like to think - and do believe - that it is a measured and merited decision.
True. And it's not like Delaney gives a **** about the league, let alone its fans
It was a win win win decision for Delaney. Kenny actually merits the appointment, there's the appeasement factor and the deflection.
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