But when did that ever stop us in the past eh?Originally Posted by DeLorean
I put him roughly on a par with Phil Babb.
I have been a critic of O'Shea in the past (over half-a-dozen years ago) but his face fits. We needed a senior statesman at the back with Dunne retiring and he has stepped up to the plate. I think he's been a calming enough influence at the back. I think our faults lie elsewhere.
I think O'Shea is definitely one of the worst multiple league winners, champions league finalists and champions league semi-final goalscorers to ever win around a hundred caps for us.
Well said!
Top man JOSH.
Irish to the core, yet feckers on here still have a go.
I don't think anyone is questioning his Irishness, his commitment to the cause or what he has achieved as a player.
But he is 34 now. At some point the torch has to be passed on.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
At some point absolutely, like...
-When he retires
-When he stops performing
-When we actually have somebody better
Until then there's no question in my mind, we need him and I really hope he's around for another campaign.
Big time. Pace was never really his biggest attribute but he's reading, anticipation and positional awareness were second to nobody against Scotland. That augurs well for another campaign.
Now we have a real disagreement.
He was never lightning fast, but i remember him having a decent turn of pace for a guy his size. I feel that the grabbing, holding and shirt pulling (that has always been part of his game) is becoming more pronounced, and more likely to be noticed by referees, as he slows down.
And then there's the issue of having an orderly handover. We have a couple of decent games coming up. Better to have it happen now than in a years time (still potentially in the run in to a major championship).
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
I wouldn't make the mistake of calling the Georgia game handy. The only handy game we ever had against them was a friendly, never in qualifying and we've played them quite a bit. The handover will take care of itself, we need to play our strongest team in the short term and he's definitely a part of that. Plus, if we were to try to give Clark, Duffy or whoever some game time, they might learn more alongside O'Shea than anybody else.
I think all Ole meant was that he was never overly reliant on his pace like, say, Rio Ferdinand. Obviously he's only going to be getting slower from here on out but his football brain helps compensate for that.
Hmm. I wouldn't make the mistake of assuming the handover will take care of itself. Take England for example. They struggled in that position when John Terry departed the scene suddenly.
I don't take Georgia lightly, but at the same time it should be a lot easier than Germany. We should be beating them without a lot of fuss.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
I don't mean it will take care of itself as if it will definitely go swimmingly. I just mean we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Replacing top players with inferior ones is never going to be a smooth process regardless of whether Clark or whoever have a couple of extra matches in preparation. I accept it doesn't matter who plays against Gibraltar, I'd prefer to keep O'Shea free from any potential injury there anyway, but I'd be slow to take any chances against Georgia, we're not scoring many goals so a concession could be fatal. I'd save the bedding in for friendlies and dead rubbers.
Good players retire and they have to be replaced, it's a part of football. What do you think England should have done differently... the likes of Jagielka, Dawson, Cahill, Lescott, etc. were all used fairly often before Terry retired, they're just not as good as him and never will be. Anyway, how did they struggle exactly? They may have had a couple of different combinations, for various reasons, but they conceded four goals in nine qualifying games without him and were unbeaten. I'd take those kind of struggles once O'Shea leaves the scene. Obviously they'd still be better off with him because he's a top player.
Vlaar out for four months, should mean more responsibility for Clark when the season gets underway.
Better again for Clark is that Vlaar doesn't play for Villa anymore. He's a free agent.
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
D'oh! I need to lay off the drugs.
With Delph out the door, there's some talk that Clark will be appointed the new captain. Ain't a whole lot of contenders unless Villa were to make a big-ish signing.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Villa need to buy/produce some good players and probably fast. Delp was probably one of their best players and Benteke is going. They have to replace these players and need some more good players too. Villa are a big club and it would be a pity to see them in the championship.
Villa would be the team I would follow in the English league, thanks to a certain childhood hero playing #5 for them.
If you look at the spine of the team that played in the FA Cup Final, Villa are more or less certain to start next season without Given, Vlaar, Delph, Cleverley and Benteke. There are other good players there who may be able to take on more responsibility, and there have been a few good signings, but Sherwood certainly has a job of work to do.
Mind you, Southampton were faced with something similar last season and look what happened
Last edited by backstothewall; 20/07/2015 at 12:19 PM.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Shaun Teale?
At least every couple of years there's some mention of Teale.
And we all need to bask in the glory of that 'tache.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
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