QuoteIt's a pity Bradley ended up playing for the 6 counties. Could have sorted our RB issues for ten plus years at least.
(a) The post was no more aimed at you than anyone else.Originally Posted by EalingGreen
(b) There have been no "sanctions".
****ing drama queens the lot of ye.
You can't spell failure without FAI
It's a pity Bradley ended up playing for the 6 counties. Could have sorted our RB issues for ten plus years at least.
The default for the present generation of talented youngsters from a CNR background certainly isn’t a desire to play for NI. One swallow doesn’t make a summer EG.
No, but once they go into that system it's hard to get them out again. We should be much more proactive in terms of identifying and targeting players from the north at a younger age. It would ruffle a few feathers but so be it.
The best age to bring lads from the north into our setup is before Under 17s, because then it's a free hit for the player, they can always switch to the north down the line if they end up not being good enough for us. Whereas once they've played competitive Under 17 international football it's harder to convince players to switch because that is then tying them to Ireland, and the reality is that most won't be good enough.
Well thought out ~ The way to go alright.
Jim Crawford said that the FAI was talking to "third parties" about Conor Bradley and then he was called up to the Norn senior team. If anything, it illustrates the need for more urgency on the part of the FAI and Ireland coaches. When you consider the IFA's 'Club NI' programme, which brings kids into their orbit at 11/12 and how hard the English FA has been working to keep multi-eligible players (and entice them - Grealish/Rice), how can we afford to be blasé about potentially eligible players?
End Apartheid Now! One Team in Ireland!
Really?
I know you can't always go by names to discern backgrounds etc, but take a look at these most recent NI match squads:
Under 15's:
Northern Ireland starting line-up: Phoenix Blayney, Jude Crawford, Alfie Mulvenna (captain), Alfie Pollock, Bailey Magee, Jay McCafferty, Lukas Doherty, Daniel Hashim, Jay Forsythe, Logan McKnight, Odhran McHugh.
Substitutes: Jacob Sawyer (GK), Preston McKeown, Daniel McCarron, Daniel Patterson, Liam Kelly, Adam Nelson, Michael Mulholland, Mason Ayre, Padai O’Kane.
Under 17's:
Northern Ireland U17s: Finn McDonnell, Darragh McCann, Oisin Gamble, Cead McGrath, Callum Leacock, Alex Watson, Chris Atherton, Troy Savage (captain), George Feeney, Matthew Burns, Ceadach O’Neill.
Substitutes: (used) Alexander Eakin, Joel Kerr, Jack Faloona, Paul McGovern, Josef Orpwood; (unused) Zak Robinson (GK), Scott Hamilton, Luke Hawe.
Under 19's:
Northern Ireland: Mason Munn, Senan Devine, Matthew Orr, Conor Haughey, Tom Atcheson, Jack Doherty (captain), Callum Burnside, Ryan Corrigan, Ceadach O’Neill, Francis Turley, Paul McGovern.
Substitutes: (used) Braiden Graham, Cole Brannigan, Blaine McClure; (unused) Ben Metcalf (GK), Keevan Hawthorne, Dylan Stitt, Aodhan Doherty.
Under 21's:
Northern Ireland: Stephen McMullan, Aaron Donnelly, Ruairi McConville, Michael Forbes, Tommy Fogarty, Justin Devenny, Carl Johnston (captain), Patrick Kelly, Dale Taylor, Charlie Allen, JJ McKiernan.
Substitutes: (used) Terry Devlin, Makenzie Kirk, Darren Robinson, Dylan Sloan; (unused) Josh Clarke (GK), Sean Stewart, Jamie McDonnell, Matty Lusty, Shea Kearney.
Not so much "one swallow" as a whole colony...
Just get rid of GSTQ/K and show equal respect to all communities.
Than when those kids become adults you might actually keep them when it comes to senior international football.
There is precedent here, in rugby we have had some amazing players/ people for the Unionists community.
Rory best was one of the finest captains we ever had.
To respect your community we introduced Ireland's call. That wasn't done for a laugh.
Tbf to Ealing green I guess he wouldn't object to a change of anthem.
But it's time to get it done
I think EG might have missed the point that was being made there...
However we should absolutely be doing more on our side to be giving the higher potential players in these groups from the nationalist community a preferable option from a younger age. That's on our association that we're clearly not doing that.
All's fair, in love and soccer.
Last edited by seanfhear; 06/12/2024 at 2:37 PM.
Many NI fans incl myself actively want a new anthem, while many more wouldn't object to one. Can't tell whether between us we constitute a majority or not, but even if we should, the IFA isn't likely to opt for change any time soon, at least while the England team retains it. This is because they know just what a sh1tshow people outside the football community would kick up, flag/bonfire style.
Er, how many do we actually lose when they reach adulthood these days? McClean and Duffy were well over a decade ago, while Gibson was as much a case of falling out with an individual(s) at the IFA as anything else. Meanwhile contemporaries of theirs such as Baird and Ferguson were actively approached by the FAI but declined. (Paddy McNair was another on your radar, much to the amusement of all who know him!)
And since then, the likes of Sykes is very much the exception for an adult deciding to switch these days.
Sorry, but I can only assume you know very little about rugby and the circumstances behind all that.
However I shall refrain from elaborating further, for fear of being accused of being the one who is dragging this thread away from ROI-eligible players and onto Rugby, Anthems, politics and the like.
You're missing the point if you imagine that the FAI doesn't regularly, even systematically, approach youngsters in NI. Indeed I could give you examples from years back, and it still goes on.
You'd imagine if they were systematically approaching youngsters, then the likes of McClean and Sykes wouldn't have gotten as close to a senior call-up as they did.
Two examples, one from Feb 2012, the other from Aug 2022. And even if there are a couple others, that proves my point about how few players from a CNR background actually take up their option to represent ROI, when compared with those who remain with NI.
As for approaches, I can give you two examples from my own direct experience. About 15 years ago, the Australia U-16's NT was touring the UK during their (Australia's) off-season. This included a game v NI U-16's scheduled for Belfast. However, on the morning of the game, bad weather caused it to have to be switched last-minute to Fermanagh. Yet despite this, two guys in FAI jackets, driving an ROI car, were seen taking notes on the sideline.
Or five years ago, I was talking to a former NI international (incidentally from the CNR community) who was working for a leading English club, who have always had a tradition of ROI players. He was saying how it was common knowledge that the FAI were taking the parents of v.young NI players out to dinner etc and making all sorts of promises and inducements to get them to switch. (One bizarre example was a new washing machine!) My contact was not at all happy with this kind of "carry on" [sic].
And I know people within the IFA set-up who are far closer to this than me, who corroborate these stories and more.
A washing machine? If they'd thrown in a fridge freezer as well they may have stood a chance. This sounds a wee bit far fetched to be honest. Even by FAI standards this is crass and inept.
At least fill the washing machine with cash ! Money launder !
I'd say providing cash could prove difficult (tax, accounting etc). While the washing machine was just something he mentioned in passing (being supplied free by an FAI sponsor?). Anyhow, my source knew his stuff and had no reason to lie to me, bizarre though it sounds.
Anyhow, wasn't it the case during the time of your Dear Leader, Kim-Il-John (Delaney), that Noel King had a financial incentive for persuading dual-Nationals from GB to switch to ROI? And if so, why should switches from NI be any less sought after? (I think it was King, though am open to correction on that).
But hey, with so few youngsters from a CNR background in NI opting to switch, if you want to console yourself that it's only because the FAI never gets round to asking, then knock yourselves out.
My point is that they're not doing it near as much as they should be. And it needs to be being done before players play at any competitive age groups, because after that it's always going to be difficult given the FIFA rules restricting players who switch from any further changes down the line.
Fair play to them, but the fact that this was 15 years ago tells it's own story. They should be tracking the Under 15 and under 16 teams of the north constantly, to make sure any players of interest are fully aware of the FAI interest before they make any commitments to either association at Under 17 level. Because at the moment, the chase for young players from the northern nationalist community simply isn't a level playing field, other than possibly in Derry.
And you know that?
Experience on the ground suggests that they're trying as hard as ever, just not getting much of a result.
In recent years the whole direction of travel at FIFA has been towards loosening the restrictions which prevent players from switching, not tightening them.
In which case, it doesn't make any difference whether a youngster opts first for ROI, knowing that he can still switch to NI at a later date, or vice versa. In fact if anything, becoming ingrained in the FAI set-up, gaining a profile, establishing contacts and friends etc at the earliest possible age, as opposed to the IFA set-up first, should benefit a youngster's aspiration towards representing ROI at Senior level, rather than harming it.
While increasingly these days, even teenagers now have Agents, who will know the ins-and-outs of the process, even if the youngster himself, or his parents, don't.
And you know that?
Experience on the ground suggests that they're trying as hard as ever, just not getting much of a result.
No, my point is that it was going on even back then. Or do you imagine that the FAI have given up on this sort of activity since? (Clue: They haven't)
"Level playing field" implies some sort of disadvantage.
Fact is, there is no barrier to the FAI contacting whoever the hell they like. While the growth of media, both social and mainstream, means that even 12 or 14 year olds can get wide exposure and access beyond their immediate club or community.
EDIT: From today's edition of the Derry News:
https://www.derrynow.com/news/derry-...in-cyprus.html
Last edited by EalingGreen; 06/12/2024 at 7:16 PM.
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