Jack Grealish

[paul_oshea]

Chelsea will buy him and loan him back anyway.so it doesn't matter!

[Stuttgart88]

You mean lone?

[tetsujin1979]

And we're off! These rumours will continue to surround him until he finally moves to a big team. Agree with Stutts, the pressure will continue to grow for him to play for England from his club, manager and coaches. I feel a bit sorry for Villa fans, you finally produce a potentially great player and the vultures move in. I know this is reality, but it's why I hate the Premiership.

surely you could level that against almost every league, Hibs produce a great player, almost guaranteed to be snapped up by Celtic, half the Dortmund team have moved to Bayern, any decent player in La Liga will end up at Barcelona or Real Madrid, etc

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

He's watching England and not only does he not want them to lose, he's actually got friends in the team. Kick the wee turncoat out.

Actually I don't think anyone has/should have a problem with Jack supporting his club colleagues.

The problem isn't even that he supports the England national team.

The problem is that he openly admits it on social media whilst playing for the Irish national team. The fact that he refused a senior call up but went on to play for the U-21's several day later. The latter is pretty unprecedented and IMO, pretty disrespectful.

I called it with the way I interpreted his media quotes what was going to happen several months later anyways so no shock to me, although him making it at Chelsea and representing Ireland would genuinely be a shock of epic proportions.

Some people think he's beginning a journey of cultural identity or something like that; fair enough and I respect that. I think he's testing the waters to see if he's good enough to play for England.

Don't shoot me! I'm not the only one to interpret it that way.

[paul_oshea]

No you're not, but you got it right TOWk, spot on.

He is holding out for the England call up and/or ensuring his best club chances by keeping his options opened.

I find it funny that certain posters are being cynical and sarcastic now about his support for England because they ignored or didn't understand his postings on social media and where his priorities lay.

[nigel-harps1954]

Does anyone have a problem with the way Andy Townsend talks about England?

[paul_oshea]

I just textd lads on the aul whatsapp group yesterday about this. I do now. He is over doing it.

[DannyInvincible]

True, didn't mention anything about Ireland and Georgia. It's all England from him.

The reason he mentioned England seemed to be primarily because he had a personal connection with the game; he had a team-mate, Fabian Delph, starting. It's not all England for him. He plays for us and has tweeted about Ireland plenty.

I feel a bit sorry for Villa fans, you finally produce a potentially great player and the vultures move in. I know this is reality, but it's why I hate the Premiership.

Where isn't like that though? It's the way it always has been and always will be so long as football remains an open market. The clubs with bags of money will strip to the bone when a star begins to emerges those other clubs whose main focus is on developing youngsters. See what happened Southampton this summer. Villa have previously had young or home-grown talents snapped up by bigger clubs too; after impressing for Villa in the Premier League within recent years, James Milner and Gareth Barry were signed up by Manchester City whilst Ashley Young moved to United.

The problem is that he openly admits it on social media whilst playing for the Irish national team. The fact that he refused a senior call up but went on to play for the U-21's several day later. The latter is pretty unprecedented and IMO, pretty disrespectful.

"Openly admits"? Supporting England isn't a crime. He's a dual national, so why wouldn't have split loyalties? As I've said before, there's nobody compelling us to keep selecting him either. If you have an issue with his selection, you should take it up with Noel King and the FAI. What's so disrespectful about what he's done anyway? He'd rather not be rushed into making what will be a life-changing decision. If we'd called him up to tie him, don't you think it would have been a bit cynical on our part?

I called it with the way I interpreted his media quotes what was going to happen several months later anyways so no shock to me, although him making it at Chelsea and representing Ireland would genuinely be a shock of epic proportions.

What did you call exactly? He hasn't made any decision on his international future. The situation hasn't really changed.

I find it funny that certain posters are being cynical and sarcastic now about his support for England because they ignored or didn't understand his postings on social media and where his priorities lay.

It's not that posters ignored or failed to comprehend his tweets; everyone is aware of the possibility of him switching, but some would rather acknowledge the present ambiguity of the situation rather than jumping to rash and partisan conclusions. He hasn't switched to England, nor is there any certainty that he will.

[SwanVsDalton]

Does anyone have a problem with the way Andy Townsend talks about England?

I don't but it drives some people I know do-lally. Every time I hear him talk about England, I remember him crying in the ITV studio when Spain knocked us out in '02.

[Stuttgart88]

Don't shoot me! I'm not the only one to interpret it that way.

That's not why people want to shoot you. The ambiguity has long since been evident. I had thought he's ours to lose, now he's probably ours to gain, but that's not the point. The point, for me anyway, is the pretty explicit value judgment in your previous posts on this topic.

[Charlie Darwin]

That's not why people want to shoot you. The ambiguity has long since been evident. I had thought he's ours to lose, now he's probably ours to gain, but that's not the point. The point, for me anyway, is the pretty explicit value judgment in your previous posts on this topic.

I'm glad we've accepted that he needs to be shot. Now, who do we get to do it? I would have ruled McGeady out on past performances, but that was before Sunday...

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

The reason he mentioned England seemed to be primarily because he had a personal connection with the game; he had a team-mate, Fabian Delph, starting. It's not all England for him. He plays for us and has tweeted about Ireland plenty.



Where isn't like that though? It's the way it always has been and always will be so long as football remains an open market. The clubs with bags of money will strip to the bone when a star begins to emerges those other clubs whose main focus is on developing youngsters. See what happened Southampton this summer. Villa have previously had young or home-grown talents snapped up by bigger clubs too; after impressing for Villa in the Premier League within recent years, James Milner and Gareth Barry were signed up by Manchester City whilst Ashley Young moved to United.



"Openly admits"? Supporting England isn't a crime. He's a dual national, so why wouldn't have split loyalties? As I've said before, there's nobody compelling us to keep selecting him either. If you have an issue with his selection, you should take it up with Noel King and the FAI. What's so disrespectful about what he's done anyway? He'd rather not be rushed into making what will be a life-changing decision. If we'd called him up to tie him, don't you think it would have been a bit cynical on our part?



What did you call exactly? He hasn't made any decision on his international future. The situation hasn't really changed.



It's not that posters ignored or failed to comprehend his tweets; everyone is aware of the possibility of him switching, but some would rather acknowledge the present ambiguity of the situation rather than jumping to rash and partisan conclusions. He hasn't switched to England, nor is there any certainty that he will.

I never said supporting England was a crime. I said it was disrespectful to say he supports the England senior national team while playing for Ireland (albeit for the time being); why is he playing for us if he supports England? It's not a life-changing decision. Yes I did think it would be cynical on our parts - I often said that. It's a sad byproduct of modern football that an International team should feel they have to select someone out of a justified concern that they will switch countries. It should also be noted that he has played all through the International age groups for us - something that wouldn't/didn't happen with England.

Exactly. When I was saying he was deliberately being hazy about his International loyalties, people were making smart comments and saying I was automatically assuming the worst in him - when I was simply being pragmatic.

[swinfordfc]

I actually dont see the big fuss is about this lad ........

[tetsujin1979]

the excellent Zonal Marking tweeted this earlier: https://twitter.com/Zonal_Marking/st...15125669801984

Spain doing with Munir what they did with Bojan in '08, 10mins in a comp game, so can't switch countries. Bojan hasn't played another minute

(incidentally, Bojan was called into a later squad but pulled out)

and then he posted this https://twitter.com/Zonal_Marking/st...15720598265856

Munir, incidentally, has now made his debut for Barca B, Barca, Spain U19, Spain U21 and Spain in the same year, which is incredible.

Checked this guy out on wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munir_El_Haddadi

Prior to his senior debut for Spain, Munir had been desired by the national teams of his father's homeland Morocco, and Qatar who offered him a deal to represent the country when it hosts the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

but I digress

[paul_oshea]

Dead right.I want exact same treatment for noble and many others. Don't wait do it quickly on the sly. Spain don't have any sentimentality when it comes to capping players and they won the world cup!

[DannyInvincible]

I never said supporting England was a crime. I said it was disrespectful to say he supports the England senior national team while playing for Ireland (albeit for the time being); why is he playing for us if he supports England?

Because he's a dual national with split loyalties?

You'd said he "admitted" to supporting England, as if he was doing something wrong and had to confess.

It's not a life-changing decision.

Of course it is. It could have massive repercussions for his future career, livelihood and "marketability". It's an unfortunate reality, but, in any other field besides football, he'd be considered highly reckless for rushing into an equivalent decision like this. Footballers have to make a living too; they need to ensure they make decisions that will allow them to sustain a comfortable standard of living after they retire from playing. I'd love if there were more Kevin Kilbane's on the planet, but the reality is that there aren't. That Grealish isn't exactly a Kilbane who, without question, goes with the heart doesn't make him a deceitful exploiter; he's just a young lad of dual nationality who's being level-headed about his future.

It's a sad byproduct of modern football that an International team should feel they have to select someone out of a justified concern that they will switch countries.

I think it's generally a positive thing that young players of dual nationality have such protection against potentially cynical carrot-capping associations.

[tetsujin1979]

I never said supporting England was a crime.

But you're still judging him for it

I said it was disrespectful to say he supports the England senior national team while playing for Ireland (albeit for the time being); why is he playing for us if he supports England?

Presumably you're not thrilled about these so:
https://twitter.com/PhilipRobbo9/sta...53274339946497
https://twitter.com/JoeRafferty5/sta...68946382000128
https://twitter.com/BradleyGarmston/...79329609183233
https://twitter.com/england/status/509387976946642944 and https://twitter.com/england/status/509374829041291265 (both retweeted by Bradley Garmston)
https://twitter.com/stevenreid12/sta...72826717208576

It's not a life-changing decision.

Do you not realise it's a decision that will change his life?

Yes I did think it would be cynical on our parts - I often said that. It's a sad byproduct of modern football that an International team should feel they have to select someone out of a justified concern that they will switch countries.

See my post above about Bojan and Munir

It should also be noted that he has played all through the International age groups for us - something that wouldn't/didn't happen with England.

It didn't happen because he refused a call up to their U19s

Exactly. When I was saying he was deliberately being hazy about his International loyalties, people were making smart comments and saying I was automatically assuming the worst in him - when I was simply being pragmatic.

it's a glass half full type of situation. You chose to only see the negatives in his statements.

[gastric]

surely you could level that against almost every league, Hibs produce a great player, almost guaranteed to be snapped up by Celtic, half the Dortmund team have moved to Bayern, any decent player in La Liga will end up at Barcelona or Real Madrid, etc

Course you can make that assertion, but there are at least a few German, Scottish, Spanish players playing for the above mentioned teams. If you showed the team lists of City, Arsenal or Chelsea to someone who had no knowledge of football, would they be able to determine what country these players play in? I feel I have lost all empathy with these teams and it seems Utd and Liverpool (to a lesser degree) are going the same way. All have excellent academies that seem to produce players for other teams. It doesn't make sense to me. Then when a young talent does come along like Shaw, they pay an exorbitant amount of money for him and they become one of a few English players in a team. Grealish will be pressured by Villa to declare for England, as they will get possibly more money for him, as would Chelsea who would gain an English player. While I know I am stating the bleeding obvious, this small cartel of teams will continue to dominate English soccer and the less competitive clubs like Villa will just have to make do. And this is why I made the above comment Tets!

[Charlie Darwin]

I feel I have lost all empathy with these teams and it seems Utd and Liverpool (to a lesser degree) are going the same way. All have excellent academies that seem to produce players for other teams.

I'd guess the main reason you had empathy in the first place was because they were bringing through Irish players instead of other foreigners. We've always been foreigners in England, it's just now we're not the only ones, and these teams are scouring the globe rather than just picking the best Irish talent.

[gastric]

I'd guess the main reason you had empathy in the first place was because they were bringing through Irish players instead of other foreigners. We've always been foreigners in England, it's just now we're not the only ones, and these teams are scouring the globe rather than just picking the best Irish talent.

You're spot on I think. I tend to watch teams with Irish players only these days. It's always a question of time and interest