Interesting, I had assumed Byrne was just considered too good for the U19s. Disappointing.
Jack Byrne and Ian Lawlor mentioned in this profile of Man City's elite development squad: http://www.foreversports.com/sports/...s-rising-stars
Byrne and O'Hanlon both mentioned in this report on the progress of St Kevin's players in England: http://www.thestar.ie/star/kevins-sh...the-way-53381/
Live coverage of Man City V Roma in the UEFA Youth League on City's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW4Q5kdS5i0
Jack Byrne starting in midfield for City, U17 player Tom Holland on the bench
Another goal for Jack Byrne at home to Bayern.
Two goals in the game for Byrne, second goal a cracking free kick apparently
http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/...fney-and-hoban
BYRNE CONTINUES TO IMPRESS IN CONTINENTAL COMPETITION
Manchester City Under-19s made it five wins from five in the Uefa Youth League on Tuesday, sealing top spot in Group E with a 6-0 demolition of Bayern Munich. Once again, Jack Byrne was a colossus in midfield for the Blues' underage side, netting two goals in the rout to take his tally to four in five games in continental competition.
Many have raised concerns about Martin O'Neill's Republic of Ireland squads lacking young blood, but Byrne's outstanding performances for his club and the Ireland Under-21 side should push him into contention sooner rather than later. Much talk has been made of Jack Grealish's willingness to play for the Boys in Green, but there is no doubt where 18-year-old Dubliner Byrne's future lies.
Ridiculous. Good performances in a kids league tell us very little about how he'd cope in men's football. Grealish only came into contention when he'd been through the mill at Notts County.
CD: I don't think the writer (and I know him quite well) is saying "Call him up Mart", more that he's someone to keep an eye on.
I wouldn't doubt you've been in the same room as him from time to time
While you haven't crashed fully into 'call him up!' territory, he really is just a player with a bit of potential at the moment, and there's no clear signs he's destined to step up to senior football yet. I'm fearful of anointing players at such a early point in their development. It's great he's doing well for City's youth team, but when I've seen him for Irish underage teams he's never stood out.
I always like to be optimistic about these things but Michael Drennan hasn't had much of a run at senior level on the back of being the top (or amongst the top) scorer in this competition not too long back.
But isn't the point of this thread to do a bit of crystal-balling, trying to figure out what talent is on the horizon and may come into the reckoning for, say, World Cup 2018 or Euro 2020? And there are probably a few other threads devoted to the likes of Noe Baba, Steven Kinsella, and others who won't be knocking on the doors of their respective first team squads for at least another year. It's perfectly normal to speculate on the potential of young players and while some may not achieve that potential, a few have certainly been good picks by commenters here - for example the Jack Grealish thread had dozens of pages before he kicked a ball in a senior team; the Robbie Brady thread started 18 months before he was loaned out to Hull and ultimately discarded by Manchester United - seems the foot.ie contributors had a better eye for talent than Alex Ferguson in his later years. So it's not unreasonable to follow the fortunes of an 18-year-old at the team who have won the Premier League in two of the last three seasons, particularly if he's scoring crackers against Bayern Munich (even if it is in youth competition)
I think the purpose is to look at prospective players within the context of the level they're playing at and see how they develop but also to realise that the level they're playing at is far below senior level and that's the biggest leap they will have to make as players. Sure you can identify talent and Byrne, O'Hanlon, Lawlor, etc are obviously very talented but talk of senior football is a bit premature, and talk of international football even more so. When you see players play against men, that's when you can start to realistically evaluate them, and so far the likes of Byrne and O'Hanlon have shown they have a long way to go in that regard, whereas from my observation less-celebrated players like Alan Browne and Sam Byrne have shown more promise.
Live coverage of AS Roma VS Man City in the UEFA Youth League here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pbb4d_JCtI
Byrne is starting for City, who've already qualified at the top of their group
Daniel Cleary played and scored for Liverpool U-19s yesterday afternoon as they beat Basel 3-0 to qualify in the UEFA youth league. They had to win by two clear goals. By all accounts he is doing well. Has trained with the first team a few times this season. Alex O'Hanlon was on the bench but didn't get on.
Lets talk about six baby
Byrne scored the second in a 4-0 win for City today, who top the group with six wins from six. That's Byrne's fifth goal of the tournament (including three against Bayern Munich) and puts him joint second in the goal scoring charts
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-30822755.html
Video: Is Champions League top scorer Jack Byrne Ireland's next big star?
not sure where they're getting this "top scorer" tag from, he's on five, there's players with six and seven strikes: http://www.uefa.com/uefayouthleague/...ers/index.html
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