QuoteMaybe he thinks his da is a bit of a dick, which, y'know isnt too much of a stretch. Seriously though, I agree, no way given a choice is this lad choosing green, surely.Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Ogbebe was born and raised in Nigeria though, for ten or twelve years, I think.
Maybe he thinks his da is a bit of a dick, which, y'know isnt too much of a stretch. Seriously though, I agree, no way given a choice is this lad choosing green, surely.
Ours to lose at this stage, Crafty.
Wondering whether Neville will pass the Stutts gut test though...
He was born in Nigeria but moved when he was quite young. He's as Cork as they come and is/was a cracking Gaelic Football player too.
Personal choice for him really but I doubt he makes it to either national team at this stage anyway.
I have been told Hodgey is working hard to get back fit. All is going well so far and he is on target for a return shortly after Christmas of things continue as planned.
I count 10 lads born in England: Jones, Greenwood, McGuinness, Richards, Bowden, Grant, Neville, Cannon, Gilbert and Nunn.
Is it wise to have such a heavy concentration of potential flight risks in our squad?
It is a friendly squad, so possibly a lower risk than a competitive (ie qualifier or tournament) squad
They can't all play for England.
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
If we keep going the way we are going with front options there will be lads choosing England because they cant get a game for us
Delighted to see Oko-Flex back involved.
Actually wouldn't be surprised if a few of our overseas born youth players ended up with the North at senior level if we find ourselves with a surplus in some positions, particularly in attack, in a few years time.
They don't seem to have much coming through, and our youth players will qualify for them also, so it gives them another option to play international football if they don't make it here.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
Are we starting to see the results of a change in how youth football has been run since Ruud Dokter was appointed? Surely its not coincidence that we are not getting good crop of players in what seems to be all levels?
Does Delaney deserve and credit for this? Might be the wrong thread for that sort of question, but I'm curious about peoples thoughts since we know about all the wrong things he has done.
Are we improving inspite of FAI or because of policies they have implemented? Is this just an anomaly?
Really delighted and excited to see oko flex back quality player I would say that is the end of the England thing maybe was good ploy to get deal from Nike and big Celtic move.
Bowden is a nice surprise involved heavily at spurs 23s hopefully a really talented creative midfield addition.
Ogbune hasn't been in since 16s with us but has played centre half for arsenal 23s so nice addition. Interestingly McGuinness hasn't played 18s or 23s for arsenal this season so bit surprised he is here thought he must be injured
That cannon has been banging in goals for everton 18s as a centre forward. Just checked there he is very young he is eligible for next season at 19s and only misses out on been eligible for our 17s this season by 3 days.
Those 2 bohs lads look like lovely footballers
This group needed to bring in some new talent with the number of lads who are eligible but have moved past this level bazuna,Collins,ledwidge,idah,knight,parrott.
Still have lads like ferry, mceneff , Flynn from Leicester and Thompson from wolves and everitt to come into this as well without even looking at some of the best lads in the 18s group like McCann and furlong
Really exciting squad and great potential
Bowden played for Spurs Under 21s tonight. Subbed off after an hour, hopefully didn't pick up an injury.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
Unpopular answer I'd say, but I think there must be a link between the Emerging Talent Prgramme and the players coming through now. It's the least you'd expect from an association though, an actual strategy. Even corrupt and inept organisations get some things right. I've heard the amount of quality time these kids get is still lower than in many other countries but, yeah, I think Dokter deserves credit. Kerr thinks it's a bit too tippy tappy still though!
Saying that, you'd wonder why Ayodeji Sotona and Mipo Odubeko aren't in the squad. Haven't represented either the 18s or the 19s this year. Only logical things I can think of are:
a) not accepting call ups cause a competitive game would rule them out of playing for England in the future as they would be eligible upon 5 years or residency - that would also explain the u17 squad last summer
or
b) not interested in playing for ireland and would rather go with nigeria
or
c) sulking due to not being selected for 17s
or
d) neither Tom Mohan nor Colin O'Brien rate either of them.
-
Not sure which is the likeliest of all 4 scenarios - all seem implausible. Mipo is a better striker than anyone we had at the championships last summer and he'd be ahead of Oluwa in my book anyway for the current squad...
Mipo is a long way from first team football where as most of the lads picked are at least regulars in the reserves / U23s for their clubs. Has Mipo even played for the United u23s yet?
Mipo is currently out of contract and there’s difficulties over compensation. Whoever he joins, he'll go to u23s if it's a side in England. He scored 35 goals last season, he's graduated beyond 18s.
I could be wrong, but I expect we'll see him accelerate pretty quickly through the ranks over the next year or two. It’s 19s, sublime talent is enough to keep you in a squad. I could understand at 21s or first team that an out of contract player wouldn’t be considered but 19s and 17s are about something slightly different.
In terms of Northern players, this lad is a player i would pursue heavily. https://www.irishnews.com/news/north...ol-fc-1652041/ I've seen him play for Liverpool's U18s and he's an incredible young player. The IFA call players up at a very young age, so you could see him being capped in a year, just so he can't consider other options (Lavery, Smyth, Lewis etc etc).
I understand why they do it but it means you have to be proactive with young players like we were with Shane Duffy.
I hope you are right, but I do think that this is a pretty positive squad with Oko-Flex, Cassidy and Noss along with others so I wouldnt be too caught up on who didnt make it
Agree totally. It's actually a very encouraging squad with Okoflex back in the fold, Noss involved, Cassidy back from injury. And the trio of Bowden, Neville and Cannon weren’t on my radar at all. Ross Tierney has looked great at Bohs. Along with natural progress of guys from the 17s and 18s and 19s from last year, it’s a really good squad.
I’d still always look at a squad and in the way I’d wonder about McCarthy leaving out McCarthy or Kenny leaving out Barrett, I’d question why those two lads aren’t involved, along with Tom Gaston, James Furlong, Adam O’Reilly and Matty Everett (some could be injured)
Mipo got a goal in two games for the United 18s. He did not get the 35 goals for the United 18s.
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