Steven Beattie

[Stuttgart88]

I have to say I loved reading this article. Really interesting. Good luck to him.

http://greenscene.me/2012/09/interview-steven-beattie/

[paul_oshea]

I always find these articles funny, they build up a big picture in your head, of someone who has achieved so much or stands out so much from the crowd.


Ahead of the 2011 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, Beattie was invited to the MLS Combine to showcase his talents. “I was invited to the MLS Combine, which is the top 64 players in college soccer along with 8 foreign players,” Beattie explained. “Wayne Rooney’s brother John was one of the foreign players. We were flown down to Florida for a 4 day training camp with 3 matches. Every MLS Manager and their coaching staff attend the Combine and evaluate you over that period. The 2 weeks later the draft takes place. It’s crazy I’m the only Irish player to ever get invited to the Combine and to be drafted. There are so many Irish lads over there as well. It’s near impossible to get into the Combine. You have to be reccomended by MLS clubs and you have had to had a smashing college career.”


Then you realise the player is playing in the icelandic league and failed to make it in the MLS.....

[AlaskaFox]

He never got the chance to make it in the MLS tbf.

Oh and Stutts, you're now up to 1000 thanks. Fair play.

[geysir]

Then you realise the player is playing in the icelandic league and failed to make it in the MLS.....

Tindastoll? that would be the 2nd tier of the Icelandic league, though that's a football standard Bohs can only aspire towards

[SkStu]

Must... Ignore...

[nigel-harps1954]

Seriously, no harm to the lad, but if players like this are seriously looked at over League of Ireland players, then we know something is seriously wrong.

MLS problems or not, he's playing Icelandic second division. Nor do I care how Bohs did against one of their teams.

[Olé Olé]

Well from what I can see, Beattie's club were playing in the top flight having won the division below that in 2011. He joined for their last 11 games of the season and started and finished 9 of them, scoring 4 and creating 5 in the process. That's a solid return. He obviously was playing at a standard below him, given that such a return was on the back of him recovering from a serious injury.

Decent article, very insightful. His next step will be interesting because, at 24, he's not exactly that young. Pity we didn't get to see him in the LOI this year but hopefully he'll line out here sooner or later.

[geysir]

Well from what I can see, Beattie's club were playing in the top flight having won the division below that in 2011. He joined for their last 11 games of the season and started and finished 9 of them, scoring 4 and creating 5 in the process. That's a solid return. He obviously was playing at a standard below him, given that such a return was on the back of him recovering from a serious injury.

He joined a team that had just been promoted from the 3rd tier to the 2nd tier and just about managed to survive there with a few points to spare in the end..
Maybe he's better than that level, maybe not, time will tell.

[mark12345]

Seriously, no harm to the lad, but if players like this are seriously looked at over League of Ireland players, then we know something is seriously wrong.

MLS problems or not, he's playing Icelandic second division. Nor do I care how Bohs did against one of their teams.

Don't know if your alluding to the MLS being of a sub standard or not? Maybe you're not and maybe I'm over the top. But just for the record - MLS is streets ahead of the LOI. It's better technically than the Championship in England and better also than the SPL.

[Predator]

MLS has more money in it than the LOI, but 'streets ahead'? You're having a giraffe.

[nigel-harps1954]

MLS is of no standard. It has mountains of money, big stadia, and a decent following. But the standard is completely muck. It's no way in hell 'streets ahead' of the LOI.

Technically, LOI can hold it's own with Championship level in my opinion. May lack the same coaching and fitness levels and professionalism, but on technical ability, well and truely on a par.

Less said about the SPL the better.

[SwanVsDalton]

Great article, really interesting path he's on. Hope he stays fit and keep on the up.

[mark12345]

MLS is of no standard. It has mountains of money, big stadia, and a decent following. But the standard is completely muck. It's no way in hell 'streets ahead' of the LOI.

Technically, LOI can hold it's own with Championship level in my opinion. May lack the same coaching and fitness levels and professionalism, but on technical ability, well and truely on a par.

Less said about the SPL the better.

Sorry to have to disagree with you and Predator. Seen enough of both to stick by my claim. The MLS is lacking in tradition I agree. But that's all. It will show itself far better than the LOI in the next few years.

[Charlie Darwin]

Nigel is correct, the LOI is technically as good as the Championship and better in many cases, though perhaps without some of the elite talents in that league. The MLS has the top talent that loads of money can attract but the general standard is fairly poor, hence why very few players from the MLS graduate to the top leagues despite being effectively professionals.

[Stuttgart88]

Would the LOI champions beat the worst team in the MLS?

I don't have an axe to grind here but I find it hard to believe that a country of 4m people can produce a league with as technically good a quality as a country of 250m+ people.

I'm with Mark on this one. The LOI is what it is and I'm rather fond of it. But it's no Championship or MLS.

[Charlie Darwin]

The current champions? Possibly. The champions-elect? Certainly.

The fact MLS clubs can afford to spend millions of dollars on famous players and are fully professional means they could win in spite of their general inferiority, but for the most part a team like Sligo will be technically better than most or all MLS sides.

[SkStu]

To compare our domestic leagues with others is an exercise I gave up a long time ago as there are so many variables in the PD and FD here as to render meaningful comparisons pointless. As leagues, the MLS and the Championship p!ss all over the LOI in all facets imaginable. Even in terms of something as simple as consistency of squads (think Bohs last season v Bohs this season) makes general comparisons next to impossible.

The questions that it is fair for LOI folk to ask is whether a particular Irish team could succeed in a particular foreign league. I believe that this years Sligo would be somewhere near the end of the Championship, which if you look at the profile of that league, would be an immense accomplishment. I think the same could be said for the various champions and runners-up over the last 10 years. I think the remainder of the positions and into the FD would be variously dotted through Divs One and Two and quite a few into the Non-leagues. If you start factoring in things like fanbase or catchment area etc then teams like UCD would likely be non-league whereas somewhere like Limerick would likely be higher than some current PD teams.

With regards to the MLS, I'll do a lazy analysis and say it is a wee bit poorer than the Championship therefore the majority of the above would likely apply IF the MLS was set up more traditionally. That comparison is even more difficult to do.

The easy comparison is with the Scottish leagues. I think a side by side of most Irish teams against the Scottish counterparts would show them to be as good as or better than a lot of Scottish teams. I think you could easily transplant 5 or 6 Irish PD teams into the Scottish PL and not notice much discernible difference in quality and perhaps even a big improvement.

[AlaskaFox]

Would the LOI champions beat the worst team in the MLS?

It'd be good to see the LOI's finest come up against Darren O'Dea.