Classic
Who has more upside, Connor Dimaio or Jack Byrne?
Byrne made the bench today and he's been training for the better part of a month by all accounts.
I don't have an agenda about Kelly. I posted a tweet from a journalist who posited that he was called up to fasten his integration into the set up.
Classic
If it's Liam Kelly, I would say well done and good move on FAI's part. Kelly is a fine, fine player from what I've seen of him.
Byrne is also a fine player and theoretically could be the future of our midfield. I find it appalling that he has gone from being one of the top young prospects in Dutch football (and a possible recruit for Ajax at one point) to a rank also ran at Wigan.
It's as much a statement about the waywardness of English football as it is the player's misguided vision.
I know you posted it. Why are you leaving out the fact that you posted it and basically inferred he had taken the words from your mouth?
I've seen more of Byrne than Dimaio and Byrne is a better player, from my perspective. Who is to say that he'll have the better career though? You reckon not picking Byrne is going to dent his confidence. This is the same Byrne that MON stated "certainly doesn't lack confidence."
Byrne has a serious amount of work to do to get his career back on track. He is yet to feature for Wigan and joined them 2 months ago. A token pick for an Ireland under 21 squad ahead of other "eligible" players won't help him much.
Off the bench late on for his Wigan debut today
They hit an injury time winner after he joined, keeps them seven rather than nine from safety, only scraped it vs Rotherham though who have no business in that division.
Yeah a massive win for Bristol City after their horror show at Preston. Unfortunately O'Dowda only featured as a late sub also.
Byrne's career path appears to be back on track after his Blackburn wobble as he came on early in the second half and helped Wigan win 3-2 against Barnsley. So who do we want to see stay up? Byrne, O'Dowda or the Blackburn trio (Hoban/Williams/Lenihan)
They were 0-2 down when he was thrown on, another sub got an eleven minute hat trick and the headlines but still good for Byrne to have been part of that.
I am still hoping all three can do it with Forest and Burton being reeled in but I think we might only keep O'Dowda at the level.
Hoban's on loan at Blackburn - he'll be back at Watford next season.
Stokes is still there, and scored for the reserves this week. According to the Herald, he'll be in the squad for their game against forest today
Byrne is still a very young chap, three years younger than Chris Forrester for example. A year of regular football in L1 wouldn't be a disaster for him.
O'Dowda, likewise, is very young, and he has never really nailed down a starting place for Bristol City; sometimes he hasn't made the squad.
In Lenihan and Williams you have two players who are quite close to Intl recognition. And Stokes might yet get his house in order and start anew with a full pre-season behind him.
So it would have to be Blackburn IMO.
Would be very disappointed to see Byrne drop down to L1. It would be something of a disaster for him, I believe. He has gone from the hottest young prospect in Dutch football to someone who could go down the wrong road and fast.
He is headed in the same direction as Conor Clifford. He needs to arrest the decline in his career now in the next couple of weeks. I know he is under contract to Wigan for a couple of years, but there are plenty of players these days ending their contracts by mutual consent. He needs to start again. Option A - any mid to lower level Erdivisie team Option B - a Championship promotion contender for next season Option C - work under Patrick Vieira in New York
Going to America would be a bigger disaster for him than dropping to League One.
Kyle Callan-McFadden moved from Orlando City to Sligo Rovers because he said it would give him a better chance of furthering his career.
It's not about playing standard either, it's about media profile and how little the likes of O'Neill or Keane would get a chance to watch him in action.
America is a backward move for anyone wanting to step up in their careers. It's a retirement ground for ageing footballers looking for a last decent payday.
League One would do Byrne no harm at all for a season. He's not exactly set the Championship alight and needs to find his feet in English football.
He's lauded as being the next big thing all because of a short stint at a club that got relegated from the Eredivsie.
He has a long way to go and a promotion push from League One and a bit of stability at one club would be of more benefit than another club hopping move in an attempt to prove he's better than his current career trends suggest.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
i guess the best thing he can do short term is give everything he can to try to help wigan pull off a great escape. they probably need 7 points from their last 3 games and they are not easy ones. next up is a winnable home match v cardiff but then a tricky trip to reading follows, with a home match v leeds who will probably need the points to get into the playoffs to finish up.
Tbf that mcfadden chap was only on the Orlando B side Sligo is definitely a step up from that. You'd imagine if Byrne got the chance/decided to go to NYC he'd be in or around starting 11 for the first team.
Last edited by Jd2793; 19/04/2017 at 10:54 AM.
Why would you imagine that?
What exactly separates McFadden from Byrne though? McFadden had a few first team games at Norwich and was very highly thought of there.
Byrne doesn't seem to be setting the English leagues alight at all. Outside his spell in Holland, he's got almost the same amount of appearances as McFadden had.
There's only a year of difference between them in age too.
McFadden was first choice centre-half at Orlando B, and was training with the first team there. Rubbing shoulders with Kaka, Nocerino, Spector and other established international players hardly would have done him any harm?
Despite this, he wasn't getting a look in at Ireland under-21 level. He wasn't getting watched. There was nobody to watch him. League of Ireland players and reserve players in England were getting looked at first.
There's no guarantee Byrne would go into the first team at NYC. He could end up in a dead end like McFadden and have to look to League of Ireland to resurrect his career.
At least in League One, he's in the public eye. He's covered on Sky Sports. He's covered on the football league show on Channel 5. He's easily watched by scouts and by O'Neill or Keane. And he'd probably get just as big a wage as he'd get anywhere else.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Stephen Elliott blogs 'Time for Jack Byrne to shine': https://www.sportdec.com/app/article...i1ozbgi8shsu9h
Originally Posted by Stephen Elliott
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