Youth Development/ Coaching etc etc..

[Stuttgart88]

How pathetic. As I've been reminded here in the past, any player donning the green shirt deserves our full backing, nothing less. I'm surprised you condone such childish behaviour.

PP

Hear Hear. I suppose the Cork City lads all sat motionless, going "mercenary cnut (quote)" when Ray Houghton scored against England and Italy.

Of course we should use the rules to full effect. As written above, many other countries do it and in many cases simply by using naturalisation laws. Deco is another example of this.

Just look at the team now anyway: it's probably more "Irish" than at any time in my lifetime with many of the players having come through the underage set-up. I'm actually really proud of this.

[tetsujin1979]

I'm pretty sure the Croatia team had at least 2 Germans, and 2 Brazilians in the friendly game, did this stop the fans cheering them on?? did it FCUK!
It doesn't matter to me where someone is from, if they give it their all in the green then that's all I need.
Agree with Stuttgart as well that this is about as Irish as the team has been in my lifetime and I am really proud of this, it does go to show the FAI (or at least some part of it) are doing something right.

[lopez]

I think thats a bit harsh, you can hardly expect a kid to play for a country
other than the one in which he lives, it's just not practical, but it is
important to get experience at international level.

I presume you mean schoolboys, although there are arguments that this should be extended to U17/U18 level as well. UEFA/FIFA regard schoolboy representation as different from youth, U21 or full internationals (see Ryan Giggs) exactly because of your point. Qualification is by residence and school not by citizenship. Any Irish international that played for England Schools is IMO not making a definite statement of his nationality but merely playing in a side representing schools in the region.

I'm pretty sure the Croatia team had at least 2 Germans, and 2 Brazilians in the friendly game, did this stop the fans cheering them on?? did it FCUK!

It's a bit rich to count the 'Germans' as foreigners. They had Croatian parents and would have been denied German citizenship normally because of this. The Brazilians though were in Croatia solely to play football, had no connection with the place whatsoever, and became naturalised purely because of it. Croatia BTW has been accused of discrimination against minorities (Serbs), which may even extend to the aquisition of citizenship.

[livehead1]

English football has raped the Irish game for young talent, mistreated them when they got them and this has caused many players who could have made it to not get there due to homesickness and what have you. Look at Andy Reid, who so very very nearly went the way of Keith Foy as a result of this. We need to stop relying on English teams to pick and choose players from here and develop our own proper academys and keep the kids here until they're at least in their late teens.

sorry fella i live in nottingham and keith foy and andy reid were both a disgrace to the title of 'professional footballer'. it is in my mind like yesterday remembering their local, Callaghans, the pair of them shhhteaming out of their faces singing on the karaoke. this was a regular occurance, i talked to them regular, foy was on last warning after last warning and ****ed up and thats the way it happens, was his own fault, he was warned bout the drink and the weight but thought it was all a bit of craic

[eirebhoy]

Morrison won the penalty which Savage took to make it 1-0 and he scored the second. Its 3-0 at half time.

[thejollyrodger]

3 goals in 4 games. Great run of form !!

[1MickCollins]

Yeah quite a large group of Cork City fans refused to cheer for Morrisson's goal that day and rightly so too. I'm a huge Ireland fan and always celebrate when we win etc but it pains me to see mercenary cnuts like Morrisson et al playing for us.
We won't even mention the fact that Morrisson is a waste of space and doesn't deserve to be called a footballer!! Surely Crowe, Doyle or O'Flynn would be better than Morrisson or Macken and they are actually Irish too.

Have you made your feelings known to the FAI and Brian Kerr? If Clinton is a mercenary then so is Brian Kerr. Morrison didn't put a gun anyone's head, he was invited to play for Ireland.

At any rate I do agree that only those players, whatever their colour or creed, who identify 'culturally' first and foremost with Ireland should be given the opportunity of playing for Ireland.

Perhaps for those born outside of Ireland we need a test of loyalty? What should that test be?

[livehead1]

gun running from the GPO....lol

[Cowboy]

Perhaps for those born outside of Ireland we need a test of loyalty? What should that test be?

They need to ba able to sing "Sean south" and forget the words half way through like everyone else anyone who sings it and knows what its about is disqualified

[Pablo]

sorry fella i live in nottingham and keith foy and andy reid were both a disgrace to the title of 'professional footballer'. it is in my mind like yesterday remembering their local, Callaghans, the pair of them shhhteaming out of their faces singing on the karaoke. this was a regular occurance, i talked to them regular, foy was on last warning after last warning and ****ed up and thats the way it happens, was his own fault, he was warned bout the drink and the weight but thought it was all a bit of craic

you talk some rubbish. people have their opinions and are trying to back them up. correct or incorrect they are OPINIONS

[lopez]

They need to ba able to sing "Sean south" and forgot the words half way through like everyone else anyone who sings it and knows what its about is disqualified

Yahooooo!! I'm Irish!

[Bondvillain]

They need to ba able to sing "Sean south" and forgot the words half way through like everyone else.anyone who sings it and knows what its about is disqualified

Yahooooo!! I'm Irish!

Im F*ked after the first line, so I assume this makes me Taoiseach.

[Cowboy]

Im F*ked after the first line, so I assume this makes me Taoiseach.

No that makes you minister for transport as hes f***** too

[livehead1]

you talk some rubbish. people have their opinions and are trying to back them up. correct or incorrect they are OPINIONS

o well, its better that people know the truth and on that matter or andy reid and keith foy i would know more about it than you....having played in england and now living in nottingham!!!

[Adrianovic]

English football has raped the Irish game for young talent, mistreated them when they got them and this has caused many players who could have made it to not get there due to homesickness and what have you. Look at Andy Reid, who so very very nearly went the way of Keith Foy as a result of this.

You have completely neglected to mention the fact that if it wasn't for the firm hand of Nottingham Forest and Paul Hart in particular, Andy Reid would be playing at nowhere near the level today and being part of Ireland's plans would be nothing but an unrealistic dream.

When Keith Foy and Andy Reid acted irresponsibley and did what they did to their careers, they had nobody else to blame. Nottingham Forest didn't push them into the drinking culture and being lazy, Foy and Reid did. Its worth remembering that it is in the club's best interests for the players to succeed. When Irish players join Forest at a young age, they aren't there to make up the numbers, Forest want them to succeed and be the best player they can.

In fact, Nottingham Forest have one of the best youth academy's in the country, and each player is well looked after - as they would vouch for.

This demonising of football clubs in England is irrational in my opinion. If all Irish youngsters were left to develop in Ireland, then they would be unable to progress to international level as the quality of football in Ireland is relatively poor. I'm all for developing the clubs in Ireland and I understand that it will be hard to improve without the best players playing there, but I refuse to sacrifice the interests of the players themselves and the Irish national team, for the sake of the Eircom League. There must be better ways.

Ade

[thejollyrodger]

Morrision scored again today !! Excellent !!

It's the best form he has been on in years

[Slash/ED]

You have completely neglected to mention the fact that if it wasn't for the firm hand of Nottingham Forest and Paul Hart in particular, Andy Reid would be playing at nowhere near the level today and being part of Ireland's plans would be nothing but an unrealistic dream.

When Keith Foy and Andy Reid acted irresponsibley and did what they did to their careers, they had nobody else to blame. Nottingham Forest didn't push them into the drinking culture and being lazy, Foy and Reid did. Its worth remembering that it is in the club's best interests for the players to succeed. When Irish players join Forest at a young age, they aren't there to make up the numbers, Forest want them to succeed and be the best player they can.

In fact, Nottingham Forest have one of the best youth academy's in the country, and each player is well looked after - as they would vouch for.

This demonising of football clubs in England is irrational in my opinion. If all Irish youngsters were left to develop in Ireland, then they would be unable to progress to international level as the quality of football in Ireland is relatively poor. I'm all for developing the clubs in Ireland and I understand that it will be hard to improve without the best players playing there, but I refuse to sacrifice the interests of the players themselves and the Irish national team, for the sake of the Eircom League. There must be better ways.

Ade

Andy reid and Keith Foy was just one of many examples. There's far too many players who goto England with all the potential in the world and fail because of homesickness of being mistreated or for whatever reason, it happens time and time again. We can't keep relying on the English clubs to take every talent here and to hope a small number of them makes the break through, we need to do what other countries do. Look at france, their elague, while impressive, is weaker than the big leagues in Europe yet they still set up academys of their own and develop their own players until they're in their late teens and look at the results. The scandanavian countries do the same, it's nothing to do with being for the sake of the eircom league it's to do with the international team. If we had the sense to actually bother setting up proper academys here to keep players here until they're in their late teens we will produce far more players. If they're top quality they will inevitabley move on to the top teams, if they're not good enough for the big teams they still have a better chance of making it. Look at how many players get released from these big clubs, and many of them are good players, lots of these players never recover from this and never get close to their potential. We need to protect these players and keep them here as long as we can, we would produce far more players if we did. And yes, as a knock on effect, the standard of the league here would also improve and we would actually get the money we deserve for consistently producing good players in this country.

[Fergie's Son]

Morrisson is scoring at will now which is a good thing.

Excellent post Adrianovic. Let's be perfectly honest here. We do not have the resources to develop talent to international level. The EL is nothing like the French league and has nothing near its resources. Perhaps we could do a better job of preparing Irish youngsters who go abroad but that is about it. Anything else is utter nonsense. We are simply too small and do not have the resources to develop talent to the fullness of their potential. That's a pipe dream that should be stopped now.

[Cowboy]

We are simply too small and do not have the resources to develop talent to the fullness of their potential. That's a pipe dream that should be stopped now.

If we followed your logic nobody in football in Ireland would ever strive to make things better . France was not always the great football nursery it is now, it took time comitment, imagination and vision.

If you think size is an issue then perhaps you can explain how Denmark managed to win a european championship.

If Brian Kerr, packie Bonner and Co. thought they way you do they would never have bothered spending a great deal of thought and energy on the technical plan they have created.

[Fergie's Son]

If we followed your logic nobody in football in Ireland would ever strive to make things better . France was not always the great football nursery it is now, it took time comitment, imagination and vision.

If you think size is an issue then perhaps you can explain how Denmark managed to win a european championship.

If Brian Kerr, packie Bonner and Co. thought they way you do they would never have bothered spending a great deal of thought and energy on the technical plan they have created.

Don't be obtuse. I am not suggesting that we stop nurturing talent but that we accept that we will always be a feeder country to England and mainland Europe. We could do a better job with youngsters, preparing them for life abroad but that does not mean we could do the job ourselves in Ireland. Put another way, we have neither the size or the resources of a France so we have to be realistic.

As for that Danish team, well ask yourself this: How many of those players played for a domestic Danish team....