I'd much rather give Shodipo a go as an option off the bench than ever see Daryl Horgan another look in at this point. Good to see a player in a bit of form at any level.
Still young enough to develop too, especially since this is his first consistent run of games he's gotten in his career.
Don't understand the hatred for Horgan either. He's been one of the bright spots of an otherwise poor run of games in 2020.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
I don't think Horgan has done anything wrong as such, but he has a level that he won't ever go past and if he's getting picked for Ireland it's a sign that were regressing rather than a sign that Horgan has suddenly improved to senior international standard.
My own view would be that if we find ourselves again in a position where Horgan is in contention for caps due to injuries or Covid or whatever I would rather see a younger player like Shodipo (or Ogbene, Scully or Harness) get the run out to see what they've got rather than cap Horgan again.
Every time Horgan is selected I groan, and almost every single time he exceeds my expectations.
We have problems but he doesn’t strike me as one of them. His role out wide is to create chances and he’s one of the few we have who has actually been doing that lately.
But if he's playing better than those guys then what is the point? The international team is not a development side for guys in their mid-20s like Shodipo and Harness who don't play at the level Horgan is.
In general, I don't see why people don't like Horgan. He has attributes that no Irish player other than McGeady has had in 20 years. He can take a man on in close quarters and dig out crosses at angles our other players aren't capable of.
What has he created? I don't remember him crafting a single chance in the recent games he's played. I don't think he offers anything and isn't at the level of international football.
Not saying we act as a development for players like Shodipo but if he's performing then I personally would like to see him involved and given a chance rather than Horgan, who I don't rate.
Kenny has shown he's happy to go with complete inexperience by starting Adam Idah in competitive games, who now has more senior international starts than club starts. I don't see the problem in giving players like Shodipo a run.
Is Horgan playing at that high a level though? He doesn't seem to stand out in the worst team in the Championship, before that he was in and out of the Hibs team, who would be a league 1 standard side, who were happy enough to get him off the wage bill, and I don't know that he's been anything other than decent and no more when he has played for Ireland.
I would say, based on club form in the last two or three years, Harness has done a lot more to deserve a run than Horgan has.
That's your opinion and you didn't answer my question. You can arrogantly write off any argument with "watch the games again"
What chance did Horgan create? He ran about a lot but was being careless in possession is my lasting impression of him. The lad loves a blind little flick that consistently gives the ball away.
Shodipo has just scored a cracker past Kieran o'hara for Oxford today. O'Hara really poor for the first Oxford goal but nobody would save that one from Shodipo.
Adds a second now as well. Poor enough standard of opposition but he's doing well.
Last edited by Eirambler; 02/01/2021 at 2:33 PM.
Yeah, the header. For a striker, it wasn't a difficult chance.
I hate this "what level is he playing at?' question. Horgan has done better than others so far under Kenny. He can create space for a cross from nothing, can beat a man, can carry the ball, can go inside and out and just generally offers an option. I prefer to judge players on what I see and I think he's been more than decent when few others have been. He has tended to start games well and then fade though. For me he's a good bench option for when we need creativity.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 04/01/2021 at 3:19 PM.
That's fair enough, but then how do you compare him to someone who hasn't played for us like Harness or Shodipo? We don't know until we give them a try. Horgan has been fine but hasn't particularly improved us I think. And we really need to improve from what we have produced in the last 3 years.
I’m going to throw out something radical — what if we can suggest Horgan has actually been a pleasant surprise AND we need to look at some of these young players? In the absence of proper friendlies the Qatar games are the appropriate place to have a look at these guys (assuming they don’t force Kenny’s hand with incredible club form).
Injury-time winner for Shodipo tonight, unfortunately at the expense of Gavin Bazunu, whose error led to it. That's eight goals in twenty appearances, eight of which were off the bench. Seven league goals means he's joint 13th scorer in League One this season - I guess Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink was right about him: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55713919
Another goal today.
Double figures for the season now.
Arguably having a better season than Horgan.
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