Connor Ronan M Colorado Rapids b.1998

**Eirambler** · 18/01/2023, 9:01 PM

That was poor from Kenny alright. But his inability to deal with fairly basic questions at press conferences has been a recurring theme of his time in charge. He has been as poor off the field as his teams have been on it.

**BOOMSHAKALAKA** · 18/01/2023, 9:08 PM

Originally Posted by SkStu

I know and I have done so. Plenty of times. As I said, i just happen to think this one was borderline. Neither player, at the time, could have been said to be so far ahead of the other that Kenny made the wrong *choice* between the two players (even though it wasn't actually an "either Hodge or Ronan" decision). At the time, if i recall correctly, i called out the fact that Hodge was in competition with one set of players; Ronan in competition with a different set of players. Its just not a great example of Kenny making a mistake. There's plenty of other examples out there though.

Kenny was the one who compared the two. Hodge should have been called up. And Kenny's comments were extremely poor. That's 3 mistakes in one swoop by Kenny.

It's not just me pointing this out to you.

**mark12345** · 18/01/2023, 9:51 PM

Originally Posted by elatedscum

Always think US moves are a bit ****. It’s out of sight, out of mind. I feel it’s far easier to transition from the championship or from a decent European league to a higher level than it is from the US.

Like for example, if Cullen had signed for Atlanta instead of Anderlecht - he’d probably still be there now.

We never seem to call up players playing stateside - Derrick Williams was in and out of the squad when Kenny arrived and then he went to LA and was done.

US clubs are often pretty adversarial when it comes to international duty - which doesn’t help

Can't argue with any of that but the pitiful thing is that the US standard is very good.
It is not the Premier League which I think spoils Irish fans because of the familiarity. But still, MLS has a plethora of South and Central American talent.
You are correct that it is out of sight/mind but there would be several MLS players I would put in the Irish midfield instead of our current crew.

**Exgrad** · 19/01/2023, 9:59 AM

I hadn't heard the Kenny comments back in October so looked them up:

https://punditarena.com/football/rud...-connor-ronan/

He said that he would have preferred if it was his Wolves teammate Connor Ronan who made his debut instead, as he is further along in his progression.
“Personally, in relation to our squad, I would have preferred if it was Connor Ronan who came off the bench”, said Kenny.
“I spoke to him last week and I was hoping that he might be the one to come on because he can add to us. Joe is obviously very young and will be a significant player for the U21s in the next campaign.
“As a first team player and a senior international, it’s a big jump at the moment but it’s a great achievement to play for Wolves. They have a couple of injuries in that position but it’s a great achievement to go and get into their first team so quickly, a great achievement for him.”

Not great to be honest, no benefit to anyone putting that out there. And while Hodge and Ronan play different positions his comments did effectively put them in competition.

Re Ronan in MLS, most of the players who European teams pick have allready established themselves as internationals. Ronan hasn't and it will be far more difficult for him to do so out of the MLS.

**tetsujin1979** · 19/01/2023, 11:18 AM

sort of interesting that Jack McGlynn is touted as a potential future international, and has only played in MLS, and playing there is seen as a detriment to any future chances that Connor Ronan has of playing for the national side

**Eirambler** · 19/01/2023, 11:28 AM

I doubt McGlynn will ever play for Ireland anyway, but he is five years younger than Ronan. If he's still in the MLS when he's Ronan's age (and unless he's maybe there as a designated player outside the salary cap) I would take that to mean that he's probably not at the required standard.

**tetsujin1979** · 19/01/2023, 12:15 PM

FWIW McGlynn was not included in the training camp squad for the US national side announced earlier this week

**paul_oshea** · 19/01/2023, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by SkStu

I know and I have done so. Plenty of times. As I said, i just happen to think this one was borderline. Neither player, at the time, could have been said to be so far ahead of the other that Kenny made the wrong *choice* between the two players (even though it wasn't actually an "either Hodge or Ronan" decision). At the time, if i recall correctly, i called out the fact that Hodge was in competition with one set of players; Ronan in competition with a different set of players. Its just not a great example of Kenny making a mistake. There's plenty of other examples out there though.

But one had just made his debut or played for Wolves in the PL the other hadn't, and yet he singled out the other as the one he preferred. Its poor(man) management at best, destructive at worst. What does Hodge read into that?

**JR89** · 19/01/2023, 1:17 PM

Originally Posted by Eirambler

I doubt McGlynn will ever play for Ireland anyway, but he is five years younger than Ronan. If he's still in the MLS when he's Ronan's age (and unless he's maybe there as a designated player outside the salary cap) I would take that to mean that he's probably not at the required standard.

That he mightn't be good enough for Ireland or that he wouldn't choose Ireland over the US. On the second point I'd say it will be down to if he wants to play international football his best bet would be with Ireland. US have some talented young midfielders who are gonna be around for years to come.

Gonna be some strong 2+2=5 from the likes of Kenny's Kids with McGylnn not being called up to the US training camp with both Kenny and Crawford being in Philadelphia recently for a conference. Keith Andrews was over to watch him play in the MLS last season too.

**Eirambler** · 19/01/2023, 1:27 PM

I mean, if he genuinely feels Irish and wants to play for us, then great, bring him in. He'd get straight into our Under 21 starting 11 I'd say. My concern though is that, if he feels American first and Irish second, he wouldn't come to us until it became clear that it wasn't going to work out with the US.

The North American teams seem to play a lot more international games than European teams do so, while they probably have more depth than us, it's maybe also easier to win a small number of caps for them. One example that comes to mind is Chris Mueller who came to Hibs on big money as a US senior international with a couple of caps, and he was absolutely stone useless. On that basis, if it got to the point where McGlynn couldn't even win a cap or two for the US, it's maybe unlikely he'd be good enough for us either.

**SkStu** · 19/01/2023, 1:30 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

But one had just made his debut or played for Wolves in the PL the other hadn't, and yet he singled out the other as the one he preferred. Its poor(man) management at best, destructive at worst. What does Hodge read into that?

Reading it again in full, the comment was weird and ill-placed, I am definitely not going to debate that. I think Eirambler hits the main point in an earlier post - he goes to jelly when he's in front of a camera or microphone (always has tbh). But my original post wasn't actually addressing Kenny's comments at all, it just pointed out the fact that they are not in competition for the same spot in response to Boom after he had made the point that the selection of Ronan over Hodge was ridiculous when, practically speaking, it was not one over the other. In my response, Kenny's comments weren't relevant to the football/selection point I was trying to make i.e. that it wasn't a football/selection mistake.

The quote provided by Exgrad - I think I can see what Kenny is trying to say but holy f*ck does he ever mess it up... what he is trying to say, i believe, is that Ronan plays in a position where we were light and to see him make a breakthrough would have been great while he feels we are covered well in the Hodge roll... but saying "add to us" means he lands an elbow on Hodge implying that Hodge wont add to us (probably unintentionally but there you have it)...

**SkStu** · 19/01/2023, 1:35 PM

Originally Posted by Eirambler

I mean, if he genuinely feels Irish and wants to play for us, then great, bring him in. He'd get straight into our Under 21 starting 11 I'd say. My concern though is that, if he feels American first and Irish second, he wouldn't come to us until it became clear that it wasn't going to work out with the US.

The North American teams seem to play a lot more international games than European teams do so, while they probably have more depth than us, it's maybe also easier to win a small number of caps for them. One example that comes to mind is Chris Mueller who came to Hibs on big money as a US senior international with a couple of caps, and he was absolutely stone useless. On that basis, if it got to the point where McGlynn couldn't even win a cap or two for the US, it's maybe unlikely he'd be good enough for us either.

According to KK on twitter, Kenny and others (maybe Crawford) spent last week in Philadelphia courting McGlynn. His omission from the USMNT squad may indicate that a decision has been finalized?

**pineapple stu** · 23/01/2023, 5:44 PM

Move to Colorado Rapids confirmed - https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2023...lorado-rapids/

Let's see how it works out I guess. But I don't think he's any nearer the senior setup tbh