Connor Ronan M Colorado Rapids b.1998

[Eirambler]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[paul_oshea]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[tetsujin1979]

short interview with Ronan after arriving in Colorado
https://www.coloradorapids.com/video...ith-the-rapids

[CraftyToePoke]

Any MLS watchers here ?
Where are Colorado Rapids in the scheme of things in that league and what would be expected of them this season ?

[mark12345]

Any MLS watchers here ?
Where are Colorado Rapids in the scheme of things in that league and what would be expected of them this season ?

Colorado are a decent mid table team in MLS. Not close to winning it any time soon but good enough to trouble the big boys on their day

[tetsujin1979]

Ronan starts for Colorado in their first game of the 2023 MLS season

[Razors left peg]

Ronan starts for Colorado in their first game of the 2023 MLS season

I just watched 80 mins of it, felt like penance. Astroturf pitch in pretty windy conditions.

Colorado were awful, but Ronan was by far and away their best player. He was in almost a free role across the pitch, but playing too deep. He created one great chance with a through ball that the striker should have scored from. He didn't seem to have anything around him in midfield and their were acres of space for Seattle.

Hes a nice footballer, and a type of player we are lacking so I can see a role for him in Ireland squad if he plays well every week. Argentina had a player in their WC squad from the MLS so we certainly can't look down our nose at it... I just hope Colorado aren't this bad all season

[Eirambler]

Had a look through the Colorado Rapids squad there, trying to get a feel for where they would sit in terms of European football - the squad is absolutely terrible to be honest. Looking at the careers of the players that have played in the UK - it's bottom half League 1/bottom half SPL standard. Even their designated players don't look up to much. I'd say they'll have a tough season ahead if there's any little bit of quality in the MLS at all.

I don't really see how Ronan can do much to advance his international case playing in that standard of team. Unless he is an absolute standout and can get a move to a better team over there, or preferably in Europe, I think we should forget about him for the foreseeable.

Incidentally, Ronan was the oldest of that original Stephen Kenny under 21 squad from a few years back, he turns 25 next week. Time is moving on already for that first group, born in 1998 - Ronan, Masterson, Scales, Taylor, Kelleher and Elbouzedi. They haven't achieved much between them to date, Kelleher's small handful of appearances for Liverpool about the highlight and he's the only one from that year to be capped at senior level.

[tetsujin1979]

Assist for Ronan against Dallas on Sunday morning, at 2:00 below
According to the stats on mls.com, that's his seventh of the season, in 22 games. No other player at Colorado has more than three in the league this season, and every other player in the club combined only has ten