I suppose when you have tripe like this coming from David Gold today then you can see what sort of pressure Rice is under inside the club :
''My hope all a long has been that Declan first becomes an England player and then follows in the footsteps of the great Bobby Moore by becoming the captain of England. Born in England made in West Ham United. dg''
https://twitter.com/davidgold
"We lost because we didn't win"- Ronaldo
Declan has clearly shown that he wants to represent Ireland so why doesn’t David Gold just man up and respect his decision.
That's a brilliant idea, EG, and will probably be the best, the most practical response to this issue. I guess we should allow Rice some time to make a final decision and perhaps it will end up more like the Scott Hogan situation than the Jack Grealish. But if he does switch at this point, it would actually be a particularly disrespectful thing to do, firstly because he knows how difficult the Jack Grealish situation was for Irish football and, secondly, because he was given 3 caps as MON tried to take advantage of a Finals-less summer to broaden options in advance of the Nations League, three caps which could have been used to give Kevin Long or John Egan more game time (or even give a run-out to Conor Masterson) and prepare them for the upcoming games.
Here’s a link to the article, behind a paywall:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/s...land-hz0d8pj9f
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/s...land-hz0d8pj9f
Who has the vivid imagination now?
Well said > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm6a0XGq7fg
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist thinks it will change; the realist adjusts the sails.
I called it like I called Jack grealish at the time, in this case knowing if England had a decent world cup and Southgate spoke to him in August he'd have his head turned. While the likes of geysir and Charlie Darwin were coming out with the 'hes ours to lose' burying their heads in the sand.
And anyone complaining about what he has said etc hasn't a clue understanding the English language he's articulated himself very well use precise language at all times. Never commiting to us.
and what about the three times he was capped by us.......... do actions not speak louder than words??
irish fans were fully entitled to believe that was "commitment". not sure you can get a better commitment to playing for a country than actually playing for it..... not once..... but three times!
Welcome to the modern world. A young 19 year old who might be emotionally loyal to Ireland pressured by his agent, club owner and English manager. A young man facing a difficult decision.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist thinks it will change; the realist adjusts the sails.
I have been back over every page of this thread and Geysir hasn’t said anything and Charlie D said very little. I think you’re guessing their previous thoughts on this issue. They most certainly did not say “ours to lose”. Wrong player. 2 or 3 here were very positive on Rice’s status with us, a few relatively positive and lots haven’t said anything. So I don’t really see this as a Paul 1 – Foot.ie 0 situation at all.
For full transparency, I’ve personally always been concerned that this would happen. Despite some firm quotes from the lad, I also think he was on the record several other times and I was never fully satisfied with what he said. Stuff like “I’m just happy to be here this week” and even “looking forward to September’s games” could have meant the U21s (which he is also not available for now). There was a lot of scope for a U-turn.
In a private conversation with Paul earlier in the summer we both agreed that it was almost certain the FA will be getting on his case if they hadn’t already.
I said at that time that I was relaxed about Rice’s situation. I felt that “if pushed” I’d bet he’d stay with us but this was very low conviction. I was also relaxed in the sense that it didn’t warrant fretting about – whatever pans out, pans out. It’s not outrageous if he defects – he has been raised in England.
I think a few posters here were a bit too relaxed though, and dare I say it, naive – certainly with hindsight. Like Grealish and James McCarthy before him, Rice’s name barely ever appeared in the papers without the suffix “who can still declare for England”. I didn’t think David Gold’s comments in the summer were as ignorant as some thought. The current FA with its attention to detail in all matters relating to performance and recruitment and St. George’s Park etc is a totally different beast to the one we faced in the previous few decades. They still have plenty of dumbass blazers but on the technical/organisational side they are right on top of their game and it’d be daft to think they’d let Rice slip without a fight if, as assumed, they rate him.
However, where I think Rice is different to Grealish is that he played senior 3 times (and had never tweeted about supporting England at the Euros!). If O’Neill is to be trusted his father is a very decent sort and the family still wants him to play for Ireland. I think Grealish’s dad had his eyes on the money first and foremost.
What has changed since May is that he now has a new firm of agents working for him and they and the club are now putting big pressure on. England’s stock has risen since the WC, as has Southgate’s. That has to be a factor too, though how big is anyone’s guess.
I think Grealish was flipped quite easily. I’d guess that Rice isn’t finding this as easy.
I see where Kilbane & Breen are coming from but as each generation passes the bond to the aul’ sod dilutes. Even though Rice’s dad is Irish (as is Harry Kane’s) the days of the Irish coming over doing manual labour, hanging around in the Irish music halls, inter-marrying, going to Sunday Mass and then going to the pub in their suits for lunch and an afternoon on the sauce are long gone. Irish pubs everywhere in London are closing down. The Catholic churches near me in Kilburn and Kensal Rise are now predominantly attended by west Africans. 2018 is very different to 1978 and 1988 and the pull of Ireland isn’t as big as it was, and the feeling that you're a member of an Irish community abroad just isn't that big now either. Back when Kilbane and Breen were growing up I think the Irish in the UK had a stronger sense of collective identity.
That said, my own son knows he'd be walking with a pronounced limp for the rest of his life if he ever chose England
Anti britishness is directly proportional to English born Irish lads playing for Ireland
I think though the siege mentality and us against them and general anti britishness played a big part in driving the loyalties of irish offspring in London , manchester and birmingham, and then perpetual sense of injustice, especially with the bombing campaigns and the wrongful convictions. That feeling or sentiment has now gone and Irishness is less prevalent. Also the Irish coming over are moving to the fancy areas and mixing with all sorts and generally more into GAA and Rugby so the Irishness is lost on their children.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Many are even voting Conservative
Like that t-shirt with the 5 evolutionary stages of man (ape through to fully developed and upright human) I think in our case it's
Irish emigrant building worker
Irish plant hire company owner and local businessman
Better educated white collar worker with Irish parents/grandparents
English (American) with a quaint fondness of Ireland who now votes Tory/ Republican;
and then finally outright neo-conservative racist nutjob with a regular spot on Fox news
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