QuoteHondermarsh athleticism might complement him nicely in a midfield 3. Intersecting that he mentions following in hourihane s footsteps . If he can bring them the number of goals hourihane seemed to get when there I'd say they will be well happy
This is a much better move than I expected for him. Im delighted. Its up to him now to show if hes good enough
Hondermarsh athleticism might complement him nicely in a midfield 3. Intersecting that he mentions following in hourihane s footsteps . If he can bring them the number of goals hourihane seemed to get when there I'd say they will be well happy
I still hold out hope this guy will come good. I just don't see how you go from what he was doing in his teens at Bolton to his situation now. I maintain the view that Celtic mismanaged him.
I think Celtic was the wrong club. They’re a massive club with so many players, it’s easy to get swamped and left in limbo.
Maybe he chose with his heart rather than his head
If he comes good now, Celtic can claim that they were the making of him.
I bet he won't be in League One after this season.
In a good way or a bad way?
Originally Posted by Olé Olé
Well, Barnsley are joint-fourth favourites for promotion, so maybe that's what he means.
Oddly enough, Derby are third favourites, despite being in administration and only having five players on their books.
Anyway, it's a good move for the lad and it'll be interesting to see how he gets on next season. It's three years now since McCarthy (belying the stereotype) called 18-year-old Connell into the Ireland squad for the games against Denmark and Gibraltar after just 12 first-team appearances for Bolton.
Wasn't it the training camp he was named in rather than the squad for the games. Mick named a training squad for a camp in Portugal and then named his squad after that.
Didn't rule out Connell, or might have been Curtis Fleming that said if Connell impressed enough that Mick wouldn't think twice of keeping him around the squad. Dropped out mid camp with an injury in the end.
Seems he made the final squad:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48341989
In a good way. I think he goes up with or without Barnsley. I just get this feeling he goes well under Michael Duff and uses the experience from the last couple of years in the lower tiers in Scotland and pushes on. He is still so young.
I'm optimistic for him. Maybe too much so.
I'd still be concerned that his lack of pace will limit how far he will go in the game. He really is quite slow for a lad his age. He's a lovely passer of the ball, but without the engine to go with it I could see him maybe being good enough for League 1 or League 2 but then struggling with the step up to the Championship, which is a very physical league.
It's a shame because he seems a likeable lad and has a passing game that, as a standalone attribute, is top level. But I don't think he has enough all round to ever be a serious option for us at senior level. I hope I'm wrong but I suspect I'm not.
Didn't really hinder him when he first played with Bolton but after his move it seemed like he spent quite a bit of time in the gym and bulked up. Since then he hasn't been as agile as he was before his move.
Even in last summer's U21s games thought he looked a bit awkward at times on the pitch and even looked bottom heavy. Must have spent most of his time bulking up focusing on his lower body.
A clone of hourihane so
Bit unfair I'd say to describe him as a clone of Hourihane. When he got called up Curtis Fleming was talking with Kevin Kilbane because he would have watched him up close when Boro played Bolton and one thing he mentioned which marks him out as the opposite of Hourihane was his willingness to get on the ball.
CF: “And when the crowd turned a little bit at Bolton as they did, because there was so much going on off the pitch, he was the one player who kept going to get it, and get it, and I think that's the bravest part of football going and getting the ball when things are not going right.”
https://www.otbsports.com/soccer/can...connell-862507
If that was Hourihane probably be hiding behind a player marking himself out of the game.
In fairness if he has the career of hourihane he will have had a fine career.
To be fair Hourihane had a fairly indistinguished record at 21 as well and carved out a solid club career.
And really used his time at Barnsley to make the breakthrough to his big move
Oh if his career reaches the high that Hourihane's career did he'll be doing very well for himself.Two different types of players though as Hourihane played more as a ten for Barnsley and Connell more of a six.
From some of the glimpses he showed at Bolton thought he'd be someone that could have made it at PL level or at a yo-yo club. Hopefully for us Connell, Coventry, Kilkenny, and Smallbone can all get decent moves and playing time next season.
Before I start this rant, I'm not saying you subscribe to this view of Mick, trequartista. But that stereotype is utterly, utterly dumb and has no basis in reality at all when you look at how many youngsters Mick has given a shot to in his years as Irish manager. I've noted before that even in his truncated second tenure, he still gave debuts or first call-ups to about one-third of "Kenny's Kids". He also seriously considered Idah after his FA Cup Hat-trick, only for Farke to continue giving the lad garbage minutes (except for that 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford where the ball barely crossed the half-way line all game). And in his first tenure, his willingness to trust in talented youth was even more pronounced - look at the age he gave debuts to members of the 2002 squad:
Given-19; Harte-18; Duff-19; Robbie Keane-17; Kilbane-20; Connolly-18; Breen-22; Dunne-20; Morrison-22; Andy O'Brien 21/22; Steven Reid-20; Stephen Carr would have gone, but for injury - he was 22 when Mick gave him his debut) (yes, I know, he didn't bring 20-year-old Wes Hoolahan)
In the 1996 US Cup he gave caps to Keith O'Neill (age 20), Gareth Farrelly (20), Dave Savage (22) and Alan Moore (21)
In the 2000 edition, he played Barry Quinn (21), Gary Doherty (20), Stephen McPhail (20) and Alan Mahon (22)
It's ridiculous to imply that Mick didn't give young players a shot and it's what annoys people like me about some Kenny fan-boys. If Mick was still in charge, of course Kelleher, Travers or Bazunu would be in goal, of course Parrott, Obafemi, Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea, Idah, Knight, Omobamidele and Ogbene would be playing, of course Mick would have used the last Nations League to blood in a bunch of youngsters - he would have loved to have that sort of opportunity. The only question is whether he would have used their talents better in the last campaign - I personally still believe he probably would have.
Last edited by tetsujin1979; 19/06/2022 at 9:54 PM. Reason: corrected quote tag
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