Probably so - but they weren't being called up at that age either. (Morrison is an exception - he had 70 senior goals by age 23, mostly in the second tier, and made his international debut at 22)Originally Posted by Eirambler
Well I meant purely in terms of threat/goalscoring ability.
The infamous 45 goal international striker mentioned on here before. Ferguson could achieve that. I don't really care how he scores
Last edited by pineapple stu; 10/03/2024 at 7:45 PM.
Of the back-up players you listed:
David Kelly scored six goals in the English top flight; Tommy Coyne-0; Clinton Morrison-15; Daryl Murphy-4; Simon Cox-1. Michael Obafemi has four already. OK, it's not quite where we'd like it to be for him, Idah and Parrott but there is still time
That would be my infamous 45 goal striker. That was part of my belief that our up-and-coming strikers could be the best batch we'd ever had and that they could well combine to match the goal tally of our forwards during the Keane era, about 120. I still think that if we look at the talent aged between Nathan Fraser and Chiedozie Ogbene, by the time the last of them retires, they could have combined to score 120 goals for us - after all, they have eighteen already
That's a really irrelevant stat though. Obafemi hasn't scored a top flight goal in four years - it'd be like capping Andy Turner in the Euro 96 qualifiers.
With five subs from nine these days, it's far easier for top flight clubs to stockpile young players and give them a few games in the top flight to see if they're good enough - they may score a couple of goals, but that doesn't mean they're good enough. May just mean they want to pimp up their transfer value
By contrast, when they made their international debuts -
David Kelly had nearly 60 goals in the previous two Third Division seasons, which earned him a move to the top flight. A far more common route at the time - see Aldridge, Keegan, Rush, Cole, Cascarino and Toshack for example. Yep, he never quite made it in the top flight, but he was a consistent scorer in the second tier, which Idah, Parrott and Obafemi can't say.
Morrison as I've said had 60 goals in the second tier by 21, and would be a regular scorer there for another few years.
Tommy Coyne had twice been the SPL's top scorer, when it was much closer in strength to the English league. With Dundee he was the third top scorer in Europe (with 33) and earned a move to Celtic.
Most of Daryl Murphy's caps came during a spell of 60 goals in 4 Championship seasons. When he was fumbling about for form like Idah, Parrott and Obafemi, he didn't get a sniff.
Even Cox had scored nearly 50 goals in two third tier seasons and then helped WBA to promotion to the Premier League by the time he was capped.
All of those had markedly better scoring records when they were capped than Idah, Obafemi and Parrott do 3/4 years after they've been capped.
Last edited by pineapple stu; 11/03/2024 at 7:56 AM.
I won't claim any of those lads are compelling options but you are not making a like for like comparison going down the road of rooting up Irish striker goal records over the last 30 years. The Premiership and Championship are light years ahead of where they were in standard even compared to when Daryl Murphy was scoring in the latter 10 years ago.
Just so. David Kelly scored a load of goals in the equivalent of league one, whereas I have scored no goals in the Premiership. And I'm younger than him. Taller, too.
You can't spell failure without FAI
I'm not claiming 1988 David Kelly is a better footballer than 2024 Troy Parrott. In making these comparisons you have to make them on a time-for-time basis - how good they were for their time. And David Kelly (and Coyne and Murphy, etc) as a back-up option in his era was a better back-up option than Parrott is today. In my opinion.
Listed as injured on the Fotmob app
Its really not that complicated!!!
Hasn't played since early March. Physical Therapy/Sports Science expert interviewed by tottenhamhotspurnews.com (31 March) suggests that if Parrott is not back by mid-April, his quad injury may be a Grade 4, which could mean his season is over.
rumoured interest from bundesliga clubs... hopefully he takes up an offer there. need a few more to spread their wings outside the championship slog.
Might have a nice landing.
I'll file that under "Will believe it when I see it..."
He's done ok this season and the injury was unfortunate if it means he's out for the season. But one goal a month for a relegation-threatened Eredivisie side - is it really Bundesliga-move stuff? (Or are we talking 2. or 3. Bundesliga here?)
He has a 1 goal in 3 game record I think, which would be similar to Antony during his time in Holland
Its really not that complicated!!!
I wouldn't entirely dismiss it. He didn't score loads, sure, but few players do for relegation threatened teams. That he was scoring at all will have drawn the eye of some scouts, and then it's a question of how they assessed him overall. I could see lower half Bundesliga sides shopping for value in that sort of scenario.
You can't spell failure without FAI
Seeing all those names put a question in mind that I don't know the answer to, but isn't worth a new thread. Someone on here will know.
What was Jack's thinking in playing Tommy Coyne ahead of Cascarino in USA '94? Granted Cas was in and out at Chelsea, but he wouldn't exactly have been a Glenn Hoddle type of player, and he was far more established at international level than Tommy Coyne. And Tommy Coyne was scoring goals at Motherwell, but it still seems an odd decision all these years later.
It had been a front 2 of Quinner and Aldo through qualifying iirc. Playing 5 in midfield was very different for the time, and that might have been to do with the heat, but you would have thought Cas would have been the obvious option in that system. His hold up play would have been miles better than Tommy Coyne.
Did Jack ever explain why he did it?
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Won't entirely dismiss it, for sure. And it'd be nice if he had something lined up early on and got a proper pre-season at a club. I'm sure too many loan moves (five in the last four seasons) can't help a guy settle at a club.
Is Antony not a winger rather than a forward though? Wingers are going to score less. Van Hooijdonk scored 15 in 36 for a mid-table side last year and now can't get into the Norwich team, having already failed to make an impact at Bologna. There's probably a range of success there.
According to wiki, up until mid-March he has scored 20 goals in 120 league games.
That is: 3 goals in 43 Championship appearances, 10 in 59 League One appearances and 7 in 20 Eredivisie. Re this last, my guess is that the top 3 or 4 clubs excepted, the Eredivisie is barely Championship level.
Now granted, a good few of his games have been off the bench, though maybe that tells its own story? And of course he's still only 22.
But when I think back to the optimism, even excitement, which he generated when first seeking to break through at Spurs, it's becoming ever harder to make allowances for his subsequent lack of progress.
It also seems to validate Mourinho's dismissal of his readiness for the Spurs first team, when Parrott was being mentioned as an option during an injury crisis some years back.
I'm still hopeful he'll find a home at a good level eventually. He's not done badly for Ireland - he even seemed to combine very well with Obafemi - scored a few goals, and he offers a bit more than just goals.
You can't spell failure without FAI
In fairness I think RLP was referring to his record in Holland (7 in 20)
I was. Parrott has had a decent season in a poor team and also had too many injuries this season. He's not been brilliant but I can see why some better clubs would take a look at him. I watched probably 5 or 6 games and he does still come very deep for the ball and get involved in the build up play so I'm not sure he'll ever be a 20 goal a season striker in any league, but he's a good footballer
Its really not that complicated!!!
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