QuoteHes played as a 9 anytime Ive watched themOriginally Posted by Olé Olé
Is it centre forward he's playing? They seem to go between 3-4-3 and 4-2-3-1 and he seems to be the 9 in both shapes.
Hes played as a 9 anytime Ive watched them
Its really not that complicated!!!
Feyenoord could be a good move. There's been talk about his activities outside football have impacted on his career so far. If he's settled in Rotterdam and is concentrating on his football it makes a lot of sense to stay there.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
An Irish international hanging around with a drugs cartel was outrageous
I'm delighted if he's cut those ties and has moved on from them. It gives him a shot of being a very good player.
Tbh he's not fast enough to play 9 at international level
But he could be a very handy 10
Maybe there's more to living in Rotterdam than meets the eye! A key part of a certain crime family's empire!
Thats a little below the belt. Don't recall this young man having any disciplinary issues with any of his clubs or his country. I know he did take a holiday with a renowned criminal's son on one occasion, but that doesn't necessarily mean he is involved in anything.
Seems to have been replaced at halftime (after Excelsior had conceded 4 goals) in the 5-2 defeat at Fortuna Sittard today, as Excelsior's slide down the table continues.
Sierhuis stars as Fortuna Sittard put five goals past Excelsior - Football Oranje (football-oranje.com)
Correct. And a renowned criminal's son doesn't mean the young lad is a criminal either
Folding my way into the big money!!!
Not in the Excelsior squad at all today, after coming off at half-time last week. Another injury doubt for the March games?
A 4-0 defeat to AZ today, following from a 5-2 defeat last week - five defeats in a row now, and they're sliding towards the drop. Or the playoffs at least.
Not sure he gets in the squad at the moment if fit. As central strikers, I think all of Szmodics, Ferguson, Obafemi and Idah would be ahead right now
Possibly true - though he would be ahead of Obafemi for me, who's done next to nothing in 18 months or so. Szmodics - let's see if he accepts the call-up this month! I'd have Keane in ahead of Obafemi, Parrott and Idah too, albeit he's been quiet lately (one goal in six)
Quite a lot of decent options to choose from up front to be fair.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
Ah Idah, Parrott and Obafemi are ****-poor options to have if we're brutally honest. None have really made a lasting impact at club level yet - they're the sort of players that, if they were in the Greece squad, would be proof that we should be beating them 2/3-0.
Ferguson is hot property and Szmodics is on an amazing run. Keane I think has something to offer. That's really all we have (ignoring wide players like Johnston and Ogbene). Hogan and Robinson have dropped off the radar (both with one goal in the last 13 months), Connolly has barely played since returning from injury, Cannon has yet to prove last year wasn't a flash in the pan (which ironically may be good for us).
We're still pretty limited up front.
It's all relative though. I'd say all of those lads would make the tournament squads for a number of teams that will be at the Euros this summer. Goalscoring strikers are not plentiful these days and all of those have proven they have goals in them at a reasonable level. Most are still under 23 also, even though it feels like they've been around forever.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
They're under 23 so they may have potential, sure. But they're not finals standard for anyone really. They're just poor players at present. Bar one four-month hot streak two years ago, none of them have proven they have goals in them at a reasonable level either. Parrott has 3 in 45 in the Premier/Championship (and I think one of those was a penalty), Idah has 12 in 99 Championship games (again some penalties in there) and Obafemi has 21 in 101 Premier/Championship games, which becomes 10 in 84 outside of that hot streak.
Those are pretty poor scoring records.
I'm not sure what people expect. We're a small country with a poor domestic league who are living completely in the shadow of our larger and greatly more powerful footballing neighbours.
How many genuine top-class centre-forwards has Ireland produced over the past 40/50 years?
Stapleton and Keane? And neither of those were ever really close to being truly world class.
Even in the golden era of Jack we had Tommy Coyne of Motherwell playing up front in USA '94.
By historical comparisons, our current options really aren't that bad.
At least we now have genuine pace and athleticism to call upon.
Last edited by Trequartista20; 10/03/2024 at 4:14 PM.
I think in fairness the backup options down the years - David Kelly, Tommy Coyne, Clinton Morrison, Daryl Murphy, Simon Cox and the likes - had all made far more of an impact at club level than Parrott, Idah, Obafemi and Connolly.
If Ferguson comes good we'll have a replacement for Keane. Szmodics is 28 now but I'd be quite happy if he could deliver 4/5 solid years. Add Mikey Johnston on the wing and that's not bad
But I think we're still about as low as we've been in the past 40 years tbh. Certainly until Ferguson takes off and Szmodics is capped
I suspect most of those had had less of an impact than the four current players listed at the same age.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
You're right - Stapleton and Keane and maybe Givens as well. But that speaks to the absolute dearth of coaching in Ireland. In our lifetime as a football nation, that is all we have produced for decent strikers. And therein lies the problem dogging Irish football since time began - nobody to put the ball in the net and no one to create the chances (creativity in midfield). Let's stop looking for the potential players and start looking for the coaches who are able to teach these things to Irish kids.
Ferguson won't replace Keane. He is nothing like Robbie. Robbie was quicker and more elusive in the penalty area. Szmodics, if he happens to finally pull on an Irish shirt, would be more like Keane in terms of style.
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