Was looking at the new players signed for English under 18s sides mostly premier league and championship clubs. Really noticeable how few Irish lads there were compared to other years. There were actually more northern Irish lads. A good sign for the league of Ireland clubs involvement at under age now obviously lads can see a pathway in Ireland. Relatively few of last seasons 17s side are in England .
Callum kavanagh scored 2 at the weekend for Middlesbrough 18s , it would be great to see him progress up to 23s football soon
Doors Brexit play a part in that?
A third wave of goal machines on the horizon:
A brace for Calum Kavanagh in Middlesbrough's 4-3 win over Newcastle made it 9 in 9 games for him: https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...6xxp;ln;fp;1;;
A penalty for Tom Cannon against Burnley made it 7 in 8 for him - not as good as the 7 in 4 he had at the start of last season, though! https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...6xxp;dt;fp;1;;
Not sure it is already in effect or if it starts from January, but it should change the outlook. Fifa bans all transfers of under 18s from country to country. An exception is made for EU countries, because that rule was found to violate labour laws regarding movement of workers - as your rights as a worker begin at 16.
With the UK leaving the EU, they’re no longer included in that exemption. There are a few workarounds, for example, if the player lives close to the national border (ala Griezmann), or what happened with Messi where Newell’s Old Boys couldn’t afford to pay for his medical treatment, or generally the most common workaround is if the child’s family move to the country for ‘non-footballing reasons’, like a job. This is what’s used to bring in players under 16 as well, but obviously the costs are higher. Arsenal for example, gave Anto Stokes’ father a job working as a councillor or something for youth players, so he could move across at 14.
Obviously clubs were still signing players this summer. Liverpool, for example, took 1 player from Germany and 2 players from Poland. So I assume it hasn’t taken effect yet, unless they’re using those workarounds...
Pretty sure Evan Ferguson’s planned move to Brighton for this January was cancelled because of that:
https://www.google.ie/amp/s/www.the4...n2020/%3famp=1
But even if this happens won't it mean that Irish kids once they turn 18 will be a more attractive proposition to the English clubs than kids from other European countries who will likely need a work visa? I'd imagine applying for work visas for youth team players will involve jumping through a considerable amount of red tape and expense particularly if clubs already have a number of existing youth team players who also have needed visas.
Last edited by youngirish; 04/10/2020 at 7:28 AM.
Yes, this looks set to kick in on the 1st of January. I think it could change depending on how the Brexit talks end up, but judging by how they are going right now it'll be coming into force. It creates the strange situation where Irish players can have their pick of European clubs at 16, but not British clubs. We could easily see a much wider spread of young Irish players across the continent as a result, although there are obviously language and cultural barriers to overcome.
The other possibility it that players stay longer in Ireland with UK clubs forming link ups with Irish clubs to manage players at 16 and 17. Having players like Troy Parrott and Gavin Bazunu playing league of Ireland up to their 18th birthday would be an interesting prospect for the league.
So this young lad Andrew Moran, who went to Brighton from Bray over the summer has had a pretty decent start to his career in England - scored against Arsenal U18s a couple of games back and nabbed a hat-trick today against Leicester. Matt Everitt also scored, his third goal in three games: https://www.premierleague.com/match/...0-21/tbc-v-tbc
The FA Youth Cup Final between Manchester City and Chelsea is on BT Sport tonight. City beat Blackburn 4-0 in the semi final last week, while Chelsea, who had George Nunn on the bench, knocked out Man United.
Joe Hodge scored City's opening goal against Blackburn, at 1:40 below
Incidentally, this is the fourth time in the last seven years that City and Chelsea have faced each other in the final.
Presumably this is last season’s comp which was abandoned being completed?
City won 3-2. I thought Hodge played very well, although he hasn't grown a millimetre since I first saw him play underage for Ireland. It's probably been said a hundred times on here, but hopefully we can hold on to him.
I think he's the first Irish player to win the cup since Kyle McFadden with Norwich in 2012/13?
Gavin Bazunu was on the bench for city last year, when they lost to Liverpool, Tyreke Wilson was on the City team that lost to Chelsea in 2016/17, and Noe Baba and Dean O'Halloran played for Fulham when they lost to Chelsea in 2013/14, but I don't think there's been any other recent players
Last edited by tetsujin1979; 03/11/2020 at 1:43 PM.
I thought Hodge was OK last night. Had no idea he was so small.
Hodge is tiny, but I wonder would Kenny fast track him into the seniors as a number 10 option in the next year or so. He has said numerous times how much he rates him.
What I’ve seen of Hodge, he’s better deeper. I’d say he’ll get a international call up within 12 and a half months...
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