The example of Angel Gomes, who is of a similar stature to Moran, might be instructive. Spent time in Portugal on loan before thriving at Lille. As his call-up by Carsley for England attests, all it takes is for the right manager to believe in you.
End Apartheid Now! One Team in Ireland!
Pete O'Rourke linking him with a potential move to Germany or the MLS. He could disappear into the ether fairly quickly like Connor Ronan if he goes to the MLS.
Last edited by Eirambler; 13/08/2025 at 2:10 PM.
He'd better off in Bundesliga 2 than MLS
Its really not that complicated!!!
MLS is definitely out of sight, out of mind. Derrick Williams was a championship regular (captain?), in the ireland sqaud, capable of playing left back where we had no options and as soon as he moved to LA Galaxy, he was never called up again. Jon Gallagher got a MLS all star call up, alongside a host of internationals, also playing left back in our position of most need and hasn't got near a squad. Similarly, Ronan was the best midfielder for Kenny's 21s in a group that consisted of Ronan, Molumby, Knight, Taylor, Coventry and Mandriou. Yet he's the only one who hasn't been called up to a squad.
Not really sure why. Any time I've seen Ronan in the US, he's looked really good, definitely worth a look to see what he can provide.
Ronan was called up in 2022 FWIW
But overall point remains. Yet I think there's an element too that the MLS just isn't a strong league, with a big difference between a few aging marquee players and the rest. We don't tend to call up League One players that much either
Also, in that context, Ronan's stats this season include a total of zero goals, zero assists and zero man of the match awards for Colorado, who are mid table. Futmob and Who Scored both rate him towards the lower end of their rankings of Colorado players. He seems to have regressed, if anything, since leaving Europe.
Ive been living in the US for over 12 years now and I still cant watch MLS. I watch a lot of NBA, NFL and even some baseball but the MLS is just completely unwatchable to me. Ive tried, gone to a few LA Galaxy games, but the standard is just so bad. We know that the standard in the LOI isnt great, but theres a connection to it that makes it enjoyable to watch. The MLS is just soulless
Its really not that complicated!!!
I'm in the exact same boat. It is muck. They need to change the rules to allow teams to bring in players without going through the centralized MLS system. I think it would really help teams that aren't spending millions on bringing in superstars to improve as they wouldn't be forced to stay within such a tight salary cap.Originally Posted by Razors left peg
It is the natural by-product of Americans blindly applying their own preferred sports infrastructure to a truly global game. It just doesn't work.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
I love how the Yanks hate communism but with things like MLS, UFC they are so tightly centrally controlled
Folding my way into the big money!!!
They also need to introduce a football pyramid where teams can get promoted and climb the ladder. This season San Diego were brought into the league and all of a sudden there are "die hard fans" for a team that was just invented and put straight in. LAFC was the same a few years ago. Just all feels so meaningless
Its really not that complicated!!!
the weird thing, and Canadians are the same, is they just do not get the attraction of the pyramid/promotion/demotion approach. I used to say things like "but how cool would it be for the Moose Jaw Warriers to play NHL if they were good enough?"; no matter who the answer is the same [blank stare]"but Moose Jaw is just not big enough to support NHL"[/blank stare]... the concept of sport as merit based v. market based is just so alien.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
I think you'd have to be a Designated Player, like Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle were, to really merit a call up. If you're a player within the salary cap, you're only earning the same as an upper League one/lower Championship player and the question would asked why the global football marketplace doesn't value your services more. Jon Gallagher had a shot at Aberdeen, but clearly didn't impress enough for a bigger club to give him a more lucrative offer than Atlanta and Austin did
Yeah, but with the greatest of respects, you were born there you poor mite! Auld Razor choose to move there. Left the land of saints and scholars(TM) to try and connive those poor Valley strippers into 2nd & 3rd mortgages and profit from their sexy stupidity to go live it up with Jack and Leo courtside at the Staples Centre (dramatization: may not have happened
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
It's like none of them have ever seen The Mighty Ducks
Folding my way into the big money!!!
You told me Moose Jaw was sexual innuendo you rascal! I daren't think what a Moose Jaw Warrior is (ooh matron!)
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I think the concept of promotion and relegation exists mostly based on it being a historical thing though. If you were setting up a new sports league in this part of the world, I'd say potential investors would be similarly put off by the idea that their team could be demoted to a level where it would no longer be possible for them to win the main competition in any given year.
Probably the nearest example involving Irish sports teams would be the Celtic League/Pro 12/URC in rugby which only came into being in the 2000s and has never had relegation. It has increased to a size where each team can no longer play each other home and away each season and they've introduced conferences as an alternative to tiered divisions, just like in North America.
I wasn’t talking to investors though Eirambler. I was talking to sports enthusiasts (fan-dom is another weird culturally different thing here) who couldn’t see the attraction of a merit based system. Instead pointing to the size of a town or city dictating what level or tier they should play in. It’s strange for fans to not see the attraction, no?
I’d argue that the approach is more than just historical practice, it is rooted in the concept of sport rather than business and profit.
I don't know. If I was to put on my other sporting hat as a Connacht supporter...Connacht finished down near the bottom of the table last season. But, in 2016, they came from nowhere to win the whole thing.
Much as that's unlikely to happen again next season, if I was told that the league was being split into two tiers with promotion and relegation I'd likely be dead set against it. But, in football, where my team would be Hibs and that jeopardy already very much exists for them, I accept it. So I do think there's a historical element to it.
Its a bit like a Cleveland Steamer.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Posting Permissions
Quote
Bookmarks