2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

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I was flicking through the England team and bench. Absolutely spoiled for riches they are. I might not be too familiar with a lot of them, but without exception, all first team regulars at a high level.

An u20 team really works for countries like England with the sheer level of quality they have at their disposal to give as many lads international exposure.

All in all though, we have real talent at pretty much all underage levels and the senior team has players that are young and talented. With a good manager, be it O'Shea or whoever it is, in the coming years, I think we can aim to be top 12-16 in Europe. Were we to produce a really world class outatanding midfielder, maybe we could even break the top 10. Obviously, right now, we are at a low ebb but I hope this season, we really see a lot of lads go from being big hopes to big stars.

It really is encouraging and a few years ago, it felt like Hail Mary time.

[CSAD]

I was flicking through the England team and bench. Absolutely spoiled for riches they are. I might not be too familiar with a lot of them, but without exception, all first team regulars at a high level.

An u20 team really works for countries like England with the sheer level of quality they have at their disposal to give as many lads international exposure.

All in all though, we have real talent at pretty much all underage levels and the senior team has players that are young and talented. With a good manager, be it O'Shea or whoever it is, in the coming years, I think we can aim to be top 12-16 in Europe. Were we to produce a really world class outatanding midfielder, maybe we could even break the top 10. Obviously, right now, we are at a low ebb but I hope this season, we really see a lot of lads go from being big hopes to big stars.

It really is encouraging and a few years ago, it felt like Hail Mary time.

So essentially aim to be where we were only 6-7 years ago

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So essentially aim to be where we were only 6-7 years ago

Fair point that!

When I look back on that era though, the football was horrendous to watch (still not exactly great to be fair) and maybe we were beginning to hear of a few talents at underage level, but it felt dark for the future. I will say I thought we were decent to watch in Euro 2016.

I like JO'S as a man, but this is Staunton part 2 stuff. At least back then, we had top players like Given, Finnan, Duff and Keane. Right now, we have real potential but nothing at that level - I actually do think Kelleher is top class and a fit Ferguson is an exceptional talent but you wouldn't be saying they are top class unless they prove it over the next 12-18 months on a regular basis.

You could see how early-Trap immediately enhanced us from the lows of Stan's era. Okay, a managerial great but past it at the very top by the time he came to us. I just fail to see how the FAI can't find even a half decent option. Spending big on a manager will pay for itself in the next four years, whether it's by making us competitive in the wc qualifiers and qualifying us for a home tournament in 2030 which could clear a lot of debt. Surely, there has to be someone out there operating or has operated at a decent level that is more qualified than John.