Burkes minutes wouldnt be anywhere near Amonds, he certainly has the technical ability to play at that level but i dont see it happening at this stage.
He was superb agaisnt Drogs at the weekend , best player outside Pat Byrne in my time watching Rovers and not by much.
Fair, yeah. Just looked it up and it's 1500 v 2500Originally Posted by sbgawa
That makes the goalscoring record comparable, but Amond is with a weaker side of course
They are completely different players. Burke is an advanced playmaker who scores and assists. Amond is an out-and-out striker.
21 leagues and 25 cups.
I think it's worth supporting this point.
Some of the things I've seen Graham Burke do on a football pitch - high up important - are wonderful and would beg the question 'why isn't he elsewhere?'. But the question also needs to be asked whether is the Rovers set-up and the support network there allowing him to maximise his talent (for whatever reason) and if that's the case, then why should we 'discrimate' against that just because he's playing domestically.
The same could equally have been said about a Git Forrester. It's one thing to take relatively light-hearted abuse from a travelling mob of 450 Rovers fans compared to getting dogs abuse from 15k of your own fans in London Road.
And the output he provides for a team is in way comparable to what Amond provides. Their roles are totally different (I would have thought).
Last edited by Kingdom; 02/09/2025 at 2:43 PM.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Ah, he's one of the best players I've ever seen in Ireland. You're right, though, Rovers cater to his skillset, and he's happy here. He's back to his best this season, and that's the main reason Byrne wasn't getting enough minutes to keep him happy. Burke has been better, and we can't really play both of them, particularly not in Europe. Sometimes it works, but really you need to let Burke float and get involved in the play wherever he wants. Not sure that would work for Ireland. I used to think it was more his lack of speed that held him back from a move elsewhere, but he's actually deceptively fast. He just glides past players. So good in tight spaces as well. He probably should have moved to a country other than England to play, but I'm glad he didn't.
I'd personally love to see us have a technician like that in the squad, but I don't know if we will ever utilise them properly. We had Hoolahan and failed to get the most out of him, and he was a level above anything we can call on now.
21 leagues and 25 cups.
Log in to foot.ie kinda excited that its match week at the start of a new WC... see a debate about Graham Burke getting in squad.... immediate realization that we probably arent qualifying
Its really not that complicated!!!
It's the hope that gets ya !Log in to foot.ie kinda excited that its match week at the start of a new WC... see a debate about Graham Burke getting in squad.... immediate realization that we probably arent qualifying
If Burke gets called into the Ireland squad again then call it all off. There's a reason he doesn't start week in week out for Shams.
On a sidenote, while it's obviously good that the game on Saturday sold out, I hate that it did. Between those poxy bundle packages and then the singular tickets costing something like €80 minimum. That just sets such a bad precedent. And if you're not living around Dublin, forget about going to an Ireland game at a reasonable price again. You either pay for several games that will be a nightmare to get to all, or pay double the amount you should be for a single game.
Let's be honest though, I doubt Burke is anywhere close to a call up. Difficult to see any domestic based player other than Honohan getting in a squad any time soon. Obviously there are longer term prospects such as Melia, but he's a year or two away at a minimum I'd say.Log in to foot.ie kinda excited that its match week at the start of a new WC... see a debate about Graham Burke getting in squad.... immediate realization that we probably arent qualifying
He's one of the first names on the teamsheet when we are playing our full-strength team. Not sure what you mean here.
Anyway, the discussion was from a fairly throwaway comment earlier in the thread, there's 0 chance Graham Burke is called up to another Irish squad. No need for the histrionics folks. Nobody is claiming he will qualify us for the WC.
21 leagues and 25 cups.
Premium tickets were at €100. Up €20 from the last competitive game... Shocking stuff
I bought two tickets on Ticketmaster for 55 lids each ( upper west) that is fair for a WC qualifier
I remember when we played in croke Park under trap and if memory serves it was more expensive and the was circa 14 years ago
Might as well get the ball rolling on predicted starting line up
Kelleher
O'Brien Collins O'Shea
Doherty Cullen Taylor Manning
Azaz Johnston
Ferguson
Its really not that complicated!!!
There is no middle finger big enough
Kelleher
Doherty
O’Brien
Collins
Manning
Cullen
Knight
Azaz
Ogbene
Ferguson
Szmodics
I think McAteer will be very close after June. Question might be whether HH considers Manning to be strong enough defensively to play left back, or whether he wants to move Doherty across or play Scales there.
Kelleher
O'Brien Collins O'Shea Doherty
Cullen Knight
McAteer Azaz Manning
Ferguson
From reading a few pieces the last few days, I'm wondering is Lawal a banker to start? And if he is, at who's expense?
Kelleher, Doherty, Collins, Cullen, Knight, Ferguson. They are bankers - I'm not sure anyone can disagree with that given what we've seen from 88 and what is available.
Dara O'Shea is likely, but was dropped specifically in one of the recent games.
Manning is probable, given issues with set-pieces in Smallbone & Brady's absence.
So that makes:
Kelleher, Doherty, Collins, O'Shea, Manning, Cullen, Knight, Ferguson. and leaves 3 places available.
If Lawal goes into centre-midfield given his versatility (and my hunch above), that would leave 2 wide players or 2 supporting attack players behind Ferguson.
Kelleher, Doherty, Collins, O'Shea, Manning, Cullen, Lawal, Knight, Ferguson.
So that would be 2 from Azaz, Szmodics, Ogbene, McAteer, Johnston. I cannot see him omitting Azaz, nor can I see him picking one of the wider players (Cheo/Johnston) along with Azaz as it would seem imbalanced. So I'm gonna suggest he'll pick both Azaz & Smodzics who will play off Evan, and go wider on the defensive and in the press, and narrow when countering on the attack. That would tie in with not losing the game in Dublin and then rotating as has been suggested given the 4 day turnaround in Yerevan where there might be more scope for front-foot football and playing a higher attacking team with Cheo and Johnston in from the start.
Kelleher, Doherty, Collins, O'Shea, Manning, Cullen, Knight, Azaz, Ferguson, Ferguson.
On the other possibilities (352; O'Brien vs Manning in a 4231; etc):
- I think it would be an extremely bad idea to play Jake O'Brien right back in a 4 up against a high-positioned Kerkez; imo it would be a recipe for disaster.
- despite my preference for 3 at the back given our strengths, we just can't adapt to it sufficiently, so I'd prefer the 4 defenders that we seem comfortable with.
Last edited by Kingdom; 03/09/2025 at 3:59 PM. Reason: clearer stu?
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
It's a 4-4-2 shape these days, no? That's HH's preference from what I can see. Don't think the Lawal suggestion is too far left field as the midfield picks indicate HH wants physicality and height in the central midfield area.
He seemed to be a fan of the 4-5-1 (variants) that shifts to 3 at the back but it was 3-4-2-1 v. Senegal IIRC. I'd go with the 3-4-2-1 myself...
------------------CK
-----Jake------Collins------Dara-----
Dots---Cullen---Knight---Manning
--------Azaz---------Johnstinho-----
-------------Fergilicious------------
I am desperate for Lawal to be the answer to the MF problem we have but it might be a step too far to hand him his debut in a start v. Hungary in a WCQ?
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
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