Darron Gibson

**MuckaTucka** · 08/04/2010, 5:23 PM

Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

I'm not convinced about Gibson, yet. Whoever above said he was a luxury is spot on IMO. He isn't the kind of a midfielder who can run the game. His passing/vision isn't the best and he seems to lose the ball an awful lot. He hits a good strike, makes a few good runs and pops up at the edge of the box a lot in good positions, but he isn't going to grab a game by the scruff of the neck

It was me who said he was a luxury. I think that you have to accommodate him in order to find a place for him in the team. I just don't think right now that it's worth Ireland doing that. I definitely don't think him playing in a two, as has been shown with Ireland is good enough for our team. Playing 5 across midfield, would suit him but that would mean dropping Doyle or Keane, which isn't worth it.

**twoenz** · 08/04/2010, 6:03 PM

I feel sorry for Gibson, and I'm going to say something that could be a bit controversial: I don't think he gets the credit that he deserves because he's from Derry.

Before jumping down my throat, I just want to point a few things out: I was listening to the Today FM sport at 7pm after the teams had been named and the sport's headline was that Rooney was in the Man United starting 11. The report went on to mention that O'Shea was back on the bench, but not one mention of Darron at all. A few weeks ago on RTE they showed the first 3 goals that were scored for United in the Bolton match but left out the Gibson strike. Bet if Robbie Keane or Kevin Doyle had have put the icing on the cake they would have cut one of the other goals.

Sure Gibson's shot is a luxury, but so was having Ian Harte on the pitch 64 times.

**MuckaTucka** · 08/04/2010, 6:23 PM

Maybe the fact that Gibson was starting and it didn't get mentioned shows how far he has come with Man Utd. As in, it's not a huge shock. The main news story was O'Shea's first game since Paris, whereas Gibson starting isn't that extraordinary.
Pity the goal wasn't shown, perhaps more ignorance on RTE's part not knowing a player who mightn't be as well established yet as Keane or Doyle are. An anti-Derry thing is a bit much I'd say.

**geysir** · 08/04/2010, 6:34 PM

Compared to what the Cork lads have had to suffer would you not feel a bit embarrassed raising that little bit of evidence.

But to add a few feathers to your conspiracy, on the English Telegraph, Game at a glance, only 13 out of 14 players come up on the flash screen for Team Stats and guess who is missing - only Derry born Darron Gibson.

However he does come up in the Formation Stats

**elroy** · 08/04/2010, 9:15 PM

A Daily Telegraph sourced article in the indo today quite complimentry of Gibson

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...r-2129290.html

**Predator** · 09/04/2010, 1:23 AM

I have to laugh at some of the comments about Gibson. What exactly do people mean by saying they're 'wary' of him? 'Wary' of a player who has the ability to score a good goal from midfield? 'Wary' that he can do a solid job in the midfield of one of the best clubs in the world? I don't understand. In the game against Bayern he was easily one of United's better performers and contributed a good goal to their cause; I wonder had United won, would the likes of Dunphy have recognised that Gibson's contribution was important? I would have thought that the fact Ferguson saw fit to start him ahead of a seasoned professional like Scholes would be enough evidence to suggest that this player is talented enough.

It truly is laughable that Dunphy et al. cannot let a Gibson performance pass without making cheap, almost worthless comments like, "he's a nothing player", or something to that effect. Alex Ferguson and Giovanni Trapattoni are arguably two of the greatest managers of our time and they both rate Gibson as a player. That tells me something; a lot more than the weak criticism he receives from some quarters.

**yapster** · 09/04/2010, 1:35 AM

Darren will be a good player for Ireland.....

**DannyInvincible** · 09/04/2010, 1:36 AM

Originally Posted by twoenz

I feel sorry for Gibson, and I'm going to say something that could be a bit controversial: I don't think he gets the credit that he deserves because he's from Derry.

What do you think him being from Derry would have to do with it? Not necessarily disagreeing with you as it does seem like he's not getting the same exposure his compatriots are getting, but I'm just not a great believer in conspiracy theories and would need something more to go on than simply believing that it's merely because he's from Derry that he's missing out on this exposure.

Originally Posted by MuckaTucka

Maybe the fact that Gibson was starting and it didn't get mentioned shows how far he has come with Man Utd. As in, it's not a huge shock. The main news story was O'Shea's first game since Paris, whereas Gibson starting isn't that extraordinary.

I wouldn't have said this to be the case at all. I felt excited when I heard Gibson was starting and was chuffed to see him score such a great goal. Maybe that's due to a local connection, but he was the player who people were talking about on here before the game, and still are afterwards, more so than O'Shea, and I think this would be a pretty good indicator as to what the bigger news of the night should have been for Irish football fans.

Accusations of an active anti-Derry agenda do seem a bit strong though. A careless overlooking of "nordie" talent, as if it's from an alien world, or something, maybe?... I dunno.

Originally Posted by Predator

It truly is laughable that Dunphy et al. cannot let a Gibson performance pass without making cheap, almost worthless comments like, "he's a nothing player", or something to that effect. Alex Ferguson and Giovanni Trapattoni are arguably two of the greatest managers of our time and they both rate Gibson as a player. That tells me something; a lot more than the weak criticism he receives from some quarters.

I think Dunphy managed to call every player currently within the world of football a "nothing player" last night, with the exception of Messi and Rooney. I think he even singled O'Shea out as being one at one stage, which was peculiar as it was at odds with his standard analysis of Ireland games where O'Shea fits as one of the main characters into his usual narrative of Ireland having a squad of world-class players with a manager who's too inept to get the best out of them.

**Charlie Darwin** · 09/04/2010, 1:48 AM

There was an article on the Irish Times minutes after the team was announced saying "Gibson & Rooney start" in that order.

**DannyInvincible** · 09/04/2010, 2:05 AM

Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

There was an article on the Irish Times minutes after the team was announced saying "Gibson & Rooney start" in that order.

Yeah, maybe this supposed lack of exposure or credit doesn't exist at all. Who knows? It's peculiar that he wouldn't get a mention on Today FM or whatever, but it's a nigh impossible thing to quantify unless you were to sift through the outpourings from all media outlets in Ireland relating to the game.

**yapster** · 09/04/2010, 2:05 AM

I cannot understand the negativity about Gibson... I think he is going to be a very important player for Ireland.

**Junior** · 09/04/2010, 8:51 AM

Originally Posted by MuckaTucka

Maybe the fact that Gibson was starting and it didn't get mentioned shows how far he has come with Man Utd. As in, it's not a huge shock. The main news story was O'Shea's first game since Paris, whereas Gibson starting isn't that extraordinary.
Pity the goal wasn't shown, perhaps more ignorance on RTE's part not knowing a player who mightn't be as well established yet as Keane or Doyle are. An anti-Derry thing is a bit much I'd say.

I wouldnt agree with that. I think Gibson starting was seen as a strange one, may be not utter shock but certainly something the pundits hadn't anticiapted.

**OneRedArmy** · 09/04/2010, 9:44 AM

Originally Posted by Predator

I have to laugh at some of the comments about Gibson. What exactly do people mean by saying they're 'wary' of him? 'Wary' of a player who has the ability to score a good goal from midfield? 'Wary' that he can do a solid job in the midfield of one of the best clubs in the world? I don't understand. In the game against Bayern he was easily one of United's better performers and contributed a good goal to their cause; I wonder had United won, would the likes of Dunphy have recognised that Gibson's contribution was important? I would have thought that the fact Ferguson saw fit to start him ahead of a seasoned professional like Scholes would be enough evidence to suggest that this player is talented enough.

It truly is laughable that Dunphy et al. cannot let a Gibson performance pass without making cheap, almost worthless comments like, "he's a nothing player", or something to that effect. Alex Ferguson and Giovanni Trapattoni are arguably two of the greatest managers of our time and they both rate Gibson as a player. That tells me something; a lot more than the weak criticism he receives from some quarters.

He didn't do "a solid job". He gave the ball away quite a bit and Bayern COMPLETELY dominated midfield for 60 odd minutes. How on earth is that "solid"?

It takes two to tango, and Fletcher was no better, but I wouldn't hold Wednesday up as a great performance.

**ofjames** · 09/04/2010, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

He didn't do "a solid job". He gave the ball away quite a bit and Bayern COMPLETELY dominated midfield for 60 odd minutes. How on earth is that "solid"?

It takes two to tango, and Fletcher was no better, but I wouldn't hold Wednesday up as a great performance.

thats nonsense as far as i'm concerned. at half time, he was easily one of united's most impressive performers. his workrate was second-to-none and he kept the ball extremely well. he played a number of excellent through balls that created opportunities for united as well, including the one for rafael that he managed to screw up.

i challenge you to watch that first half back again and find more than a couple of occasions he lost the ball.

he drifted out of the game, like every other united player except the defenders and goalkeeper soon as rafael was sent off which was on the 50 minute mark. that changed the game utterly and his role changed from a predominantly attacking one to a defensive role.

bayern were played off the park in the first half and only dominated the match once rafael was sent off. saying they dominated midfield from the 30th minute onwards is tosh.

as for dunphy and giles. they are complete idiots who have zero credibility remaining. they dont even know the players names yet they come out with these outrageous opinions. and as an earlier poster said, they think everyone bar messi and rooney is ****. RTE need to put them out to pasture ASAP. They were talking about fergie having had his day and not knowing it... talk about the pot calling the kettle black

**Wolfie** · 09/04/2010, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by ofjames

........as for dunphy and giles. they are complete idiots who have zero credibility remaining. they dont even know the players names yet they come out with these outrageous opinions. and as an earlier poster said, they think everyone bar messi and rooney is ****. RTE need to put them out to pasture ASAP. They were talking about fergie having had his day and not knowing it... talk about the pot calling the kettle black

Did they specifically say that Ferguson has had his day??

I heard John Giles on Newstalk last night an he was saying Ferguson hasn't had his day. Giles felt that Ferguson had made a few errors of judgement in the last year but that he was still a great manager who could well pro-long his tenure for at least another season.

On the topic at hand - Gibson has a lot of potential but is far from what Ireland require from central midfield right now.

**Predator** · 09/04/2010, 1:23 PM

Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

He didn't do "a solid job". He gave the ball away quite a bit and Bayern COMPLETELY dominated midfield for 60 odd minutes. How on earth is that "solid"?

It takes two to tango, and Fletcher was no better, but I wouldn't hold Wednesday up as a great performance.

I didn't say it was a great performance. It wasn't quite on par with the type of Rooney or Messi performances people seem to expect from him, but it was a solid performance nonetheless. As ofjames said, the only time Bayern 'COMPLETELY dominated midfield', was when United were reduced to ten men - even then, United had some chances, and Gibson could well have had another if the referee hadn't obstructed him

**DeLorean** · 09/04/2010, 1:36 PM

Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

He and Fletcher are similar players who need a water carrier playing beside them to do the donkey work and more importantly, control the tempo of a match

I wouldn't really agree with this bit. Fletcher is all about the donkey work but does need a better player alongside him. I thought Gibson was as poor as ever the last night and looks a complete liability to me so far. He did seem to make an extra effort the close people down early on in the match but that should be a minimum requirement. If he wasn't Irish I really don't think opinions would be as divided on him.

**Longfordian** · 09/04/2010, 1:54 PM

Carrick was the worst of the three in midfield by a mile as far as I could see. I thought Gibson was quick to support Rooney and his passing was decent. Most people on other sites seem to agree Gibson did well, Glenn Hoddle was praising him on Sky after the match he reckoned he's got "a terrific future".

**elroy** · 09/04/2010, 1:55 PM

Originally Posted by ofjames

as for dunphy and giles. they are complete idiots who have zero credibility remaining. they dont even know the players names yet they come out with these outrageous opinions. and as an earlier poster said, they think everyone bar messi and rooney is ****. RTE need to put them out to pasture ASAP. They were talking about fergie having had his day and not knowing it... talk about the pot calling the kettle black

Whatever about Giles, Dunphy is getting progressively worse, OTT, sensationalist just to get a reaction.

But if you think they're bad you shouldve switched over to Fat Pat on Setanta, oh sweet jesus. For some reason, he felt the result was a great reason to say how overrated Rooney was and how he is only rated by people who watch english football and think they know football as a result etc etc.
Sorry for the offtopic.

**culloty82** · 09/04/2010, 2:53 PM

Considering when Gibson starts I'm usually as worried as people used to be about O'Shea until he developed, I was surprised by how well he did in the first half. Took his goal excellently, had a few more decent attempts and linked up well in midfield. Granted, he faded out after half-time, but he definitely had more of an impact than Fletcher or Carrick, and he's certainly in contention to start tomorrow.