QuoteOriginally Posted by Stuttgart88
the only matchday squad he made for the euro 2020 quals was the play off in slovakia under kenny from what i can see.
Does the article say that? I see on wiki he had no caps in 2019, 3 in 2018, so presumably his 2018 appearances were early that year?
But Kenny took over in April 2020, which I think was around same time as COVID started its spread in Europe and restrictions were introduced, so COVID wasn't the cause of his absence.
the only matchday squad he made for the euro 2020 quals was the play off in slovakia under kenny from what i can see.
I'm amazed Mick didn't pick him. I've always liked Long and his ability to disrupt. His gripe above is a bit petty but the context was an interview for his wife's podcast. It wasn't exactly Roy Keane and Tom Humphreys or Tommie Gorman.
I can understand him being annoyed - at the very least Kenny could have let Long know he was giving the #9 to Idah. I suppose he is a fitting successor in that neither are frequent goalscorers..
Coleman didn't hand over his numbered shirt? Either did Brady. It was only Long. He obviously has huge pride in playing for Ireland. It's not a great way to be told that your days are numbered!
That international window he's being a big baby about Idah actually wore the number 9 once, and then number 19 because David McGoldrick was back wearing number 9 once fit. Why isn't he moaning about David McGoldrick, the lad who was wearing it since the start of 2019.
He's not complaining about Idah. He's complaining about how he was treated by Kenny. And he has a point.
No, that was Jd2793 said it
Covid cancelled the March 2020 games as well; we were due to play Slovakia that month I think. So no internationals for six months because of covid (Mar-Aug), which is a big chunk. Technically it's not untrue to say that because of covid we didn't play an international between Nov 2019 and Sept 2020, which is ten months.
He played Kenny's first game (Bulgaria away) and the two October Nations League games at the end of the MON era, so yeah, effectively the two year gap between caps (which is true) really comes down to not playing at all in 2019 under Mick. Which, as you say, seems a bit surprising.
I'd guess at least some of that is injury.
I expect it was probably ignorance of tradition on Kenny's behalf. These things happen with a changeover. It's minor enough, but it clearly bothered Long. If he'd a little more maturity, he'd have discussed it calmly with Kenny, and Kenny would probably have apologised, reassured him as to his role, and smoothed things over. Instead, airing it online reflects poorly on Long, in my opinion.
As soon as a player turns 24, they go from being a sorely neglected superstar in waiting to a has-been wasting space in the national team squad.
17 goals is a decent enough return for us from him.
I was very disappointed to read that story yesterday and he has every right to feel a annoyed by what happened. it shows a complete lack of respect to a player that represented us so well.
hes being a baby. the second hand embarrassment i have for him is unreal. truly pathetic carry on from a grown man.
It's very unnecessary and poor man-management from Kenny.
The idea of senior players welcoming younger players to the squad is great but not to hand over your number.
Players are also superstitious and have a way of getting themselves prepared for matches that you shouldn't interfere with.
Every player in a squad should be made feel very important by the manager, something O'Neill seemed to excel at.
As soon as you start making some players feel unimportant you risk letting a rot in to the squad.
Although I'll pull Long up on one thing:
“When Robbie Keane retired, Robbie Brady was in the squad for a long, long time, he was desperate for No. 10, so then he got the No. 10 and wore that to the Euros.'
No he didn't. Robbie K wore that number to the euros.
Folding my way into the big money!!!
'Owning' a squad number can be a thing (CR7 for example), but I didn't really think so at international level, where the squad changes from match to match more or less, rather than staying the same over a seseon.
And there's no guarantee that other players in the squad feel the same about 'their' numbers, or that Kenny intended or was even aware of the way that Long intended it or the slight that he felt.
A bit of fuss over very little.
It sort of reminds me of Kevin Foley and EURO 2012, in that if the manager had a bit more prescience about the sensitivities of certain players and how to handle them, a self-inflicted problem wouldn't have occurred and easy headlines avoided. I wonder could this be a consequence of Kenny's LOI background where shirt numbers maybe aren't as big a deal as they are in many EPL clubs?
Long's allowed to place value in whatever he wants to place value in, and shouldn't be mocked for that. At the same time, Kenny isn't a mind-reader: I'm not sure at which point of his early tenure someone was meant to take him aside and give him a list of players for whom shirt numbers are important, or whether he was meant to tackle this topic a player at a time. If Long was as annoyed as he says he should have handled it right after the event in question, privately, with Kenny, instead he let it stew and become the basis for what might be a very one-sided enmity, now goes public. He comes out ouf it looking a bit worse than Kenny in my eyes at least.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Foley was treated poorly by Trap.
Long was treated poorly here by Kenny.
Whether Kenny meant it or not (I'm sure he didn't), he should know this was a potential problem.
There was a big deal made of Brady getting the no.10 jersey when RK retired.
Also worth noting that early in Kenny's reign, Long came off the bench and set up James Collins brilliantly to score against Serbia in a big game.
Folding my way into the big money!!!
The cynic in me summarises the interview as "retiring footballer criticises manager for not addressing problem in person, while not addressing problem in person himself".
Anyone who doesn't think the current Ireland squad captain, who plays for Everton, presenting an Irish newcomer with a jersey with number 23 on it, as not being symbolic...
The human in me could understand how Long would be hurt upon realisation of what was unfolding, but there's a massive part of me a bit surprised by his naivety on a couple of levels:
- given his exposure to pro football (part. in light of the WBA transfer)
- given his age
- that any irish footballer would consider the Irish jersey their own.
On the last point, and I'd be massive on this -with one exception (big Paul) - anyone who considers an Irish jersey their own, or the number, can f'ck right off. You don't own it, you're the custodian. Own that.
Last edited by Kingdom; 31/03/2023 at 1:52 PM.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
The cynic in me says this was calculated knowing the comments were relatable and could be used to promote the wife’s podcast.
I read yesterday in a few places that the #9 jersey had actually been McGoldricks for a year or so before Long returned so I took a look at Long's appearances going back a bit.
2016 - Long owned the #9 for 7 games but so too did David McGoldrick (7 out of 8 games - he had it for the Euros). This was the last year that Long was a regular starter.
2017 - Long "owned" the 9 jersey - mostly on the bench - but so too did Daryl Murphy (Austria - Duffy disallowed game) and then Scott Hogan (Wales McClean) "own it" for a bit. 7 out of 9 games.
2018 - Long seemed to "own" the 9 jersey but was missing from a number of squads or matchdays during that time. 6 out of 9 games (he was missing for 3 but there was no one else wearing 9 in his absence)
2019 - Aiden O'Brien and then McGoldrick for the remainder until the Kenny/Idah conspiracy embarrassed and humiliated him.
I didn't go back any further but, while Long can fairly claim the jersey was his, there were quite a few other times when it was give to someone else whether by MON or MickMack. I wonder how hurt and damaged he was on those occasions? If he had to call his wife and vent?
Bit of a storm in a teacup at the very least.
You don't own it. Own it.
I'm confused Ted.
You mean the number that was being worn by David McGoldrick, our starting CF or did Long expect him to hand that over to him?
Another thing to pull him up on is bringing Ian Harte and Gary Kelly into it. Individual squad numbers weren't used until the 2014 WC qualifiers and before that it was 1-11 based on the position you played. So neither lad owned the number 2 or 3 jersey and wore different numbers depending where they started or were subs.
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