Damien Duff

[paul_oshea]

Ya he does provide that relief, true, but with 15 or 20 mins to go i can see hunt diong the same as an impact sub, again id rather duff, but we do have backup for that in a less important scenario(as described), if that makes sense, whereas when really needing a goal from those situations i mentioned earlier we dont have anyone that comes close to duff.

[Wolfie]

IF Duff is not available, I'd like to see Lawrence and McGeady start.

[DeLorean]

IF Duff is not available, I'd like to see Lawrence and McGeady start.

I'd expect that to happen. He did it against Italy and it worked reasonably well.

[endabob1]

I can see Lawrence starting on the right regardless so it would make sense of Duffer is out to play McGeady there

[elroy]

Conflicting reports here:

BBC website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ls/8343985.stm

Fulham website dated yesterday:
“There’s not much chance of Andy Johnson and Danny Murphy being fit for the weekend game," revealed Hodgson. "We’re hoping Damien Duff will be available for the game on Sunday.

Ideal scenario, Duffer is fit but only plays the last 10/15 mins of the game on Sun.

[SuperDave]

Conflicting reports here:

BBC website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...ls/8343985.stm

Fulham website dated yesterday:
“There’s not much chance of Andy Johnson and Danny Murphy being fit for the weekend game," revealed Hodgson. "We’re hoping Damien Duff will be available for the game on Sunday.

Ideal scenario, Duffer is fit but only plays the last 10/15 mins of the game on Sun.

Yeah i think the other post was from an older story. I saw the Hodgson cage quote on sunday or monday so hopefully things are looking better.

and hopefully fulham's medical team are better than arsenals!

[EastTerracer]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/soc...258166790.html

Duff has told the FAI he expects to be fit.

[richieos]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/soc...258166790.html

Duff has told the FAI he expects to be fit.

Thats great news. We needed someone like Duff to help beat Switzerland in 2005, but he was injured, and we'll need him now.

[Noelys Guitar]

Great news. His current form could be the difference between the two sides. Or at least give us a realistic chance of qualifying.

[Paddy Garcia]

Great news. His current form could be the difference between the two sides. Or at least give us a realistic chance of qualifying.

Agree, if anyone is likely to put us thorugh - its Duffer's time.

[DeLorean]

Yeah the more I think about it, the more I think we need him. I'd prefer if McGeady wasn't the one to lose out though.

[back of the net]

If Duffer is out , i would prefer Lawrence on the right and Hunt on the left, both players are better at tracking back(and our main aim is not to concede an away goal) and have better set piece and crossing/final ball delivery than McGeady. Mcgeady is technically better than Hunt, but i just think his final ball is poor plus his tendancy to drift out of games for long periods could be hurtful especially against a team with the attacking threat such as france.

Would prefer to have mcgeady as someone to bring on if we were losing in croker.

But just my opinion

[elroy]

If Duffer is out , i would prefer Lawrence on the right and Hunt on the left, both players are better at tracking back(and our main aim is not to concede an away goal) and have better set piece and crossing/final ball delivery than McGeady. Mcgeady is technically better than Hunt, but i just think his final ball is poor plus his tendancy to drift out of games for long periods could be hurtful especially against a team with the attacking threat such as france.

Would prefer to have mcgeady as someone to bring on if we were losing in croker.

But just my opinion

Im prob going to get slated for this, but I dont think McGeady has really ever put in anything more than average performances for us. Considering the number of appearances he has for us and his goal ratio for celtic, he has yet to score for us. His end product for us isnt great and probably the worst out of Duff, Hunt and even Lawrence. The one game I remember where he did impress me was Georgia at home when the chips were down.

I see him scoring and playing well week in week out for celtic but that hasnt translated to the Irish team.

[back of the net]

Im prob going to get slated for this, but I dont think McGeady has really ever put in anything more than average performances for us. Considering the number of appearances he has for us and his goal ratio for celtic, he has yet to score for us. His end product for us isnt great and probably the worst out of Duff, Hunt and even Lawrence. The one game I remember where he did impress me was Georgia at home when the chips were down.

I see him scoring and playing well week in week out for celtic but that hasnt translated to the Irish team.

agreed
Have no doubts in his technical abilty but playing the SPL week in week out is not helping him progress as a player

Would have lawrence hunt and duff ahead of him in alot of games (especially away from home against better opposition)
For me Mcgeady has to move away from the SPL and on to a technically better league.
He has spent enough time up there and needs to move on for him to prove his worth as an international player.

Have never seen him play a game for ireland where i have left the game at full time,going WOW what a great performance by mcgeady.

He has moments of brilliance in Games where he shows his very good ability , but far too often he drifts out of games and his end product is poor.

Apologies to any mcgeady,celtic or SPL fans on here(not trying to annoy anybody) , im just speaking as an ireland fan.

Would love to see mcgeady prove me wrong and have the game(s) of his life against the french but just cant see it happening unfortunately

[Colbert Report]

What's keeping McGeady at Celtic? No disrespect to supporters of the SPL, but surely he'd be better suited playing in the Premiership or even Spain where he wouldn't be hacked down every time he beats a full-back? I'd assume he'd be on much better money playing for someone like Everton or Spurs.

[SkStu]

i understand the reservations about McGeady's performances for us so far though personally i have been impressed anytime i have seen him for Ireland. The last game against Italy in particular. His delivery was poor at times but he had the Italians chasing shadows for large parts of the game.

Hunt has proven that he is really not a starter at this level. An impact sub? Yes, and a very good one too. I would still start McGeady over Hunt at this stage.

Just my opinion and i understand the arguments on both sides.

[billybunter]

i understand the reservations about McGeady's performances for us so far though personally i have been impressed anytime i have seen him for Ireland. The last game against Italy in particular. His delivery was poor at times but he had the Italians chasing shadows for large parts of the game.

Hunt has proven that he is really not a starter at this level. An impact sub? Yes, and a very good one too. I would still start McGeady over Hunt at this stage.

Just my opinion and i understand the arguments on both sides.

agreed. i have a sneaky feeling Duff will be immense in these last two games. His experience and ability to retain possession will be a huge factor in our qualification.

[paul_oshea]

What i ilke about duffs out pouring is that, effectively he is saying. "well im not really too sure about being available for my club, but nothing is going to stop me being available for my country". Have to say I love that attitude.

[Yard of Pace]

What i ilke about duffs out pouring is that, effectively he is saying. "well im not really too sure about being available for my club, but nothing is going to stop me being available for my country". Have to say I love that attitude.

Duffer is such a gem. It's probably somewhere earlier in this thread but Hodgson said it's just about impossible to stop him playing for Ireland. Add to that that he travels to our matches when injured to be a supporter, spends most of his free time asleep, has no idea or care for how much money he has and lets his mum take care of it, once described his younger self as a "fat oul yoke", lived up a mountain in Blackburn...I love him.

I remember reading a story about him when he was a kid about to play a match. The coach was giving detailed instructions to each player one-by-one but when he got to Damien he just looked at him, smiled and said "Duffer, you just do what you do."

[Junior]

What's keeping McGeady at Celtic? No disrespect to supporters of the SPL, but surely he'd be better suited playing in the Premiership or even Spain where he wouldn't be hacked down every time he beats a full-back? I'd assume he'd be on much better money playing for someone like Everton or Spurs.

Loyalty?
Boyhood Club?
Trophies?
Great Facilities/Stadium/Home crowd to match and in most cases better than anything the EPL/La Liga has to offer?
Hasnt done his international career any harm so far?
He's seen how moves to the EPL (for example) have worked out for the likes of Liam Miller, Maloney etc.. ?
Has anyone actually gone to the continent and succeeded -we seen what happened to Robbie unfortuantely?
He will be earning decent money (Im guesing about 20k per week) obviously he could earn more elsewhere but maybe money isnt his motivation and wouldnt that be a nice thought?
His family is in Glasgow?

I am sure all those possible arguments could be counter-argued and Im not saying they are correct, just putting some possible reasons forward that a young lad might be happy where he is - He's still only 23 years of age.

Interestingly, McCarthy would have had lots of those thoughts going through his head but still opted to make the move to Wigan and good luck to him I really hope it works out for all our benefit!

McGeady nearly left last year after his few bust ups with Strachan but all that seems to have settled down now and Mowbray has expressed McGeadys importance to the team.

No doubt McGeadys game needs to improve in lots of areas - Final ball, shooting/goal scoring, defensive duties. However in the last few seasons I would say all these areas have improved, some more than others (defensively) though not as quickly as Id like.

There is definitely an argument to say moving to a stronger league will help this improvement process but there is also an argument that without having already improved them, he will quickly find it difficult to 'bed' himself in to a side in the EPL / La Liga etc.. and his career could go backwards from there - its a fine line in my eyes.

PS: I think you are kiiding yourself if you think EPL / La Liga defenders would be unwilling to 'hack' him down....