Irish abroad transfer rumours

[tricky_colour]

There's a seriously big difference between Arsenal and Sunderland.

236 miles apparently.

[youngirish]

Another claim in the Sun today that McGeady is moving to Sunderland for 10 million. I personally reckon this particular rumour has some legs in it since it's been mentioned numerous times in a number of papers.

Personally I'd see it as a good move for him and a good move for Ireland as he'll be playing with Reid, McShane, Miller, Stokes and possibly Hunt regularly which should ensure they all develop a good understanding of each other and transplant this to the international team (where none of the midfield or forwards seem to have any understanding of each other).

I realise not all of the aforementioned will be at Sunderland next season (I believe it's likely Miller and Stokes will be offloaded) but the sentiment remains, playing with a few International colleagues regularly is better than playing with none. This is particularly true if Sunderland did have a midfield of Hunt, Reid and McGeady next season as this is a particular area of the International team where we need to see an improvement in our use of the ball.

It's also true that none of the big clubs will take a risk on McGeady while he's playing in the SPL. If he performs well at Sunderland, however, then there's every possibility he could be moved on next season. It will also be beneficial for him to test himself against International quality defenders (which most Premiership teams contain) on a regular basis rather than on only a few occasions each season in the Champions league.

The worry I have however is that he'll struggle with the more physical side of the game in the Premiership but in the absence of any transfer offers from a decent club on the continent I think he's be better off moving to Sunderland than staying at Celtic.

[OwlsFan]

Latest rumour: Roy Keane linked with every Irishman currently able to kick a football.

[Colbert Report]

Latest rumour: Roy Keane linked with every Irishman currently able to kick a football.

There's my laugh of the morning. Well put.

[Hibernian]

Latest rumour: Roy Keane linked with every Irishman currently able to kick a football.

Nice see him at least some faith in Irish lads all the same

[ken foree]

sorry i skimmed the thread and did a "reid" search with firefox's page searcher but didn't find mention of mark hughes rumour, wanting to bring steven reid to man. city. i thought it would be interesting to see how he would fit in with s. ireland as a potential partnership. playing them together every week could only help us in the OHH that's right i forgot

[cavan_fan]

Latest rumour: Roy Keane linked with every Irishman currently able to kick a football.

Strictly speaking it's
Every Irishman or former Man U plaer or former Celtic player.

This is a real sign of Keane's weakness as a manager, he obviously has no knowledge of football outside payers he has played with and no scouting network.

[livehead1]

This is a real sign of Keane's weakness as a manager, he obviously has no knowledge of football outside payers he has played with and no scouting network.

Indeed. A little like arguably his two most successful signings, Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards.

[Ordinary Fan]

It is a sign of how low the stock of Irish players has fallen that there are so few stories about about moves (with the exception of them all going to Sunderland)
It would be good to see Doyle move to a premiership club and McGeady needs to prove himself outside the SPL.
McShane to anywhere he can get a game.
A fit Duff and Given playing regular football at Newcastle.
There are others but that would be a good start.

[cavan_fan]

Indeed. A little like arguably his two most successful signings, Kenwyne Jones and Carlos Edwards.

I forgot Trinidadian's presumably on Yorke's recommendations, its still a small pool

[seanfhear]

kenwyne jones got keanes transfer dealings out of jail.Keane definetly needs to improve in this respect this time around.Sunderland spent alot of money last year without these players justifying the outlay

[dr_peepee]

sorry i skimmed the thread and did a "reid" search with firefox's page searcher but didn't find mention of mark hughes rumour, wanting to bring steven reid to man. city. i thought it would be interesting to see how he would fit in with s. ireland as a potential partnership. playing them together every week could only help us in the OHH that's right i forgot

I Definately read that rumour about two weeks ago...

[ken foree]

I Definately read that rumour about two weeks ago...

interesting, seeing as the thread was started about 3 weeks ago - have we totally given up on the younger stevie then?? personally i was looking forward to more pink rims, underpants-revealing, volleys from outside the box, insanely fabricated stories, etc., etc. only slight sarcasm there

[amjl]

Strictly speaking it's
Every Irishman or former Man U plaer or former Celtic player.

This is a real sign of Keane's weakness as a manager, he obviously has no knowledge of football outside payers he has played with and no scouting network.

You'd think with Keane's reputation (as a player) he should be able to attract some better footballers than he has done. He wasted disgracful amount of money last season on players. Chopra, £5m, certainly not woth that much. Halford, £2.5m sent out on loan to Charlton. Prica, ?? not up to much there either. K. Jones & A. Reid were he best signings & saved his season.

He does seem to rely a lot on players he has played with before. Is this because he feels he knows how to handle these player better than some foreign stars, who they could well afford going on the money wasted? That would be a sign of weakness.

Or he simply could be giving the Irish lads a chance, which is good in a way but it could turn into a bit of a graveyard for them when they fall out of flavour. eg. Kavanagh, Harte, Connolly, Stokes, McShane, Miller(transfer listed), Murphy (nearly went to QPR in Jan) O'Donovan (rumoured to be going on loan to the SPL). Granted the first 3 wont be really involved in the Interenational scene anymore, but the rest need to be getting games.

I read somewhere that Sunderland have employed John Barnes last year as their "Carribbean Scout", so could we expect few more Trinadad & Tobagans arriving on Wearside?

[boovidge]

Or he simply could be giving the Irish lads a chance, which is good in a way but it could turn into a bit of a graveyard for them when they fall out of flavour. eg. Kavanagh, Harte, Connolly, Stokes, McShane, Miller(transfer listed), Murphy (nearly went to QPR in Jan) O'Donovan (rumoured to be going on loan to the SPL). ?

not anymore

[Paddy Garcia]

Personally I'd see it as a good move for him and a good move for Ireland as he'll be playing with Reid, McShane, Miller, Stokes and possibly Hunt regularly which should ensure they all develop a good understanding of each other and transplant this to the international team

Well he will only play regularly with McShane if he is in the reserves. Probably Stokes & Miller too.

[Qwerty]

This is a real sign of Keane's weakness as a manager, he obviously has no knowledge of football outside payers he has played with and no scouting network.

He's doing very nicely nicely thank you v much. His record in mgmt is fanfu*kingtastic so far.

What it might indicate is that it's hard to get big names to move to Sunderland, that has been mentioned before by folks at the club, the WAGs don't fancy the shopping in Sunderland apparently.

[SaucyJack]

Apparently Crystal Palace were considering a bid for Mark Yeates, but his injury history has scared them off, Forest were also interested, both would have been good moves IMO.

http://www.eleven-a-side.com/acrosst...ws.asp?n=32793

[irishultra]

Ah Yeates, the 'new Gascoigne'' according to Martin Jol.

[Kivlehan]

You'd think with Keane's reputation (as a player) he should be able to attract some better footballers than he has done. He wasted disgracful amount of money last season on players. Chopra, £5m, certainly not woth that much. Halford, £2.5m sent out on loan to Charlton. Prica, ?? not up to much there either. K. Jones & A. Reid were he best signings & saved his season.

Keane's job last year was to keep Sunderland up, which he accomplished. This year it is to push higher, maybe 9-12 place. There is money to spend, strong leadership from Quinn and Keane, and most importantly money to spend. They may have to overpay the likes of Darren Bent, Aiden McGeady, etc, but I expect they will push forward again this season. Quinn does a great job as chairman and Keane has his team fighting tooth and nail every week.

Plus, Stoke and Hull appear to be on the Derby County plan, and Wigan, Bolton, Fulham, WBA are almost sure to finish below Sunderland. With strengthening, they could certainly pass Middlesbrough and Newcastle, with the latter looking to trim expenses as Sunderland are infused with cash.

Sunderland's most important signing target is Jonny Evans. The defense is crap without him.