International Eircom league players

Worthington also seemingly under the impression that McCourt has been playing part-time football until now.

Originally Posted by jebus

he could flop as badly as Georgie did (I know I know, illness, family planning and random explainations brought him home,

Interestingly much the same reasons that have sent him driving (as a passenger I stress) back across the sea...

Originally Posted by Macy

That's just the wider mindset though - look how long it takes for there to be a "He was a crap before going to England - Official Thread" on the Ireland forum here when someone leaves the League of Ireland

Can you point me in the direction of some of these threads, I havent seen any.

Originally Posted by Ceirtlis

Can you point me in the direction of some of these threads, I havent seen any.

You don't have to look too hard - within the first 5 or 6 pages of the Ireland Forum - try Roy O'Donovan or Daryll Murphy. First mentions in the Ireland Forum are them moving to the UK, like they suddenly became great.

For the record I think Mooney will get called up for the Norway match. Hopefully he gets a chance but you have to remember at 18 Anthony Stoks scored 14 goals in 14 games for Falkirk. He was playing for a team not as good as Cork, and for a small fish....he didn't make the step, so its not certain Mooney can.

Originally Posted by Macy

You don't have to look too hard - within the first 5 or 6 pages of the Ireland Forum - try Roy O'Donovan or Daryll Murphy. First mentions in the Ireland Forum are them moving to the UK, like they suddenly became great.

The same way if a player from the Championship moves to the EPL.....nobody was callling for GOC to be called up for joining Ipswich.

Does anyone remember Alan Bennett's call up to the squad? He wasn't at Reading 5mins and got called-up!

Regarding McCourt I personally do not give a damn if he ever plays for the North.

What ragged people in Derry was that he wasn't even looked at when playing some outstanding football. (Belfast is very, very far away)

Originally Posted by spongebob

Regarding McCourt I personally do not give a damn if he ever plays for the North.

"...but the good news is that Pat himself clearly does!"

Originally Posted by spongebob

What ragged people in Derry was that he wasn't even looked at when playing some outstanding football.

Worthington took over out of the Eircom season, so you would need to look to Sanchez for an explanation. As a former Sligo Rover manager himself, I doubt whether Sanchez was in some way hostile to the Eircom in itself.
More likely the explanation for not picking him was that when it came to wide midfielders/wingers, Sanchez had the choice of Keith Gillespie (Sheff.U EPL), Damien Johnson (B'ham EPL), Steve Jones (Burnley English Championship), Chris Brunt (WBA Champs), Ivan Sproule (Hibs SPL & Bristol City Champs). At a push, Steven Davis (Villa EPL) can play wide, as he's done with Rangers in the UEFA Cup/SPL, or even Kyle Lafferty, as he did for Burnley.
Tbh, all of these players deserved to be ahead of Paddy before now, since all were playing regularly at a significantly higher standard.
As for the future, Nigel hasn't actually said he will now pick him, solely on account of having joined Celtic.
Rather, he has indicated that IF he settles in quickly at Celtic - a much higher standard than the EL - he will come into contention. As such, a game in August might normally be too soon, except that it is a friendly, and by a nice coincidence, in Scotland.