QuoteWell done, thats great news. Hope he gets a game too.Originally Posted by Flexy
I doubt McCourt will since he is not a first team player at Glasgow. He scored some goal for their reserves though, saw it on Youtube.
Well done to Niall McGinn for getting picked for the friendly with Hungary on 19th November. I wonder will McCourt get picked as well.
Well done, thats great news. Hope he gets a game too.
I doubt McCourt will since he is not a first team player at Glasgow. He scored some goal for their reserves though, saw it on Youtube.
Paddy McCourt's goal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdIgZLX0WK0
Could it possibly be a move to secure his 'northern' status? They might play him once and never again just to stop him playing for the south. Paddy McCourt springs to mind.
Have you ever won the treble?
Could well be. Don't really know many players for the North, who's he up against for a slot on the wing?
Its more than Brady is doing anyway.
Could Brian Murphy and Keith Fahy declare for NI? Do UEFA/FIFA recognise that ROI nationals can claim to be NIish?
McGinn is a great player and deserves a chance to get into the team. He has more of a chance of getting into the Northern Ireland team so maybe its a good move for him. I wouldn't hold breath for any eL player getting into Irish squad.
I'd love to see it and see them qualify for the next 5 competitions.
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
Fair play to him. Nice to have a bit of good publicity for the league.
After all, Northern Ireland are better than the Republic.
Extratime.ie
Yo te quiero, mi querida. Sin tus besos, yo soy nada.
Abri o portão de ouro, da maquina do tempo.
Mi mamá me hizo guapo, listo y antimadridista.
Yes, but ROI have a much easier qualifying group this time than Ni so will pass them outFair play to him. Nice to have a bit of good publicity for the league.
After all, Northern Ireland are better than the Republic.
I disagree, I believe that all the teams in our group are better than (Italy/Czech, Bulgaria/Poland, Montenegro/San Marino) or at least equal to (Cyprus/Slovakia, Georgia/Slovenia) their counterparts in the North's group.
"If you don't work harder I'll pull you off at halftime,"
“Crikey, at Manchester City all we get is an orange and a cup of tea,"
Maybe yes, maybe no. But the south could have done the same. They didn't.
Given how much grief City fans give the IFA for not picking Derry players, it seems they can't win when they do pick them either....
Under the Good Friday Agreement, citiziens of the Republic are entitled to the same dual nationality as citizens of the north.
They're therefore entitled to a British passport, which would make them 100% eligible for the north (or any other nation in the UK).
If NI-born players can play for the north with an Irish passport (and that issue appears to be still panning out), then southern-born players with an Irish passport should be entitled to the same under the GFA.
I doubt they'd be bothered though.
No, since:
1. There is no reported interest by the FAI;
2. Having played U-23 level for NI and now being over 21, he may be tied already (not sure of the status of his U-23 cap);
3. The player himself seems quite happy to play for us:
There has been a lot of talk about one thing and another over the last few weeks, but to get a call up for my country is amazing," he said.
"If Nigel Worthington were to call me up and say I was part of his plans, firstly I would be shocked, but then it would be unbelievable.
http://www.londonderrysentinel.co.uk...lup.4659088.jp
Nonsense. Having just moved to Rochdale the previous year, the 18 year-old McCourt was picked by (the ineffably incompetent) Sammy McIlroy to come on as sub for his NI debut at home to Spain in 2002. We got beaten 5-0 at home in that game, the second in a run of 13 games where we didn't even score! We were embarrassed, and no harm to McCourt, but he was completely out of his depth. As was the other Rochdale substitute who came on, Liverpool-born Lee McEvilly, now with Cambridge Utd in the Conference. I don't hear people claiming he was picked to keep England out...
Anyhow, after a sparkling start in England, during which Rochdale turned down high bids from big clubs(!), McCourt's career went absolutely nowhere, so that he ended up making just 31 starts in four years for arguably the worst team in the entire professional game in England.
He then drifted back to Ireland, where his career revived. However, Lawrie Sanchez was by now manager, and despite (because of?) his having been a former Sligo Rovers manager, he clearly didn't rate players from either EL or IL, and so didn't pick him. Notably, however, he did gain the last of his 9 U-21 caps for NI as late as 2005.
The other factor which mitigated against McCourt was that NI's first choice in his position is the incredibly consistent and injury-free Keith Gillespie (81 caps), or Damien Johnson (48 caps), now a central midfielder, but who started his career with Blackburn on the right wing.
Anyhow, the good news is that with McCourt's stock continuing to rise, and with Worthington being much more receptive to EL/IL players, the move to Celtic could finally see Paddy get right back on track towards realising the wonderful talent which he has always undoubtedly possessed.
Here's hoping, since with Gillespie now 33, the opening is there for him - unless Niall McGinn sneaks in there first!
Good luck to the lad. Hopefully the political baggage on this thread doesn't affect him
54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
---
New blog if anyone's interested - http://loihistory.wordpress.com/
LOI section on balls.ie - http://balls.ie/league-of-ireland/
Indeed.
Moreover, when some DCFC fans complain about the IFA not selecting players from one of the leading clubs in a clearly improving league, they overlook two things:
1. The FAI doesn't pick too many EL players, including DCFC, for full caps;
2. NI have (and do) pick DCFC players from time-to-time for under-age teams. However, as we know, only a minority of under-age players ever make the step-up to full international class.
On which point, I recall DCFC fans championing the cause e.g. of former NI U-21 player, Darren Kelly. He's now in and out of a York City team playing in the Conference i.e. English 5th Division...
Not sure this is correct(?), though it is irrelevant to the issue of selection by the IFA, for the reasons outlined below.
Definitely NOT so. For British Passport holders born outside the UK, who do not have a parent or grandparent from one of the four "home" countries, a special agreement governing such cases has been drawn up by the 4 British Associations and lodged with FIFA. I doubt whether it allows such players to play for NI; it would most definitely NOT allow them to represent E, S, or W, at least unless they were living and playing in one of those countries.
Wrong. The GFA deals with Nationality*, not footballing eligibility. Once someones Nationality is established, however, FIFA Rules then determine which National Association(s) a player may be eligible to represent.
It seems it has now been established that NI-born Irish nationals may represent the FAI, but the reverse has nowhere been proposed, tested or established (at least since 1950).
In fact, when this whole eligibility issue was being debated by FIFA recently, one compromise they suggested (to mollify an IFA disgruntled at losing NI-born players to the FAI?), was that the IFA might be allowed to select ROI-born players. This offer implies that it has not been open to the IFA to do so heretofore. The IFA rejected this out of hand.
Moreover, even if that offer were restored, and there were ROI born players both willing and good enough, I have absolutely no doubt that the IFA wouldn't countenance the idea for a second, for a whole raft of reasons.
Which suits me personally, since I wouldn't want, and the team doesn't need, the ROI's "sloppy seconds"!
* - And in fact merely confirms in writing the status quo ante from 1921, whereby NI-born people were always entitled to ROI citizenship and Passport)
Couldn't agree more, on both counts!
It's not correct. ROI citizens are not entitled to a British passport.
Niall McGinn is an excellent player with bags of potential, however if he warrants a call up based on his performances for Derry City then Paddy McCourt also deserved a call.
I hope I'm wrong but I have to agree with another poster, this may be a token cap to keep him away from the FAI.
You may be correct about McCourt having merited a look before now, but Lawrie Sanchez didn't agree and whatever his reasons, these will NOT have been political.
Whereas since he took over comparatively recently, Nigel Worthington has been much more receptive to domestic players, including making encouraging noises about McCourt who, if he's not in the Hungary squad, will only be being kept out by McGinn.
Or put it another way, do you think Trappatoni should be fast-tracking Cillian Sheridan, on the basis that at least he's getting the odd start for Celtic, unlike McCourt, who is still basically a Celtic Reserve?
http://irishleaguegreats.blogspot.co...rnational.html
McGinn has already played for the NI U-23 team (above), which I am pretty sure counts as "opting" for NI, which would mean since he is now over 21, it is too late for him to switch.
Moreover, even if the above game doesn't apply, the Hungary game is only a friendly, so it wouldn't tie him to us anyhow.
Besides, in playing for DCFC in the EL, the FAI is at least as likely to be aware of him as the IFA, yet there hasn't been the slightest suggestion that the FAI are interested in McGinn.
So can we have an end to the conspiracy theories?
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks