This link says Rice was called up to ward off interest from England.
http://www.football.london/west-ham-...-rice-13080166
Exactly. I don't think there's been any indication Rice would jump ship. So why call him up when he hasn't made a single senior appearance at club level?
I get that he has potential. But so did Crowley, Henderson, Dixon and several others at a similar age.
I'd go as far as to say it's debatable whether Grealish would have merited an Intl debut based on what he's done, if he had stayed with us.
He's unlikely to make an appearance against Austria anyway, so if he is inclined (doesn't look like it) he could still opt for England.
Cullen, Manning, Forrester and Darragh Lenihan must be scratching their heads.
This link says Rice was called up to ward off interest from England.
http://www.football.london/west-ham-...-rice-13080166
Daniel McDonnell reaching the same conclusion as myself.
http://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer...-35749255.html
few of the squad were at the Cork City game last night: https://twitter.com/Thomas_Stafford/...91760027250689
It says that. But it refers to the Irish Independent. In effect, it's regurgitating McDonnell's assertion that "it's difficult to avoid the conclusion" which isn't very conclusive at all.
I really think that arriving at this conclusion ignores the fact that this lad is clearly one of the best prospects to play underage for us in some time. To captain your under 23 club side at 18. To make your PL debut at 18. The other names you mention that could feel disgruntled were never developing at this rate. Lenihan found his feet at Championship level at 22, for example.
Maybe MON is right to set the PL as the standard for call ups. Kevin Long called up before Darragh Lenihan? That demonstrates to Lenihan that he has to aim for the top level before a call up. He has to set himself aside from all the other lads at Championship and League One level who have minimal or no PL experience. What sets Greg Cunningham aside from Matt Doherty aside from Derrick Williams for LB? Hard to say. All have won POTY At their club this year or last. But Stephen Ward has consistently managed to get himself into a PL side. Cyrus Christie managed to nip in ahead of these lads by virtue of the fact that he was playing Championship whilst Cunningham and Williams (and maybe Doherty) were in L1.
I'm not saying it's the perfect yard mark as MON acknowledged during the week that he has a lot of Championship players. Most of our defenders and midfielders have come in off the back of PL experience bar some exceptions (Christie, Keogh, Duffy came in at opportune times when we were short on numbers). McShane and Pearce, for instance, can be marked aside on that basis.
I have to say this is the funniest squad announcement of all time, for so many reasons.
Aidan Fitzmaurice also said "it's thought that this call-up to the senior panel is a move by the FAI to fend off any attempt by England to 'sign' Rice", but that's similarly vague and inconclusive.
It's thought by whom?... Fitzmaurice? Dan McDonnell? The wider media? Supporters? Or is the thinking from people in the know? The FAI? Martin O'Neill?
I also think it's unusual myself given the additional or late call-ups - some of them very much out-of-the-blue - and then the absence of the in-form Sean Maguire, despite the selection of other Cork-based players, but care to elaborate?
Does O'Neill harbour a reluctance or hang-up over potentially being seen to have been led in his selections my the media? He does have a fairly lukewarm relationship with the press and can be quite sarcastic with them in press conferences. His exchanges with Tony O'Donoghue are often icy, for example, and I get the impression he likes to go against the grain. Could it be a stubbornness then on O'Neill's part that has cost Maguire a place or does he genuinely not rate the player as worthy of even a closer look?
I hadn't even realised he was the Alan Smith who had played for Rangers. Have we ever had a Rangers player called up to the senior international squad before? (Is Smith considered an official squad call-up or is he essentially a "training prop" for the outfield squad?)
'Decline of Irish players at top level clubs shows no sign of stopping': http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/socc...ping-1.3093289
Originally Posted by Emmet Malone
I think we can all reach the same conclusion, deep down, that Rice wouldn't have been called up because of his underage accomplishments if he was born in Roscommon.
I would be very surprised if O'Neill or Keane have even seen him kick a ball.
I don't think someone should get a national team call up so someone can take a look at him.
I think it's a prerequisite that management scout a player before calling him up.
And calling Rice a Premier League player is virtually the same as calling McEvoy one because he made the bench against Tromso.
Winning POTY awards over a season while playing with grown men should be a greater estimate of whether you are ready to play Intl ball.
I agree, and some of the omissions and inclusions confuse me. But with about 3 exceptions that I feel strongly about we're debating the margins. None of this stops this thread from amusing me though.
What players from Roscommon would you call up, because of their underage accomplishments
Can you prove that? Even if they haven't, you don't think they didn't consult his U19 manager?
what about Jack Byrne, Callum O'Dowda, or Ian Lawlor, or (under the previous manager) Shane Duffy, Greg Cunningham, Conor Clifford
By that logic, Cillian Sheridan will never get a call up
Nobody is calling McEvoy a Premier League player because he's never played in the Premier League. People aren't even calling him a Europa League player because he was on the bench against Tromso. People are calling Rice a Premier League player because he has played in the Premier League. It's pretty logical.
What players who have won POTY are not in the squad?
So you want to know what it takes to be dropped from the squad, and then name players who have been dropped from the squad.
In fairness to TOWK I wouldn't call up anyone from Roscommon. End of.
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