Burnley fans think he'll be off, with or without a release clause. Some joking, or probably half joking with Burnley's finances that Vincent Kompany himself could get a game if he takes the job.Originally Posted by dynamo kerry
Man City youngster that played with Anderlecht and Stoke last season, Taylor Jay Harwood-Bellis, is linked with a loan to Burnley and was also linked with a move to Celtic before that.
Completely agree with that and for the same reason he should be a nailed on regular starter for us at this stage. I know there is this affection for Duffy because of his obvious commitment to the cause and knack of getting goals during the period when we seemed to forget where the opposition net was, but (as soon as he's fit) Omabamdele Collins and Egan have to be our first choice back three.
O'Shea will be pushing Egan for that spot too as much as I love Egan. We forget how good O'Shea was before he got that injury
How much of a loss was O’Shea to West Brom this season ~ ~ I say a Big Loss.
Massive, for the five or six games before he got injured he was the highest rated defender in the league. Though West Brom had bigger problems namely having no midfleld being the top issue. Gardener-Hickman ended up starting a bunch of games in midfield and he was a RB they put in midfield because of suspensions I believe.
I rate all of O'Shea, Collins and Obamadele, but there's not need to dismiss Duffy and Egan yet. Duffy in particular had a decent season for a middling team in the Premiership - and if that sounds underwhelming, none of the younger lads have done it yet - and part of Ireland rediscovering where the net is has been his goals from corners. There's room to rotate them all as the younger three build up experience; Obamadele and O'Shea have had serious injuries this year too.
O'Sh. a coasted through Championship when WBA went back down. He had a few goals and all. That injury looked dreadful at the time too. Not on a par with Coleman v Wales but I haven't seen an injury worse since that. It's a testament to the lad that he came back before the season is over and maybe the time it took him getting up his levels implies that he came back a little early? Either way, I hope and I think he can do himself justice this window and that he starts off next season as well as the one just gone.
Interesting piece here on Collins, talking about his comfort in midfield and playing there at youth level.
He’s brilliant to have at the back but given how dire our midfield is at times (Cullen excepted), I wonder if it would be worth trying him out there? I appreciate some of us might be gun shy given the failed Christie experiment but I think this would be different:
https://www.the42.ie/nathan-collins-6-5791345-Jun2022/
Christie has a very different skillset. We've had good centre halves who could play midfield before, though not in a while. The bould Rice made that move at an older age than Collins only a few years back. Ideally, his club would do the experimenting, lowering the risk for us.
I always think with these situations - if we are lucky enough to produce a world class centre back can we not just play him as a centre back and get the best out of him that way?
Cullen is an excellent sitting midfielder and we have Coventry and Kilkenny coming through there also, so there's probably no need to move Collins anywhere.
Brings memories of Lawrenson and McGrath playing midfield for Ireland very well. Agree to play him in his CB role and get the best out of it. Imagine the meltdown if Kenny played him in midfield!
As Irishmen we dilute our sense of nation by depending on the English to bring us our balls
I wouldn't mind seeing him in a friendly game get some minutes there but more so to see could he fill in there in an emergency. Say Cullen goes off hurt late in the game and you've got no subs left so push Collins up and make it four at the back.
Do believe he should be that centre player in a back three going forward as he's much more comfortable on the ball. Played there for Burnley vs Spurs and received the ball on the halfway line and dribbled into the final third when he saw space to do it and played Cornet through on goals with a lovely pass.
https://youtu.be/dxGVrMHHFaQ
Wouldn't be trying to change him into a midfielder though and believe the same was said about Omobamidele after September's games.
A certain Argentinian poster was suggesting it of O'Shea more frequently than I was eating hot meals at one point.
These ideas are tempting because we're relatively stacked at centre half. Still, I see no harm in speculating. A player's best position can evolve over time. I generally think it's best to see what their clubs do with them because they see much more of them and have time to experiment.
Last edited by John83; 16/06/2022 at 4:40 PM.
"Argentinian" your too kind ..he's from templeogue and girlfriend-less
His IP address is Argentinian, so if it's a bit then he's really committed to it.
Good interview with his father on Off The Ball. He basically admits that he always knew Nathan was special. Didn't say how special but just said that he would train years above in Cherry Orchard and never looked out of place. Speaks admiringly about his talent and determination and workrate. He's dumbfound! Also said that if he can't go to a match then he doesn't watch it on telly. So he couldn't go to Lodz, didn't watch the match and his phone was absolutely hopping after the goal but he didn't want to look at that either! Interesting insight into how they selected Stoke and that Ipswich was the other club they were looking at, even though everyone was in.
Last edited by Olé Olé; 17/06/2022 at 5:39 AM.
Interesting interview, you can see that Nathan has an advantage over other young players coming from a family that have been involved in football for so long and have seen the pitfalls first hand.
Sounds like he would have gone to Ipswich if they hadn't sacked Mick McCarthy. That was about 10 million quid Ipswich threw away there.
Yeah, great interview.
Having a family member who's seen it/done it, before was a huge help all right. Plus was interesting to hear the part where he said Nathan played in teams that got hockeyed six and eight nil, and learned from those games. Put me in mind of so many teams who's coaches have no interest in a team that might get beat badly.
Definitely someone at Ipswich kicking themselves after hearing that
The interview is on YouTube
He's committed alright tbf!
His regularly drops character in his posts. Where its clear he is a native English speaker using Dublin slang.
If i had to guess he has manipulated his IP, he's living with his mum and likes dungeons & dragons
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