FAI...June 2024 Friendlies v Hungary and Portugal

[Maroon Manc]

Ha I was only talking about him a few days ago and looks like he has done a Grealish too!!

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/fai-lose-out-to-england-in-battle-for-u17-arsenal-starlet-34218104.html

If they dont want to play fo us then they dont want to play for us fair enough. I still think someone needs to point out to these guys that yes they could be the next Wayne Rooney but they are also more likely to be the next one cap Franny Jeffers. Now compare his international career to say that of Jonny Walters who has now become a national hero.

I only mentioned a few days ago that I wouldn't be surprised if he went back to England.

We're wasting our time picking up kids in England at 15, if there good enough for England the majority of them will pick England. Once there good enough to be a professional footballer and face a choice between England/Ireland than those that want to play for Ireland will pick us like McLaughlin/Kilbane/Clark have done previously.

We're more likely to take lads in the mid 20's who are not good enough for England. Its far easier to get an England cap now than it was 20 years ago for various so factoring this in with the lack of Irish talent at top English clubs then Ireland are heading for huge difficulty to qualify for tournaments in the coming years.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Ha I was only talking about him a few days ago and looks like he has done a Grealish too!!

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/fai-lose-out-to-england-in-battle-for-u17-arsenal-starlet-34218104.html

If they dont want to play fo us then they dont want to play for us fair enough. I still think someone needs to point out to these guys that yes they could be the next Wayne Rooney but they are also more likely to be the next one cap Franny Jeffers. Now compare his international career to say that of Jonny Walters who has now become a national hero.

I only mentioned a few days ago that I wouldn't be surprised if he went back to England.

We're wasting our time picking up kids in England at 15, if there good enough for England the majority of them will pick England. Once there good enough to be a professional footballer and face a choice between England/Ireland than those that want to play for Ireland will pick us like McLaughlin/Kilbane/Clark have done previously.

We're more likely to take lads in the mid 20's who are not good enough for England. Its far easier to get an England cap now than it was 20 years ago for various so factoring this in with the lack of Irish talent at top English clubs then Ireland are heading for huge difficulty to qualify for tournaments in the coming years.

I dont entirely agree with this. First of all fifa keep changing the rules about swapping over so it will likely change again. Of the current squad mccarthy, mc geady, walters, arter, keogh all played in the youth teams. Mcgeady only played for us because the SFA and his club couldnt agree when to release him for games. The FAI took him and when the SFA came back to him he politely declined to return. Christie hadnt represented anyone before so had no ties it was only ciaran clarke who played for England all his youth and then switched to us. I think we are better getting them early, those that like the club team atmosphere/spirit will stay. If the english lads are really 'good' enough for england then like rooney, gerard, scholes, carragher, ferdinand, kane etc they wont play for ireland in the first place.

[general_lee]

Young fellas at the early stage of their career need to take whatever break they can get, playing youth football for England looks better on the CV, so when they inevitably don't break into their Premier League first team, at least they've something to show for whatever prospective Championship/League One side ends up signing them

[foxcommander]

Ha I was only talking about him a few days ago and looks like he has done a Grealish too!!

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/fai-lose-out-to-england-in-battle-for-u17-arsenal-starlet-34218104.html

If they dont want to play fo us then they dont want to play for us fair enough. I still think someone needs to point out to these guys that yes they could be the next Wayne Rooney but they are also more likely to be the next one cap Franny Jeffers. Now compare his international career to say that of Jonny Walters who has now become a national hero.

I only mentioned a few days ago that I wouldn't be surprised if he went back to England.

We're wasting our time picking up kids in England at 15, if there good enough for England the majority of them will pick England. Once there good enough to be a professional footballer and face a choice between England/Ireland than those that want to play for Ireland will pick us like McLaughlin/Kilbane/Clark have done previously.

We're more likely to take lads in the mid 20's who are not good enough for England. Its far easier to get an England cap now than it was 20 years ago for various so factoring this in with the lack of Irish talent at top English clubs then Ireland are heading for huge difficulty to qualify for tournaments in the coming years.

I dont entirely agree with this. First of all fifa keep changing the rules about swapping over so it will likely change again. Of the current squad mccarthy, mc geady, walters, arter, keogh all played in the youth teams. Mcgeady only played for us because the SFA and his club couldnt agree when to release him for games. The FAI took him and when the SFA came back to him he politely declined to return. Christie hadnt represented anyone before so had no ties it was only ciaran clarke who played for England all his youth and then switched to us. I think we are better getting them early, those that like the club team atmosphere/spirit will stay. If the english lads are really 'good' enough for england then like rooney, gerard, scholes, carragher, ferdinand, kane etc they wont play for ireland in the first place.

No point trying to identify players at 16. If the ROI scouts are doing their job they should be checking out youth players at all clubs earlier and enticing them with international prospects.

Ciaran Clark switched because of Richard Dunne recommending him - not the FAI recruitment process. What the F were they doing?

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Young fellas at the early stage of their career need to take whatever break they can get, playing youth football for England looks better on the CV, so when they inevitably don't break into their Premier League first team, at least they've something to show for whatever prospective Championship/League One side ends up signing them

Yes although as i noted earlier in terms of cv for alot of these lads an international career with ireland is better than no career at all with england. Thats why some need to think things through a bit more. Tabi under the existing rules cant switch back now, would he not have been better waiting a few years and then if he did develop into some top player then switch

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Topical article
http://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/five-englishborn-irishqualified-players-who-could-be-future-stars-in-green-34219615.html

[deiseach]

Yes although as i noted earlier in terms of cv for alot of these lads an international career with ireland is better than no career at all with england. Thats why some need to think things through a bit more. Tabi under the existing rules cant switch back now, would he not have been better waiting a few years and then if he did develop into some top player then switch

This makes sense to me. So maybe, just maybe, Grealish has plumped for England because he feels a greater affinity with England?

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Yes although as i noted earlier in terms of cv for alot of these lads an international career with ireland is better than no career at all with england. Thats why some need to think things through a bit more. Tabi under the existing rules cant switch back now, would he not have been better waiting a few years and then if he did develop into some top player then switch

This makes sense to me. So maybe, just maybe, Grealish has plumped for England because he feels a greater affinity with England?

Yep and good luck to him he certainly will have stiff competition to get in the squad over the next few years

[laoislad]

Maybe only winning one cap for England will mean more to him than winning 50 with Ireland.
If that's what they want good luck to them.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Balls.ie named an early squad no surprises really virtually identical to my own from the other day.
http://www.balls.ie/football/the-stupidly-early-ireland-squad-prediction-for-euro-2016/316677

[muppet]

Yes although as i noted earlier in terms of cv for alot of these lads an international career with ireland is better than no career at all with england. Thats why some need to think things through a bit more. Tabi under the existing rules cant switch back now, would he not have been better waiting a few years and then if he did develop into some top player then switch

This makes sense to me. So maybe, just maybe, Grealish has plumped for England because he feels a greater affinity with England?

I suspect the difference between lads like Townsend, McAteer & Aldridge etc, and todays young lads, is that years ago the lads listened to good advice, nowadays they listen to their agents.

[Main Street]

Ha I was only talking about him a few days ago and looks like he has done a Grealish too!!

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/fai-lose-out-to-england-in-battle-for-u17-arsenal-starlet-34218104.html

If they dont want to play fo us then they dont want to play for us fair enough. I still think someone needs to point out to these guys that yes they could be the next Wayne Rooney but they are also more likely to be the next one cap Franny Jeffers. Now compare his international career to say that of Jonny Walters who has now become a national hero.

I only mentioned a few days ago that I wouldn't be surprised if he went back to England.

We're wasting our time picking up kids in England at 15, if there good enough for England the majority of them will pick England. Once there good enough to be a professional footballer and face a choice between England/Ireland than those that want to play for Ireland will pick us like McLaughlin/Kilbane/Clark have done previously.

We're more likely to take lads in the mid 20's who are not good enough for England. Its far easier to get an England cap now than it was 20 years ago for various so factoring this in with the lack of Irish talent at top English clubs then Ireland are heading for huge difficulty to qualify for tournaments in the coming years.

I dont entirely agree with this. First of all fifa keep changing the rules about swapping over so it will likely change again. Of the current squad mccarthy, mc geady, walters, arter, keogh all played in the youth teams. Mcgeady only played for us because the SFA and his club couldnt agree when to release him for games. The FAI took him and when the SFA came back to him he politely declined to return. Christie hadnt represented anyone before so had no ties it was only ciaran clarke who played for England all his youth and then switched to us. I think we are better getting them early, those that like the club team atmosphere/spirit will stay. If the english lads are really 'good' enough for england then like rooney, gerard, scholes, carragher, ferdinand, kane etc they wont play for ireland in the first place.

The two changes FIFA have have made to their eligibility statutes since 2003 have been to extend the residency for an acquired nationality from 2 to 5 years and to allow a dual national player to switch over anytime  to the team of their second nationality, as long as they haven't been capped competively by their first choice.
This hardly amounts to always changing the rules. One might assume because Sepp Blatter is/was president of Fifa that means everything is dysfunctional, far from it. The legal department of Fifa which supervises these eligibility rules are above board and are biased to represent the interest of the player  and the disadvantaged nation.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

I see Jack the lad was in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. I reckon we dodged a bullet big time.

[shark]

I see Jack the lad was in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. I reckon we dodged a bullet big time.

The headlines in this case were massively misleading though. Essentially he went out on the town a full week before his next game and was lucky enough to bring a couple of young ladies home with him. I don't see the issue.

This sums up the nonsense of it pretty well... http://www.football365.com/news/mediawatch-enthusiastic-singing-take-him-away

[muppet]

I see Jack the lad was in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. I reckon we dodged a bullet big time.

The headlines in this case were massively misleading though. Essentially he went out on the town a full week before his next game and was lucky enough to bring a couple of young ladies home with him. I don't see the issue.

This sums up the nonsense of it pretty well... http://www.football365.com/news/mediawatch-enthusiastic-singing-take-him-away

He is learning quickly what the difference being an English international is.

Remember the tossing dwarves story about the English rugby team? Some of the English players were pissed off that there were Irish players in the same bar, the same night, drinking with Irish journalists but there wasn't a word about it here.