Players now eligible for Ireland because of FIFA rule change

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Yes, we'd all much prefer born and bred Irishmen but it's worth keeping our options open.

Players we now have the power to call up:

Gary Cahill (Bolton)
Mark Noble (West Ham)
Kyle Naughton (Tottenham)
Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland)
Kevin Nolan (Newcastle)
Jamie O'Hara (Portsmouth)
Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham)
Matt Kilgallon (Sheff United)
Matt Connolly (QPR)
Hogan Ephraim (QPR)
Adam Hammill (Barnsley)
Andy Lonergan (Preston)
Kevin McCann (Hibernian)
Zander Diamond (Aberdeen)
Darren Ambrose (Crystal Palace)

Thoughts on this subject? How comfortable are you with it etc? Whilst I don't agree with it, now that it's enforced, I'd be surprised if Trap didn't tap into it and try to call up one or two for the Euro 2012 campaign. Decent strength in depth in prospect for a change?

Headshot

wasnt Gary Cahill on the bench for england recently ?

SlickRic

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

Mark Noble (West Ham)

well he seems to have been kidnapped or something recently, so he's a no-go.

DSB

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

Yes, we'd all much prefer born and bred Irishmen but it's worth keeping our options open.

Players we now have the power to call up:

Gary Cahill (Bolton)
Mark Noble (West Ham)
Kyle Naughton (Tottenham)
Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland)
Kevin Nolan (Newcastle)
Jamie O'Hara (Portsmouth)
Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham)
Matt Kilgallon (Sheff United)
Matt Connolly (QPR)
Hogan Ephraim (QPR)
Adam Hammill (Barnsley)
Andy Lonergan (Preston)
Kevin McCann (Hibernian)
Zander Diamond (Aberdeen)
Darren Ambrose (Crystal Palace)

Thoughts on this subject? How comfortable are you with it etc? Whilst I don't agree with it, now that it's enforced, I'd be surprised if Trap didn't tap into it and try to call up one or two for the Euro 2012 campaign. Decent strength in depth in prospect for a change?

Don't want any of them playing for us. Having said that, Trappatoni won't see it that way, and as a football manager, not a patriot, hes probably right.

Frisbee

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

Yes, we'd all much prefer born and bred Irishmen but it's worth keeping our options open.

Players we now have the power to call up:

Gary Cahill (Bolton)
Mark Noble (West Ham)
Kyle Naughton (Tottenham)
Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland)
Kevin Nolan (Newcastle)
Jamie O'Hara (Portsmouth)
Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham)
Matt Kilgallon (Sheff United)
Matt Connolly (QPR)
Hogan Ephraim (QPR)
Adam Hammill (Barnsley)
Andy Lonergan (Preston)
Kevin McCann (Hibernian)
Zander Diamond (Aberdeen)
Darren Ambrose (Crystal Palace)

They'd all be handy to have

Galvasean

Jamie O' Hara and Anton Ferdinand would be useful additions to our squad.

BaZmO*

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

Kevin Nolan (Newcastle)

How many times has he said he's not interested now?

If a player wants to play for Ireland from the beginning that's fair enough, especially if he has a genuine lineage. But if he has been clear from the beginning that he wants to play for another country, gets rejected and then wants to play for us well then I'm personally not a fan of that.

That_Guy

Trap will just say that we're limited and won't even glance at these players.

Come on Trap.. Get them in.

CR 7

We should go all out to sign hogan ephraim. Former west ham youth product as far as i remember, and seems to be a very good player. Very two footed as well, which fits in with trap's reverse winger deployment scheme. I believe he can play any forward role.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Darren Ambrose is an interesting one - released by relegated Charlton in the Championship, Crystal Palace snapped him up and he's setting the Championship alight. His goal tally this season is already in double figures and he's just a midfielder! :eek:

He was a promising youngster once upon a time, I remember Newcastle paid a seven figure sum for him when he was a teen but his career never really took off.

Xavi6

What about that Andy Reid fella? Rumour has it he's eligible......




/leaves thread

premierstone

Xavi6 wrote: »

What about that Andy Reid fella? Rumour has it he's eligible......




/leaves thread

Far better Guitar players out there imo

everdead.ie

premierstone wrote: »

Far better Guitar players out there imo

Is Brian May now avaliable?

Chardee MacDennis

I heard a report Trap has sent scouts out to find all eligible players to improve the squad, so it wouldnt surprise me if we had a new charlton era. also i couldnt give a f*ck if they werent born in Ireland as long as they want to play and are committed.

when did this rule change by the way?

CR 7

I also think it's essential to get Zander Diamond. The allure of his name alone, will earn us some credibility.

Glico Man

I would like to add Adam Hammill to the list of wants for Ireland. As a pool fan I used to watch the reserves regularly and this lad is brilliant.

He would have been on the verge of first team action until he went on loan in Scotland.

That being said he was very highly thought of by the Liverpool coaching staff and Rafa Benitez was very reluctant to let him move on to Barnsley where he has put in some great performances

Xavi6

the_pm_of_17 wrote: »

I also think it's essential to get Zander Diamond. The allure of his name alone, will earn us some credibility.

Headline writer's dream.

mink_man

what happened noble?

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Galvasean wrote: »

Jamie O' Hara and Anton Ferdinand would be useful additions to our squad.

As a bloke who follow Sunderland, I can say Anton is an excellent footballing defender (good distribution) but has the concentration of a goldfish. Needs to stock up on fish oil tabs pronto. He has been in and out of the team. Improvement on what we have? Possibly. At the moment I'd say on par with Sledge.

Haven't seen much of Portsmouth this season, but from watching the highlights on RTE, I note O'Hara takes an excellent set piece.

chughes

the_pm_of_17 wrote: »

We should go all out to sign hogan ephraim. Former west ham youth product as far as i remember, and seems to be a very good player. Very two footed as well, which fits in with trap's reverse winger deployment scheme. I believe he can play any forward role.

He's just gone on loan to Leeds so he must be good (MOT):D

SlickRic

mink_man wrote: »

what happened noble?

well, no word on an injury or anything, he played pretty much every game for West Ham until 3 games ago, and there hasn't been a sniff of him since.

he's club captain/vice-captain too.

just seems odd.

GavRedKing

When Noble re-appears sometime in the future we should try pursue him, although Id say he would have England squad ambitions, was brillant at under 21 level.

Mitch Connor

Leaving politics aside, these players would certainly improve the squad.

Gary Cahill (Bolton)
Mark Noble (West Ham)
Kyle Naughton (Tottenham)
Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland)
Kevin Nolan (Newcastle)
Jamie O'Hara (Portsmouth)
Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham)
Matt Kilgallon (Sheff United)

The others might well do too - but i don't know them well enough to comment.

CR 7

chughes wrote: »

He's just gone on loan to Leeds so he must be good (MOT):D

West Ham - QPR - Leeds.
The path of champions.

Xavi6

SlickRic wrote: »

well, no word on an injury or anything, he played pretty much every game for West Ham until 3 games ago, and there hasn't been a sniff of him since.

he's club captain/vice-captain too.

just seems odd.

He was back on the bench at the weekend

everdead.ie

You know there's actually a huge Irish ex-pat community in Argentina anyone know messi's lineage and if he has brothers? For example just to prove I'm not nuts;) Che guevara's Grandmother was from Galway and he actually was a very good footballer to ya know before the revolutionary idea's took over him


What i'm trying to say is why confine our search to the UK

SlickRic

Xavi6 wrote: »

He was back on the bench at the weekend

cool.

yeah i didn't see much football over the weekend, i just knew he, once again, didn't play.

noodler

Xavi6 wrote: »

What about that Andy Reid fella? Rumour has it he's eligible......




/leaves thread

It is a fair bleeding point. He is better than every single one of them and actually want sto play for Ireland. Very few of them I really covet tbh.

Would O'Hara play left back in the future?
Ferdinand seems error prone to me.
Nolan playing would be an embarressment after so many rejections.

No, you need something to play for Ireland. I had no problem with Kilbane, Morrison or any of the other lads who gave 100% and consider themselves Irish at least (publicly) but the majority of those lads wouldn't even be looking at us given we didn't qualify to be brutally honest.

Dickerty

aaronh007 wrote: »

I would like to add Adam Hammill to the list of wants for Ireland. As a pool fan I used to watch the reserves regularly and this lad is brilliant.

He would have been on the verge of first team action until he went on loan in Scotland.

That being said he was very highly thought of by the Liverpool coaching staff and Rafa Benitez was very reluctant to let him move on to Barnsley where he has put in some great performances

+1, was surprised he was allowed move on, but I would say he forced the issue.

Dickerty

noodler wrote: »

the majority of those lads wouldn't even be looking at us given we didn't qualify to be brutally honest.

Not so, most would have little chance of playing International football otherwise. And being mostly with clubs who don't play in Europe, it's the only non-Domestic opportunity they are likely to have. Chance to travel, play against a higher calibre, and under a respected coach...

MementoMori

Not 100% sure but I thought Jamie O'Hara had ruled out playing for the republic a while back.

Couldn't find a link anywhere.

Anyone got any confirmation?

Bounty Hunter

MementoMori wrote: »

Not 100% sure but I thought Jamie O'Hara had ruled out playing for the republic a while back.

Couldn't find a link anywhere.

Anyone got any confirmation?

if not his name alone would probably get him more acceptance among many fans than some of the others get plus im sure Dumphy and co would have lots of fun with who his fiancee is, seems everyone else at his old club did

Gillington

Gary Cahill (Bolton)
Mark Noble (West Ham)
Kyle Naughton (Tottenham)
Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland)
Kevin Nolan (Newcastle)
Jamie O'Hara (Portsmouth)
Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham)
Matt Kilgallon (Sheff United)
Matt Connolly (QPR)
Hogan Ephraim (QPR)
Adam Hammill (Barnsley)
Andy Lonergan (Preston)
Kevin McCann (Hibernian)
Zander Diamond (Aberdeen)
Darren Ambrose (Crystal Palace)

Thats who I would really like to play for us,but I reckon Noble,Nolan,Cahill and O Hara will reject us,thats if Trap even approaches them,nothing surprises me with Trap.Being honest it'll be the likes of Lonergan,McCann etc,the lesser names on that list we have "some" chance of getting.

Rob113

Lets be honest, a large majority of them would improve the squad if not the first 11. Just imagine no more Liam Miller call up's.

SlickRic

Rob113 wrote: »

Lets be honest, a large majority of them would improve the squad if not the first 11. Just imagine no more Liam Miller call up's.

i think i speak for everyone when i say, that wish is easily surpassed by the wish for no more Paul McShane call-ups.

therefore, Kyle Naughton and Gary Cahill please.

CR 7

Gillington wrote: »

Gary Cahill (Bolton)
Mark Noble (West Ham)
Kyle Naughton (Tottenham)
Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland)
Kevin Nolan (Newcastle)
Jamie O'Hara (Portsmouth)
Gary McSheffrey (Birmingham)
Matt Kilgallon (Sheff United)
Matt Connolly (QPR)
Hogan Ephraim (QPR)
Adam Hammill (Barnsley)
Andy Lonergan (Preston)
Kevin McCann (Hibernian)
Zander Diamond (Aberdeen)
Darren Ambrose (Crystal Palace)

Thats who I would really like to play for us,but I reckon Noble,Nolan,Cahill and O Hara will reject us,thats if Trap even approaches them,nothing surprises me with Trap.Being honest it'll be the likes of Lonergan,McCann etc,the lesser names on that list we have "some" chance of getting.

Is zander diamond actually any good? Or do you want him there for the same reasons as me? It'd be handy if he actually was good.

cruiserweight

the_pm_of_17 wrote: »

Is zander diamond actually any good? Or do you want him there for the same reasons as me? It'd be handy if he actually was good.

He is not good enough to get into the Scotland squad. He is okay, but no better than what we have at the moment

IRISHSPORTSGUY

everdead.ie wrote: »

You know there's actually a huge Irish ex-pat community in Argentina anyone know messi's lineage and if he has brothers? For example just to prove I'm not nuts;) Che guevara's Grandmother was from Galway and he actually was a very good footballer to ya know before the revolutionary idea's took over him


What i'm trying to say is why confine our search to the UK

If the Yanks were any good at footy we'd be laughing. :P

Necronomicon

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

If the Yanks were any good at footy we'd be laughing. :P

We've already been down that route :P

Frisbee

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

If the Yanks were any good at footy we'd be laughing. :P

They're better than us tbf

Fratton Fred

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

Haven't seen much of Portsmouth this season, but from watching the highlights on RTE, I note O'Hara takes an excellent set piece.

Jamie O'Hara has been outstanding this season and although he is only on loan, he is really fighting for Pompey. Hopefully our first objective in January is to extend the loan, but he signed a new contract with Spurs in the summer so they probably aren't going to sell....however, the trouble is this..

MementoMori wrote: »

Not 100% sure but I thought Jamie O'Hara had ruled out playing for the republic a while back.

Couldn't find a link anywhere.

Anyone got any confirmation?

I had heard that although he qualifies for Ireland, he has his eyes firmly set on playing for England. Hoever, if in a year or two he decides that is not going to happen, then you never know.

As I said earlier, he is battling hard for us at the moment even though he isn't our player, so if he ever does play for Ireland I'm pretty sure he would put in 100%.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Necronomicon wrote: »

We've already been down that route :P

On trial at Glasgow Rangers - with their views on 'Plastic Paddies'?! Joe is a brave man.

Not a terrible strike-rate haha. A really long shot, but if Nybersung win promotion and he does well in the Norwegian Premier League maybe he could be in contention for another call-up? Is the Norwegian league really any worse than the SPL these days (McGeady, Stokes, Miller)?

Fratton Fred

I know he is not technically affected by the change in rules (Having played for NI at U15 and U17 level the FAI and IFA fell out over his elligability, but he also qualifies for the ROI under the granny rule and has since layed U21 for the republic) but Marc Wilson is worth a full call up, in a friendly at least. he is a useful squad player.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I know he is not technically affected by the change in rules (Having played for NI at U15 and U17 level the FAI and IFA fell out over his elligability, but he also qualifies for the ROI under the granny rule and has since layed U21 for the republic) but Marc Wilson is worth a full call up, in a friendly at least. he is a useful squad player.

What are his strengths, weaknesses etc, out of interest?

I really hope Trap starts recruiting hugely for the next campaign. Apart from the new eligible guys, potentially there's a lot of new young blood out there to play with. Hopefully the likes of him, Chris McCann, Owen Garvan, Keith Tracey, James McCarthy will be ripe for the picking. The U17's last year look a decent bunch but might be a bit too young still; unless there's a particularly outstanding youth (ala Robbie Keane 10 years ago).

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Phil Bardsley is also now eligible. A decent defender but my mother could offer more attacking-wise. Could be a Trapattoni type player as he doesn't like the full-backs pushing up. I think we're more than covered in that position with John O'Shea, Stephen Kelly and Kevin Foley though.

eddiehead

Anton Ferdinand eh? Has it ever happened before that 2 brothers played in different national sides? That seems terribly odd to me

ctrl-alt-delete

eddiehead wrote: »

Anton Ferdinand eh? Has it ever happened before that 2 brothers played in different national sides? That seems terribly odd to me

Quite a few it seems...

http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2008/02/19/family-footballing-rivalries-can-you-help/


and from a reply to that article which names some the article didn't ;

John Goodall played for England 1888-98, his brother Archie for Ireland 1899-04

Arthur Hiller played for Germany 1908-09, his brother Marius for Germany 1910-11 but also for Argentina 1916

Paul Romano played for France 1911-12, his brother Félix for France 1913 but also for Italy 1921-24

Jim Brown played for Scotland 1930, his brother John for the USA 1938

Miguel Ángel ‘Michele’ Andreolo played for Italy 1936-42, his brother Raymundo for Uruguay 1937

Joe Baker played for England 1959-66, his brother Gerry for the USA 1967

Christian Vieri played for Italy 1997-05, his brother Massimiliano (Max) for Australia 2004-05

Tim Cahill plays for Australia 2004-08, his brother Chris for Samoa 2007

Arthur (1894) and Robert (1893-94) Topham both played for England. Robert turned down an invitation to play for Wales in 1885.

niallk

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

Phil Bardsley is also now eligible. A decent defender but my mother could offer more attacking-wise. Could be a Trapattoni type player as he doesn't like the full-backs pushing up. I think we're more than covered in that position with John O'Shea, Stephen Kelly and Kevin Foley though.

I think he'd be worth a punt. Likes to get stuck in. I'd prefer to see JOSh in the centre at least until we find a better partner for Dunne than Ledger.

Mikeyt086

niallk wrote: »

I think he'd be worth a punt. Likes to get stuck in. I'd prefer to see JOSh in the centre at least until we find a better partner for Dunne than Ledger.

Sledge has been huge for us.

niallk

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

Sledge has been huge for us.

Hugely dodgy IMO.

Melion

Id prefer Adam Hamill than McGeady on the wing(or to come off the bench)