Ciaran Clark and Hogan Ephraim

IRISHSPORTSGUY

On the verge declaring for Ireland according to today's Star.

Neil3030

Ciaran Clark will be a very good centre half imo.

Gillington

Hogan Ephraim would be a welcome addition,aint seen enough of Clark but hopefully he's getting some good tutorage from Ritchie at Villa

MickShamrock

Good news. Always nice to have new additions to the pool.

Raskolnikov

Not a moment too soon. We badly need new blood on the wings and at centre back.

Time Magazine

Ciaran has declared for us. Great potential. Non-Villa fans may not have seen much of him (because Dunne, Collins and Cuellar have kept him out of the team) but he's as much a prospect as Marc Albrighton.

flahavaj

If his name was Ephraim Hogan he'd sound much more like an Irishman.:pac:

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Hogan qualifies through his Irish born mother. Could be playing Premier League footy next season if QPR keep up their fantastic form.

Helix

Clark will be a beast. The lads on villa talk will be distraught.... They had him pegged for future england skipper haha

tonycascarino

Ciaran Clark's father Michael although born in Edinburgh went to school in Ballyare, Donegal. His mother Peggy is from Drumshambo, Leitrim.

http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/donegalsport/Clark-signs-the-dotted-line.5890651.jp

Johnny Utah

tonycascarino wrote: »

Ciaran Clark's father Michael although born in Edinburgh went to school in Ballyare, Donegal. His mother Peggy is from Drumshambo, Leitrim.

http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/donegalsport/Clark-signs-the-dotted-line.5890651.jp

Second generation Irish..... just like yourself Tony! :pac:

matrim

I'm surprised Clark declared but he should be a good one if he lives up to his potential.

He's still a bit young yet and needs to gain experience but even still is a step up from the likes of McShane.

I wonder if Dunne had a word with him and helped convince him

JPA

Clark has captained England at every level up U-20, so this is a strange but welcome decision.

Mr.Nice Guy

matrim wrote:

I wonder if Dunne had a word with him and helped convince him

Yep, he did:

Villa defender Ciaran Clark has committed his international future to the Republic of Ireland – after a heart to heart with team-mate Richard Dunne.

The London-born centre-back, who qualifies for the Republic via his Irish mother and grandparents, has informed FAI chiefs he wants to be considered for Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad, even though he skippered England at under-19 and under-20 level.

Clark is expected to come into contention for next month’s friendly with Norway and could even partner his club team-mate at the heart of the Irish defence.

And Dunne revealed it was he who recommended him to Republic of Ireland scout Don Givens.

He said: “I had a word with ‘Clarky’ a couple of months ago, so I’m to blame! I went straight onto our recruitment fella and he’s been in touch.

“It’s great. I think he has declared so once it goes through it will be great to have him in the squad.

“I think his mother’s Irish so whether she’s been putting pressure on or not, I don’t know.

“He’s open to it, he wants to play international football and it might come soon.”

Dunne has tipped Clark to be a star for club and country in the future.

He added: “He’s certainly going to be a top player. For Ireland it’ll be outstanding to have a young player of his talent in the squad. It’s just a matter of time before he breaks through.

“Defenders always take that bit longer.”

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2010/10/05/ciaran-clark-chooses-the-republic/

I've been impressed with Clark from what I've seen of him. Hopefully he won't have a change of heart. I don't know much about Ephraim but with a name like Hogan he's OK in my book. Brother! :pac:

CR 7

Hogan Ephraim is a fantastic player, hope he declares too, he'll be a first team player in the next few years.

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

Hogan Ephraim is a fantastic player, hope he declares too, he'll be a first team player in the next few years.

Apparently Trap is going to the next QPR match to take a look at him and their centre half Matt Connolly.

everdead.ie

We seem to have a lot of defensive options coming through but we are lacking in midfield and forwards there is
Clark Duffy Cunningham Coleman meyler and McCarthy which could turn out into a pretty good team but with little potentcy in attack

Edit how are Villa fans taking the news?

Mitch Connor

great to have Clarck - now with Traps selection policy we might see him in a squad for the 2014 WC qualifiers.

everdead.ie

Mitch Connor wrote: »

great to have Clarck - now with Traps selection policy we might see him in a squad for the 2014 WC qualifiers.

Friendly against norway should be used to look at h and another look at mccarthy

LeeroyJones

everdead.ie wrote: »

Edit how are Villa fans taking the news?

From what I can see they are happy that one of their youngsters is going to get international gametime. At the same time they are content that with regards England as I think the general belief over there is that Gary Cahill and Smalling are the future pairing. A bit short sighted thinking in my view, Clark could well establish himself as a better player than the 2.

Mitch Connor

everdead.ie wrote: »

Friendly against norway should be used to look at h and another look at mccarthy

should be, and a few other players too. We are talking about Trap though, the squad will be the same as it always is.

orourkeda

LeeroyJones wrote: »

From what I can see they are happy that one of their youngsters is going to get international gametime. At the same time they are content that with regards England as I think the general belief over there is that Gary Cahill and Smalling are the future pairing. A bit short sighted thinking in my view, Clark could well establish himself as a better player than the 2.

Its possible and he will if he lives up to potential. This is the key

sagat2

As a Villa fan I'm delighted that Clark has chosen to play for Ireland, he will get a lot more international experience a lot faster than he would have with England and he also wont have to put up with the circus and hype that England internationals get dragged into. I am a bit concerned by the FAI's recruitment policy, apparently it was Richard Dunne who put Clark forward to the Irish recruiters surely a talent young Premiership player with a name like Ciaran Clark should have set alarm bells ringing in Abbotstown long before Dunny got involved?

stevoslice

Johnny Utah wrote: »

Second generation Irish..... just like yourself Tony! :pac:

funny thing was tony cas was never eligible to play for ireland. all came out when he released his book a few years back.

MR NINE

At first glance I was sure this thread was called Ciaran Clark or Hogan Ephraim

everdead.ie

thebhoy wrote: »

funny thing was tony cas was never eligible to play for ireland. all came out when he released his book a few years back.

His mother was Irish though so he qualified through her actually even if he was adopted by her.

tolosenc

We could use the Nations Cup to blood some of them thinking of declaring. Maybe play a couple against Macedonia too.

stevoslice

everdead.ie wrote: »

His mother was Irish though so he qualified through her actually even if he was adopted by her.

just looked up wiki

his mom was adopted by an irish man, so he figured that he was a fraud for not being blood related to his grandfather for a few years but it was clarified that he was entitled to citizenship afterwards.

Frankie Lee

IRISHSPORTSGUY wrote: »

Apparently Trap is going to the next QPR match to take a look at him and their centre half Matt Connolly.

Is Connolly definitely eligible to play for Ireland?

flas

everdead.ie wrote: »

Friendly against norway should be used to look at h and another look at mccarthy

why would you have to have another look at mccarty, the lad is an english premership regular midfielder and what, 20 years of age?! how he isnt playing for ireland and green is is a joke in my opinion! he already is twice the player green will ever be!

its looking good for ireland in a few years IF our players get on, likes of conor clifford and mccarty, garvin, shane long, myler, st.ledger and clark to name but a few, also cunningham and coleman!

Jayob10

flas wrote: »

why would you have to have another look at mccarty, the lad is an english premership regular midfielder and what, 20 years of age?! how he isnt playing for ireland and green is is a joke in my opinion! he already is twice the player green will ever be!

its looking good for ireland in a few years IF our players get on, likes of conor clifford and mccarty, garvin, shane long, myler, st.ledger and clark to name but a few, also cunningham and coleman!

we are well served in midfield for the future I reckon, Meyler and McCarthy will be a good partnership I think.
Less optimistic on Clifford and Garvan.

Coleman, Duffy, Clark and Cunningham will be excellent options at the back.

I think we will struggle to unearth strikers though, to make us even competitive. As much as we slate Keane (and i do alot) he is a goal threat against even excellent sides. There are no obvious options coming through, barring Anthony Stokes kicking on a level.

Shane Long won't cut the mustard if we are honest.

flas

Jayob10 wrote: »

we are well served in midfield for the future I reckon, Meyler and McCarthy will be a good partnership I think.
Less optimistic on Clifford and Garvan.

Coleman, Duffy, Clark and Cunningham will be excellent options at the back.

I think we will struggle to unearth strikers though, to make us even competitive. As much as we slate Keane (and i do alot) he is a goal threat against even excellent sides. There are no obvious options coming through, barring Anthony Stokes kicking on a level.

Shane Long won't cut the mustard if we are honest.

i think shane long now has 3 goals in 4 internationals or some crazy record like that!? maybe he might have a knack for internationals and save his best scoring exploits for ireland, ala keane!

also on conor clifford, i would hold untold optimisim. the lad is playing out of his skin for chelsea reserves and the irish set up when he is involved with the underage.

im hopeful that maybe when these 3 push on and start to flourish that the Irish seniors might have to be dragged into the 21st century and play a different formation than 442 to accomidate the 3 lads! mccarty for the bursts through the middle and his passing, clifford for his vision and ability to string a pass through a key hole and totally unlock a defence and myler for his box to box mentality that he already has instilled in him(longest distance covered EVER in an english premiership game) and his ability to win a ball back and not lose it straight away! i swear i though green was playing 1-2's with the russuians the other night!

Bodhisopha

What about Steven Ireland?

FatherTed

flas wrote: »

i think shane long now has 3 goals in 4 internationals or some crazy record like that!? maybe he might have a knack for internationals and save his best scoring exploits for ireland, ala keane!

also on conor clifford, i would hold untold optimisim. the lad is playing out of his skin for chelsea reserves and the irish set up when he is involved with the underage.

im hopeful that maybe when these 3 push on and start to flourish that the Irish seniors might have to be dragged into the 21st century and play a different formation than 442 to accomidate the 3 lads! mccarty for the bursts through the middle and his passing, clifford for his vision and ability to string a pass through a key hole and totally unlock a defence and myler for his box to box mentality that he already has instilled in him(longest distance covered EVER in an english premiership game) and his ability to win a ball back and not lose it straight away! i swear i though green was playing 1-2's with the russuians the other night!

Maybe Shane Long is our Klose. Crap for his club team but can't stop scoring for his country.

flas

FatherTed wrote: »

Maybe Shane Long is our Klose. Crap for his club team but can't stop scoring for his country.

stranger things have happened!

Gillington

Bodhisopha wrote: »

What about Steven Ireland?

flas wrote: »

stranger things have happened!