We don't want England rejects, blasts Lawrence

Raskolnikov

Liam Lawrence has hit out at players who turn to the Republic of Ireland after failing to win England recognition.

Stoke midfielder Jermaine Pennant and Jamie O'Hara, currently on loan at Wolves, have both suggested they could declare for Ireland, but Lawrence admits their comments have not gone down particularly well with the Irish camp.

Lawrence said: 'The only thing I know upsets us is when people are trying to juggle between England and Ireland.

'That's the only issue, really, and it's not just me saying that. It doesn't look good, does it?

'We don't dislike these people, it is just some of the comments they come out with when they are saying they are juggling between Ireland and England - you just don't want it, do you?'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1369166/Republic-Ireland-dont-want-England-rejects-blasts-Liam-Lawrence.html#ixzz1HQlZ2wqF

massdebater

I think we should have one thread that deals with all these "declaring for Ireland" type stories

SantryRed

Wait, hang on.

Is he not English?

GLaDOS

SantryRed wrote: »

Wait, hang on.

Is he not English?

Yep, qualifies through his grandfather

ctrl-alt-delete

SantryRed wrote: »

Wait, hang on.

Is he not English?

He was born there yes, but according to himself he always had a desire to play for Ireland,

What he is lashing out at here, is players who have never had that intention and are just considering it because their chances of ever playing for the England first team are gone.

Mitch Connor

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

He was born there yes, but according to himself he always had a desire to play for Ireland,

What he is lashing out at here, is players who have never had that intention and are just considering it because their chances of ever playing for the England first team are gone.

that and players like O'Hara who hum and haw about playing for Ireland in the hope they will get picked by England at some point.

He makes a good point - it is about showing respect. Either declare or don't - but be decisive about it.

SantryRed

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

He was born there yes, but according to himself he always had a desire to play for Ireland,

What he is lashing out at here, is players who have never had that intention and are just considering it because their chances of ever playing for the England first team are gone.

Nah I doubt it.

I see he started his career with Mansfield. Which probably means he was never in the eye of the English underage teams either. No wonder he always wanted to play for Ireland because he realised from an early age he wasn't good enough for England.

LuckyLloyd

I have to agree with Lawrence on this one. Being born in England means nothing to me - some of the most committed Internationals we've ever had were born there. But those guys were clearly bursting a gut to play for us from a young age. This diddering and holding out for an England call up before falling back to us as a last resort is bull****.

big_show

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

He was born there yes, but according to himself he always had a desire to play for Ireland,

What he is lashing out at here, is players who have never had that intention and are just considering it because their chances of ever playing for the England first team are gone.

Nail on the head. I don't know much of Liam's back-story about his "desire" to play for Ireland. But he does have a point about players publicly stating they want to play international football.

In my view, players are doing this to play the FA and FAI off each other in terms of trying to secure them while also giving them some much needed media attention and put them in the shop window.

ctrl-alt-delete

SantryRed wrote: »

Nah I doubt it.

I see he started his career with Mansfield. Which probably means he was never in the eye of the English underage teams either. No wonder he always wanted to play for Ireland because he realised from an early age he wasn't good enough for England.

I never said that wasn't the case

According to himself he always wanted to play for Ireland, which could be true, but could be false as you point out and as a result of never being good enough.

He is still lashing out at players who are using it as a last resort for some International football, which is kind of different from himself, because Ireland was his first, if only resort!

I don't agree with him anyways, I don't mind who plays, so long as we pick the best players available to us.

big_show

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

I never said that wasn't the case

According to himself he always wanted to play for Ireland, which could be true, but could be false as you point out and as a result of never being good enough.

He is still lashing out at players who are using it as a last resort for some International football, which is kind of different from himself, because Ireland was his first, if only resort!

I don't agree with him anyways, I don't mind who plays, so long as we pick the best players available to us.

I agree we should get the best players available, still i'd prefer Liam's attitude for having a desire to play.

Lawrence busts a gut for the team and i'd prefer to have him in there instead of someone like Stephen Ireland...


[Edit: IF ireland had of been coxed back...]

parker kent

The best players available thing strikes me as interesting. Sometimes a player with less ability but greater desire to play for a country will actually be the best player available. Not always, but sometimes that is the case.

v3ttel

He is spot on to be fair to him. Yes, he qualifies to through the granny rule, but he nailed his colours to the mast at the very outset of his career. He wanted to play for Ireland and that was that.

Declare early, be decisive, live with your decision and play your heart out for the shirt, if selected. Pennant can f*ck off imho.

LeixlipRed

In fairness, Lawrence is allowed speak his mind on this because, as alluded to by some others, I don't think I've ever seen him give anything less than 100% in an Irish shirt.

NukaCola

Lawrence blasts English rejects :rolleyes:

Hardly, he said nothing out of turn IMO

Joekers

Ye totally agree with Lawrence either they want to play for Ireland or they don't just follow McCarthy and come out and declare straight away jeez:cool:

FlawedGenius

I really like Liam Lawrence.. Il give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he honestly loves Ireland.

tonycascarino

I assume if Lawrence, who was born in Retford, England to English parents had have been anywhere near good enough for England he'd have turned us down no problem. IMO he's only gurning about it now because the likes of Jermaine Pennant plays in his position.

PS. I have no problem with Liam Lawrence but I think he has suffered an irony by-pass.

Chardee MacDennis

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

What he is lashing out at here, is players who have never had that intention and are just considering it because their chances of ever playing for the England first team are gone.

and the fact pennant is better than him and would start ahead of him...

Latchy

I remember Ray Houghton was asked by the then scottish manager at the time ( cant remember his name ) 'why he never requested to be picked for Scotland ' ? His reply was ' You never asked me to ' .

I'm all for 2,3rd generation players playing for Ireland after being requested , as long as they have some Irish in them and it's not just a back door route into playing international football.

Nuigforce

BastardPrince wrote: »

and the fact pennant is better than him and would start ahead of him...

No and No

Ebbs

tonycascarino wrote: »

I assume if Lawrence, who was born in Retford, England to English parents had have been anywhere near good enough for England he'd have turned us down no problem. IMO he's only gurning about it now because the likes of Jermaine Pennant plays in his position.

PS. I have no problem with Liam Lawrence but I think he has suffered an irony by-pass.

Eh...

Id imagine if Keane, Duff, McGeady etc were good enough to play for england, and qualified to play for them...they would.

Paully D

eagle eye

Ebbs wrote: »

Eh...

Id imagine if Keane, Duff, McGeady etc were good enough to play for england, and qualified to play for them...they would.

I don't think you have a clue what you are talking about.

Augmerson

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't think you have a clue what you are talking about.

Why is that eagle?

eagle eye

Augmerson wrote: »

Why is that eagle?

Because it was abundantly clear from a very early age that Damien Duff and Robbie Keane cherished playing for their country. You don't win an U-19 European Championship without that.

Paully D

FlawedGenius wrote: »

I really like Liam Lawrence.. Il give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he honestly loves Ireland.

I also liked him at Sunderland until he decided to film himself and three others roasting a 16 year old girl.

lordgoat

tonycascarino wrote: »

I assume if Lawrence, who was born in Retford, England to English parents had have been anywhere near good enough for England he'd have turned us down no problem. IMO he's only gurning about it now because the likes of Jermaine Pennant plays in his position.

PS. I have no problem with Liam Lawrence but I think he has suffered an irony by-pass.

The only thing more ironic is that it's you tony, pointing all this out.

lordgoat

eagle eye wrote: »

Because it was abundantly clear from a very early age that Damien Duff and Robbie Keane cherished playing for their country. You don't win an U-19 European Championship without that.

much like LL no?

Ebbs

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't think you have a clue what you are talking about.

lordgoat wrote: »

much like LL no?

Lord Goat took the words right out of my mouth. Perhaps the irony also went over your head

noodler

Been saying this for quite a while.

Great point by Lawrence and nice to know this type of crap is not going down well in the dressing room.

dannydiamond

FlawedGenius wrote: »

I really like Liam Lawrence.. Il give him the benefit of the doubt and believe he honestly loves Ireland.

This is pure fantasy tbh.

He may love Ireland now but have no doubt that his first choice would always have been England if he was good enough.

I played to a decent level as a kid in London, both my parents are Irish and my entire family, but all I dreamed of was playing for England and as a striker emulating Gary Lineker.:)
Of course it might be different for him but I was at a catholic school and club with a wealth of good footballers alot of whom were Irish only for their place of birth and never once did I hear a mention of anyone wanting to play for Ireland over England.

The gushing in this thread has me irritated tbh, he might well be the exception to the rule but most kids born and raised in England want to play for England, it's only natural. It's basic playground stuff that's with you from an early age.

As I said my entire family is Irish but when it comes to the footie i'm and England fan all the way, you can't just ignore it,it's just the way of things and my guess is that he's tooting his own horn and making a meal of the latest 'interest' from other English lads.

noodler

dannydiamond wrote: »

This is pure fantasy tbh.

He may love Ireland now but have no doubt that his first choice would always have been England if he was good enough.

Even if that is true (and you are still assuming of course), at least he doesn't publicly tell the media at a grand old age of 26+ that he may "settle" for playing for Ireland now that his England chances have completely vanished.

What must that be like for the lads playing at the moment, trying to prepare for a crucial game?

JerryHandbag

This all takes me back to Billy Bingham (NI manager) and his "bunch of mercenaries" comment back in the WC qualifier in 1993. Using the granny rule will leave us open to such critisism, but hell if it gets us to major tournaments I wont be complaining.

Obviously though I would like to see young Irish born players coming through too, and not be too dependant on players in their late 20s who are "England rejects" as Lawrence puts it.