Richard Dunne retires from Ireland duty.

Agent Coulson

In a statement, the 34-year-old said:

Retiring from international football has been an extremely difficult decision for me to make. I have represented Ireland since I was 15 years of age, and have thoroughly enjoyed all the highs and lows that have come with playing for my country. I will continue to support the team as they embark upon their new campaign under Martin O’Neill, and have every faith that they will qualify for France 2016."

http://www.newstalk.ie/Richard-Dunne-retires-from-Ireland-duty

A great player and will be a huge loss to the Irish International team.

thebaz

since the mid 90s I've struggled to find the passion I had for Ireland through the 80s and early 90s - but some players continued to make me proud to be Irish and that green jersey - Richard been one of the few - talent wise and commitment - his performance in Moscow was up there with McGrath - sublime - best of luck big man.

Drexel

Great player for us. I can't remember which match but it was in the last couple of years where nothing went past him. He practically dislocated him leg to clear it off the line for us

Bounty Hunter

jonny666 wrote: »

Great player for us. I can't remember which match but it was in the last couple of years where nothing went past him. He practically dislocated him leg to clear it off the line for us

the above Mentioned Russia game I'd assume he was imense in that match.

G'wan the Honeymonster!

Witcher

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

the above Mentioned Russia game I'd assume he was imense in that match.

Sorry to see him go.

castletownman

To quote Off the Ball: "Putin is still afraid of him"

Probably the most natural leader we ever had that never was captain in an official capacity, along with Paul McGrath.

Gavlor

Massive loss for Ireland. He wasn't the best at Everton, bright lights of Matthew st saw to that but once he got his act together he turned into a very good centre back.

Seems like a real down to earth fella aswell.

Ganymede Glow

Always gave 110% in an Irish jersey and that will never be forgotten. Sad to see him go, his performance in Russia was nothing short of heroic.

Goodnight sweet prince...

ch20

He will be a huge loss to the Irish Team.That performance against Russia was up their With the greats of football.

Drexel

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

the above Mentioned Russia game I'd assume he was imense in that match.

G'wan the Honeymonster!

Woops didnt see that :pac:

Be he was immense that night

AllGunsBlazing

Heart of a lion, arse of a rhinoceros.

Aenaes

Gutted to see this. He's Ireland's best player and leaves a big gap to be filled beside O'Shea. Clark will probably be chosen as his replacement which doesn't inspire much confidence.

BOHtox

Not the most skilled player ever but that adds even more to the fact he's one of the best servants this country has ever had. His ability to read the game, his physical presence, his leadership and courage will all stick to him well. His best performance probably was against Russia away with monstrous performance. He certainly owes us nothing and hope he has one more season left at the highest level.

Mezcita

Aenaes wrote: »

He's Ireland's best player

Whaaaaaaaa!!??!!!!!

Nunu

Great Irish player.

I don't get why players retire from international football at this time of year. Why not wait until the end of the international calendar in November?

Liam O

An astounding turnaround in his career. The fact he is in a position to retire from internationals with overwhelming praise at 34 is unthinkable from when he was at his lowest point.

Kirby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-If57gRNCg

AgileMyth

Aenaes wrote: »

He's Ireland's best player.

Seamus Coleman is Irelands best player.

bucketybuck

Nunu wrote: »

I don't get why players retire from international football at this time of year. Why not wait until the end of the international calendar in November?

He is probably slogging through pre-season training, if he is struggling with that at 34 it could easily prompt him to make decision like this if he feels like it is time to stop.

Francie Barrett

One of the best defenders to ever wear the green jersey, he will be sorely missed.

RikkFlair

Nunu wrote: »

Great Irish player.

I don't get why players retire from international football at this time of year. Why not wait until the end of the international calendar in November?

He's probably thinking about what age he'd be if Euro qualification is achieved (36) and deciding whether he'll commit to the whole campaign, or not at all.

wandatowell

Great player.

joe123

Don't think I will ever forget that display against Russia.

Al Capwned

He'll be missed. A lot.

And more so when you examine the replacements available to us....

Pighead

Hugely committed player and will be a huge loss to the international set up. He has a tough job holding down a starting spot in QPR now that Rio and Caulker have been signed. It's very possible he could spend the majority of this season sat on the bench. I wonder if he'll regret this decision come November if he hasn't had much game time at QPR.

Aenaes

Mezcita wrote: »

Whaaaaaaaa!!??!!!!!

AgileMyth wrote: »

Seamus Coleman is Irelands best player.

My mistake, I meant to write "defender" but fingers refused to comply.

As regards Coleman, yes he is great at getting forward and that works really well for a team set up as Everton are but Ireland will need to defend first and attack second and his enthusiasm might cost the national team.

Larry Wildman

Agent Coulson wrote: »

A great player and will be a huge loss to the Irish International team.

Not a great player - A good player who performed well for Ireland.

Let's not let out emerald tinted glasses cloud things.

If Dunne was a "great player", he would have been successful at one of the big clubs in England. Instead, he was turfed out by City as soon as they hit the bigtime.

AgileMyth

sugarman wrote: »

Coleman has horrific for Ireland so far, has yet to show a glimpse of his form for Everton in a green shirt.

Horrific is a bit far. He's been surrounded by terrible footballers playing **** football under a useless manager. A manager who took far to long to give him a game in the first place.

Fudge You

sugarman wrote: »

No, its not. He's been horrific.

He tries to play like he does for Everton, but its not possible with our team/system and international football in general. You cant keep going forward all the time and getting caught on the counter. Defending should be first to attacking bar none, and at that, he needs to work more on his defense capabilities, hes still prone to error.

As for surrounded by terrible footballers, would you give over. 4 of the other players are his club team mates whilst most of the rest make a fairly comfortable living playing in premier league week in/out.

And as for not given chances under Trap? He wasnt in the Everton team, and when he was, he played as a RW under Moyes.

So how could he or why would he call him up?

Ridiculous rant there.

I was in Goodison in Dec2009 when Coleman came on against spurs, created two goals, and was man of the match. Everyone near me at the match, asked "who is this chap?". He is loved over there since.
He was Evertons best player last season, and one of the best in the league.

You say he wasnt in the everton team. But according to wiki, he has been playing regular in the first team since 2010/11, playing 34 times in the league. And Trap didnt take him serious until two years later after the euros...
Also, you say Moyes played him right wing, well then, he could have played right wing for Ireland.

I think you just have a lot of hate towards Coleman.

And also, with all your hate towards Coleman, you say in your previous post that Dunne is a "HERO". I remember plenty of times pre "Iron Curtain" match, many thought Dunne wasnt a hero and wasnt great at defending.

And one more thing, your sentence... "He tries to play like he does for Everton, but its not possible with our team/system and international football in general.".... What are you talking about????? In your expert opinion, what is the team system in international football in general?


So to sum up you think, Dunne = Hero & Coleman = Horrific. You are wrong.

I love a good rant on a saturday.

LuckyLloyd

Coleman has not produced his best form for Ireland to date. That can't really be argued imo.

==========================

Dunne was a great servant and turned in some tremendous performances for us in key games over the years. He's had a decent club career too, and played lots of games at the top level over a long stretch. He hasn't been a factor for us since 2012 tbh due to a myriad of injuries. I think this is the right time for him to make the call so that he can maybe hang around the top two tiers of English football for another couple of seasons.

He owes Ireland nothing and I just hope we can find a center half like him sooner rather than later.

anncoates

Richie playing in Tallaght today for QPR against rovers if anybody in area.

Pro. F

Great player for us. Huge loss.