Grealish called "Plastic Paddy"

jacool

The BBC rate the boy -
"Hodgson will be delighted as Grealish is gifted and with the rare talent of having time on the ball even in congested areas, a quality ideally suited to the international stage. And with Arsenal's Jack Wilshere again struggling with injury, the addition of another talented young midfielder to England's ranks alongside the likes of Everton's Ross Barkley - plus other emerging stars such as Spurs' Harry Kane and Everton's John Stones - is a welcome lift for Hodgson and England."
I want him back now.

Hannibal

Two words Grealish should remember... Patrick Bamford. He won't get near England after being promised the world to jump ship.

England want Grealish for the sake of it, he is not at the level or as effective as what McCarthy, Walters, Brady, Hoolahan have been all season or last season. Check their stats.

Grealish wouldn't get into or near the starting XI of Liverpool, Arsenal, Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Everton or Spurs.

Grealish should be considered as just another Rooney, Scholes and to a lesser extent Darren Fletcher. Nice if we had them but never much chance of it, except he won't get near the career of them lads.

Corholio

Hannibal wrote: »

England want Grealish for the sake of it, he is not at the level or as effective as what McCarthy, Walters, Brady, Hoolahan have been all season or last season. Check their stats.
.

Soo.....a predominantly defensive central midfielder, a striker played on the wing, a left footed left back and a 30+something playmaker. Hoolohan is the only one even close to being able to compare. Grealish is 19 and I think once he settles into the team he'll do fine and have an impact in games. I love all the people completely writing him off despite only seeing him in a a few games, and if you say you've watched him a lot then you would also see the talent that he has. I wouldn't be quite as enthralled with him yet as other Villa fans are, I still think he had a lot to learn about the game when he doesn't have the ball and also needs to toughen up a bit. However he's more comfortable with the ball than anyone I've seen in the Irish setup. I do think he needs to find the proper position to suit him though, he needs players around him to do other types of work so I think that's something he can improve on a lot.

Soups123

Hannibal wrote: »

Two words Grealish should remember... Patrick Bamford. He won't get near England after being promised the world to jump ship.

England want Grealish for the sake of it, he is not at the level or as effective as what McCarthy, Walters, Brady, Hoolahan have been all season or last season. Check their stats.

Grealish wouldn't get into or near the starting XI of Liverpool, Arsenal, Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Everton or Spurs.

Grealish should be considered as just another Rooney, Scholes and to a lesser extent Darren Fletcher. Nice if we had them but never much chance of it, except he won't get near the career of them lads.

Agreed he is nowhere near Englands radar if it wasnt for the fact he was coming here. There are so many players offering more than him, tbf to him if he feels English and knows its a hard ask well then that earns more respect.

Francie Barrett

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Firstly, Grealish doesn't play in the lower leagues and secondly, Grealish has clearly had a desire to play for us at some point given that he refused English call-up's in order to play for us from under 17 level to under 21 level. It's pretty clear that at some point - he's had his head turned for him.

God love him, it's all someone else's fault, sure the poor fellow could hardly be expected to make up his own mind.

Did you ever consider that maybe his head was "turned" all those times he played for Ireland as a kid, and now he's an adult he's thinking it's time to assert what he really wants?

Hannibal

Soups123 wrote:

Agreed he is nowhere near Englands radar if it wasnt for the fact he was coming here. There are so many players offering more than him, tbf to him if he feels English and knows its a hard ask well then that earns more respect.

I think if he felt English he would've been there all along, with his supposed talent he should have made their youth teams.

I'm hearing call ups for Ibe and Grealish since the start of the season, only for their heritage there wouldn't have been a word of it.

Ormus

Looks like a nice player, seems more English than Irish, hope it works out for him.

Some of the replies here are hilarious. Like a teenager getting rejected by a girl and then saying I never liked her anyway and I hope she gets fat.

DeclanRe

Not to fussed we lost him. He's alright, doubt he'll ever make a huge impact on the england team. But he's made his choice so best of luck to him.
Personally I'll be much more disappointed if Dan Crowley doesn't declare for Ireland!

Omackeral

Nib wrote: »

Statement from Jack Grealish:



I hope he didn't pay someone for that.

A lot of grown Irish men throwing abuse at him on Twitter. Embarrassing.

As ive seen elsewhere, the irony of Irish people being outraged over a person picking an English team over an Irish team.

TheCitizen

bobbysands81 wrote: »

Man (Jack Grealish) who chooses English team over Irish team gets slated by men who choose English teams (Man U etc...) over Irish teams.

Nationality is a complex thing. Best of luck Jack.

That's bullsht Bobby. There's plenty of players over the years who were eligible for Ireland but chose to play for England and none of them were slated, why would they be, it's entirely their choice and they weren't born in Ireland anyway. Grealish is different, he is being slated because he has dragged out the process in a cynical and dishonest fashion. No-one in their right mind would criticize him for playing for England, he was born there, it's the way he has conducted himself over the last year or more that is attracting the criticism.

jmayo

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

What if you're from a country and your dad is from another, and your mother is from a different one?

Zlatan Ibrahimović has Croat mother, Bosnian father and was born in Sweden.

ceegee wrote: »

Jones had a Welsh granny so was just as Welsh as many of our players are Irish

Surely someone on his father's side (Jones ) has Welsh connections.

We can't talk as we got McGeady, Gibson, McClean even though they played school boy and higher for Scotland and NI.

What has been really bad about this is how bloody long he has dragged it out and how it looks like it is really a commerical decision.

For that alone I hope he enjoys his few caps and falls on his ar**.

Ormus

jmayo wrote: »

Zlatan Ibrahimović has Croat mother, Bosnian father and was born in Sweden.



Surely someone on his father's side (Jones ) has Welsh connections.

We can't talk as we got McGeady, Gibson, McClean even though they played school boy and higher for Scotland and NI.

What has been really bad about this is how bloody long he has dragged it out and how it looks like it is really a commerical decision.

For that alone I hope he enjoys his few caps and falls on his ar**.

I seem to remember McGeady dragging it out for a while too, and maybe McCarthy?

It's only a drag if you read the tabloids every day. Grealish is only a kid.

Omackeral

Omackeral wrote: »

As ive seen elsewhere, the irony of Irish people being outraged over a person picking an English team over an Irish team.

I don't think too many are outraged that he selected England, that's his choice, it was the messing around and delay while his agent helped him search his soul that naturally provoked cynicism.

Strumms

Omackeral wrote: »

As ive seen elsewhere, the irony of Irish people being outraged over a person picking an English team over an Irish team.

I agree to a point. But 'English' players who chose to represent us.. How many of them if any would have made the English team of their time ? I'd struggle to name one.

Couldn't give a **** about Grealish wanting to play for the country of his birth. He would have been a great asset for us but as far as England go I'd be amazed if he made it to 15 caps he is a decent player but not world class. Still I doubt a decision he will regret.. Ultimately he will make a great living either way.

tayto lover

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't think too many are outraged that he selected England, that's his choice, it was the messing around and delay while his agent helped him search his soul that naturally provoked cynicism.

Not to mention that he's a very average footballer.
We wont miss him.

jmayo

Strumms wrote: »

I agree to a point. But 'English' players who chose to represent us.. How many of them if any would have made the English team of their time ? I'd struggle to name one.

Couldn't give a **** about Grealish wanting to play for the country of his birth. He would have been a great asset for us but as far as England go I'd be amazed if he made it to 15 caps he is a decent player but not world class. Still I doubt a decision he will regret.. Ultimately he will make a great living either way.

Mark Lawrenson would definitely have been in the England team of early to mid 80s.
He was part of Liverpool's centre half partnership.

Strumms

Strumms wrote: »

I agree to a point. But 'English' players who chose to represent us.. How many of them if any would have made the English team of their time ? I'd struggle to name one.

Lawrenson, Aldridge and Hughton?

Ormus

Deleted User wrote: »

Lawrenson, Aldridge and Hughton?

Townsend

Strumms

Ormus wrote: »

Townsend

Not a chance.. only one mentioned is perhaps Lawrenson... talking about getting in the team as opposed to the squad...

Mr.Nice Guy

I'm glad the saga is over. It hasn't reflected well on us and only served to highlight how starved we are for talent.

Some of the flak he has been getting is cringeworthy. I've heard of jilter lovers, but jilted fans?

Only thing more embarrassing would be if we played England in a friendly and he featured. You just know he'd be booed out of the building by the sour grapes brigade. Best fans in the world alright - at having a whinge. Get Joe Duffy on the case.

Strumms

Strumms wrote: »

Not a chance.. only one mentioned is perhaps Lawrenson... talking about getting in the team as opposed to the squad...

I think Hughton would have easily displaced Kenny Sansom, who racked up over 80 caps at left back at a time when Arsenal were poor while Spurs won a couple of FA Cups and a UEFA Cup.

Aldridge was a late developer but would have been hard for an England team to overlook him when he was banging them in for Liverpool and England were capping Steve Bull and Alan Smith.

Townsend was captain at Villa, but not sure he would have featured regularly in the England side with the likes of Ince and Batty, would have made the bench though.

SantryRed

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I'm glad the saga is over. It hasn't reflected well on us and only served to highlight how starved we are for talent.

Some of the flak he has been getting is cringeworthy. I've heard of jilter lovers, but jilted fans?

Only thing more embarrassing would be if we played England in a friendly and he featured. You just know he'd be booed out of the building by the sour grapes brigade. Best fans in the world alright - at having a whinge. Get Joe Duffy on the case.

Ah come on, it's part of football! Of course he'd be booed, and he'd be booed for the whole game. And rightly so too!

TheCitizen

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I'm glad the saga is over. It hasn't reflected well on us and only served to highlight how starved we are for talent.

Some of the flak he has been getting is cringeworthy. I've heard of jilter lovers, but jilted fans?

Only thing more embarrassing would be if we played England in a friendly and he featured. You just know he'd be booed out of the building by the sour grapes brigade. Best fans in the world alright - at having a whinge. Get Joe Duffy on the case.

This is such a pathetic attitude. Grealish deserves to get flak for the cynical and dishonest way he dragged out the process. Obviously it's great to move on and in the large scheme of things it's not that important but he can expect criticism - not on the decision - but for the way he has acted on this thing over the last year.

bobbysands81

TheCitizen wrote: »

That's bullsht Bobby. There's plenty of players over the years who were eligible for Ireland but chose to play for England and none of them were slated, why would they be, it's entirely their choice and they weren't born in Ireland anyway. Grealish is different, he is being slated because he has dragged out the process in a cynical and dishonest fashion. No-one in their right mind would criticize him for playing for England, he was born there, it's the way he has conducted himself over the last year or more that is attracting the criticism.

Plenty of people are slating him for choosing England.

I agree with you that he has handled this terribly.

Korat

I wish him all the best in his one cap international career.

TheCitizen

bobbysands81 wrote: »

Plenty of people are slating him for choosing England.

I agree with you that he has handled this terribly.

Well if you agree that he's handled it terribly why are you acting surprised that he's coming in for some flak. It's the way he did it, not what he's done that has irked a lot of people including Roy Hodgson by the way who was annoyed by him as well. There are even people who were criticising MON and Keane for him switching, ridiculous. Grealish has been a pain in the hole, he deserves flak and no luck.

Mr.Nice Guy

TheCitizen wrote: »

This is such a pathetic attitude. Grealish deserves to get flak for the cynical and dishonest way he dragged out the process. Obviously it's great to move on and in the large scheme of things it's not that important but he can expect criticism - not on the decision - but for the way he has acted on this thing over the last year.

Why get upset because an Englishman born and raised in England has decided to represent England?

He didn't drag out any process. O'Neill and Keane gave him plenty of time and set no deadline on a decision. It was only recently that Hodgson urged him to make up his mind quickly - which he has now done.

Roy Keane speaking on the issue in the past said:

He's a really nice kid. People have been too hard on him lately, and if he comes and plays for us, brilliant. But if he goes and plays for England, then you have got to respect the decision. Whether you like it or not is irrelevant. You have got to accept it.

That's a much better way of looking at things. The decision hasn't gone our way which is a shame, but all of the begrudgery thrown his way is not only pathetic but classless.

We should get our own house in order instead of whingeing that the neighbours have come and taken back their furniture.

Mr.Nice Guy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Roy Keane speaking on the issue in the past said...

He also said...

"I don't ask him anymore. You don't want to pester people but, unfortunately, a lot would be coming from Jack's dad. We could be waiting a long bloody while, knowing his dad".

Remarkably, when he suggested that the decision would be made by the father and he would delay it...that was almost a year ago!

TheCitizen

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Why get upset because an Englishman born and raised in England has decided to represent England?

He didn't drag out any process. O'Neill and Keane gave him plenty of time and set no deadline on a decision. It was only recently that Hodgson urged him to make up his mind quickly - which he has now done.

Roy Keane speaking on the issue in the past said:



That's a much better way of looking at things. The decision hasn't gone our way which is a shame, but all of the begrudgery thrown his way is not only pathetic but classless.

We should get our own house in order instead of whingeing that the neighbours have come and taken back their furniture.

No-one has a problem with the decision he made, I don't anyway,it's the way he dragged it out that annoyed people. He deserves criticism, it will blow over and we can all move on from this boring tedious saga. The best thing about it is it's over and at the next round of matches we won't be hearing about it again.

~Rebel~

magma69 wrote: »

What constitutes someone or Irish decent who is genuine?

I think it shouldn't go more than one generation. If you're from a country and your parents are from the same country, that's who you play for.

That's a dangerous thing to start changing...it's not a football issue. it has nothing to do with football. If you're entitled to an Irish passport and Irish citizenship, you're entitled to play for the national team.

So if you want to change that, you're kind of changing the whole concept of international football if suddenly perfectly legal citizens are no longer acceptable. Alternatively, you try to change the actual national legal stance on what qualifies you for citizenship, which seems an insane step to take for someones opinion on football.

IMO the more doors that get opened for people internationally the better, the world is segregated enough. Football is the least of my concerns in this sense.

johnny osbourne

we'd be way better off selecting a team from the LOI, if u saw the quality of footbal played between dundalk and cork last year, compared to what we played in poland, nuf said

micks

Strumms wrote: »

I agree to a point. But 'English' players who chose to represent us.. How many of them if any would have made the English team of their time ? I'd struggle to name one.

Couldn't give a **** about Grealish wanting to play for the country of his birth. He would have been a great asset for us but as far as England go I'd be amazed if he made it to 15 caps he is a decent player but not world class. Still I doubt a decision he will regret.. Ultimately he will make a great living either way.

Paul McGrath definitely would

David O'Leary would have had a good shot

Lawerenson as you agreed

Aldridge would have been close also

johnny osbourne

ooh ah paul mcgrath said ooh ah paul mcgrath

Lovely Bloke

McGrath and O'Leary, while born in England, Ireland can hardly claim they got them instead of England - those players were Irishmen, McGrath for sure, raised here, played up through the Irish schoolboy system and then on to SPA before heading over to England. Doubt he ever entertained thoughts of playing for England.

Strumms

O'Leary the same.. grew up around the corner from me.. Irish parents... Not even a debate.

fryup

Korat wrote: »

I wish him all the best in his one cap international career.

maybe secretly thats all he wants, some players look upon international football as a pain in the @rse

(eg stephen ireland)

NIMAN

Can't blame him to be honest.

His logic is probably - declare for England, become a capped young English lion, get a few marketing deals based on this, become more desirable to the likes of Arsenal, Utd, City, Chelsea, get CL football, more marketing deals etc etc.

Declare for Ireland, play more often for a less successful country, will it bring the same future in terms of transfer to big clubs, makreting deals etc?

I don't think so, and I am sure this was a large part of his thinking. He wants to be considered in the same circles as Sterling, Henderson, Sturridge, Wilshere, Delph, Shaw etc, not the likes of Robbie Brady, Shane Long, James McCarthy,Jeff Hendrick.

fryup

maybe he justs feels english

NIMAN

If you are born and raised in a country, there's a fair chance you'll feel attachment to it I suppose.

jmayo

NIMAN wrote: »

If you are born and raised in a country, there's a fair chance you'll feel attachment to it I suppose.

A bit like Diego Costa, Thiago Motta, Deco, Pepe, Eduardo da Silva, Rakitic, Kevin-Prince Boateng

We are not the only country to have foreign born and bred players.

Hell England themselves have had Owen Hargreaves, John Barnes and a whole slew of u21s.

The_Kew_Tour

Look at France!! Their WC team had few abroad.

Ireland was first to use the granny rule proper, but nowadays all big countries use it too

TheDoc

Ormus wrote: »

Looks like a nice player, seems more English than Irish, hope it works out for him.

Some of the replies here are hilarious. Like a teenager getting rejected by a girl and then saying I never liked her anyway and I hope she gets fat.

You know there was plenty of us, who have failed to buy into the hype machine Grealish father has expertly spun, and really didn't see all the fuss.

It was blatantly obvious to me early on he was holding out for assurances from the FA regarding England which would provide him more financial clout going forward in his career.

I don't watch Villa much, but have seen him a few times and like any player that age its all talk about potential. Flashes here and there. He, like so many others, can go on to do great things, or go on and do very little. totally up to him.

I personally don't like when players play out in public little tug of wars and spin their own media and hype. Our national team was being used here as a bait, as it has done by so many in the past wanting the English FA to make a move. That a young player who has done little to nothing bar odd flashes would seek assurances from a football organisation of some assurances, doesn't sit well with me at all.

It's not even a "wish him all the best", I don't care either way. His father and those around him spun a media and PR machine to raise the profile of his son, that was lapped up by everyone pretty much in the press and around fans of both nations.

Grealish was not a player even being discussed last year, or on anyones radar in England regarding "we should grab him".

Doubt he will make the Euro squad for England but time is very much on his side.

But as a few English pundits and journalists have commented after the news " oh thats nice". He really isn't on the radar for the immediate future of this England squad imo. And the dilly dallying will backfire against him in the short term, as I doubt Hodgson will mix that squad up much ahead of the Euros.

citytillidie

Guess the FAI now knows what it is like to be the IFA

Corholio

NIMAN wrote: »

If you are born and raised in a country, there's a fair chance you'll feel attachment to it I suppose.

Sure it's only taken him a few years to realise it :pac:

Barely There

TheCitizen wrote: »

This is such a pathetic attitude. Grealish deserves to get flak for the cynical and dishonest way he dragged out the process. Obviously it's great to move on and in the large scheme of things it's not that important but he can expect criticism - not on the decision - but for the way he has acted on this thing over the last year.

People desperately casting around for a 'politically correct' reason to boo him seem to have settled on the 'he took too long to decide' option in the hope it will make them seem less small-minded.


What a shame that the timeframe he took for the decision didn't fit in with the 'Bash F5, give me everything now' generation.

Kermit.de.frog

Pretty sad nowadays when even the country you play for is influenced by money which is ultimately what has gone on here. Predictable though. The sport turns in to a bigger joke every week.

That's why I have fallen out with it. Bunch of overpaid primadonnas.

death1234567

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Pretty sad nowadays when even the country you play for is influenced by money which is ultimately what has gone on here. Predictable though. The sport turns in to a bigger joke every week.

That's why I have fallen out with it. Bunch of overpaid primadonnas.

To be honest I think a lot of the premier league "stars" don't give two sh1ts about international football. They want to play in the champions league not in a Euro's or World Cup.

tayto lover

Are there many posters who believe that Grealish will get more than 10 caps with England?

I don't incidentally.

TheCitizen

Barely There wrote: »

People desperately casting around for a 'politically correct' reason to boo him seem to have settled on the 'he took too long to decide' option in the hope it will make them seem less small-minded.


What a shame that the timeframe he took for the decision didn't fit in with the 'Bash F5, give me everything now' generation.

Nonsensical post. Grealish is being criticised because he delayed his decision for commercial reasons in a cynical, dishonest fashion. If he had made his decision for genuine reasons, it would not have taken him a year to do so.

Most people have no problem with him choosing to play for England - I certainly don't - but people are entitled to have a go at him for being dishonest and cynical and dragging the arse out of the whole thing. That has been spelled out to lots of posters here on numerous occasions, you're just another knee jerker that won't accept that point.

NIMAN

death1234567 wrote: »

To be honest I think a lot of the premier league "stars" don't give two sh1ts about international football. They want to play in the champions league not in a Euro's or World Cup.

Tell that to Gareth Bale, I am sure he is dying to play in the Euro's next year.