Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2020/2021 - see Mod Note in OP [18/11/20]

Bridge93

Cypriot league does present a reasonable step up from Ireland on the face of it although I do think our perception of them is somewhat overblown by the successes of APOEL. They’ve been a long way the best there for a while.

Having said that, bad season this year aside, if you’re to go to Cyprus apoel is certainly the place to be. As other have said you never know who else on the Mediterranean is watching

TheadoreT

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Part of what's particularly interesting about this for me at least, is that it could well be the beginning of a different type of career for Irish players. The English leagues approach over the past decade or so has led to us developing a very specific type of hard-slogging player. I'm interested to see what a more continental approach to our players growth might bring us. Would have to wonder where Jack's career might have gone if he'd built on his success in Cambuur and gone to another Dutch club instead of Wigan and Oldham etc. Cullen at Anderlecht is another very interesting one to watch.

He's hardly unique in doing this, pretty similar to Cillian Sheridan who went out there at a similar age after failing in Britain. I find it a bit of a stretch to make this a positive in terms of his future with us or for setting a trend for others to follow but we'll cling on to the most teneous bit of hope right now.

~Rebel~

TheadoreT wrote: »

He's hardly unique in doing this, pretty similar to Cillian Sheridan who went out there at a similar age after failing in Britain. I find it a bit of a stretch to make this a positive in terms of his future with us or for setting a trend for others to follow but we'll cling on to the most teneous bit of hope right now.

Given that you can count the people who have done it on one hand - it's pretty unique.

And it's even more interesting that players with a higher ceiling than Sheridan are doing it now too.

Sure it's up to yourself whether its a positive or not. I don't know that it's a positive for sure, but it's at least intriguing to watch. And I do hope that we see more Irish players playing across Europe and in the MLS, because why the fuck not? To date they've mostly been funneled into one channel, where there's a whole wide world of decent football out there.

The obvious reason was the British scouting system grabbing up our best kids (and swiftly spitting most of them back out), but with that potentially being on the verge of change, it's worth watching (for me at least) how the Irish footballing landscape reacts. Byrne and Cullen are toes dipped in the water that I'll keep an eye on myself anyway... (but no-one is saying you have to).

Aren't there visa and work permit issues now, to add to the many other reasons why someone might prefer Cyprus to Rotherham...

johnnyryan89

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Aren't there visa and work permit issues now, to add to the many other reasons why someone might prefer Cyprus to Rotherham...

Don't think Irish players are affected by the new rules surrounding visas and work permits.

kksaints

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Don't think Irish players are affected by the new rules surrounding visas and work permits.

Only Irish players under-18 are affected.

Francie Barrett

Obafemi crocked, Swansea loan deal apparently off.

~Rebel~

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Obafemi crocked, Swansea loan deal apparently off.

oh no! Ah that's a bloody disaster. Woud've been perfect for him and all.

gormdubhgorm

The Big Easy wrote: »

It's 21 degrees and sunny in Nicosia tbf :pac:

Yeah, you'd hope he has thought it out and won't be regretting it, if and when Mick gets the chop.

Either way it's not the usual and I'd prefer him to there than the LOI graveyard that is Preston for example

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

He multiplied his salary by 3 or 4 and plays in a more competitive league than the one he left.
A couple of years there will put him more in the shop window and see where he ends up when he reaches his peak at 27/28.
Not a bad move imo. Certainly a more attractive destination than somewhere like Blackburn.

Good luck to him. Nice to see Irish guys look past England and Scotland.

I think it is a shrewd move by Byrne. Mick will make him the focal point of the side. It will be less of the hustle and bustle type football that would be in England. So he should get time on the ball. Nicer weather as well as is said above.

Francie Barrett

Bridge93 wrote: »

Cypriot league does present a reasonable step up from Ireland on the face of it although I do think our perception of them is somewhat overblown by the successes of APOEL. They’ve been a long way the best there for a while.

Having said that, bad season this year aside, if you’re to go to Cyprus apoel is certainly the place to be. As other have said you never know who else on the Mediterranean is watching

I think it's a move that makes sense. In terms of quality, it will be a step up, he will also be getting to play with the best team in the league (in budget, for the moment at least), he will probably be earning a multiple of the wage he was on in the past, and he's also got Mick to watch his back. Mick has specifically said APOEL lack a creative player, so it looks like Byrne is going to be front and centre of his plans.

I think he has every chance of being able to replicate the type of game he at Rovers, and if he does so, I am sure he will be featuring in Ireland squads to come. At the same time, the pressure is going to be huge, APOEL are the biggest team in Cyprus and will expect results.

Captain Havoc

I know nothing about Cypriot football so I don't feel I can comment on the level of the league but APOEL are regulars in European group stages which is a great shop window if they can get there again next season.

The Big Easy

Captain Havoc wrote: »

I know nothing about Cypriot football so I don't feel I can comment on the level of the league but APOEL are regulars in European group stages which is a great shop window if they can get there again next season.

That's the thing, they are very unlikely to be in Europe next season.

Pogue eile

Genuinely surprised and shocked and amazed at the number of Cypriot League exerts we have here, very impressive I have to say!

weldoninhio

Pogue eile wrote: »

Genuinely surprised and shocked and amazed at the number of Cypriot League exerts we have here, very impressive I have to say!

Having read the thread, no one has claimed to be an expert, quite the opposite in fact. Most have stated they've no clue about the league. Don't let that get in the way of your sneering though. :rolleyes:

Pawwed Rig

Pogue eile wrote: »

Genuinely surprised and shocked and amazed at the number of Cypriot League exerts we have here, very impressive I have to say!

It doesn't take much expertise to look at a league table, the league rankings according to UEFA and a couple of years of European football results.

Pogue eile

weldoninhio wrote: »

Having read the thread, no one has claimed to be an expert, quite the opposite in fact. Most have stated they've no clue about the league. Don't let that get in the way of your sneering though. :rolleyes:

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

It doesn't take much expertise to look at a league table, the league rankings according to UEFA and a couple of years of European football results.

Well we have lads commenting on the style of football and how it will be so different from England, how exactly can you tell that from a league table.

And how does European results and co-efficients allow for comparison with Championship and League 1 when teams from them competitions don't compete in Europe?

TheadoreT

Would like to see us call up the young English lad Smallbone before he becomes a regular at Southampton. Heard Andy Reid on 5 live last season call him the best young talent to play for our underage sides.

Need to be catching these lads young before their English dreams become a reality.

TheadoreT

Speaking of our English players I wonder if many of our current lot have irish passports. Probably doubtful. Likely they'll have to go through different custom queues for away days now, not exactly great for team moral.

johnnyryan89

TheadoreT wrote: »

Would like to see us call up the young English lad Smallbone before he becomes a regular at Southampton. Heard Andy Reid on 5 live last season call him the best young talent to play for our underage sides.

Need to be catching these lads young before their English dreams become a reality.

I don't think there's any fear of him jumping ship to England. Now he's technically gifted, and highly rated, but England have a few midfielders who are technically gifted, highly rated, but more importantly aren't as injury prone as Smallbone.

Only for the injuries I think he'd already have made his international debut. He never got to play as much underage football because of injuries, which meant he wasn't working with Kenny when he took over the U21s. Think he was also injured for some of the nation's league games when lads from the U21s had to be brought up as cover.

TheadoreT

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

I don't think there's any fear of him jumping ship to England. Now he's technically gifted, and highly rated, but England have a few midfielders who are technically gifted, highly rated, but more importantly aren't as injury prone as Smallbone.

I guess it depends how much he rates his own ability. I'd say he might have a wait and see period, and if things dont quite work out how he hopes he'll revert to us as a kinda sloppy second. It's the best we can hope for these days.

I'd say theres a possibility we tried calling him up already and he declined for now and the news isnt being broadcasted as it's a terrible look for us.

johnnyryan89

TheadoreT wrote: »

I'd say theres a possibility we tried calling him up already and he declined for now and the news isnt being broadcasted as it's a terrible look for us.

Highly doubt it. He played with the U21s in October 2020, and can't see where he'd have turned down a senior call up when no games were played when he made his debut for Southampton until Kenny took over, and was never getting called up for Kenny's first two games since we had the play off game in October.

Tchaikovsky

His mother is Irish which would make it less likely than the others who switched back to Perfidious.

Who would dare disappoint an Irish mammy?

Tchaikovsky

TheadoreT wrote: »

Speaking of our English players I wonder if many of our current lot have irish passports. Probably doubtful. Likely they'll have to go through different custom queues for away days now, not exactly great for team moral.

All of them have to have Irish passports, surely? I remember some accounts of players having their debuts held up because they were waiting for their Irish passport to be processed.

johnnyryan89

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

His mother is Irish which would make it less likely than the others who switched back to Perfidious.

Who would dare disappoint an Irish mammy?

A reason why I don't think we'd be viewed as sloppy seconds, the lads half Irish rather than being qualified through a grandparent.

While yes being born and bred in England means lads will view them as their first choice because they grew up there, but he's also come through the Southampton youth team with at least five other Irish youth internationals as teammates. One being Thomas O'Connor whose from Kilkenny, where Smallbones family are from. He probably sees himself as being half English half Irish, and would be proud to represent either country.

weldoninhio

TheadoreT wrote: »

Speaking of our English players I wonder if many of our current lot have irish passports. Probably doubtful. Likely they'll have to go through different custom queues for away days now, not exactly great for team moral.

All of them will have Irish passports, no?

TheadoreT

weldoninhio wrote: »

All of them will have Irish passports, no?

Perhaps they do, wouldn't have seen the need until now given we were all European but perhaps it was a logistical requirement to play for a country to have one.

Francie Barrett

TheadoreT wrote: »

Speaking of our English players I wonder if many of our current lot have irish passports. Probably doubtful. Likely they'll have to go through different custom queues for away days now, not exactly great for team moral.

It's been a FIFA requirement for quite some time that a player must possess and be able to present a passport for the nation which they are representing. Therefore all our players will have Irish passports.

Francie Barrett

https://www.otbsports.com/sport/ireland-underage-international-ryan-johansson-declares-sweden-agent-954938

Ryan Johansson has seemingly ended speculation over his international future and declared for Sweden.

....

Johansson acquired a Luxembourg passport at age 12, but his failure to apply for Irish citizenship before his first underage appearance for Luxembourg provided added complications.

Following an indication that he wished to continue playing for Ireland late last year, he was informed by FIFA that he would not be able to continue in a green jersey as he had not applied for an Irish passport.

gormdubhgorm

Pogue eile wrote: »

Genuinely surprised and shocked and amazed at the number of Cypriot League exerts we have here, very impressive I have to say!

weldoninhio wrote: »

Having read the thread, no one has claimed to be an expert, quite the opposite in fact. Most have stated they've no clue about the league. Don't let that get in the way of your sneering though. :rolleyes:

Ronnie Whelan managed in Cyprus 20 years ago:

https://www.the42.ie/ronnie-whelan-interview-christmas-3766389-Dec2017/

"Olympiakos Nicosia of Cyprus was the next port of call.

“The wages were half of what I was earning in Greece, but they are more British over there so it was easier to adapt. It was great for two or three years.

“I understood the team and we were just building it slowly and then we managed to climb to second in the league.

“I was due a big bonus if we got into Europe and I don’t think the new chairman they got wanted to pay me that, so he sacked me with three games to go. I thought ‘**** this.’

I then went to Apollon Limassol for a bit after that. I couldn’t hack it there either. It was the same old things. To be honest, I didn’t need that in my life anymore."

In Europe APOEL have a decent record

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APOEL_FC_in_European_football

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APOEL_FC#The_domestic_domination_of_the_last_fifteen_years


"APOEL's first great run in European competitions came in 2002, when the team was knocked out on the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, entered the UEFA Cup and reached the second round of the competition. The following years, APOEL qualified four times for the UEFA Champions League group stages (2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2017–18), and managed to reach the quarter-finals in the 2011–12 season. The team also participated in the group stages of the 2013–14, 2015–16 & 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, managing to reach the last 16 of the competition in the 2016-17 season."

Their most notable win was against Lyon in a penalty shootout to reach the Quarter Finals of the Champions League in 2012.

https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/01fb-0e7c4364f0b4-d33095de1f71-1000/

To give an idea of the standard of the squad - it is easier to look at squad values for contrast.


APOEL: 15.8m

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/apoel-nikosia/startseite/verein/2784


--

Preston North End: 29.79m

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/preston-north-end/startseite/verein/466

Aberdeen: 10.46m

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/aberdeen-fc/startseite/verein/370

Shamrock Rovers: 1.31m

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/shamrock-rovers/startseite/verein/3258


--


There are 23 foreign players (non-cypriots) playing for APOEL

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/apoel-nikosia/legionaere/verein/2784


And not just from Greece (only two of them). The players are from all over Europe and there is even a few African and South American players.

Nicosia derby 2019 Omonia v APOEL 0-0

The White Feather

Byrne is a sub in tonights game

johnnyryan89

sugarman wrote: »

Shane Duffy looks set to leave Celtic early to link up with Chris Hughton again at Nottingham Forrest in the Championship.

Could be exactly what he needs to get himself back on track.

If he wants to be guaranteed of his place come March he needs to leave Celtic. Did say before that until he messes up in an Ireland shirt he'll start for us, but with Clark back playing now and if O'Shea continues to start for West Brom then you couldn't pick a poor Duffy to start just because he never messed up in an Ireland. Even if he gets his move and plays well, he'll still be playing in a team that's currently battling relegation while Collins is starting for a team that's fighting for the play offs.

johnnyryan89

The White Feather wrote: »

Byrne is a sub in tonights game

If anyone wants to watch this you might find a link for it on Gavin Cooneys twitter page.

adaminho

https://twitter.com/football_ie/status/1346523704977731587

Pawwed Rig

Should have stayed in Holland.

TheadoreT

Say what you want about APOEL but that's a lovely team sheet.

adaminho

https://twitter.com/GetafeCF/status/1346475317280481280
Joh Joe Patrick Finn started but came off at half time in a 1-0 loss.

johnnyryan89

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Should have stayed in Holland.

If he joined Birmingham then there's the possibility that he wanted to return home. Think he's from the Solihull area, so his family home wouldn't be far from Birmingham. Another Solihull lad and qualifies for us is Callum O'Hare. Whose currently playing good stuff with Coventry.

adaminho

Speaking of Copa del Rey
https://twitter.com/noriordan/status/1346382127202496516

adaminho

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

If he joined Birmingham then there's the possibility that he wanted to return home. Think he's from the Solihull area, so his family home wouldn't be far from Birmingham. Another Solihull lad and qualifies for us is Callum O'Hare. Whose currently playing good stuff with Coventry.

I think it was a case of moving closer plus trying to force his way into the Irish team. I think it draws a lot of parallels with Byrne in that he may have been better off staying where he was instead of a move to an English club where he didn't fit the style!

~Rebel~

I see Greg Vanney has just been hired as LA Galaxy manager, so that puts to bed the Robbie Keane rumours there. So he stays on the FAI payroll another while!

Can only hope Vanney brings him back over as an assistant or something, but I'd doubt it.

johnnyryan89

adaminho wrote: »

I think it was a case of moving closer plus trying to force his way into the Irish team. I think it draws a lot of parallels with Byrne in that he may have been better off staying where he was instead of a move to an English club where he didn't fit the style!

And if it wasn't for the Luxembourg FA he'd probably have a handful caps for us by now I'd say. One club he's being linked to is Coventry, where Mark Robins has been doing a good job since taking over.

johnnyryan89

sugarman wrote: »

Byrne got on for the final 5 mins tonight, APOEL lost 2-1. Mick probably on borrowed time there.

Four losses in a row, probably already sacked him the way they've went through managers lately. Should give Paul Cook a ring, unemployed since he left Wigan and his teams play some decent ball for lower league teams.

Pawwed Rig

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Four losses in a row, probably already sacked him the way they've went through managers lately. Should give Paul Cook a ring, unemployed since he left Wigan and his teams play some decent ball for lower league teams.

It's Alderdyce they need at this stage

adaminho

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

It's Alderdyce they need at this stage

Well he does have a LOI background!

adaminho

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

And if it wasn't for the Luxembourg FA he'd probably have a handful caps for us by now I'd say. One club he's being linked to is Coventry, where Mark Robins has been doing a good job since taking over.

Surely you're on about Ryan Nolan?

johnnyryan89

adaminho wrote: »

Surely you're on about Ryan Nolan?

Ryan Johansson, Nolan's originally from Clare.

adaminho

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Ryan Johansson, Nolan's originally from Clare.

Apologies, got my Ryan's mixed up. AFAIK Crowley is still qualified for Ireland though? I know there was an issue when Mick first contacted him.

johnnyryan89

adaminho wrote: »

Apologies, got my Ryan's mixed up. AFAIK Crowley is still qualified for Ireland though? I know there was an issue when Mick first contacted him.

Since the rule changes I think he now qualifies for us. Kenny mentioned there was still eligibility issues surrounding his transfer in a press conference surrounding his first squad, which you'd assume would be not having a passport before playing competitively for Englands youths. It's nearly two years now since he went about his switch.

Francie Barrett

Alex Gilbert is apparently been tearing it up for Brentford B and has earned a call up to the bench against Spurs.

piplip87

What's the craic with the Byrne transfer to Apol. Surely some English championship club was interested. Going by the comments here during the previous international window you would swear it would be Barca or Madrid looking for him