faoileán
Well-known member
- Jan 29, 2021
- 887
And don't forget big Shane Duffy!
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[Albion] Irish striker Mark O’Mahony SINGS for under 21s
- Thread starter Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ
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Three pages and I still don't know how he rates against Troy Parrott? You would think someone would be able to give us a definitive statement.
It is gas. Your name has reminded me of a Michael Davitt poem from Junior cert that we had to memorise. "Feach an faoilean uaibhreach ina bhruscar are charraig dhubh"
Still etched in my brain decades later.
When the likes of Giles and Brady etc started going over to England there became a perception back then that ALL Irish were great at football. How times have changed.
I went to the same school as Irwin and played with his nephew. My history/hurling teacher tried to convince him not to move across to Leeds and was adamant it was a terrible mistake. He was brilliant at both GAA codes too and my school was a top hurling school (also a brainiac). You were still shunned by the school even in my day for choosing soccer over hurling.
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Well behind. I will be shocked and surprised if he ever plays for Ireland or Brighton. I do hope he reads forums too so he has fuel
faoileán
Well-known member
- Jan 29, 2021
- 887
The name choice is no coincidence... I am a proud seagull
Mancgull
Well-known member
Gerry Ryan
macbeth
Dismembered
scoring goals for fun at the moment…
Live by the sea
Well-known member
- Oct 21, 2016
- 4,718
Looking very promising for him
Greg Bobkin
Silver Seagull
- May 22, 2012
- 14,915
Can he play left back? Or right back? 
Change at Barnham
Well-known member
I'm sure Andrew Moran will be assuming he's one of the two Irish strikers you are thinking about.
Jolly Red Giant
Well-known member
- Jul 11, 2015
- 2,615
I am surprised I missed this discussion when it happened - better late than never -
I would take Denis Irwin as a full back against any full-back who ever played for England. Irwin was one of the most underrated footballers of all time.
Of course you could list a bunch of footballers from different countries that are world class - in some cases the world class players who play for those countries are there because of an imperial past (Dutch, French, Spanish - Fati was born in Guinea-Bissau). And it is silly to suggest that the Danes produce better footballers than Ireland - in games between the two countries Ireland have a better record.
As for doing well in tournaments - well - Ireland did better than England in the 1988 Euros - and they were 8mins and a spinning headed ball away from making the semi-final - in the 1990 WC they got to the Q-F and in 1994 to the second round (and England came - oh wait - England didn't qualify). In 2002 Mick McCarthy f*cked-up - Ireland went out to Spain - after McCarthy told his players to play for penalties, without realising that Spain were down to ten men and two others on the pitch couldn't run. The idiot potentially cost Ireland getting to a WC final - Korea and Germany were in the way and Ireland were better than Germany in the groups stage (oh and McCarthy decided to pick a fight with Roy Keane just before the first game - another f*ck-up - being responsible for your best player not being at the tournament). Furthermore - Ireland were robbed of at least two, if not three, qualifications for major tournaments in the 1960s and 1970s by corrupt referees - and this is well known.
Now - Ireland is a small country (smaller than Denmark) - and unlike most other countries, Irish soccer has to compete with two exceptionally popular sports - Gaelic football and hurling. There are almost 2400 registered GAA clubs in Ireland with over 500,000 members (one in ten of the population) and 300,000 players. There are something like 450,000 involved in soccer clubs with about 240,000 players (and rugby has about 150,000 players). Now there is some crossover - but the Irish government have flooded the GAA with money over the years (significantly more than the FAI have received). In comparison - 11 million play soccer in England - the second most popular sport is cricket with about 1.2m playing - far from serious competition.
In countries where other sports are more popular - their soccer teams do poorly in comparison to Ireland - the USA (where 13m play soccer) - Australia (where 2m play soccer) - Canada (1m play soccer) - India (about 50m people play regularly) - China (about 140m play soccer) - Indonesia (about 25m play soccer). I would argue that Ireland is punching way above its weight in terms of the ability of the country to put a decent football team on the pitch for international matches.
Furthermore - 120,000 Irish soccer fans attend football matches in England every year (making up about 15% of the total number of overseas visitors to attend matches in England every year). Shamrock Rovers played Bohs tonight in a top of the LOI table clash in Tallaght to a capacity crowd of 7,500. English clubs have been poaching Irish players at a young age for decades - which has also had a knock-on impact on the game in Ireland and the ability of the FAI to actually develop an academy system and increase the number of players who could potentially produce for Ireland on the pitch. It has been very noticeable that since Brexit the age profile of LOI teams has got younger and the quality of the football has improved - and some players are more willing to learn their trade in Ireland, rather than go to England as soon as they are 18 years old.
So - does Ireland produce talented footballers - yes it does - there is a long list of world class footballers who have played for Ireland. Does it produce as many as England - or Holland or Germany or Spain or Portugal - no it does not - for reasons of population and reasons of competition from other sports. It goes through peaks and troughs of talent - and is currently in a trough that it has the potential of pulling out of in the next couple of years. But, overall, given the reasons outlined, in my opinion there is only a handful of national teams that I think have out-performed Ireland over the years - and none of those have competition from other sports - Croatia, Serbia, Uruguay, Portugal (with double the population) - and my favourites - the Faroe Islands.
Jolly Red Giant
Well-known member
- Jul 11, 2015
- 2,615
O'Mahony is looking like he could be a good one - how good, time will tell. He is a similar player to Ferguson. Someone asked how he compares to Troy Parrott - favourably at the moment. Parrott is more talented - but he is also 3 years older - and Parrott has hit a bit of a plateau in the last couple of years (in part caused by injury). Parrott probably has one more chance to prove he can be a PL level player - his season loan at Excelsior - unless he produces this year he will probably end up as a half-decent Championship player.
As for Moran - don't think he will ever play as a striker - he is more of a number 10 and he has the potential to excel at that. Also keep an eye on Jamie Mullins - another player in the Moran mould.
slimes
Active member
To be sure!
Where’s Pogue Mahone?
I may end up wrong on O' Mahony. ( I hope so)
I just never fancied him.
I have watched him a lot over here but better coaching can work wonders sometimes and hard work which I never doubted he was putting in
The lad Mason Melia is 15 and I am sure Brighton are in for him too. He will be top and the one behind Evan in the 9,
I would strongly fancy will be a good premier league striker
He will play years above his age group consistently.
I must have a look at O' Mahony playing full games over there. Mullins was the one I thought would tear it up this year tbh.
I just never fancied him.
I have watched him a lot over here but better coaching can work wonders sometimes and hard work which I never doubted he was putting in
The lad Mason Melia is 15 and I am sure Brighton are in for him too. He will be top and the one behind Evan in the 9,
I would strongly fancy will be a good premier league striker
He will play years above his age group consistently.
I must have a look at O' Mahony playing full games over there. Mullins was the one I thought would tear it up this year tbh.