Jolly Red Giant
Well-known member
- Jul 11, 2015
- 2,615
Maybe the reason why I promote Irish players is that I have a greater knowledge of their ability than I would have players from say - Poland?
There have been some shite Irish players who were Irish internationals over the years and some players who were decent but had an over-hyped reputation (e.g. Robbie Keane) - but that does not mean that there are not some decent Irish players coming true that care capable of being decent/good PL players (and a couple with the potential to be outstanding (e.g. Parrott).
As for the 'racism' - I really wouldn't go there if I were you - anti-Irish racism still exists in England and the reason why so many Irish players were born in England from Irish ancestry is because the policies of British Imperialism in Ireland forced mass emigration, many of whom ended up as cheap labour navvies in the urban centres of Britain.
Furthermore, its not like England haven't fiddled a few folk-heroes from abroad - like John Barnes, who had not connection with England apart from the fact that he was born in a former British colony - or, today, Raheem Sterling, who like Barnes has no real connection with England apart from being born in a former British colony and moving to the UK at a relatively young age.
And by the way - there are a significant number of young Irish born players coming through the ranks of British clubs at the moment (some of the best young talent in many cases) who were born to immigrant families in Ireland - and I would wholeheartedly support them if they chose to switch to play for their parents homeland rather than play for Ireland.
