Didn't England even rob one of our lads to play cricket for them recently, I remember something about it around the time of that World Cup? Some joke they are!


Michael Owen was born in Chester though hipster, which is in England.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 23/02/2010 19:40:21    571234

then he was raised in wales i know there is a connection there , but all the teams do it not just us but we seem to always bate ourselves up over stupid things like this

hipster (Dublin) - Posts: 2509 - 23/02/2010 20:09:18    571274

I think some are being overly critical on this thread. I dont think anyone would declare for a country purely to get more cash for themselves. Playing international football takes up a lot of the free time footballers get. There is also evidence that it also shortens careers. So if guys werent too bothered about it then i doubt they would declare at all, like dave kitson. The only other way someone could do well out of it is just play a few games, and joe lapira is a good example of how that doesnt work either.
To be honest, I dont blame zat knight or kevin nolan. It would be similar to someone having a parent from another county, you always grow up dreaming of representing where you are from, but that doesnt mean that you dont follow the other county also, and it also doesnt mean that you wouldnt bust a gut for them if you did play for them. The very fact that they are considering playing for ireland shows that they do embrace their irish roots. Jason McAteer has said he grew up supporting england, yet look at the effort he put in for ireland, could anyone say he did not do the country proud?

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 23/02/2010 20:57:26    571341

Can't say I feel the same way as yourself there BigSam. I know where you're coming from but I really don't have too much of an issue with where a guy comes from if he's playing for us.
Lets say for argument sake Kevin Nolan does end up playing for the Republic and say we're playing in a qualifier where a win gets us to the world cup finals. 1 minute to go Kevin Nolan pops up and scores the winner, would you celebrate? Ireland are going to the World Cup but the guy that got us there is wearing union jack boxer shorts under his irish football gear.
I think if you start bringing morals or being idealistic into team selection you're gonna find soccer a very tough place to be a saint.

NavyNBlue (Dublin) - Posts: 1357 - 24/02/2010 13:00:34    571780

If Trap calls up O'Hara but still refuses to select Andy Reid I will no longer support the team. We don't need these mediocre players, we have enough Irish-born players and foreign-born players who actually want to play for us and choose to play for us over other countries without having to go looking for English rejects with an Irish granny.

Did anyone see TV3's debate on this subject after the Barca game last night?

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 24/02/2010 13:59:58    571850

Since their trying to get everyone with an Irish name they shoul have a go at getting Rooney, Carragher and Lennon...Not sure they'd get Ronaldo

laflour (Cavan) - Posts: 528 - 24/02/2010 14:45:26    571904

is it not O'Ronald in english?

thistle_harps (UK) - Posts: 879 - 24/02/2010 16:23:09    572059

Jamie O'Hara and co. welcome aboard!!

geoffmcgonagle (USA) - Posts: 54 - 24/02/2010 17:20:56    572145

I found it kind of ironic watching TV3's champion's league analysis.

One man with Irish parentage, who played Gaelic football when he was younger, was sat beside a man with no ancestral link to Ireland and an Italian surname.

Guess which one played for Ireland?

JuanVeron (Westmeath) - Posts: 1866 - 24/02/2010 17:21:49    572150

And for the record many of Jamie O'Hara's relatives are from Wicklow and his uncle Mick O'Hara played for Ireland.

geoffmcgonagle (USA) - Posts: 54 - 24/02/2010 17:32:21    572180

24/02/2010 17:32:21
geoffmcgonagle
County: USA
Posts: 21

572180
And for the record many of Jamie O'Hara's relatives are from Wicklow and his uncle Mick O'Hara played for Ireland.
________________

And Jamie O'Hara played for England up to u21 level but realised he wouldn't be good enough to ever make their team (even though they have no left sided midfielder) and cynically decided to declare for Ireland. We don't need him and we don't want him. He will be a championship player in a few months anyway.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 24/02/2010 19:36:18    572369

In my opinion Northern Ireland should be joined with the Republic when England join with Scotland and wales to form team Great Britain.

Legan4life (Longford) - Posts: 209 - 24/02/2010 20:43:49    572465

actually no nocky, we do want them. The rules say they are eligible to play for ireland just as much as any other player. It was interesting listening martin keown ans cas talk about it, one thing stood out for me, how cas referred to ireland as 'we', and the desire he felt playing for 'us'. He is proof that guys who change over do want to pull on the jersey, that its not some cynical rouse to earn a few more bob. It is very difficult to blame lads for playing underage for another country. Do people really think that if kevin kilbane was a better player he wouldnt have been spotted and called into an england youth squad? Yet look at him now, i think everyone would agree that he is one guy who would break his back for the cause. Who is to say that o'hara wouldnt be the same if he was given the chance? He shoudnt be made a victim of his own success as a youth, and neither should anyone else. Youth football is very different, there are u-15, u-16 u-17, schools etc. When lads are playing with clubs and schools over there they are just progressed up through the system, with the national side being another step in that ladder. There is no big choice with delaney holding one contract and lord triesman holding another. Its not fair to hold someone for the rest of their life to something they done when they were a young lad

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 24/02/2010 21:17:33    572534

nocky
wexford

We don't need him and we don't want him. He will be a championship player in a few months anyway.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Who's we? You are speaking for yourself and anyway he is only on loan at Portsmouth, back to Tottenham at the end of the season.

geoffmcgonagle (USA) - Posts: 54 - 24/02/2010 21:23:58    572543

Of course "Cas" referred to Ireland as "we" TheMaster, he was in Ireland talking on an Irish TV station about the Irish soccer team, which he used to play for. If he used the word "you" it wouldn't have done much for his argument.

Why did Jamie O'Hara wait until he was 23 years old before he suddenly decided he was Irish and wanted to play for us? We don't need him either, we have better midfielders playing for better clubs in the premiership who our manager won't select. And they are Irish through and through. I don't want Irish players denied the chance to play for their country because of the likes of O'Hara. He will be a championship player next year (not good enough for Tottenham, he'll be sold) and try to use his international status to impress a premiership manager and earn a move.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 24/02/2010 21:35:43    572564

I think you are being harsh on O'Hara Nocky. I don't think his situation is as blatently cynical as Kevin Nolan's, but perhaps I am wrong. O'Hara has only recently made a name for himself and was playing regularly with Englands u-21s so if he was committed to them he was entitled and obliged to see his time out. Now Ireland has come calling and he is throwing his lot in with us. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12311 - 25/02/2010 10:13:06    572675

Anglo Irish soccer Players ?

Seanie Fitz ??

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 25/02/2010 11:07:31    572712

I'd much rather see players like Stephen Hunt or Andy Reid fill our leftsided midfield position - not just because they are both better players. I would hate for our national team to turn into "England B" where it is full of ex-England u21s who never quite made it.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 25/02/2010 11:16:31    572721

Is O'Hara not more of a central midfielder?

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12311 - 25/02/2010 11:58:52    572775

He's been playing as the left sided midfielder in a 4-3-3 for Portsmouth this year Breffni. He's not a winger, but he's not playing centrally either. I can't see where he fits into Trap's "system", I don't see us playing 4-3-3 any time soom, do you? He's a handy excuse for Trap not to call up Andy Reid.

nocky (Wexford) - Posts: 2059 - 25/02/2010 12:40:26    572821