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World Cup 2022

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twoblue said:
You can always pick tickets up during the tournaments through FIFA or off touts tho.
Click to expand...
The cost of getting there, staying there etc. is really high. And if you go out there and can’t source a ticket there isn’t exactly much to do that is affordable. It’s not that attractive of a prospect unless you’ve planned well in advance and have everything in place.
 
That's a strange position for O'Neill to have taken on Grealish and Rice. He should have just capped them. It's his job to do what's best for his own country not stand back and do England's work for them.

www.rte.ie

Would have been wrong to cap Rice & Grealish - O'Neill

Martin O'Neill has said it would have been "wrong" for him to play Declan Rice and Jack Grealish in a competitive game for the Republic of Ireland because both wanted to represent England.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie


I've never quite taken to O'Neill.
 

davek said:
UK Police have stated that there has been no English fans arrestedtt at this world cup so far. They attrribute that to a lack of alcohol and cocaine.
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Doing better than Everton - fifth worse in the country with 36 banning orders last season. RS were forth worse.
People with banning offences or dresses as King Arthur don’t represent me.

davek said:
That's a strange position for O'Neill to have taken on Grealish and Rice. He should have just capped them. It's his job to do what's best for his own country not stand back and do England's work for them.

www.rte.ie

Would have been wrong to cap Rice & Grealish - O'Neill

Martin O'Neill has said it would have been "wrong" for him to play Declan Rice and Jack Grealish in a competitive game for the Republic of Ireland because both wanted to represent England.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie


I've never quite taken to O'Neill.
Click to expand...
“you can't coerce players into becoming international players”
- seems like a reasonable position to take. In fact it would be strange to support the counter position
 
twoblue said:
Doing better than Everton - fifth worse in the country with 36 banning orders last season. RS were forth worse.
People with banning offences or dresses as King Arthur don’t represent me.


“you can't coerce players into becoming international players”
- seems like a reasonable position to take. In fact it would be strange to support the counter position
Click to expand...
He's just covering his own arse.

Of course he cant coerce them. But he could persuade them.

They were playing for Ireland already. They weren't Shanghaied from Birmingham and London. How much more difficult would it to have persuaded them to play a few full caps?
 
davek said:
That's a strange position for O'Neill to have taken on Grealish and Rice. He should have just capped them. It's his job to do what's best for his own country not stand back and do England's work for them.

www.rte.ie

Would have been wrong to cap Rice & Grealish - O'Neill

Martin O'Neill has said it would have been "wrong" for him to play Declan Rice and Jack Grealish in a competitive game for the Republic of Ireland because both wanted to represent England.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie


I've never quite taken to O'Neill.
Click to expand...
Nah, I'm Irish but my son, born in Ireland, is half-German. If he was good enough to play international football - and good enough to interest the German federation - then he'd have a decision to make. Let's be realistic. It would be an easy one. He'd choose Germany. It would be Jamal Musiala all over again. Ambitious young players will choose the country higher in the pecking order. As soon as Grealish and Rice felt they had a sniff of England, it was game over. O'Neill knew that.

I hold no grudges against those lads. They took a gamble but it was a rational choice once they backed themselves. And they made it count. Those players had misgivings about committing to us: locking them into that would have been unethical and, I believe, self-defeating.

We can console ourselves on Saturday as our kith and kin, Declan, Jack, and the two Harrys earn Engerlund a semi-final berth. And if they lose, we can hail them as purely English.
 
davek said:
That's a strange position for O'Neill to have taken on Grealish and Rice. He should have just capped them. It's his job to do what's best for his own country not stand back and do England's work for them.

www.rte.ie

Would have been wrong to cap Rice & Grealish - O'Neill

Martin O'Neill has said it would have been "wrong" for him to play Declan Rice and Jack Grealish in a competitive game for the Republic of Ireland because both wanted to represent England.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie


I've never quite taken to O'Neill.
Click to expand...

I heard their respective agents made it clear in no uncertain terms that they were not to be capped competitively by Ireland and that O'Neills hands were effectively tied.
 
twoblue said:
You can always pick tickets up during the tournaments through FIFA or off touts tho.
Click to expand...
A lot of fans buy tickets in advance for the next rounds expecting or maybe just hoping their team will progress. I'm sure a lot of Germans, Belgians and Spaniards will have sold tickets off for matches they expected to see their teams play.
 

davek said:
He's just covering his own arse.

Of course he cant coerce them. But he could persuade them.

They were playing for Ireland already. They weren't Shanghaied from Birmingham and London. How much more difficult would it to have persuaded them to play a few full caps?
Click to expand...
Read the story and find out.

He says he had no chance.
 
Drico said:
Nah, I'm Irish but my son, born in Ireland, is half-German. If he was good enough to play international football - and good enough to interest the German federation - then he'd have a decision to make. Let's be realistic. It would be an easy one. He'd choose Germany. It would be Jamal Musiala all over again. Ambitious young players will choose the country higher in the pecking order. As soon as Grealish and Rice felt they had a sniff of England, it was game over. O'Neill knew that.

I hold no grudges against those lads. They took a gamble but it was a rational choice once they backed themselves. And they made it count. Those players had misgivings about committing to us: locking them into that would have been unethical and, I believe, self-defeating.

We can console ourselves on Saturday as our kith and kin, Declan, Jack, and the two Harrys earn Engerlund a semi-final berth. And if they lose, we can hail them as purely English.
Click to expand...
That argument only holds so far though. It's not like they hadn't already determined that they wanted to play for Ireland. That's more than just a career move, it's a national commitment.

O'Neill knew he'd dropped a bollock with those two and has tried to dress it up as him enabling Rice and Grealish to exercise their right to get a better international profile.

In any case, playing for a country shouldn't be about career moves. That just runs a coach and horses through the whole reason for playing at that level. It's mercenary to encourage what O'Neill apparently encouraged.
 
davek said:
That argument only holds so far though. It's not like they hadn't already determined that they wanted to play for Ireland. That's more than just a career move, it's a national commitment.

O'Neill knew he'd dropped a bollock with those two and has tried to dress it up as him enabling Rice and Grealish to exercise their right to get a better international profile.

In any case, playing for a country shouldn't be about career moves. That just runs a coach and horses through the whole reason for playing at that level. It's mercenary to encourage what O'Neill apparently encouraged.
Click to expand...
They're all mercenaries, Dave. It really doesn't matter. We had players who played brilliantly for us...mainly because England wouldn't pick them. We had people like Tony Cascarino with an iffy Irish passport despite having next to no Irish blood in him. Didn't stop him being heroic for us. We had pure blood Irish fenians who weren't arsed performing for us... It's all smoke and mirrors. And career moves. It's professional football, not the Corinthian spirit of yore.
 
Drico said:
They're all mercenaries, Dave. It really doesn't matter. We had players who played brilliantly for us...mainly because England wouldn't pick them. We had people like Tony Cascarino with an iffy Irish passport despite having next to no Irish blood in him. Didn't stop him being heroic for us. We had pure blood Irish fenians who weren't arsed performing for us... It's all smoke and mirrors. And career moves. It's professional football, not the Corinthian spirit of yore.
Click to expand...
I'd agree I think even international football is a head over heart decision these days in most cases. For Grealish and Rice choosing England over Ireland guarantees them regular tournament football and all the exposure that brings. Musiala was a head over heart decision too most probably: be the centre piece of the German team for the next 10 years, or compete with about 15 more or less equally talented players for a place in the England team.

There probably are exceptions to that though. Armando Broja choosing Albania over England for example.
 

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