http://skysports.planetfootball.com...io+target+Irish+starlet&channel=Football_Home - young irish kid John Paul Kelly someones got a very catholic mum.
IIRC, Yeates is 19. Connolly scored a late equaliser for Leicester at Nottingham Forest. Reid played the full match for Forest, as did John Thompson. Clive Clarke captained Stoke in their Friday evening win.
December 18th/19th Morrison scored his 3rd goal in 3 games. Duff struck first for Chelsea for the 5th time in 9 games. Robbie Keane (though relegated to the bench) and John O'Shea also found the net.
just curious... how much do players in the top league make in ireland? 2nd league? 3rd? -is the league itself better than the MLS?
Apologies for the lateness of this report. It was a fairly good weekend for the Irish abroad: Premiership: Birmingham 4-0 West Brom Clinton Morrison scored a goal for Birmingham, that's 3 in 3 starts. He's in better goal-scoring form than Robbie Keane at the moment. Skysports.com gave him 8/10, which is good. Blackburn 0-0 Everton Stephen Reid played well for Rovers. Carsley and Kilbane also played full matches for Everton. Bolton 0-1 Manchester City Richard Dunne played the full match for City, and was excellent. Macken and Flood remained on the bench. Chelsea 4-0 Norwich Duff scored another goal, took it well after an awful mistake from Helveg. Played the full match and was good thoughout. Now lets just hope he doesn't get injured between now and the time we play in Tel Aviv. Spurs 5-1 Southampton. Robbie scored a late goal, and took it well by all accounts, however he was dropped to the bench and Defoe and Kanoute were very good together. He may be looking to leave in January. Stephen Kelly had a knock, and Rory Delap was suspended for Southampton. Manchester United 5-2 Crystal Palace Roy Keane was superb, I thought. O'Shea didn't start but replaced the injured Fortune in the first half. He was good, and scored a late goal - stabbing the ball between Kiraly's legs. Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle United Finnan played for Liverpool, O'Brien for Newcastle (at right back, I think). Given also played the full match. Carr is still injured. Championship: David Connolly scored a winner for Leicester at Andy Reid's Nottingham Forest. Graham Kavanagh was sent off for Cardiff in their loss at Sheffield United. Willie Boland also played for city, while Alan Quinn played for United. Paddy Kenny was suspended. Stephen Elliott was dropped to the bench for Sunderland, but came on with 20 minutes left. Again couldn't find the net. Gary Breen captained the side as they beat James O'Connor's Burney 2-1. The other regulars mostly played, with no standout performances. Not much else to report in the lower leagues except that Joey O'Brien and Glenn Whelan were again paired in the middle of the pitch for Sheffield Wednesday who won 4-0. In Scotland, McGeady played 88 minute of Celtic's win over Dundee Utd. Noel Hunt is back from injury, as he started for Dunfermline. And Richie Foran played (did not score this week) for Hibs. In Spain, Ian Harte played another full match for Levante who drew 1-1 with Albacete and had a perfecly legitamate goal disallowed. Big match for Ian tonight, as Levante travel to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona.
Not sure about the wages, though it is not a fully professional league. As for is it better than the MLS, I think the short answer would be "no - the American league is superior in most aspects." You draw national team players from your domestic league, while we very rarely call on ours. Ireland's squad is drawn entirely from abroad (hence this thread) However, I've only watched one MLS match in my life and I must say I was unimpressed with the standard of football. I've been quite surprised at how good the play in the Eircom League can be. However, this thread is not really the place for this debate. I think it has been discussed before, but if you wish you may start up an MLS vs Eircom League thread.
Thanks for this every week! Sorry but Isn't Richie Foran at Motherwell? - not trying to be annoying just trying to help! thanks.
Manchester United's Paul Tierney has joined Bradford City on loan, while Paul McShane has gone to Walsall for a month.
Irish Youth International Conal Platt scored a Hat-Trick for Liverpool in an FA Youth cup win. You can watch the highlights HERE and read about it HERE
A good St. Stephen's Day for the Irish with Duff, Robbie Keane, Clinton Morrison and Aiden McGeady all getting on the scoresheet. Full report to follow.
Apologies for not posting a full St. Stephens day report. Apparantly Morrison was very good. And Paul McShane scored on his Walsall debut. Today in the Premiership: Stephen Reid has passed his fitness test and starts for Blackburn at Bolton. Kiely and Kinsella start for Charlton, while Carsley and Kinsella start for Everton. Cunningham and Morrison start for Birmingham at Fulham. Gary Doherty again starts for Norwich. He played very well last week - mabye he is good for his place in the squad. Richard Dunne starts for Man City. Macken joins Willo Flood on the bench. Duff starts for Chelsea. Can he score again this week? Robbie Keane is dropped to the bench despite an excellent performance on Sunday. I'll post a summary (really, I will this time) when the later matches have finished this evening.
No goals in the Premiership yesterday, however Andy Reid, Stephen Elliott and Alan Quinn all scored in the Championship. Richard Dunne scored an own goal for Manchester City. John O'Shea played for United, and was replaced by Roy Keane. Liam Miller remained on the bench. Steve Finnan started for Liverpool, but was taken off injured in the first half.
Today in the Premiership: Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea: Finnan played the full match for Liverpool and was okay. Duff played most of the match for Chelsea, and was replaced by goalscorer Joe Cole. Aston Villa 1-0 Blackburn Reid played 65 minutes for Rovers. Charlton 1-3 Arsenal Kiely and Holland played for Charlton. I thought Holland was fairly good until Arsenal scored their third, at which point he disappeared. Manchester City 2-1 Southampton Dunne had another solid outing for City after last week's blip in form. Macken was on the bench and came on at 69'. Flood was again an unused sub. Delap played the full match for Southampton Newcastle 2-1 Birmingham Given was solid enough for United. O'Brien was dropped to the bench, and he must be worried with Babayaro and Boumsong coming in. Perhaps he'll be leaving Tyneside? Morrison and Cunningham played for City, with Clinton setting up Heskey's goal. Cunningham was replaced by Dwight Yorke with five minutes left. Porstmouth 1-1 Norwich Gary Doherty played another full match for City - he's getting a good run in the team now. Spurs 5-2 Everton Poor old Everton's days near the top of the table seem numberd, but what a run of form Spurs are on. Robbie Keane played and scored the 4th. Apparantly he was good thoughout. He's scoring a lot for someone who hasn't cemented his place in Jol's first team. Kilbane and Carsley played for Everton, and by all accounts both were fairly poor. Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester United Another good win for United, and Roy Keane was at the core of it - producing a fine display to snuff out any resistence 'boro may have offered. John O'Shea is injured and Liam Miller lost his place on the bench to Djemba Djemba. In the Championship: The most Irish action was at Preston, where Sunderland lost 3-2. Their goals were scored by Stephen Elliott and the forgotten Sean Thornton, who came on at half time for Piper. Paul Butler and Clive Clarke were sent off for their respective clubs, and it's worth noting that Alan Lee made a late sub appearence for Cardiff City - his first after injury. In Scotland, only Billy Mehmet started for Dunfermline, but Tommy Butler, Gary Dempsey and Noel Hunt came on. Steven Bradley was an unused sub.
I wouldn't say O'Brien should be too worried about his place yet - he seems to be one of the few defenders who Newcastle supporters are happy with. Babayaro is competition/a replacement for Bernard (who could well be on his way out with contractual disputes unresolved) rather than a central defender anyway - there's still talk of interest in Distin though, which could be worrying. As things stand Boumsong will most likely be partnering O'Brien. Robbie was good yesterday as well, and deserved a hat-trick - a left-footed lob rebounded off the bar in the first half, and a right-footed lob in the second half bounced in front of goal high enough to just clear the bar with the defence completely beaten...the disbelief on his face was priceless He also set up Marney's first goal with a flick-on.
Last night in the Premiership: Blackburn 1-0 Charlton Steven Reid was unfortunately dropped to the bench, and only came on in stoppage time. Matt Holland and Dean Kiely both played for Charlton. Norwich 1-2 Liverpool Gary Doherty played again for City, while Steve Finnan played for Liverpool. West Brom 0-0 Newcastle Given played for Newcastle, while O'Brien was again an unused sub. Also worth noting that goalkeeper Joe Murphy will remain at Walsall on loan until the end of the season. Championship: Graham Kavanagh scored Cardiff's third in their 3-0 win over Andy Reid's Nottingham Forest. David Connolly scored a penalty for Leicester, while Irish international Mickey Evans scored for Plymouth.
Tuesday and Wednesday in the Premiership: Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City Richard Dunne was apparantly outstanding for City. Good to hear. Jon Macken played 90 minutes, and Willo Flood came on for the last 15. Birmingham 1-2 Bolton Bad loss for City. Cunningham and Morrison both played. Morrison was taken off late on. Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough Duff played the full match for Chelsea. Everton 2-1 Portsmouth. Carsley played, but Kilbane was unfortunately dropped as Moyes made four changes from the weekend. He came on towards the end, and apparantly did all right. Manchester United 0-0 Tottenham Good match - Spurs were robbed. Robbie Keane did okay, though not spectacular. Roy Keane was solid for United. O'Shea was still injured, but Liam Miller replaced Fletcher for the last 15 minutes. Mark Yeates was an unused sub for Spurs. I wouldn't mind seeing him go out on loan. Southampton 3-3 Fulham Rory Delap kept his place in the team despite Jamie Redknapp's arrival. Good to see.
Has Jim Smith joined up as Redknapp's assistant yet? Don't forget that Delap was a big player in Smith's Derby County Premiership side of a few years back (I think it was he who sold Delap to Southampton in the first place) so he's well aware of what Rory can do. Even if he isn't part of the management team, I'm sure Redknapp'll be filled in. Re Yeates, Jol has been making some very impressed noises about him and the current striker injuries could be just what he needs to get a shot. Jol has already shown that he isn't afraid to play young players, and with only 3 senior strikers at the best of times Yeates is bound to get his chance eventually.
One to watch for the future is 18 yr old Stephen Ireland. Plays for Man City and should be getting his 1st team break in the near future. City have been watching this kid since he was about 12 yrs old in Cobh, Co. Cork. They brought him over to the academy when he was about 15 yrs old. Stephen is a striker and is said, by people that know him well (they're not biased are they?), that he is better than Robbie Keane. He also has a younger brother in the academy, I believe.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/dunfermline_athletic/4151349.stm Thomas Butler and Stephen Bradley are released from Dunfermline.