I think I am too.
Duffy declares for Republic of Ireland
Monday, 22 February 2010 15:08
Promising Everton defender Shane Duffy has rocked Northern Ireland by deciding to declare for the Republic of Ireland, the Irish Football Association have confirmed.
The 18-year-old Derry-born player has informed manager Nigel Worthington he wants to play for the Republic of Ireland instead.
Duffy has withdrawn from the squad to face Albania in a friendly in Tirana on March 3 after being named in the party today.
He looked set to win his first cap in the absence of captain Aaron Hughes and his defensive team-mate Chris Baird.
However, Duffy, who has made two appearances for Everton in the Europa League this season, sees his future with the Republic like Manchester Unitedâs Darron Gibson.
Duffy was one of three uncapped players called up along with Coleraine striker Rory Patterson and Sunderland goalkeeper Trevor Carson.
Patterson, who is joining Glentoran next season after signing a pre-contract agreement, has scored 31 goals this term.
Carson is one of three goalkeepers in the party and joins veteran Maik Taylor and Jonny Tuffey.
Worthington has named Jonny Evans even though Manchester United are playing Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final on Sunday at Wembley.
Bit by bit we break them down.
Good to see Duffy declare for us though it is of course nonsensical to have two teams in the country so would be great if wider issue was dealt with. Perhaps we would have a team representing the country in South Africa had we dealt with the issue before.
Gary Caldwell was quoted on the weekend saying he tried to persuade McCarthy to declare for Scotland but he wasnât able to.
Just watching News 2 there - Trap professed his happiness with Irelandâs record goalscorer joining Celtic.
He also compared McCarthy to Stephen Ireland in terms of playing style and said heâd spoken with Roberto Mancini about Cunningham.
lord knows how Stephen Ward hasnt been picked ahead of Wilson, Cunningham and McShane. Fahey has been unlucky. Trapp clearly dismissing by all accounts the form of the best midfielder in the SPL - Liam Miller and the second best goalscorer - Anthony Stokes.
Brian Murphy has been called up for the Brazil match
In the absence of Sledge⌠
That is some back four to take on BrazilâŚ
Republic of Ireland team to play Brazil at the Emirates Stadium, Tuesday at 8.05:
Shay Given, Stephen Kelly, Paul McShane, Sean St Ledger, Kevin Kilbane, Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan, Keith Andrews, Damien Duff, Leon Best, Kevin Doyle.
We could actually get a right hole opening with that back four! :huh: :blink:
Murphy is with Ipswich now isnât heâŚ
Where is Sledge these days?
Heâs the head off that young fella in Fair city.Still with Preston?
I was referring to MIA TFK poster Sledgehammer rather than Sean St. Ledger.
i see the gga are stilly bellyaching that this matched is been played at a proper stadium & not the potato patch in Dublin
I saw Sledge last night and can confirm heâs in flying form
[quote=âThrawneen, post: 429569â]
I was referring to MIA TFK poster Sledgehammer rather than Sean St. Ledger.
[/quote]Who knew? 
Did the cunt pay into the preview night this year?
He did alright
Reports tonight that Robbie Keane will belatedly join up with the squad - outstanding commitment.
Paul Hyland going for it in the Herald this evening. In fairness, I donât see how the IFA can complain and to prevent players from the Occupied Six from declaring for the 26-county representative team is contrary to the Good Friday Agreement:
[b]These boys are not for turning
McCarthy and Wilson are reacting with bravery and maturity to Irelandâs call[/b]
By Paul Hyland
Monday March 01 2010
WHEN the creators of the Muppets set up Kermit the Frog to stare soulfully into the camera and sing âItâs not easy being greenâ, itâs safe to assume that they werenât thinking too much about international football.
But for James McCarthy and Marc Wilson, the song title is just about perfect.
Two young lads with stars in their eyes and a hardcore intent to represent the Republic of Ireland â come what may â turned up at Arsenalâs training ground near St Albans yesterday and put to bed any lingering doubts about their allegiance.
Other than a few meddlesome hacks from Glasgow and the No Surrender brigade in Belfast, pretty much everyone else knew that McCarthy and indeed Wilson were not for turning but it was good to hear it all the same. No doubts, no decision to be made.
McCarthy could sing the chorus with Kermit though, and with feeling. Heâs been through some tough times since he picked green instead of blue and much of it endured at a tender age when the average young Irishman is still waiting for his first growth of chin hair.
But ask around about McCarthy and a line of form quickly emerges. This is a resilient young man who knows his own mind and has dealt with the abuse he had to suffer at every SPL and Scottish First Division ground with impressive maturity.
McCarthy heard the odious anthem of raw sectarianism âThe Famine Songâ everywhere he went but probably didnât waste any time pondering the irony of some bone-headed neanderthals tunelessly bellowing out their demand that the Irish should go back to where they came from and then crying foul when he followed their advice.
Wilson never had to cope with the same level of tawdry bigotry. The IFA did come to his door some time ago wondering why he had chosen to play for the South rather than the North.
âI didnât come under pressure. They were in contact a long time ago, but not since then. It wasnât up for discussion. It was an easy decision for me. Iâve always supported the Republic of Ireland since I was growing up,â said Wilson, measuring his responses carefully.
Given that Shane Duffyâs decision to switch to the Republic has caused the IFA to explode once again with faux-angst and storm the halls of the Court of Arbitration in Sport with more pointless blathering, Wilson was right to tread warily around a delicate subject.
He even expressed some mild sympathy for Nigel Worthingtonâs dilemma before making the only point that really matters.
âThe manager wants to have as many players in his squad as he can but I think if the player doesnât want to play, itâs his decision at the end of the day. Thatâs what it boils down to. The first time away with Ireland was in Sweden and I loved it and it felt right,â he said with finality. Subject closed and move on to Brazil. If only it was that simple. The IFA will walk themselves into another humiliating defeat on this issue no matter how many courts are involved. Fifa have ruled on the matter and short of ripping up the Good Friday Agreement and the Irish constitution, any further debate is pointless.
In fact, the more they try to oppose the wishes of those who want to play for the Republic of Ireland and are qualified to do so, the more they will drive young lads with a nationalist background into the arms of the enemy and polarise the Northern Ireland team to a point where only lads of a certain background will choose to play for the IFA. Letâs be honest, thatâs what this is about. Sure, in purely football terms, there is sympathy for Worthington who can only sit and watch some of the most talented players in his recruitment area disappear into a green mist never to be seen again.
Mind you, it didnât stop him turning the heads of two Manchester United kids, Joe Dudgeon and Oliver Norwood, both of whom played under-age football for England but appear to have chosen Northern Ireland. Thatâs the problem with the IFAâs constant spluttering on this issue. They see no problem whatsoever in persuading two English kids to play for Northern Ireland but lose the plot completely when someone from Derry or Belfast chooses an Irish passport. Itâs a bizarre double standard.
McCarthy is in a different place altogether and his decision to turn away from the country of his birth for Ireland is much more straight-forward, although you never would have guessed that from the increasingly pathetic and clearly spurious series of stories which have emerged in the Scottish media in the last month and indeed, for many months before that.
âItâs all paper talk. I donât know where the story came from. Scotland said I wasnât good enough at first and Ireland came in for me, to be honest, Ireland have been absolutely brilliant and thatâs the case really,â said the quitely spoken teenager.
Did Gary Caldwell bend his ear with talk of Scotland?
âHe had a chat with me but nothing was going to change.â
Did Craig Levin try?
"He spoke to Gary about it, as I say, because Ireland have done so well for me in everything theyâve done for me, I was delighted to be part of it.
âItâs a bit frustrating when it keeps coming back now and again. I donât know where itâs coming from, I donât know whoâs saying it, I just have to block it out and just get on with my own game. I got a couple of phone calls from Ireland asking whatâs happening but I told them from day one that nothing was happening and itâs just paper talk.â
bigots
"Liam Brady was on and I told him nothing was happening and he said to keep working hard at my club and see what happens.
âIreland came in, Scotland said I wasnât good enough â Ireland came in and I was delighted to go and represent Ireland especially for my granddad who was so proud,â he said.
âI was told by my advisor at the time that he asked Scotland to put me in a squad, but they said weâll leave him now, heâs not better than what we got. Ireland came over and watched my first game and put me in. It was SeĂĄn McCaffrey who came over himself and he is a really good fella, he looked after me and my family.â
Right now, Giovanni Trapattoni and the FAI should be down on their hands and knees offering fervent thanks. McCaffrey did his country a huge service by doing his job properly and showing some hospitality and commitment.
So if the IFA, the Scottish FA and the closet bigots in the Belfast and Glasgow media need to understand why they are losing some of their best players, maybe they should give McCaffrey a call and ask for some advice.