I put money on the strange Carkie.
Rob Heffernanâs son? Is he still over in Italy?
He is. Scored for AC Milan in last few days. Thereâs a bizarre video on this of him celebrating it.
Did this fella declare for ireland at one stage? He seemed to be a lively sort.
Heâs a scatter of U21 caps iirc. Some lad to move into coaching after all that
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Just heard on the radio that Evan Ferguson is in contention to play this weekend against Bournemouth. The injury isnât as bad as first feared.
The Irish footix must feel very foolish after their meltdown last weekend now
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The manhunt after the Lighthouse looks foolish now.
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You fucking prick
Glad for the lad that the injury doesnt appear serious. I thought weâd be lucky to see him for a calendar year going by the posts here last week.
Shove that up your holes you absolute shower of Cunts
Proper football
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Some lads would try and tell you Roy âKeanoâ Keane was our best ever midfielder
Chippy would play him off the pitch
Sean Moore. Great club player but canât translate it to a county jersey.
Bit schmall. Consequence of the modern game
Love without innocence - Irelandâs Ryan Manning tackles footballâs reality
With a growing property business and a daughter on the way, Swanseaâs Galway star explains why game wonât define him.
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5 hours ago
David Sneyd
THERE IS NO coldness or weariness when Ryan Manning talks about professional football â only honesty.
And when his mind flashes back to spending every waking moment kicking a ball growing up in Galway â literally until the floodlights were turned off in the back garden â the fondness and joy is evident.
The love remains but it is no longer innocent.
A different kind is also on the way. The Republic of Ireland international is 26-years-old and about to become a father for the first time. His partner, Charlotte, is due a baby girl on 28 March, meaning their cavapoo Kobe â named after late NBA star Kobe Bryant â will no longer have the run of the house.
There is also the small matter of the opening Euro 2024 qualifier with France the night before the due date.
âYeah, that could be a tricky one. First and foremost Iâve to get a call up to worry about,â he points out, having been left out for the Nations League double header with Scotland and Armenia last September. âIdeally she comes a couple of weeks early but once theyâre both safe and healthy that is the most important thing.â
Manning may be a man with a plan when it comes to his career, and future, but there are always some things you cannot control.
He has been one of Swansea Cityâs standout performers so far this season, his ability to thrive at left wing back or on the left side of a three-man defence making more than a few take notice.
They face Premier League-bound Sheffield United away from home today knowing victory could take them to within three points of fifth place. Like a glut of sides from third to even Reading in 16th, the play-offs are not out of sight.
Manningâs own form is why, with his contract running out and an offer on the table to stay still unsigned, he is content to leave his options open.
âI love it here to be honest, it feels a lot like back home. Itâs a nice way of life. Everyone said when I first arrived at Swansea Iâd have a dog within three months, then after that it would be babies. I was like âno wayâ. But sure enough. Dogs and babies, thatâs what itâs all about here. The club and the area does have a nice feel about it.â
And yet.
âYou have the make most of it when things are going well for you and make sure you can be set up financially for when you might be out of favour, when you might be out of contract and things arenât going well. You have to be able to prepare for that as best you can while times are good.â
Thatâs the business, how the game works.
Manning and his family had their eyes wide open to its underbelly long before he signed for Queens Park Rangers from Galway United as an 18-year-old in January 2015.
âThat is when I started planning for retirement because you never know when this career will end. Yeah, things are going well now and youâd like to think that would last for the next five, 10 years. But the reality is it could be over next week, it could be finished for you with a bad injury.
When youâre younger, you can squander a lot. You get a good contract early and think money will always be like that. Then itâs gone, youâre at the end and you might be left with nothing. What then?â
Manning continues to strive to reach the highest level he possibly can in club football and, ahead of his 27th birthday in June, has ambitions to establish himself on the international scene.
âYou come over as a kid or dream as a kid of playing in the Premier League, the Champions League, of course youâd give anything to play in a World Cup for Ireland. You think that is what a successful career is.
âBut once you get into it and see the game within you realise thatâs the minority of the minority who make it. Success is a lot more. Can you earn a living from the game? That is a success. Can you earn money to set your family up for the rest of their life? That would be a success because a successful career is a lot more than what you do on the pitch.
PA Ryan Manning (right) celebrates with Troy Parrott in March last year.
âOf course, cementing a place with Ireland, getting to a tournament with Ireland and being able to play in the Premier League are the ambitions, but itâs not the be all and end all. Itâs about getting contracts for the next 10 years and to keep striving to get to those next levels, working as hard as I can and doing what I can to rise up the levels.
âBut if that doesnât happen it wonât determine whether I have been a success or not.â
Not relying on football to define his existence extends to Manningâs income, a burgeoning property business with various locations in the UK offering an avenue to explore further once he does finish playing.
âIt takes the pressure off a little,â he reasons. âYou are not running yourself into the ground using every last sinew of your body because you need it and have nothing else.
âYou get to 35 or 36 and that knowledge and expertise youâve build up is useless because you canât use it anymore. You canât play. So you come to the end, you might get hit for a tax bill or whatever coming through the door saying you owe X, Y and Z.
âHow do you come up with that in your mid-30s? What are you going to do? Itâs about making sure you have the people around you who can help and being on top of it yourself.
âLads who are 17, 18, 19, I think they are more aware now. They are prepping for the day when it does finish, like I was. Some might say that comes across as greedy or whatever, maximising your value in your career, but itâs the harsh reality. You canât be naĂŻve about it, you have to worry about it to make sure itâs taken care of.â
PA Manning celebrates a goal, and the news of partner Charlotteâs pregnancy, in September.
The reason Manning and his family have felt so prepared for navigating the pitfalls of what was to come over just shy of a decade in Britain is because of the guidance of their next door neighbours, one of whom just happened to be five years Ryanâs senior and also blazed a trial by becoming an Ireland international.
âI lived next door to Greg Cunningham,â he beams. âThere was just a small wall between the houses and weâd play football in each otherâs gardens every day. Weâd be out at 7am before school, him and his twin Dan, and after school in his garden because he had the big goals, then at night out our back garden because we had floodlights.â
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NATIONS ANALYSIS
Get Murray Kinsellaâs exclusive analysis of Irelandâs Six Nations campaign this spring
Cunningham, now 32, began his days across the water with Manchester City, before forging a lengthy career in the Football League with Bristol City, Preston North End and Cardiff City, returning to Preston in 2021.
Manning almost left Galway for Ipswich Town when he was in 5th Year of secondary school. A two-week trial turned into a two-month stay with the offer of a contract at the end of it.
However, when the familyâs request for the club to help allow him do his Leaving Cert wasnât facilitated, that is when the decision was made to remain at home until he could complete it.
His mother, Bernie, and father, Phelim â not to mention big sister Ailbhe who was studying at Trinity College and now works as a pharmacist in a Dublin hospital â urged him to stay until he had finished school.
âIt also helped so much that Gregâs parents, Billy and Linda, exposed us to a lot of stories of the other side of the game that people wouldnât know as much about,â Manning recalls.
Still, there was temptation.
Everton and Tottenham Hotspur made their moves after Ipswich fell through, Spursâ interest becoming formal only for Mauricio Pochettinoâs arrival as first team manager to scupper any possible decision by overhauling the scouting and youth structures.
You can have foresight and plan things but you also need a massive amount of luck, the timing of your opportunities and whether you are in a position to take them,â Manning adds.
The Spurs link is how he eventually ended up at Queens Park Rangers, although only after he completed the Leaving. A physiotherapy degree at UCD was on the cards before the London club invited him over to chat, where he was instantly won over by Harry Redknapp and Les Ferdinand.
At that point he was seen as an exciting midfielder or potential No.10, only to spot a gap in the market.
PA Close childhood friend and next door neighbour Greg Cunningham in action for Preston.
âThere were five of six midfielders with more experience than me, but we had one injury at left back and I was able to get in. My thinking was to get in the team any way I could and make the position mine, so thatâs what I tried to do.
âItâs still what I am doing now. Menâs football is mortgage football, so how do I get into the best condition possible to be the number one player in my position?
âThere is always someone coming for your shirt, a new signing to come in. You have to make sure the club see you as someone they donât need to replace.â
For Manning, that is just the cold, harsh reality.
John OâShea appointed new assistant coach to senior side.