He looks like a tan in fairness.
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Well, he has a tan anywayâŚ
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Could have capped him in the game at home to Moldova. Slab Murphy had the win secured with two early goals.
Was he on the bench that night?
No which was fucking baffling. He was named in the Austria squad but not that one after playing a few friendlies - the likes of Keogh and OâKane were on the bench.
OâNeills biggest mistake
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Gâwan into West Belfast wearing one of each and youâll find out the difference fairly smartly.
When could we have capped Grealish? Perhaps Gibraltar at home in 2014 when we won 7-0?
At my age wearing football jersies is a no no
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But Rice probably wouldnt have committed to squad at that time.
he played in friendlies after it, of course he would have. OâNeill fucked up
Are we saying Rice was on the bench vs Austria in June 2017?
But wasnât in squad for Serbia/Georgia games in September of that year or the Moldoval/Wales window?
Iâve told you twice now., you can try to rewrite history or you can admit your mistake
Jackie Charlton would have had Grealish and Rice playing midfield for Ireland.
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Preliminary squad. He had barely played a game for West Ham by then so was hardly gonna play in a WCQ.
MOâN had two eyes on getting to Russia at the time so I donât blame him for not using him then or in the subsequent games of that campaign. He played the very next friendly in March 2018 and two more in June 2018. By September his head was turned by Southgate.
I donât think the blame lies with anyone here except Rice.
He should have been in the squad instead of one of the journeyman players and used for 2 or 3 minutes at the end of a game that was done.
Do you think charlton would have allowed that to happen?
The only possible opportunity that was there was the Moldova game when Seani Maguire made his debut. All the other games were big oneâs in the melting pot.
Iâd never hold it against MOâN. It was just one of those things.
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Rice was playing with West Ham from December 2016 I think. Fairly sure he played in a 2-2 draw at Anfield against Liverpool that month.
I remember listening to Jonny Giles on Dunphys podcast at the time saying you couldnât blame Oâ Neill for not playing Rice. He wasnât ready and they were in tough games trying to qualify, it would of set a bad precedent going forward just capping players for the sake of it.
I mean If you were a more senior player at the time looking at an 18 year old who wasnât ready in front of you youâre obviously gonna be pissed off. Hindsightâs a great thing.
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What the fuck?
Jacko was unreal tonight. 40/1 for player of the tournament - fill yer boots. It was the stage he was born to play on.
Jack is the greatest Irish player of all time