Stephen ireland might wish now that he hadn't stuck the fingers up at the fai now that his premiership career is sinking,
Courtesy of Joe.ie
Now that we’ve made our first tournament in ten years, the nostrils of many a potential Irishman are open wide and sniffing the possibility of a place on the plane to Euro 2012 next summer.
By Conor Heneghan
Richard Dunne and Keith Andrews have already said they’re not welcome, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try and do a little brown-nosing in the hope of getting a call. Here are five players who might be staking their claims over the next eight months.
Jamie O’Hara
Only last month, O’Hara ruled out the possibility of pulling on a green jersey because he maintains an ambition to play with England and would only be playing for Ireland if that ambition went unfulfilled.
However, that would contradict comments made earlier in the year when he said he was “definitely interested” in the possibility of turning out for Trap’s Army. Footballers’ opinions change as easily as the wind and as soon as O’Hara realises that he has no hope in hell of playing for England in the near future, we reckon he’ll be burning the ear of the large Irish contingent at Wolves and will be on the old dog and bone to Trap pleading his case for next summer.
"I have a massive Irish family on my dad's side. In fact, I'm probably more Irish than English!” said O’Hara last month and it’s a line we’re likely to hear trotted out again and again, from O’Hara and others, before the Euros next summer.
Mark Noble
Like O’Hara, Noble is a Cockney through and through and like O’Hara, he has notions of a future England call-up that will forever go unrealised. A tidy enough midfielder who is decent at set-pieces, Noble looked destined for greater things in his early days at West Ham, but Premier League clubs haven’t been exactly falling over themselves to rescue him from his current plight in the Championship.
Noble was first sounded out about a potential Irish call-up in the Steve Staunton days and looked set to join up late last year, but such talk has been muted as of late. The Euros next summer would present the opportunity to hoor himself on the European stage, however, so don’t be surprised if his ‘Oirishness’ becomes more and more prevalent over the coming months.
Jermaine Pennant
Footballers in general come across as a pretty dislikeable bunch, but rarely, if ever, has there been a more odious character in the game than Jermaine Pennant. In fairness to the Stoke winger, he actually admitted that he would be using Ireland only as a fallback option, but such talk hardly endeared him to Ireland fans, who probably weren’t much endeared with the ex-con in the first place.
Pennant’s agent was on the case earlier this year, but nothing happened then and thankfully, nothing is likely to happen in the future. Sure, he can cross a ball, but this guy is far more trouble than he’s worth.
Kevin Nolan
Nolan has explored the possibility of playing for Ireland in the past, but despite having the most Irish name possible, it turns out his connections aren’t as green as one might have thought.
"The possibility of playing for Ireland has been brought up a number of times but unfortunately my grandad and my nans are only a quarter Irish, or half Irish, and they need to be fully Irish!” said Nolan, but he might be encouraged to do a little more digging now that the prospect of playing at a major tournament has conveniently arisen.
Pushing 30 and playing Championship football, however, Nolan’s dreams of an international career are as good as over and maybe that’s a good thing. After all, this is a man who once said: "I did try and cheat like Tony Cascarino did by going over and having 14 pints of Guinness. Didn't work though."
Please, spare us the lazy stereotype, Kevin.
Zat Knight
It was back in the days of Brian Kerr that Knight once raised the possibility of playing for Ireland so desperate was he to play in a major championships, but two subsequent appearances for England in friendlies probably relinquished his appetite to go green for a short while.
Now 31 and with his England prospects well and truly buried in the past, the clumsy Bolton man will be frantically digging for connections to his Irish past, but given his history with drugs and his overall crapness, it is a link best left unexplored in the best interests of all concerned.
Courtesy of Joe.ie
Now that we’ve made our first tournament in ten years, the nostrils of many a potential Irishman are open wide and sniffing the possibility of a place on the plane to Euro 2012 next summer.
By Conor Heneghan
Richard Dunne and Keith Andrews have already said they’re not welcome, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try and do a little brown-nosing in the hope of getting a call. Here are five players who might be staking their claims over the next eight months.
Jamie O’Hara
Only last month, O’Hara ruled out the possibility of pulling on a green jersey because he maintains an ambition to play with England and would only be playing for Ireland if that ambition went unfulfilled.
However, that would contradict comments made earlier in the year when he said he was “definitely interested” in the possibility of turning out for Trap’s Army. Footballers’ opinions change as easily as the wind and as soon as O’Hara realises that he has no hope in hell of playing for England in the near future, we reckon he’ll be burning the ear of the large Irish contingent at Wolves and will be on the old dog and bone to Trap pleading his case for next summer.
"I have a massive Irish family on my dad's side. In fact, I'm probably more Irish than English!” said O’Hara last month and it’s a line we’re likely to hear trotted out again and again, from O’Hara and others, before the Euros next summer.
Mark Noble
Like O’Hara, Noble is a Cockney through and through and like O’Hara, he has notions of a future England call-up that will forever go unrealised. A tidy enough midfielder who is decent at set-pieces, Noble looked destined for greater things in his early days at West Ham, but Premier League clubs haven’t been exactly falling over themselves to rescue him from his current plight in the Championship.
Noble was first sounded out about a potential Irish call-up in the Steve Staunton days and looked set to join up late last year, but such talk has been muted as of late. The Euros next summer would present the opportunity to hoor himself on the European stage, however, so don’t be surprised if his ‘Oirishness’ becomes more and more prevalent over the coming months.
Jermaine Pennant
Footballers in general come across as a pretty dislikeable bunch, but rarely, if ever, has there been a more odious character in the game than Jermaine Pennant. In fairness to the Stoke winger, he actually admitted that he would be using Ireland only as a fallback option, but such talk hardly endeared him to Ireland fans, who probably weren’t much endeared with the ex-con in the first place.
Pennant’s agent was on the case earlier this year, but nothing happened then and thankfully, nothing is likely to happen in the future. Sure, he can cross a ball, but this guy is far more trouble than he’s worth.
Kevin Nolan
Nolan has explored the possibility of playing for Ireland in the past, but despite having the most Irish name possible, it turns out his connections aren’t as green as one might have thought.
"The possibility of playing for Ireland has been brought up a number of times but unfortunately my grandad and my nans are only a quarter Irish, or half Irish, and they need to be fully Irish!” said Nolan, but he might be encouraged to do a little more digging now that the prospect of playing at a major tournament has conveniently arisen.
Pushing 30 and playing Championship football, however, Nolan’s dreams of an international career are as good as over and maybe that’s a good thing. After all, this is a man who once said: "I did try and cheat like Tony Cascarino did by going over and having 14 pints of Guinness. Didn't work though."
Please, spare us the lazy stereotype, Kevin.
Zat Knight
It was back in the days of Brian Kerr that Knight once raised the possibility of playing for Ireland so desperate was he to play in a major championships, but two subsequent appearances for England in friendlies probably relinquished his appetite to go green for a short while.
Now 31 and with his England prospects well and truly buried in the past, the clumsy Bolton man will be frantically digging for connections to his Irish past, but given his history with drugs and his overall crapness, it is a link best left unexplored in the best interests of all concerned.
