I'm certainly not doing that as I was born in England and so was my brother, my Goddaughter and two nieces. My sister was adopted and most of my family are delighted in having two Nationalities and proud to be associated with both Nations. I know that Irishness is fluid and is not linked to colour, ethnicity or place of birth ("Jesus was born in a stable, you wouldn't call him a horse" as my brother says!).
What I am doing is pointing out our history of giving caps to people who don't know our National Anthem, previously played for another Nation, didn't realise they even qualified to play for Ireland or any mixture of the above plus other weird and wonderful stories.
Foe every Paul McGrath or Dave O'Leary (both born abroad but clearly Irish) there's a Ray Houghton or a Mark Lawrenson (who clearly picked us when their first option didn't materialise). For every Kevin Kilbane there's an embarrassing flirtation with a Jack Grealish. We're no-one's consolation prize. It's demeaning, and should be beneath us.
O' Neill has played the same cave football against every team. We had about 150 passes against Georgia, too. My point is broader, though - this has been going on for decades. Surely part of the reason that Wes is our best player is because we keep picking managers that distrust players like Wes. We're never going to have twenty players like him because good young Irish players and their coaches are told by the FA and the National Managers that slogboggery like last night is preferable to actual football. [Post edited 10 Oct 2017 16:25]
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
