NOT SO LONG ago, it was looking like Everton would provide the core of the Irish side for years to come.
James McCarthy, Aiden McGeady and Darron Gibson were bought by the club amid high expectations, while the Toffees have developed Seamus Coleman into one of the Premier League’s best right-backs.
However, Coleman aside, the other Irish players at Everton now face uncertain futures — indeed, it’s possible that McGeady, Gibson and McCarthy could all leave the club before the current transfer window closes.
Of the players in question, McGeady is seemingly in the most irreparable position.
Much was expected of the winger upon his arrival. He impressed at Spartak Moscow and became a fan favourite, with supporters unfurling a banner in his honour amid news of his impending departure.
Yet since joining Everton 18 months ago, one or two promising moments aside, the stint couldn’t have gone much worse for McGeady.
A succession of injuries haven’t helped, with the Irish international never really getting a sustained run in the first team.
Consequently, it’s been almost a year to the day since McGeady last played for Everton, while a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday last season was similarly unsuccessful, even if it was enough to earn him a place in Ireland’s 23-man Euro 2016 squad.
Roy Keane’s now-infamous jibe that McGeady could have done better in a pre-tournament friendly against Belarus but “that’s the story of his career” may have been ill-advised, but the assistant boss was simply echoing widespread opinion on the 30-year-old winger.
McGeady has shown evidence of his undoubted talent in tantalisingly fleeting glimpses, but a lack of consistency means there now appears to be no way back for him at Everton, and he will most likely need to resurrect his career at a level lower than the Premier League.
Despite being 30, as is the case with many wingers, McGeady remains a frustrating footballer who still looks like a player with ‘potential’ despite all the experience he has accrued and his career coming to its tail end. Unless he can adapt his game and cut out the bad habits imminently, the player who once earned glowing praise from Lionel Messi and Xavi could descend into obscurity sooner rather than later.
Similarly, Darron Gibson is another player who, at 28, has yet to realise his potential.
The Derry native wasn’t quite good enough to become a first-team regular at Man United despite 27 Premier League appearances for the club between 2009 and 2011.
Moreover, Gibson enjoyed what was undoubtedly the best period of his career so far in the immediate aftermath of his Red Devils departure.
He quickly established himself as a key player for the club — Everton didn’t lose any of the 11 matches in which Gibson featured during his first campaign with the Toffees.
However, near the start of the 2013-14 season, Gibson picked up a serious cruciate injury while playing for Ireland against Kazakhstan. In the three years since, the Ireland player has featured just 16 times in the Premier League for the Toffees and has yet to play this season.
The midfielder has struggled to emulate his pre-cruciate form and could have had few complaints when Martin O’Neill opted not to include him in Ireland’s Euro 2016 squad.
Interestingly, there was a sign of hope for Gibson during the summer, as he penned a new two-year contract with Everton.
However, the latest reports indicate that the agreement for this deal took place prior to new manager Ronald Koeman’s arrival at the club, and that Everton are now willing to listen to offers for Gibson.
Like McGeady, his Irish colleague may now have to settle for a club in the Championship if he hopes to work his way back into Martin O’Neill’s plans ahead of the crucial upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
And while McGeady and Gibson have been on the fringes at Everton for quite some time, the same cannot be said of James McCarthy, who has played nearly 100 Premier League games for the club since joining the Toffees for a fee of up to £13million in 2013.
A favourite under Roberto Martinez, McCarthy suddenly finds himself out in the cold following Koeman’s arrival at the club.
While he has featured in Everton’s two Premier League matches so far, it has been as a makeshift right-sided player rather than in his favoured central midfield role, with Gareth Barry and Idrissa Gueye picked ahead of him in the latter position.
McCarthy impressed many observers in the unfamiliar position against Tottenham, but was taken off after just 38 minutes in the 2-1 win over West Brom, in what Koeman subsequently described as a “tactical change”.
The manner in which McCarthy’s status has fallen is epitomised by the clubs he is being linked to this season compared with last. Just over a year ago, Tottenham, Arsenal, Man United and Man City were thought to be considering a move for the player. Now, Celtic, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Sunderland are among the clubs interested in signing him.
Injuries have been an issue with McCarthy in the recent past — so much so that it caused some much-publicised griping between club and country.
Yet, for the most part, at international and Premier League level, McCarthy has looked below his optimal level for quite some time now.
While he may well end up leaving as reports suggest, the situation does not seem as hopeless as it does for McGeady and Gibson. Shane Long took a while to convince Koeman of his worth at Southampton, so McCarthy may end up doing likewise, but the 25-year-old central midfielder at best has his work cut out for him, with promising youngster Tom Davies set to provide further competition and talk of both Axel Witsel and Moussa Sissoko joining the club.
Finally, Seamus Coleman does not deserve to be put in the same category as the aforementioned trio.
The 27-year-old full-back is still part of Koeman’s plans, even if the club do decide to sign a new right-back as recent reports suggest they might.
Coleman has also had nagging injury problems in recent times, and has yet to play this season owing to his latest setback.
Moreover, the Donegal native has struggled to emulate the superb form that saw him named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2013-14 campaign.
Both for Ireland and Everton of late, Coleman has lacked conviction at times and failed to influence games in attack the way he tends to do at his best, though he is far from the only Everton player who has looked short of confidence during their woeful last few months.
Furthermore, the various Toffees-related mishaps are not the only concern for Irish football in the early stages of this season.
Player development remains a worry — Paddy McNair’s recent departure means that no player from this island is representing United’s first team for the first time in 80 years.
There have been similar reasons for pessimism at Ewood Park. It’s early days, but so far Shane Duffy and Jack Byrne — two of the brightest hopes for the future of Irish football — haven’t exactly set the world alight, with Blackburn currently bottom of the Championship on one point.
Of course, people’s worst fears about the Euro 2016 campaign turned out to be misguided, as Ireland ultimately performed respectably. And the Boys in Green will be aiming to silence their critics again in the coming months, as they attempt to qualify from a tricky-but-not-impossible World Cup group, preferably with Messrs Coleman, McCarthy, McGeady and Gibson among others thriving at both club and international level. Given their current situations at Everton, however, it seems a lot to ask.
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Funny. I’d have given Liam Williams a kick up the backside if I were his coach. They way he went down like he’d been shot after Henderson made slight contact with him was embarrassing. Clearly milking it trying to get a card.
@Farz Saadat: He’s a master of the football-esque winge
@thesaltyurchin: He turns my stomach.
@Farz Saadat: I actually thought Porter was unlucky to be penalised, Williams should be ashamed of himself and his carry on yesterday, bloody Neymar would be proud of the the way he went down and rolled around. Gatland is doing what Gatland does, having a whinge and a moan about “decisions” to deflect from the 60 mins where Wales were completly and comprehensively outplayed. Murray and Sexton played great ball yesterday, took me back a few years to when they were lethal combination.
“Strangely, I’m not that disappointed with many things in the game”. Perhaps it’s Warren who needs a kick up the backside.
That call on Porter was nonsense. Perfectly legitimate attempt to try and prevent a grounding of the ball (a long shot, granted, but he’s entitled to do that). It was the 2 Welsh players who came in on top of Porter afterwards that inflamed the whole thing. The fact that the assistant ref then said Dickinson needed to have a chat with Hansen was hilarious. Thought the ref had a decent game overall but that was farcical.
@Cian Nolan: Porter gave away a lot of penos. Another ref could have lost patience and given him a yellow.
However he’s a great player who’ll put that right next week.
@TL55: yes but I don’t recall us being warned to stop or risk yellow. All fouls are not equal.
@Doug Storms: Persistent infringements can lead to a yellow.
@Cian Nolan: totally agree that porter’s tackle was legit. The referee Dickson wasn’t bad yesterday but the two assistants on the line intervened to make some poor calls.
@Elrond Rivendell: but you will be warned if one is due. We were not warned.
@Jim O’Connor: agreed. I thought the line judges were made a few mistakes but the ref by and large had a decent game.
He is right about Porters slide into the try scorer, Liam Williams was cured very quickly after the Henderson challenge. Quite a few Welsh lads were playing “dead” after some tackles, aka premiership football
Meh, frontline hounds like Porter get in trouble, as well they should, definitely had a few too many penalties but more from the set piece, sensational effort holding up that try as he has to be part of the tackle too.
He’s right. Possibly because Porter made that wonderful intervention previously he got carried away with himself in the split second.
We’ve all seen far worse inflicted on Ireland try-scorers and nothing was said. It’s a pathetic wind-up from Gatland…The Liam Williams Oscar bid was much worse.
Gatland is delighted with his “We Gave The Irish a Game for 30 Minutes” trophy.
Does Gatland think he’s coaching Ireland ?
I’m not a fan of his, but Gatland does strike a chord. Porter really did not need to do that. He’s definitely a big part of Ireland’s pack dominance, but every now and then, does needlessly stir things up that leads to stupid penalties like the one he gave away after the try was scored. It was the tone that was set for those 25 minutes where Ireland stopped playing and allowed Wales back into the game when they should have been well out of sight and racked up a bigger score.
If they’re going to win a Green Slam and possibly a World Cup, they need to cut that crap out. And that goes for Porter. He should focus on his own game, and not try to rile up the opposition.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: he is entitled to contest and try to prevent the grounding.
No issue there for me.
@Oran Burns: 100% correct, ignore Gatland’s sore comments- I seem to recall Oscar nominee Liam Williams sliding a double knee into one of our own try scorers some years ago.
The reaction from the Welsh was like a bully trying to create a row to rile the crowd. It was the sign of a team with nothing to offer on the field.
Yesterday we build a score, early, held it and then their soaked pressure with a type of determined defending that I’ve previously seen from NZ or England on their way to winning world cups.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t he try to stop a try? It’s a winner’s mentality. Wales are the worst for sliding in with two knees into try scorer’s backs. And yesterday’s non injurious attempt by Porter was the first time I’ve seen it penalised. Ref caved to the Welsh reaction and the home crowd. I’d be singing Porter’s praises if I was Farrell. That mentality is why we walked it yesterday.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: I’d say if Andrew Porter was Welsh Gatland would have his name on the team sheet first. They lost move on heading to a rejuvenated Scotland should be his priority. They left scores behind for sure but that’s because of Irelands excellent Defence. On a separate note delighted for Conor Murray proving the experts wrong yet again.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: Getting up the opposition nose is POM’s job not Porter’s!
@TL55: tbf I think the point is not the penalty given away during Williams try, i think its the other 4 or 5 that Porter gave away in short succession that kept handing Wales momentum and entries in to our half/22. It was crazy watching it at the time. Obviously a fantastic player that just had various rushes of blood to the head!
@John Brennan: I was delighted for him too reminded me the way he played a few years back, hopefully will do his confidence good. Only critique I would have was box kicking in the 39th minute instead of holding the ball and closing out the half easily, but only something small.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: no that challenge was legit and Porter is entitled to make it and see if he can disrupt the grounding. It wasn’t late.
@Tom O’Gorman: While Porter, like everyone else is well entitled to stop any potential grounding action, in this situation, he was never going to stop that. He simply reacted foo late. The ball was grounded milliseconds before he made contact with Williams, and the referee, whose decision is open to debate ended up pinging him for the scuffle.
@Oran Burns: He is entitled, yes, but he was NEVER in a realistic position to stop that grounding. The ball was grounded milliseconds before he made contact with Williams, and whatever anyone says about the referee, Porter was the one who ended up pinged for the afters.
@TL55: The explain Porter’s action where he shouldered Nic White who kicked the ball dead in the Ozzie game at half time. I recall O’Mahony wasn’t the player who started that…
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: “The ball was grounded milliseconds before he made contact with Williams”
So Porter who had Milliseconds to attempt to prevent the try which is his role, should have summed up that he would miss holding the ball up by milliseconds and not tried to prevent the try? Ummmm, seriously?
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: And the “scuffle” was instigated by none other than Daniel Biggar. Had he not come in guns blazing, there would have been no handbags, no drama and everybody would have reset and gotten on with it.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: you should try re-reading your own comment….how ’bout that?
@Niall Mulligan: And yet who was penalized? You ever consider that the end is more important than the start, Niall?
@Kieran Collins: Nah, not really. Especially not on the advice of someone who offered it in such a petulant manner.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: Your logic is illogical dude with too many names :)
https://youtu.be/u-XGWHmIVeo
I’d hate to have been Williams’ backside so, after this. He must have gotten a proper walloping.
@Joe Vlogs: that’s a dinger, few match ban these days, easy. Liam Williams legacy will read like this if he’s not careful: https://www.balls.ie/rugby/ireland-wales-liam-williams-iain-henderson-541703
@Joe Vlogs: that’s the one. Gatland was quiet about that. Interesting to see who the ref was and typical of his performances over the years when we played Wales. Thought the TMO had an oversized involvement in a few of the dodgy calls yesterday.
I was mad with Henderson. He had a clear opportunity to poleaxe that annoying play actor Williams and completely messed it up
Porter was making a genuine attempt to get under the ball, but was a fraction of a second too late. If he is a little faster then he is a hero, he is a little late and it’s a penalty. There’s is nothing more to it, claims of malicious play needing a coaches sanction is just grasping at straws.
Henderson also made a genuine attempt to charge the kick and even twisted his body mid air to avoid full contact. It also warranted nothing more than the Penalty that was given.
Both actions were valid and to be encouraged but need to be a bit tidier to avoid penalties and I am sure that’s why they will be told in the review.
I have no doubt that the French would have been every bit as dominant against the Welsh. It’s going to be a titanic battle next week…can’t wait!
Liam Williams is the biggest cheap shot merchant in the tournament and has been for years so people in glass houses etc.
However Porter’s discipline was all over the place. He conceded 6 penalties and many of them were poor ones – not rolling away, in at the side etc. that’s hard to defend
He wonders why he is not popular in Ireland ! He still has a chip on his shoulder about being fired
Would have thought Fatland had plenty of his own problems to worry about after yesterday.
I reckon Porter was within his rights to try to get a hand under the ball to prevent the grounding but he roughed Williams up in the contact which was needless. He made a lot of errors in the 2nd half and needs to get his discipline sorted. I thought Williams was shameful in his reaction to Henderson’s attempted charge down. Henderson had every right to go for it, he couldn’t have known the trajectory of the ball. But Williams throwing himself down and rolling about after being touched by Henderson’s hand was embarrassing. The BBC commentary team, and especially JD1, were just as bad. This playacting has been about for a good while but it hasn’t become prevalent, World Rugby need to clamp down on it before the World Cup.
@Sustainable Hedgehog: The playacting annoys me especially because we want dangerous play eradicated and shameless gamesmanship taking advantage of strict refereeing shouldn’t have a place in rugby.
@Sustainable Hedgehog: And Williams is no angel, anyone remember his late knees first slide into Paddy Jackson after Paddy had scored a try for Ireland.
Not gonna mention the welsh player sliding in feet first when Keenan grounded the ball in our end zone? Didn’t make contact but it was cynical and potentially dangerous play that should have been picked up on.
Porter had every right to make that attempt. It was when the other 2 welsh players piled on that things got nasty.
Gstland should worry about his own team and keep his nose out of ours. C’mon Ireland
To be fair Porter was committed but his timing was off. I don’t think there was anything sinister in it at all and the ref got it right. Gatland would have been kissing his a#se if Wales got a try off it. So maybe the kick should be reserved for the welsh hooker
Gatland should start with a kick up the ass to the entire Welsh Team
So would I