General Sykes wants to play for the republic

[Scotchegg]

Am I the only one that is beginning to worry that a certain person is getting a little ahead of himself and believing his own hype????

Probably! ?

 

[OxfordBoy]

Am I the only one that is beginning to worry that a certain person is getting a little ahead of himself and believing his own hype????

Based on one decision we know absolutely nothing about? Literally can’t think of any other reason why

 

[Marked Ox]

They could have picked a more flattering picture!

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Am I the only one that is beginning to worry that a certain person is getting a little ahead of himself and believing his own hype????

Yes.

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Am I the only one that is beginning to worry that a certain person is getting a little ahead of himself and believing his own hype????

Imagine coming to England, joining your first professional club, performing how he has and settling into the club so quickly. That would put so many lingering fears and doubts, to bed. He is clearly trusted by KR and tipped to be a big player this season and personally, im chuffed for him. I think he will be brilliant for us this season, in the #10 role.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

You'd imagine that he hasn't just made this decision in a vacuum - he will had been told that he has a good shot of being in an Ireland squad soon (form permitting).
Is 'tapping up' allowed at international level?

 

[ThehatchetMan]

Wonder who the last player to do that was? Ballsy stuff from the boy.

Happens all the time mate. ROI are notorious for it. If you look back at some of their squads in major tournaments you will find that alot of the time as little as 60% of their squad are born in the Republic of Ireland.

James McClean, Shane Duffy, Marc Wilson, Eunan O'kane, Darren Gibson to name a few in recent years...

It depends to an extent on your class background and the precise district you come from. In addition, Brexit has changed the dynamics in NI. Johnson shafted the DUP and moderate Unionists have accepted the inevitability of closer ties with the south so a switch like this is less contentious than it might have been four years ago. Sykes’s decision is in itself an indication of how things are changing.

The DUP could raise tax to 99% of your income and the same people would still vote for them. Unionists here certainly have not accepted a United Ireland or any sort of possibility of it.

Unfortunately there are still large chunks of Northern Irish people who vote tribally, voting one party to keep the other out. The most loyal DUP voters tend to be working class unionists which is quite ironic giving their right wing policies. Unfortunately these people don't educate themselves on the policies and simply vote to keep other parties out. As a protestant myself, I actually align myself more with SF policies however both parties are toxic and I don't endorse either.

Sykes decision if anything is more contentious now, the Northern Ireland football fans are sick of this behaviour.

It's quite common for Belfast-born Catholics to play for ROI, isn't it?

Not really, historically we've had alot of great Catholic players who have been loved by the Northern Irish fans and treated very well. Even Michael O'Neil who is adored by the fans as a player and manager is catholic.

If anything it's actually became much more common in the last 10 years to change allegiance.

Am I the only one that is beginning to worry that a certain person is getting a little ahead of himself and believing his own hype????

I'm sorry to say this but I really hope he does fail now. It really frustrates me stuff like this.

It's frustrating because he was happy to represent Northern Ireland through all the youth teams right up to the senior squad. He was also happy to take a wage playing in the irish league and now the English system. And I'm sure Gavin Whyte probably played a role in helping him join Oxford United and that other internationals formerly from the Irish league such as Stuart Dallas probably offered him alot of help and advice.

I just think it's ridiculous that in this day and age players can represent one country for so long and then just switch to the ROI so easily. We have a quarter of the population of the ROI as it is and if you take all those players who swapped to ROI from NI, we'd actually probably have a much stronger squad than them too.

I personally think Fifa need to change the rules with this a bit. I understand as a teenager you're not in the position to make an informed decesion but their should be an age limit in place which they have to switch by or something. It's unfair on NI to bring these players through the youth system and then for them to leave like that with no compensation. Not only are we losing good players but other potential youth prospects are also losing opportunities to represent their country too and push on.

If Mr Sykes really didn't want to represent NI then I'm sure he would of known a long time ago. Nothing has changed overnight to make him change his mind.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

Happens all the time mate. ROI are notorious for it. If you look back at some of their squads in major tournaments you will find that alot of the time as little as 60% of their squad are born in the Republic of Ireland.

James McClean, Shane Duffy, Marc Wilson, Eunan O'kane, Darren Gibson to name a few in recent years...




The DUP could raise tax to 99% of your income and the same people would still vote for them. Unionists here certainly have not accepted a United Ireland or any sort of possibility of it.

Unfortunately there are still large chunks of Northern Irish people who vote tribally, voting one party to keep the other out. The most loyal DUP voters tend to be working class unionists which is quite ironic giving their right wing policies. Unfortunately these people don't educate themselves on the policies and simply vote to keep other parties out. As a protestant myself, I actually align myself more with SF policies however both parties are toxic and I don't endorse either.

Sykes decision if anything is more contentious now, the Northern Ireland football fans are sick of this behaviour.



Not really, historically we've had alot of great Catholic players who have been loved by the Northern Irish fans and treated very well. Even Michael O'Neil who is adored by the fans as a player and manager is catholic.

If anything it's actually became much more common in the last 10 years to change allegiance.



I'm sorry to say this but I really hope he does fail now. It really frustrates me stuff like this.

It's frustrating because he was happy to represent Northern Ireland through all the youth teams right up to the senior squad. He was also happy to take a wage playing in the irish league and now the English system. And I'm sure Gavin Whyte probably played a role in helping him join Oxford United and that other internationals formerly from the Irish league such as Stuart Dallas probably offered him alot of help and advice.

I just think it's ridiculous that in this day and age players can represent one country for so long and then just switch to the ROI so easily. We have a quarter of the population of the ROI as it is and if you take all those players who swapped to ROI from NI, we'd actually probably have a much stronger squad than them too.

I personally think Fifa need to change the rules with this a bit. I understand as a teenager you're not in the position to make an informed decesion but their should be an age limit in place which they have to switch by or something. It's unfair on NI to bring these players through the youth system and then for them to leave like that with no compensation. Not only are we losing good players but other potential youth prospects are also losing opportunities to represent their country too and push on.

If Mr Sykes really didn't want to represent NI then I'm sure he would of known a long time ago. Nothing has changed overnight to make him change his mind.

This is the same line people in the UK give about Brexit voters "they were too uneducated to realise it won't benefit them" etc... comes across a little snobbish to me.

 

[ThehatchetMan]

This is the same line people in the UK give about Brexit voters "they were too uneducated to realise it won't benefit them" etc... comes across a little snobbish to me.

I understand it may come across as snobby but I do live in a very working class protestant estate and most of my neighbours are poorly educated on politics. I'm not making assumptions, I've literally lived with these people for 30 years. They will only vote for a "protestant" party in order to keep the "catholics" out. In recent years that party has been the DUP.

You just need to look at RHI scandal, dissolved goverment for 3 years, propping up tory goverment, paisley expenses scandals, voting against protecting NHS from privatisation, views on abortion, views on lgbt rights etc.. To see why DUP is not a good party to vote for in 2020

 

[Scotchegg]

I personally think Fifa need to change the rules with this a bit. I understand as a teenager you're not in the position to make an informed decesion but their should be an age limit in place which they have to switch by or something.

The limit is set once you play at a senior level internationally, so 21+.

I'm sure Mark Sykes hasn't just come to this decision over night. He could have carried on representing NI at senior level and would have picked up far more caps than he probably will for ROI, but he's gone with what is right for him and his family.

I'm sorry to say this but I really hope he does fail now.

And to say that you hope a young footballer fails is pretty spiteful and unnecessary. He's barely established himself at Oxford yet, and whilst I think he'll have a very good career ahead of him, football is brutal and one injury or a loss of form could see a career over before it's really begun. I would never wish failure on anyone. Life is too short to take these things to heart.

ROI are ranked 34th in the world, NI 36th. I "supported" ROI at the world cup in USA in '94 and NI in Spain '82. I hope both teams do well and will look out for Whyte and Cooper, and hopefully Sykes if selected in the same way I looked out for Magilton, Aldridge, Houghton etc in the last. I appreciate the Irish situation is very different to many others due to the troubles, but it is ultimately only a game of football!

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

Removing all political and sectarian elements to this I think it’s rather poor form. If it’s always been his dream then he should absolutely have chosen not to play for Northern Ireland just because he felt it advanced his cause. It lacks integrity. Talented young man but goes down a notch in my estimation. The northern irish fans have every right to be miffed. He’s used time, resource and also stolen some of their national pride

International football isn’t club football and the moment we start accepting transfers we may as well give it up.

 

[werthersoriginal]

This is the same line people in the UK give about Brexit voters "they were too uneducated to realise it won't benefit them" etc... comes across a little snobbish to me.

True though isn’t it?

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

True though isn’t it?

Well unless there are no stupid/uneducated people in the country then its almost inevitable that some of them voted in the referendum, yes

 

[Northernyellow]

Removing all political and sectarian elements to this I think it’s rather poor form. If it’s always been his dream then he should absolutely have chosen not to play for Northern Ireland just because he felt it advanced his cause. It lacks integrity. Talented young man but goes down a notch in my estimation. The northern irish fans have every right to be miffed. He’s used time, resource and also stolen some of their national pride

International football isn’t club football and the moment we start accepting transfers we may as well give it up.

This is no different from England pinching Declan Rice, and he had even played for the ROI in three full internationals, but as they were friendlies, they didn't count. The mess is all FIFA's making- it's not tricky to sort it out. Just introduce a rule that says (for example) that once you have played for the u.18's of a country, that's it. In Sykes' case, he was (I think he said so in the Belfast Telegraph) tapped up by the ROI in the Summer. He was also known to be irritated by the fact that he was called up three times by NI in the last few months, and didn't get even five minutes at the end of a game. As a previous poster has said, many Belfast boys will have a strong pull to the ROI for reasons that go back hundreds of years! Can't blame the player- blame the system. Having said all this, he would have got 50+ caps for NI- and I would very much doubt he will get that for the ROI, but that's his decision.

 

[arthurturner]

Removing all political and sectarian elements to this I think it’s rather poor form. If it’s always been his dream then he should absolutely have chosen not to play for Northern Ireland just because he felt it advanced his cause. It lacks integrity. Talented young man but goes down a notch in my estimation. The northern irish fans have every right to be miffed. He’s used time, resource and also stolen some of their national pride

International football isn’t club football and the moment we start accepting transfers we may as well give it up.

Well, you can think what you like, but there may be, and probably are, issues which are none of our business as to why Mark has made this decision. It's a matter for him and not for us on this forum to criticise him. All we should care about is the fact that he's becoming an important part of our team and will be crucial to our performances this season. Further speculation is pointless and unfair. I would suggest that the mods bring this topic to a close.

 

[Scotchegg]

The mess is all FIFA's making- it's not tricky to sort it out. Just introduce a rule that says (for example) that once you have played for the u.18's of a country, that's it.

There is a rule, and it's very clear. It says that once you've played a full international for a country then there's no changing.

Northern Ireland is slightly different, and there are rules that allow those born there to represent either NI or ROI



Who's to say that if the rule was set at u18's then Sykes would not have made the same decision then? Or that if he had no legitimate right to represent another country then he would have acted differently.

To question a young players integrity on a complex issue that we know little about, is unnecessary in my view.

 

[Left Wing Cross]

I just think it's ridiculous that in this day and age players can represent one country for so long and then just switch to the ROI so easily. We have a quarter of the population of the ROI as it is and if you take all those players who swapped to ROI from NI, we'd actually probably have a much stronger squad than them too.

I personally think Fifa need to change the rules with this a bit. I understand as a teenager you're not in the position to make an informed decesion but their should be an age limit in place which they have to switch by or something. It's unfair on NI to bring these players through the youth system and then for them to leave like that with no compensation. Not only are we losing good players but other potential youth prospects are also losing opportunities to represent their country too and push on.

If Mr Sykes really didn't want to represent NI then I'm sure he would of known a long time ago. Nothing has changed overnight to make him change his mind.

I think the FIFA rules were made in good faith. The problem is looking at this as poaching from a "a smaller country".

I imaging the rules were so that if a player was representing a "larger nation" at youth level, they wouldn't be excluded from representing someone else. Did anyone complain when Victor Moses or Shola Ameobi represented England up to U-21s but decided to represent Nigeria?

 

[Northernyellow]

There is a rule, and it's very clear. It says that once you've played a full international for a country then there's no changing.

Northern Ireland is slightly different, and there are rules that allow those born there to represent either NI or ROI

View attachment 4413

Who's to say that if the rule was set at u18's then Sykes would not have made the same decision then? Or that if he had no legitimate right to represent another country then he would have acted differently.

To question a young players integrity on a complex issue that we know little about, is unnecessary in my view.

But the point is (and that is what has irritated NI so much about Sykes and also ROI with Rice) is that by delaying this for so long, those associations have effectively wasted time and money on a player who then switched. If FIFA made it an u.18 rule, that would be far more sensible. Which is why it will never happen. NI are particularly sensitive, as several players switch to the ROI. They also had a very odd case with Cameron McGeehan (the Pompey player who missed the pen against us) who played for NI through the age groups (his Grandad was from Belfast, but he is from Kingston in SW London). They flew him over for training camps from the age of 12-13 onwards. He then announced when he was on the fringes of the full NI squad that he wanted to play for England!

 

[ThehatchetMan]

There is a rule, and it's very clear. It says that once you've played a full international for a country then there's no changing.

Northern Ireland is slightly different, and there are rules that allow those born there to represent either NI or ROI

View attachment 4413

Who's to say that if the rule was set at u18's then Sykes would not have made the same decision then? Or that if he had no legitimate right to represent another country then he would have acted differently.

To question a young players integrity on a complex issue that we know little about, is unnecessary in my view.

That's the problem, it's quite clear that the ROI was always his primary choice. But he decided to waste the IFAs time for years until he thought he had an opportunity to join ROI. He shouldn't be preventing genuine players who want to represent NI the opportunity; just a waste of time.

And that rule by Fifa is the problem. Its ridiculous that anyone born in NI can change allegiance to ROI but none of their players can represent us unless they have a bloodline. It should be the same rule both ways.

With regards to Declan Rice, while I agree similar comparisons can be made. It must be remembered that Declan was born in England and lived there his whole life. Yes he may of played in some games for ROI at youth level but more than likely the FAI would of approached him. Had Mark Sykes represented us at youth level but was born and bread in ROI and lived most of his life there, I think that's alot easier to accept.

And yes saying hoping he fails is probably out of order. Tbh I'd still like to see him have a further successful career across the water but this has added a real bitter taste. I hope you can understand the frustrations of being a NI fan when our players are routinely stolen from the ROI using a fifa rule which is clearly bias to one country.

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

There is a rule, and it's very clear. It says that once you've played a full international for a country then there's no changing.

Northern Ireland is slightly different, and there are rules that allow those born there to represent either NI or ROI

View attachment 4413

Who's to say that if the rule was set at u18's then Sykes would not have made the same decision then? Or that if he had no legitimate right to represent another country then he would have acted differently.

To question a young players integrity on a complex issue that we know little about, is unnecessary in my view.

I think the FIFA rules were made in good faith. The problem is looking at this as poaching from a "a smaller country".

I imaging the rules were so that if a player was representing a "larger nation" at youth level, they wouldn't be excluded from representing someone else. Did anyone complain when Victor Moses or Shola Ameobi represented England up to U-21s but decided to represent Nigeria?

That’s probably because they realised that there chances of ever being selected for England at senior level were zero.