Declan Rice chooses England

KillersBeard said:

smudge7946 said:

KillersBeard said:

I'd really love to believe this was as hard for Declan Rice as he is making out. Indeed if I had been lucky enough, (good enough) to have had to make the same decision it would have only been tough had both countries come calling at the same time. I am as fiercely proud of my birth right, as I am of my family heritage. So for me, I guess it would come down to whoever wanted me first and then that would be it.

As it is, this seems quite straight forward to me. When he wasn't deemed good enough, (either by himself or his peers) for his country of birth, he was quite happy to wear the green shirt of his ancestors on the assumption I presume that this would be the only country option he would get.

But then to his credit, he improved, considerably as it turns out, or at least enough to put himself on the radar of the English FA who recognised that he had only played three friendlies for the Republic and therefore could still qualify for England.

The whole O'Neill / Keane saga on top of the FA's interest may well have tipped Rice over the edge but it has been reported that after McCarthy took over Rice had agreed to commit himself to Ireland as recently as December, only for the then FA Technical Director, Dan Ashworth to make a concerted effort to change his mind, which obviously worked.

I wish the young man the very best, he has clearly realised that the current Eire squad is simply not good enough to qualify for any major tournaments for the next few years and is not prepared to wait, although he could have been part of a generation of very promising young players coming through.

As it is, the absence of Declan Rice in the Ireland team will not be the sole reason that nothing much will happen for the Boys In Green in the next few years and his inclusion would also not have heralded a new dawn just yet.

Equally the addition to the England side of Declan Rice will not transform the Three Lions into the footballing stratosphere. he's a handy player and will benefit any team and I genuinely wish him well because I have the luxury of supporting both countries.

My only gripe is the utter b****cks that needs to come out with the decision to try to make it more palatable.

It's good to hear about people's pride in dual nationality/mixed heritage.
Do you contribute to both societies ? 

Yes, your point?

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

Not going to hold something he said at 15 or 16 against him. To be honest i think most people on this forum will have either said or done something that would be blown out of all proportion if they were in the public eye.

LargeAddick said:

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

Not going to hold something he said at 15 or 16 against him. To be honest i think most people on this forum will have either said or done something that would be blown out of all proportion if they were in the public eye.

I’ve said this before but I read an interview once with Frank Lampard and when asked what one piece of advice he would give young players in the academy what did he say? Practice hard? Always give 100%? Train properly? Work hard? Etc etc. No, his one piece of advice was ‘do not use social media’. Wise words. One’s players like Rice should listen to.

JaShea99 said:

I’m getting a bit bored of these ‘historic tweets’ cropping up to be honest. Who the hell are the sad bastards willing to trawl through years of a person’s social media history, desperate to find something to assassinate their character with? Get a life.