Ben Woodburn > PNE

After some digging, I found that he's been playing for Wales since 13 and has Bale followed on his insta So one would assume he considers himself Welsh and fully committed

I was reading though this thread and was wondering if people had considered that he considers himself Welsh and always going to play for Wales.

Glad someone is thinking logically.

I was reading though this thread and was wondering if people had considered that he considers himself Welsh and always going to play for Wales.

Glad someone is thinking logically.

Without doubt he was always going to pick Wales but it wouldn't stop the English FA from trying.

I was reading though this thread and was wondering if people had considered that he considers himself Welsh and always going to play for Wales.

Glad someone is thinking logically.

I really don't get this, his only connection to Wales is his grandfather on his Mum's side, that means 3 other grandparents are either English or not Welsh, so in what way can he possibly consider himself more Welsh than anything else or is it just a case of that was the easiest national team squad to get into and he took the easy option rather than fight to get into the England team?

I really don't get this, his only connection to Wales is his grandfather on his Mum's side, that means 3 other grandparents are either English or not Welsh, so in what way can he possibly consider himself more Welsh than anything else or is it just a case of that was the easiest national team squad to get into and he took the easy option rather than fight to get into the England team?

Well of course it was possible for him to play for England but he committed to Wales as far back as last November. He also represented Wales at junior level so it makes sense to keep representing them. There's a number of reasons as to why he could have played for Wales at junior level instead of England but it's irrelevant now.

I like how you assume that Woodburn can tell the future though by assuming he 'could' have chosen the easy option .

Coleman has come out and denied that he's selected Woodburn so that he can't represent England in the future, we'll see soon enough if he's talking sh*t or not when it comes to picking his next Wales squad for future internationals.

Scored one goal in league cup and he is being called the next Ian Rush. Woodburn should not be picked at 17, he is not old enough to make a choice like this to who to represent.

Well of course it was possible for him to play for England but he committed to Wales as far back as last November. He also represented Wales at junior level so it makes sense to keep representing them. There's a number of reasons as to why he could have played for Wales at junior level instead of England but it's irrelevant now.

I like how you assume that Woodburn can tell the future though by assuming he 'could' have chosen the easy option .

Coleman has come out and denied that he's selected Woodburn so that he can't represent England in the future, we'll see soon enough if he's talking sh*t or not when it comes to picking his next Wales squad for future internationals.

All I'm saying is that he is English in the same way as half of Ireland's team in the 90's was English, I just find this rule of being associated with a country just because of one grandparent thing a complete load of bollocks, he is English and should therefore represent England. I suspect he chose to be Welsh because it would be an easier route into the International setup, I imagine I might do the same myself but I find the rule itself absurd.

All I'm saying is that he is English in the same way as half of Ireland's team in the 90's was English, I just find this rule of being associated with a country just because of one grandparent thing a complete load of bollocks, he is English and should therefore represent England. I suspect he chose to be Welsh because it would be an easier route into the International setup, I imagine I might do the same myself but I find the rule itself absurd.

I agree. If somebody has a parent from another country I can understand having a choice, but grandparent is a bit too far in my opinion.

I agree, France won the would cup with Desailly who was born in Ghana. Did France win the world cup in 1998? Not really on their own.

Oh for goodness sake.

Oh for goodness sake.

Well I edited it because I thought people might disagree, but I really think there are too many variables in international football. Place of birth and mother or fathers nationality should be the only considered factors. I could be wrong here, but a national of a country is where you are a) born yourself, b) either parent is born. Simply living in another country makes somebody a citizen of that country, not a national. If a non American moved to USA and lived there, would they be allowed to run for president after 10 years? absolutely not. I find the grandparents stretching it a bit too. If I were a footballer, I could play for Ireland since I have an Irish grandparent, yet I have never been to Ireland. I think the rules do need tightening.

Well I edited it because I thought people might disagree, but I really think there are too many variables in international football. Place of birth and mother or fathers nationality should be the only considered factors. I could be wrong here, but a national of a country is where you are a) born yourself, b) either parent is born. Simply living in another country makes somebody a citizen of that country, not a national. If a non American moved to USA and lived there, would they be allowed to run for president after 10 years? absolutely not. I find the grandparents stretching it a bit too. If I were a footballer, I could play for Ireland since I have an Irish grandparent, yet I have never been to Ireland. I think the rules do need tightening.

I would also add that the manager of a national team should have to be from that country, exactly the same as the players, with obvious caveats above of it usually being enough to just have one grandparent from that country! Even with that caveat in place I'm not sure Capello or Erikson make the cut ;-).
At least in the Norwegian national team we've always had Norwegian managers, its not ever been a success but they've all been Norwegians dammit! ;-)

Well I edited it because I thought people might disagree, but I really think there are too many variables in international football. Place of birth and mother or fathers nationality should be the only considered factors. I could be wrong here, but a national of a country is where you are a) born yourself, b) either parent is born. Simply living in another country makes somebody a citizen of that country, not a national. If a non American moved to USA and lived there, would they be allowed to run for president after 10 years? absolutely not. I find the grandparents stretching it a bit too. If I were a footballer, I could play for Ireland since I have an Irish grandparent, yet I have never been to Ireland. I think the rules do need tightening.

Don't be silly. The rules are fine.

What gives you the right to tell my wife who had moved here from Russia at the age of 8, educated & with more or less a Welsh upbringing and considers Wales to be her home that she can not represent Wales? How about someone like Dahoud? Germany gave him a future....

Don't be silly. The rules are fine.

What gives you the right to tell my wife who had moved here from Russia at the age of 8, educated & with more or less a Welsh upbringing and considers Wales to be her home that she can not represent Wales? How about someone like Dahoud? Germany gave him a future....

No No that's a completely different issue, but if your wife still has a Russian passport then of course she can't represent Wales or the UK or GB unless one of her parents was from the UK. Its the same with my wife who is from Lithuania, she still has her Lithuanian passport so of course she can only represent Lithuania and not Norway or the UK. My daughter on the other hand could have a choice of representing Norway or Lithuania, but if for example one of my parents had been from Sweden, which thank God they weren't, then I don't think its right that she should have the opportunity to represent Sweden if she has never lived there, that is what myself and I assume Ribaparu is saying. Parental association with a country is ok but grandparents is stretching it a bit far.

Don't be silly. The rules are fine.

What gives you the right to tell my wife who had moved here from Russia at the age of 8, educated & with more or less a Welsh upbringing and considers Wales to be her home that she can not represent Wales? How about someone like Dahoud? Germany gave him a future....

Nationality and habitual residence are not the same thing. As I said, I could be wrong but nationality comes from parents. Citizenship comes from where you live or have lived for an extended period of time. I think that is how the law is defined, but football governing bodies seem to be allow for some citizens, not only nationals, so as for your wife is concerned if she were very good at football she probably would be eligible to play for Wales.
I think this kind of explains it well: http://researchpedia.info/difference-between-nationality-and-citizenship/

I assumed Ribapuru only wanted A and B rules to apply :p

Anyway, I don't think Grandfather/mother is a stretch, nor do I find great Grandfather/mother a problem As long as there is some connection that you can prove, I personally don't see the problem, especially if the player is committed and will give 100% and not do a Giggs.

Not really though if you think about it.

Woodburn is 17

McManaman only started playing for us when he was 19. Gerrard made his debut in 98 when he was an 18 year old, making 12 appearences with 0 goals and 0 assists. Played 31 games as a 20 year old and scored 1 goal. Woodburn is still 3 years away from that. Fowler made an impact right away at 17-18 and is still arguably the best young player the club has ever seen along with Michael Owen. I think we can only really compare once Woodburn has had his first full season in the senior squad and see if he gets a run in the team. One thing I'd hate to see is him go out on loan as loans have never made a success out of a player, they develop at the club, for the club, by the club.

heimdall is too thick to realise that player developmental curve is not as straightforward as he thinks.

heimdall is too thick to realise that player developmental curve is not as straightforward as he thinks.

Sticks and stones my friend, is there really any need to call me thick just because I have a different view to you?
In any case please educate me  about a players developmental curve and compare Woodburn's to Owen, Fowler and Rooney's and BTW the first time I saw Owen, Fowler, Stevie G and Sterling play for us I could see they would be immense players, sorry but I can't say the same about Woodburn. Perhaps he's been rushed in to fast and to soon but I see no special talent at the moment, not at senior level anyway.

Sticks and stones my friend, is there really any need to call me thick just because I have a different view to you?
In any case please educate me  about a players developmental curve and compare Woodburn's to Owen, Fowler and Rooney's and BTW the first time I saw Owen, Fowler, Stevie G and Sterling play for us I could see they would be immense players, sorry but I can't say the same about Woodburn. Perhaps he's been rushed in to fast and to soon but I see no special talent at the moment, not at senior level anyway.

 

Man you were lucky to see all those guys playing in their first seven games for liverpool.Woodburn is coming along nicely.

Scored one goal in league cup and he is being called the next Ian Rush. Woodburn should not be picked at 17, he is not old enough to make a choice like this to who to represent.

 

Took Rush something like 15 games to get his first goal for liverpool and he was two years older.If he's old enough to sign for liverpool he's old enough to pick a country to play for,not the most important decision he'll have to make in his life.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/03/20/Jürgen-klopp-should-have-consulted-ben-woodburns-wales-call/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/03/20/Jürgen-klopp-should-have-consulted-ben-woodburns-wales-call/

Was kind of shocked to hear Coleman didn't consult in Klopp over Woodburn tbh.

Not the first time where I've detected a hint of arrogance from Coleman all because he took Wales to a semi final of what was, in truth, a bloody awful tournament (Portugal won ffs). He thinks he's big and giving it laldy since that achievement but at the end of the day he's still that bloke who got sacked by Fulham and Real Sociedad.

Not the first time where I've detected a hint of arrogance from Coleman all because he took Wales to a semi final of what was, in truth, a bloody awful tournament (Portugal won ffs). He thinks he's big and giving it laldy since that achievement but at the end of the day he's still that bloke who got sacked by Fulham and Real Sociedad.

He knows the last guy to take a British side to a semifinal got a F***ing knighthood, so I don't blame him for being just a tad bit arrogant! Haha

He knows the last guy to take a British side to a semifinal got a f**king knighthood, so I don't blame him for being just a tad bit arrogant! Haha

Terry Venables?! 

In all seriousness - I can't deny Bobby Robson's knighthood. Great player in the post war era and an excellent manager. And a fine example of a gentleman. Much missed. Coleman doesn't hold a candle to Robson.