MKSpur
Christian Ziege
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/will-mick-mccarthy-take-chance-on-the-next-robbie-keane-gqhbq3xgh
Will Mick McCarthy take chance on ‘the next Robbie Keane’?
November 30 2018, 12:01am,
How fitting it is for Uefa to be given a tour of the north Dublin inner-city’s football playgrounds this week when Ireland’s future hopes rest upon one of its products.
Troy Parrott, the distinctively-named and richly talented 16-year-old, is making headlines for Ireland underage teams and gathering a showreel of goals for Tottenham Hotspur.
He is yet to grace the first team as fellow Dubliner Robbie Keane did with such verve, yet observers place Parrott in the same bracket for talent at that tender age.
There were shades of Keane’s agility and eye for goal in the strike Parrott buried against Inter Milan during Wednesday’s Youth Champions League game.
Rather than being on the fringes of their under-18 team, as most Irish imports are in their first year, Parrott is the main striker for Tottenham’s under-23 side. Mauricio Pochettino does not need his son, fellow academy scholar Maurizio, to inform him of his team-mate’s ability.
David Pleat, the club’s former manager and advisor to chairman Daniel Levy, witnessed Parrott shine during Ireland’s march to the quarter-finals of the Under-17 European Championships in May, scoring three in four games at the finals in England.
Wes Hoolahan may have the balance of an ice-skater, Graham Burke a wand of a left foot but it is the instep of their fellow north inner-city Dubliner which stands out now. All three were raised within a square mile of each other around the north strand, an area steeped in football.
Eamon Dunphy and John Giles have long attributed Ireland’s woes at senior level to the death of street football, but there is no shortage of the art in this district. Not even the scourge of gangland feuds blighting the area since the Regency Hotel murders 20 months ago could suppress this hothouse of football.
It is here that the blazers of Uefa, in town for Sunday’s Euro 2020 qualification draw, will have been brought for an insight to Dublin’s culture. Last night, the roadshow with the trophy hit Mountjoy Square, tomorrow Commons Street will be visited. “My mother couldn’t get me in off the street every day,” said Parrott, from Buckingham Street, a long pass away from Burke’s family home on Sean MacDermott Street. “Whether I was out on the road or in the local park with my mates, I enjoyed having the ball at my feet.”
Now, he has got the world at his feet. Tottenham have his path mapped out, but Ireland’s need is far more pressing, leaving Mick McCarthy grappling with a balancing act.
Martin O’Neill said he was tempted to draft the forward into his last squad, predicting a “big, big future” for him. McCarthy may have no choice but to fast-track him during 2019.
Would he rely on a rookie to cure his shortage of firepower? McCarthy showed his faith in youth on his first stint at the helm, blooding six debutants, including Keane, in a friendly against Czech Republic 20 years ago.
Were Parrott to be thrown in for his bow in McCarthy’s first set of matches in March, he would smash the 38-year-old record held by Jimmy Holmes for being the youngest ever player to win a senior cap.
Marty McGuigan, Tottenham’s Irish scout who first spotted their prospect, has noticed the change in Parrott’s physique since he started full-time training in the summer.
“He’s already developed into a man,” McGuigan said. “I was over at the club training ground recently and Troy ran across a couple of pitches to greet me. He has adjusted to the professional environment with ease and I could sense his degree of focus. It’s very early days for Troy but so far, so good.”
Parrott has probably heard the name Terry Dixon. He was 16 when parachuted into the Ireland squad by Steve Staunton 12 years ago, touted as the next big thing, only for injuries to strike.
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola took him off the scrapheap he was thrown on by Spurs. He earned one under-21 cap, never played in the Premier League and, at 28, is now turning out for non-League Aylesbury United.
Closer to his Dublin home, across the road in Seville Place to be exact, a chat with Keith Treacy is advisable for Parrott. The winger did break into the Ireland team, winning six caps under Giovanni Trapattoni, but the trappings of a footballer’s lifestyle sent him into a tailspin. He recalls earning €3,000 per week as a 17-year-old at Blackburn Rovers, shelling out on a new Range Rover without even having a licence to drive it. Depression engulfed his life and back in his native city, poorer but happier, Treacy is done with the game.
Then there is the case of Anthony Stokes, reportedly on his way from Iran last night after severing his ties with Tractor Sazi just 11 games into his contract. A contemporary of Treacy’s, also now 30, talent alone could only get Stokes so far.
Vincent Butler, the former Ireland Under-16 manager and founding member of Belvedere, the schoolboy club where Hoolahan, Burke and Treacy learnt their trade, believes their latest graduate has a lot in his favour.
“Anything can happen — injuries, pressure, change of manager — but we in Belvedere would be quietly confident that Troy can succeed,” he said.
In these desperate times for Irish football, that is enough for the weight of expectation to snowball
Will Mick McCarthy take chance on ‘the next Robbie Keane’?
November 30 2018, 12:01am,
How fitting it is for Uefa to be given a tour of the north Dublin inner-city’s football playgrounds this week when Ireland’s future hopes rest upon one of its products.
Troy Parrott, the distinctively-named and richly talented 16-year-old, is making headlines for Ireland underage teams and gathering a showreel of goals for Tottenham Hotspur.
He is yet to grace the first team as fellow Dubliner Robbie Keane did with such verve, yet observers place Parrott in the same bracket for talent at that tender age.
There were shades of Keane’s agility and eye for goal in the strike Parrott buried against Inter Milan during Wednesday’s Youth Champions League game.
Rather than being on the fringes of their under-18 team, as most Irish imports are in their first year, Parrott is the main striker for Tottenham’s under-23 side. Mauricio Pochettino does not need his son, fellow academy scholar Maurizio, to inform him of his team-mate’s ability.
David Pleat, the club’s former manager and advisor to chairman Daniel Levy, witnessed Parrott shine during Ireland’s march to the quarter-finals of the Under-17 European Championships in May, scoring three in four games at the finals in England.
Wes Hoolahan may have the balance of an ice-skater, Graham Burke a wand of a left foot but it is the instep of their fellow north inner-city Dubliner which stands out now. All three were raised within a square mile of each other around the north strand, an area steeped in football.
Eamon Dunphy and John Giles have long attributed Ireland’s woes at senior level to the death of street football, but there is no shortage of the art in this district. Not even the scourge of gangland feuds blighting the area since the Regency Hotel murders 20 months ago could suppress this hothouse of football.
It is here that the blazers of Uefa, in town for Sunday’s Euro 2020 qualification draw, will have been brought for an insight to Dublin’s culture. Last night, the roadshow with the trophy hit Mountjoy Square, tomorrow Commons Street will be visited. “My mother couldn’t get me in off the street every day,” said Parrott, from Buckingham Street, a long pass away from Burke’s family home on Sean MacDermott Street. “Whether I was out on the road or in the local park with my mates, I enjoyed having the ball at my feet.”
Now, he has got the world at his feet. Tottenham have his path mapped out, but Ireland’s need is far more pressing, leaving Mick McCarthy grappling with a balancing act.
Martin O’Neill said he was tempted to draft the forward into his last squad, predicting a “big, big future” for him. McCarthy may have no choice but to fast-track him during 2019.
Would he rely on a rookie to cure his shortage of firepower? McCarthy showed his faith in youth on his first stint at the helm, blooding six debutants, including Keane, in a friendly against Czech Republic 20 years ago.
Were Parrott to be thrown in for his bow in McCarthy’s first set of matches in March, he would smash the 38-year-old record held by Jimmy Holmes for being the youngest ever player to win a senior cap.
Marty McGuigan, Tottenham’s Irish scout who first spotted their prospect, has noticed the change in Parrott’s physique since he started full-time training in the summer.
“He’s already developed into a man,” McGuigan said. “I was over at the club training ground recently and Troy ran across a couple of pitches to greet me. He has adjusted to the professional environment with ease and I could sense his degree of focus. It’s very early days for Troy but so far, so good.”
Parrott has probably heard the name Terry Dixon. He was 16 when parachuted into the Ireland squad by Steve Staunton 12 years ago, touted as the next big thing, only for injuries to strike.
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola took him off the scrapheap he was thrown on by Spurs. He earned one under-21 cap, never played in the Premier League and, at 28, is now turning out for non-League Aylesbury United.
Closer to his Dublin home, across the road in Seville Place to be exact, a chat with Keith Treacy is advisable for Parrott. The winger did break into the Ireland team, winning six caps under Giovanni Trapattoni, but the trappings of a footballer’s lifestyle sent him into a tailspin. He recalls earning €3,000 per week as a 17-year-old at Blackburn Rovers, shelling out on a new Range Rover without even having a licence to drive it. Depression engulfed his life and back in his native city, poorer but happier, Treacy is done with the game.
Then there is the case of Anthony Stokes, reportedly on his way from Iran last night after severing his ties with Tractor Sazi just 11 games into his contract. A contemporary of Treacy’s, also now 30, talent alone could only get Stokes so far.
Vincent Butler, the former Ireland Under-16 manager and founding member of Belvedere, the schoolboy club where Hoolahan, Burke and Treacy learnt their trade, believes their latest graduate has a lot in his favour.
“Anything can happen — injuries, pressure, change of manager — but we in Belvedere would be quietly confident that Troy can succeed,” he said.
In these desperate times for Irish football, that is enough for the weight of expectation to snowball
