Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne has been told to keep doing what he is doing after being compared favourably to the legendary Paul McGrath.
The 29-year-old Manchester City star was a rock for Ireland in Bulgaria on Saturday night, despite having an injection in his knee before the game after missing several days' training.
Both his bravery and his performance at the Vasil Levski Stadium prompted captain Robbie Keane and goalkeeper Shay Given to mention him in the same breath as McGrath afterwards.
However, former international John Anderson, who played alongside McGrath for his country, has advised Dunne simply to play his own game and not feel under pressure to match the exploits of one of his most celebrated predecessors.
Anderson said: "It's a big, big pair of shoes to fill, and that's taking nothing away from Richard Dunne. Richard Dunne in recent games for Ireland has been superb. He never lets you down and has a great level of consistency.
"He is one of those players who must be a manager's dream, someone you don't have to worry about what he will do for you. But it's very, very unfair to compare him to Paul McGrath. You have got to remember Paul played a lot of football for Ireland in midfield, and I don't think Richard could do that."
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Dunne - class (the other defenders are injured/women
Mark Hughes? HAHAHAHA. No plan A let alone a plan B. Mark Hughes hahahaha. Shoulda kept Sven
Elano is world class, your team ain't
Hope you finish above Man Poo tho
and Paul, Elano faded hard during the winter of both seasons he has been at City. Do you agree with that?
so Paul, just to clarify: my view on Sven is that he could not properly motivate players to punch above their weight. I think that once he used his initial bag of tactical tricks, and other sides were able to watch game films and prepare for playing City, the other teams took City apart. I think Elano is petulant and not hard-working and a fair-weather player. I think with Elano, no matter which manager, the problem is the player. With Dunne, his inconsistency for club is pretty much legendary. But historically the good has outweighed the bad. He needs a strong group around him in the back, in my opinion. As for Hughes, I would give him some time. I was encouraged by the additions mid-season. I am not sure who was steering the ship when they bought Jo -- if that was Hughes then that hire does not reflect well on Hughes. Hughes over-acheived with less money at Blackburn and they were always stronger late in the season. Key will be for the culture to change, and for the work ethic on the pitch -- especially during away matches -- to be more consistent.
Didn't happen under Sven!!!!!!!!! The bloke would have taken us down if the season had gone on much longer. Elano was a joke after Christmas 2007, and by the end of this season had clawed himself back to being 'effective against lower half sides at home', hardly pulling up trees.
well, dunne has been prone to several howlers a season ever since he came to city, so i do not think his missteps for club fall at the feet of the current manager. as for Elano, again, i think you can see that he's a bit in need of an ego massage, and he gets that in front of his brazilian fans, and the fans at home, and against lesser teame, et al. i think stephen ireland is a good example of a player who was viewed as psychotic by national team (admittedly took himself out of that arena) and then has flourished under hughes, better than under sven. de jong, kompany, shay given, heck, even robinho have done well. we can discuss robinho at another time. i think the brazilians hate the winter. look at deco, look at geovanni -- all strong in early season then fall apart.
yeah, tdann1, its odd that, isnt it?
How players can perform for the national team but when they return to city they play different.
With Sven that didnt seem to happen... maybe the problem isnt with the player////players???
i sure wish he was someone you "don't have to worry about what he will do for you", who "never lets you down and has a great level of consistency" for MCFC instead of just for Republic of Ireland! Much in the same way i wish Elano could perform as well for City as for Brazil.
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