David Connolly announces retirement.

Whosthis

http://www.football365.com/news/21554/9749776/Connolly-hangs-up-his-boots

To be honest I wasn't even aware that he was still playing but what I found most interesting about his retirement wre his reasons. In an era of seemingly never ending selfishness from players his manager had this to say: "I have total respect for David. He feels that the money we are paying him would be better spent on someone who can start games. He does not feel he is that person.

"That is a rare quality to accept that. I cannot speak highly enough of him. I tried to talk him around, but his mind was made up."

Augmerson

All the best with future endeavours David!

AnimalRights

One of the few pro footballers I was taller than, totally unselfish in all ways.

Paully D

Great memories of Connolly at Sunderland. He was superb in 2006/2007 when we won promotion under Keane, top scoring with 13 goals. He suffered with injuries prior to our Premier League season and unfortunately never got a chance for us again with the club spending decent money on players such as Chopra and Kenwyne Jones.

Two games that stand out for me were both against Burnley. In the away game, we were 2-0 down with 80 minutes played and Connolly rescued a point with 2 superb strikes. The second one was the reverse fixture which we needed to win in order to secure promotion. The below is well worth a watch to see Connolly's contribution:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JthDLdZmQ14

All the best to him.

keeponhurling

When he came in the scene at around 18/19, and got a few hat tricks , he really was a big prospect.

Never really fulfilled it after the move to Feyenoord, but still had a solid career.

Unfortunately for Ireland, he will be most remembered for a penalty miss , and a stupid red card

Godot.

Awful penalty at the '02 World Cup. It was Pele like compared to Kilbane's mind you!

Zebra3

Incredible that a player of that poor a standard picked up so many caps and even got to play at a WC. :eek:

pjmn

the fecker played like a retiree when he played for the Hammers! :mad:

Mr.Nice Guy

I had forgotten his penalty miss. Whenever I thought of him I always remembered him for having scored a hat-trick for Ireland, though I forgot who it had been against (turns out it was Liechtenstein). I also remember him for having had that spell at Feyenoored which always struck me at the time as quite cool to see an Irish international plying his trade there.

All the best with the retirement, David.

Augmerson

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I had forgotten his penalty miss. Whenever I thought of him I always remembered him for having scored a hat-trick for Ireland, though I forgot who it had been against (turns out it was Liechtenstein). I also remember him for having had that spell at Feyenoored which always struck me at the time as quite cool to see an Irish international plying his trade there.

All the best with the retirement, David.

At a similar time, Keane was, or had been, over in Milan. I thought it was an exciting time for Irish players.

mikemac1

Is it a tall tale? I heard years ago and its still on message boards that Connolly was the highest paid player in the Dutch league at one time

whiskeyman

Worked his socks off wearing the green.
He's on par with Kilbane as one of my favourite Irish players.
Didn't quite shine at the higher level, but still a quality player.

Zebra3

mikemac1 wrote: »

Is it a tall tale? I heard years ago and its still on message boards that Connolly was the highest paid player in the Dutch league at one time

Yeah, he moved on a Bosman not long after it the ruling came into effect (at the time for international transfers only). No transfer fee meant his wages were ridiculous. A great time for mediocre players.

Hotblack Desiato

His wikipedia article may be ever so slightly OTT

On 7 March 2015, David decided to cut short his second spell at Wimbledon and retire from playing after an illustrious career as a prolific striker.

LOTTOWINNER

Zebra3 wrote: »

Incredible that a player of that poor a standard picked up so many caps and even got to play at a WC. :eek:

I could have been a contender I tell ya!

artanevilla

Scored a great goal for Ireland possibly under Brian Kerr? Flicked the ball over the defenders head and blasted it into the top corner, against Russia maybe? Possibly a dream I had?

pjmn

artanevilla wrote: »

Scored a great goal for Ireland possibly under Brian Kerr? Flicked the ball over the defenders head and blasted it into the top corner, against Russia maybe? Possibly a dream I had?

Goals on FIFA don't count....

Fudge You

Godot. wrote: »

Awful penalty at the '02 World Cup. It was Pele like compared to Kilbane's mind you!

What are you talking about??? Pele compared to Kilbane's????

Both were missed, and in some people's mind a missed penalty is awful no matter what.
Connolly tried to bluff the keeper, and went straight down the middle, Casillas made it look easy as he didnt guess either corner, and it was just straight at him.
Kilbane went to one side, and Casillas guessed correctly, and it was perfect height for him to save.

Obviously neither were good, but why are you being a dick?

Mint Sauce

Thought he retired long ago. Was tournament top scorer for me several times on the playstation France 98.

inforfun

4 years under contract at Feyenoord, 24 matches only.
Tore the Jupiler league a new one while on loan at Excelsior and had 2 goals for Feyenoord we thank him for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=992bSuli1nk
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Bsd61oKCk

LuckyLloyd

Zebra3 wrote: »

Incredible that a player of that poor a standard picked up so many caps and even got to play at a WC. :eek:

It's very difficult for people to comprehend how ridiculously talented you need to be to have Connolly's career. He wasn't up to it at the very top level; but he was a very effective goal scorer at the next level down for a long time. I shudder to think how many goals he would have managed in the LOI during his career for example.

Paully D

sugarman wrote: »

Will never forget nor forgive him due to his sending off against Belgium in to WC 98 Playoff as well as the penalty miss in the 2002 WC.

Bloody hell. He was 20 years old when he was sent off against Belgium. It was a silly thing to do getting involved that night, but he was young and inexperienced. It was also a sending off with less than 10 minutes remaining and hardly altered the game all that much. Ireland still needed another goal and were going to be pressing on for it regardless. He didn't miss the penalty in the shootout on purpose. Far better players than Connolly have and will continue to miss penalties in pressure situations. Give him a break.

Godot.

Fudge You wrote: »

What are you talking about??? Pele compared to Kilbane's????

Both were missed, and in some people's mind a missed penalty is awful no matter what.
Connolly tried to bluff the keeper, and went straight down the middle, Casillas made it look easy as he didnt guess either corner, and it was just straight at him.
Kilbane went to one side, and Casillas guessed correctly, and it was perfect height for him to save.

Obviously neither were good, but why are you being a dick?

Urgh, not another person who won't hear a bad word against Kilbane. He was mostly average for Ireland but his longevity has turned him in a cult hero

AgileMyth

Augmerson wrote: »

At a similar time, Keane was, or had been, over in Milan. I thought it was an exciting time for Irish players.

Yeah. Pity Keane didn't achieve anything other than scoring about three times as much as anyone ever will for Ireland

Hank Scorpio

Limited at the highest level and a good goalscorer just below it. Just to get to that level takes bags of ability, good luck to him!

eagle eye

I thought Connolly was going to be a great one but his size was a big hindrance and meant he didn't make it at the highest. I'm just thinking here that the era you were born in makes a big different, in today's game where pace is a bigger attacking attribute than height he might have been a lot better but he had an excellent career.

Vex Willems

I remember back in the day thinking when he emerged that he and Keith O'Neill were going to have some future leading the Irish attach. I was wrong.

whiskeyman

eagle eye wrote: »

I thought Connolly was going to be a great one but his size was a big hindrance and meant he didn't make it at the highest. I'm just thinking here that the era you were born in makes a big different, in today's game where pace is a bigger attacking attribute than height he might have been a lot better but he had an excellent career.

I don't think there's much of a difference between his peak time and now.
Still lots of 'smaller' players excelled back in Connelly time.

Vision of Disorder

I'd wish him nothing but the best in retirement. A good pro who made an awful lot from his ability in a long career.

The level of bitterness from a few on here because of a couple of blemishes in his international career is embarrassing too. Connolly was truly proud to represent his country and I'd have more respect for him than a few of the mercenaries we've been convenient for over the years or some of the Irish born players we've watched treat international football as an inconvenience to be tolerated.

Zebra3

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

It's very difficult for people to comprehend how ridiculously talented you need to be to have Connolly's career. He wasn't up to it at the very top level; but he was a very effective goal scorer at the next level down for a long time. I shudder to think how many goals he would have managed in the LOI during his career for example.

There's been many far better players for Ireland who never got near that many caps nor playing at a major tournament.

LuckyLloyd

Zebra3 wrote: »

There's been many far better players for Ireland who never got near that many caps nor playing at a major tournament.

What players of the period 1996 - 2004 do you believe his presence in the Irish squad was an unfair affront to? Thinking back on the time, I can't remember his squad selections being a point of controversy but I might not be remembering...

Guy:Incognito

eagle eye wrote: »

I thought Connolly was going to be a great one but his size was a big hindrance and meant he didn't make it at the highest. I'm just thinking here that the era you were born in makes a big different, in today's game where pace is a bigger attacking attribute than height he might have been a lot better but he had an excellent career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4MpaUdd2Ec

bobbysands81

Zebra3 wrote: »

Yeah, he moved on a Bosman not long after it the ruling came into effect (at the time for international transfers only). No transfer fee meant his wages were ridiculous. A great time for mediocre players.

It's still a great time for mediocre players, the EPL is full of them.

LuckyLloyd

bobbysands81 wrote: »

It's still a great time for mediocre players, the EPL is full of them.

Again, I'd say a 'mediocre' pro is a player playing in League One or the LOI. The breadth and depth of professional football is such that a guy like Connolly who managed ~100 league goals in the Championship and Eredivisie (and a couple in other leagues) over a 20 year career is well above average.

inforfun

Connolly also wasnt helped by the fact that during his time at Feyenoord, he had to deal with a certain Julio Ricardo Cruz as competition.
He was never going to win that.

Zebra3

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

What players of the period 1996 - 2004 do you believe his presence in the Irish squad was an unfair affront to? Thinking back on the time, I can't remember his squad selections being a point of controversy but I might not be remembering...

Not relevant to what I said.

Ulysses Gaze

inforfun wrote: »

Connolly also wasnt helped by the fact that during his time at Feyenoord, he had to deal with a certain Julio Ricardo Cruz as competition.
He was never going to win that.

Was he not also offered an extension on his contract at Feyenoord but at less money (which is why he turned it down).

inforfun

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

Was he not also offered an extension on his contract at Feyenoord but at less money (which is why he turned it down).

Cant remember to be honest. Might well be but lower wages would have been logic seeing he played 24x in 4 years.
And baring in mind that when he left, a certain Pierre van Hooijdonk arrived i doubt he would have much playing time then.

LuckyLloyd

Zebra3 wrote: »

There's been many far better players for Ireland who never got near that many caps nor playing at a major tournament.

Not relevant to what I said.

Well it is absolutely relevant. It isn't Connolly's fault that he was one of the best Irish attackers knocking about during that period. And being that he was one of the best Irish attackers knocking about during a period where Ireland were a consistent playoff team probably means he was a better player than you're willing to credit him for.

Corholio

Zebra3 wrote: »

There's been many far better players for Ireland who never got near that many caps nor playing at a major tournament.

Although to go along with that, I would say a lot of those players never scored anywhere near the amount of goals that Connolly has either. Unless it was in the same era I don't know what difference it makes to Connolly performing at the time.

I always liked Connolly really, when he was on form his finishing was superb, something that the likes of Long etc would want to be improving on at all levels.