Vital Leeds members have asked a number of questions to fans of Celtic and Ipswich Town about new signing Darren O`Dea.
The fans from Vital Celtic have given the following answers.
Wee_od_88
It says he can play centre back or full back, where has he played during his time at Celtic and if he played in both positions, where did he perform best? (iwa)
I personally think you have a very good young defender with you now. He is prone to a howler from time to time, as you may have seen last season at Ipswich but overall, he is good! Trapattoni sees something in him and I think his performances for Ireland have shown how good he can be.
As a full back does he prefer to stay deep helping the midfield or is he the type that bombs on down the wings? (Huntersboots)
I think he is comfortable at left back and centre back but I think he himself would prefer to play at centre back. He has a good long pass on him, is good at moving up from the back, and often tries the long pass when he should just give it short to a midfielder. As a full back, he can bomb on down the wing but he is not your typical left wing back. He doesn’t have the pace or skill to do this, but a simple overlap is what he normally does, run into the open space and get the cross in.
Does he have any pace; is he a leader and does he get stuck in? (Silverking)
His pace is quite good for a centre back, hence why he has been used at left back. He’s certainly not afraid of a tackle and sometimes when he knows he is beaten he will take the foul to try to save his team. As for being a leader, during our disastrous season under Tony Mowbray, we sold all of our other potential captains and Scott Brown was injured, so Darren stepped up and I think it was a very proud time in his career and he did it well to be fair.
All the best for the season lads, think you will be pushing for promotion again and I hope Darren plays well for you to help you get there.
afcbliamk
It says he can play centre back or full back, where has he played during his time at Celtic and if he played in both positions, where did he perform best? (iwa)
He played most at centre back alongside McManus in the 2007/2008 season when we beat AC Milan and got to champions league last 16. He then he filled in at left back when we got a new centre back. He was good in my opinion and I think he`s better at centre back but is useful at left back.
As a full back does he prefer to stay deep helping the midfield or is he the type that bombs on down the wings? (Huntersboots)
He isn`t the type that will overlap and whip a ball in, he`s more of defensive player and sometimes joins in attack.
Does he have any pace; is he a leader and does he get stuck in? (Silverking)
He is quick enough but not lightning. He is a leader, gets stuck in and gives 100%. He was a Celtic man and Irishman so he loved it at Celtic and worked his balls off. I would think he would do the same wherever he played though and he is strong in the tackle and strong physically.
I think he is good and think he should have had another go at it with Celtic. After all the manager changes he`s had to see, he`s always did well when he had his run in the team, but I`m not bothered he left because we have good players there like Kelvin Wilson and Majstorovic instead.
This is some of the more general views from fellow Celtic fans.
Wisham bhoy
Lennon will be regretting letting Darren go down to Elland Road with Loovens out and for what it’s worth, I’d have played O’Dea before Loovens & Mjastorovic every time. There is definitely a very decent player there and I sincerely hope he flourishes with Leeds
Welch 47
Most Celtic fans are a little chagrinned (going mad) to see O’Dea go.
He’s not great but is pretty good and the consensus seems to be that he is better than Glenn Loovens and some of the others.
He is a decent player and he hasn`t had a great chance to prove himself at Celtic. Clearly three different managers did not see enough to give him a starting job. I do think there is a player in there.
He has played left back but only in dire emergencies. He is not quick enough for the position. He is solid centre back and does occasionally like to bomb forward, but he shouldn’t. He needs to hang back and defend.
Leeds probably got a decent pick up in O’Dea. I think he has improved as Trapattoni has used him to deputise for Dunne and he did quite well. Clean sheets with O’Dea back there. Of course, Trapattoni plays a defensive set up and Shay Given is a great keeper, but O’Dea has done well for the Republic.
TicV”establishment
A lack of first-team football, over several years, has badly hampered O’Dea’s development. He was a top prospect a few years ago but his career has stalled and stagnated since then. If Leeds give him the games, then it could be a good move for club and player.
Darren C the editor of Vital Ipswich Town gives us his views on a player who spent last season on loan at Portman Road.
It says he can play centre back or full back, where has he played during his time at Celtic and if he played in both positions, where did he perform best? (iwa)
Given that we had an established centre-back pairing of Gareth McAuley and Damien Delaney for most of last season, I can only recall O’Dea ever being used at full-back during his loan spell at Town. He was okay there but whether he would have been any better at CB is difficult to tell; I’ve heard Celtic fans consider him more of a central player so perhaps we weren’t getting the best use of him.
As a full back does he prefer to stay deep helping the midfield or is he the type that bombs on down the wings? (Huntersboots)
I don’t really remember him getting forward much compared to some of our other full-backs, so I wouldn’t say you’d be getting the attacking type of left-back. He was a solid enough defender though, cleaning things up and getting the ball up to the midfield, he looked particularly good against Arsenal in the League Cup, which is something not to be sniffed at.
Does he have any pace; is he a leader and does he get stuck in? (Silverking)
O’Dea never struck me as pacey, but at 6ft 1in, his strength is more important. He’s quite young and not that experienced so hasn’t really emerged as a leader, but he got in where he needed to at the back and on the whole was tidy about doing so; only picked up a couple of bookings, which is better than can be said for many in our side!
If you thought he was any good, are you disappointed to not see him return to Ipswich? (Mazza)
I can’t say I’m particularly disappointed, no. Truthfully, O’Dea was very much a Roy Keane signing and when he was sacked, Paul Jewell seemed far more interested in using Mark Kennedy instead, so it’s not as if we’d really been missing him. He’s got potential though and given that he’s unlikely to be given the chance he perhaps deserves at Celtic, he could well be looking to earn himself a permanent place with you.
Thanks to the fans from Vital Celtic and Vital Ipswich for those answers.
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