Irish defender Darren O’Dea’s progress at English Championship club Ipswich Town comes under the focus of Vital Celtic’s loan scout afcbliamk …
Irish defender Darren O’Dea’s progress at English Championship club Ipswich Town comes under the focus of Vital Celtic’s loan scout afcbliamk …
Name: Darren O’Dea
DOB: 4/2/1987
Birthplace: Dublin
Height: 6ft 1in (186cm)
Weight: 13st (82.63kg)
ROI Caps: 2
Position: Defender
| DARREN O’DEA (IPSWICH) League Apps 12 (1); Yellows 2 League Cup Apps 1; FA Cup Apps 4; Yellows 1 |
Former fans favourite at Parkhead and brief captain of the side, Darren O’Dea went out on loan to Ipswich Town on the 17th August 2010 for a five month loan period. However, this spell was then extended until the end of the season.
Many people – Celtic fans in particular – think O’Dea is a player good enough for the Celtic first team should he gain some vital experiance. On the other hand others may disagree, this trend has been the case with many managers O’Dea has played under; Strachan gave him a pivotal role in 2006/2007 season, handing him over 10 SPL appearances (enabling him to qualify for a title winners medal) and also presenting him with a few UEFA Champions League appearances: most notably v AC Milan at the San Siro where Celtic kept Milan out until Kaka struck in the second half of extra time – after the game Paulo Maldini credited the young man on a mature performance. This was equally detected by Strachan who rewarded Darren with a 3 year contract.
Mowbray then appointed him as captain during the absence of McManus and the departure of Caldwell: before loaning him out to Reading. At Reading he was shortly dropped to the bench and upon his return to Celtic, under new manager Neil Lennon, he was not selected in the squad very often and was sent out on loan to Ipswich Town.
In 2008 he was part of the Ireland squad on a few occasions and was given 2 caps, however he has not been recalled again since those 2 caps.
Darren wears the number 48 shirt for Ipswich and it seems he was more popular under Roy Keane than Paul Jewell. He has made 16 appearances in total this term, which is not great considering Ipswich have played well over 30 matches. Despite that figure, O’Dea has put in some creditable performances against strong opposition, most notably in the League Cup 1st leg home win over Arsenal where, although he didn’t get man of the match, the Town manager (Paul Jewell) described his game as ‘tremendous’ and ‘crucial in the result’.
It would appear he is important to Ipswich but not their first choice defender – so from this we can deduce a glimmering Celtic career is unlikely in terms of our club’s ambition; as he is not considered much above a squad member in a Championship side, albeit a good one advancing in the table.
Written by afcbliamk
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