Congrats David Healy

You have to love a "color guy" who's commentary is a mixture of delighted laughter and clapping.

Great goals from both Feeny [another ex-Hatter] and Healy. 13 goals is one qualifyer is one thing, but better than 1 goal for every two matches for your career is legendary. Let's get Macca back and get some more goals for the boy.

 

Cut this off the offal; pasting it here. I think 'fog will forgive me for putting Guardian stuff on the site this one time:

Wednesday November 21, 2007

The Guardian

There's only one thing that interests me about home-international football these days. Forget England's will-they-won't-they wobblers, Scotland's tragic heroes and the demise of the recognisable Welshman. The only question worth asking is has David Healy scored?

Tonight I'll watch the England match with friends and, while they bite their nails, yank at their hair and scream for the ref to blow his final whistle (if things are going well), I'll be thinking of just the one thing - has Healy scored yet?
The man is a phenomenon, a contrary wunderkind that has flummoxed some of the world's finest football brains and Mark Lawrenson. He is not merely a fox in the box, he's an all-singing, all-volleying, left-foot, right-foot, nod-it-in-the-net-son paradox in the box. Can anybody begin to explain the divine madness of David Healy?

Here is the deal. David Healy has just scored his 33rd goal for Northern Ireland in 60 games. That is an extraordinary 0.55 goals per game in a rubbish team often pitted against quality. It is 20 more goals than the next best ever for Northern Ireland (Colin Clarke and Billy Gillespie, and the latter scored his last the best part of a century ago). And it is 29 more than the second top scorer in the current squad. That is a footballing miracle.

In scoring his 33rd he broke the record for the number of goals scored in a European Championship qualifying campaign, resetting it at 13 which is 76.5% of his country's total. Then there is the quality of the goals. Many are exceptional: the classic hat-trick against Spain, the rocket against England, Saturday's audacious chip against Denmark.

Most remarkable of all, the man who made his professional debut for Manchester United has never repeated his form at club level. How can a man be so brilliant for the Irish and so mediocre for Port Vale, (16 league games, three goals), Preston (139 games, 44 goals), Norwich (13 games, 2 goals), Leeds (29 goals in 111) and Fulham (13 games, three goals)?

History is littered with the regrets of top forwards who never did the do at international level and most of them played for Manchester United (George Best, Ryan Giggs, Andy Cole). But there are fewer examples of the reverse. Stern John is one. He has hardly been prolific on his travels through England (252 appearances, 69 goals) but his record for Trinidad and Tobago is outrageous. With 68 goals in 100 games he is joint seventh in the all-time international scoring charts* alongside Gerd Müller, who scored his at more than a goal a game. John is a striking enigma but he did get many of his goals against no-hopers.

James McFadden (more than one in three for Scotland, less than one in 10 for Everton) and Peter Crouch (just over one in four at club level, more than one in two at international level) may yet join the great striking enigmas - heroes for country, zeroes for club.

But to be a true striking enigma one needs to have done it or not done it consistently over a period of time - say, 30 goals for country and not many more for assorted clubs. So the jury is still out on McFadden and Crouch; as yet they are just aspiring enigmas.

Healy, though, is the enigma's enigma, the prince of footballing freaks. We cannot credit his international goals to poor opposition, nor can we put his club form down to misfortune. As surely as we know he will shine at international level, we know he is going to stink at club level. No manager has had to shell out a huge amount for him because there is no evidence he will do the business, despite his international record.

How can we explain the Healy conundrum? Is it because he can play for only one manager? No, Northern Ireland have had three in his time? Is it because he is the Ian Paisley of football, a man who exists for Ulster alone. No, he is desperate to succeed at club level. Is it because it is harder to score in the Premier League than at international level? No, he has played most of his games outside the top flight. The simple answer is that there is no answer. David Healy, you are an international man of mystery, a riddle wrapped in a Rubik's cube, and for that we salute you.

* Top 10 international scorers 1, Ali Daei (Iran) 109 goals from 149 games. 2, Ferenc Puskas (Hungary) 84 from 89. 3, Pele (Brazil) 77 from 92. 4, Sandor Kocsis (Hungary) 75 from 68. 5, Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait) 74 from 132. 6, Hossam Hassan (Egypt) 69 from 170. 7=, Gerd Müller (West Germany) 68 from 62, Stern John (Trinidad and Tobago) 68 from 100. 9, Majed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia), 67 from 142. 10, Kiatisuk Senamuang (Thailand) 65 from 126