Quirke released by Coventry City (6 Viewers)

[Coventry La La La]

Michael Quirke has been released by Coventry City and so the 19 year old former academy graduate will now be leaving the club at the end of the season.

Coventry City manager Andy Thorn told the youngster on Thursday that the club would not be offering him a new contract.

Quirke has been an admirable replacement for the injured Kieren Westwood on four occasions this season and kept a clean sheet against Reading in City's last home game of the season.

He is playing his last game for the Sky Blues in their final game of the season away to Norwich today.

Quirke made his Coventry City debut when he came on as a substitute in 14 August 2010 in the 2–2 draw at Watford coming on to replace injured on loan 'keeper Iain Turner after just 18 minutes.

Bad decision imo he's young and has done well when he's had to step in.

 

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[SkyBlue_Am]

: \ he couldn't of been asking for too much wages don't understand the decision of letting him go hes been solid when had to step in

 

[Walking Bird]

Presume Thorn already has a goalkeeper lined up then?
Shame for Quirke though.

 

[Phil_Mc_90]

Very surprised about this as he has seemed good when he has had to step and thought we'd keep him and develop him for a few years. Now we know we will be in the market for a new keeper, hopefully we can get joe murphy in

 

[Nick]

A bit of a strange decision as surely we should be sacking off Danny Ireland. He has been here for years and how many times has he played or even made the bench and was an embarrassment when he came on.

Does this mean Westwood is staying or have we got somebody else lined up?

Why would you release him and get him to play on the Saturday?

 

[Skybluedar]

Does this mean Danny Ireland is being primed for no. 2?

I guess you have to trust that Oggy would have had something to do with this. Lets hope that either 1 or 2 more keepers in the Summer come in. With Westwood and Quirke leaving (albeit in very different circumstances).

 

[im-confused]

This is a big shock to me! The only explanation would be that Thorn has someone lined up..

 

[canningt]

what the fuck are we playing at. quirke is quality for his age

 

[gouldberg]

If Quirke goes and Ireland stays it would be a stupid decision by the club. Quirke is a youngster with bags of potential who has made some cracking saves in his games this season. I'm bemused by this, and actually I'm about as disappointed by this decision as when I heard about Thomas going to Liverpool.

He's just 19. Capped at ROI under 21 level, and looks to me to be on his way to becoming a top top keeper. How anyone inside the club can not want to keep him is beyond me. Shocking, truly shocking.

 

[canningt]

wish we could get an interview with him.

I don't think he would want to leave, he loves coventry

 

[Sutty]

Thing is we've kept Burge, who's about the same age and is being picked behind Quirke. Seems very odd to ditch Quirke now.

 

[mattylad]

if true it will be the height issue which has led to this, and leaves you bemused if you see his first half save which rivals anything Westwood has done this season (apparently sky are saying it was the save of the season)

 

[gouldberg]

In my opinion, all teams need 3 keepers (I remember when Cech and Cudicini both got injured at Chelsea and in came Hilario!) so to me this decision means they must prefer Ireland to Quirke which is borderline pathetic. Quirke has stepped up when called upon and done very well!

As teams should have 3 keepers, it would make sense to ditch Danny Ireland, keep Quirke and Burge and then bring in 1 more as number 1! Still utterly bemused.

 

[Marty]

Must be a very good reason for this, we don't know what goes on behind the scenes, at 19 you would think they would give him another contract even if it's to sit in the stands as 3rd choice.

I would think AT has someone already lined up, so lets see what happens before we judge him on this decision.

 

[coventryecho]

I wonder which keeper(s) we will get in then? It is obvious Westwood already has a deal somewhere. Hopefully we will get a top class championship keeper.
http://www.coventryecho.co.uk/2011/04/who-will-replace-westwood-3-potential-candidates/

 

[Regis87]

Why play Quirke today ? Why not Burge ? I don't get it

 

[CovLis86]

Very surprising decision. Guess we just have to wait and see what is happening. From our side of things there seems to be no logic, so there must be some behind the scenes.

 

[gouldberg]

Why play Quirke today ? Why not Burge ? I don't get it

Maybe they were hoping he'd have a bit of a nightmare to justify the decision.

Burge will be far too inexperienced, which is why letting Quirke go confuses me. Ireland is, let's be honest, a bit poor for this level. Quirke has shown glimpses of Westwood level quality and would be a very valuable 2nd choice keeper.

To me, Burge is at this stage where Quirke was about 18 months ago, which won't help us one bit if something happens to anyone we bring in during the summer.

If we're looking to do anything next season, we'll need a reliable back up, and Quirke looked just perfect for that role.

 

[ajsccfc]

There's no way Quirke was selected with the hope that he'd have a terrible game.

 

[sw88]

Shame for him_! Always looks commited when hes asked to play and what a save he pulled off against Norwich today in the first half!!

Hope this doesnt backfire as from what ive seen he has shown some promise. Good look Quirke.

 

[Walking Bird]

Maybe giving the lad a chance to be in the shop window & help secure a contract elsewhere.

 

[gouldberg]

There's no way Quirke was selected with the hope that he'd have a terrible game.

Maybe it was a very cynical view to take, but the decision has just annoyed me.

I find it bizarre that we apparently tell him he his surplus to requirements on the Thursday, then stick him in goal on the Saturday. He should have had the chance to earn himself a contract today or someone else should have been in between the sticks. I think it's unfair on the lad for a start considering he's a Cov lad and he wants to be here.

What harm would a 1 year deal do? This stinks of the Marcus Hall treatment. One of our own lads that loves the club and all we do is tell him to shut the door behind him.

It all makes no sense to me.

 

[larry_david]

Where has all this Danny Ireland is rubbish come from? The fact is if he wasn't injured then he would have played every game Quirke played. He is clearly our number 2 and I think the cov team have high hopes for him. Having said that, Quirkes done amazingly well since he has come in and he should have been offered a deal for at least a year. Seeing as Jeffers has been offered a 2 year deal and he couldn't even get in a poor Camb side. Hope we change our mind and offer him a deal though, but this 'Danny Ireland is no where near as good as Quirke' is nonsense

 

[gouldberg]

Where has all this Danny Ireland is rubbish come from? The fact is if he wasn't injured then he would have played every game Quirke played. He is clearly our number 2 and I think the cov team have high hopes for him. Having said that, Quirkes done amazingly well since he has come in and he should have been offered a deal for at least a year. Seeing as Jeffers has been offered a 2 year deal and he couldn't even get in a poor Camb side. Hope we change our mind and offer him a deal though, but this 'Danny Ireland is no where near as good as Quirke' is nonsense

He looks shaky, frail and may as well be a walking injury. Quirke has been there and done it this season, making good saves and commanding his area well. Ireland when I've seen him (including against Hartlepool in the cup) looks shy and unable to get his voice heard.

I remember when he had bowel surgery a year or so ago, the words mentioned were 'if he returned' as opposed to when. Then he kicks ONE ball in ONE game after replacing Westwood and injures himself again. You can't have a reserve keeper that's as much of a ticking timebomb as Ireland is. He clearly is more fragile than Quirke and now has less experience than the 19 year old.

 

[PVA]

Feel a bit sorry for the lad as he seems to be a nice kid and all that, but I don't think he's tall enough to establish himself as a top keeper.

All the best to him though.

 

[Macca]

I'm sure there is a reason behind it. Done nothing wrong apart from looking a bit suspect at corners but then that will come with experience. Haven't said that I don't think its worth getting hot under the collar about.

 

[dojer]

I'm sure there is a reason behind it. Done nothing wrong apart from looking a bit suspect at corners but then that will come with experience. Haven't said that I don't think its worth getting hot under the collar about.

But there's still the chance that we're giving away a great youth prospect to another club for nothing. It's hard to tell how good he can be but based on his age and previous displays it seems lunacy to release him based on the information that us fans have at the moment

 

[ccfc luke]

what a stupid decision

 

[skybluesteve76]

Quirke made one outstanding reflex save today that had the whole ground applauding and looked solid.

 

[The CableGuy]

In Thorn we Trust, but, this looks like a odd decision.

 

[Sky_Blue_Daz]

Shame for the lad, Hopefully Thorn has Joe Murphy Lined up.

 

[southern_comfort]

gobsmacked by this news, he has excellant potential and future transfer value. I really can't work out the the clubs thinking on this :thinking about:

 

[sparky]

come on people yeh quirke looks a reasonable good keeper but oggy and thorny work wiv these lads day in and day out there must b a reason behind this i think they have the intellegence to notice a decent player when they c one especialy if thorny was cheif scout so dont panic people there will b replacements and better 1s if there willing 2 let a half decent keeper go! good luck tho to quirke hope he goes on to have a successful career! and cant c this being for finance reasons either because he wudnt command alot at his age!

 

[Macca]

Jesus man. One minute its talk of a promotion push next year and glory times under Thorn then its doom and gloom because we're letting a guy go who MIGHT be good.

 

[coventryecho]

Sparky, it is still a shame that a local lad is going to be let go and replaced by someone who will be a number 2 or 3. Whoever they would get would be on similar or higher wages so it doesnt make sense when Quirke has played well in championship.