Eunan O'Kane

Eunan O'Kane
Personal information
Full nameEunan Charles O'Kane[1]
Date of birth10 July 1990
Place of birthDerry, Northern Ireland
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Bournemouth
Number32
Youth career
2007–2009Everton
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2009–2010Coleraine13(4)
2010–2012Torquay United106(13)
2012–Bournemouth85(2)
National team
2006Northern Ireland U162(0)
2006–2007Northern Ireland U177(0)
2008Northern Ireland U197(1)
2011Northern Ireland U201(0)
2008–2010Northern Ireland U214(1)
2012Republic of Ireland U213(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:59, 22 February 2015 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

Eunan Charles O'Kane (born 10 July 1990) is an Irish footballer who plays for Bournemouth in the Championship.

Career

A midfielder, O'Kane spent two years with Everton as a youth team player before joining Coleraine in September 2009.[2] At Coleraine, O'Kane scored on his professional league debut in a 3–2 loss against Glenavon and in his 10th appearance, O'Kane scored a double in a 3–0 win over Glenavon.

Torquay United

He extended his contract with the club in December[3] before spending time on trial with Torquay United at the turn of the year. It proved to be successful, and he subsequently signed a contract with the club until June 2010.[4] He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Chesterfield and scored his first goal in a 3–1 win over Darlington on 6 March 2010. In his second half of the season at Torquay, O'Kane made a good impression, resulting the club rewarding O'Kane and Chris Robertson a two-year deal.[5]

The following season, O'Kane continued to make an impression for the club as he scored six time and continued to set up goal 6 times this season against Crewe (scored again later on this season), Stockport County, Rotherham United, Hereford United and Northampton Town. O'Kane scored his first FA Cup goal in third round and the only goal in a 1–0 win over Carlisle United. Also in the season, Torquay reached 7th place, resulting to participate the Play-off to get promoted to League One. In the semi final of the play-off, O'Kane scored the second goal in the goal with a 2–0 win over Shrewsbury Town which Torquay win in the second leg to progress to the final against Stevenage, who dominated against Accrington Stanley. But lost to Stevenage following the only goal in the game from John Mousinho, preventing Torquay to get promoted to League One and in the first half of the season, O'Kane signed a new contract extenstion, keeping him until 2014.[6] Through the season, O'Kane continued to make an impression for the club as he scored 5 (against Macclesfield Town, Wimbledon, twice against Plymouth Argyle and Aldershot Town) and continued to set up goal 9 times.

Towards the end of the season, he was among 3 Torquay player (Robert Olejnik, Kevin Nicholson and Lee Mansell) named in the PFA Team of the Year of League Two and it was the first time he received an honour.[7] Once again, Torquay United reach 5th place, resulting to participate the play-offs and played their first game against Cheltenham Town but Torquay lost in both leg.

After the end of 2011/12 season, O'Kane was linked with Newly promoted League One side Swindon Town.[8] Crawley Town was interested signing him after the club made an offer for him about £175,000 and the offer was accepted by the club.[9] However, O'Kane rejected the move to Crawley Town after talks with negotiations had stalled.[10] After a move to Bournemouth, O'Kane made an explanation rejecting Crawley Town, claiming the move wasn't for him.[11]

Bournemouth

In mid-July, the club accepted a bid from an unknown club in the League One side,[12] which later turns out to be Bournemouth. The move was officially made on 26 July 2012.[11] O'Kane made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Portsmouth on the opening game of the season. His first goal for the Cherries came in an FA Cup game against Carlisle United in a 3–1 win.[13] Twenty-eight later, Kane scored his first league goal, in a 3–0 win over Crawley Town.[14] Then just a few days after scoring his first league goal, Kane scored again in an FA Cup game against Wigan, in a 1–1 draw, which results playing again.[15]

In a 3–1 loss against Walsall on 19 January 2013, O'Kane penalised for handball after picking the ball up because he thought a free-kick had been awarded, which led to a penalty and ended the club's 15-game unbeaten run in League One.[16] After the match, O'Kane made apology on his Twitter account, which Manager Eddie Howe has since forgiven him and commenting the incident, believing it's should not be a penalty; instead, a free-kick.[17] Though the incident, Walsall's assistant manager Richard O'Kelly believes that O'Kane should be short-listed for the FIFA fair play award. O'Kelly would also went on to praise O'Kane for his honesty and sportsmanship.[18] Later in the season, O'Kane would play an important role to help the club promoted to the Championship following a 3–1 win over Carlisle United on 20 April 2013, but finished second place following Doncaster Rovers 1–0 victory over promotion-chaser Brentford.[19]

On 11 March 2014, O'Kane signed a new three-and-a-half year deal with the Cherries.[20]

Style of Play

His good performance made him fan favourite from supporters, especially manager Martin Ling who reminds O'Kane 'a player from himself' and 'never shy away from wanting the ball, even after he's made a mistake'.[21]

International career

After representing Northern Ireland at underage levels, O'Kane decided to switch allegiance to the Republic of Ireland in October 2011.[22] O'Kane received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad in May 2012 for a European U21 Championship qualifier against Italy.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Professional retain lists & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. May 2013. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  2. ↑ O'Kane Completes Coleraine Switch BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Coleraine pair extend contracts". BBC Sport. 10 December 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Torquay Move For O'Kane BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  5. ↑ "New deals for Gulls duo". Sky Sports. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "O'Kane signs new Torquay deal". Sky Sports. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "PFA Team of the Year: League Two". Team Talk. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Swindon bid for O'Kane". Sky Sports. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "O'Kane on Crawley's radar". Sky Sports. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "Torquay United's Eunan O'Kane says Crawley Town move is off". This is South Devon. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Bournemouth sign Torquay United's Eunan O'Kane". The Guardian. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "O'Kane offer accepted". Sky Sports. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  13. ↑ "Cherries: Howe's men in hat for third round". Bournemouth Echo. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  14. ↑ "Bournemouth 3–0 Crawley Town". BBC Sport. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Cherries: Goal hero O'Kane plots an FA Cup shock". Bournemouth Echo. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "Walsall 3–1 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 19 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "Eunan O'Kane forgiven for 'phantom whistle' penalty gaffe". BBC Sport. 20 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "O'Kelly: Cherries star O'Kane should be rewarded for fair play". Bournemouth Echo. 21 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Cherries: O'Kane confident ahead of Championship challenge". Bournemouth Echo. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "O'Kane signs new AFC Bournemouth deal". AFC Bournemouth. 11 March 2014.
  21. ↑ "O'Kane progress delights Ling". Sky Sports. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  22. ↑ Eunan O’Kane waiting on international clearance Greenscene. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  23. ↑ Noel King names Ireland u21 squad to face Denmark and Italy Greenscene. Retrieved 16 May 2012.

External links