"Obviously I was a bit disappointed not to be in the England squad but that's only natural. You're an English player and you've got a chance. As I've said, it's the pinnacle of every English boy's career to play for England. [I'd find it a little bit strange to pull on the green shirt] because I've captained the [England] U21s at European Championships but you never know."
If you look up the word non-committal in the dictionary the definition would probably come close to summing up Mark Noble's comments on Goals on Sunday.
But there is a distinct possibility that the West Ham midfielder could be pulling on the green shirt of Ireland before long if decides to switch his allegiance from England.
But that is not a prospect which enthuses former Ireland U18, U19 and U21 striker Liam George. The Luton-born player, who was part of the same Boys in Green youth teams as Robbie Keane and Richard Dunne in the mid-to-late '90s joined us on tonight's show and in a passionate interview he described the prospect of a call up for Noble as a "travesty" and "cheap".
Listen to the full interview above via the Football Show podcast
Reacting to the Goals on Sunday interview, he told us: "Nothing says to me that he is Irish. There's not been a thought up to now in his head at 27 to ever play for Ireland. I wouldn't want him to play for Ireland. We're about passion, we're about being proud of where we come from. I'm disappointed that we'd even entertain that."
George told us why he never felt English and always felt primarily Irish growing up and explained how he ended up getting a call-up to Brian Kerr's Ireland youth teams.
Liam George with the U18s in 1999 ©INPHO/Keith Heneghan
And he would rather miss Euro 2016 or the next World Cup than bring in players like Noble.
"I'd rather not qualify. It may sound controversial, but if I'm completely honest, I'd rather that we went back to the drawing board, the same way that Germany had to do - and they're current World Champions - look at the next gene pool or the next crop of players and say 'we need to develop these players over the next 10 or 15 years'.
"I'd happily miss out on the next Euros or the next World Cup if I knew that the FAI and coaches were putting in a plan at grassroots to get us back at where we need to be. I don't want to draft in people who don't feel that they're Irish and not bothered about playing for Ireland just to get into a tournament."
Listen to the full interview via the podcast.
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