Ireland Squad Vs Czechs

[Bowsy]

Colgan, Harte, Carsley and kinsella all involved. Very disappointed.

Republic of Ireland squad (for friendly v Czech Republic, Mar 31st, 2004):

Goalkeepers: Given (Newcastle United), Colgan (Hibernian), Kenny (Sheffield United).

Defenders: Carr, Doherty (both Spurs), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Dunne (Manchester City), Finnan (Liverpool), Harte (Leeds United), O’Brien (Newcastle United).

Midfielders: Carsley (Everton), Delap (Southampton), Duff (Chelsea), Holland (Charlton Athletic), Kilbane (Everton), Kinsella (West Bromwich Albion), McPhail (Leeds United), Reid (Nottingham Forest).

Forwards: Connolly (West Ham United), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Lee (Cardiff City), Morrison (Birmingham City).

[tiktok]

No John O'Shea, Gary Breen, Graham Kavanagh, Graham Stack or Jason McAteer.
I know they're not all injured.....

Gary Doherty should be nowhere near an Irish squad!

[John83]

He might be thinking of trying Delap at left-back, something Giles suggested a couple of years ago. If so, :D - time to celebrate.

[gustavo]

well kavanagh is injured and breen macateer and o shea will all be in fa cup action the weekend after so i think thats why they arent in it

[Slash/ED]

McPhail? Kinsella? Lee? These have absolutley nothing to offer the Irish side. Same goes for Harte too mind but we're stuck for cover.

And I'm suprised the moral outrage from Cork hasn't reached this thread yet but in this case they would have a point, there's no way anyone can tell me Alan Lee is better then John O'Flynn.

[Gary]

Defenders: Carr, Doherty (both Spurs), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Dunne (Manchester City), Finnan (Liverpool), Harte (Leeds United), O’Brien (Newcastle United).

I hope we get a bit more class in tis dept for the qualifiers. Doherty, Harte and to an extent, Dunne, have no business there.



Midfielders: Carsley (Everton), Delap (Southampton), Duff (Chelsea), Holland (Charlton Athletic), Kilbane (Everton), Kinsella (West Bromwich Albion), McPhail (Leeds United), Reid (Nottingham Forest).

McPhail? Carsley? Kinsella (used to be a fan, though i hear he is playing veery well for WBA) and Reid, no where near good enough for international standard.



Forwards: Connolly (West Ham United), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Lee (Cardiff City), Morrison (Birmingham City).

Lee? What has he ever done like?


Thast a poor poor squad. The likes of France will craap all over us.

[Slash/ED]

Andy Reid, not good enough to play international football? You're talking out of your arse.

[Footie_Fan]

no way anyone can tell me Alan Lee is better then John O'Flynn.

O'Flynn should definitely be given his chance. I want to have a decent look at McPhail but as said before, a poor squad. Pity Kavanagh is injured. Is it serious?

[Condex]

Bloody hell!!!
All the usual suspects, whats the point in playing friendlies unless new players are tried out!!

[pineapple stu]

Pity Kavanagh is injured. Is it serious?

Routine operation - hernia or hamstring I think. He's out for the season, which isn't that long at this stage.

[only1kilbane]

Why are people giving out so much about the squad and saying new players should be introduced ? That squad is basically without john o shea, mc ateer and Kavanagh all we have ! We dont really have people who are good enough knocking on the door. O flynn is a great player in the League of Ireland but would need to make a move to at least a first division side in England to be properly tested. Defending in the LOI is maybe second third division standard so he really needs to play against better opposition before he can truly be rated. As for Alan Lee he is doing alright in a first division side and is better than anything else we have on offer at the moment

[liamon]

O flynn ...would need to make a move to ...be properly tested.
Fair enough, he isn't playing Champions League football (yet). But he's scoring in the LoI is just amazing. Others have been called up on that basis. More imnportantly, he scored goals for fun at International U-21 level, including one against Germany. So he didn't have an issue with stepping up and playing against quality opposition. Surely he deserves a call up on that basis alone? I wouldn't start him against France, but at least take a look at him in a friendly.

[only1kilbane]

Fair enough in giving him a cap i think hes a quality player. But if we cap him is he seroiusly going to play against France if we have injuries. I think people like connolly and lee are more likely to play which is why they are in the squad. I think a move to England would improve his game dramatically and hopefully then prove to Brian Kerr that he is good enough to play at a higher level.

[pete]

I think Lee gets picked cos he can be used as a target man. Connolly on the other hand..... :confused:

[John83]

Connolly on the other hand..... :confused:Connelly's there in the hope that some day he'll be half as good as he thinks he is.

[Bowsy]

If Connolly was half as good as he thinks he is he'd be European Footballer of the year. That said, the only time i've seen him recently was in West Ham's Cup game against Fulham and have to say he was superb. Put about six goals on a plate for Harewood who couldn't hit the proverbial donkey's a*se with a banjo. Why can't he reproduce that form for Ireland more than once every 30 odd games? As for other players, was a Kinsella fan but has lost a lot from his game in the last couple of years. Nothing to gain by his inclusion. Always thought Carsley was muck and position hasn't changed. Lee has scored regular goals for a poor team in divisiob 1 for a few seasons. Hasn't been tried and worth a look at. Are Jon Douglas and James O'Connor or even Martin Rowlands at QPR injured? I'd prefer players to really earn a cap with solid performances over a couple of years but surely with all the injuries they'd be better than trotting out the usual suspects. Finally the earlier suggestion by Gary that Andy Reid doesn't deserve to be in our squad defies logic.

[pete]

Why can't he reproduce that form for Ireland more than once every 30 odd games?

Thats exactly his problem. He will have a good game for Ireland (Turkey) but will have to wait 3-4 year for the next one. IMO that means he taking a place of other untried player

[pineapple stu]

As for other players, was a Kinsella fan but has lost a lot from his game in the last couple of years. Nothing to gain by his inclusion.

Kinsella's back playing first-team football and doing well by all accounts. He's one of our most experienced players and showed his class in the last World Cup. Hasn't had much first-team action since then, but now that he is getting picked, he deserves his chance, especially with McAteer, Miller, Healy, K***e, etc. all out.

[NigeSausagepump]

Kinsella's back playing first-team football and doing well by all accounts. He's one of our most experienced players and showed his class in the last World Cup. Hasn't had much first-team action since then, but now that he is getting picked, he deserves his chance, especially with McAteer, Miller, Healy, K***e, etc. all out.

I see that Kinsella has displaced James O'Connor at WBA, which I think is a shame. Kinsella has his qualities, but he aint one for the future and based on his recent anonymous performances for Ireland I'd be surprised if he makes the WC. O'Connor was a regular until Kinsella showed up and it would have been interesting to see how he got in in the Premiership, assuming the Baggies go up. Maybe they're just saving him for next year.........

[eirebhoy]

The reason Connolly doesn't perform at international level is because he is nearly always partnered with Keane. These two players complicate each other. As we have seen many times, if he plays with someone like Doc (although I don't want Doc up front ever again) he plays a lot better. He is an ideal replacement if Keane gets injured.

[macdermesser]

Obviously he's not going to be called up for the Czech game for the same reason as Breen, O' Shea, Mc Ateer .. and of course .. cough ... Babb and Keane .. but he seems to be bang in form for Sunderland at the moment, and apparently scored a cracking free kick last night.

[Bowsy]

I agree Connolly and Keane don't work well together but that apart from that he is generally rubbish for us. When Connolly gets a great chance i never truly believe he'll put it away and he invariably doesn't.

[pineapple stu]

Kinsella has his qualities, but he aint one for the future and based on his recent anonymous performances for Ireland I'd be surprised if he makes the WC.

Bit harsh - Kinsella hasn't been playing the last season or two, which is why he hasn't done as well. He's now playing, so there's no reason he shouldn't be in the squad. This whole thing of building a team for the future all the time is silly - England are always at it and are always underachieving in the present (best example being England fans hounding Shearer 'cos he was past it at 29, and now they're stuck with Vassell and Heskey!). We have to pick our best 22 players for a squad to get the best results in the present.

Anyway, Kinsella's only 31 - not as if he's nearly finished.

[Bowsy]

Kinsella hasn't been playing the last year or so because his performances haven't been up to it. He's not really been injured. He couldn't force his way into what at the time was a poor Villa side and was dropped for untested kids such as Hitzelsperger and Whittingham. Was rarely even on the bench. I'm not one throwing the baby out with the bath water and playing a team of 20 year olds but it's a long time since Kinsella has looked like an international midfielder.

[Condex]

Spoke to a Charlton supporter last year, he says Kinsella was never the same after a major injury he had

[Slash/ED]

Colgan and Finnan are out, so Murphy and Maybury in. I can't see the logic in that one, surley Thompson is ahead of Maybury in the pecking order at this stage? I'd forgotten all about Maybury.

[eirebhoy]

Thompson doesn't even get his game for Forest.

Maybury is only 25, I thought he was a lot older.

[Slash/ED]

I thought he was a Forest regular? Makes sense then I suppose

[tricky_colour]

I thought he was a Forest regular? Makes sense then I suppose

Thompson was a Forest reg untill Joe Kinear took over, now he
appears more on the subs bench, however that may be tactical move
as he needs a more attacking formation, however as harder to win
games appear on the fixture list he may get more of a look in,
but I am no expert.
Forest have also made several loan signings so competition for
places is tougher.
Forest remain dangerously close to relegation (1 point off) with a
pretty tough run in (very tough in my opinion). :(

[petef]

Yes we (Forest) are up **** creek hence my visit to Nottingham in a few weeks to preserve my record of having never seen them lose. Thompson hasnt figured much as of late, hes miles off international football. As for Reid he'll be gone in the Summer to the highest bidder.

[sadloserkid]

Alan Maybury is still not a bad footballer. Not quite good enough to really set the world alight. Would have liked to see Alan Quinn sort out his club situation (MOVE!!!) because I thought he showed a lot of potential.

[tiktok]

Connolly and Dunne withdraw

David Connolly and Richard Dunne have been forced to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad to face the Czech Republic on Wednesday evening at Lansdowne Road (Kick off 7:30).

Striker Connolly made his first start in two months for West Ham United against Gillingham on Saturday while Dunne started for Manchester City in a 0-0 draw with Fulham, though both have now been withdrawn by their respective clubs.

On Sunday afternoon, manager Brian Kerr was happy with the squad that was due to arrive in Dublin though he admitted he may call in extra players should there be any more withdrawals.

On Friday, Kerr added West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Joe Murphy and Hearts’ full back Alan Maybury to the squad after Nicky Colgan and Steve Finnan were withdrawn.

Squad: Given (Newcastle United), Murphy (West Bromwich Albion), Kenny (Sheffield United), Maybury (Hearts), O’Brien (Newcastle United), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Harte (Leeds United), Carsley (Everton), Delap (Southampton), Kinsella (West Bromwich Albion), McPhail (Leeds United), Holland (Charlton Athletic), Kilbane (Everton), Reid (Nottingham Forest), Duff (Chelsea), Lee (Cardiff City), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Morrison (Birmingham City).

[eirebhoy]

Miller has been called up and is expected to play some part in Wedensday's match.

[John83]

David Connolly... forced to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad to face the Czech Republic...:D Woo-hoo!

Given the current shape of the squad, I'd like to see:
.................Given.....................
Carr.....O’Brien....Cunningham..Harte
Reid....Kinsella.....Zilbane.........Duff
.......Morrisson....Keane...........

We need a fairly good side to take on the Czechs, but this lets us assess Harte, Kinsella and Reid for the qualifiers, as well as trying out the Keane/Morrisson combo up front and the O'Brien/Cunningham one at the back again.

[eirebhoy]

I don't know if O'Brien is injured but according to Sky Sports news, Kerr has said that Doc will start alongside Cunningham. Due to lack of first team action for Harte, i'd say Maybury will start at left back. Delap is playing great football for Southampton so should get in instead of Kinsella. Miller and Kenny will play some part in the match and Morrison should partner Keane up front.

[Slash/ED]

:D Woo-hoo!

Given the current shape of the squad, I'd like to see:
.................Given.....................
Carr.....O’Brien....Cunningham..Harte
Reid....Kinsella.....Zilbane.........Duff
.......Morrisson....Keane...........

We need a fairly good side to take on the Czechs, but this lets us assess Harte, Kinsella and Reid for the qualifiers, as well as trying out the Keane/Morrisson combo up front and the O'Brien/Cunningham one at the back again.

I can't think of a single reason anyone would pick Mark Kinsella when we have Delap in the squad, if Kerr thinks Kinsella is a long term option and, yet again, overlooks Delap I'll go mad.

[NigeSausagepump]

I can't think of a single reason anyone would pick Mark Kinsella when we have Delap in the squad, if Kerr thinks Kinsella is a long term option and, yet again, overlooks Delap I'll go mad.

Agreed.
Kinsella even said himself in an article over the weekend that he doesn't expect to be around for the WC if we qualified. I've no idea what playing him will achieve apart from proving that he's now past it.

[John83]

Agreed.
Kinsella even said himself in an article over the weekend that he doesn't expect to be around for the WC if we qualified. I've no idea what playing him will achieve apart from proving that he's now past it.He said he didn't expect to be in the squad for that. He's not 35, for God's sake. He's not retiring at the end of the season.

What will it achieve? Proving that he's not past it, perhaps. If the guy's match-fit, and playing well for a team pushing for promotion into the Permiership, surely he's worth another look. If he is past it, so beit, put Delap on for the second half. If he's not, you people will look stupid, and we'll have another viable option for the midfield in the qualifiers. And given how many people seem to want to grant Miller an automatic starting place in our future midfield on the basis that he's played a few good games for Celtic, that can't be a bad thing.

[eirebhoy]

Agreed.
Kinsella even said himself in an article over the weekend that he doesn't expect to be around for the WC if we qualified. I've no idea what playing him will achieve apart from proving that he's now past it.
Delap does deserve a place in the team over Kinsella but just because Kinsella doesn't believe he will make the sqaud for 2006 doesn't mean he won't make it for the qualifiers in September. This is Ireland we have qualified for 3 world cups, who says we'll do it this time? The same thing was said when R** K**** hinted he wanted to come back, everyone said he will be too old in 2006. Eh, the qualifiers are in a few months, not 2006.

[NigeSausagepump]

If the guy's match-fit, and playing well for a team pushing for promotion into the Permiership, surely he's worth another look. If he is past it, so beit, put Delap on for the second half. If he's not, you people will look stupid, and we'll have another viable option for the midfield in the qualifiers.

In my opinion Kinsella and Holland's porous central midfield axis was the main reason why we didn't qualify for Euro 2004. They allowed too many opposition attacks through and created pretty much nothing going forward. Not, I would suggest, reason enough to drag Kinsella back into first team duty.

If you claim that because he's playing wellish for a promotion chasing 1st Div club he deserves another run, then why not give David Connolly another chance? He may not have as many good Irish performances as Kinsella in the past (and God knows Kinsella's performances were in the dim and distant past), but at least he has relative youth on his side.

As it happens, I don't think Connolly is the way forward either. Just trying to draw a parallel. Players who have shown they are not up to it at this level don't deserve a call up. Kinsella was good in 2002, but then so were Man Utd :). He's patently no longer international standard.

[eirebhoy]

The team should look like this with the players in Bold as definite's:

GK: Given

DR: Carr
DL: Harte
DC: Cunningham
DC: Doherty

ML: Duff
MC/R: Holland
MC: Delap - I will be shocked if he's not picked
AMC: Reid/Kilbane - 50/50

FC: Keane
FC: Morrison

[John83]

ML: Duff
MC/R: Holland
MC: Delap - I will be shocked if he's not picked
AMC: Reid/Kilbane - 50/50Duff is of course guarenteed a start, though Kerr might be tempted to play him through the middle again. :(
I don't think we can afford to play Reid through the middle when they've got Nedved and Tomas Galasek of Ajax there. He'd have to stop Galasek from playing all by himself, which would force Nedved deep where he's less effective. I don't think he has the experience to do that. He'll start on the right wing if he starts at all. If we're going to play more than one central player behind an attacking mid, it'll be Duff.

[Slash/ED]

Reid on the right would be my prefrence, with Delap and Holland in the middle.

[eirebhoy]

I don't think we can afford to play Reid through the middle when they've got Nedved and Tomas Galasek of Ajax there. He'd have to stop Galasek from playing all by himself, which would force Nedved deep where he's less effective.
Doesn't Nedved play on the left? Carr will have to do his best if he does play there. I'm not bothered were Duff plays as what is the point on having him on the left. Who can he cross the ball to? Keane and Morrison can't use their head so maybe Duff would be better in the middle playing through balls. What'ya think?

[soccerc]

Maybury to start (http://www.soccercentral.ie/viewstory.asp?id=12578&mainheading=Republic+of+Ireland&viewstory=yes)

[eirebhoy]

I can't see us winning with that back 4. :( Duff, Reid and Kilbane will have to be at their very best to get something out of this game.
So the team should look like this on paper:

---------------------------------Given----------------------------

Maybury---------Cunningham--------Doherty--------Harte

Reid---------------Holland-------------Kilbane-----------Duff

---------------------Keane---------Morrison-------------------

[John83]

Doesn't Nedved play on the left? Carr will have to do his best if he does play there. I'm not bothered were Duff plays as what is the point on having him on the left. Who can he cross the ball to? Keane and Morrison can't use their head so maybe Duff would be better in the middle playing through balls. What'ya think?He used to, but he's at his best in a free role in central midfield - that's where he's starred for Juventus for the past couple of seasons, and that's where he'll play tonight.

Duff penetrates better when he's on the left, and a low cross is as effective as a high one once you've skinned the full-back - Keaninho's diminutive status won't be a problem if we're smart about it. If he plays in the middle, he's too easy to contain, I think - there just isn't another route to go, so we become too predictable.

No, the key to beating the Czechs is stopping those centre-mids from playing. Maybe putting Duff in the middle would do that, but I'd rather not see just how good Poborsky still is - I think we need width too.

[John83]

I can't see us winning with that back 4. :( Duff, Reid and Kilbane will have to be at their very best to get something out of this game.
So the team should look like this on paper:

---------------------------------Given----------------------------

Maybury---------Cunningham--------Doherty--------Harte

Reid---------------Holland-------------Kilbane-----------Duff

---------------------Keane---------Morrison-------------------
Said in the paper that the stronger training team (i.e. the one with the expected starters in it) had a midfield of Reid---Kilbane---Kinsella---Duff.

:D Kerr must have read my earlier post... ;)

[irwinsalegend]

any news on the czech team

[John83]

any news on the czech teamThis is all I've got:


Porbosky, Jarosik and Huebschman are out.
replaced by Sionko,Tyce and Vorisek



The Czech Republic can extend their unbeaten run to 21 matches in Dublin, but coach Karel BRÜCKNER's preparations have been disrupted by injuries, especially to midfield players. Captain Pavel Nedved told the press in Prague that he had considered withdrawing from the party because of a back problem that has meant taking pain-killing injections in order to play for Juventus in recent weeks. However, Nedved said he was grateful for the opportunity to "swap Juventus's problems for the winning spirit of the national team."

His presence in the squad is a boost for Bruckner, who is already missing two other midfield regulars, Sparta Prague's Karel Poborský and Borussia Dortmund's Tomás Rosický, through injury. Vladimír Šmicer of Liverpool is only just back in training after suffering an Achilles injury and misses the Ireland game. His probable replacement at Lansdowne Road is Monaco's Jaroslav Plašil, described by Brückner as "a similar type of player for the left flank".

Meanwhile another midfielder, Jirí Jarosík, withdrew from the squad to conentrate on winning a place in the starting line-up for his club, CSKA Moscow. "It's the first time in two years that a player has asked me to rest him because of club commitments," said Brückner, who was not happy about the request.

Sparta's central defender Tomás Hübchman has broken an arm so Bruckner has had to draft in Petr Voríšek, but goalkeeper Petr Cech returns to the squad following an elbow injury. He will probably face Ireland's Damien Duff, who will become his Chelsea team-mate when Cech reports for duty at Stamford Bridge in the summer following his £9 million transfer from Rennes.
Bruckner expects Cech to excel in the Premiership.



FORM GUIDE:
Czech Republic (all competitions - oldest results first): WWWWWD
The Czechs boast a superb record and go into this game on the back of a 2-2 draw with Italy that was preceded by five straight wins – against Moldova (5-0 h, Euro qualifier), Belarus (3-1 a, Euro), Netherlands (3-1 h, Euro), Austria (3-2 away, Euro), and Canada (5-1 h, friendly).

PROBABLE STARTING XI:
Czech Republic: Cezh (Rennes), Grygera (Ajax), Bolf (Banik Ostrava), Ujfalusi (Hamburg), Jankulovski (Udinese), Sionko (Sparta Prague), Galasek (Ajax), Nedved (Juventus), Stajner (Sparta Prague), Baros (Liverpool), Koller (Borussia Dortmund).