Republic of Ireland V Turkey, Italy, Costa Rica & Portugal - May/June 2014

[Charlie Darwin]

Oman, not again.

[back of the net]

Im probably off the opposite view TOWK......I dont think racking up goals against the likes of oman does anything for confidence.
Our players know that lot our sh#t and in all honesty I doubt they would take any positives from smashing them

[ArdeeBhoy]

Yeah Damien, who else? sprightly young in (our) centre back years and has just a handful of caps.
A mere junior of a centre half.
Except he's nearly 33..these qualifiers give him a go by all means, but he may not even be playing senior club football in two years time...

O'Kane, yes, why not. And probably Mason/Best too.

As for Oman, that's a p*ss-take even by FAI standards. If MO'N/RMK sanctioned that, then they're complete eejits. Though I suspect the hand of the august John D. here?

[back of the net]

OMAN in dublin on sept 3rd has been confirmed by FAI......FFS!!!

[tetsujin1979]

this is clearly a return from the friendly in London in September 2012.
Could easily hold this in Tallaght Stadium, or Thomond Park, but all senior internationals have to be played in Aviva stadium, as part of the sponsorship agreement with Aviva.

[Charlie Darwin]

I'm sure they could negotiate around it if they wanted to, ie make it Ireland v Oman Sponsored by Aviva, but the fact is the FAI only own one stadium and the attendance out in Thomond last time was rank. They'd be stupid to bring it back there. Tallaght would be too small as you'll always get five figures minimum in Dublin, whereas Tallaght is only over 6,000 and the lack of stands behind the goals means it doesn't carry sound very well and is susceptible to the elements.

[back of the net]

this is clearly a return from the friendly in London in September 2012.
Could easily hold this in Tallaght Stadium, or Thomond Park, but all senior internationals have to be played in Aviva stadium, as part of the sponsorship agreement with Aviva.


Oh i realise its a return friendly - it doesnt make it any less annoyin that we are playing a team that will give us no test just before the euro qualifiers start.

I dont think racking up a load of goals against football minnows is going to do us any favours for the qualifier games ahead

[ArdeeBhoy]

They might as well play it in Oman...

[SkStu]

I'm sure they could negotiate around it if they wanted to, ie make it Ireland v Oman Sponsored by Aviva, but the fact is the FAI only own one stadium and the attendance out in Thomond last time was rank. They'd be stupid to bring it back there. Tallaght would be too small as you'll always get five figures minimum in Dublin, whereas Tallaght is only over 6,000 and the lack of stands behind the goals means it doesn't carry sound very well and is susceptible to the elements.

Can you hear Rovers sing? Nooo! nooo!
Can you hear the Rovers sing? I can't hear a fckin thing, woah oh oh oh, oh oh...oh, I just realized the lack of stands behind the goals means it doesn't carry sound very well...

Worst chant ever. ;)

[Charlie Darwin]

Don't worry Stu, we heard the Bowez fans not singing loud and clear from the Des Kelly Stand earlier this season :)

It's hardly a secret that noise doesn't carry in Tallaght. Even when away teams do bring a decent crowd (obviously not Bohs), you can barely hear them from across the way. A stand on either side of the goals would make for a much more intimate atmosphere.

[DeLorean]

I'm sure they could negotiate around it if they wanted to, ie make it Ireland v Oman Sponsored by Aviva

I'm not sure they'd even want to be associated with it... they'd probably agree to 'Ireland v Oman sponsored by VHI'.

[DeLorean]

Are any of these games live on rte/setanta? Thanks.

The Turkey match is live on Sky Sports 1. Coverage begins at 17:30 with 18:00 k/o.

[Crosby87]

Only a half hour of coverage for a match like that? I figured three hours minimum. Saint and Greavsie better be broadcasting from there all week.

[DeLorean]

A real positive vibe from The Score (http://thescore.thejournal.ie/ireland-squad-player-review-1473089-May2014/?utm_source=facebook_short) in relation to the form of our players, for the most part anyway.

[Closed Account]

Final Squad of 29 (Randolph, Joey O'Brien and James McCarthy miss out. Assume James being rested)



Name
Club
DOB
Caps
Goals


David Forde
Millwall FC
20/12/1979
16
0


Rob Elliot
Newcastle United FC
30/04/1986
0
0


Richard Keogh
Derby County FC
11/08/1986
3
1


Marc Wilson
Stoke City FC
17/09/1987
15
1


Seamus Coleman
Everton FC
11/10/1988
21
0


John O’Shea
Sunderland AFC
30/04/1981
95
2


Alex Pearce
Reading FC
09/11/1988
2
1


Stephen Kelly
Reading FC
06/09/1983
37
0


Damien Delaney
Crystal Palace FC
20/07/1981
8
0


Shane Duffy
Everton FC
01/01/1992
0
0


Jeff Hendrick
Derby County FC
31/01/1992
4
0


Ciaran Clark
Aston Villa FC
26/09/1989
10
1


Stephen Ward
Brighton Hove Albion
20/08/1985
21
2


Glenn Whelan
Stoke City FC
13/01/1984
56
2


Paul Green
Leeds United FC
10/04/1983
20
1


Aiden McGeady
Everton FC
04/04/1986
64
3


Anthony Pilkington
Norwich City FC
06/06/1988
3
0


James McClean
Wigan Athletic FC
22/04/1989
19
0


Stephen Quinn
Hull City FC
04/04/1986
3
0


David Meyler
Hull City FC
29/05/1989
5
0


Wes Hoolahan
Norwich City FC
20/05/1982
11
1


Robbie Keane
LA Galaxy FC
08/07/1980
131
62


Shane Long
Hull City FC
22/01/1987
43
11


Daryl Murphy
Ipswich Town FC
15/03/1983
10
0


Jon Walters
Stoke City FC
20/09/1983
25
4


Kevin Doyle
QPR FC
18/09/1983
57
12


Anthony Stokes
Celtic FC
25/07/1988
8
0


Simon Cox
Nottingham Forrest FC
28/04/1987
27
4


Connor Sammon
Derby County FC
06/11/1986
9
0

[Stuttgart88]

I might bring my gloves to Craven Cottage in case Forde gets injured. Elliott is getting married that day.

Lord knows what is going on wrt Stephen Ireland. I'm open to him coming bacvk but much less so if he decides he'd prefer a holiday than play in some of these games.

[tetsujin1979]

curiouser and curiouser
https://twitter.com/Ciaran_O/statuses/468750279769616384

And the Ireland farce continues. MON says he tried to call player, didn't get answer, SI's agent called FAI, MON spoke to agent. Bonkers.
https://twitter.com/Ciaran_O/statuses/468750009782259713

"It's up to Stephen Ireland, if he wants to be involved, he has to call me, I want players to come and play. I won't be chasing"- M O'Neill.

[Stuttgart88]

This is just ridiculous.

[IsMiseSean]

MON is spot on. Why should he chase the little runt.... If SI wants to be involved, pick up the phone.

[Razors left peg]

If the guy doesnt even have the manners to call back the National team manager then that should be 100% the end of it. I honestly cant get my head around it at all, but the fact is that the guy just doesnt want to play for us so if I was MON I wouldnt even answer the phone if Ireland has one of his days where he thinks he might want to play

[nigel-harps1954]

this is clearly a return from the friendly in London in September 2012.
Could easily hold this in Tallaght Stadium, or Thomond Park, but all senior internationals have to be played in Aviva stadium, as part of the sponsorship agreement with Aviva.


I'm sure they could negotiate around it if they wanted to, ie make it Ireland v Oman Sponsored by Aviva, but the fact is the FAI only own one stadium and the attendance out in Thomond last time was rank. They'd be stupid to bring it back there. Tallaght would be too small as you'll always get five figures minimum in Dublin, whereas Tallaght is only over 6,000 and the lack of stands behind the goals means it doesn't carry sound very well and is susceptible to the elements.

Would have said it would be the ideal game for Turners Cross to host. There'll not be any more than 10,000-12,000 at the game in the Aviva. Better to have a packed out Turners Cross than an empty looking Aviva for this game.

[tricky_colour]

The goals scored column is a rather sobering read!!!
Richard Keogh and Alex Pearce's figures look good though, but probably only
due to the low number of games they have played.

[Charlie Darwin]

I forgot Keogh had scored a goal for us.

So with the match coming up on Sunday, has anybody any ideas about the team they'd like to see start against Turkey? Might as well start with our strongest hand. I assume Keane won't be joining up until they get to America, and the Derby players will only join up in London?

I'd be looking at something like

Forde
Coleman O'Shea Wilson Ward
Whelan Meyler
McGeady Hoolahan McClean
Long

[DannyInvincible]

I assume Keane won't be joining up until they get to America, and the Derby players will only join up in London?

That's correct. Robbie joins up with the squad in Philadelphia.

Garry Doyle had this brief guide attached on to his article on Stephen Ireland (http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/oneill-door-still-open-after-ireland-blanked-my-calls-but-i-wont-go-begging-30291257.html):


Guide to the summer squad

David Forde (Millwall), Rob Elliot (Newcastle); Richard Keogh (Derby), Marc Wilson (Stoke), Seamus Coleman (Everton), John O'Shea (Sunderland), Alex Pearce, Stephen Kelly (both Reading), Damien Delaney (Ipswich), Shane Duffy (Everton), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Stephen Ward (Brighton); Jeff Hendrick (Derby), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Paul Green (Leeds), Aiden McGeady (Everton), Anthony Pilkington (Norwich), James McClean (Wigan), Stephen Quinn, David Meyler (both Hull), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich); Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Shane Long (Hull), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich), Jon Walters (Stoke), Kevin Doyle (QPR), Anthony Stokes (Celtic), Simon Cox (Nottingham Forest), Conor Sammon (Derby).

Out injured

James McCarthy (ankle), Darren Randolph (shoulder) Joey O'Brien (knee).

Coming and going

Kevin Doyle, Jeff Hendrick, Conor Sammon and Richard Keogh will miss Sunday's game against Turkey because of their involvement in the Championship play-off final between Derby and QPR on Saturday.

Doyle, Hendrick and Keogh are available for the remaining three games against Italy, Costa Rica and Turkey, but Sammon will also miss the two matches in America when he will be on honeymoon.

Philadelphia here I come

Robbie Keane will join up with the squad in Philadelphia for the games against Costa Rica and Portugal but will not play against Turkey and Italy.

Wedding bells

Rob Elliot is also tying the knot this summer so will miss the Italian game, but he is available for the other three matches.

Meanwhile, John O'Shea and Seamus Coleman will participate in the first two friendlies but will be excused from going to America, with O'Neill saying: "They've had long seasons; the break will do them good."

[geysir]

I was confused about who's available for what game, but this report isn't making that a straightforward task, also seeing as I'm not yet au fait with who we're playing and where.

'Kevin Doyle, Jeff Hendrick, Conor Sammon and Richard Keogh will miss Sunday's game against Turkey'
'Doyle, Hendrick and Keogh are available for the remaining three games against Italy, Costa Rica and Turkey'


However, if O'Neill told Sammon not to bother, the potential for confusion would be reduced, It would be less troublesome to sort out who's in for each game.

[DannyInvincible]

I was confused about who's available for what game, but this report isn't making that a straightforward task, also seeing as I'm not yet au fait with who we're playing and where.

Haha, here's the run-down with Irish times:


Turkey; 18:00, Sunday 25th May (Lansdowne Road, Dublin).

Italy; 19:45, Saturday 31st May (Craven Cottage, London).

Costa Rica; 15:00, Friday 6th June (PPL Park, Philadelphia).

Portugal; 14:45, Tuesday 10th June (MetLife Stadium, New Jersey).

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I read that Whelan and Walters are missing the Italy game because they received an invite to Marc Wilson's wedding which is nonsense carry on to be quite frank.

[Stuttgart88]

That's what I thought too, although on the other hand there's no point playing these games if MON doesn't use a fair chunk of the 29 being taken.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

That's what I thought too, although on the other hand there's no point playing these games if MON doesn't use a fair chunk of the 29 being taken.

Yes but the team (and squad) for every game is going to have a patchwork feel to it. There is going to be no coherency whatsoever.

We have a chance to test ourselves against some of the best teams in the world in Italy and Portugal; two teams that are on a par with Germany, and another pedigree team in Turkey that are very similar to Poland.

The sad fact is that at this juncture the teams we put out against Italy, Portugal and Turkey will not be remotely similar to the ones we put out against Germany, Poland and Scotland.

[Closed Account]

I read that Whelan and Walters are missing the Italy game because they received an invite to Marc Wilson's wedding which is nonsense carry on to be quite frank.
I read something similiar. I think Marc Wilson is missing because of his brothers wedding. The reason the other two are missing isn't quite as clear. They could be going to that wedding too but if they are, then it is nonsense.

None of the Stoke City players are available for the Italy game due, in Marc Wilson’s case at least, to his brother’s wedding.
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/martin-o-neill-gets-the-stephen-ireland-treatment-1.1802570

[Charlie Darwin]

Perhasps they're going to Stephen Ireland's granny's funeral.

[DeLorean]

Turkey beat Kosovo 6-1 today.

[Closed Account]

Not a bad XI of players who've missed out through injury: (short on strikers)

Westwood
McShane Dunne St Ledger O'Brien
Brady Gibson McCarthy Reid
Keogh Madden

[ArdeeBhoy]

Some decent shots of today's training, albeit featuring a certain individual...
http://balls.ie/football/gallery-best-pictures-todays-ireland-training-session/

[DannyInvincible]

albeit featuring a certain individual...

Steve Walford? Aye, who is he anyway?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Actually, it wasn't him I had in mind...

[tricky_colour]

This will be out 5th match against Italy in 5 years.

Both sides have won one lost one and drawn two.

[Bungle]

Just out of interest, if we do well in these 4 games, what impact will it have on our world ranking?
Someone told me FIFA do their qualification draw based on their ranking and we would currently be 4ty seeds.

[Charlie Darwin]

Just out of interest, if we do well in these 4 games, what impact will it have on our world ranking?
Someone told me FIFA do their qualification draw based on their ranking and we would currently be 4ty seeds.
I don't think it will have much of an effect. Our results over the past four years have been poor so I don't think we'll lose out much from those results leaving the calculations, so if we get good results in these games we'll improve our ranking and if we don't I don't think it will hurt us much.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2014/05/24/4838301/oneill-believes-turkey-will-provide-stern-test?ICID=HP_BN_4

O'Neill confirms that Elliot will start either Turkey or Italy game.

[Charlie Darwin]

http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/ireland/2014/05/24/4838301/oneill-believes-turkey-will-provide-stern-test?ICID=HP_BN_4

O'Neill confirms that Elliot will start either Turkey or Italy game.
Elliott is out of the Italy game due to wedding commitments, no?

[tetsujin1979]

Ian Lawlor called up from the U21's to the senior side

[Stuttgart88]

Damn, I was hoping for a chance at Craven Cottage.

[mark12345]

Damn, I was hoping for a chance at Craven Cottage.

Anyone know of a stream for today's game lads?

[Stuttgart88]

Sorry, will be watching on SKY.

Anyway, I want to see more than a "good in parts" performance tonight. Serbia was excusable due to the lack of preparation time O'Neill had with them, but this has been different. By the time we have finished in the US I really hope easy ever O'Neill has planned is well and truly understood and implemented.

[DannyInvincible]

Anyone know of a stream for today's game lads?

The match is being broadcast live on both RTÉ (Ireland-only online, I assume) and Sky Sports 1 so there should be plenty of streams on one of these sites later:

http://www.lshunter.net/
http://www.footballstreaming.info/streams/todays-links/index.html
http://www.wiziwig.tv/competition.php?part=sports&discipline=football

[ArdeeBhoy]

Damn, I was hoping for a chance at Craven Cottage.
You were expecting a call-up from the U-21's...
:rolleyes:

[mark12345]

The match is being broadcast live on both RTÉ (Ireland-only online, I assume) and Sky Sports 1 so there should be plenty of streams on one of these sites later:

http://www.lshunter.net/
http://www.footballstreaming.info/streams/todays-links/index.html
http://www.wiziwig.tv/competition.php?part=sports&discipline=football

Cheers Danny.

[Bungle]

By my reckoning, if we can beat Turkey and Costa Rica and draw one of the other games, it should be massive in terms of our ranking points. All four teams are far higher up the rankings, so in some ways, we are in a position where we can only gain substantially.
Scotland is very high up the rankings because of their good run so a few good wins will really stand to us. Hopefully starting today!

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/ireland-turkey-1999-euro-2000-play-off-1483904-May2014/

Let's hope it won't be a Turkey shoot this time.