Under-21 Squad

[Charlie Darwin]

Thought it would be useful to set up a dedicated U21 thread rather than doing it on a squad-by-squad basis, same as for the U19s (http://foot.ie/threads/166499-under-19-squad/page14).

The U21s are effectively out of contention in the Euro qualifiers with one game to go, so it looks like King is using the friendly with Qatar on May 24th to experiment with a few younger players.

Thanks to tets for pointing out that U19s Jack Byrne and Ian Lawlor of Manchester City have been called up:


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Cork City's Brian Lenihan has also made the step up from the U19s:


Manager Noel King has called Lenihan into his squad for the friendly fixture against the Qatar Olympic squad, which will take place in Aachen in Germany on Saturday, May 24th.

http://www.corkcityfc.ie/home/2014/05/12/lenihan-gets-under-21-call/

[Closed Account]

Shane Griffin (Reading) claims to be called up also
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[Charlie Darwin]

Have they been awarded pictures of shamrocks instead of caps?

[tetsujin1979]

Kieran Sadlier of West Ham in the squad too: https://twitter.com/KieranSadlier/statuses/465912929297391617

An honour to be called up for the Republic Of Ireland Under 21s next week https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v1/72x72/1f340.pnghttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v1/72x72/1f340.png

[Stuttgart88]

What is it with all these guys actually being honoured to be picked? Honestly, you really have to question the attitudes of some of these needy sods.

[gastric]

What is it with all these guys actually being honoured to be picked? Honestly, you really have to question the attitudes of some of these needy sods.

O'Neill is lining up S Ireland as a mentor to help these lads with their bad attitude.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

What is it with all these guys actually being honoured to be picked? Honestly, you really have to question the attitudes of some of these needy sods.

I don't think Mark Hughes being Stoke's manager is helping. You would think his club manager would be pushing him to play for his country but Sparky seems to be encouraging Stephen's blase attitude.

Basically, Stephen said he was going to make a decision at the end of the season - he hasn't - and now it's we'll see in September or October.

Surely the lad has the self-awareness to realise that he is taking the **** with this. Hughes is too.

[Stuttgart88]

Hughes backs Stephen Ireland's return but prefers he doesn't join the squad now.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/ireland-backed-for-international-return-268247.html

Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland was last night backed by his manager at Stoke City, Mark Hughes, to bring an end to his international exile.

Corkman Ireland has not played for his country since Grannygate back in 2007. Martin O’Neill opted not to include Ireland in his plans when, last week, he named his squad for the summer friendlies.

But he plans talks with Ireland this week and he could well be called-up if O’Neill gets the answers he wants.

Hughes, speaking after Ireland had impressed in Stoke’s 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, said: “I think this year was all about making sure he was settled.

“He has only just signed a new contract and I think that was his focus and rightly so. He likes stability and wants to know where he will be next year.

“But I am sure that in the future it (playing for Ireland again) is what he wants to do, having spoken to him.

“Probably this summer is a little bit early but I am sure he will look to help Ireland when he can.”



Last week O'Neill was saying he'd sit down with Ireland at season-end because he wanted to speak to him individually and get assurances that he would be committed and enthusiastic on a no-strings-attached basis.

Has anything changed other than a comment by Hughes? Clearly it's best that SI gets involved early, if at all.

[Closed Account]

I think he's overage anyway lads.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I think he's overage anyway lads.

He still has the mental age of a teenager so he should be allowed to play for the U-21's.

[Closed Account]

Jack Connor of Dagenham & Redbridge has been called up:
http://www.daggers.co.uk/news/article/jack-connors-roi-call-up-1550086.aspx

Have we a full squad list yet considering the game is in 4 days?

Who we think is in it:
Ian Lawlor
Brian Lenihan
Jack Byrne
Shane Griffin
Kieran Sadlier
Kevin Feely
Jack Connors

[Closed Account]

Full Squad
http://www.fai.ie/international/under-21/103984-king-names-squad-for-qatar-friendly.html

Republic of Ireland squad:
Ian Lawlor (Manchester City)
Justin Merz (Karlsruher SC)
Luke Gallagher (Burnley)
Shane Griffin (Reading)
Pierce Sweeney (Reading)
Kevin Feely (Charlton Athletic)
Mason Watkins-Clark (Stoke City)
Bradley Lewis (Aston Villa)
Jack Connors (Dagenham & Redbridge)
Darragh Lenihan (Blackburn Rovers)
Kenneth McEvoy (Tottenham Hotspur)
Michael Drennan (Aston Villa)
Will Hayhurst (Preston North End)
Bradley Garmston (West Bromiwich Albion)
Conor Wilkinson (Bolton Wanderers)
Kieran Sadlier (West Ham Utd)
Jack Byrne (Manchester City)
Brian Lenihan (Cork City)

[tetsujin1979]

so Jack Grealish not in the senior squad, the U19s and now the U21 panel

[Charlie Darwin]

He's clearly had a falling out with Paul Doolin.

edit: apparently he's gone to Hong Kong with Villa: http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3845017,00.html

Didn't he do the same thing last season?

[Olé Olé]

Full Squad
http://www.fai.ie/international/under-21/103984-king-names-squad-for-qatar-friendly.html

Republic of Ireland squad:
Ian Lawlor (Manchester City)
Justin Merz (Karlsruher SC)
Luke Gallagher (Burnley)
Shane Griffin (Reading)
Pierce Sweeney (Reading)
Kevin Feely (Charlton Athletic)
Mason Watkins-Clark (Stoke City)
Bradley Lewis (Aston Villa)
Jack Connors (Dagenham & Redbridge)
Darragh Lenihan (Blackburn Rovers)
Kenneth McEvoy (Tottenham Hotspur)
Michael Drennan (Aston Villa)
Will Hayhurst (Preston North End)
Bradley Garmston (West Bromiwich Albion)
Conor Wilkinson (Bolton Wanderers)
Kieran Sadlier (West Ham Utd)
Jack Byrne (Manchester City)
Brian Lenihan (Cork City)

Two new names in there. Did a bit of research.

Connors is a first-team player at League Two Dagenham & Redbridge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Connors
http://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/sport/dagger_jack_s_just_the_lad_for_republic_of_ireland _under_21s_1_3607309
Young player of the year at his club and qualifies through his father, this article states.

Unable to find out much about Merz. There seems to be a lot of Irish-qualified keepers popping up around the continent- McDermott, Bossin, Merz and Burdon.

An article popped up on theScore.ie that Feely was considering returning home after being released by Charlton- http://www.thescore.ie/kevin-feely-athy-dual-sport-1464127-May2014/

[Charlie Darwin]

We seem to have started a policy of sending out our best and brightest goalkeeping prospects to breed on the continent in the early 90s. Where did Packie Bonner go after he retired?

[liamoo11]

Strange that the 19s are not using Byrne ,Wilkinson or grealish for the qualifiers must be some team if those three can't make squad. Really liking forward to the 19s games hopefully we can qualify. We'll done to brits winnin the 17s euros

[Eminence Grise]

We seem to have started a policy of sending out our best and brightest goalkeeping prospects to breed on the continent in the early 90s. Where did Packie Bonner go after he retired?

Now if we can put Duff and Robbie out to stud as well...

[Paddy Garcia]

Snatched a draw with a 92nd minute equaliser against Qatar! Watkins-Clark scored.

[Closed Account]

Squad for game V Germany on Friday
http://www.fai.ie/international/under-21/104156-king-names-u21-squad-for-clash-with-germany.html
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U21:
Ian Lawlor (https://twitter.com/Ianlawlor) (Manchester City)
Justin Merz (Karlsruher SC)
Shane Griffin (https://twitter.com/Shane_Griff)(Reading)
Sean Long (https://twitter.com/SeanieLongg) (Reading)
Pierce Sweeney (https://twitter.com/PierceSweeney1) (Reading)
Thomas Hoban (https://twitter.com/tommiehoban05) (Watford)
Jack Connors (https://twitter.com/Jack_Connors) (Dagenham & Redbridge)
Sean Kavanagh (https://twitter.com/seankavanagh47) (Fulham)
Mason Watkins-Clark (https://twitter.com/MasonWatkins4) (Stoke City)
Bradley Lewis (https://twitter.com/BradleyLewis27) (Aston Villa)
Kieran Sadlier (https://twitter.com/KieranSadlier) (West Ham Utd)
Darragh Lenihan (https://twitter.com/darraghlenihan)(Blackburn Rovers)
Jack Grealish (https://twitter.com/JackGrealish1) (Aston Villa)
Jack Byrne (https://twitter.com/Jackb_8) (Manchester City)
Bradley Garmston (https://twitter.com/BradleyGarmston)(West Bromwich Albion)
Kenneth McEvoy (https://twitter.com/kennethMcevoy)(Tottenham – on-loan to Peterborough Utd)
Sam Byrne (https://twitter.com/SamByrne200) (Everton)
Conor Wilkinson (https://twitter.com/ConorWilkoo) (Bolton Wanderers)

[DeLorean]

Live on British Eurosport 2 from 16:45 on Friday.

Preview on Sky Planner:
Germany vs Republic of Ireland: Action from this key UEFA European U21 Championship qualifying match in Halle. Ireland's squad includes highly-rated Watford defender Tommie Hoban.

[Closed Account]

Ireland U21 line-up in Halle:
Lawlor, Griffin, Connors, Watkins-Clark, Hoban (C), Long, D Lenihan, Grealish, Byrne, Sadlier, Wilkinson.
Not too sure about formation. Connors could be playing midfield with Long RB. (They have this lineup on UEFA.com) http://www.uefa.com/under21/season=2015/matches/live/index.html?day=43&session=1&match=2011488
http://i.imgur.com/u9xHAIR.png

Link here: http://cricfree.sx/euro-sports-2.php

[Charlie Darwin]

Nice one, Joe.

[Charlie Darwin]

Should be 1-0 to Germany, brilliant goal incorrectly disallowed for offside.

[Stuttgart88]

Grealish gets kicked so often it's unreal. Very Duffesque in the way he carries the ball.

[Charlie Darwin]

Grealish gets kicked so often it's unreal. Very Duffesque in the way he carries the ball.
i.e. past people and then gets whacked on the shins

[Closed Account]

2-0 Germany, twas only a matter of time. But Grealish has been a bright spark.

[Kingdom]

just clicked onto a stream of the match (Deutsche) and heard the commentator trying admirably to pronounce Dagenham & Redbridge. I see it's 2-0 to the gerries.

[Charlie Darwin]

Midfield are being completely overrun now and Wilkinson up front has been dreadful, not hanging onto anything. Score flatters us.

[zero]

2-0 but it could be any score. like a training match for the home side - we're getting the run around.

[tetsujin1979]

squad announced for friendly against Norway in early October: http://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/king-announces-ireland-u21-squad-for-norway-friendly

[Charlie Darwin]

Four changes from the initially announced squad. Sean Kavanagh (Fulham), Philip Roberts (Dundee), Dylan Connolly (Shelbourne) and Kenny McEvoy (Peterborough) replace Jack Grealish, Bradley Garmston, Conor Wilkinson and Will Hayhurst.

http://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/king-makes-changes-to-u21-squad-for-norway-game

[Stuttgart88]

Strange that McEvoy isn't a first choice, no?

The Grealish thing is obviously a disgrace and an insult to our forefathers.

[Charlie Darwin]

Not sure if McEvoy was back from injury when the original squad was announced. He seems to have been used sparingly off the bench in the couple of weeks he's been back.

[tetsujin1979]

Roberts is with Dundee, not Falkirk
obviously this means Grealish is going to declare for the land of his forefathers, Pangea.

[tetsujin1979]

Live stream http://www.fotball.no/Landslag_og_toppfotball/Landslag/Aldersbestemt_gutter/Aldersbestemt-gutter/U20/2014/Se-U21-kampen-pa-NFF-TV-kl-19/
really high quality, Norway just after scoring.

Two nil now, Ireland playing good football though.

[gastric]

A very disappointing result in the end, a 4-1 drubbing. Very ordinary defending seemed to be the issue.

http://www.fai.ie/ireland/match/55502/2015/999941124?tab=report

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Don't worry gastric. Three quarters of these lads won't get so much as one cap at senior level anyways because we can just get an English lad to declare when he's in his mid-twenties.

[Supreme feet]

Don't worry gastric. Three quarters of these lads won't get so much as one cap at senior level anyways because we can just get an English lad to declare when he's in his mid-twenties.

Maybe if our young players try to push themselves to be as good as they can be, rather than being satisfied with earning 5-12 grand a week to be a go-nowhere Championship/League One player, maybe they wouldn't be leapfrogged in the international pecking order by these 'Johnny-come-lately' recruits.

[Closed Account]

Current squads Irish youth international history.

Westwood and Pearce the only ones falling under TOWK mid twenty englishers coming over here stealing our jobs.
I blame the bears.



Pos.

Player
U21 Caps



GK
David Forde
0



GK
Keiren Westwood
0



GK
Rob Elliot
0
U19 Caps



DF
John O'Shea
13



DF
Stephen Ward
14



DF
Marc Wilson
1



DF
Ciaran Clark
0
U20 Caps


DF
Richard Keogh
8



DF
Alex Pearce
0
Scotland U21 lol


DF
Brian Lenihan
1



MF
Aiden McGeady
0
Senior Cap 18


MF
Glenn Whelan
14



MF
James McClean
0
Northern Ireland U21 rofl


MF
Darron Gibson
2



MF
Wes Hoolahan
9



MF
David Meyler
9



MF
Stephen Quinn
9



MF
Robbie Brady
12



MF
Jeff Hendrick
7



MF
Anthony Pilkington
1



FW
Robbie Keane (Captain)
0
Senior Cap 17/U18


FW
Kevin Doyle
11



FW
Shane Long
0
Senior Cap 20/U19


FW
Jonathan Walters
1



FW
Daryl Murphy
7



FW
Anthony Stokes
10

[Stuttgart88]

Don't worry gastric. Three quarters of these lads won't get so much as one cap at senior level anyways because we can just get an English lad to declare when he's in his mid-twenties.
Three quarters of them won't do enough in their club careers to deserve a senior call up, which is why we've had to draw on the ancestry criteria in the past and will continue to do so.

I can see you're sore over Christie and Doherty but I don't think it's fair to say "English lads" crowd out more deserving emerging Irish talent as a general truth.

[tetsujin1979]

I blame the bears.

can I interest you in this rock?

[Paddy Garcia]

Friendly games against the USA and Russia.

Squad: Ian Lawlor, Danny Rogers, Sean Long, Shane Griffin, Pierce Sweeney, Thomas Hoban, Brain Lenihan, Mason Watkins-Clark, Eoghan O’Connell, Sean Kavanagh, Jack Connors, Glen Rea, Sean Hoare, Lee Desmond, Darragh Lenihan, William Hayhurst, Alan Browne, Jack Byrne, Kieran Sadlier, Kenneth McEvoy, Sam Byrne, Connor Wilkinson, Matthew Hamilton

... Grealish wants to stay & concentrate on his Villa career. I wonder are there English under 21s taking a similar position!

[geysir]

Our friendly game should be be for the next generation of u21s which Grealish will have graduated from.
English u21s have still a Finals tournament to look forward so there will nobody graduating themselves just yet.
Both Norway and Sweden put out new generation underage squads when they played us in those recent u19 friendlies.

[Crosby87]

Pierce Sweeney definitely solves mysteries in his downtime.

[tetsujin1979]

Friendly games against the USA and Russia.

Squad: Ian Lawlor, Danny Rogers, Sean Long, Shane Griffin, Pierce Sweeney, Thomas Hoban, Brain Lenihan, Mason Watkins-Clark, Eoghan O’Connell, Sean Kavanagh, Jack Connors, Glen Rea, Sean Hoare, Lee Desmond, Darragh Lenihan, William Hayhurst, Alan Browne, Jack Byrne, Kieran Sadlier, Kenneth McEvoy, Sam Byrne, Connor Wilkinson, Matthew Hamilton

... Grealish wants to stay & concentrate on his Villa career. I wonder are there English under 21s taking a similar position!
I hear he's an intelligent player

[liamoo11]

Our friendly game should be be for the next generation of u21s which Grealish will have graduated from.
English u21s have still a Finals tournament to look forward so there will nobody graduating themselves just yet.
Both Norway and Sweden put out new generation underage squads when they played us in those recent u19 friendlies.

Grealish was under 19s last season so he is eligible for the new 21s campaign. only jack byrne would be younger from an age group perspective in this squad. You would have to think this is the end of the line for Grealish and Ireland even with how Noel king described it.

Is kieran sadlier been let go from west ham? A newcastle brighton report describes him as a trialist(not on loan)

[the doc]

Grealish was under 19s last season so he is eligible for the new 21s campaign. only jack byrne would be younger from an age group perspective in this squad. You would have to think this is the end of the line for Grealish and Ireland even with how Noel king described it.

Is kieran sadlier been let go from west ham? A newcastle brighton report describes him as a trialist(not on loan)

All together now,
" Sorry Doc, you were right all along!"

[geysir]

Grealish was under 19s last season so he is eligible for the new 21s campaign. only jack byrne would be younger from an age group perspective in this squad. You would have to think this is the end of the line for Grealish and Ireland even with how Noel king described it.

Is kieran sadlier been let go from west ham? A newcastle brighton report describes him as a trialist(not on loan)
Grealish has graduated from the u21s at an early age, regardless of his choice yet to be affirmed. His choice might be ominous for us, or equally might not.
If he has a future involvement with us, it will be as part of the senior squad.

[gastric]

All together now,
" Sorry Doc, you were right all along!"

There's such desperation and bitterness in your posts to be proved right that I have lost a lot of respect for you.