Republic of Ireland V Netherlands 27th May 2016 & Belarus 31st May 2016 Friendlies

[SkStu]

I will bite then.

Firstly, he wont be "in the squad" TOWK. He'll train with the squad as a supernumerary invitee as Byrne and Forrester did before him. Its not "political" (you've just decided that it is) as he has already made his international career choice and it is really not a big deal why it was done or why he accepted. Its a great gesture from management to offer to all these players and from the players to accept. Its called succession planning.

[CraftyToePoke]

Its called succession planning.

Whether its succession planning, aggressive asset protection strategy, bluff calling, increased awareness post Leicester/Vardy in the game generally not to ignore lower league talent - I am all for it, to be clear. Its refreshing and exciting. And thanks for the several replies lads, particularly DeLoreans excellent one.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I will bite then.

Firstly, he wont be "in the squad" TOWK. He'll train with the squad as a supernumerary invitee as Byrne and Forrester did before him. Its not "political" (you've just decided that it is) as he has already made his international career choice and it is really not a big deal why it was done or why he accepted. Its a great gesture from management to offer to all these players and from the players to accept. Its called succession planning.

Really? I didn't know that.

I still think it's a ridiculous idea. The only people who should be in the squad are people who have a realistic chance of featuring in the tournament that commences in four weeks.

Could still be political. He wouldn't be the first to accept a call-up and go on to feature for another country. *Cough Alex Bruce*

I'll reserve judgment and give him the benefit of the doubt on that.

I just think calling up a League Two player for any reason this close to a tournament has to raise eyebrows.

I mean Jack Byrne has been one of the best young players in Holland this season and even Forrester was playing at a higher level and had over 150 games in Ireland - and they just got called up for the March friendlies.

I wouldn't have the slightest problem with O'Dowda being called-up/invited to train for an August friendly.

Frankly, going back to Byrne. His lack of presence rankles with me while we're talking about succession. And neither Cunningham or Doherty getting called up is baffling. Even young Darragh Lenihan has been scouted by Premier League clubs due to his form and he is excluded. John Egan has a big reputation and is set to earn a belated Championship move - excluded. Despite O'Shea's impending retirement.

These players are two friggin' leagues above O'Dowda!

[SkStu]

Here is what I think. Firstly, lets make no mistakes here. Its a 40 man roster. That will be whittled down to low twenties for the friendlies and down again for the finals. As discussed here a lot, there are maybe 3-4 positions that are "up for grabs" and I use that in the most restricted sense of the words. What I mean is that each of those positions is up for grabs between one other player or could change dependent on scenario planning (e.g. does MON want to account for player versatility?). But the pool that will be looked at by MON and Keane is 3 or 4 players, absolute maximum.

You have to understand that O'Dowda will not be in the squad. You acknowledged it but then immediately dismissed it so you could get all angry again. He'll train with the team, during the friendly window only, with a view to involving him more during the next campaign. re Byrne and Forrester the same has already been done and, I think, with the same intention. Not political - these guys are Irish born which leads me to believe that O'Dowda's call up is done with a similar intention. With some of the older lads you mentioned they should be called up for autumn. But not now, not with an eye to the finals and what O'Neill needs to realistically figure out for that, as I set out earlier in this post.

What should really rankle is if we do not see all these players called up for the autumn friendlies. I'm well behind you in that scenario.

[Stuttgart88]

The only people who should be in the squad are people who have a realistic chance of featuring in the tournament that commences im four weeks.


Neither Cunningham or Doherty getting called up is baffling. Even young Darragh Lenihan has been scouted by Premier League clubs due to his form and he is excluded. John Egan has a big reputation and is set to earn a belated Championship move - excluded.

How can you reconcile those statements? Doherty and Cunningham won't be in the squad because we have several full backs and full back cover. No squad picks 6 full backs. John Egan has no chance of making the 23 yet you moan about him not being included despite being a lower league player. Lenihan similar.

Bafflingly inconsistent, apart from your persistent overreaction and negativity.

[DeLorean]

I had a look on YBIG to see if they knew any more than us about Cleary leaving Liverpool (they don't) and had a look at their reaction to O'Dowda being called up. It seems mostly negative, a lot of them sighting the League 2 thing. I only saw a few minutes of O'Dowda when he came on against Swansea and that highlights reel but I was immediately excited by him.

Funny with all the talk of League 2, the two games O'Neill has referred to weren't League 2 games at all, but against a team littered with Serie A players as CD pointed out at the time and a Barnsley side that have made the League 1 playoffs.

I think with players of O'Dowda's type also, you don't want to miss out on their younger years, that fearlessness when they just run and run taking players on. That's usually coached out of them pretty quickly and although they might become better players in other ways, they lose the raw energy that makes the crowd buzz.

Now I know I could be bigging him up way too much, but I'm delighted O'Neill seemed to see what I saw and we now know that he's on the radar. It was a really pleasant surprise as far as I'm concerned.

[DannyInvincible]

Political squad selections should not be imposed < than one month before a tournament begins.

Is anyone really fickle enough to think a player will make an Intl decision based on being cynically called up to "get a sense of the set-up".

If that is what someone is basing a decision like that on, I despair.

It's not "political", whatever that means exactly. It's forward-planning.

Using the word "imposed" just seems to be another way you place a negative spin on O'Neill's method/selections. O'Neill invites players he fancies or wants a closer look at to join the squad; they generally tend to accept the call and volunteer their services. O'Neill then refines and selects his team based on who's useful, willing and available. That's how the selection process works. What's being "imposed" exactly?

And players base decisions on a combination of factors, like any human being. They weigh up factors. O'Dowda's commitment isn't in question, but if bedding the guy in is one factor that will go towards encouraging him to commit for good or towards reinforcing his present desire to play for us (and it might do that; it's sure to make him feel welcome and wanted), I don't see the harm. It's mutually beneficial as a talented player for the future gets a feel of things as well and knows he's got a fighting chance of making a squad down the line. That provides motivation and incentive.

Being called up now will hardly be the only factor or even the most significant factor in O'Dowda's decision-making process if and when he does finally commit to tying himself, but it might just contribute a bit. If not and he would have committed anyway, no harm. If it does help "seal the deal", so to speak, great. Nobody is as mono-dimensional as you make them out to be. Recognise nuance and the possibility of alternative explanations rather than making knee-jerk presumptions and jumping to unreasonable conclusions about people on scant evidence, as that's just completely unfair on the subject and gets people's goat.


Could still be political. He wouldn't be the first to accept a call-up and go on to feature for another country. *Cough Alex Bruce*

Even if there is an element of wanting to try and secure his commitment (if that's what you mean by "political"), so what? It'd be one aspect of the selection and not the only reason O'Neill will have selected him as he evidently sees the guy as a talent too, just like how he sees Jack Byrne.

[Charlie Darwin]

I will bite then.

Firstly, he wont be "in the squad" TOWK. He'll train with the squad as a supernumerary invitee as Byrne and Forrester did before him. Its not "political" (you've just decided that it is) as he has already made his international career choice and it is really not a big deal why it was done or why he accepted. Its a great gesture from management to offer to all these players and from the players to accept. Its called succession planning.
Forrester never got as far as training with the squad - Byrne and Browne were supposed to but only Byrne did as Browne was injured. Ian Lawlor and Eunan O'Kane have been invited in similar circumstances before - O'Kane is now in with a shout of making the finals squad.


Here is what I think. Firstly, lets make no mistakes here. Its a 40 man roster. That will be whittled down to low twenties for the friendlies and down again for the finals. As discussed here a lot, there are maybe 3-4 positions that are "up for grabs" and I use that in the most restricted sense of the words. What I mean is that each of those positions is up for grabs between one other player or could change dependent on scenario planning (e.g. does MON want to account for player versatility?). But the pool that will be looked at by MON and Keane is 3 or 4 players, absolute maximum.

You have to understand that O'Dowda will not be in the squad. You acknowledged it but then immediately dismissed it so you could get all angry again. He'll train with the team, during the friendly window only, with a view to involving him more during the next campaign. re Byrne and Forrester the same has already been done and, I think, with the same intention. Not political - these guys are Irish born which leads me to believe that O'Dowda's call up is done with a similar intention. With some of the older lads you mentioned they should be called up for autumn. But not now, not with an eye to the finals and what O'Neill needs to realistically figure out for that, as I set out earlier in this post.

What should really rankle is if we do not see all these players called up for the autumn friendlies. I'm well behind you in that scenario.
Cowabunga dude.

[SwanVsDalton]

It's kind of been pointed out in the many excellent posts above, but seems to me Martin O'Neill basically saw a young guy play and went: 'Huh, I like this kid. I'll get him involved and see what's he like in training to get a closer look and give him some exposure.'

There is absolutely no downside to this, except in the nihilistic acknowledgement that talking about such matters is pointless because we're all gonna die some day.

[paul_oshea]

Towk if Byrne odowda and Forrester don't get picked for the august friendlies let's come back and revisit. For now just lets look forward to the Euros.Otherwise you're just arguing about the noise the sizzle of a sausage frying on a pan makes.

[nigel-harps1954]

I'd liked to have seen Daryl Horgan in the squad.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I guess we'll let the chips fall where they may.

It's never like my gut feeling has been right with these things before.

Bottom line I think it's incredibly strange how a League Two player is getting called up for any reason when there are two players not much older than him winning POTY awards at mid-table Championship teams and Darragh Lenihan has broken through at Blackburn.

What's the difference between Cunningham, Doherty & Lenihan and O'Dowda?

There you go.

Is the latter realistically going to be ready for a WC qualifying campaign before them?!

Like Nigel said. It's a joke that this kind of tokenism isn't afforded to players like Towell, Horgan and Finn when they are flying in our domestic league.

[Closed Account]

What's the difference between Cunningham, Doherty & Lenihan and O'Dowda?
3 defenders and an out and out winger or am I missing something? Trick question?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I may be a little hard on O'Dowda here. I think it's ridiculous but it's not his fault he has been called up.

[Stuttgart88]

I think it was me who introduced the term "political" wrt O'Dowda's selection. I don't care if part of the reason for calling him up is "asset protection" as Crafty called it. What's the big deal? Unlike Grealish who wore his heart on his sleeve on Twitter, there are no clues yet as to how strongly or otherwise O'Dowda is wedded to playing football for Ireland. He's clearly a good player capable of a higher level, a stand out U21, and O'Neill says he wants to see how he gets on and give him a taste of things. So what? In all likelihood he'll have a few days training with the squad and then go on holidays.

Doherty, Cunningham and Lenihan have no chance of making the Euros squad so their absence is no big deal. I think some players are in the squad so as not to be jettisoned too abruptly. If those 3 continue to play well their chance will come next season. Personally I'd like to have seen Doherty and Cunningham in the big squad, but rational observation shows there are other options in their positions. Simple explanation for me. We don't need 6 full backs.

I think it's funny how omitting POTYs at Preston and Wolves is a reason for one poster to be outraged, yet a player who won POTY at a better team is regularly the subject of derision.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I haven't derided Keogh in ages though!

You have to go back to the Reading game last season for the last time I had a sustained go at him. Credit where it's due, he was fine in the games he deputised in.

I would certainly have him in the squad, and having seen O'Shea's performances lately it's touch and go as to whether I would continue with Keogh and Clark. Especially with Wilson injured.

Now if Keogh has had a mare I'm not going to keep my mouth zipped about it, same as O'Shea on his thread yesterday. It's not about having a grudge against x player or y player.

[DeLorean]

I haven't derided Keogh in ages though!

You have to go back to the Reading game last season for the last time I had a sustained go at him.

How compassionate of you. Of course it should be noted that you were hibernating for six months of that time also, while Richie was busy keeping Germans at bay and helping us qualify the Euros. I think it's fair to say you were short on ammunition when you returned, seeing as during your absence he did everything you deemed him incapable of doing. But fair play to you for cutting him some slack, very noble. And of course you retain the right to say "I told you so" when he inevitably makes a costly mistake at some stage. :rolleyes:

[DeLorean]

Did anybody avail of the season ticket holders presale for the Belarus game yesterday? I picked mine up through the '3' presale this morning. I selected the Donie Forde stand on Ticketmaster but the section I'm in indicates the St. Anne's End I think.... Block I? Happy enough to get sorted either way. They go on general sale on Friday morning.

Onsale Dates and Times



•MAY•19THU
SSE Rewards Presale
09:00 Local Time
Ends Fri, May 20, 2016 at 09:00 Local Time
•MAY•20FRI
General public onsale
10:00 Local Time

[jbyrne]

Did anybody avail of the season ticket holders presale for the Belarus game yesterday? I picked mine up through the '3' presale this morning. I selected the Donie Forde stand on Ticketmaster but the section I'm in indicates the St. Anne's End I think.... Block I? Happy enough to get sorted either way. They go on general sale on Friday morning.



yes. 2 tickets for the St Annes end also here. think both the FAI ST and 3 presales were for this part of the ground only

[paul_oshea]

Did anyone see the guy putting up on facebook rep of ireland group "Two tickets for IRL v BEL" :D

[Stuttgart88]

Did anyone see the guy putting up on facebook rep of ireland group "Two tickets for IRL v BEL" :D

No, but here's what I think. No, wait.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

How compassionate of you. Of course it should be noted that you were hibernating for six months of that time also, while Richie was busy keeping Germans at bay and helping us qualify the Euros. I think it's fair to say you were short on ammunition when you returned, seeing as during your absence he did everything you deemed him incapable of doing. But fair play to you for cutting him some slack, very noble. And of course you retain the right to say "I told you so" when he inevitably makes a costly mistake at some stage. :rolleyes:

Sounds like you are pre-empting it.

[DeLorean]

Well you couldn't rule it out. :eek:

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Pearce, McShane, Hayes and Pilkington cut from squad.

http://www.the42.ie/paul-mcshane-4-players-cut-ireland-squad-2783995-May2016/

Pilkington deserves to be in that squad on form. Would've liked another look at Hayes too.

McGeady training with the squad despite his club having a Playoff final in a few days says it all.

[Fixer82]

Pilkington should definitely be in the squad

[Closed Account]

MON: Marc Wilson has had a setback. The best thing for him is to take 4 or 5 weeks off. He will be out (of #EURO2016 (https://twitter.com/hashtag/EURO2016?src=hash)).. #COYBIG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash)
https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status/734709144696016896
MON: James McCarthy has gone for a scan. It seems positive. He will hopefully join in tomorrow. Fingers crossed, I think he will be okay.

MON: Kevin Doyle will join up with the squad ahead of the Belarus game. #COYBIG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash)

MON: Callum O'Dowda can go past players, has great control. He is delighted to be here. He didn't look out of place. #COYBIG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash)

MON: David McGoldrick finished the season very well. It's nice to see him getting back. The same with Daryl Murphy. #COYBIG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash)

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I wonder how he can reconcile decisions like retaining McGeady with decisions like retaining O'Dowda. Strange rationales on different sides of the coin.

Pilkington has generally impressed for Ireland and has a goal threat. Hayes done enough in March to warrant another look. You have players like Cunningham & Doherty left at home after winning distinctions.

Then you have the Westwood & Delaney situations..

It's just baffling really. I'm sure other teams have outliers but I don't think any of them will do something as out there as select a fourth division player on the basis of one match (which we got hammered in) against a middling Italy U-21 team.

And that's not to mention young Jack Byrne getting left out at the expense of O'Kane and Gibson who have about 20 league starts between them over the last two seasons.

[Stuttgart88]

No, it's not baffling at all.

[DeLorean]

Well you hardly expect him not to make a big song and dance about nothing. Encouraging comments on O'Dowda.

[SkStu]

TOWK, he said all along he would be sticking with the players that got us to the finals in the first place. He's sticking to his word. The other players should have their time in the squad in the future. The only player of those you mention that I could make a strong case for inclusion is Pilkington ahead of Murphy or Doyle. I can see why McGeady is in even if I don't agree with it.

You mention Delaney like it's an issue. It's not. It's just sh!t that happens when players pull out of international football or are ambiguous in their commitment. Plus he's not going to make or break our euros.

Again, none of these decisions will come back to haunt us in any real way.

There's about 7 more to be cut for the final squad. Try and keep your knickers untwisted.

[Olé Olé]

Delaney is a non-issue. He clearly isn't committed. Constantly referring to him having questioned the commitment of someone like Jonny Walters (and others) in the past really does serve to discredit an opinion.

[tetsujin1979]

from http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/euro-2016/oneill-could-delay-squad-decision-34741106.html

O’Neill has cut Paul McShane, Jonny Hayes, Alex Pearce and Anthony Pilkington from his provisional 35-man squad, while newcomer Callum O’Dowda is here to gain experience for the long term
Well, that's that cleared up.

[paul_oshea]

To me that smacks of a reailisation, acceptance even admittance on MONs part that he will be more proactive in the future with young lads getting them into the setup, for what reasons? Well it can't be anything other than the Grealish incident. As he always previously stated there was no rushing or begging players to play for Ireland. He obviously thinks this is a way of turning their heads, without being seen to beg them. Its a good strategy and it another measurement of his ability to adapt or put the hand up.

[SkStu]

To me that smacks of a reailisation, acceptance even admittance on MONs part that he will be more proactive in the future with young lads getting them into the setup, for what reasons? Well it can't be anything other than the Grealish incident. As he always previously stated there was no rushing or begging players to play for Ireland. He obviously thinks this is a way of turning their heads, without being seen to beg them. Its a good strategy and it another measurement of his ability to adapt or put the hand up.

There's the makings of a very eloquent, clear and to the point breakfast time question for the management team there, Paul. Well done.

[DeLorean]

To me that smacks of a reailisation, acceptance even admittance on MONs part that he will be more proactive in the future with young lads getting them into the setup, for what reasons? Well it can't be anything other than the Grealish incident.

Or maybe it could be for the reasons that he's actually stated. Far-fetched, I know.

[geysir]

MO'N was hyper proactive with Grealish (and family) to get him into the senior set up, in contrast to his chilled out, laissex-faire proactive approach with O'Dowda.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

There was a brief shadow cast on a sun-splashed open training session in front of a few thousand squealing school-children at the Aviva yesterday when Shane Long was seen to withdraw from the action with an apparent injury.

However, it was later indicated that it was a minor issue relating to his knee and that the curtailment of his involvement was purely precautionary.



http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/ireland-squad-go-back-to-school-for-revision-over-rule-changes-401460.html

[tetsujin1979]

Gary Rogers training with the team again today: https://twitter.com/OCowzer/status/735410151717502977

Gary Rogers of @DundalkFC (https://twitter.com/DundalkFC) joining the Ireland team for training today.

[Stuttgart88]

That's both baffling and outrageous.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Surely Given, Randolph and Forde is sufficient until Westwood is able to join up with the squad?

I think Doyle is taking a gamble by remaining in America. It's a chance for McGoldrick to overtake him in O'Neill's thoughts - and it looks like he may have already done that.

[tetsujin1979]

Isn't Forde with the Millwall team ahead of the play off final?

<EDIT>

Yep, from the42.ie: http://www.the42.ie/its-not-just-me-whos-not-played-enough-shay-given-2784772-May2016/

However, with Westwood and Forde both unavailable in the coming days due to play-off commitments with their clubs, Given is expected to get one last chance to remind Martin O’Neill of his talents as Ireland prepare for friendlies against the Netherlands and Belarus.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Oh yeah. Then it makes sense calling Rogers up. Especially with Given's tendency to get injured reading the morning newspaper.

[paul_oshea]

MO'N was hyper proactive with Grealish (and family) to get him into the senior set up, in contrast to his chilled out, laissex-faire proactive approach with O'Dowda.

Well not sure we can believe the journo who covered on this one, but the horse had already bolted by that stage, so the laissex-faire non proactive approach wouldn't work.

[geysir]

Well not sure we can believe the journo who covered on this one, but the horse had already bolted by that stage, so the laissex-faire non proactive approach wouldn't work.
You alluded that MO'N wasn't pro active enough with Grealish and now had learned from that mistake, evidenced by his treatment of O'Dowda.
The recorded facts are that MO'N was very proactive with getting young Grealish to commit and had invited him to join up with the senior squad (before Grealish's time) on a number of different occasions plus visited his family and probably other contact was made which is not a matter of public record.

[paul_oshea]

The horse being bolted wasn't anything to do with what you're talking about there.

I was referring to this(i know i know) - where John Fallon originally said he would have accepted a call up to the summer tour to the US http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3252820/Jack-Grealish-played-Ireland-Martin-O-Neill-did-not-realise-potential-one-biggest-catastrophes-tenure.html

Had Grealish got the call in the summer of 2014, this entire saga could well have been avoided. From the outset, however, O’Neill has been reactionary rather than proactive
It was only after Grealish starred in the FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool in April that he finally realised what was on offer. By that stage, it was too late.

from john fallon:
With four friendlies, including two in America, arranged for May/June 2014, latitude for experimentation was there for O’Neill to utilise in the lead-up to the Euro 2016 qualifiers commencing in September. Grealish wasn’t deemed worthy of being part of that process, even as a fringe player

I know Delores or Di had pointed out that fallon had contradicted himself somewhat, but the point I am making is the scenario was less important in 2014 when we had nothing to play for when a player playing league 2 wasnt selected for meaningless friendlies, however going into our euro campaign that now seems to have changed. It can't purely be because O'Neill believes O'Dowda to be better than Grealish was.

[Charlie Darwin]

There's no relation between the O'Dowda call-up and Grealish for me. Calling up O'Dowda is a continuation of calling up the best U21 players - Byrne and Browne - to see how they acquit themselves without the pressure of being in the actual squad.

[DeLorean]

I'd agree that O'Neill is being more proactive with regards our future talent, I'd disagree that it has anything to do with Grealish. If anything, that whole episode may have put him off chasing guys who might not be fully committed as it turned out to be a waste of his time. He has fully explained the O'Dowda call up at this stage and I see no reason to suggest ulterior motives*, especially considering he's done the same with 'fully' Irish players in recent squads, as Charlie says.


(*major bonus if he turns out to be the next Gareth Bale and we have him tied)

[geysir]

The horse being bolted wasn't anything to do with what you're talking about there.

I was referring to this(i know i know) - where John Fallon originally said he would have accepted a call up to the summer tour to the US http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3252820/Jack-Grealish-played-Ireland-Martin-O-Neill-did-not-realise-potential-one-biggest-catastrophes-tenure.html

Had Grealish got the call in the summer of 2014, this entire saga could well have been avoided. From the outset, however, O’Neill has been reactionary rather than proactive
It was only after Grealish starred in the FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool in April that he finally realised what was on offer. By that stage, it was too late.

from john fallon:
With four friendlies, including two in America, arranged for May/June 2014, latitude for experimentation was there for O’Neill to utilise in the lead-up to the Euro 2016 qualifiers commencing in September. Grealish wasn’t deemed worthy of being part of that process, even as a fringe player

I know Delores or Di had pointed out that fallon had contradicted himself somewhat, but the point I am making is the scenario was less important in 2014 when we had nothing to play for when a player playing league 2 wasnt selected for meaningless friendlies, however going into our euro campaign that now seems to have changed. It can't purely be because O'Neill believes O'Dowda to be better than Grealish was.
You're basing the opinion that O'Neill did not do enough on that article? "Had Grealish got the call up" is a 100% airy fairy argument and even if Grealish had been called up (June 2014) and capped, he would not have been tied.
O'Neill confirmed in August 2014 "I spoke to his father, I spoke to Jack and he's a young kid coming through with a lot of potential and I think they just want to take a little bit of time."He's felt comfortable playing underage level but it's a totally different thing committing at senior level."It was a decent conversation and I think I'll just leave it at that at the moment." Nevertheless he continued to play for the u21s



It was only after Grealish starred in the FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool in April that he finally realised what was on offer. By that stage, it was too late
The cup semi final was in April 2015.

O'Neill did everything as expected with Grealish and some.
O'Dowda is 21 years old and finished with the u21s. There is nothing new happening here with O'Neill's general approach, both situations are different

[Stuttgart88]

My understanding is that he was on the verge of accepting a May/June 2015 call up but did a u-turn late on, forcing O'Neill to delay the squad announcement. If that's right it'd make 2014 largely irrelevant.

[geysir]

My understanding is that he was on the verge of accepting a May/June 2015 call up but did a u-turn late on, forcing O'Neill to delay the squad announcement. If that's right it'd make 2014 largely irrelevant.
I would have thought that the outcome of O'Neill's discussion with Grealish in August 2014 was very relevant to subsequent events.