Republic of Ireland v. Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier

[DannyInvincible]

I just heard on the news this evening that the game against Wales at the end of March is a sell-out.

The FAW have been allocated 3,500 away tickets and the FAI have confirmed that Irish fans will receive the same number of tickets for the reverse fixture in Cardiff.

In related news, it was reported yesterday that Gareth Bale will return to training with Real Madrid this week: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/gareth-bale-hopes-to-return-to-real-madrid-training-this-week-a7542286.html

He's still a while off returning to first-team action, but it's looking increasingly likely that he'll be fit to play come the end of March, assuming he experiences no setbacks along the way.


Gareth Bale hopes to return to training this week as he steps up his rehab from an ankle injury.

The Wales forward has been out since November after suffering a “traumatic dislocation of the peroneal tendons” in his ankle during Real Madrid’s 2-1 Champions League victory at Sporting Lisbon.

Bale was operated on in London at the end of November and now, after nearly two months of solo work, he is preparing to return to the European champions' Valdebebas training ground to step up his recovery.

Real Madrid hope to have him working with a ball by February, but are still setting a cautious timetable for his return.

The 27-year-old winger is still very unlikely to recover in time for Madrid's Champions League round-of-16 first-leg encounter with Napoli in mid-February and remains a doubt for the second leg, with early March a more realistic target for Bale as he seeks to aid his side's La Liga push.

...

Wales manager Chris Coleman remains optimistic that Bale will be fit to feature in the national side’s World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in March.

[DannyInvincible]

Bale will return to the Real Madrid squad for their game against Espanyol tomorrow: http://www.goal.com/en/news/722/la-liga/2017/02/17/32778962/bale-to-return-against-espanyol-confirms-zidane


Bale will be in the squad and the idea is for him to have some minutes. He's excited to be with us and we're happy to have him, although we still have two or three who have injuries. Nearly everyone is ready.

Bale is an important player. We know his quality, his speed, the damage he can cause the opposition. I'm happy to have him but he's even happier to be back with the team and ready to play.

[geysir]

Bale will return to the Real Madrid squad for their game against Espanyol tomorrow: http://www.goal.com/en/news/722/la-liga/2017/02/17/32778962/bale-to-return-against-espanyol-confirms-zidane
At least it appears that Real Madrid (best team in the world) want Bale back in their team and are counting down the hours to his return, whereas apparently there's at least one alleged knowledgeable Wales' fan who thinks Bale wouldn't be missed that much if he didn't play for Wales and doesn't add that much when he does play.

[KrisLetang]

Pride goeth before the FAW.

[DeLorean]

Bale has just come on in the 70th minute for Real Madrid.

Edit - and scores to make it 2-0.

[geysir]

Bale has just come on in the 70th minute for Real Madrid.
and the pony tailed wonder has just scored.

[samhaydenjr]

Along with the upcoming qualifier against Wales, it should be noted that the friendly game against Iceland takes place after the qualifier and gives an opportunity for experimentation, as opposed to the Uruguay friendly in June which takes place before the Austria game and will likely be used for fine-tuning of the squad and tactics. And with the large number of Irish players making their mark this season, I thought it might be a good idea to think about who we could give caps to in that game. As such I’ve compiled a list of players who could reasonably stake a claim and put it up for debate. So the two questions I want you guys to answer are:


How many of these players should be given a run-out? If we cap too few or none of them, are we missing a golden opportunity to blood in players who could conceivably play a part in the fall qualifiers? If we give too many of them a game does it become a pointless exercise as they don’t get to play with established squad members?
Who should play?

In order to define “players who could reasonably stake a claim” I’ve come up with the following criteria: players should be under 30 (as we’d be primarily be looking at players for future campaigns), with five or fewer caps and who have broken through at Championship level at least, even if recently (but they must have some game time under their belt, so bench sitters are omitted, and must still be in the squad). I have made an exception to these criteria for the Aberdeen duo and for goalkeepers with significant Premier League experience. I have also assumed that some currently injured players will be back in time. Also, after giving it a bit of thought I have included the potentially eligible players who have been under consideration recently but have not committed to us yet – based on the advice of Clinton Morrison to such players, if they haven’t given us an answer by then, then they’re probably not interested. The criteria may not be perfect, as it includes players who nobody thinks will ever get close to the squad, but I didn’t want to omit players who may not get much limelight but are still playing at a high level. So without further ado, here’s the list of players we could blood in against Iceland:
GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn, Stephen Henderson
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Anthony Stokes, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

[geysir]

Sam, I'd hazard a guess that's the first time anyone has used the term "without further ado" in a post here.
I can picture Danny thinking 'that's a line I could use to some good effect'.

[samhaydenjr]

Along with the upcoming qualifier against Wales, it should be noted that the friendly game against Iceland takes place after the qualifier and gives an opportunity for experimentation, as opposed to the Uruguay friendly in June which takes place before the Austria game and will likely be used for fine-tuning of the squad and tactics. And with the large number of Irish players making their mark this season, I thought it might be a good idea to think about who we could give caps to in that game. As such I’ve compiled a list of players who could reasonably stake a claim and put it up for debate. So the two questions I want you guys to answer are:


How many of these players should be given a run-out? If we cap too few or none of them, are we missing a golden opportunity to blood in players who could conceivably play a part in the fall qualifiers? If we give too many of them a game does it become a pointless exercise as they don’t get to play with established squad members?
Who should play?

In order to define “players who could reasonably stake a claim” I’ve come up with the following criteria: players should be under 30 (as we’d be primarily be looking at players for future campaigns), with five or fewer caps and who have broken through at Championship level at least, even if recently (but they must have some game time under their belt, so bench sitters are omitted, and must still be in the squad). I have made an exception to these criteria for the Aberdeen duo and for goalkeepers with significant Premier League experience. I have also assumed that some currently injured players will be back in time. Also, after giving it a bit of thought I have included the potentially eligible players who have been under consideration recently but have not committed to us yet – based on the advice of Clinton Morrison to such players, if they haven’t given us an answer by then, then they’re probably not interested. The criteria may not be perfect, as it includes players who nobody thinks will ever get close to the squad, but I didn’t want to omit players who may not get much limelight but are still playing at a high level. So without further ado, here’s the list of players we could blood in against Iceland:
GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn, Stephen Henderson
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Anthony Stokes, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

I forgot last night that Stokes has nine caps, so please don't consider him for this exercise (don't really want him on the team anyway, given his shameful off-field behaviour)

[CraftyToePoke]

GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn, Stephen Henderson
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Anthony Stokes, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

I think Ian Lawlor despite dropping to tier four, is worth an eye on, Doncaster are top and were a surprise relegation, and I think were lucky to get him, but he is in the side there, its his shirt and he's only 22.

In the middle, any reason Hourihane missed out ?

[DeLorean]

GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn, Stephen Henderson

Henderson is out for the rest of the season (http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38959171) after trying to keep out Wessi's long range lob. I agree with Crafty about Ian Lawlor, definitely somebody we should be keeping an eye on as his age profile could be of more benefit than any of the three mentioned here. Westwood should be the one to see game time against Iceland I think.

DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty

The three in bold are most deserving of a run out at this point I think. I'd start Doherty right back and Cunningham left back. I only saw the first half of Wolves v Chelsea the other day but Doherty always impresses me, he put in one very dangerous ball with his left foot as well, very accomplished on that side it seems.


MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes

I'd be most interested in seeing those in bold. Arter and O'Dowda are close enough to the first team picture as it is so are probably likely to feature anyway and we have a fair idea what O'Kane can bring if required. I like him though. As Crafty mentions, Hourihane should probably be the first name on this list. Will Judge be available by then?

FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Anthony Stokes, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

I'd get over Stokes' off-field misdemeanour but he doesn't warrant a call up based on his club form/non-form anyway. Obviously I'd be happy enough to see Hogan in the unlikely event that it'll happen but there's not much there that gets me too excited. I'd happily have a look at Sean Maguire over most/all of those.

Just a few comments above.

[nigel-harps1954]

Adam Rooney is probably the only striker I'd consider from that list. Would look at Sean Maguire before the rest of them.

[tetsujin1979]

Not sure if it's been pointed out, but it'll be ten years to the date since the 1-0 win in Croke Park in 2007
QOkX58gChqQ

[geysir]

The game v Wales could be a qualification defining game in our favour
And we are not alone, our traditional allies Georgia could do us yet another good turn.

The show horned game v Iceland will likely be a very low key event against a 2nd string team.

[DeLorean]

Not sure if it's been pointed out, but it'll be ten years to the date since the 1-0 win in Croke Park in 2007

That was a lovely move and finish by Stephen Ireland but that heavy second touch should really have done for him. Thankfully the Wales goalkeeper (Google: Danny Coyne!) was very slow to react.

[Stuttgart88]

Terrible game. Dunne nearly gifted them an equaliser giving the ball away needlessly but they missed a one on one. Was Hennessy in goals for us that day?

Edit: just saw it above. It was Shay and it was at 0-0.

[geysir]

George jinxed this one against Wales, nailed it on cue.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez2zHLRmhow

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Adam Rooney is probably the only striker I'd consider from that list. Would look at Sean Maguire before the rest of them.

From what I seen of him, Maguire seemed to struggle with the physicality of League Two.

I know I sound like a broken record here but I think Madden has the instincts and the positional sense to become an option at this level.

He really impressed me against Wales.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Team v Iceland

Westwood; Doherty, Egan, Hoban, Cunningham; McGeady, Arter, Meyler, Horgan; Murphy, Madden

McGoldrick, Hayes, Hourihane, Manning, Browne, Williams as options off the bench.

[samhaydenjr]

I think Ian Lawlor despite dropping to tier four, is worth an eye on, Doncaster are top and were a surprise relegation, and I think were lucky to get him, but he is in the side there, its his shirt and he's only 22.

In the middle, any reason Hourihane missed out ?

AW DAMMIT!!! Of course there's no reason for Hourihane to be left out, only my own forgetfulness! He's probably top of everybody's list. So yes, include Hourihane in your consideration. You're right that Lawlor is definitely one to keep an eye on, especially with Doncaster in such a good position to climb out of League Two. But I believe that the Iceland game should be focused on blooding players for the near future, specifically in time for the Euro 2020 qualifiers, or in some cases players who may make an impact in the current campaign - as Lawlor will likely still be playing League One football up to the start of the Euro qualifiers, at least, it may be a little too early for him yet. However, it might be worth bringing him in for a low-key summer friendly, where there is an opportunity for serious experimentation.

[samhaydenjr]

Terrible game. Dunne nearly gifted them an equaliser giving the ball away needlessly but they missed a one on one. Was Hennessy in goals for us that day?

Edit: just saw it above. It was Shay and it was at 0-0.

Well it is highly unlikely that Wayne Hennessey would have been in goal for us that day as he only made his international debut against New Zealand two months later...for Wales :p

[samhaydenjr]

GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes, Conor Hourihane
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

Updated list of options to take account of Conor Hourihane being originally forgotten, Stephen Henderson being out for the season, and Anthony Stokes having more caps than my arbitrary criteria allow.

[Stuttgart88]

Well it is highly unlikely that Wayne Hennessey would have been in goal for us that day as he only made his international debut against New Zealand two months later...for Wales :p
Duh. I meant Henderson!

[CraftyToePoke]

Quote Originally Posted by samhaydenjr View Post
GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes, Conor Hourihane
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

Although I agree with your criteria, MON did look at O'Dowda before he was Championship level and to good effect. I would look at Forrester and Cullen from L1 ahead of Forde definitely and Hammill / Gleeson also probably.

Ronan for me too, and if there was to be any silly excuses, give him solitude thereafter.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Whelan, McCarthy, Hendrick and Hoolahan are our four main options. Behind them you have Arter and Meyler. Behind them you have O'Kane, Hourihane and Browne. Forrester if he plays in the Championship next season and Judge if he recovers from injury are players who could easily break into the starting 11.

It's going to take something special for Ronan, Kelly or Manning to get anywhere near the Irish squad anytime soon.

To say we have a plethora of options in central midfield is an understatement.

[mark12345]

Would reclassify that as Arter, Hendrick and Hoolahan as the preferred trio in midfield. McCarthy just behind in fourth place with Hendrick the most likely to give way for the Everton man

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Fair enough.

I don't think Arter did enough against Austria to displace Hendrick or McCarthy.

Thought Meyler outshone him TBH.

[DeLorean]

Yeah it remains to be seen how much Arter impressed O'Neill but I thought he did okay, started slowly but improved as it went on. I'd seriously doubt that he's jumped ahead of McCarthy as well but maybe Whelan could be the fall guy, as his indispensable status has been on the wane since France.

[samhaydenjr]

Team v Iceland

Westwood; Doherty, Egan, Hoban, Cunningham; McGeady, Arter, Meyler, Horgan; Murphy, Madden

McGoldrick, Hayes, Hourihane, Manning, Browne, Williams as options off the bench.

Ooh that's some all-out, B international level experimentation going on there, particularly at the back.


Whelan, McCarthy, Hendrick and Hoolahan are our four main options. Behind them you have Arter and Meyler. Behind them you have O'Kane, Hourihane and Browne. Forrester if he plays in the Championship next season and Judge if he recovers from injury are players who could easily break into the starting 11.

It's going to take something special for Ronan, Kelly or Manning to get anywhere near the Irish squad anytime soon.

To say we have a plethora of options in central midfield is an understatement.

I don't know...remember this is likely Hoolahan's and possibly Whelan's last campaign. The trio you name are already playing at the same level as O'Kane, Hourihane, Browne and Judge and a level above Forrester so while we do have a nice plethora of options, as you say, there will be a couple of squad places up for grabs next year and continuing progress by Ronan, Kelly and/or Manning could well put them in the frame

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Ooh that's some all-out, B international level experimentation going on there, particularly at the back.

Doherty, Egan and Hoban are no rookies; they have good experience at Championship level. Horgan impressed in the Europa League and has adapted quickly to life in the Championship. Madden could be playing in the Championship next season and deserves another audition for the forward role after his display against Wales.

The rest all have solid Intl experience.

And you have wise heads in there with Westwood, McGeady and Murphy.

As for Meyler and Arter they would get another chance to play together after Austria, seeing as they are unlikely to feature against Wales.

There's no reason to play a full-strength team as there is a lack of friendlies and you don't want anyone really important picking up niggles.

[DannyInvincible]

If we're talking about midfielders, aren't we forgetting about the likes of Stephen Quinn and Darron Gibson? If Gibson, who is now 29, can remain injury-free over the next few years, I think he still has plenty to offer.

[DeLorean]

Ryan Giggs discussing Bale and the big game in Dublin. BBC Football (http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39033580)


Giggs said Bale's return to action is a "massive lift" for Wales for the World Cup qualifier against Group D leaders Republic of Ireland in Dublin on 24 March.

"You want to be going into that game with Gareth fully fit, scoring and playing well for Real Madrid," Giggs said.

"He's such a big player for Wales and the Republic of Ireland wouldn't want him turning up in Dublin that night.

"He's always the one that can make the difference. He's done it time and time again and when the pressure's on him to produce, he produces."

Giggs played alongside Bale when Wales lost 1-0 to the Irish in a Euro 2008 qualifier at Dublin's Croke Park in March 2007.

The Republic, managed by Martin O'Neill and assisted by Giggs' former United team-mate Roy Keane, are four points clear of third-placed Wales.

"The Republic, time and time again, come up with big results," Giggs said.

"There's a lot at stake and whoever wins that game will then have the confidence to push and try and qualify."

[samhaydenjr]

If we're talking about midfielders, aren't we forgetting about the likes of Stephen Quinn and Darron Gibson? If Gibson, who is now 29, can remain injury-free over the next few years, I think he still has plenty to offer.


Just to bring you up to date, we're debating which Championship players (plus the Aberdeen duo) with five or fewer caps should be blooded into the team against Iceland, where we have a particular opportunity to look at new options, as it follows a qualifier rather than leads up to it - Gibson and Quinn have enough caps (27 and 18 respectively) that we pretty much know what they bring to the team. This is the list of players who fit my criteria

GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes, Conor Hourihane
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

[DannyInvincible]

Just to bring you up to date, we're debating which Championship players (plus the Aberdeen duo) with five or fewer caps should be blooded into the team against Iceland, where we have a particular opportunity to look at new options, as it follows a qualifier rather than leads up to it - Gibson and Quinn have enough caps (27 and 18 respectively) that we pretty much know what they bring to the team.

I've been following your proposition no problem.

I was suggesting - in response to what you were discussing in post #29 (http://foot.ie/threads/219359-Republic-of-Ireland-v-Wales-Friday-24th-March-2017-World-Cup-2018-Qualifier?p=1908071&viewfull=1#post1908071) - that Gibson/Quinn would probably be higher up the midfield pecking order than the likes of O'Kane/Hourihane/Browne/Judge/Forrester and closer to where Arter/Meyler are at present, behind Whelan/McCarthy/Hendrick/Hoolahan. It seemed that the existence of Gibson/Quinn had been completely forgotten about in the ranking of our options above, so Ronan/Kelly/Manning are still a bit further off than proposed, even if this is indeed to be the last campaign of Whelan/Hoolahan, as you suggest.

[samhaydenjr]

I've been following your proposition no problem.

I was suggesting - in response to what you were discussing in post #29 (http://foot.ie/threads/219359-Republic-of-Ireland-v-Wales-Friday-24th-March-2017-World-Cup-2018-Qualifier?p=1908071&viewfull=1#post1908071) - that Gibson/Quinn would probably be higher up the midfield pecking order than the likes of O'Kane/Hourihane/Browne/Judge/Forrester and closer to where Arter/Meyler are at present, behind Whelan/McCarthy/Hendrick/Hoolahan. It seemed that the existence of Gibson/Quinn had been completely forgotten about in the ranking of our options above, so Ronan/Kelly/Manning are still a bit further off than proposed, even if this is indeed to be the last campaign of Whelan/Hoolahan, as you suggest.

Ah...I see - as you hadn't commented on the last page, I honestly thought you had just missed the start of the discussion. Still though, as these lads are still young and have just broken through, by the time the next qualifiers roll around one or more of them may have jumped right up the pecking order so the question is: which friendlies do we use to try out players based on future potential and which do we use to give fringe players a run-out and use for fine-tuning? I would say the game against Iceland does give us some opportunity to look at new options as it takes place after the Wales qualifier, whereas the Uruguay friendly before the Austria is more likely to be used to give more time to players like Gibson and Quinn. And we can blood in a whole bunch of players in our inevitable summer friendly against our arch-nemesis, Oman. We do have a lot of young players coming through right now and it is important to evaluate them and to get them ready for competitive games by giving them some game-time in friendlies.

[DannyInvincible]

Ah...I see - as you hadn't commented on the last page, I honestly thought you had just missed the start of the discussion. Still though, as these lads are still young and have just broken through, by the time the next qualifiers roll around one or more of them may have jumped right up the pecking order so the question is: which friendlies do we use to try out players based on future potential and which do we use to give fringe players a run-out and use for fine-tuning? I would say the game against Iceland does give us some opportunity to look at new options as it takes place after the Wales qualifier, whereas the Uruguay friendly before the Austria is more likely to be used to give more time to players like Gibson and Quinn. And we can blood in a whole bunch of players in our inevitable summer friendly against our arch-nemesis, Oman. We do have a lot of young players coming through right now and it is important to evaluate them and to get them ready for competitive games by giving them some game-time in friendlies.

I completely agree with you. The Iceland game should be used for experimentation and to test less-experienced players. I didn't mention Gibson/Quinn because I thought they should feature in that game; the only reason I mentioned them is because they had been completely omitted from the overall midfield hierarchy for some reason. I assume they were simply forgotten about, but it's no big deal otherwise. :)

[zero]

i think hogan is unlikely to be involved even if selected/interested due to injury. i don't really expect any new faces in the squad... unless egan has not been called up before?

[KrisLetang]

We lost to Wales 7-1 in 1882 according to this. Anyone know who was in the squad that day?
http://www.11v11.com/teams/wales/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Ireland/

[ForzaForth]

1882 match played in atrocious weather in Wrexham with Wales running out 7-1 winners.

The newspaper print is a bit dodgy in a couple of cases but the Irish team looks like -

McAlevy (Cliftonville) (captain)
Cone (Distillery)
Hastings (Knock)
Martin (Cliftonville)
McWhy (?) (Knock)
Davison (Cliftonville)
Condy (?) (Distillery)
Dill (Knock)
Sinclair (Knock)
Johnstone (Distillery)
Hamilton (Knock) (goalkeeper)

Apparently Hamilton kept the score down in goals for the Irish.

[OwlsFan]

Knock Rovers, Knock United, Knock Rangers, Knock Celtic, Knock Town, Knock Wednesday, Knock Off? Any more details? Never heard of them never mind having 4 internationals ?

[ArFella]

Knock Rovers, Knock United, Knock Rangers, Knock Celtic, Knock Town, Knock Wednesday, Knock Off? Any more details? Never heard of them never mind having 4 internationals ?

Knock FC, see below wiki page on their brief existence:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_F.C.

[ArFella]

Just to bring you up to date, we're debating which Championship players (plus the Aberdeen duo) with five or fewer caps should be blooded into the team against Iceland, where we have a particular opportunity to look at new options, as it follows a qualifier rather than leads up to it - Gibson and Quinn have enough caps (27 and 18 respectively) that we pretty much know what they bring to the team. This is the list of players who fit my criteria

GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes, Conor Hourihane
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

Connor Ronan to miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his back, just announced today so you can take him off the list. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39064624

[OwlsFan]

Knock FC, see below wiki page on their brief existence:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_F.C.

The guy who made that site has a whole host of stuff to his name, particularly as regards Northern Irish football https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mooretwin A piece could now to be added in relation to internationals who played for Knock FC.

[geysir]

In a thread titled
Republic of Ireland v. Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier
why is there all this talk about a lower grade intl friendly, which will in all likelihood be of minimal value in the scheme of things, a bone thrown to the squad members of both countries.
It's as if the focus is distorted.
This match against Wales is the most important game in our modern times, pretty much automatic world cup qualification is the glittering prize on the table waiting to be grabbed and winning this game will put Ireland in the driving seat and firm favorites for that prize.

[KrisLetang]

On one hand, it's not like it's this Saturday Geysir but on the other hand, I do see your point. This place has changed with all the defections.

[DannyInvincible]

In a thread titled
Republic of Ireland v. Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier
why is there all this talk about a lower grade intl friendly, which will in all likelihood be of minimal value in the scheme of things, a bone thrown to the squad members of both countries.
It's as if the focus is distorted.
This match against Wales is the most important game in our modern times, pretty much automatic world cup qualification is the glittering prize on the table waiting to be grabbed and winning this game will put Ireland in the driving seat and firm favorites for that prize.

Maybe a separate thread for the Iceland game would be appropriate for talk not relating to the Wales game.

[samhaydenjr]

In a thread titled
Republic of Ireland v. Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier
why is there all this talk about a lower grade intl friendly, which will in all likelihood be of minimal value in the scheme of things, a bone thrown to the squad members of both countries.
It's as if the focus is distorted.
This match against Wales is the most important game in our modern times, pretty much automatic world cup qualification is the glittering prize on the table waiting to be grabbed and winning this game will put Ireland in the driving seat and firm favorites for that prize.

Well it's just a thought that's been knocking around in my head over the last couple of months as a number of players have broken through at Championship level, to the point where there are now close to thirty at that level who are uncapped or have only a few caps - a couple of questions arose: With an eye on the Euro 2020 qualifiers and maybe even the latter stages of this campaign, when should we give some of these players a shot? Of these new potential internationals, who should be blooded first. I figured one answer to the first question was the Iceland game, as it comes after the Wales qualifier. And I thought it might be an idea to put the second question to you lads at foot.ie in this thread because a) double-header games often seem to be discussed in one thread and b) I don't know how to start threads/change titles:embarrassed:. I'm sure as the games get closer, talk will indeed start to focus on the Wales game but until then, I don't think there's any harm looking at long-term options.
As to whether this friendly will be of value, well the whole point of me bringing it up is to discuss how to get the most value out of it. One of the two internationals I went to was a pre-World Cup '94 friendly against Russia where the Irish team was depleted through injury forcing a conservative Jack Charlton reluctantly to give three little-known young players their debuts: Gary Kelly, Phil Babb and Jason McAteer. If we play our cards right, this friendly against Iceland could reap major dividends. For example, if Conor Hourihane continues to go from strength to strength over the next few months, or we need to throw on Adam Rooney or David McGoldrick as an extra striker in the fall qualifiers, wouldn't it be nice to know that they had some game-time under their belts?


Maybe a separate thread for the Iceland game would be appropriate for talk not relating to the Wales game.

If someone wanted to spin it off into a separate thread (or just add it to the title of this thread, as seems to be done for double-header games), I would have no objection

[samhaydenjr]

connor ronan to miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his back, just announced today so you can take him off the list. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39064624

son of a...mother...dammit!!!! Every freaking time!!! The injury curse of the talented irish international strikes again!!!

[Stuttgart88]

Yes, it's divine payback for overuse of exclamation marks by Irish football fans. :)

[ArFella]

Just to bring you up to date, we're debating which Championship players (plus the Aberdeen duo) with five or fewer caps should be blooded into the team against Iceland, where we have a particular opportunity to look at new options, as it follows a qualifier rather than leads up to it - Gibson and Quinn have enough caps (27 and 18 respectively) that we pretty much know what they bring to the team. This is the list of players who fit my criteria

GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes, Conor Hourihane
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam Rooney

Another one bites the dust Sam, Scott Hogan out for up to 5 weeks, at this rate we might not have anyone left within your criteria to call up by the time this game comes around.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39077191