Republic of Ireland v Iceland - Tuesday, 28th March 2017 - Friendly 2017

[Closed Account]

A squad of 21 players remains for the friendly:
G: Randolph, Westwood, C. Doyle (playing for Bradford today but back for Friendly)
D: Christie, Keogh, Pearce, Boyle, Egan, Ward
M: McGeady, Horgan, Hendrick, Meyler, O'Kane, Hourihane, McClean, Brady, Hayes, O'Dowda
F: Long, Walters, K. Doyle

What we'll probably see:
Westwood
Christie, Keogh, Pearce, Ward
Hendrick, Meyler
McGeady, Brady, McClean
Doyle

What I'd like to see:
Westwood
Christie, Pearce, Boyle, Ward
Hourihane, Hendrick
Horgan, Brady, McGeady,
Doyle.

Updated. Never been a huge fan of McGeady but he deserves 90 mins

[DeLorean]

I like the look of that side also, your preferred one. Doyle deserves a start though. It really is madness that Doherty isn't available for this one and to a lesser extent Cunningham. Probably not the worst thing in the world if that's my major gripe at the moment but baffling all the same.

[liamoo11]

A squad of 21 players remains for the friendly:
G: Randolph, Westwood, C. Doyle (playing for Bradford today but back for Friendly)
D: Christie, Keogh, Pearce, Boyle, Egan, Ward
M: McGeady, Horgan, Hendrick, Meyler, O'Kane, McClean, Brady, Hayes, O'Dowda
F: Long, Walters, K. Doyle

What we'll probably see:
Westwood
Christie, Keogh, Pearce, Ward
Hendrick, Meyler
McGeady, Brady, McClean
Doyle

What I'd like to see:
Westwood
Christie, Pearce, Boyle, Ward
Meyler, Hendrick
Horgan, Brady, O'Dowda
Long




Is hourihane out

[Closed Account]

Is hourihane outNo sorry, forgot about him

[liamoo11]

A squad of 21 players remains for the friendly:
G: Randolph, Westwood, C. Doyle (playing for Bradford today but back for Friendly)
D: Christie, Keogh, Pearce, Boyle, Egan, Ward
M: McGeady, Horgan, Hendrick, Meyler, O'Kane, McClean, Brady, Hayes, O'Dowda
F: Long, Walters, K. Doyle

What we'll probably see:
Westwood
Christie, Keogh, Pearce, Ward
Hendrick, Meyler
McGeady, Brady, McClean
Doyle

What I'd like to see:
Westwood
Christie, Pearce, Boyle, Ward
Meyler, Hendrick
Horgan, Brady, O'Dowda
Long





No sorry, forgot about him

Great would like to see him start .

[DannyInvincible]

Keen to see Horgan, Hourihane, Boyle and Westwood feature in this game. It'd also have been an ideal opportunity to bed Matt Doherty in and to see more of Greg Cunningham.

[KrisLetang]

Sverrir Ingason was an unused sub on Friday for Iceland VS Kosovo. I guess they are so deep they don't even need him. Really Really hoping they will unleash him vs Ireland. Very few players worldwide are as dynamically unknown. Worth the price of admission. He's sort of like a hybrid of legendary Icelandic players Hans "Snowcaps" Luberstrom, Coldy Olson, Bjork Reykjavik, and Frigid Grubermeister. I think some of the more keen eyed on here (and you know who you are) will be really tickled. Hopefully he plays.

[CraftyToePoke]

No sorry, forgot about him

Schoolboy error Joe.

[samhaydenjr]

As I mentioned in the Wales game thread, the Iceland game should really be taken as an opportunity for some limited experimentation, so I think Hourihane, O'Dowda and Egan should definitely feature prominently, given their success stepping up to Championship level this season, with an option to give some game-time to Horgan (probably) and Boyle (maybe), given their solid starts at Preston. I also don't see why MON couldn't have included Adam Rooney in the squad for this game solely as we really have got to start auditioning forward options for the Euro 2020 qualifiers soon or to cover for any potential injury crisis.

[tetsujin1979]

O'Neill confirmed earlier Robbie Brady will be captain tomorrow night, and some players will be making their international debuts
https://twitter.com/FAIreland/statuses/846319136204640256

Martin O'Neill: There will probably be a few players tomorrow that will get their first taste of international football. #COYBIG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash)
https://twitter.com/FAIreland/statuses/846318999688368128

Martin O'Neill: Robbie (Brady) will play tomorrow and he will be the captain of the team for the game. #COYBIG (https://twitter.com/hashtag/COYBIG?src=hash)

[TrapAPony]

O'Neill confirmed earlier Robbie Brady will be captain tomorrow night, and some players will be making their international debuts
https://twitter.com/FAIreland/statuses/846319136204640256

https://twitter.com/FAIreland/statuses/846318999688368128

Horgan, Hourihane and Egan obviously.

Would like to see this :

..........Westwood

Christie Pearce Egan Brady

....Meyler....Hourihane

Horgan McGeady O'Dowda

.......Long

[Real ale Madrid]

If both Iceland and ourselves end up 2nd in their respective groups then seeding for the play-offs becomes important. As it currently stands Iceland would be seeded 3 (UEFA Cola Cola world ranking 13) and Republic Of Ireland 4 (UEFA CC WR 14) but with Slovakia 5,(UEFA CC WR 15) and Bosnia 6, (who I think will finish ahead of Greece) (UEFA CC WR 18) just in behind - making a win tonight of absolute paramount importance, to solidify our place in the possible potential top band of seeds for that draw, if possibly we are in it.

I wonder if there is a term for co-efficient nerds - Full kit RANKers?

[backstothewall]

I'd like to see something like

Westwood
----- Christie Egan Keogh Ward -----
Horgan Hendrick Hourihane Brady
------------- Walters McClean --------------

[jbyrne]

I'd like to see something like

Westwood
----- Christie Egan Keogh Ward -----
Horgan Hendrick Hourihane Brady
------------- Walters McClean --------------

walters has left the squad over the weekend. I think he will start doyle to see if he has anything left to offer.
would love to see horgan and hourihane get a good 60mins at least

[zero]

anyone know which tv stations are showing this? premier sports have it, but do anyone else?

edit: seems to be on eir sport 2.

[OwlsFan]

anyone know which tv stations are showing this? premier sports have it, but do anyone else?

edit: seems to be on eir sport 2.

It's on live at Lansdowne Road :)~

[DannyInvincible]

anyone know which tv stations are showing this? premier sports have it, but do anyone else?

edit: seems to be on eir sport 2.

It'll be broadcast live by the following channels (http://liveonsat.com/los_soc_friend_intl_ALL.php) (in blue):

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc12/poguemahone85/Capture_zps5hvr4tpe.png

Those colour-coded grey represent later highlights programmes.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Between the baffling call up of Stephen Gleeson and O'Neill's body language I am starting to get the impression that Hourihane probably won't be starting tomorrow.

http://www.the42.ie/ireland-iceland-...08821-Mar2017/ (http://www.the42.ie/ireland-iceland-international-friendly-martin-oneill-3308821-Mar2017/)

[backstothewall]

walters has left the squad over the weekend. I think he will start doyle to see if he has anything left to offer.
would love to see horgan and hourihane get a good 60mins at least

I hadn't heard that. Doyler makes sense in that case

[Stuttgart88]

Horgan, Hourihane and Egan obviously.

Would like to see this :

..........Westwood

Christie Pearce Egan Brady

....Meyler....Hourihane

Horgan McGeady O'Dowda

.......LongToo many Corkmen

[DeLorean]

Two and a Half Corkmen

[tetsujin1979]

Between the baffling call up of Stephen Gleeson and O'Neill's body language I am starting to get the impression that Hourihane probably won't be starting tomorrow.

http://www.the42.ie/ireland-iceland-...08821-Mar2017/ (http://www.the42.ie/ireland-iceland-international-friendly-martin-oneill-3308821-Mar2017/)

What exactly about the manager's body language has led you to that conclusion?

[swinfordfc]

If both Iceland and ourselves end up 2nd in their respective groups then seeding for the play-offs becomes important. As it currently stands Iceland would be seeded 3 (UEFA Cola Cola world ranking 13) and Republic Of Ireland 4 (UEFA CC WR 14) but with Slovakia 5,(UEFA CC WR 15) and Bosnia 6, (who I think will finish ahead of Greece) (UEFA CC WR 18) just in behind - making a win tonight of absolute paramount importance, to solidify our place in the possible potential top band of seeds for that draw, if possibly we are in it.

I wonder if there is a term for co-efficient nerds - Full kit RANKers?

What rankings points did Ireland pick up by drawing with Wales? I think Iceland are just ahead of us in the last rankings list?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

What exactly about the manager's body language has led you to that conclusion?

He namechecked Horgan and Boyle specifically when he referred to players who could make their debut.



“You don’t want to give out caps just because they are there, you want them to earn it. But (of course) for experience you would want that.


Some players who have just come into the squad, like the two lads at Preston (Horgan and Boyle), have acquitted themselves very well in training and they are basically just starting out in their international careers.



And he seems reticent to dish out praise for Hourihane whenever he is asked about him.

The fact he called up Gleeson compounds my belief. I mean O'Kane didn't even make the bench for the Wales game and now you have him, Gleeson, Meyler, Hendrick and Hourihane competing for 2 or 3 midfield positions.

I would've thought adding Cunningham or Doherty would've been of more pressing importance.

[zero]

It'll be broadcast live by the following channels (http://liveonsat.com/los_soc_friend_intl_ALL.php) (in blue):

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc12/poguemahone85/Capture_zps5hvr4tpe.png

Those colour-coded grey represent later highlights programmes.

nice one - handy site too.

[DeLorean]

I'm not really expecting Hourihane to start either. I'd be happy if he got some game time to get the ball rolling for him.

[DannyInvincible]

Brady will be captain tomorrow night, but that's not to say Brady will captain the team long-term in Coleman's absence: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/0327/862929-robbie-brady/


Looking ahead to the Iceland game tomorrow night, the manager confirmed that Robbie Brady would captain the side in Coleman’s absence and also suggested that there would be some new caps handed out – but only to those deserving of an international cap.

"Robbie will play and he will be the captain of the team but I haven’t given it any thought on this moment.

"After tomorrow evening, there’s a long time until the next game so I will give it some thought then."

[SkStu]

You'd have to think Walters, Whelan or McClean would be in the running for the honour on a long term basis, in addition to Brady. O'Shea too but probably not a guaranteed starter still?

[KrisLetang]

Put in Egan, Horgan, Westwood, and some other new faces, urges one columnist.
http://www.the42.ie/5-ireland-players-wed-like-to-see-get-a-chance-against-iceland-3309561-Mar2017/

[backstothewall]

You'd have to think Walters, Whelan or McClean would be in the running for the honour on a long term basis, in addition to Brady. O'Shea too but probably not a guaranteed starter still?

I'd lean towards Ciaran Clark. That could explain why O'Neill is saying it isn't permanent

[DeLorean]

You'd have to think Walters, Whelan or McClean would be in the running for the honour on a long term basis, in addition to Brady. O'Shea too but probably not a guaranteed starter still?

Don't see McClean as captain material to be honest, for pretty obvious reasons. Clark and Keogh are both used to carrying the armband at club level, Clark possibly more sure of his place in the short-term but maybe not after Friday night. Keogh continues to defy the odds at international level. Whelan an obvious choice alright but again not sure of his place with everybody available.

Would have loved to have seen McCarthy make himself a shoe in for the role (as a lot of Everton fans suggested he might at club level at one point) but it hasn't happened and you can't rely on him to stay fit in any case. In short, I don't know who should get it. Maybe Big Jon as it does appear he'll start when available and he is definitely leader material.

[KrisLetang]

Maybe Big Jon as it does appear he'll start when available and he is definitely leader material.

Big Jon as in Jonser Keane?

[geysir]

Hardly any interest in this game in Iceland, the football fraternity were brought to wringer last Friday, managed to escape from the hangman and pick-pocketed him at the same time. They had a really difficult game in Albania, outplayed by an emerging fired-up Kosovo but left with the 3 points, plundered by Gylfi.
Overly optimistic headline read the next day, "God help us if Gylfi gets injured" - not even God could fill that gap in the present starting team.
The 2 main strikers are out injured (long term) and Gylfi's gone home. Apart from Gylfi the team are functional, though still well able to compete in their WCQ group. That's a credit to other factors that constitute a winning resolute team.
Some mention of changing the record v the Irish (9 - 3 -0), but I doubt if the team will be that fired up.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Cannot understand why he hasn't called up Doherty given that he was on standby and that he called up Gleeson. Very short at right back if anything happens Christie, would have thought this was an ideal time to give him some minutes.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

If, as is now widely feared, Coleman will not play again this year, then in due course O’Neill will have a decision to make about who will become his first-choice right full-back for the remainder of the World Cup qualifying campaign, with Derby County’s Cyrus Christie — who came on for the stricken captain against Wales — the leading candidate.

“I haven’t really given it a great deal of thought yet,” said the manager. “Seamus is very hard to replace, he’s one of the best full-backs in Europe and he’s been inspirational really, especially since he’s taken over as captain. So he will be very hard to replace.


http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/colemans-horror-injury-continues-to-cast-long-shadow-446309.html

Well, since he neglected to call up Doherty, Christie is the replacement by default.

If he wants players to work for it then he could've given Christie and Doherty a half each.

Or at least given Doherty 15-30 minutes to dip his toes in the water.

What more does he have to do? He was voted Wolves best player last season and has probably been their second best player this season after Helder Costa.

[TrapAPony]

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/colemans-horror-injury-continues-to-cast-long-shadow-446309.html

Well, since he neglected to call up Doherty, Christie is the replacement by default.

If he wants players to work for it then he could've given Christie and Doherty a half each.

Or at least given Doherty 15-30 minutes to dip his toes in the water.

What more does he have to do? He was voted Wolves best player last season and has probably been their second best player this season after Helder Costa.

Whatever about Doherty (he should be in the squad for this match) you would have to wonder what Greg Cunningham has done wrong to not have been called up for the provisional squad. I would also have liked to have seen a little bit more from Pilkington and it is also a pity that Liam Kelly is injured.

[Charlie Darwin]

He namechecked Horgan and Boyle specifically when he referred to players who could make their debut.



And he seems reticent to dish out praise for Hourihane whenever he is asked about him.

The fact he called up Gleeson compounds my belief. I mean O'Kane didn't even make the bench for the Wales game and now you have him, Gleeson, Meyler, Hendrick and Hourihane competing for 2 or 3 midfield positions.

I would've thought adding Cunningham or Doherty would've been of more pressing importance.
That's not really body language, is it? It's just language.

[Stuttgart88]

It pains me, but I'm also at a loss about Doherty and Cunningham's omissions. That said, I can see a situation in a year's time when both have played their way in and we'll wonder what the fuss was about.

[DeLorean]

We do have two more friendlies (after tonight) before the Austria game so hopefully.

[DannyInvincible]

Balls.ie look back at previous games we've played against Iceland: https://www.balls.ie/football/roy-keane-booed-against-iceland-349474-349474


...

But we are anxious. Anyone who thinks playing Iceland in football spells good news for Irish football has forgotten their history. Whenever the Ireland football team has engaged with Iceland in the past, it has brought us nothing but trouble. They have a habit of showing up whenever there's dissension in our camp.

Who remembers the Icelandic Triangular Tournament in 1986, our first trophy in international football? Notwithstanding its status as our first ever trophy in senior football, it is true to say the nation has failed to cherish the prize.

Big Jack had only managed Ireland in two matches before they jetted out to Iceland. He hadn't even gotten around to discarding the League of Ireland lads. Pat Byrne came on for Chris Hughton at half-time against Iceland.

However, the trouble started before the tournament began. Our smooth centre-half David O'Leary had booked a family holiday. The prospect of playing in front of 4,000 spectators in Reykjavik wasn't sufficiently alluring to persuade him to cancel the holiday.

Big Jack got the hump and told him he could forget about international football unless he showed up. O'Leary didn't warm to Jackie's blackmail and told him to shove it.

David O'Leary was blacklisted by the House of Anti-Big Jack Activities. He hardly kicked a ball until Genoa. Happily, the ball he kicked there was a rather important one.

But that wasn't even the most historically contentious Ireland-Iceland match. A decade later, Mick McCarthy had only gotten his feet under the desk as Ireland manager. For the France '98 campaign, he had to manage the transition between one generation of players (those that he played with) and another younger generation.

The group, loaded down with unfashionable eastern European teams, was hardly intimidating. But faith in the team was not what it had been.

Mick McCarthy got no sort of honeymoon in the Ireland job. Straight away, he presided over six straight friendly losses. It was a bleak time and the fear was we'd have to get used to this new reality.

Roy Keane played in the opener against Russia. Ireland slumped to a 2-0 loss and Keane was red carded near the end for a taking a frustrated hack at a Russian winger.

He skipped the rest of the friendlies that summer. He gave the US Cup a miss and nor did he feature in the opening two qualifying matches.

Contentiously, he don't tell McCarthy in advance that he wasn't bothering with the US Cup. He said later on, in an interview with Paul Kimmage, that he tried to contact him but admitted he probably didn't try hard enough. Man United had won the Double and Keane said that he couldn't hack travelling around the world to play in a tournament he didn't respect.

For the tabloid press, he was the Stephen Ireland of 1996. Prior to Iceland, Keane had played four out of 22 games for Ireland. Unsurprisingly, the word went out that he cared about playing for Man United more than Ireland.

In future years, Cathal Dervan would be pegged as the ringleader of the anti-Roy Keane pack. Before the Iceland game, he urged the Lansdowne Road crowd to let Keane know what they thought of his absence.

The crowd acquiesced. Keane's first few touches were greeted boos from around the ground.

Tony O'Donoghue was writing for the then Cork Examiner in 1996. Without naming anyone, he laid into the tabloid media for whipping up hostility towards Keane.


"I told my journalistic colleagues before the game that if Keane got a hostile reception they should bear much of the responsibility for that and at least have the decency to be ashamed.

It was no less shocking when he was booed. It was the saddest sound in Irish sport.

Keane was the best player by a country mile during a depressing 90 minutes for Irish football against Iceland. That 0-0 draw could yet do us untold damage and hinder our World Cup qualification hopes...."

The boo boys didn't quite have the stamina. Their energy was sapped by the stultifying nature of the fare on offer. Keane, deployed at centre half to fill a gap (he played there for Man United on occasion the previous season), emerged as Ireland's most impressive performer.

Iceland were stubborn and held Ireland out. The crowd of 33,000 didn't have much to work with and created little noise.

But in the dying embers of the game, a salute of 'Keano, Keano' went up. As John Lee in the Irish Independent wrote:


"In the end, he gradually won over the fans and the only chant heard from the crowd as the match headed for a dull and disappointing 0-0 draw was 'Keano, Keano'."

Noel Dunne, also in the Indo, said that the press corps were big enough to overlook their differences with Keane in awarding him Man of the Match.


"The announcement came over the PA that the print media, which does include a fair number of our knowledgeable cross-channel colleagues, plus a section of the Irish contingent which is hated, or at least disliked, by the man in question, had voted Roy Keane the Man of the Match."

Five years ago, in 2012, in a Q & A on the Football Writers Association website, Cathal Dervan said that falling out with Keane was his biggest mistake.


"Falling out with Roy Keane at a time when I thought it was clever to be opinionated and loud. I’m still opinionated but just glad I had the chance to make amends with Roy, with the help of Sunderland press guru Louise Wanshaw, a couple of years back in Portugal."

[IsMiseSean]

Kevin Kilbane made his debut against Iceland in 1997. I wonder will any of the lads making their debuts tonight reach 100+ caps?

[DeLorean]

Kilbane was only 20 so I would say it's highly unlikely. Who's the youngest in line to make his debut tonight, Egan at 24 maybe?

[DannyInvincible]

Kevin Kilbane made his debut against Iceland in 1997. I wonder will any of the lads making their debuts tonight reach 100+ caps?

It's unlikely as they're all in their mid-20s. Horgan and Egan are both 24. Boyle and Hourihane are both 26.

Kilbane was 19 or 20 when he made his senior debut, wasn't he? So he'd have had a four or six year head-start on tonight's debutants.

[DannyInvincible]

'Iceland witnesses record-breaking baby boom nine months on from humiliating England at Euro 2016': http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/iceland-witnesses-baby-boom-nine-months-humiliating-england-euro-2016-a7653536.html


For nine months on from that 2-1 victory on the French riviera, local newspaper Visir reports a record-breaking amount of births in Iceland.

Indeed, the weekend of March 25-26 saw the highest-ever amount of epidurals administered to patients in Icelandic hospitals - for those unfamiliar, that is a painkilling injection into the spinal cord, common during childbirth.

[Diggs246]

Does anyone know what time the team will be announced for this evenings game?

[Stuttgart88]

6.17pm

[Closed Account]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSMDsCSF6RD/
Hourihane has the no. 3 jersey....
:confused:

[Closed Account]

Westwood,
Christie, Egan, Pearce, Brady,
Hendrick, Hourihane,
McGeady, Hayes, McClean
Doyle.


Ireland Subs v Iceland:
Randolph (GK), C. Doyle (GK),
Keogh, Boyle, Ward,
Gleeson, Meyler, O'Kane,
Horgan, O'Dowda,
Long.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8BZmrRXUAEuKyT.png
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8BdhELXwAApKra.jpg

[geysir]

Only 3 from the Iceland first team selected in the starting line-up this evening.

Might be enough to win, but hardly enough to set off yet another baby boom with 3 or 4 births above average, in 9 months time.

[liamoo11]

Great side to see picked. Mcgeady in the free role. Hendrick defensive midfield which I think he is better suited to than the advanced role and hopefully hourihane can show good work rate and good defensive ability and shows us his football ability. Think it shows Brady is our left full if we have close to full squad. Hope hourihane gets given some set pieces