Republic of Ireland V Moldova - Friday 6th October 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier

[tetsujin1979]

No adam Rooney?

Barely getting in the Aberdeen team in the last few weeks, only scored once this season

[IsMiseSean]

It's deflating seeing the likes of Liam Kelly & Matt Doherty excluded, not that they'd make the final cut anyway....

[DannyInvincible]

Surely it would have been handy to have Matt Doherty in there to provide back-up in the LB and RB positions considering Brady is suspended for the Moldova game and Coleman is obviously out. Christie could do with some extra competition as well.

What has Liam Kelly done to warrant being discarded completely from the provisional squad? He's a talented player who could feature regularly in the future so he needs to be bedded in and the Moldova game could have provided a perfect opportunity to do that, especially if we're a few goals up.

Are Gibson, Pilkington and Wilson all forgotten men now?

Why is Kevin Doyle still there? Surely Cillian Sheridan could have been given the nod instead. Doyle has no future at international level.

I see Aiden O'Brien was born in Islington; I'm guessing he qualifies through one or two Irish parents? He's clearly delighted to get the call-up but I fear any celebrations will be slightly premature as I suspect he'll be excluded from the final cut.

[triggsrevenge]

He was never gonna risk youngsters, well not really youngsters, in the last 2 games of a qualifying campaign, he's too risk averse to do that.
Not that I agree with MON

[OwlsFan]

It's deflating seeing the likes of Liam Kelly & Matt Doherty excluded, not that they'd make the final cut anyway....

But who would you exclude in their place ?

No comment on Scott Hogan ? This must be his first squad. Not exactly setting the world on fire at Villa.

Mystery as to why Doyle is there. FAI Treasurer must be pulling out his hair at the cost of bringing him over from Colorado.

[Stuttgart88]

But who would you exclude in their place ?
Were they not in the previous preliminary squad?

[Stuttgart88]

Just realised that Walters isn't there either, so officially ruled out.

Where's TOWK when you want him?

[paul_oshea]

Its depressing enough looking at the squad especially when you look at the strikers. Makes a lot of sense why we have scored so little in the last 5 games. Having said that we should still be capable of scoring through other positions/players. That's one thing O'Neill to be fair has been positive about and also emphasised on many occasions. Perhaps that's why we might see Hourihane starting, but he hasn't done much for us.

Its aligning of the stars to be honest, we had an ok campaign and undone by 1 game really. I mentioned to some on a chat group off here that I'd booked a holiday to philly beginning/mid of November last week I'm that confident :/

[IsMiseSean]

But who would you exclude in their place ?


Because these provisional squads are nonsense really, MON could name 50 players if he wanted. Naming Doherty & Kelly wouldn't do any harm.

[DannyInvincible]

But who would you exclude in their place ?

Hasn't he named 39-man provisional squads before? This one only has 32 players in it.

[Olé Olé]

I see Aiden O'Brien was born in Islington; I'm guessing he qualifies through one or two Irish parents? He's clearly delighted to get the call-up but I fear any celebrations will be slightly premature as I suspect he'll be excluded from the final cut.

Good question. I'm not sure either. I know he's been with us for a good while (since under 17).

[CraftyToePoke]

Good question. I'm not sure either. I know he's been with us for a good while (since under 17).


I see Aiden O'Brien was born in Islington; I'm guessing he qualifies through one or two Irish parents? He's clearly delighted to get the call-up but I fear any celebrations will be slightly premature as I suspect he'll be excluded from the final cut.

Grandparents according to this - https://www.newsatden.co.uk/64469-harris-would-welcome-international-call-up-for-prolific-millwall-star.html

[OwlsFan]

Slightly worried that Martin is calling on the crowd for support in this one: "The crowd have been really, really fantastic and we will definitely need that support greatly if we're going to go through. Who knows what the next couple of weeks might bring in terms of injuries to other key players we have. We need the crowd badly in this game."

We SHOULD be able to beat Moldova in an empty stadium with just Davey Keogh and his flag looking on. From my years of watching football, the urge from a manager for support from the crowd means the manager is not confident at all. If he thinks we need the crowd to beat Moldova, well then....

[DeLorean]

It's true we should be winning regardless. I suppose, though, these are the types of games where the crowd can start off complacent and become increasingly frustrated when things aren't going as expected. He's just trying to create a positive atmosphere from the start, no major harm in that.

[paul_oshea]

Slightly worried that Martin is calling on the crowd for support in this one: "The crowd have been really, really fantastic and we will definitely need that support greatly if we're going to go through. Who knows what the next couple of weeks might bring in terms of injuries to other key players we have. We need the crowd badly in this game."

We SHOULD be able to beat Moldova in an empty stadium with just Davey Keogh and his flag looking on. From my years of watching football, the urge from a manager for support from the crowd means the manager is not confident at all. If he thinks we need the crowd to beat Moldova, well then....

I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Its the first interview and its directly to the FAI. He is appealing to his KYC. And getting the fans fired up for 2 important games.

If he comes out and says it at anytime from now on in, then I'll agree with you.

His negativity has got us into the situation where we are highly unlikely to quality but not impossible with 2 games to go. It's all his own doing, and finally we see shoots of positivity in his talk. Contrast that to how Coleman has conducted himself, and how he was in interview(s) directly after the summer when 4 or so points off 2nd spot, he was extremely confident with only 4 games left to play. Its telling who is going to get 2nd spot and possibly reach a play-off and who isn't.

[DeLorean]

I think it's natural for a manger to urge caution when his team are in a good position, just as it's natural to urge optimism when things are going wrong. I think you're making too much of the contrast between Coleman & O'Neill in this instance. After we drew 1-1 at home to Scotland in the last campaign, when all seemed lost, O'Neill was very quick to emphasise how there would be twists and turns and that we're not out of it yet. Pretty similar to Coleman when Wales found themselves four points adrift.

Admittedly, O'Neill's constant talking down of the quality of our playing pool is a different matter. He does counteract it somewhat by emphasising our strength of character, etc.

[backstothewall]

It's an odd squad. Only 7 defenders so hard to see any of them dropping out. If one of the 7 of them drop out MON could be looking at cutting some midfielders and forwards, while adding defenders who aren't in the original squad.

I've always considered one of the advantages of these big squads as being to avoid having to add guys as replacements after naming the initial squad. I've always considered it to be a smashing idea. But the logical conclusion of that would be to have another 2-4 defenders in the initial squad.

There are people there who should have been shown the door after the last 2 games.

[IsMiseSean]

I've always considered one of the advantages of these big squads as being to avoid having to add guys as replacements after naming the initial squad. I've always considered it to be a smashing idea. But the logical conclusion of that would be to have another 2-4 defenders in the initial squad.


I think the large provisional squads are terribly frustrating. I can only imagine what it's like for the players involved.

Take Liam Kelly's first time being named in a provisional squad, he was delighted with his call up, sent out a tweet, got congratulatory tweets from team-mates etc, only to be cut from the squad before the meet-up and he still hasn't had the chance to be involved. Something similar happened to Chris Forrester for the spring friendlies before the Euros and I expect the same to happen to Aiden O'Brien next week.

I wonder do the likes of Matt Doherty & Greg Cunningham (before his injury) even take notice of the squad announcements anymore?

[DeLorean]

I think the large provisional squads are terribly frustrating. I can only imagine what it's like for the players involved.

Take Liam Kelly's first time being named in a provisional squad, he was delighted with his call up, sent out a tweet, got congratulatory tweets from team-mates etc, only to be cut from the squad before the meet-up and he still hasn't had the chance to be involved. Something similar happened to Chris Forrester for the spring friendlies before the Euros and I expect the same to happen to Aiden O'Brien next week.

I wonder do the likes of Matt Doherty & Greg Cunningham (before his injury) even take notice of the squad announcements anymore?

Yeah, I could see some of the benefits in it at one stage but I'm inclined to agree with all of the above now.

[mark12345]

I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Its the first interview and its directly to the FAI. He is appealing to his KYC. And getting the fans fired up for 2 important games.

If he comes out and says it at anytime from now on in, then I'll agree with you.

His negativity has got us into the situation where we are highly unlikely to quality but not impossible with 2 games to go. It's all his own doing, and finally we see shoots of positivity in his talk. Contrast that to how Coleman has conducted himself, and how he was in interview(s) directly after the summer when 4 or so points off 2nd spot, he was extremely confident with only 4 games left to play. Its telling who is going to get 2nd spot and possibly reach a play-off and who isn't.

Agree with this. To be four points ahead of another team with five games to go and then to find yourself trailing that team by a point is nothing short of a catastrophe. And it all started when MON made the wrong team selection for the game at home to Austria. Unforgivable. It's one thing if players don't perform (and let's be honest they have been abysmal some of them which is not MON's doing) but when the manager shoots himself in the foot........

[tetsujin1979]

Welsh squad named: http://www.faw.cymru/en/news/coleman-choses-squad-crucial-matches/

Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey, Danny Ward, Chris Maxwell.
Defenders: Ben Davies, James Chester, Neil Taylor, Chris Gunter, Tom Lockyer, Ashley Williams, Ethan Ampadu.
Midfielders: Joe Allen, David Edwards, Andy King, Joe Ledley, Aaron Ramsey, Jonathan Williams, David Brooks.
Forwards: Gareth Bale, Marley Watkins, Hal Robson-Kanu, Sam Vokes, Tom Lawrence, Ben Woodburn.


Brooks played for England in the Toulon tournament in the summer

[paul_oshea]

Agree with this. To be four points ahead of another team with five games to go and then to find yourself trailing that team by a point is nothing short of a catastrophe. And it all started when MON made the wrong team selection for the game at home to Austria. Unforgivable. It's one thing if players don't perform (and let's be honest they have been abysmal some of them which is not MON's doing) but when the manager shoots himself in the foot........

Ya, in the one statement alone where Coleman said that he had hoped "Ireland had beaten Serbia", it shows exactly how confident he is and in his team. Marked contrast to Oneill.

[DeLorean]

Or maybe Coleman is just astutely aware that the worst runner-up will probably come from our group.

[seanfhear]

Welsh squad named: http://www.faw.cymru/en/news/coleman-choses-squad-crucial-matches/

Brooks played for England in the Toulon tournament in the summerWales are getting good at this....getting players to choose Wales . We are not as good as we were for whatever reason .

[tetsujin1979]

Bale didn't train with Real today: https://twitter.com/LucasNavarreteM/statuses/913370546871685120

[paul_oshea]

Wales are getting good at this....getting players to choose Wales . We are not as good as we were for whatever reason .

Because they got to a semi final of a European competition, and before that qualified pretty emphatically for the Euro's themselves.


Or maybe Coleman is just astutely aware that the worst runner-up will probably come from our group.

I think at this stage its much more likely that their best route of qualifying was 2nd above Ireland. Oneill was saying he'd have bitten your hand off for a while now saying a last game win to make the play-offs. Coleman near the halfway stage was still talking about wanting to win the group, he could hardly have predicted that outcome back then.

[Charlie Darwin]

I think the large provisional squads are terribly frustrating. I can only imagine what it's like for the players involved.

Take Liam Kelly's first time being named in a provisional squad, he was delighted with his call up, sent out a tweet, got congratulatory tweets from team-mates etc, only to be cut from the squad before the meet-up and he still hasn't had the chance to be involved. Something similar happened to Chris Forrester for the spring friendlies before the Euros and I expect the same to happen to Aiden O'Brien next week.

I wonder do the likes of Matt Doherty & Greg Cunningham (before his injury) even take notice of the squad announcements anymore?
Kelly was selected for the final squad a while back but got injured.

[Charlie Darwin]

Wales are getting good at this....getting players to choose Wales . We are not as good as we were for whatever reason .
Getting to play with Bale, a player who can single-handedly drag you to a Euros semi, is probably a factor.

[DeLorean]

Bale just plays a supporting role to Ramsey, Charlie.

[DeLorean]

I think at this stage its much more likely that their best route of qualifying was 2nd above Ireland. Oneill was saying he'd have bitten your hand off for a while now saying a last game win to make the play-offs. Coleman near the halfway stage was still talking about wanting to win the group, he could hardly have predicted that outcome back then.

Okay but you were talking about Coleman's comments after we lost to Serbia. If you want to talk about the halfway stage now fair enough, but that's not what I responded to. Stop moving the goalposts!

Coleman wasn't being overly positive by saying he was hoping we would beat Serbia, he was merely using his brain. Serbia beating us was 100% the worst possible result for Wales' qualification chances. The fact of the matter is they have to win their two games to have any chance of a playoff now, and even that might not be enough. If Serbia hadn't beaten us they could easily have topped the group by winning their two remaining games, or even a win and a draw might have been enough if Serbia lose in Vienna.

For all the talk about Coleman's positivity & O'Neill's negativity, there's very little between the two teams, and Wales are generally perceived as having a superior team. So who's actually underachieving?

I'm not defending O'Neill, by the way, I'm as frustrated as anybody else. I'm just trying to add a small bit of balance because I think you're being way too black & white about things... Coleman = Good, O'Neill = Bad.

[tetsujin1979]

If the fixtures were reversed, i.e. we started badly, lost to Serbia at home, drew with Georgia away, while Wales kicked off with a winning streak, before fading while we won in Austria and beat Georgia at home, would people's opinions be the same?

[DeLorean]

No, definitely not, but then fans are always going to live in the moment and momentum is a big thing. Right now we feel like Scotland must have done in the last campaign, leaving a good opportunity slip through our fingers. The most deflating thing is knowing that even winning the remaining games will probably not be enough for a playoff spot.

[geysir]

Okay but you were talking about Coleman's comments after we lost to Serbia. If you want to talk about the halfway stage now fair enough, but that's not what I responded to. Stop moving the goalposts!

Coleman wasn't being overly positive by saying he was hoping we would beat Serbia, he was merely using his brain. Serbia beating us was 100% the worst possible result for Wales' qualification chances. The fact of the matter is they have to win their two games to have any chance of a playoff now, and even that might not be enough. If Serbia hadn't beaten us they could easily have topped the group by winning their two remaining games, or even a win and a draw might have been enough if Serbia lose in Vienna.

For all the talk about Coleman's positivity & O'Neill's negativity, there's very little between the two teams, and Wales are generally perceived as having a superior team. So who's actually underachieving?

I'm not defending O'Neill, by the way, I'm as frustrated as anybody else. I'm just trying to add a small bit of balance because I think you're being way too black & white about things... Coleman = Good, O'Neill = Bad.
And regardless, no matter the outcome or any other possible outcome from that game between Irl and Serbia, Wales would still have to win their last two games.
If Coleman said those word about preferring an Irish victory v Serbia, it's that such an outcome would have left a slither of a chance for Wales to top the group.
Unfortunately for Wales, they tend to stutter at the end of a campaign, when the gift horse of qualification is staring them in the face.

[nigel-harps1954]

Kevin Doyle to miss out anyway...

Irish Times Sport Tweeting that he's retiring from football on medical grounds.

EDIT: Doyle posted the following on Twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DK1GPmFUIAAcr2w.jpg:large

[IsMiseSean]

MON names him in the provincial squad on Tuesday, he retires on Thursday...

[backstothewall]

MON names him in the provincial squad on Tuesday, he retires on Thursday...

This is amateur hour stuff ffs.

[IsMiseSean]

This is amateur hour stuff ffs.

Apologies, I'm blaming auto correct for confusing provincial and provisional. :D

[geysir]

MON names him in the provincial squad on Tuesday, he retires on Thursday...

He managed to retire at the top, after being named in the intl squad and before he could have been shunted out in the cull.

[TrapAPony]

He managed to retire at the top, after being named in the intl squad and before he could have been shunted out in the cull.

Very strange that MON named a footballer on the verge of retirement from football in the provisional squad.

[irishfan86]

Very strange that MON named a footballer on the verge of retirement from football in the provisional squad.

Colorado's season is still under way and Doyle was playing regularly until early this month. This was strange timing for the announcement and I don't think it was an expected one. I'd give O'Neill the benefit of the doubt here.

[Charlie Darwin]

Very strange that MON named a footballer on the verge of retirement from football in the provisional squad.
Well presumably he hadn't thought to ring up all 32 players and ask them if they'd be retiring before the Moldova match.

[DannyInvincible]

Slightly worried that Martin is calling on the crowd for support in this one: "The crowd have been really, really fantastic and we will definitely need that support greatly if we're going to go through. Who knows what the next couple of weeks might bring in terms of injuries to other key players we have. We need the crowd badly in this game."

Maybe he's over-egging it a bit, but his comment isn't that unusual in light of the context. It's fairly standard rallying-cry stuff as we near the end of the campaign and badly need positivity and momentum if we're to have any chance of scraping into the play-offs.

Also, the interview was with FAI TV; I'm sure his employers reminded him beforehand that the match isn't yet a sell-out (i.e. tickets still need sold).


Well presumably he hadn't thought to ring up all 32 players and ask them if they'd be retiring before the Moldova match.

But wouldn't you expect there to be at least someone at the FAI who verifies the availability of proposed call-ups in advance of the publication of a squad-list, just in case of injuries and whatnot? O'Neill knew to omit Walters, for example. I know Walters' issue was already publicised, but you still need to make sure everyone on your squad-list is available before publishing it, surely. You can't just assume availability. For me, it's not criminal, but it is embarrassing and is indicative of shoddy communication. At a time of heightened levels of frustration and disenchantment amongst supporters, the optics of it aren't good for the FAI and management team at all.

I remember Nigel Worthington selected Shane Duffy in an NI squad to play Albania back in 2010, only for Shane to then declare his unavailability and "withdraw". Worthington was ridiculed and justifiably so.

[Charlie Darwin]

I don't know, but as you know he has form with selecting injured players. Still, for all we know when O'Neill announced the squad Doyle had no intention of retiring. I don't know his personal situation but I know many players across different sports have retired overnight on medical advice. It's not necessarily a decision you need to take a lot of time with when your long-term health is at stake.

[tetsujin1979]

Exactly Charlie, we don't know when Doyle went for these tests, or when he got the results. It's entirely possible O'Neill spoke with Doyle, or management at Colorado, before naming the squad and was told the striker was available.

[seanfhear]

Perhaps it was a nice touch to include Kevin Doyle in the Squad . Had he not then there would have been speculation about stuff .

[DeLorean]

Easy to tell things aren't going well on the pitch!

[DannyInvincible]

Perhaps it was a nice touch to include Kevin Doyle in the Squad . Had he not then there would have been speculation about stuff .

It's possible, and Charlie and tets make fair points too, although the last time Doyle was in a Rapids match-day squad was when he played against LA Galaxy on the 2nd of September. He wasn't even on the bench for their three games since. It was already publicly-known that his absence over the past month was due to a head injury. Here's a preview for the Rapids' game against Houston Dynamo a week after the Galaxy game which confirmed that Doyle was to miss out due to a head injury: https://www.houstondynamo.com/post/2017/09/09/preview-houston-dynamo-vs-colorado-rapids

In light of that, there should have been at least questions over his availability. Of course, it's possible that these questions were asked of Doyle in advance and it's also possible that Doyle had said he thought he would be available before then changing his mind, but I just don't sense that's likely for some reason. I accept it's a pure hunch on my part though.


Easy to tell things aren't going well on the pitch!

Heh, maybe so. It can be easier to give the benefit of the doubt when things are rosy.

[Fizzer]

Think I'd be using this game to blood Declan rice,hes likely our future box to box midfielder.we're short at the moment with injuries to McCarthy and Arter and the reality is probably that qualification has gotten away from us in this campaign.i would have given him a run out with Meyer whose been exceptional whenever called upon,chance to build his confidence with little to lose

[tricky_colour]

Very strange that MON named a footballer on the verge of retirement from football in the provisional squad.


Maybe Martin knew and named him so so Kevin could go out on a high so to speak?

[Olé Olé]

Hard to know where Rice will eventually end up, be it centre half or centre mid. He has the physique for a centre half but the technique for centre mid.

Meyler with a goal and an assist today. Bodes well. Delighted for him.