march friendly squad

[liamoo11]

my squad for march friendlies with a view to the nations cup/ euros

id keep the 3 keepers dont think lawlor has had enough first team football yet to move up . im playin 5 at the back so id have doherty cyrus, cunningham and stevens as full backs. rice duffy clark long and shaughnessy/ masterson as my centre halves. mccarthy browne hendrick arter hourihane o kane kelly odowda mcclean mcgeady jack byrne as my midfielders and im playing a diamond（cause it went so well against the danes）. long hogan maguire mcgoldrick and o brien

I am assuming brady is injured and im leaving judge and coleman out on the basis that they are working back to fitness. im leaving keogh pearce and mcshane out cause i want to try to.play from the back. im.leaving out ward cause i cant be reminded of his horror show agin denmark again. im.leaving out meyler cause i still see him.on the right of that diamond against the danes instead of anchoring for some reason and i cant forgive. i will have him back for the june games he is a good lad. im retiring with thanks whelan wes walters murphy o shea all fantastic servents but not going to get us to the euros. im keeping mcgeady cause i love him but sickened me when he went straight down the tunnel after the denmark game without even a clap for us. im promoting shaughnessy or masterson cause i want to play from the back. im bringing in byrne cause we need to nuture a ball player. im really thinking that mcclean plays on the left of the diamond and is disciplined or not at all and definately not at the point of the diamond off the front man chasing around giving the ball away . im leaving out horgan cause im.not sure how he fits tge diamond and im.leaving out the lad who plays occasionally for celtic cause he reminds me of alan o brien and i dont need that at my age. that squad wood make my long trip up and back in march much more appealing

[nigel-harps1954]

Is this a B international you're picking for? You're picking underage players who either have never made any senior appearances, or have made little more than a handful.

I'm all for blooding young players, but at least let them play under-21s first...

[pineapple stu]

Don't mean to come across rude, but particularly when you're naming a load of players, capital letters go a long way towards being able to read your post.

On a slight tangent, when was the last time we were left so long without a single upcoming fixture?

[liamoo11]

Is this a B international you're picking for? You're picking underage players who either have never made any senior appearances, or have made little more than a handful.

I'm all for blooding young players, but at least let them play under-21s first...
so having one of shaughnessy or masterson in a squad of 29 with a view to the future of developing ball playing centre halves is off the wall？byrne and rice are the only other one s who are eligible for the 21s in the squad i named and a lad who has been involved in every west ham squad this season is surely worthy of a place in a 29 man squad. really dont see your argument

[liamoo11]

Don't mean to come across rude, but particularly when you're naming a load of players, capital letters go a long way towards being able to read your post.

On a slight tangent, when was the last time we were left so long without a single upcoming fixture?

it is rude but i will TAKE IT ON BOARD

[nigel-harps1954]

so having one of shaughnessy or masterson in a squad of 29 with a view to the future of developing ball playing centre halves is off the wall？byrne and rice are the only other one s who are eligible for the 21s in the squad i named and a lad who has been involved in every west ham squad this season is surely worthy of a place in a 29 man squad. really dont see your argument

Okay then. Put it this way, you expect Martin O'Neill to be bringing in players who aren't playing games with their clubs and developing them as ball playing centre backs.....in a Martin O'Neill team?

Byrne is playing League One. He needs to be in the Championship and playing regularly there.

[liamoo11]

Okay then. Put it this way, you expect Martin O'Neill to be bringing in players who aren't playing games with their clubs and developing them as ball playing centre backs.....in a Martin O'Neill team?

Byrne is playing League One. He needs to be in the Championship and playing regularly there.

yes i expect him to identify at least one ball playing centre half such as shaughnessy or masterson and try to integrate ONE of them into this 29 man squad . shaughnessy has been in practically every leeds squad this season. why does byrne need to be in the championship？thats the attitude that deprived us of wes for such a huge part of his career. we have very few players with the footballing ability of byrne and i certainly want to see o neill try to help him develop into an important player for us and leave us a proper player for future campaigns.

[nigel-harps1954]

yes i expect him to identify at least one ball playing centre half such as shaughnessy or masterson and try to integrate ONE of them into this 29 man squad . shaughnessy has been in practically every leeds squad this season. why does byrne need to be in the championship？thats the attitude that deprived us of wes for such a huge part of his career. we have very few players with the footballing ability of byrne and i certainly want to see o neill try to help him develop into an important player for us and leave us a proper player for future campaigns.

You're one of the people who suggested Sean Maguire had to leave Cork and play Championship before being considered for international football. Now it's alright for Byrne to be playing League One?

Martin O'Neill is not going to play ball playing centre halves.

[liamoo11]

You're one of the people who suggested Sean Maguire had to leave Cork and play Championship before being considered for international football. Now it's alright for Byrne to be playing League One?

Martin O'Neill is not going to play ball playing centre halves.
absolutely talent wise byrne is rare by our standards we need the type of player in.our squad we dont have many of them so we need to try to develop him. we might have done better to have had that attitude with wes back in the day. maguire was trying to get into a squad that was pushing for automatic qualification for the world cup so the bar was obviously higher while now we have a redevelopment opportunity so i think a creative 22 year old with a high ceiling should be in a 29 man squad for a friendly. well if he is not going to play ball playing centre halves then we arent going to progress much . does that mean rice and shaughnessy should never be in a 29 man friendly squad？If this is as you say our B squad with coleman judge and brady to come into it after injury we must have an amazing a
A squad who will line out in march 19

[samhaydenjr]

Initially I agreed with Nigel-Harps about Jack Byrne not playing at a high enough level to be considered, but then gave it a second thought and saw a potential path for him to the squad, at least, given that he does seem to have gotten his career back on track somewhat at Oldham. It would depend on what happens to him in January - if he goes back to Wigan and fails to break into the matchday squad quickly I would see no reason to include him; however, if he does start playing for the table-toppers, then it may be worth our while blooding him in (remember, Callum O'Dowda had only played League Two when he made his international debut). If, however, Ryan Manning breaks back into the QPR first team, surely he would merit consideration ahead of Byrne (as would Shodipo or Ronan). Also Alan Judge made his return today for Brentford B and celebrated with a goal (https://www.brentfordfc.com/news/2017/december/match-report-barnet-vs-brentford-b/), so barring a backslide I don't think his recovery should prevent us from picking him three months from now.

All that being said, the priorities in midfield in March must surely be a debut for Kelly as well as more game time for Arter, Hourihane, Judge, Browne, O'Dowda and O'Kane. Masterson is still too far away for consideration with no first-team football under his belt and no prospect of it in the immediate future. Now that Andy Boyle seems to be playing more for Preston, he would be a more appropriate choice at the moment. The Clark/Duffy partnership could probably do with more work, though. The forward line pretty much picks itself right now, barring a Will Keane hat-trick on his return from injury.

[Dunners]

For me the priority players who have to playing time not just be involved with the squad at this stage are as follows

Defence
Rice - ball playing centre half
Doherty - no need to justify
Cunningham - got to be a better option than Ward


Midfield
Kelly - for creativity
Judge - for creativity - not sure on comeback date

Attack
Hogan - Goals
Maguire - Creativity

Players who I would like to see involved with the squad, but as it is Martin that's picking the squad - don't hold your breath

Byrne
Browne
Ronan - controversial pick but id get him involved now , give him a taster
Boyle

[mark12345]

For me the priority players who have to playing time not just be involved with the squad at this stage are as follows

Defence
Rice - ball playing centre half
Doherty - no need to justify
Cunningham - got to be a better option than Ward


Midfield
Kelly - for creativity
Judge - for creativity - not sure on comeback date

Attack
Hogan - Goals
Maguire - Creativity

Players who I would like to see involved with the squad, but as it is Martin that's picking the squad - don't hold your breath

Byrne
Browne
Ronan - controversial pick but id get him involved now , give him a taster
Boyle

Rice and Doherty are good options to add to the defence. Would rather go with Enda Stevens instead of Cunningham (albeit with keeping a close eye on Kevin O'Connor at Cunningham's Preston).
Kelly is an obvious choice in midfield and Judge is almost there with his return. Graham Carey clearly warrants a chance to impress in midfield and Maguire and Horgan (of Preston) have goals in them.
It is in the attacking department however that we fall flat.
Half a century of producing virtually nothing in the way of strikers in Ireland (Robbie Keane and Don Givens being the only exceptions).
So its the fundementals of the game at home which need to change if we are to progress at international level (the emphasis has to change from being a perennial defensive minded team to one which puts just as much emphasis on the best form of defence - attack).

[Olé Olé]

Graham Carey "clearly warrants" a go after impressing in League Two and League One?

[third policeman]

[QUOTE=mark12345;1947043]
Half a century of producing virtually nothing in the way of strikers in Ireland (Robbie Keane and Don Givens being the only exceptions).[/QUOTE

Frank Stapleton and John Aldridge possibly worthy of inclusion there.

[tetsujin1979]

Think he meant born in Ireland. So why omit Frank Stapleton, Niall Quinn, Shane Long, and Kevin Doyle?

[DannyInvincible]

A friendly in Turkey is being lined up in March: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/1214/927323-friendly-in-turkey-lined-up-for-republic-of-ireland/


Turkey are set to host the Republic of Ireland in a rare away friendly in Europe for Martin O’Neill’s side in March.

The Irish Daily Star report that the Football Association of Ireland are speaking to their Turkish counterparts about a game in Antalya on the south coast of the country.

The match will take place between 19 and 27 March, with two friendlies likely to take place in that international window.

[geysir]

With a bit of luck the friendly jousting will peak with the mouthwatering prospect of the USA tournament in June.
Call it The Slim Pickings tour.

[jbyrne]

seemingly playing france in paris on May 28th

[backstothewall]

A friendly in Turkey is being lined up in March: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/1214/927323-friendly-in-turkey-lined-up-for-republic-of-ireland/

Playing in a holiday resort. I hope Delaney negotiated a good price for serving up a 90 minute TV commercial for the Turkish tourism industry

[Fixer82]

Are Turkey another football association the FAI have become friendly with?
Along with Oman and Uruguay.

There must've been some bridge-building after the 1999 play-off debacle

[seanfhear]

Are Turkey another football association the FAI have become friendly with?
Along with Oman and Uruguay.

There must've been some bridge-building after the 1999 play-off debacle
Turkey is Ok when the Steaks are not Hanging High .........