2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championships

[Charlie Darwin]

It's Kenny's duty to pick the best out of those u21s who are available to him right now, regardless of their birthplace. If he does not want to pursue other english born players to declare for Ireland then that's his prerogative but he has no right to impose a bias based on some justification of a player to be selected based on a favorable birth location.
He never said anything of the sort. He said player recruitment is not his job, which is an obvious reference to King, whose job was player recruitment first and 21s boss second. There's an obvious discrepancy between Ireland 17s, 19s and senior teams, which are majority Irish-born, and the 21s who have recently been majority English-born. It makes no sense unless the 21s are being used as a recruitment tool for English-born eligible players.

He was saying he'll pick the best players, not hand out caps on a favourable basis to players who switch allegiance, which is what King did to the detriment of the team. Essentially he was saying he doesn't have the conflict of interest King did, and he'll be free to pick the team he wants rather than the team that best suits the agents of English-born players.

[geysir]

He never said anything of the sort. He said player recruitment is not his job, which is an obvious reference to King, whose job was player recruitment first and 21s boss second. There's an obvious discrepancy between Ireland 17s, 19s and senior teams, which are majority Irish-born, and the 21s who have recently been majority English-born. It makes no sense unless the 21s are being used as a recruitment tool for English-born eligible players.

He was saying he'll pick the best players, not hand out caps on a favourable basis to players who switch allegiance, which is what King did to the detriment of the team. Essentially he was saying he doesn't have the conflict of interest King did, and he'll be free to pick the team he wants rather than the team that best suits the agents of English-born players.
It appears that you agree with what I wrote. I said it's Stephen Kenny's right to not pursue other english born players (i.e. player recruitment) and it's his duty to select players on merit. I was replying to a comment on what was discussed on Newstalk on sat afternoon, not what SK actually said. And although I listened to that particular Newstalk chat whilst napping and watching a FA cup game, I'd hazard a guess I'm not too far off what was discussed and pretty sure the "merit" word was bandied about

[Olé Olé]

Hadn't heard much about Shipley so had a look at his stats. He broke into the Coventry first team at the end of the 2016/17 season at the age of 19 and became a regular in 2017/18, playing 41 times in all competitions, scoring in the League 2 play-off final. He has held his place in League One this season and had played 12 times when he was called up. At that point, only 6-8 players in the squad had arguably more extensive first-team experience and currently only Ryan Manning is playing in a higher division (unless you count Jake Mulraney at Hearts). He's playing in the same division as Ronan Curtis, Jimmy Dunne, Josh Cullen and Ian Lawlor, who would all be considered to be within sight of the senior squad, at least. In fairness to Noel King, calling Shipley up might have been a very good decision as he might actually turn out to be a player to watch going forward.
My issue is that he a) has admitted to having to work to get Jordan on board and b) brought him straight in and capped him. Why didn't this lad put his lot in with us when he was younger? And why did he walk straight into the starting line-up at the back-end of a campaign in which other's had played all along?

I have no issue with his level and no issue with his potential.

[Olé Olé]

Charlie Darwin has verbalised the two points I was going to make here better than I could have. King has used the under 21 side as a recruitment exercise at times. Kenny does not want to do so.

And there's an unfair accusation that Kenny won't be picking lads born outside of Ireland. He stated he wants to pick lads that want to play for Ireland more than anything. I'm sure 20 year-old from Salford or Coventry would be considered on the basis of football and ability as much as one from Salthill or Crumlin once they have demonstrated the commitment.

There's a very long list to beat King with. Duffus, Fenelon, Quigley and Rhys Murphy, off the top of my head, are strikers that were parachuted in for a cap and the chances of any of them making a senior impact is very, very remote.

[geysir]

I didn't realise that Ireland are in Iceland's group, quelle surprise. Generally Iceland have about half their u21 squad made up of home based players (mickey mouse league) and generally perform way better than Ireland in the qualifiers. It's a piece of cake Stephen, you just gotta do better than teeny Iceland.

[tetsujin1979]

Ryan Johnsson's latest post on instagram is nice: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJE6epAATm/

[The Fly]

Ryan Johnsson's latest post on instagram is nice: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJE6epAATm/

Indeed.

This one's good too (Stephen Ireland take note!) - https://www.instagram.com/p/BsDou65AyY4/

[Olé Olé]

Ryan Johnsson's latest post on instagram is nice: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJE6epAATm/

Ah. Heartwarming stuff.

[liamoo11]

he isn't eligible for the 19s as he played for Luxembourg in first round unfortunately himself, Coventry and booger would have been a strong three https://www.uefa.com/under19/season=2019/matches/round=2000953/match=2023807/lineups/index.html?iv=true

[nigel-harps1954]

If he is ever manager of the rep of Ireland i will be shocked. I dont care what his contract says. I think he will be paid off and never get the top job. He is nowhere near qualified

What defines qualification for this job?

[ifk101]

Noel King was U21 manager but also doubled as the Player Identification Head/ Manager (or whatever terminology the FAI uses). Noel King is no longer U21 manager but remains the Player Identification Head/ Manager. Stephen Kenny is now the current U21 manager.

Just putting that out there as there seems to be a misconception that the U21 manager and the Player Identification Head/ Manager are one and the same.

[Diggs246]

What defines qualification for this job?

Successful experience having managed one of the following at some stage:
an decent international team
Premier league
La liga
Seria A
Bundesliga

Not the league of Ireland, its not a good enough league

[Paddy Garcia]

Noel King was U21 manager but also doubled as the Player Identification Head/ Manager (or whatever terminology the FAI uses). Noel King is no longer U21 manager but remains the Player Identification Head/ Manager. Stephen Kenny is now the current U21 manager.

Just putting that out there as there seems to be a misconception that the U21 manager and the Player Identification Head/ Manager are one and the same.

Indeed - in fact I'd say Kenny has made it clear that he has no interest in Player Identification ......

[nigel-harps1954]

Successful experience having managed one of the following at some stage:
an decent international team
Premier league
La liga
Seria A
Bundesliga

Not the league of Ireland, its not a good enough league

How much of this had Mick McCarthy when he took over in his first spell? He turned out alright..

Pardon me for saying, narrow minded views like that is one of the most pathetic things that exist among the vast majority of Irish football fans, and one of the main reasons our league is in the state it's in.

[Diggs246]

How much of this had Mick McCarthy when he took over in his first spell? He turned out alright..

Pardon me for saying, narrow minded views like that is one of the most pathetic things that exist among the vast majority of Irish football fans, and one of the main reasons our league is in the state it's in.

Pardon me, but i want to win not accomadate the LOI faithful. The league is crap because its been grossly mismanaged by the FAI and tbh the players barr a few are sh*t.

Mick got Millwall to the playoffs for the premier league with a budget of nothing, imo that totally out ways anything Stephen kenny has done.

[SkStu]

How much of this had Mick McCarthy when he took over in his first spell? He turned out alright..

Pardon me for saying, narrow minded views like that is one of the most pathetic things that exist among the vast majority of Irish football fans, and one of the main reasons our league is in the state it's in.

Exactly - and its not like the traditional/Diggs way of picking (Trap, MONKEANO) has worked out for us too well in recent times... and in fact, the closest comparison we have to the Kenny appointment would be Brian Kerr who also happens to have our greatest winning percentage as a manager - if winning is your benchmark Diggs.

Narrow minded.

[Diggs246]

Exactly - and its not like the traditional/Diggs way of picking (Trap, MONKEANO) has worked out for us too well in recent times... and in fact, the closest comparison we have to the Kenny appointment would be Brian Kerr who also happens to have our greatest winning percentage as a manager - if winning is your benchmark Diggs.

Narrow minded.

Kerr wasnt qualified either and did a poor job When i say win i mean win when it counts and qualify..

[Charlie Darwin]

Pardon me, but i want to win not accomadate the LOI faithful. The league is crap because its been grossly mismanaged by the FAI and tbh the players barr a few are sh*t.

Mick got Millwall to the playoffs for the premier league with a budget of nothing, imo that totally out ways anything Stephen kenny has done.
Kenny got Dundalk to the group stages of the Europa League, with totally outweights anything Mick had done with Millwall when he was appointed. The last manager to take an Irish club to the group stages has done a better job with meagre resources up north than either European Cup winner Martin O'Neill or Giovanni Trapattoni did with Ireland. Make sure you don't shift those goalposts while trying to explain that away.

[Diggs246]

Kenny got Dundalk to the group stages of the Europa League, with totally outweights anything Mick had done with Millwall when he was appointed. The last manager to take an Irish club to the group stages has done a better job with meagre resources up north than either European Cup winner Martin O'Neill or Giovanni Trapattoni did with Ireland. Make sure you don't shift those goalposts while trying to explain that away.

Michael o Neill has done a great job with NI in fairness thats a good point.

I dont agree with your other point. He got a bang average team to the Prem play offs and then after he left for ireland i think they got relegated or close to it

[Charlie Darwin]

Michael o Neill has done a great job with NI in fairness thats a good point.

I dont agree with your other point. He got a bang average team to the Prem play offs and then after he left for ireland i think they got relegated or close to it
And by your own admission Kenny got a team who "bar a few are ****" to the group stages of a major European competition. So, by your own calculations, Kenny's a better manager than Mick was at that stage.

[Diggs246]

And by your own admission Kenny got a team who "bar a few are ****" to the group stages of a major European competition. So, by your own calculations, Kenny's a better manager than Mick was at that stage.

It was an exciting time for the people of Dundalk no doubt, but the teams they conquered that year Europe were an Icelandic team and a team from Belarus, once they met half decent teams they got beaten.
Who did the beat of note? Seriously?

The point im trying to make is that I believe the jump from Dundalk to managing our national team, playing against the best teams in Europe is absolutely massive and I don't believe he has the required experience.

Is he your first choice as Irish Manager for the world cup campaign?

[Real ale Madrid]

Who did the beat of note? Seriously?


Beat BATE Borisov and Maccabi Tel Aviv at home - got results away against AZ Alkmaar and Legia Warsaw - never beaten by more than a goal and that included a pair of games against Zenit St Petersburg who had a squad market value of roughly €150m - even bigger than Millwall.

Defending Dundalk and Kenny - off now for a cold shower.

[geysir]

How much of this had Mick McCarthy when he took over in his first spell? He turned out alright..

.
If you are allowed to hang around long enough, the players will (eventually) come.

... But looking forward to Mick's 2nd coming,

[tetsujin1979]

not sure how much this all has to do with the U21 Championship...

[tetsujin1979]

Under 21 game to be streamed online
1090972974562328576

[liamoo11]

Under 21 game to be streamed online
1090972974562328576

Hope they will do similar with underage games. Embarrassing they didn't stream the victory shield this year yet the north and Scotland had streamed it when they hosted

[Closed Account]

Reminder

Republic of Ireland U21 (Home Based) v Republic of Ireland Amateurs
Whitehall 6th of February 7.45 PM

This is being streamed by Striker Online


https://scontent.fdub4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/51272930_1967759026852425_2320748336732176384_n.jp g?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent.fdub4-1.fna&oh=02679f233b057b396fbdf629c2927d4d&oe=5CF3FF73

[Closed Account]

1093217763269713920

[tetsujin1979]

no sign of the stream yet.

[Olé Olé]

Strange Drinan is in the side unless he's on the way home from Ipswich.

[Charlie Darwin]

Strange Drinan is in the side unless he's on the way home from Ipswich.
Ronan Hale had to pull out so they got permission from Ipswich to travel over.

[Olé Olé]

Ronan Hale had to pull out so they got permission from Ipswich to travel over.

Drinan has signed on loan with Waterford.

[tetsujin1979]

didn't see this posted, all U21 home qualifiers will be on eir sport: https://www.eirsport.ie/sse-airtricity-league-returning-to-eir-sport

As well as the increased coverage of the SSE Airtricity League, eir sport will also broadcast all five of the U21 Republic of Ireland team home fixtures in the UEFA U21 2021 European Championships qualifying campaign.
Kicking off against Luxembourg on March 24, Ireland will also host Armenia on September 10, Italy on October 10, Sweden on November 19 and Iceland on March 26 2020, with all five games live on eir sport.

[Closed Account]

Stephen Mallon on the radar
https://www.ccmariners.com.au/news/mallon-radar-ireland-u-21-squad

https://www.transfermarkt.com/stephen-mallon/profil/spieler/324493

[TrapAPony]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1i0fJkWoAEWkt1.jpg

[Closed Account]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D1i0fJkWoAEWkt1.jpg
https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/ireland-u21-kenny-announces-luxembourg-squad

Ireland U21: Kenny announces Luxembourg squad
Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Stephen Kenny has announced his squad for the UEFA U21 European Championships qualifier against Luxembourg.




13th Mar 2019

Ireland are set to face Luxembourg in their first game of the campaign at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday, March 24 with kick-off at 5pm. Tickets for the match are currently on sale at just €5 for adults and FREE for U18s, FAI Season Ticket Holders and Shamrock Rovers Season Ticket Holders.
Kenny has named a 22-man squad which includes seven players from the SSE Airtricity League. Darragh Leahy and Dan Mandroiu of Bohemians, Liam Scales and Neil Farrugia of UCD AFC, Waterford's Zach Elbouzedi, Shamrock Rovers' Trevor Clarke and St. Patrick's Athletic midfielder Jamie Lennon have all been named.
Liverpool duo Caoimhin Kelleher and Conor Masterson, Manchester United's Lee O'Connor, Manchester City's Gavin Bazunu and Tottenham Hotspur's Troy Parrott have also received call-ups to the U-21 squad.
Simon Power, currently on loan at Dutch second tier side FC Dordrecht from Norwich City, and Connor Ronan, who plays for Slovakian side FC DAC 1904 on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, will also report for the squad on Monday, March 18.
The squad announcement follows the news from the UEFA Executive Committee that the UEFA U21 European Championships finals tournament will expend from 12 teams to 16 teams. The finals, which are set to take place in Hungary and Slovakia in June 2021, will now have four further teams in the finals competition.
Tickets for the qualifier are currently available via Ticketmaster HERE (https://www.ticketmaster.ie/euro-under-21-qualifier-republic-of-ireland-u21-v-luxembourg-u21-dublin-24-03-2019/event/1800563CCFEC5FFB)
Republic of Ireland U21 squad v Luxembourg
Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Gavin Bazunu (Manchester City)
Defenders: Darragh Leahy (Bohemians), Dara O'Shea (Exeter City, on loan from West Bromwich Albion), Barry Cotter (Ipswich Town), Corey Ndaba (Ipswich Town), Conor Masterson (Liverpool), Lee O'Connor (Manchester United), Trevor Clarke (Shamrock Rovers), Liam Scales (UCD AFC)
Midfielders: Jayson Molumby (Brighton and Hove Albion), Jake Doyle Hayes (Cambridge United, on loan from Aston Villa), Connor Ronan (FC DAC 1904, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jamie Lennon (St. Patrick's Athletic), Conor Coventry (West Ham United), Dan Mandroiu (Bohemians)
Attackers: Adam Idah (Norwich City), Troy Parrott (Tottenham Hotspur), Neil Farrugia (UCD AFC), Zach Elbouzedi (Waterford), Michael O'Connor (Linfield), Simon Power (FC Dordrecht, on loan from Norwich City)
UEFA U21 European Championships Qualifiers - Fixture
24/03 - Republic of Ireland v Luxembourg, Tallaght Stadium, 5pm

[tetsujin1979]

should be able to make that game
With Idah and Parrott in the squad, does that mean Cassidy will be in the U19s? Parrott is injured at the moment, but has posted on instagram that he's back in training.
Tyeke Wilson is left out, despite being back and playing for Man City U23's. He's too old for the U19 Championships - born December 1999 and the cut off date is January 2000

Noticed Corey Whelan is missing too

Corrie Nbada (note - Corrie, not Corey as on fai.ie) signed his first professional contract only a month ago: https://www.itfc.co.uk/news/2019/february/ndaba-signs-new-town-deal/
(https://www.itfc.co.uk/news/2019/february/ndaba-signs-new-town-deal/)
No Ryan Johansson either, despite not being eligible for the U19s because he's already appeared in the same competition for Luxembourg

[TrapAPony]

Ryan Nolan has been overlooked again it seems for whatever reason

[Ezeikial]

Some reports have Waterford's Aaron Drinan in the squad (see post #85) above and some don't


Republic of Ireland U21 squad v Luxembourg
Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Gavin Bazunu (Manchester City)
Defenders: Darragh Leahy (Bohemians), Dara O'Shea (Exeter City, on loan from West Bromwich Albion), Barry Cotter (Ipswich Town), Corey Ndaba (Ipswich Town), Conor Masterson (Liverpool), Lee O'Connor (Manchester United), Trevor Clarke (Shamrock Rovers), Liam Scales (UCD AFC)
Midfielders: Jayson Molumby (Brighton and Hove Albion), Jake Doyle Hayes (Cambridge United, on loan from Aston Villa), Connor Ronan (FC DAC 1904, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Jamie Lennon (St. Patrick's Athletic), Conor Coventry (West Ham United), Dan Mandroiu (Bohemians)
Attackers: Adam Idah (Norwich City), Troy Parrott (Tottenham Hotspur), Neil Farrugia (UCD AFC), Zach Elbouzedi (Waterford), Michael O'Connor (Linfield), Simon Power (FC Dordrecht, on loan from Norwich City)
UEFA U21 European Championships Qualifiers - Fixture
24/03 - Republic of Ireland v Luxembourg, Tallaght Stadium, 5pm
https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/ireland-u21-kenny-announces-luxembourg-squad

In or out?

[tetsujin1979]

according to Ipswich, Drinan is in the squad: https://www.itfc.co.uk/news/2019/march/cotter-and-ndaba-ireland-call/

Town striker Aaron Drinan, who is loan at Waterford until the end of June, has also been selected for the final Ireland squad.

[Olé Olé]

Ryan Johansson either, despite not being eligible for the U19s because he's already appeared in the same competition for Luxembourg
A bit soon to hand him his under 21 debut against the country of his birth?

[tetsujin1979]

A bit soon to hand him his under 21 debut against the country of his birth?
possibly, and it could also be that his change of international allegiance hasn't been processed yet

[tetsujin1979]

Noticed Corey Whelan is missing too

Whelan is overage, the cut off date is 1st January 1998, Whelan was born in 1997

[DeLorean]

Ryan Nolan has been overlooked again it seems for whatever reason

He on the standby list, according to Raf Diallo (Newstalk).

[Olé Olé]

A few notable omissions and disappointing Nolan wasn't picked again. But, overall, there's a blend of great younger players, home-based players, lads playing under 23 and senior football.

[tetsujin1979]

Off The Ball have put Kenny's press conference online, a lot of the questions from the assembled journalists are inaudible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp8TXKENGrI

[elatedscum]

He's gutted the U19s Elite Stage Squad for a game at home to Luxembourg. Lee O'Connor, Adam Idah, Conor Coventry will all be sorely missed. Qualifying is a huge boost for everyone involved in our youth setup, both in terms of seeding going forward and in terms of keeping good dual eligible players interested (Reason we lost Marcus McGuane). The U17s performance last summer did both the players and set up a world of good. We need to win a group consisting of Russia, Romania and Azerbaijan, played in Russia. Not easily but doable. If we fail to qualify, the FAI should take a serious look at the decisions that were made.

You could easily have lined up with Nolan and Masterson in at centre-half and kept Lee O'Connor down. As for attackers, between Ronan Hale, Farrugia Drinan, Michael O'Connor and Drinan, surely there's enough firepower there to beat Luxembourg.

[tommy_c12000]

Any reason given for omission of Nolan? Very disappointing if just a plain overlook.

[Olé Olé]

Any reason given for omission of Nolan? Very disappointing if just a plain overlook.

Inter's 20-year-old defender Ryan Nolan 'on standby' as Kenny picks Ireland squad https://the42.ie/4540400

[Razors left peg]

Is Luca Connell not a big ommission or would he be more likely to be in u19s?