Irish Abroad 2019/20

[tetsujin1979]

Two players score their first senior goal, Ryan Nolan's first senior start, Reece Grego-Cox's first goal of the season, and more in the midweek round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=8481251531468054659

[tetsujin1979]

Passed 4,000 followers on Twitter last night: https://twitter.com/irish_abroad
I know there's a few followers from the forum, so I'd like to thank you for putting up with me flooding your feed every weekend with updates.

Every 1,000 followers I do a Q&A on anything to do with Irish football, stats, and the site itself, but I'm on holidays at the moment, so if you have any questions reply here, or on Twitter, and I'll get back to you when I'm home

[Demesne Lad]

David McMillan (ex-Dundalk, Pats and UCD) joined Falkirk from St Johnstone on a season-long loan, from 4 September. He scored against Stranraer on 21 September.

[tetsujin1979]

The weekend round up returns with James Collins' 50th goal for Luton Town, Jonathan Hayes' 250th appearance in the Scottish Premiership, Matt Doherty's 300th career appearance, and more: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=2926306161000624860

[tetsujin1979]

Anthony Pilkington's first goal since April 2018, Jonathan Hayes' 50th appearance for Celtic, Jimmy Ryan's 450th career appearance, and more in the midweek round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=3951526597311219345

[tetsujin1979]

Seamus Coleman's first red card since 2011, Conor Hourihane's 25th goal for Aston Villa, Enda Stevens' 100th start for Sheffield United, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=4091675191836115417

[tetsujin1979]

Match of the Day claimed that Aaron Connolly's brace at the weekend made him the 100th Ireland player to score in the Premier League, but is he? I've investigated the claim, and discovered a possible alternative: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=6603887245440361367

[tetsujin1979]

Match of the Day claimed that Aaron Connolly's brace at the weekend made him the 100th Ireland player to score in the Premier League, but is he? I've investigated the claim, and discovered a possible alternative: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=6603887245440361367

I've updated the article with the full list of Irish goalscorers in the Premier League

[Demesne Lad]

Paul McShane (Unattached) signed by Rochdale in League 1; on a short-term contract up to January.

[seanfhear]

Paul McShane (Unattached) signed by Rochdale in League 1; on a short-term contract up to January.
He’s knocked a darn good career out of it . Certainly made the most of his ability .

[DeLorean]

He’s knocked a darn good career out of it . Certainly made the most of his ability .

We thought he was the next Paul McGrath the night he only momentarily allowed Jan Koller out of his pocket. :)

[seanfhear]

We thought he was the next Paul McGrath the night he only momentarily allowed Jan Koller out of his pocket. :)
He was not the Messiah . He is a Good Fella though .

[tetsujin1979]

After Conor Hourihane's first Premier League goal at the weekend, he's now scored in all four divisions in England, but who are the other players to manage the feat in recent years? http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=1653099656506916893

[tetsujin1979]

Roy O'Donovan's 40th goal in the A-League, Eddie Nolan's 100th appearance for Crewe Alexandra, Sean Scannell's first booking since 2016(!!), and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=466339618622907570

[tetsujin1979]

After Aaron Connolly's start last night, a brief look at the fifteen other players to have started a competitive international before their twentieth birthday: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=8830666904206808752

[tetsujin1979]

Paddy Madden's first hat trick in English football, Jeff Hendrick's 100th start for Burnley, Shaun Williams's 350th start in English football, and much more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=4719790881334447551

[tetsujin1979]

Rory Gaffney's first goal for Walsall, Callum O'Dowda's 100th appearance in the Championship, Aaron Doran's 200th start for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=5787758361800902861

[John83]

Some analysis of Sheffield United with an Irish interest: https://www.football365.com/news/sheffield-united-are-without-a-significant-weakness

The wing-backs are Enda Stevens left and George Baldock right. Stevens is the more spectacular, and the eye test suggests he’s the more naturally talented, in attack at least. He gets the ball significantly more than Baldock (12.1 more passes/90), and the numbers give him a clear edge in key passes (11 to 4) and expected assists/90 (0.11 to 0.02). But Baldock is fairly steady, a reliable short passer, and I was surprised to see he has a much better cross completion percentage (24.3% to 9.4%).



And so to the strikers, those sometime recipients of Henderson’s long balls. For the early part of the season, Sheffield’s best forward man was David McGoldrick. He’s an intelligent player who can do a little bit of everything: dribble, pass, win balls in the air, make good runs, go by defenders with pace, defend from the front too. But only once, against Southampton, did he look like a reliable scoring threat, and even then he failed to convert several presentable chances. There’s some question whether he can lead the line at this level.
But hopefully that won’t matter. With the advent of Mousset, McGoldrick has been shifted into a deeper role, kind of a 9½, or what we used to call a support striker. It’s the perfect place for him: he can use all his skills without worrying about getting into prime scoring positions. Against Burnley he was flat-out brilliant as an advanced fulcrum for attacks. He played a crucial role in the build-up to the first two goals, and should have had an assist when sub Billy Sharp passed up an excellent chance McGoldrick created in leading a counter.

[Olé Olé]

The part about McGoldrick makes me even more keen to see him and Connolly in a front two.

[tetsujin1979]

To mark Aertel's closure, the live blog is going to be rendered in the classic pg 221 format for the weekend's fixtures: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Live

[tetsujin1979]

Joe Mason's first goal for MK Dons, James Collins' first goal in two months, Daryl Horgan's tenth goal for Hibs, and more as the round up returns after the international break: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=3431769736698400790

[Demesne Lad]

Ronan Curtis scores again for Portsmouth, after 33 seconds (v Rotherham, 26 November).

Connor Sammon scores two away to Linlithgow Rose (23 November).

[samhaydenjr]

After Aaron Connolly's start last night, a brief look at the fifteen other players to have started a competitive international before their twentieth birthday: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=8830666904206808752

Good omens for him that only two of that list ended up with fewer than ten caps and that it includes three of our six most capped players and two of our six top scorers

[tetsujin1979]

Shaun Williams' first goal of the season, Matt Doherty's 25th goal for Wolves, Paddy Madden's 40th goal for Fleetwood, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=7936153230757842794

[samhaydenjr]

After Aaron Connolly's start last night, a brief look at the fifteen other players to have started a competitive international before their twentieth birthday: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=8830666904206808752

Don't forget, Michael Obafemi's appearance in the Nations League counts as a competitive international. It did tie him to us.

[tetsujin1979]

True, but he didn't start the game.

[samhaydenjr]

True, but he didn't start the game.

Ah. Sorry. My bad. What are the chances he'll start against Slovakia to get added to the list? Mick seems ready to throw players in.

[tetsujin1979]

Depends on how he's performing really. He was in the last U21 squad, so needs to get back in the senior squad first. I'd say Mick has settled on McGoldrick, Connolly, Collins, and one space free for the four strikers in his squad

[tetsujin1979]

As we come to the end of the 2010s, I sat down with Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick to discuss the last ten years of Irish international football.
First up - 2010-2013: The Trapattoni Years
https://soundcloud.com/irish-abroad/episode-1-the-2010s-the-trapattoni-years

[tetsujin1979]

Robbie Brady's first goal in two years, Michael Harriman's first goal for Northampton Town, Jon Gallagher's first career goal, and more in the midweek round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=7561062522361995683

[tetsujin1979]

Troy Parrott is the third Irish teenager, and the 16th Irish player, to appear in the Premier League this season, Enda Stevens is the ninth Irish player to score in the Premier League, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=1882746306527697518

[tetsujin1979]

In the second episode of our lookback at Irish international football in the 2010s, I'm joined by Mark from Hawkeye Sidekick and Phil from The Bottomless Pit Of Football to discuss Martin O'Neill's five year reign from November 2013
https://www.soundcloud.com/irish-abroad/episode-2-the-2010s-the-oneill-keane-years

[tetsujin1979]

Callum O'Dowda's first goal of the season, Joe Rafferty's first red card since February 2017, James McClean's fifth yellow card of 2019/20, and more in the midweek round up http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=6846200027263468868

[tetsujin1979]

James McClean's 50th start for Stoke, Seamus Coleman's 300th appearance for Everton, Eddie Nolan's 350th career appearance, and more in the weekend round up
http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=925196573193012283

[tetsujin1979]

In the final episode of our lookback at Irish international football in the 2010s, I'm joined by Mark from Hawkeye Sidekick and Phil from The Bottomless Pit Of Football to discuss Mick McCarthy's second term in charge of the national side, and what to expect from Stephen Kenny


https://soundcloud.com/irish-abroad/episode-3-the-2010s-mick-mccarthys-tenure-and-what-is-coming-next

[tetsujin1979]

James McCarthy's first completed league game since December 2016, Eoin Doyle scores for the tenth successive game, Matt Doherty's 250th start for Wolves, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=8937501420076085226

[tetsujin1979]

Seamus Coleman, Wes Hoolahan, and Matt Doherty all feature in The Guardian's Premier League clubs' best players of the decade: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/dec/24/premier-league-clubs-best-players-of-the-decade

[tetsujin1979]

There are eight Ireland players starting today's Premier League fixtures

This is the third time this season eight players have named in the starting XI on the same day - which hasn't happened since the 2016/17 season (it happened eight times in total that season)

[tetsujin1979]

Pierce Sweeney's fifth yellow card of the season, Joe Mason's 60th career goal, Eoin Doyle's 250th start in British football, and more in the St Stephen's Day round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=8300829389211844935

[tetsujin1979]

Jason Knight's first senior goals, Ryan Manning's fifth assist for QPR, Cyrus Christie's 50th appearances for Fulham, and more in the last round up of 2019: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=7503715577188660585

[tetsujin1979]

Adam Idah's Premier League debut, Aiden O'Brien's 100th appearance in the Sky Bet Championship, Callum Reilly's 200th career appearance, and more in the New Year's round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=1132593895592865361

[Demesne Lad]

Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Warburton has suggested that he might allow Olamide Shodipo to go on loan for the remainder of the 2019-2020 season.

Shodipo has made 20 first team appearances for QPR but his opportunities have been limited this season due to injury, making only two appearances to date, including the 5-1 win vs Swansea City in the Emirates FA Cup. He scored in the QPR U23s v Crystal Palace 3-3 draw in a Professional Development League match the previous Monday as he tries to build up his match fitness ahead of a possible loan move.

[tetsujin1979]

Zach Elbouzedi's first appearance for Lincoln, Will Smallbone's senior debut, Conor Masterson's career debut, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=3298572213877041850

[tetsujin1979]

Aaron Molloy named among the top ten draft picks for the MLS Superdraft, taking place on Thursday: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/01/03/2020-mls-superdraft-top-10-prospects-available-selection
There was no Irish player in last year's draft, but 2018 pick Jon Gallagher is currently on loan at Aberdeen

[Olé Olé]

Trevor Molloy's young fella!

[Demesne Lad]

Masterson to go out on loan, according to manager Warburton.

[Olé Olé]

Shodipo name checked too: https://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/sport/football/queens-park-rangers/qpr-duo-conor-masterson-olamide-shodipo-would-benefit-loan-move-says-boss-mark-warburton-1-6452075?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social_Icon&utm_campaign=in_article_social_icons

Shodipo being the "fave" of the club owner:
https://twitter.com/tonyfernandes/status/1213857876814389248?s=19

[Demesne Lad]

Tony Mowbray (Blackburn Rovers) interested in signing Ronan Curtis, according to The News (Portsmouth). Curtis' contract expires in Summer 2020, but Pompey have the option to extend it for 12 months.

[tetsujin1979]

Shane Long equals Damien Duff's Premier League goal tally, nine Irish players start on the same day in the Premier League for the first time in almost three years, five players debut for their new clubs, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=3081008257974205389

[tetsujin1979]

Five players make their first appearance for their new clubs, Josh Cullen's 50th appearance for Charlton, Stephen Quinn's 80th appearance for Burton Albion, and more in the weekend round up: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Blog?id=5741654874827264293