Azerbaijan V Republic of Ireland - Sat, 9th October 2021 - 2022 World Cup Qualifier

[paul_oshea]

See will Keane got a call up?

[JR89]

Haven't seen him play but he's playing as a 10 for Wigan who look to be playing 4-2-3-1. Not sure about this call up, but would love to be shocked by the lad actually playing decent. Still no Scully whose actually scoring at League One level but Ogbene and Horgan are named in the squad.

[tetsujin1979]

Apparently Sheffield United tweeted that Hourihane and Egan would be in the squad, but left out Stevens and then deleted it? Could have been a mistake, I guess
No Clark, despite being in the Newcastle team, no Scully, no Elbouzedi, no LOI representation, and former England underage striker Will Keane is called up after scoring four goals in ten games this season
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[Stuttgart88]

Scully omission disappointing. Quite alarmed at Keane call up tbh.

[CraftyToePoke]

Apparently Sheffield United tweeted that Stevens would not be in the squad, and then deleted it? No Clark, despite being in the Newcastle team, no Scully, no Elbouzedi, no LOI representation, and former England underage striker Will Keane is called up after scoring four goals in ten games this season
full details
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Thats more like it tets in terms of starting a match thread.

[pineapple stu]

Aiden McGeady - who got two assists at the weekend for Sunderland - is presumably delighted at being dropped because League One wasn't a high enough level, and then we call up a 28-year-old forward scoring about 1 in 4 at that level.

[ifk101]

Quite alarmed at Keane call up tbh.

I don't know but McClean moved to Wigan recently and putting two and two together ....

[paul_oshea]

Aiden McGeady - who got two assists at the weekend for Sunderland - is presumably delighted at being dropped because League One wasn't a high enough level, and then we call up a 28-year-old forward scoring about 1 in 4 at that level.

It's the only real standout issue with the squad, clearly Clark isn't in his thoughts as we already know, nothing new from previous announcements really - bar Keane. It's another strange one, the narrative has always been about young lads and youth blah blah blah as greta would say, so this call up doesn't follow any logic or previous thought . It's just another strange decision from Kenny lacking consistency or normalcy. He's never struck me as one for making statements but I feel like this is. Is will Keane @ 28 really bothered like Kenny mused before about call ups

[ifk101]

Squad feels stronger this time around with the return of Knight. There are options in defence to cover the loss of Coleman and O'Shea, McGrath has shown he adds an option in midfield, Parrott should be improving with playing time and hopefully those recent goals can spur Connolly on a bit.
Don't agree with the Keane call-up but he perhaps offers an aerial strength option we otherwise don't have in the forwards.

[tetsujin1979]

From four years ago...

one day later... Will Keane targets World Cup spot with Ireland: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/will-keane-targets-world-cup-spot-with-ireland-slkc9w0gf

rest of the article is behind their paywall

It would be slightly bizarre if former Ireland player Michael Keane lined out for England against former England player Will Keane for Ireland!

[passinginterest]

Keane is an odd call up alright.

I suppose the logic is, he was always seen as having a high ceiling. He's had a couple of serious knee injuries at critical times in his career, but he's playing regular football now and seems to be starting to score fairly regularly too. At 28 he hasn't played a huge amount so he probably has at least 5 or 6 years left in him if he avoids another serious injury. I don't know a huge amount about his style of play, but if he's been identified as providing something the squad is lacking at the moment then it's probably no harm taking a look. He seems to be more of a central player so presumably his main rivals are Collins and Idah whereas Scully would be competing with a bit more depth in the wide forward positions.

[Kingdom]

I like this Will Keane selection, it's thinking outside the box and we just have to trust the process here.

[John83]

I like this Will Keane selection, it's thinking outside the box and we just have to trust the process here.
We can't score at all right now. He should be looking hard at any option. I'll judge the call-up on results. If he scores goals for us, nothing else will have mattered.

[pineapple stu]

I like this Will Keane selection, it's thinking outside the box and we just have to trust the process here.
I hadn't actually realised how many of our recent are in the third tier - McClean, Horgan, Bazunu, Parrott, Ogbene, O'Hara, Szmodmics, Curtis, O'Connor (fourth tier actually), plus the LoI guys (Burke, Mandriou, Talbot) and I wouldn't rate LoI on a par with League One. You could even argue the toss over where the SPL fits in all that.

It's a real sign of how far we've fallen, and in that regard, you can't really begrudge Keane his call up. We can't score and we do need all the options we can get.

But if all the above are in the squad, then there's a place for McGeady in my view. He drove me mad when we were half decent, but I don't think it's reasonable to tell him he's not at a high enough level while the others are all getting call ups.

I don't want Keane or McGeady or the others really to a mainstay of the squad. But beggars can't be choosers, and we definitely have the begging bowl out.

The Clark omission is baffling, especially as we played Serbia with three fit central defenders, all of whom started. Other than that, there's not a huge amount to be said about the squad. Don't really mind the likes of Randolph/Long getting phased out as they haven't really been getting regular game time for quite some time now.

[SkStu]

I like this Will Keane selection, it's thinking outside the box and we just have to trust the process here.

Agree 100% with this. It is a brave and admirable move from Kenny and surely, if nothing else, having the name "Keane" back in the squad will be a boon for players and fans alike?

[tetsujin1979]

press conference with Kenny on YouTube, skip to 46 minutes for ten minutes of questions
He says that Will Keane has been qualified for some time now, and he has spoken to the player a few times before this call up
KApCy0hlEQQ

[third policeman]

Hogan and Maguire are playing at a higher level and have got goals in recent games. We’re not blessed with talent, but there is still no need to go trawling in the nether regions of English football for journeymen like Keane. Why are we cursed by managers who make perverse selections to prove they are more discerning than mere fans. It also plays into the ‘we have no players’ narrative and provides cover for abysmal results. Clark’s omission is irrational, and I agree that McGeady is the only third tier player with a scintilla of international quality. Kenny is a comedian and his backers are sounding increasingly like cult followers. Wake up, he’s leading us to a footballing Armageddon.

[paul_oshea]

Agree 100% with this. It is a brave and admirable move from Kenny and surely, if nothing else, having the name "Keane" back in the squad will be a boon for players and fans alike?

Took me a while to realise you're being sarcastic here

[paul_oshea]

I like this Will Keane selection, it's thinking outside the box and we just have to trust the process here.

Outside the box ? Or outside the radar ? What kind of thinking does it show?

[pineapple stu]

Hogan's a good shout actually - almost exactly the same recent goalscoring record but a division up (17 in 59 v 17 in 64).

Maguire after one good season with Preston has struggled badly for goals. I don't know is he playing deeper or what's happening, but he's getting plenty of game time but 11 goals in 106 games over the last three seasons isn't great.

Not sure what to make of these two games. The last few games have felt a bit like the wheel on Winning Streak, with the ball popping in and out of the €250k and you end up with €10k instead. Going 1-0 down to Andorra - bad. Scoring 4 in 30 minutes - progress. 0-0 away against Hungary - progress (though Kelleher in particular was very busy). Portugal away - progress. Azerbaijan at home - woejus. Serbia at home - progress? Or just very lucky?

But these two are both winnable and I think the time has come that we have to start winning winnable games. The wheel is slowing down and it's going to rest in either the €250k or the €10k between this month and next. I think that'll tell us who should be in charge for the next campaign.

[Stuttgart88]

I think Kenny is actually Boomshakalaka and picked Keane just to stir things up on footdot.

[passinginterest]

I think there's a growing expectation that defeat to Azerbaijan will be the effective end of the road. Probably in part due to the availability of an alternative like Hughton who seems to have some support among the old ex pros in the media. Interesting to note Hughton's replacement led Forest to a 3-1 away win last night.

[SkStu]

The last few games have felt a bit like the wheel on Winning Streak, with the ball popping in and out of the €250k and you end up with €10k instead. .

that is a great analogy! :D :D

[Eirambler]

Seems unlikely we'll be landing on the €250k as long as we have Kenny in charge picking Harry Arter and Will Keane. Unless maybe the €250k jackpot is actually his severance fee so that we can go out and find a more competent manager to rebuild the team.

[ColourfulPeanut]

I don't want Kenny to be sacked but if he does, I want nothing to do with Hughton.

He plays dire football and would not be a good choice to mould the young group we have at the moment.

[third policeman]

Having thought a bit more about Keane it seems even more perverse.isn’t his project all about the future? Obafemi is playing a league above Keane and offers pace and promise. The one thing a country with our resources can’t afford is blind spots (or grudges for that matter). Obafemi has delivered more than Idah to be honest but seems to be completely off the selection radar.

[passinginterest]

Obafemi has missed the last few games for Swansea with injury so don't think he was an option. Completely different type of player too.

[seanfhear]

He is Willing and Keane.

[third policeman]

Obafemi has missed the last few games for Swansea with injury so don't think he was an option. Completely different type of player too.

Fair enough, but he’s clearly not on Kenny’s Xmas card list for whatever reason. True also he’s a different kind of player to Keane - not a donkey!

[sadloserkid]

I think Kenny is actually Boomshakalaka and picked Keane just to stir things up on footdot.

This honestly makes as much sense as any footballing reason for his selection.

[Razors left peg]

Fair enough, but he’s clearly not on Kenny’s Xmas card list for whatever reason. True also he’s a different kind of player to Keane - not a donkey!

Not sure about that, he was pretty crap any time I seen him for the U21s

[Bielsa´s irish]

press conference with Kenny on YouTube, skip to 46 minutes for ten minutes of questions
He says that Will Keane has been qualified for some time now, and he has spoken to the player a few times before this call up
KApCy0hlEQQ

I would have selected a totally different squad

[Bielsa´s irish]

Randolph
Mcdermott
Kelleher

Doherty
Omobamidele
Duffy
lenihan
Egan
Clark
Stevens
Cunningham

Knight
Hendrick
Mccarthy
Cullen
McGrath
Ronan
Carey
McClean
O Dowda
Manning

Long
Robinson
Idah
Parrott
Connolly

[tetsujin1979]

I would have selected a totally different squad
so, not a totally different squad

[samhaydenjr]

Having thought a bit more about Keane it seems even more perverse.isn’t his project all about the future? Obafemi is playing a league above Keane and offers pace and promise. The one thing a country with our resources can’t afford is blind spots (or grudges for that matter). Obafemi has delivered more than Idah to be honest but seems to be completely off the selection radar.

Yeah, I think that is the biggest issue with Keane's selection - in fairness his record since his move to Wigan has been OK and he finally seems to have got his career going after an injury-hampered first eight years of senior football. But he will be 30 by the time we start another qualifying campaign and, barring a blistering six months, his record still isn't good enough to suggest that Premier League or Championship teams will be knocking down the door for him in January or even next summer. Meanwhile Anthony Scully's record is just as good and he's only 22. And if Kenny really wanted to pick a stop-gap forward, then surely Scott Hogan would be a better option, as his scoring stats since he left Villa have actually been comparable to Keane's at a higher level - plus he has some international experience already

[Bielsa´s irish]

so, not a totally different squad

if tis was my decision this would be the squad i would get to the matches and camp

it was shown that experience is more important than raw talent. i like his idea but this is coming to an end, at least we brought a few kids

D. Randolph Premier League W.H.U
S. McDermott Eliteserien Kristiansund
C. Kelleher Premier League Liverpool
G. Bazunu League One Portsmouth


C. Clark Premier League Newcastle United
S. Duffy Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion
M. Doherty Premier League Tottenham Hotspur
E. Stevens Championship Sheffield United
L. O'Connor Premiership Celtic FC
D. Lenihan Championship Blackburn Rovers
J. Egan Championship Sheffield United
J. McClean League One Wigan Athletic
G. Cunningham Championship Preston North End


J. McCarthy Premiership Celtic
J. McGrath Premiership St. Mirren
J. Hendrick Premier League Newcastle United
R. Manning Championship Swansea City
R. Johansson Eredivisie Fortuna Sittard
J. Cullen First Division Anderlecht
G. Carey First League CSKA Sofia
J. Gallagher MLS Austin
C. Ronan Premiership St. Mirren
A. McGeady League One Sunderland
J. Knight Championship Derby County






A. Connolly Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion
A. Idah Premier League Norwich City
S. Long Premier League Southampton
C. Sheridan Premiership Dundee
C. Robinson Championship West Bromwich Albion
A. Scully League One Lincoln City

[JR89]

Yeah, I think that is the biggest issue with Keane's selection - in fairness his record since his move to Wigan has been OK and he finally seems to have got his career going after an injury-hampered first eight years of senior football. But he will be 30 by the time we start another qualifying campaign and, barring a blistering six months, his record still isn't good enough to suggest that Premier League or Championship teams will be knocking down the door for him in January or even next summer. Meanwhile Anthony Scully's record is just as good and he's only 22. And if Kenny really wanted to pick a stop-gap forward, then surely Scott Hogan would be a better option, as his scoring stats since he left Villa have actually been comparable to Keane's at a higher level - plus he has some international experience already

Keane and Hogan are different players though. Take Keane out of the squad and the only players left that are comparable are Parrott and Idah. Two young players starting out in their careers so would make sense to have an experienced link up player in the squad. He's also better in the air than Hogan. Hogan is an out and out number 9 and would be more competing with Collins for a place in the squad.

Scully not getting in is disappointing because he's a young player doing well, but he'd be more competing with Connolly, Robinson, Horgan, and Ogbene. Well more so Connolly and Horgan as Ogbene just plays on the right and Robinson plays on both sides.

[tetsujin1979]

Kenny was asked about some of the absentees from the squad in the offline press conference: https://www.the42.ie/stephen-kenny-paul-mcgrath-5562204-Oct2021/

Keane’s inclusion means seven of the 25 players in the Irish squad are currently playing in England’s third tier, and Kenny was pressed on why those playing regularly at a slightly higher level, such as Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan, are being omitted, to which the manager responded that they are on stand-by.

He put Shane Long’s exclusion down to a lack of game time – he has just 23 minutes under his belt since the last camp – and was also asked directly about another trio of absentees: Darren Randolph, James McCarthy, and Ciaran Clark.

“Darren is available, he needs some games at West Ham, he’s fully fit.
“James McCarthy, he’s not playing at the moment. He’s had an injury history in the last while so it’s great for him, he played 70 minutes, he played 45, so he’s hoping to get minutes under his belt, he wants to play for Ireland. He wants to get matches before the November window.
“With Ciaran, I had a good conversation with Ciaran, we’re looking at the November window for Ciaran.”

[pineapple stu]

I think for Long, Randolph and McCarthy, it makes sense that they're not in the squad at the moment.

I don't know what the comment on Clark means to be honest. And while Maguire and Hogan are in the question, they're not in the answer - did he skip them? Did the journalist remember about them afterwards and add them to the article but forgot to ask about them?

Adding Clark, or Hogan for Keane, won't improve our squad hugely significantly; it's still crap. But if you have a crap squad, you have to call up the best squad you can, and I'm not entirely sure we've done that.

[JR89]

Clark was very poor back in March, it's no surprise that he's being left out IMO. He's poor going forward with the ball at his feet which Kenny wants his RCB and LCB to be good at, and his defending back in March especially against Serbia was poor. Was the worst of the defenders on show so no surprise he misses out when Egan was fit again and Duffy back in form.

He also only slots in at LCB, so makes more sense to have lads who can play in more than one position in that back three. You also have Stevens and Manning who can slot in if push comes to shove.

If we were playing backs to the wall defend deep he'd probably be in as it suits him, but doesn't suit him when asked to keep hold of possession more and actually try to contribute to attacks by pushing forward when in position.

Only defender you could argue that he may replace is Nathan Collins. But I doubt Collins is getting beat as easily in the air like Clark was for that third goal against Serbia. Plus Collins is a RCB, can play RB if needed and probably more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Clark.

[tetsujin1979]

Added Will Keane's playing record to the site: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/PlayerDetails?playerID=63576&seasonID=151

[Diggs246]

The Will Keane call up proves the "project" is total nonsense
Why? "Because he has a lovely weight of pass" did anyway else nearly crash the car when they heard that
Only to be trumped by Keith Andrew saying he has the Data to prove we should have won some games we lost!

[tetsujin1979]

Aiden O'Brien can probably feel a little aggrieved too, he has four goals in seven games this season, although three of them were in a league cup game against Blackpool
Keane has four goals in ten appearances, all in the league

[JR89]

Only has 118mins of football in the league. Hasn't he also played mostly on the wing so wouldn't be a similar player as Keane. Would be similar to Scully and Curtis who weren't called up. Surprised to see he's still only 27, turns 28 this Monday.

[seanfhear]

Sure tis No Harm to have a look at the Fella ~ Will Keane.

[Diggs246]

I dont think the worrying thing is the players ability or lack there of.
Its the noises from the management team over the last few years and then they pick this generations Gary Doherty ( and I'm being unfair on Doherty..let's be honest) I think this nightmare will end in Luxembourg anyway

[elatedscum]

I dont think the worrying thing is the players ability or lack there of.
Its the noises from the management team over the last few years and then they pick this generations Gary Doherty ( and I'm being unfair on Doherty..let's be honest) I think this nightmare will end in Luxembourg anyway

I haven’t seen Will Keane play, except for maybe once a few years ago, so no judgement on him but noises have always been that he has tonnes of ability but the injuries were so severe that he wouldn’t live up to the ability. You’re probably choosing between him, Shane Long, Scott Hogan, Sean Maguire and Georgie Kelly - I’d probably have shane long but in fairness, he’s not playing football... I know it’s cliched but there’s probably no harm in having 1-2 lads at the periphery of the squad who you’re looking at and giving a low leverage opportunity to here and there...

[Bielsa´s irish]

The Will Keane call up proves the "project" is total nonsense
Why? "Because he has a lovely weight of pass" did anyway else nearly crash the car when they heard that
Only to be trumped by Keith Andrew saying he has the Data to prove we should have won some games we lost!

Lovely commentary. So true yet fin and sad. This chap Kenny lives in that oldie tv show. The twlight zone. At least he brought some kids. But Kenny is demential is like those anglicana christian lousy prophets from tv. Pare de sufrir!!!

[Snapshot]

Clark was very poor back in March, it's no surprise that he's being left out IMO. He's poor going forward with the ball at his feet which Kenny wants his RCB and LCB to be good at, and his defending back in March especially against Serbia was poor. Was the worst of the defenders on show so no surprise he misses out when Egan was fit again and Duffy back in form.

He also only slots in at LCB, so makes more sense to have lads who can play in more than one position in that back three. You also have Stevens and Manning who can slot in if push comes to shove.

If we were playing backs to the wall defend deep he'd probably be in as it suits him, but doesn't suit him when asked to keep hold of possession more and actually try to contribute to attacks by pushing forward when in position.

Only defender you could argue that he may replace is Nathan Collins. But I doubt Collins is getting beat as easily in the air like Clark was for that third goal against Serbia. Plus Collins is a RCB, can play RB if needed and probably more comfortable with the ball at his feet than Clark.
Sure - and Doherty, Coleman, Egan, Duffy and Stevens haven't made mistakes.

[JR89]

Sure - and Doherty, Coleman, Egan, Duffy and Stevens haven't made mistakes.

Course they have, no player to ever play can say they've never made a mistake. Egan suits how Kenny wants his CBs to play and Duffy is playing week in week out now in a team that play a more possession based style than us but plays in the middle of the three whereas Clark plays on the left.

Unfortunately for Clark he doesn't suit the way he wants the CBs either side of Duffy to play, and he's not a better defender than Duffy whose been moved into centre of the three for both club and country now. Duffy doesn't play Egan goes back into the middle, and Omobamidele will move over to left (whose showed he's more comfortable going forward with the ball) with Collins coming in at RCB.