Republic of Ireland V Belgium - Saturday, 26th March 2022 - Friendly

[ifk101]

Well he's in the squad now, so it's a possibility.

[paul_oshea]

So if kelleher performs well and we dont concede a goal in the two games, does the jersey become his now? Swing does the pendulum or something like that.

It'll be interesting to see how rigid Kenny is when he has set on a player( i dont mean a set like a randolph set :) ).

[Jd2793]

So if kelleher performs well and we dont concede a goal in the two games, does the jersey become his now? Swing does the pendulum or something like that.

its an interesting question. bazunu has more than enough credit in the bank to keep it but i do feel in an ideal world CK would be SK's no1. Would be harsh on Bazunu though.

[pineapple stu]

Talbot isn't a serious option. But O'Leary is, that they've lost two of the three keepers means they now need a serious option in case anything happens to Kelleher, so he's in.
Yeah, I don't see a harm in giving O'Leary the second half against Lithuania. I'm assuming that'll be a game similar to the recent Qatar game or, to a lesser extent, the Azerbaijan/Luxembourg games. I hope that's not presumptive!

[ifk101]

Is Kelleher available? The FAI posted a squad training video yesterday and Kelleher wasn't in it. So if Talbot performs well and we dont concede a goal in the two games, does the jersey become his now? Swing does the pendulum or something like that.

[tetsujin1979]

it's a pretty inexperienced squad, 468 caps in total, with McClean, Coleman, Duffy, and Hendrick taking up more than half of those
1506946970316939271

[Stuttgart88]

Yeah, I don't see a harm in giving O'Leary the second half against Lithuania. hang on! You persistently express doubt about Bazunu but now your preferred keeper has an uncontested run at the shirt and you're suggesting we don't fully use the opportunity and give it to a guy who at best is 4th choice so has virtually no chance of representing us in a competitive game if the Holy Trinity stay fit?

[ColourfulPeanut]

It's mad that Coleman has 25 fewer caps than McClean.

[tetsujin1979]

Coleman did miss more than a year of international football when he broke his leg, that would account for a lot of those 25 caps

[pineapple stu]

hang on! You persistently express doubt about Bazunu but now your preferred keeper has an uncontested run at the shirt and you're suggesting we don't fully use the opportunity and give it to a guy who at best is 4th choice so has virtually no chance of representing us in a competitive game if the Holy Trinity stay fit?
I don't see any harm in it. If the Lithuania game is like the Qatar game in particular, then I don't think the second half is going to make or break Kelleher's career.

[Razors left peg]

hang on! You persistently express doubt about Bazunu but now your preferred keeper has an uncontested run at the shirt and you're suggesting we don't fully use the opportunity and give it to a guy who at best is 4th choice so has virtually no chance of representing us in a competitive game if the Holy Trinity stay fit?
Kelleher is a better keeper the longer he plays no football don't ya know ��

[Fixer82]

Darren Randolph is making his pitch on instagram

Surely if he was playing week in, week out he’d be in the squad. But he’s not

[sadloserkid]

Randolph is West Ham's third choice keeper now, no? He has no business being mentioned in the discussion anymore. Kelleher will get a good test against Belgium you'd expect. Would see no harm in giving O'Leary or Talbot 30 mins against Lithuania, it's a friendly, they've turned up, why not?

[seanfhear]

Have we ever had a Max in goal before ?

[Jd2793]

Is Kelleher available? The FAI posted a squad training video yesterday and Kelleher wasn't in it. So if Talbot performs well and we dont concede a goal in the two games, does the jersey become his now? Swing does the pendulum or something like that.

top trolling

[paul_oshea]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Neither max O'Leary or Talbot are going to be wearing the green of Ireland after these couple of gsmes,just to have an experienced ball playing keeper in Randolph there in the squad would be better than those 2? And I don't buy the whole he's 3rd choice. He was rarely 1st choice when we picked him, and people didn't use that as an excuse then, so why now and mostly he did ok.

[SkStu]

It's mad that Coleman has 25 fewer caps than McClean.


Coleman did miss more than a year of international football when he broke his leg, that would account for a lot of those 25 caps

its interesting - - i thought McClean made his debut at a far earlier age than Coleman and that this would account for some of it but not the case at all. Coleman made his debut in 2011 (aged 22) with McClean making his debut the following year (aged 22). In addition to Tets' point where there were about 10 caps that Coleman would have missed out on in 2017/18, i would be interested in seeing minutes played as i would imagine that McCleans cap numbers are fairly padded by substitute appearances.

[elatedscum]

its interesting - - i thought McClean made his debut at a far earlier age than Coleman and that this would account for some of it but not the case at all. Coleman made his debut in 2011 (aged 22) with McClean making his debut the following year (aged 22). In addition to Tets' point where there were about 10 caps that Coleman would have missed out on in 2017/18, i would be interested in seeing minutes played as i would imagine that McCleans cap numbers are fairly padded by substitute appearances.

Jimmy Mac never misses a game. He’s specifically travelled and played when his club felt he was injured. He’s played in the American tours where senior players were given time off for holidays, just because he’d rather be there than anywhere else. Meanwhile, Seamus had a serious injury and an Everton medical department, both under Martinez and Koeman, who were very keen to pull him from international squads whenever possible, much to Roy Keane’s frustration

[seanfhear]

Jimmy Mac never misses a game. He’s specifically travelled and played when his club felt he was injured. He’s played in the American tours where senior players were given time off for holidays, just because he’d rather be there than anywhere else. Meanwhile, Seamus had a serious injury and an Everton medical department, both under Martinez and Koeman, who were very keen to pull him from international squads whenever possible, much to Roy Keane’s frustration
Didn’t Trapattoni leave Seamus out of numerous squads ( never mind the team ) in what was quite, bizarre decisions ! !

[backstothewall]

Yeah, I don't see a harm in giving O'Leary the second half against Lithuania. I'm assuming that'll be a game similar to the recent Qatar game or, to a lesser extent, the Azerbaijan/Luxembourg games. I hope that's not presumptive!

I'd start him and throw Talbot on for the last 25 if the game is in the bag. Talbot might not be a serious option now, but he's young for a goalie. Maybe someone in league one is looking for a goalie and sends a scout over to Bohs off the back of seeing him do something decent in an international.

[elatedscum]

Didn’t Trapattoni leave Seamus out of numerous squads ( never mind the team ) in what was quite, bizarre decisions ! !

Pretty much at the same time as he left McClean out. They were our two in form premier league players and didn’t really get a look in until after euro 2012

[elatedscum]

What's the point though - when are we ever going to be missing all three of Kelleher, Travers and Bazunu and find ourselves needing to call on Jack Bonham or Max O'Leary? We'd nearly be just wasting their time calling them up to sit on the bench. Might as well give the call up to someone like Talbot, even though he's obviously not a serious option he can be the designated "fourth choice" who can come in and sit on the bench whenever one of the other three are unavailable. Almost like a training keeper that the likes of Liverpool tend to sign these days, he's not really there to play in matches.


Initially, I thought the best thing to do would be to give Caoimhin the two 90mins. I'm wondering now if there is merit in giving O'Leary or Talbot minutes?

If we had a goalkeeping crisis and all three of Bazunu, Kelleher and Travers were out then we would need to call on these lads, would we?

Well, if that crisis did arise and we needed a safe pair of hands then we ought to be calling Randolph. But it looks like Kenny is completely opposed to that thought. Hopefully he's never in a situation whereby he regrets this.

We’re only a badly timed Kelleher injury away from losing all three, which if you follow Caoim's career, feels like a near certainty. We had our last similar goalkeeping crisis like this exactly a year ago where Westwood, our only championship keeper, was asked about a call up, but was injured. Kelleher and Randolph, then second and first choice were both injured.

For me there are tiers of keepers:

Bazunu
Kelleher
Travers

Randolph
O’Leary
McDermott (could be tier 2 or 3)
Bonham (could be tier 2 or 3)

Lawlor
Pym
Talbot
O’Hara
Elliott
Westwood

[seanfhear]

Pretty much at the same time as he left McClean out. They were our two in form premier league players and didn’t really get a look in until after euro 2012
Seamus’s high level potential ( and eventual achievement ~ though eventually badly affected by a serious injury ) was far higher than James McCleans and really, it is unforgivable that Seamus was not in more of Trapattoni’s Squads and indeed Teams. A real blind spot / mark against ~ Trapattoni.

[seanfhear]

We’re only a badly timed Kelleher injury away from losing all three, which if you follow Caoim's career, feels like a near certainty. We had our last similar goalkeeping crisis like this exactly a year ago where Westwood, our only championship keeper, was asked about a call up, but was injured. Kelleher and Randolph, then second and first choice were both injured.

For me there are tiers of keepers:

Bazunu
Kelleher
Travers

Randolph
O’Leary
McDermott (could be tier 2 or 3)
Bonham (could be tier 2 or 3)

Lawlor
Pym
Talbot
O’Hara
Elliott
Westwood
if only we had that strength and debt in every position.

[ontheotherhand]

So if kelleher performs well and we dont concede a goal in the two games, does the jersey become his now? Swing does the pendulum or something like that.

It'll be interesting to see how rigid Kenny is when he has set on a player( i dont mean a set like a randolph set :) ).

The jersey was only Bazunu's because Kelleher missed the chance to claim it. If Kelleher does well I think it would be reasonable to stick with him for a while. He's played some big games this year and done well. I still think he'd be better off playing every week and making his case for Ireland that way but that's another threads problem. We know it's really close between the 3 so whoever is fit and on form will probably get the nod and hold it if they do well. Which is how it should be with 3 inexperienced keepers I think. I'm a big Bazunu fan but I wouldn't say he is the outright #1. We have a somewhat unique scenario.

[SkStu]

Jimmy Mac never misses a game. He’s specifically travelled and played when his club felt he was injured. He’s played in the American tours where senior players were given time off for holidays, just because he’d rather be there than anywhere else. Meanwhile, Seamus had a serious injury and an Everton medical department, both under Martinez and Koeman, who were very keen to pull him from international squads whenever possible, much to Roy Keane’s frustration

Absolutely yeah, that does explain it too ES. Pretty much every year, McClean had a cap or two more than Coleman in the same year (with the obvious injury year exception). I do still wonder if the difference in "total minutes played" would amount to 25 caps/games worth.

[joey B]

Absolutely yeah, that does explain it too ES. Pretty much every year, McClean had a cap or two more than Coleman in the same year (with the obvious injury year exception). I do still wonder if the difference in "total minutes played" would amount to 25 caps/games worth.

According to transfermarket McClean has 32 sub appearances while Coleman has only 2,hopefully I’ve read that right….

[ColourfulPeanut]

You can't pull Bazunu when he's never been anything but excellent for us and is excelling at club level, just because Kelleher does well in two friendlies. That's not how it works.

Kelleher's next game after Lithuania would more than likely be the June internationals. You can't drop Bazunu for a player that won't kick a ball a club level between now and June.

[ontheotherhand]

You can't pull Bazunu when he's never been anything but excellent for us and is excelling at club level, just because Kelleher does well in two friendlies. That's not how it works.

Kelleher's next game after Lithuania would more than likely be the June internationals. You can't drop Bazunu for a player that won't kick a ball a club level between now and June.

I think this is a different scenario and it wouldn't be pulling Bazunu. He's out. It's unavoidable and it opens a door. That's football. Kelleher was more than likely Kenny's first choice until he became unavailable and Bazunu stepped in to do well and hold the jersey.

If Bazunu was playing week in week out at EPL level I'd agree completely. But the reason there's a 400 page debate on our 3 best keepers elsewhere is that this isn't cut and dry. We don't have a truly established senior #1, nor has Bazunu been completely faultless. He's been astoundingly good for a 19 year old keeper who's highest level so far has been L1 but that doesn't mean we should ignore a potentially better option. Bazunu's form for Portsmouth recently hasn't all been good either. He seems to have righted the ship with a MoTM display last week but there was a patch before that that wasn't brilliant.

We have the luxury of 3 very promising keepers who all need to play so we shouldn't miss the chance to give them a run when the opportunity presents itself, particularly as we don't have Euro or WC games coming up for quite a while. From what I've seen of Kelleher so far, he isn't perfect but he's very, very good. Now I still think there's a big question around his ability to sustain performances over a season.....but international games aren't the same. Randolph did fine when we needed him despite not playing. Kelleher did well when Liverpool needed him against Chelsea and in the League Cup.

I still think Kenny may believe Bazunu is the better keeper all round. I think he might be too. I'm in the Bazunu camp on the other thread. So maybe he does keep the jersey. But surely you wouldn't be entirely shocked if Kelleher comes in, keeps Belgium out with some world class saves, picks up two clean sheets and then goes on to play in the Nations League?

[ColourfulPeanut]

I would be entirely shocked if Bazunu isn't playing in June if he's fit at this point. I don't really have a preference for either but Kelleher's lack of playing time irritates me.

You don't just drop your #1 keeper at international level off the back of the #2 doing well in a friendly. Bazunu hasn't put a foot wrong for us and I think it'd be mad to drop him for a keeper who's not going to kick a competitive ball for 3 months after Tuesday.

[Kingdom]

I would be entirely shocked if Bazunu isn't playing in June if he's fit at this point. I don't really have a preference for either but Kelleher's lack of playing time irritates me.

You don't just drop your #1 keeper at international level off the back of the #2 doing well in a friendly. Bazunu hasn't put a foot wrong for us and I think it'd be mad to drop him for a keeper who's not going to kick a competitive ball for 3 months after Tuesday.

isn't that what happened to Randy?

[sadloserkid]

isn't that what happened to Randy?

His entering semi-retirement, seemingly with good grace, didn't help his cause either to be fair.

[ColourfulPeanut]

isn't that what happened to Randy?
Randolph was 34, didn't suit the style of play and decided to go sit on the bench for the rest of his career. Not really similar!

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Randolph never let us down. The way he's been treated leaves a sour taste in the mouth. He deserves more respect than that.

[2 Year Contract]

Randolph never let us down. The way he's been treated leaves a sour taste in the mouth. He deserves more respect than that.

If that’s the criteria for a call up maybe we should call up David Forde seen as he never let us down either and hasn't played a minute less than Randolph has this season

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

If that’s the criteria for a call up maybe we should call up David Forde seen as he never let us down either and hasn't played a minute less than Randolph has this season

David Forde has retired. Unceremoniously dumping a loyal servant such as Randolph and calling up very average keepers is poor form. Let's not forget that Randolph wasn't a regular at club level for spells when he was excellent for us.

[tetsujin1979]

its interesting - - i thought McClean made his debut at a far earlier age than Coleman and that this would account for some of it but not the case at all. Coleman made his debut in 2011 (aged 22) with McClean making his debut the following year (aged 22). In addition to Tets' point where there were about 10 caps that Coleman would have missed out on in 2017/18, i would be interested in seeing minutes played as i would imagine that McCleans cap numbers are fairly padded by substitute appearances.


According to transfermarket McClean has 32 sub appearances while Coleman has only 2,hopefully I’ve read that right….

I've got the following numbers for both players
Coleman has 61 starts, and 2 subs appearances, roughly 60 caps of gametime.
McClean has 57 starts and 31 subs appearances, roughly 62 caps of gametime

transfetmarkt has McClean on 86 caps, wikipedia says 88. Not sure what they're missing

[2 Year Contract]

David Forde has retired. Unceremoniously dumping a loyal servant such as Randolph and calling up very average keepers is poor form. Let's not forget that Randolph wasn't a regular at club level for spells when he was excellent for us.

Im aware he’s retired 3 years. That’s my whole point, he’s still played the same amount of football as Randolph has this season, a grand total of 0 minutes. As good as Randolph was for Ireland he has no god given right to be selected because of that after barely kicking a ball in the last 2 seasons. If he wanted to play for ireland that badly he’d move to a championship club and play games but he’s instead opted for the 3rd choice goalkeeper gig in the Premier League on what’s likely a much better wage. I’ve no issue with that either for what it’s worth and I’d probably do the same if I was his age but thinking he deserves a place in the squad based on his previous international reputation is crazy stuff

[Supreme feet]

We could actually put out an entire team of veterans who are still playing professionally, and don’t have much hope of getting back into the squad.

Randolph; Wilson, Keogh, Clark, Brady; McGeady, Whelan, McCarthy, S. Quinn/Pilkington, Hoolahan; Long

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Im aware he’s retired 3 years. That’s my whole point, he’s still played the same amount of football as Randolph has this season, a grand total of 0 minutes. As good as Randolph was for Ireland he has no god given right to be selected because of that after barely kicking a ball in the last 2 seasons. If he wanted to play for ireland that badly he’d move to a championship club and play games but he’s instead opted for the 3rd choice goalkeeper gig in the Premier League on what’s likely a much better wage. I’ve no issue with that either for what it’s worth and I’d probably do the same if I was his age but thinking he deserves a place in the squad based on his previous international reputation is crazy stuff

I said he didn't deserve to be treated so poorly given his previous reputation and he deserved to get picked ahead of some very average keepers who were selected. None of what you said counteracts those points.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

We could actually put out an entire team of veterans who are still playing professionally, and don’t have much hope of getting back into the squad.

Randolph; Wilson, Keogh, Clark, Brady; McGeady, Whelan, McCarthy, S. Quinn/Pilkington, Hoolahan; Long

We don't have so many good players to be discarding some so easily.

[elatedscum]

Im aware he’s retired 3 years. That’s my whole point, he’s still played the same amount of football as Randolph has this season, a grand total of 0 minutes. As good as Randolph was for Ireland he has no god given right to be selected because of that after barely kicking a ball in the last 2 seasons. If he wanted to play for ireland that badly he’d move to a championship club and play games but he’s instead opted for the 3rd choice goalkeeper gig in the Premier League on what’s likely a much better wage. I’ve no issue with that either for what it’s worth and I’d probably do the same if I was his age but thinking he deserves a place in the squad based on his previous international reputation is crazy stuff

He thinks he deserves a place more than James Talbot, who was, last time I checked, a part time footballer and working part time postman or something for An Post.

Ability alone he’s not wrong. He’s training every day at one of the 8 best clubs in England and probably 20 best in the world and he’s got a wealth of experience with over 500 career games under his belt. Even if he did move to a championship club and was playing regularly, he’d be unlikely to be more than 4th choice.

[nigel-harps1954]

Can't believe people are actually advocating for Darren Randolph here. This is all new levels of nitpicking.

[Snapshot]

Can't believe people are actually advocating for Darren Randolph here. This is all new levels of nitpicking.
Don't be ridiculous. We're playing the world's No.1 nation. Tackling the third, fourth and fifth-choice goalkeeper conundrum is crucial.

[SkStu]

Can't believe people are actually advocating for Darren Randolph here. This is all new levels of nitpicking.

We are through the effin looking glass.

This forum needs to have a long hard look at itself.

[seanfhear]

Don't be ridiculous. We're playing the world's No.1 nation. Tackling the third, fourth and fifth-choice goalkeeper conundrum is crucial.
You can’t be too careful in todays, Ireland.

[John83]

No one is discussing the 5th choice keeper. They're discusisng who will start against Belgium if Kelleher is injured or otherwise unavailable, which has been known to happen. Would those of you above like to supply us with a list of acceptable topics of conversation? Or should we leave that to Tets?

[Snapshot]

No one is discussing the 5th choice keeper. They're discusisng who will start against Belgium if Kelleher is injured or otherwise unavailable, which has been known to happen. Would those of you above like to supply us with a list of acceptable topics of conversation? Or should we leave that to Tets?
If Kelleher pulls out, the fourth choice goalkeeper will play and the fifth choice will be on the bench. Ireland to win 1-0.

[Stuttgart88]

Randolph "unceremoniously dumped" :)

[paul_oshea]

Imagine if kelleher goes off injured halfway through the Belgium game and Talbot or O'Leary step in?

It sounds like Kenny hasn't even phoned him up at the start of his reign to tell him he had other plans in the keeping department "going forward"( send me to the
gulag)

You do have to feel a little sorry for him and hope Kenny doesn't end up with egg on his face with the above scenario