Republic of Ireland V Hungary - Tuesday, 4th June 2024 - Friendly

[Razors left peg]

This feels utterly pointless but I suppose there should be a new thread considering the Hungary game is only 2 weeks away.

Do we know when the squad is named? Do we know if most of the players will even bother turning up? Do we even care?

[JR89]

This feels utterly pointless but I suppose there should be a new thread considering the Hungary game is only 2 weeks away.

1) Do we know when the squad is named? 2) Do we know if most of the players will even bother turning up? 3) Do we even care?

1) I'd assume could be the start of next week. A Monday or Tuesday with lads joining up on the Wednesday.

2) Hopefully there's a few lads that pull out. Might actually force O'Shea to give lads like Azaz a proper run out and O'Brien to make his debut.

3) Nope. The most boring international games are June friendlies. Especially when you didn't qualify for the tournament.

I'll check out the starting XI and see if it's worth watching. Hungary and Portugal won't care just hoping nobody gets injured and O'Shea will treat it like a WC playoff game while the players are day dreaming of going on holidays.

[pineapple stu]

Do we know if most of the players will even bother turning up? Do we even care?
It does have a bit of a feel of those summer US tours. Leagues in England will be finished for almost a month by the time the games come around. The game in Portugal in particular could be ugly if we've a B team and they've players pushing for inclusion in the Euro opener a week later (like when they beat us 5-1 in the US in 2014).

Yeah, you can hope guys like O'Brien, Sammy and Azaz are involved, but if it is a repeat of the 2014 Portugal game, then you'd have to say there could be limited benefit even then.

[JR89]

Parrott will be involved in the relegation playoff and if Excelsior make it to the playoff final he won't be able to join up with the squad until June 3rd so likely misses the Hungary match.

[tetsujin1979]

Parrott will be involved in the relegation playoff and if Excelsior make it to the playoff final he won't be able to join up with the squad until June 3rd so likely misses the Hungary match.

Currently leading ADO Ten Haag 2-0 in the first leg, Parrott with an assist on the first goal
Second leg on Saturday

[Razors left peg]

Theres one thing and one thing only I want to see from these games.... does John O'Shea understand that not all football teams have to line up with 5 at the back. Sounds like a very basic thing, but his inability to change the shape in the other 2 games is what killed my hope that he could be a decent manager.

Im not convinced at this point that he wont be in the job against England in September so I hope hes at least learned something from March. I hope he hasnt come out of a 20 year playing career and all the coaching courses he has done to decide theres only 1 formation his teams will ever play.

I dont think Im asking for much.

[Eirambler]

Squad named tomorrow. Would be nice to see a few different faces after March but I won't be holding my breath. Presumably we'll finally see Kasey McAteer in a squad if nothing else. If McAteer, O'Brien and Azaz got decent minutes over these two games it would at least mean the games had some value.

[Diggs246]

Kasey would be brilliant but unfortunately I've zero confidence in will be in the squad.

I'd like to see Azaz as a 10 with Sammie as the 9

[Crosby87]

Many are hungary for some portegese food, but not these matches

[EalingGreen]

"Chiedozie Ogbene and Nathan Collins ruled out"
https://www.the42.ie/ogbene-collins-ireland-6391140-May2024/?utm_source=twitter_short

Meanwhile, Michael O'Neill is actually a fan of these end-of-season breaks, but only for the opportunity to work with the players for 10 days - i.e. get his ideas across, integrate players into the squad etc. In this respect, the matches get in the way of his work, but he has to accept it for financial reasons (NI playing Spain on 08 Jun and Andorra on 11Jun).

[Eirambler]

And so he should be. There's a week between our two games which would have been a great opportunity for some prep work ahead of the Nations League. Sadly thrown away by Canham's ineptness.

Collins and Ogbene being out should open a clear route to game time for O'Brien and McAteer anyway. You would think.

[elatedscum]

"Chiedozie Ogbene and Nathan Collins ruled out"
https://www.the42.ie/ogbene-collins-ireland-6391140-May2024/?utm_source=twitter_short

Meanwhile, Michael O'Neill is actually a fan of these end-of-season breaks, but only for the opportunity to work with the players for 10 days - i.e. get his ideas across, integrate players into the squad etc. In this respect, the matches get in the way of his work, but he has to accept it for financial reasons (NI playing Spain on 08 Jun and Andorra on 11Jun).

So who are ruled out?

Bazunu
Collins
Egan
Molumby
Ogbene
Ferguson

Could be others I don't know about...

You'd expect the keepers to be:

Kelleher
Travers
O'Leary

Full-backs:

Doherty
Coleman
Manning
Brady

Centre halves:

O'Shea
Scales
Omobamidele
O'Brien
(Probably one other slot if he's playing 5 at the back - Duffy seems the most likely, McNally would seem the other logical choice unless someone like Bosun or Anselmo were being moved up. McGuinness and Lenihan also presumably out through injury. Outside shots would go to Clarke-Salter, Dunne, Cashin or McLoughlin or maybe a LOI player)

Centre mids:

Cullen
Smallbone
(Any suggestions? Hodge? Connell? Coventry? Kilkenny? Hodge hasn't played since the start of April. The other 3 are playing league 1)

Attacking mids: (Much more options here)

Azaz
Knight
Browne (could rule himself out, like Manning did last summer when his contract was expired)
McGrath
(the next pool probably includes Taylor, Sykes, Moran - Connor Ronan won't get a call-up but I'd love to see him get a look. Jack Taylor is definitely worth a look imo)

Wingers:

Johnston
McAteer (?)
Ebosele
O'Dowda
(I'd personally like to see Harness over Ebosele and O'Dowda. Also ring the Neil Ferrugia is finally fit klaxon)

Strikers:

Szmodics
Idah
Parrott (misses game 1)
Keane
Obafemi (wouldn't be surprised if O'Shea ignores him, considering he didn't give him minutes in the last camp)

[Snapshot]

Theres one thing and one thing only I want to see from these games.... does John O'Shea understand that not all football teams have to line up with 5 at the back. Sounds like a very basic thing, but his inability to change the shape in the other 2 games is what killed my hope that he could be a decent manager.

Im not convinced at this point that he wont be in the job against England in September so I hope hes at least learned something from March. I hope he hasnt come out of a 20 year playing career and all the coaching courses he has done to decide theres only 1 formation his teams will ever play.

I dont think Im asking for much.
You are. How did you rate Stephen Kenny after two games?

<MOD EDIT - Personal insult removed>
Attack the post, not the post. Last warning Snapshot

[JR89]

That tracker page saying two players from the U21s will be called up to train for the first time.

[Diggs246]

Is there any real proof or hope of McAteer being called up?

[Eirambler]

He was only missing from the last squad because he was injured. So again it just depends whether he's fit or not.

[Diggs246]

Thats encouraging tbf
I'm more hopeful so

We absolutely need a guy like this.

If we can some how get Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall( if he even qualifies) than we would be in good shape

[joey B]

Tom Cannon called up for the 2 games

1795454988988371042

[Exgrad]

Tom Cannon called up for the 2 games

1795454988988371042

Hasn't scored since January and played about 15minutes since March. Great stuff, now officialy crap enough to make the Ireland squad.

[pineapple stu]

Tom Cannon called up for the 2 games
That's unexpected!

Stevens recalled is a bit of a surprise too, though he's done ok at Stoke (when not injured) and earned a new contract. Ebosele or Manning not included though. Maybe giving them a rest at the end of their seasons given they only ended a few days ago.

Not sure Obafemi should really be included given how his Milleall loan went, but maybe he'll see it as a shop window. Not sure we have much better though to pad out the squad.

Don't get the need for Harrington to be included? Fleetwood reserve keeper?

No McAteer/Dewsbury-Hall/Harness/Taylor/left-field inclusion like that.

[Eirambler]

Aside from the utterly bizarre call up of Harrington, Cannon is the only interesting name in that squad. No AGM, Taylor, Lawal or McAteer. An underwhelming squad, hopefully there might be a few more calloffs to force him to shake it up a bit.

[pineapple stu]

Aside from the utterly bizarre call up of Harrington
He actually doesn't have a wiki page (at the moment).

Wouldn't surprise me if that's a first since, well, wiki was invented.

[Jd2793]

lol @ the harrington call up. horrific squad from oshea. any chance he'd call up some of the 21s instead of someone like duffy ? lawal should have been called in given our midfield options.

[Olé Olé]

Similar to the last squad, some incredibly safe decisions from O'Shea that make me hope he doesn't get the job.

Great to see Cannon in there. Wondering where we are on his teammate McAteer now. Hopefully that gets a clarification.

[tetsujin1979]

Squad stats
1795460704901693880

[Diggs246]

Yeah, McAteer played the Leicester city last game
some journalist should ask is this guy still onboard etc

[JR89]

Aside from the utterly bizarre call up of Harrington, Cannon is the only interesting name in that squad. No AGM, Taylor, Lawal or McAteer. An underwhelming squad, hopefully there might be a few more calloffs to force him to shake it up a bit.

Keely and Lawal supposedly will train with the seniors before joining up with the U21s. McAteer and Taylor yeah but not one bit surprised at anyone from the U21s not getting a call up.

Won't include Cannon in that since he hasn't played in 16 months. But JOS was always gonna play it safe with selection. An average age of 33 is what our four FB/WB selected are.

[Eirambler]

According to Transfermarkt David Harrington has played one competitive game of football since he left Cork in 2022. That was a dead rubber League 1 game last month after Fleetwood were already relegated. We have three other keepers in the squad and it's rumoured that Keeley is going to be training with them also. What on earth do we need five keepers for? This might honestly be the most mental Ireland call up since Joey Lapira.

[nigel-harps1954]

Harrington is an utterly bizzare call. If he wanted another goalkeeper, surely Jack Bonham was the obvious choice?

It's a fairly underwhelming squad but there's a lack of options out there really.

[SkStu]

Garcia-McNulty not in there for a look in the LB role makes me worry that his head is turned or he doesnt want to commit to a senior cap. Otherwise, i cannot understand him not making it.

[elatedscum]

Don't really mind the Harrington call-up, it's not like he's gonna play. There’s two possibilities to this call up: a) there's an injury concern to one of CK, MT or MOL - in which case who is the 5th choice that he’s being picked ahead of? or b) they decided they wanted to give him a call-up regardless


A) These are the other candidates for 5th choice:


Darren Randolph (3rd choice at Bournemouth)
Jack Bonham (2nd choice at Stoke)
Christy Pym (League 2 keeper)
Luke McNicholas (3rd choice at a L1/L2 club, although he has performed well in cups)
James Talbot (taking a break at his club for mental health)
Brian Maher (LOI)
Conor Kearns (LOI)
Ed McGinty (LOI/reserve at League 1)
Aaron McCarey (NI League)
David Odumosu (NI League)
Liam Bossin (2nd division Belgian league)
Sean McDermott (unattached)
Kieran O’Hara (2nd keeper in SPL)


There really isn’t an obvious international calibre keeper. I would have assumed Bonham or Randolph were the next in line but no issue if JOS / Rene Gilmartin don't rate Bonham. Equally, what's the point of Randolph?


B) he’s a guy who, since he signed for Fleetwood has spent 18 months injured, having had shoulder surgery twice. Fleetwood were only able to sign him due to the injury, Everton had already agreed a deal and Fleetwood signed him knowing the extent of his injury. He’s finally back fit and made his debut for them, keeping a clean sheet and by all accounts playing excellently. So if you’re looking for a keeper who actually has the ability to play at the level, maybe he’s your best bet. He is also eligible for Wales and prior to the injury Wales were doing all they could to convince him to play for them.


Either way, absolutely no harm at all

[JR89]

Garcia-McNulty not in there for a look in the LB role makes me worry that his head is turned or he doesnt want to commit to a senior cap. Otherwise, i cannot understand him not making it.

Or, it's John O'Shea being conservative and picking lads that he knows and played with.

[Diggs246]

Garcia-McNulty not in there for a look in the LB role makes me worry that his head is turned or he doesnt want to commit to a senior cap. Otherwise, i cannot understand him not making it.

Id say it's a poor call from O shea
He's so far away from the Spanish squad that I'd just say the manager isnt on the ball.

Did O'Shea fly over and see the lad play? I've no idea but I doubt actually

[Eirambler]

Just on Garcia-McNulty (and also Cannon) - a couple of friendly caps would make no difference to their eligibility status anyway, so no reason not to take a call up.

[JR89]

Just on Garcia-McNulty (and also Cannon) - a couple of friendly caps would make no difference to their eligibility status anyway, so no reason not to take a call up.

Does mean you have to wait three years before you can switch. So Cannon must have given up on England if he's willing to take an Irish cap this summer.

[Eirambler]

No he could play for England this autumn if he wants to. It didn't sound like JOS felt he was overly committed in his comments there, just committed to these two games basically it sounded like (though my stream was cutting out so might not have heard what O'Shea said correctly).

[Olé Olé]

Just on Garcia-McNulty (and also Cannon) - a couple of friendly caps would make no difference to their eligibility status anyway, so no reason not to take a call up.

True for you, Declan.

[JR89]

No he could play for England this autumn if he wants to. It didn't sound like JOS felt he was overly committed in his comments there, just committed to these two games basically it sounded like (though my stream was cutting out so might not have heard what O'Shea said correctly).

If Cannon gets capped next week then he has to wait until after June 2027 before he can switch.

Article 9.2, A request to change association may be granted only in the following
circumstances: Section C, paragraph V states.

"At least three years have passed since being fielded for his last
match at “A” international level in any kind of football for his
current association, whether in an official competition or non-
official competition;"

[elatedscum]

What we learnt from it the press conference...

- Festy Ebosele and Kasey McAteer are missing due to issues with their bodies this season and need for rest before pre-season but would have been called up if available (I'm paraphrasing)

- Stevens was selected over Manning

- Browne didn't take a call up due to being out of contract and fears of getting an injury (but would have taken it for competitive games)

- Travers and Cullen are getting married in the next week - as a result, Lawal and Keeley are training with the seniors till they arrive. Also mentioned Harrington in the same bit as Keeley about having enough keepers ('enough competition and numbers in training')

- The stream cut out for whatever the question was about Cannon: "...person, the conversation we had and he's looking forward to and excited to come in for these two games and let's see, I'm sure it will be the case that he will be committed" - hard to really parse the quote without the context of the quote and the start of what he replied. Even if you take out the words "let's see", the quote sounds far far more emphatic and positive.

[Razors left peg]

Much better squad than I expected, I thought much more lads would pull out to get themselves rested and ready for preseason.

Not particularly sure that Cannon did enough this season to earn a call up over Sinclair Armstrong but it at least changes the narrative around him and its good to have him on board. Obafemi hasnt done much to earn call up either tbf.

Duffy there is pointless, hes just not a good player anymore and Garcia McNulty would have a been a better choice for the future. Im also not a big fan of dopes who crash their cars drink driving.

The one I really would have like to have seen in there is Lawal. Its too soon for him really but he has enough about him that its very possible he'll be a starter for us by this time next year

[elatedscum]

The one I really would have like to have seen in there is Lawal. Its too soon for him really but he has enough about him that its very possible he'll be a starter for us by this time next year

I'd imagine, it's definitely possible if he impresses enough in training that they keep him with the seniors

[Razors left peg]

I'd imagine, it's definitely possible if he impresses enough in training that they keep him with the seniors

Yes, I only seen that hes training with the seniors from your previous post after I wrote that. Encouraging that they are taking a look at him

[Eirambler]

If Cannon gets capped next week then he has to wait until after June 2027 before he can switch.

Article 9.2, A request to change association may be granted only in the following
circumstances: Section C, paragraph V states.

"At least three years have passed since being fielded for his last
match at “A” international level in any kind of football for his
current association, whether in an official competition or non-
official competition;"

I'm up to my knees in a work thing this evening so I don't have time to fully go back through the regs, but I'm 99.999999% certain that that doesn't apply in this case. The three year wait thing only applies where a player was under 21 years old when he was capped, and where he was capped in a competitive game. Cannon has turned 21 and these are friendlies. There are countless recent examples of players jumping between nations with less than a three year gap and playing senior friendlies for both, especially between the US and Mexico.




- Travers and Cullen are getting married in the next week



Congratulations to the happy couple.

[pineapple stu]

There are countless recent examples of players jumping between nations with less than a three year gap and playing senior friendlies for both.
Including one D Rice...

[Razors left peg]

You are. How did you rate Stephen Kenny after two games?

<MOD EDIT - Personal insult removed>
Attack the post, not the post. Last warning Snapshot

Awwww were you trying to have a go at me? Do you mean Kennys first two games of his managerial career in charge of Longford? Because thats the only equivalence to O'Shea here. Unfortunately I dont remember his first games at Longford, but I do remember him getting Longford into Europe which I think we'd all agree is pretty impressive! If O'Shea can learn and adapt from his first 2 games he might be lucky enough to get a job managing someone like Longford too, because right now no one is touching him as is proven by his willingness to continue in a caretaker role rather than getting a full time job somewhere else.

[elatedscum]

Including one D Rice...

FWIW the regulations changed after Deccers defected. At his point, it was simply 1 competitive international of any type was enough to tie a player. They subsequently changed and since then, as far as I know, there hasn't been any hard cases where someone switched having already received X international caps at age Y where we can actually see the new rules in effect. So I wouldn't be too confident to the actual implications - but it's certainly possible this involves a 3 year wait...

[John83]

Awwww were you trying to have a go at me?
Come on, RLP. Tets intervened there to help keep the peace so the rest of us don't have to read petty squabbling. Don't crow, it's just trolling for a reaction. Make your points and move on.

[Razors left peg]

Come on, RLP. Tets intervened there to help keep the peace so the rest of us don't have to read petty squabbling. Don't crow, it's just trolling for a reaction. Make your points and move on.

I thought I did make my points, but fair enough I'll stop :)

[TonyD]

- Travers and Cullen are getting married in the next week

Ah, thats nice for them. Congrats to the happy couple.


(Sorry, couldn’t resist ;):D)

[Razors left peg]

Ah, thats nice for them. Congrats to the happy couple.


(Sorry, couldn’t resist ;):D)

Obviously great togetherness in the squad