Republic of Ireland V Senegal - Friday, 6th June 2025 - Friendly

[elatedscum]

Less than a month to the squad and with about half of our players off for the season, might as well make a thread for it.


Goalkeepers -


Kelleher
Travers
O’Leary


Unless there’s an injury/withdrawal, that trio picks itself, especially with Bazunu injured. Keeley and Harrington are probably next in line if there’s an injury. Would be good to see O’Leary make his debut. I’d play Kelleher against Senegal and give Travers and O’Leary 45 each against Luxembourg


Right back -


Doherty
Coleman


Doherty is guaranteed, the other slot is a question mark. Coleman is fit but not playing at the moment. In the past, we’ve played centre-halves there (O’Shea, Omobamidele, Dunne, O’Brien), so you could envisage playing one of them there. If you’re looking for an orthodox right back, you’re gonna have to look outside the box. Josh Key played in 45 of Swansea’s 46 league games, starting 39. Might be worth a look and this is as probably as good a time as any. Jon Gallagher is still plugging away in MLS. I do think we’ve probably got to be better and taking a look at lads playing over there. Sides better than ourselves have plenty of mainstays playing there and we


Centre backs -


Collins
O’Shea
O’Brien
Omobamidele
Scales


You probably have 4 or 5 call-ups, depends a bit if there’s any chance we’ll play a back 5 at any point. All of Collins, O’Shea and O’Brien are lock-ins. Beyond that, you’ve got a lot of players pushing for 1-2 slots. For me, Omobamidele is worth including given the fact he’s playing in a decent league and his age, footballing ability, physical attributes and versatility. Scales has played every game since returning from the broken cheekbone and I think it’s also useful to have a left footed centre-back in the group. In terms of alternatives, Shane Duffy seems to have had an excellent season at Norwich. Jimmy Dunne did well making his debut against Bulgaria, Mark McGuinness did pretty well against England earlier in the season, James Abankwah received his first call up in March. In terms of the uncapped, two left footers are probably just outside selection: Anselmo Garcia McNulty who recently met with HH and Eiran Cashin who made his premier league debut for Brighton but probably hasn’t done enough to get a call-up. John Egan is back playing for Hull as well.


Left backs -


Brady
Manning


To me, Brady is playing well enough that he makes the squad. Manning is playing for Southampton and did well against Bulgaria when called upon, that they’re the obvious choices. Callum O’Dowda is another option. Josh Honahan is probably next in line. Don’t really see any viable options after that - all of Joel Bagan, Will Ferry, Sean Roughan, Tayo Adamarola - none of them are ready as far as I can tell.


Midfielders -


Cullen
Knight
Azaz
Taylor
Molumby
Smallbone


Knight, Cullen, Azaz and Molumby all had good seasons in the championship. Will Smallbone had another injury hit season but hard to look past him. Jamie McGrath is injured with a shoulder injury. Lawal hasn’t had the season we would have expected him, mostly due to injuries. John Joe Patrick Finn has had a good season but you’d imagine he’s also on the outside looking in. Luca Connell still probably needs a championship move to earn a call-up - I think he’s good enough. Alan Browne is back fit - curious to see how he looks in the playoffs. Andy Moran has had another forgettable season despite looking good off the bench against England.


Wingers -


Szmodics
Johnston
Ebosele
McAteer


There’s a real lack of options here. Ogbene is injured. Adding Szmodics here because of a lack of options and he can play wide left. Ebosele is just back from injury and hasn’t played much but serious lack of options. McAteer is playing premier league football and doing well. Johnston is a guarantee as well due to a lack of options. Sykes is injured. Vata and Callum Robinson are probably the viable alternatives. Beyond that, maybe Marcus Harness.


Strikers -


Parrott
Idah
Ferguson
Cannon


Troy has had the best season and premier league teams are sniffing around. Idah has had a mixed season but he’s still scored 18 goals and did score an important goal for us against Bulgaria. Not the time to lose faith in Evan. Last spot, Cannon is the best player - but hasn’t fully adapted to his move to Sheffield United (I blame Wilder). Alli is a realistic alternative. Armstrong and Emakhu are probably next down the line. Obafemi and Connolly are very much forgotten for obvious reasons despite their talent.

[elatedscum]

Anyone I've missed? Probably need to cull 3 from the squad given the fact since HH has taken over, we've always had max 23 players in a squad

[SkStu]

I think I read that he is looking at limiting the number of call-ups for Championship players for these friendlies given the length and intensity of the season so a few of those names above may be off the list. Don't think his comments also apply to PL players but suggestions are that it will be a camp with some a few new recruits and/or underage call-ups and possibly a couple of LOI players too. We'll see.

[Eirambler]

I think we'll see a new name or two. Possibly Louie Barry, though he's still working his way back from injury, or possibly Key. AGM is another possibility. Or Finn, but I don't think he's really ready. Perhaps there will be a surprise name that we're not expecting. It seems like an ideal opportunity for HH to court favour with the support by calling in a domestic based player. Honohan would be my guess on that front.

He's presumably going to have to call up at least some Championship players, as our squad would be fairly thin looking without them.

[elatedscum]

I think we'll see a new name or two. Possibly Louie Barry, though he's still working his way back from injury, or possibly Key. AGM is another possibility. Or Finn, but I don't think he's really ready. Perhaps there will be a surprise name that we're not expecting. It seems like an ideal opportunity for HH to court favour with the support by calling in a domestic based player. Honohan would be my guess on that front.

He's presumably going to have to call up at least some Championship players, as our squad would be fairly thin looking without them.

The obvious one to miss out would be Knight and maybe Cullen too. Here's a list of the minutes played this season including internationals. The * refer to the number of games they've got left this season. Just did the 26 lads I mentioned but could also dive deeper:

Knight 4861*
Cullen 4336
O’Leary 4320*
Collins 4085***
Azaz 3861
O’Shea 3743***
Parrott 3685***
Molumby 3020
Scales 2876****
Cannon 2710**
Doherty 2598***
Kelleher 2520***
Brady 2366
Johnston 2364
Idah 2296****
Travers 1980
Manning 1957***
O’Brien 1883***
Szmodics 1611***
Omobamidele** 1414
Taylor*** 1097
Ebosele**** 1028
Ferguson*** 935
McAteer*** 859
Smallbone*** 836
Coleman*** 320

If included, Knight will end up with over 5,000 minutes when you include Monday night and at least 45 minutes across the international break. That's a lot. It's so so much.

[tetsujin1979]

I remember a stat popping up on screen towards the end of the 2022/23 season when city played arsenal, Odegaard had planned a thousand more minutes than de Bruyne, and was barely able to play above walking speed, de Bruyne was running past him

[Eirambler]

James McCarthy was another midfielder that played an awful lot of first team football in the earlier part of his career, and he was basically finished by 30. Though he did start playing first team at 16, so that was a couple of years earlier than Knight.

[John83]

Knight isn't exactly stationary in those games either. His stamina is a big part of his game.

[elatedscum]

“I don’t think any Leicester players have had a better day than McAteer” whoever the co-commentator is on the game.

McAteer making his case for inclusion. Been very good defensively, has won some free kicks, and had a few nice attacking moments. Encouraging in a team who have been second best for most the game

[Eirambler]

Yes, watched the second half and he was popping up all over the pitch, put in a big shift. Should have been played in by Vardy for a clear shot at goal. Given there may be some Championship players rested I'd expect him to be in the squad.

[CraftyToePoke]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0430/1510363-hallgrimsson-encouraged-by-loi-with-call-ups-possible/


He attempted to arrange further friendlies to allow more opportunities in the squad but told RTÉ Sport: "We wanted and planned to have two games in early May, so next week after the end of the Championship, we planned to have games, but one of the opponents pulled out so we couldn't find a replacement.

"That was a shame ,because we would have played the Championship players then and then given them the holiday that they deserve and need.

"That was one of the reasons we wanted this May camp, to kind of split and have more open spots. In that sense it would have been more likely than not that we would have seen more League of Ireland players, but I'm not ruling it out that they will be in there in June.

"But because we failed to do the May camp, it is less likely.


I think the above was the most interesting thing said about this upcoming window so far, he wanted a very different format to it than it will end up being. If you look back over his time in charge so far, he's had very little time to work with our players, to implement anything beyond basics, and come September it will be three pressure cooker windows again before years end with a qualification campaign and expectations we are further improved and competitive into its latter stages.

What he wanted, some time with his core group, to work on them without having to prep for a competitive game and then having time to look at the next in lines & the emerging possibilities was spot on IMO and you have to wonder, could the FAI not have made sure he got that ? It wasn't so much to ask, and an opponent should have been found.

What he will get instead will probably be a load of his core group not being in this camp, sifting through the others and still be expected to deliver in September.

[Kingdom]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0430/1510363-hallgrimsson-encouraged-by-loi-with-call-ups-possible/




I think the above was the most interesting thing said about this upcoming window so far, he wanted a very different format to it than it will end up being. If you look back over his time in charge so far, he's had very little time to work with our players, to implement anything beyond basics, and come September it will be three pressure cooker windows again before years end with a qualification campaign and expectations we are further improved and competitive into its latter stages.

What he wanted, some time with his core group, to work on them without having to prep for a competitive game and then having time to look at the next in lines & the emerging possibilities was spot on IMO and you have to wonder, could the FAI not have made sure he got that ? It wasn't so much to ask, and an opponent should have been found.

What he will get instead will probably be a load of his core group not being in this camp, sifting through the others and still be expected to deliver in September.

That was mentioned on RTE the start of last week in relation to League of Ireland coverage (rather than MNT coverage) and like you, I was interested in it - but for me also because it didn't quite make sense/I couldn't understand the logistics of it/perhaps didn't quite believe it was accurate.

If the camp and friendlies were held in "early May" it couldn't feature any player in a 'top' league as they are still ongoing, and it would be outside FIFA's international window, so the choice of opponent would have been extremely limited I would imagine. This would align with his championship comments - looking to bring a group of Championship & League 1/2 players to somewhere like the Gulf or the Caribbean and play some middling teams where the gaze would be less intense than normal - but I'm not sure how that would have worked with the LOI; clubs couldn't just lose players at the whim of a MNT manager without there being some kick-back in terms of postponements etc, and how would that work with the European games and breaks coming up relatively soon after these camps anyway?
There's no reason the camp couldn't have been mid-late May.

All that being said above, the core point about 'asks' and then 'required objectives' is very fair.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, I don't see how he can say "We wanted and planned to have two games in early May" - that's a very strange comment. And I don't see as Crafty suggests that the FAI could have made sure he got it for the reasons Kingdom notes. If anything it seems two games in May would have been a complete waste of time and money.

[ifk101]

Squad announcement tomorrow.

[zero]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0514/1512762-honohan-keeley-patrick-and-phillips-in-ireland-squad/

honohan makes it in. nothing too surprising on first glance.

[Eirambler]

Not a bad squad considering most of the Championship players have been left out. No new names in terms of eligibility though. Barry was the one I had heard was maybe joining us but he's injured.

[pineapple stu]

No Jamie McGrath maybe a slight surprise given other SPL players are in. Ditto Garcia MacNulty I guess.

Main thing that jumps out is how removing the Championship players does devalue the window a fair bit (and obviously June windows are often devalued anyway). Going off wiki, I think we've left out (or not considered) Travers, Dunne, Abankwah, O'Dowda, McGuinness, Duffy, Stevens, Lawal, Cullen, Azaz, Sykes, Moran, Molumby, Browne, Armstrong, Johnston, Vata, Cannon, Robinson and Obafemi. Not all of those would have been called up of course, but you imagine you'd be wanting to get the likes of Vata and Azaz more involved, maybe even get Molumby back into the squad (limited player, but we're not exactly overflowing with options) or give Cannon another look - that sort of thing.

Having Keeley, Honohan, Phillips and even Coleman in there instead just doesn't seem worth it. The midfield of Knight, Smallbone, Phillips, Finn and Taylor must be about the worst we've ever selected. The fact we couldn't leave Brady out despite being a Championship player shows how desperate we are in that position (and you could say the same about Knight in midfield actually)

Happy to take it as an experimental squad and see how guys do, but Luxembourg looks a bit more of a banana skin now, and I have to wonder again why HH was so set on a May window given he'd surely have had a weaker squad to work with.

[weldoninhio]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/0514/1512762-honohan-keeley-patrick-and-phillips-in-ireland-squad/

honohan makes it in. nothing too surprising on first glance.

Why do RTE have Ryan Manning as a forward??

[~YTM~]

Tom Cannon not getting called up says a lot about where he's at in the pecking order given that those in the championship playoffs were only being considered for call ups.

Szmodics got called up ahead of him even though he's unlikely to be fit for the games. Plus Parrott is still yet to come back from injury and Ferguson isn't playing.

[tetsujin1979]

Why do RTE have Ryan Manning as a forward??

That's where he was named in the squad
https://www.fai.ie/latest/hallgrimsson-names-24-man-squad-matches-against-senegal-and-luxembourg/

[Eirambler]

Possibly gives us a clue as to what Hallgrimsson thinks of his defensive abilities!

[pineapple stu]

Tom Cannon not getting called up says a lot about where he's at in the pecking order given that those in the championship playoffs were only being considered for call ups.
RTÉ say "Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has elected to leave out the vast majority of EFL Championship players to aid rest and recovery in their off-season" - so that'd be why Cannon wasn't called up?

[rebelmusic]

I got to say that my excitement levels for these games is at damp squib level. I think it's really important that they win both of these to start building some belief but also getting the energy levels up for the qualifiers. Win and a draw at the very least.

[~YTM~]

RTÉ say "Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has elected to leave out the vast majority of EFL Championship players to aid rest and recovery in their off-season" - so that'd be why Cannon wasn't called up?

Players that didn't make it to the playoffs weren't selected because of the long gap between the end of the season and June. Brady being the exception but Cannon is playing in the playoffs.

[nigel-harps1954]

Why do RTE have Ryan Manning as a forward??

To be fair, he was a winger/attacker for a lot of his career until the past few seasons.

[pineapple stu]

Players that didn't make it to the playoffs weren't selected because of the long gap between the end of the season and June. Brady being the exception but Cannon is playing in the playoffs.
Fair enough - that's the opposite of what seems logical (that is, to at least leave out the guys in the play-offs as they've had a longer season).

But yeah, if that's the case then his omission is strange - though maybe it is fair to say he's behind Idah, Parrott, Ferguson and Sammy I guess.

[Fizzer]

Might have been a good chance to give Cashin a run, maybe even try him out at left full.

[~YTM~]

Fair enough - that's the opposite of what seems logical (that is, to at least leave out the guys in the play-offs as they've had a longer season).

But yeah, if that's the case then his omission is strange - though maybe it is fair to say he's behind Idah, Parrott, Ferguson and Sammy I guess.

Said in his press conference today Szmodics might not even be fit to play in Junes games and that Parrott is optimistic he'll be fit for the games.

[Kingdom]

I'm surprised that Anselmo wasn't selected, given the issues at LB. I suppose it might have been felt that picking Honohan and Anselo would have been risky, but even from a perspective of having someone for Finn to bounce off for 2 weeks.

I'm excited to see Finn get a run out. Keeley is a decent keeper and given where we're at in that regard, he could be the highest ranking *playing* keeper next season with O'Leary.

[ifk101]

That midfield is a worry, even for friendlies.

Matt Healy was an ever present for the U21s in the last campaign, ahead of Philips. Don’t know how Healy is getting on at Rovers but looked a more accomplished player than Philips. Maybe a lot has changed in six months.
And not sure about Finn. Certainly has the physical attributes but very raw from the bits I’ve seen him play.
Conor Coventry (still playing in the playoffs with Charlton) was in a HH squad before, but overlooked here?
Questionable new midfield additions imo but I suppose those selections made in the absence of options.

I know he is having a tough time of it of late, but think there is a player in Cannon and he should be in there ahead of the injured Szmodics.

[Eirambler]

Cannon might still come in but his recent form since Christmas hasn't been good enough to demand a call up.

[ifk101]

Agree Cannon cannot demand a squad position (either can Evan…), his current form has pushed him down the pecking order. Rather musings an injured player has been picked ahead of him. Feel the decision to include an injured and match unfit Szmodics is inconsistent with the decision to not select Championship players – and HH gave good reasoning for that decision. Better, imo, to give Szmodics the rest to ensure a full injury recovery and the extra time to work himself back to match fitness. But all irrelevant as we’ve going to the WC. :smile:

[Stuttgart88]

I liked HH's rationale for resting the Championship players and I totally agree. I particularly liked him saying they could do with a break now because they'll all be playing throughout next June!

In general I think HH's leadership style seems to be working. He's quietly assertive, charming and internally consistent and I think he has won over an initially sceptical press after a few gaffs suggested he wasn't in full control.

[Kingdom]

I liked HH's rationale for resting the Championship players and I totally agree. I particularly liked him saying they could do with a break now because they'll all be playing throughout next June!

In general I think HH's leadership style seems to be working. He's quietly assertive, charming and internally consistent and I think he has won over an initially sceptical press after a few gaffs suggested he wasn't in full control.

I think we could do with a better manager, and while I'm still sceptical, he is impossible not to like.

Reading between the lines of what someone in the press corps wrote yday, is that he's cutting a lot of questions out by beginning the press day with a 'lengthy monologue' which provides clarity on any selection ambiguities. That's a clever move. I would imagine also that he's got the safety net of being Icelandic and probably given some greater respect than what an Irish person who hadn't managed in England would be given. that said, he is clearly comfortable in his own skin and there's a sensibility and calmness to him in front of the media. It's half the battle.

And his comments about next Summer are clever. Very clever. Could look ridiculous after the 2nd week in September mind you, but in terms of the short-term it lights a fire under the current guys in this squad to dangle a carrot and it focusses the minds of the lads excluded for R&R.

[Eirambler]

The worry I'd have with those WC comments (because let's face it we're almost certainly not going to qualify for the World Cup) are that he might feel free to say it if he knows he's only going to be here for one campaign. Not unlike the McCarthy to Kenny shambles a few years ago I wouldn't be shocked if there's an agreement behind the scenes that Hallgrimsson is just taking this campaign and then O'Shea will get the Euros campaign. Just that we haven't been told about it this time.

Hopefully not but, even with Calamity Canham now gone, that kind of potential nonsense will concern me as long as O'Shea is still floating around Abbotstown like a ****e that won't flush.

[Stuttgart88]

Matt Healy was an ever present for the U21s in the last campaign, ahead of Philips. Don’t know how Healy is getting on at Rovers but looked a more accomplished player than Philips.Healy has started really wel I think and looks a very accomplished player who might add goals in the coming months once he finds his range. But he's very slight and maybe 5'11"(?), whereas Phillips is talller and stronger. If they were boxers they'd be different weight divisions. I think HH has commented on us lacking height and strength in the middle so this would explain it imho. Two different types of player imho.

[elatedscum]

I genuinely do like Healy but he was always about 6th choice for those two deep midfield slots in my view in the last group. So many games where Healy would be knackered and play 90 minutes. Another situation where two years down the line Jim Crawford's decisions look particularly bad.

Midfielders and minutes in those positions in competitive games (Lawal at centre back not included). This is of a total of 900 possible minutes.

1. Hodge 344
2. Finn 0
3. Lawal 90
4. Phillips 224
5. Adeeko 449
6. Healy 889

Of the four, he played. They all had slightly different attributes. Hodge had passing ability, composure under pressure and goalscoring from the edge of the box. Phillips had Molumby attributes on a much bigger frame - not technically the best or the best passer, first touch suspect at times, but could drive with the ball, fierce in a tackle and won all the 50/50s totally tenacious - better in the air and much more of a goal threat than Molumby though I'd still think Molumby is overall still the better footballer. Adeeko small, technically very good, lovely ball carrier, can turn in tight spaces and burst to break lines - probably needs a championship move to get the recognition he deserves. Healy similar to Hodge, but more limited - primarily a passer but more industrious than Hodge and more physically capable but less vision as a passer, more likely to keep things ticking over, nice midfielder all the same, very neat and tidy.

Kinda mental the way they were all handled.

[~YTM~]

The worry I'd have with those WC comments (because let's face it we're almost certainly not going to qualify for the World Cup) are that he might feel free to say it if he knows he's only going to be here for one campaign. Not unlike the McCarthy to Kenny shambles a few years ago I wouldn't be shocked if there's an agreement behind the scenes that Hallgrimsson is just taking this campaign and then O'Shea will get the Euros campaign. Just that we haven't been told about it this time.

Hopefully not but, even with Calamity Canham now gone, that kind of potential nonsense will concern me as long as O'Shea is still floating around Abbotstown like a ****e that won't flush.

Think Hallgrimson is here for the WC qualifiers unless he gets a better offer somewhere else.

[backstothewall]

I'm very much looking forward to this game.

I think this is a cracking squad. Very excited to see someone of the young players he's included make their debut against a decent quality side.

I suspect it will be Coleman's last game in Dublin, if not his last for us altogether, and that he'll pull the curtain down on his career after leading Everton out for their first game at Bramley Moore Dock. In years to come it could be a quiz question to name the Irish legend who made his debut in Coleman's last game.

[~YTM~]

I don't see Coleman going anyway. Moyes has said they're offering Coleman a new contract so he'll stick around until we're finished with the WC qualifiers and fingers crossed the tournament.

[elatedscum]

Did anyone else notice that HH kept referring to it being a 25 man squad and how those extra players were to ensure that any injuries etc we’d be covered with 2 extra players. Except it’s a 24 man squad. And he mentioned that all of Parrott, Szmodics and Festy were currently injured and Seamus, Evan and Smallbone were lacking game time.

“3 weeks is a long time and we opted to go for 25 players and select 25 players for this camp because we know some things will <corrects himself> might happen in 3 weeks”

He <Szmodics> is starting to train, we are hoping he will be ok in June but it is unlikely - that’s one of the reasons we have 25 players”

Now Seamus has picked up an ankle injury, John Joe Patrick Finn has a match 24 hours before our game against Senegal and assuming he’s correct in saying Szmodics is unlikely - we’re now down to a 21 man squad already with 2 injury doubts and 2 lads lacking match fitness

[pineapple stu]

Finn's last club game is eight days before Senegal, no?

Cannon, McGrath and MacNulty seem the obvious - possibly only? - additions if we're still ignoring Championship players outside the playoffs, and if we assume we don't want to go third tier.

[~YTM~]

Mark Sykes and Alan Browne were/are involved in the championship playoffs too.

[CraftyToePoke]

Mark Sykes and Alan Browne were/are involved in the championship playoffs too.

Sykes is banjaxed isn't he ?

Conor Coventry in a L1 final for a place in the Championship on Sunday with Charlton but so is Josh Keely so CC just didn't make the cut I guess.

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, Sykes is injured alright.

[elatedscum]

Finn's last club game is eight days before Senegal, no?


Yep. Sorry I read from someone somewhere (here, Twitter, the other place?) that it would “surely rule him out of at least the first game” or something to that effect and then checked the day of the game, saw it was Thursday and assumed it was 24 hours before rather than 8 days before

[elatedscum]

Cannon, McGrath and MacNulty seem the obvious - possibly only? - additions if we're still ignoring Championship players outside the playoffs, and if we assume we don't want to go third tier.

Kinda depends the position. I’d call up McGrath as first port of call considering the initial squad had 10 defenders and just 5 midfielders. There’s few options if you’re avoiding L1 and Championship non-play off players like you said.

McGrath
Garcia McNulty
Cannon
-
Browne
Cashin
Gallagher
Ronan
-
LOI Players

[pineapple stu]

Finn started the playoff first leg last night but came off at halftime. Don't know if it was tactical or injury-related. Neither massively encouraging I guess

[Eirambler]

Tactical I believe. Genuinely I'd have Conor Coventry in the squad before him right now based on what I've seen of both of them. Finn probably has more development in him given his age, but I'd say Coventry is better right now.

I think Hallgrimsson is playing to the gallery a bit in picking Finn, but I understand why he has done it. The longer he's left unpicked the more of a "thing" it becomes, with people building him up further into something he isn't. There seems to be a view that he "couldn't be worse than what we have", but that's doing our current midfielders a disservice.

[ifk101]

Agree with you Eirambler. There must be something about him if Reims are picking him. But looks too raw for senior international imo. Beaten on the cross that led to the Metz's goal. Has a 20cm+ height advantage on the attacker (Cheikh Sabaly) that beat him on the cross.