U-21 starting XI announced

[tetsujin1979]

From fai.ie:

The Ireland team to play Cyprus in the U21 European Championship tie in Larnaca on Friday at 2 pm was announced by manager Don Givens as follows:

Wayne Henderson (Brighton & Hove Albion);

Keith Keane (Luton Town), John Fitzgerald (Bury), Paul McShane (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marcus Painter (Birmingham City);

Willo Flood (Coventry City), Darren Potter (Liverpool), Joey O’Brien (Bolton Wanderers), Aiden McGeady (Celtic);

Stephen Ward (Bohemians), Jay Tabb (Brentford),

Strong midfield, but I have to say the rest of the team looks decidedly weak, bar Henderson and McShane.

Is commentary available anywhere - kick off is 2pm our time, 4pm local time. Should still be really hot, but not as hot as earlier in the day

[pete]

Does this leave a bench like this?

Darren Quigley U.C.D
Kevin Derry Derry City
Henry McStay Portadown
Alan Sheehan Leicester City
Gary Dicker U.C.D
Glenn Whelan Sheffield Wednesday (is he injured?)
Roy O’Donovan Cork City
Karl Bermingham Burnley

Does Givens just call up eL players to sit on the bench?

[Poor Student]

Is Henderson the lad who will be too old after the Swiss game? Why not start young Darren Quigley off? Will this be on Sky?

[Dodge]

Does Givens just call up eL players to sit on the bench?

Ward's starting

[Poor Student]

I've looked on Sky and RTE schedules and this doesn't appear to be on TV or radio.

[pete]

Givens comments make no sense. He says qualification not the main goal but when qualification hopes gone he brings in new young players & leaves older players out. However Givens doesn't leave ALL the older players out...

Henderson, Potter, Whelan, Flood & Tabb will all be 22 next year.

Is there any wonder Givens has only ever managed young players. Imagine him managing a club team

[Poor Student]

I really don't see the point in Henderson. He's old and not very likely to step up to senior level. Quigley is very young and full of potential and there's nothing at stake.

[Stuttgart88]

I really don't see the point in Henderson. He's old and not very likely to step up to senior level. Quigley is very young and full of potential and there's nothing at stake.

I think Deeney is probably better than Henderson myself but I think he has started every game but one for Brighton this year, keeping Blayney, a Norn Iron senior international squad member and Premiership stand-in, on the bench. By & large Henderson has done well so I wouldn't rule him out. Many Irish underage keepers have faded into oblivion (Alex O'Reilly) but I wouldn't call time on Henderon yet.

I don't know Quigley I admit. Is he as good as Flash Brogan or Charlie McCormick?

[eirebhoy]

Does Givens just call up eL players to sit on the bench?

He calls them up because of the stick he's been getting. If he felt they were good enough they'd be in the team.

Midfield very attacking though. Potter-O'Brien is as attacking as Lampard-Gerrard.

BTW - surely the right back of Luton is Kevin Foley, not Keith Keane? I could be wrong though.

[pete]

Don Givens should pick his strongest squad/team for every competitive game & leave friendlies for trying out new players. If eL players are good enough they should be picked too (any that have played in recent years have always been as good & usually better than UK based alternatives).

I'm just waiting for Don Givens to take credit for Kevin Doyles progress when/if he gets an international cap when the truth is he dropped him for some games.

[tetsujin1979]

I'm just waiting for Don Givens to take credit for Kevin Doyles progress when/if he gets an international cap when the truth is he dropped him for some games.

He does that for any player that comes through the U-21 ranks to play for the senior side (Miller, Reid, Barrett most recently). It's the whole reason he's still claiming to be right for the job, that he's to produce players for the senior side, not get results. Which is about the dumbest thing anyone has said in football. Anywhere. EVER.

[Troy.McClure]

The fai site has him down as helping Clinton Morrison get to the full team. Didnt the Clint only play 2 u21 matches? And even then that was only to regester him as Irish!

[tetsujin1979]

1-1 at the moment according to livescores.net. Dunno who scored though, not listed.
Even with the inexperienced back line, conceding against Cyprus is pretty pathetic.

Hmm, still 0-0 according to Sky Sports. Nothing on aertel. Can't trust anyone these days!!

[tetsujin1979]

It's actually 1-0, heard the update at 3 on 2fm. Pretty pathetic game according to the reporter. Goal came from a mistake by McShane.

[Stuttgart88]

83 mins gone. Flood scored to make it 1-1 after 76 mins.