If we're talking about midfielders, aren't we forgetting about the likes of Stephen Quinn and Darron Gibson? If Gibson, who is now 29, can remain injury-free over the next few years, I think he still has plenty to offer.
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Ryan Giggs discussing Bale and the big game in Dublin. BBC Football
Giggs said Bale's return to action is a "massive lift" for Wales for the World Cup qualifier against Group D leaders Republic of Ireland in Dublin on 24 March.
"You want to be going into that game with Gareth fully fit, scoring and playing well for Real Madrid," Giggs said.
"He's such a big player for Wales and the Republic of Ireland wouldn't want him turning up in Dublin that night.
"He's always the one that can make the difference. He's done it time and time again and when the pressure's on him to produce, he produces."
Giggs played alongside Bale when Wales lost 1-0 to the Irish in a Euro 2008 qualifier at Dublin's Croke Park in March 2007.
The Republic, managed by Martin O'Neill and assisted by Giggs' former United team-mate Roy Keane, are four points clear of third-placed Wales.
"The Republic, time and time again, come up with big results," Giggs said.
"There's a lot at stake and whoever wins that game will then have the confidence to push and try and qualify."Comment
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Just to bring you up to date, we're debating which Championship players (plus the Aberdeen duo) with five or fewer caps should be blooded into the team against Iceland, where we have a particular opportunity to look at new options, as it follows a qualifier rather than leads up to it - Gibson and Quinn have enough caps (27 and 18 respectively) that we pretty much know what they bring to the team. This is the list of players who fit my criteria
GOALKEEPERS
Robert Elliott, Mark Bunn
DEFENDERS
Aidan White, Corey O’Keefe, Tommie Hoban, Derrick Williams, John Egan, Tom Field, Damien McCrory, Greg Cunningham, Matt Doherty
MIDFIELDERS
Harry Arter, Adam Hammill, Stephen Gleeson, Darragh Lenihan, Alan Judge, Callum O’Dowda, Sean Scannell, Eunan O’Kane, Daryl Horgan, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Liam Kelly, Anthony Forde, Connor Ronan, Jonny Hayes, Conor Hourihane
FORWARDS
Scott Hogan, Lukas Jutkiewicz, David McGoldrick, Joe Mason, Adam RooneyComment
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I've been following your proposition no problem.
I was suggesting - in response to what you were discussing in post #29 - that Gibson/Quinn would probably be higher up the midfield pecking order than the likes of O'Kane/Hourihane/Browne/Judge/Forrester and closer to where Arter/Meyler are at present, behind Whelan/McCarthy/Hendrick/Hoolahan. It seemed that the existence of Gibson/Quinn had been completely forgotten about in the ranking of our options above, so Ronan/Kelly/Manning are still a bit further off than proposed, even if this is indeed to be the last campaign of Whelan/Hoolahan, as you suggest.Last edited by DannyInvincible; 22/02/2017, 3:00 AM.Comment
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Ah...I see - as you hadn't commented on the last page, I honestly thought you had just missed the start of the discussion. Still though, as these lads are still young and have just broken through, by the time the next qualifiers roll around one or more of them may have jumped right up the pecking order so the question is: which friendlies do we use to try out players based on future potential and which do we use to give fringe players a run-out and use for fine-tuning? I would say the game against Iceland does give us some opportunity to look at new options as it takes place after the Wales qualifier, whereas the Uruguay friendly before the Austria is more likely to be used to give more time to players like Gibson and Quinn. And we can blood in a whole bunch of players in our inevitable summer friendly against our arch-nemesis, Oman. We do have a lot of young players coming through right now and it is important to evaluate them and to get them ready for competitive games by giving them some game-time in friendlies.Last edited by samhaydenjr; 23/02/2017, 12:57 AM.Comment
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I completely agree with you. The Iceland game should be used for experimentation and to test less-experienced players. I didn't mention Gibson/Quinn because I thought they should feature in that game; the only reason I mentioned them is because they had been completely omitted from the overall midfield hierarchy for some reason. I assume they were simply forgotten about, but it's no big deal otherwise.
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 23/02/2017, 1:34 AM.Comment
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i think hogan is unlikely to be involved even if selected/interested due to injury. i don't really expect any new faces in the squad... unless egan has not been called up before?Comment
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We lost to Wales 7-1 in 1882 according to this. Anyone know who was in the squad that day?
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1882 match played in atrocious weather in Wrexham with Wales running out 7-1 winners.
The newspaper print is a bit dodgy in a couple of cases but the Irish team looks like -
McAlevy (Cliftonville) (captain)
Cone (Distillery)
Hastings (Knock)
Martin (Cliftonville)
McWhy (?) (Knock)
Davison (Cliftonville)
Condy (?) (Distillery)
Dill (Knock)
Sinclair (Knock)
Johnstone (Distillery)
Hamilton (Knock) (goalkeeper)
Apparently Hamilton kept the score down in goals for the Irish.Comment
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Knock Rovers, Knock United, Knock Rangers, Knock Celtic, Knock Town, Knock Wednesday, Knock Off? Any more details? Never heard of them never mind having 4 internationals ?Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.Comment
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Mon the Town!Comment
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Connor Ronan to miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his back, just announced today so you can take him off the list. http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/39064624Mon the Town!Comment
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The guy who made that site has a whole host of stuff to his name, particularly as regards Northern Irish football https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mooretwin A piece could now to be added in relation to internationals who played for Knock FC.Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.Comment
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In a thread titled
Republic of Ireland v. Wales - Friday, 24th March 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier
why is there all this talk about a lower grade intl friendly, which will in all likelihood be of minimal value in the scheme of things, a bone thrown to the squad members of both countries.
It's as if the focus is distorted.
This match against Wales is the most important game in our modern times, pretty much automatic world cup qualification is the glittering prize on the table waiting to be grabbed and winning this game will put Ireland in the driving seat and firm favorites for that prize.Comment
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On one hand, it's not like it's this Saturday Geysir but on the other hand, I do see your point. This place has changed with all the defections.Comment
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