Republic of Ireland Squad V Armenia 3/9, Andorra 7/9

Shay Given
Keiren Westwood
Joe Murphy

John O’Shea
Richard Dunne
Sean St Ledger
Greg Cunningham
Kevin Foley
Stephen Kelly
Paul McShane
Darren O’Dea
Kevin Kilbane

Keith Andrews
Glenn Whelan
Darron Gibson
Paul Green
Liam Lawrence
Aiden McGeady
Andy Keogh
Damien Duff
Keith Fahey
Keith Treacy

Robbie Keane
Kevin Doyle
Shane Long

Code:

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NAME            CLUB                        DATE OF BIRTH  CAPS        GOALS
Shay Given      Manchester City                20/04/1976        104        0
Keiren Westwood Coventry City                23/10/1984        5        0
Joe Murphy        Scunthorpe United      21/08/1981        2        0

John O’Shea        Manchester United      30/04/1981        63        1
Richard Dunne        Aston Villa                  21/09/1979        59        7
Sean St Ledger  Preston North End            28/12/1984        12        1
Greg Cunningham        Manchester City                31/01/1991        2        0
Kevin Foley        Wolves                  01/11/1984        3        0
Stephen Kelly        Fulham                  06/09/1983        18        0
Paul McShane    Hull City                06/01/1986        23        0
Darren O’Dea        Ipswich Town                04/02/1987        2        0
Kevin Kilbane  Hull City                01/02/1977        104        7

Keith Andrews        Blackburn Rovers        13/09/1980        16        1
Glenn Whelan          Stoke City                13/01/1984        20        2
Darron Gibson          Manchester United          25/10/1987        10        0
Paul Green        Derby County                10/04/1983        3        1
Liam Lawrence        Stoke City                  14/12/1981        8        2
Aiden McGeady        Spartak Moscow                04/04/1986        32        0
Andy Keogh        Wolves                  16/05/1986        14        1
Damien Duff        Fulham                  02/03/1979        84        7
Keith Fahey        Birmingham City                15/01/1983        3        0
Keith Treacy        Preston North End        13/09/1988        1        0

Robbie Keane        Tottenham Hotspur        08/07/1980        100        43
Kevin Doyle        Wolves                  18/09/1983        35        8
Shane Long        Reading                        22/01/1987        13        3

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Only 3 strikers? I know Andy Keogh can play as a forward, but even so it's a bit depressing to see the poverty of quality options every time a squad's announced. It's fair to say that at this stage we all know what these squads will look like ...

no stokes again, banging them in for hibs. at least deserves to be in the squad.

no surprises there wharsoever

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duggie

no stokes again, banging them in for hibs. at least deserves to be in the squad.

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in the u21 squad

a lot of use he is in the u-21 squad..

I think we'll have to get used to the majority of these players for this campaign. They look like a solid enough unit but I think it will be a close call on whether we get out of the group. It would be nice to see a couple players break into the squad throughout the campaign; hopefully the first weekend of the Premiership isn't too indicative of how the rest of the season will go for Irish players because it wasn't great to be fair. These first two games are a good test and 6 points would be a big step in the right direction.

Dissapointed that McCarthy isnt in there, ahead of Treacy surely? Its worrying and lets hope its not a sign that he'll be frozen out of the panel for tougher senior games to come. Midfield is lacking in guile in the centre really especially if say Whelan were to be injured.

Up front is a major concern too. If Robbie or Doyle get injured there is no quality replacement. Stokes must be pushing for inclusion. I know hes playing for a relatively low profile team but he is talented and beginning to return on his obvious potential and would be good enough to trouble our next two opponents...

No Surprises really - Though I always find it strange that Long still manages to get in there.

Much to my disappointment also, Stokes is not included but I never expected him to. He never featured in the May friendlies nor the game last week so was unlikely to be part of the squad and certainly not ahead of Sheridan in any case (again not imo).

We cannot afford any injuries to our 5 or 6 really experienced lads - otherwise we are down to a relatively inexperienced squad.

9 Players 0-10 caps
6 Players 10-20 caps
10 players +20 caps

Also, I know it will be very early in the club season but how much football will the likes of Kilbane, Cunningham, St Ledger, O'Dea, McGeady have played as a result of injuries or their club status?

Hopefully Shay will have all his club issues resolved in the vwrey near future also. Dont want any distractions playing on his mind.

We should get 6 points from these opening 2 games but Im a little nervous we might mess it up over in Yerevan.

we absolutely have to get 6 points at all costs from these 2 games. if we dont it will just end up like the last campaign or likely even worse. cant afford to be dropping points this time.

Ditto on the lack of surprise.

I'd restrict the roles of Kilbane and McShane to motivational speaking only but who knows what Trap's wisdom will dictate come the hour.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duggie

no stokes again, banging them in for hibs. at least deserves to be in the squad.

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I don't think Trap rates him, unfortunately. Even when called up he doesn't get a look in, ala Kevin Foley.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duggie

we absolutely have to get 6 points at all costs from these 2 games.

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I'd class it as a necessity. No way can we drop points against the bottom seeds with the likes of Russia, Slovakia and Macedonia circling us.

Working from the squad selected, I'd go for relatively tried and trusted for certainly the start of the campaign.

We need to be well organised and error free at the back for the first game.

I wouldn't start McShane. I'm very nervous about the impact McShane could have, even when introduced from the bench.

Kilbane is on the last of his last legs and should take a bow and drop to the bench.

Therefore (fitness permitting)

Given

O'Shea
St Ledger
Dunne
Kelly

Whelan
Andrews
Duff
Lawrence

Keane
Doyle

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wolfie

I wouldn't start McShane.

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I wouldn't have him near the squad.

Yes, McShane continues to baffle by his inclusion. I would really like to know what Trap's exact thinking about him is - technical videos 'n all. Kilbane I understand; he may be well past his "best" but he's a senior, happy, stabilising figure in the squad. McShane though offers nothing in any position along the back four and is a consistent weakness in most matches against half-decent opposition. He's rash, thoughtless, clumsy and has terrible positioning. His defending is last-gasp and his attacking ability is ... negligible?

I can see the value of the mediocre with the likes of Whelan or Andrews, they're competent, you can't fault them for that. But McShane just beggers belief sometimes.

Sorry, rant over.

yep no surprises there as mentioned above.

We do need some new strikers to emerge on the scene though over the next couple of years. If Keane/Doyle ever got injured we'd struggle big time.

Given

O'Shea Dunne St Ledger Cunningham

Lawrence Green Whelan Duff

Keane Doyle

He won't pick Kelly or Cunningham ahead of Kilbane unless Killer needs crutches to get to the pitch ...and perhaps not even then.

Take McShane and Treacy out and replace with McCarthy and Stokes and the squad would be a whole lot stronger. I'm surprised Sheridan isn't in there after starting against Argentina.

Has Trap officially fallen out with McCarthy then? Is it another Andy Reid situation?

Both McCarthy and Stokes have managed to stop the bleeding in the u21s.

McGeady will be clocking up the air miles if he has to fly to Dublin first, to meet up with the squad.
A win in Armenia would settle our group nerves immensely.
A draw there means a prolonged struggle in the group before meeting an inevitable cruel fate.

3 points is a must - we have to stop resigning ourselves to bland draws against these lower seeds & hoping to chip our way slowly into tournaments. You didn't see Spain or Holland making do with away draws - they set out to win every game and generally they do.

I say stop thinking long-term, across the whole campaign, and start playing like the next game is our last. 6 points in september, win as many games as humanly possible and oh look, we finish top of the table with room to spare.

So to hell with a draw - Ireland have to win the game or else we lose all right to talking about being worthy for tournaments when we're drawing against Ar-bloody-menia.

The papers quoted Tardelli as being disappointed in Stokes' performance in the U21 game, saying he took too much out of the ball and that it was all about him enjoying himself on the ball rather than playing for the team. Brady damned him with faint praise in the press too.

"Andy Keogh can also play as a forward". Sorry, he is a forward, full stop. He plays no other position in club football. That makes 4 forwards. Realistically Keane & Doyle will probably both play 90 minutes in each game, maybe Doyle coming off on 75, and if there's an injury a new player will be called up.

McCarthy was awarded 4/10 in the papers I read last Sunday after Blackpool beat Wigan 4-0. Not Man United, Blackpool. We have better players in central midfield at the moment in Whelan, Andrews, Green and Gibson. Fahey can play there too.

Treacy is an orthodox winger so comparing Treacy to McCarthy is pointless. Treacy is Stephen Hunt's like-for-like replacement in this squad.

I'm interested that neither Folan nor Best figures - injured or out of favour?

McCarthy & Stokes could be in the squad but it's probably best that they are in the U21s.

Ciaran Clarke 20 Aston Villa, his father is from just outside Letterkenny in Co Donegal, his grandmother lives just outside the town in manor, played last weekend, I know he was captain off Englands under 19 team but certainly a fantastic prospect that we should be going after. Time to let Kilbane and McShane go out to pasture. They are not the future for Irish footbal, If they are its time to pack things up. We cant afford to lose players like McCarthy either. Lets not be looking back and regretting decisions made today in the future.