WC squad

I know its early but teams and squads don't usually change too much from the qualifiers to the actual WC final's. if we do qualify for the world cup, what 24 players would be going? You'll have to predict whether you think the younger players will be regulars by then.

GK:
Given
Kenny
Stack

D:
O'Shea
LB (Maybury, Harte, Clarke - could be playing prem football by then)
Finnan
Carr
Cunningham
Breen
Dunne
O'Brien

M:
Duff
A. Reid
McGeady
Flood
Keane
Kilbane
Kavanagh
Quinn
Holland (i suppose...)

F:
Keane
Morrison
Elliott
FC (Macken / Connolly / Lee / other)

I know we have to qualify first but I'm bored. Maybe Stephen Kelly will be in there, if so I'd have Finnan as a left back option.

To be a bit pedantic, is it not 23 players? A first team, a reserve team plus an extra keeper I think. If so, I reckon....

GK

Given
Kenny
Stack

Defenders

Carr
Finnan
Cunningham
O'Brien
O'Shea
Dunne
Breen
Clarke, Heary (He'll be a cl player by then :) ) or Kelly depending on development, Kelly more than likely as he looks like he could be a first team regular by then.

Mid Field

Duff
Keane
A Reid
Kilbane
McGeady
Flood
Kavanagh
S Reid - though as lowly as I rate Holland I can't see him being left out so more than likely he'd take Reids place.

Forwards

Keane
Elliot
Morrison
Yeates, I'm very confident he'll make the break through, Jol seems to rate him very very highly.

Obviously depends on who actually realises their potential and what injuries we're looking at. Oh, and if we qualify :)

Yeah, your right its 23 but Kerr brings 24 for the qualifying matches.

And extra points for predicting the player(s) who will miss out through injury or suspension ( unlikely ). Remember Brady & Lawerenson missed Euro '88. Whelan pretty much missed Italia '90, he traveled but wasn't very fit. Quinn missed USA '94 and Carr missed out on Japan-Korea. Duff? :eek: Given :eek: :eek: :eek:

Pretty tough to pick this far out. Like you lot have already mentioned, the squad is likely to be fairly similar to what we have now. There is usually one or two that might force themselves into the reckoning in the season leading up to the World Cup (05/06 in this case), but it is rare for them to make the starting XI. Of the new possibilities to make the starting XI, I suppose those breaking through at the moment or on the fringe at this stage are probably the safest bets. I’d put Dunne, Elliott, McGeady in the possible starting XI category and squad possibilities are Stack, Flood, Yeates, Joey O’Brien, Glenn Whelan, Sean Thornton and possibly a few more. A lot will depend on these guys getting regular first team football at the top level or standing out in a good side in League Championship or Scottish Premier League.

For the record, my selection at this early stage would be:

Goalkeepers

Shay Given
Paddy Kenny
Graham Stack

Defenders

Stephen Carr
Steve Finnan
John O’Shea
Ian Harte
Kenny Cunningham
Richard Dunne
Andy O’Brien
Richard Dunne
Gary Breen

Midfielders

Roy Keane
Kevin Kilbane
Graham Kavanagh
Matt Holland
Andy Reid
Aiden McGeady
Damien Duff
Alan Quinn

Forwards

Robbie Keane
Clinton Morrison
Stephen Elliott
Johnathon Macken

It would be nice to see the following team line out for our opening match (I have changed the clubs of some players in the hope that they might have moved by the time the match comes around):

Given (Newcastle), Carr (Spurs), O’Shea (Man Utd), Cunningham (Birmingham), Dunne (Man City), Roy Keane (Man Utd), Kilbane (Everton), Andy Reid (Spurs), Duff (Chelsea), Robbie Keane (Spurs), Elliott (Sunderland)

Subs: Kenny (Sheffield Utd), Finnan (Liverpool), O’Brien (Aston Villa), McGeady (Celtic), Holland (Charlton), Morrison (Birmingham), Macken (Man City)

With any luck Sunderland and Sheffield Utd might be back in the Premier League and players like Paddy Kenny, Alan Quinn, Sean Thornton and Stephen Elliott might be performing at the highest level week in week out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kevin77

Subs: Kenny (Sheffield Utd), Finnan (Liverpool), O’Brien (Aston Villa), McGeady (Celtic), Holland (Charlton), Morrison (Birmingham), Macken (Man City)

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Don't forget in a world cup everyone who doesn't start is a sub, technically Roy Keane was a sub in all of our games in 2002.

Yeah my one would be

1Given
13.Kenny
23.Stack

2.Carr
3.O Shea
4.Cunningham
5.O Brien
12.Finnan
14.Dunne
15.Breen
20.Maybury/Harte/Doherty

6.Keane
11.Kilbane
7 Duff
8.Holland
16.A. Reid
17.Kavanagh
21. S Reid/Mc Geady
22. W Flood

10.Keane
9.Morrison
18.Elliott
19.Mc Geady/Lee/Connolly/Doherty

Not going to rock the boat too much on this one, the majority of the squad picks itself at the moment (assuming everyone is fit and not suspended)

Goalkeeper:
Given
Kenny
Stack

LF:
O'Shea
Maybury

DC:
Cunningham
O'Brien
Dunne
Breen

RF:
Finnan
Carr

LM:
Duff
A. Reid

CM:
Roy Keane
Kilbane
Holland
Kavanagh

RM
S. Reid
McGeady

CF:
Robbie Keane
Morrison
Elliott
Connolly

Waiting list (in no particular order) :
Murphy - Colgan's not going to be in the running
Kelly - If Carr is unfit (which would be tragic)
Yeates - Pushing more and more into the Spurs side
Flood - Pushing more and more into the Man City side
Healy - outside chance at best though
Miller - needs to be a regular for Man Utd at the time though

I dunno lads..... I wouldn't be at all surprised if Cunningham has been displaced by the time the World Cup comes around. He's really looking his age lately.

Football is cruely ironic as well. Keano's not getting any younger either. What's the odds on Keane making a huge contribution getting us there, but then missing out due to injury....or old age.

If we do make it I'll be surprised if we start a game with two 35 year olds in the first eleven.