Ireland squad vs Holland

Shay Given
Paddy Kenny
Wayne Henderson

Ian Harte
Steve Finnan
Stephen Carr
Stephen Kelly
Andy O’Brien
Richard Dunne
John O’Shea

Liam Miller
Steven Reid
Graham Kavanagh
Stephen Ireland
Kevin Kilbane
Alan O’Brien :eek:
Aiden McGeady
Damien Duff

Terry Dixon :eek:
Kevin Doyle
Clinton Morrison
Alan Lee
Stephen Elliott
Robbie Keane

I'm shocked with the inclusion of Alan O'Brien. He rarely made the U21 squads and has yet to start a competitive game for Newcastle. Terry Dixon is also a shock but not as much considering he was in the last squad so must have impressed.

Where are the central defenders? Surely O'Shea won't be considered for that position since he has very little experience there over the last 2 or 3 years.

Notable exclusions:
Gary Breen
Joey O'Brien
Paddy McCarthy
Andy Reid is injured afaik
any more?

I can't understand why Alan O'Brien is there either. He must have seen or heard something about him. Jason Byrne omitted, makes you wonder why he even had him in the Chile squad - obviously not in long term plans. Central defence is very light. We've got problems there!

Hmm 3 right full backs. Alan O’Brien is a left winger and with Duff and Kilbane already in the squad it seems a stange selection. I thought Liam Lawerence would have been given a chance. Looks like curtains for Breen.

A squad of 24 with only 7 defenders - Dixon and Alan O'Brien brought along for the experience?

I'm glad to see that Colgan is not our 3rd choice keeper anymore.
Looks like O'Shea is going to play in defence and if so it better be LB although I'd prefer to see Kilbane play there. Hopefully he will stay on the bench.

Surely J. O'Brien should be in the squad before Kelly? We have enough cover for RB with Finnan and Carr, at least O'Brien can also offer something in MF if needed.

I know there's not many coming through but we need to blood a few more CB's. I really worry about if either of Dunne or Andy O'Brien get injured. We have nobody else apart from Breen with expereicne in that position. O'Shea has played there a few times but he's not a natural CB. McCarthy is still a bit raw but at least he plays in that position week-in-week-out.


The rest of the squad is as expected.

Our striker options look half decent if you consider Keane, Morrisson, Doyle and Elliott as our top 4 strikers.

Oh yeah - Jason Byrne is missing, he's on a run of form at the moment it might have been better to have him in there instead of Lee or Dixon.

Dixon's is a strange one alright and if he's looking at blooding young guys in just for the experiance then he should have included Long as Dixon was involved the last time out.

Can't help but feel Stan makes his decisions based on other people's opinions a bit too much for my liking...

Some strange decisions by Staunton. Joey O Brien should be in the squad in my view. You cant be a years Premiership experience of playing well week in and week out and decent debut also.

Not to mention he's already way way better than Carr.

Where's this lad Nolan I've been hearing so much about?

Gary Breen has retired from international football, just on Sky Sports News there.

To be honest I think it was time for Breen to go but it should be Mc Carthy who is in the squad unless he think Kelly can play there as that is where he plays for the U21s but we do lack cover at centre back

Does look a bit short in the centre backs . Surely a striker could have been sacrificed for one.
Bit of a kick in the teeth to Byrne that he can be on great form since his last game where he done pretty well and still get dropped in favour Lee.

SSP are reporting Gary Breens retirement from the international game.

Stan seems to like surprises, some real eyebrow raisers in this one, and a few more equally surprising omissions.

As long as Staunton continues to pick Terry Dixon he will be a laughing stock. The guy hasn't even played a reserve game for his club.

:rolleyes:

Very harsh on Jason Byrne as Alan Lee has shown nothing to warrant a squad place.

Oportunity missed here, Joe Gamble could have been brought in, Jason Byrne, Mick Devine, even as part of training squad

i like surprises and there is no doubt there are a few in this squad selection. Time will tell and there will be a few dissapointed players out there but this is the squad for a friendly, nothing too say they cannot force their way into the Germany selection.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

Gary Breen has retired from international football, just on Sky Sports News there.

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So if Dunne and/or O'Brien get injured or lose their place in their club team (more likely to happen to O'Brien) the only player, with any international experience at CB, we have to replace them is O'Shea :eek:

Stan should have seen this ages ago and given McCarthy some time in all 3 friendly games. Graham Coughlan (eventhough he's 31) was Sheff Wed's player of the season last season. He only got 1 yellow card and no red cards in neary 40 games last season. Which shows he's not prone to making dangerous fouls like McCarthy. He should have been checked out in the last few games considering our shortages. He's not one for the long term future but he could have filled a gap for a year or two until the younger lads come through.

Hopefully these players will be given half an hour at the end of the games against the smaller teams when we are already 3-0 up :D

Maybe it's a cunning plan by Stan for him to come out of retirement and play alongside an inexperienced 21 yr old like in the Portugal and Holland games in 2001 :D

Breen's retirement seems strange because only a few months ago Staunton was saying how important he was going to be. I wonder if this morning's squad precipitated that decision. I think we're beginning to see Staunton for his true worth - a rookie in making key decisions. Germany game is less than a month away - he's going to have to change his mind on that squad IMO.

oh jaysus after all my previous optimism regarding the qualifiers in general I'm starting to get very worried if Staunton, as stated during the week, believes that this is as close as possible to his squad for Germany.

Worrying selections:

No backup CBs as mentioned: Surely McCarthy or McShane should have been brought in??
Stephen Carr: At this stage he should be surplus to requirements with Finnan deserving to be first choice RB and Kelly/Foley/J O'Brien as young replacements.
Alan O'Brien instead of Andy Reid :eek: : this just completely baffles me. Yes, Reid isn't settled at the mo but surely offers more than a man that will not get anywhere near the Newcastle first team???? Even Liam Lawrence should be given a chance instead of him????
Terry Dixon instead of Jason Byrne/Shane Long/Darryl Murphy: Nuff said

Very worrying indeed but on a positive note I think he'll probably try a S. Reid/Ireland combo in the centre which could be interesting.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by totalfootball

I agree with most of what you say in your post Dr Ogba, but I think Andy Reid has been left out because he is injured at the moment. Having said that, Staunton for some reason doesn't seem to rate Reid, so maybe I'm wrong. I hope not.

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Ooops, didn't know that, cheers! :o

But again this doesn't mean that O'Brien warrants a place in the squad, we have enough cover for left wing and it might have been more use in bringing in someone like Lawrence as he can play either side and has a full season of premiership experience under his belt...

If i remember correctly, didn't Kevin Kilbane move from left back to centre half in our last game, and i also think Stan mentioned how well he played there....

i have a feeling this is where Stan might play zinedine, you heard it here first...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dodge

Where's this lad Nolan I've been hearing so much about?

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http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?...s+Dutch+option
:rolleyes: