I think Kelleher should start tbh. There's no point giving Kelleher the easy games only to see what he's made of.
I think Kelleher should start tbh. There's no point giving Kelleher the easy games only to see what he's made of.
Even with Ukraine’s tough week I’d still have them favourites,looking at their bench the other night ,which you’d expect most of their starters would come from tomorrow,the majority are from Ukrainian clubs playing regularly in the Champions League….
I think it'll have to be Kelleher, Travers hasn't played since Serbia(his only competitive cap) putting him in against Ukraine would be a mistake, and if he doesn't play that game, he's unlikely to play against Scotland.
I know hindsight is 20:20, but playing Kelleher against Armenia really looks bad now, Kenny has effectively painted himself into a corner by selecting him. We didn't learn anything we already didn't know about him in that game. Playing Travers would have been a reward for his season with Bournemouth.
Yeah we’re the same against Scotland and I’d not put a penny on us in either game!
I don't think he's painted himself into a corner as much as simply made the decision that Kelleher is ahead of Travers (which is maybe a more conscious decision than you're allowing)
The big problem is losing to Armenia already has us under pressure. If we'd beaten them and, say, taken a draw or better from the upcoming two games, well that's a good return from the window and you could be more relaxed about making changes for the last game. But changes for the sake of it don't seem the right thing to do if we're on, say, one point from three games especially if, as on Saturday, Kelleher hasn't done anything wrong really.
Wouldn't begrudge Travers a game of course. But I'd be more interested in finding out who our best forward options are.
Looks like he wasn't in line to play tomorrow anyway, so no loss in that regard.
Though the article suggests Kenny will rotate the team around, then mentions the 21s making five changes, and then doesn't give any indication what changes are likely, or if there may be as many as five or if the 21s reference was just completely random. Not the best journalism I've ever seen!
Confusing all right.
There will be 'no wholesale changes' according to Kenny:
https://www.the42.ie/seamus-coleman-15-5784701-Jun2022/
In terms of the team tomorrow, we've been told not to expect wholesale changes so presumably it'll be two or three max and we know Coleman is out so that's one of them. I'd like to see a slight tweak to the shape presuming it's still 3 at the back. I think the exciting move might be Ogbene for Coleman but I think we'll see Christie get the nod and I won't be too upset by that. Not sure Stephens is 100% so McClean might get the nod to start, he'll bring a bit of energy and bite but maybe at the expense of some defensive solidity. Personally, I'd probably leave out Duffy and bring in Lenihan or O'Shea, both offer a bit more on the ball, but I think the back three will be unchanged.
In the middle, I'll be surprised if Cullen and Hendrick are not in from the start again. The game might have even been good for Hendrick after a light enough amount of game time towards the end of the season. My change would be to start Knight in front of them, closer to an additional centre mid than as part of a front three, with a more defined front two. Hard to leave Ogbene out altogether, but if the shape changes like that, I think he has to be at wing back or left out. The front two then would likely be Parrot/Keane and Obafemi/Robinson. I'd be curious to see Parrot and Obafemi in this set up myself but Kenny does like a front 3 so it's more likely to be one through the middle and one either side again, even though it's not really producing goals for us.
The team I would play: Travers, Collins, Egan, O’Shea, Ebosele, McClean, Cullen, Knight, Ogbene, Obafemi, Parrott.
The team I expect Kenny to select: Kelleher, Collins, Duffy, Egan, Christie, McClean, Cullen, Hendrick, Ogbene, Robinson, Parrott (I have a feeling he may drop Parrott though, maybe Knight in his place, although I don’t fancy Knight out wide).
I think the team you expect Kenny to pick is exactly what he'll do Tommy. He does like a curve ball every now and then so wouldnt be surprised to see something random like Browne starting.
Robinson will be lucky to keep his place, I think he was very poor in Armenia. Far from the only one obviously but really was annoyed with him at times
I think so alright. I said at the start that I'd leave Obafemi out of the Armenia game to bring him back in for the home games and I think I'd still like to see that (even though Obafemi wasn't up to much on Saturday either, disappointingly)
It's be the main change I'd be looking to see anyway.
Not going to make a massive difference to the game on Saturday, David Marshall has announced his retirement from international football
https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/da...ent/?rid=14258
Well I guess that's 40 yard lobbed finishes out of the question then.