mcgrath just doesnt add enough to us overall , yard dog against an elite team but not strong enough with the ball against poor opponents IMO. Cant see hodge ever declaring for Eng tbh, not too worried about it. Do think himself and coventry should be in this squad though. Need more cm options and alternatives to cullen.
His caps so far have been-Quote:
Originally Posted by Jd2793
2 against Portugal, 1 against Serbia - his performances were really good there.
1 against Qatar in the 4-0 win, he won a penalty early enough in the game. Those 4 games he played the majority of. Then he played 45 mins against Azerbaijan where we won 3-0 and he played a few mins at the end against Andorra where we won 4-1.
He wasn’t involved in any of our struggles against weaker opponents (Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, Armenia). Who knows what the future holds but his few international performances have made him look like a very good player
I think McGrath has been good for us too but lots of players come on the scene and then can't sustain that initial level if they could they wouldn't be playing div 1 Scotland or L1 England. We can't be all about the future when the argument suits and then include players like McGrath and Browne or moreso hourihane(I'm aware he is not in this squad) and Browne when you could transition in players like Hodge and Coventry
these games seem particularly meaningless to me. i really don't think we'll learn anything from them. i suppose it's good for the group to come together but that's about it.
Absolutely agree. An utterly wasted opportunity by Kenny.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
I agree. I've been nothing but impressed with him when he's lined out for us. Haven't seen much of him for his cub but I believe criticism of him in a green jersey is quite unjustifiedQuote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
He might be able to light up the Premier League but he clearly just isn’t up for it on a cold Thursday night in Dublin.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Obviously scarred by his last Dublin experience.
Good news for the team anyway, though the FAI are plugging the game based on him playing, so ticket sales may now stop dead
I suppose a lot of players would like to say that they played against him. I mean if you are a professional football player you kinda have to look forward to those sort of possibilities ~ ~ Well i think so anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Will Keane and Scott Hogan drop out of the squad with injury and Mark Sykes is called up.
That's not good... The two guys I was most hoping to see given game time tbh
Yeah, probably the two most in form players, who both really needed a chance to establish themselves at international level and would have presumably seen some decent minutes.
Must be very hard to actually keep a decent squad together for this, seeing as the power is in the clubs' hands as it's not an official international window.
Just noticed the original squad announcement says it's a 26 player squad - https://www.fai.ie/ireland/match/19/...52?tab=preview
But it only lists 25 players!Quote:
Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has selected a 26-man squad for the international friendlies against Norway and Malta.
- Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool)
- Gavin Bazunu (Southampton)
- Mark Travers (AFC Bournemouth).
- Seamus Coleman (Everton)
- Matt Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Nathan Collins (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
- John Egan (Sheffield United)
- Dara O'Shea (West Bromwich Albion)
- Darragh Lenihan (Middlesbrough)
- Liam Scales (Aberdeen, on loan from Celtic)
- James McClean (Wigan Athletic)
- Robbie Brady (Preston North End).
- Josh Cullen (Burnley)
- Jeff Hendrick (Reading, on loan from Newcastle United)
- Jayson Molumby (West Bromwich Albion)
- Alan Browne (Preston North End)
- Will Smallbone (Stoke City, on loan from Southampton)
- Jamie McGrath (Dundee United).
- Michael Obafemi (Swansea City)
- Callum Robinson (Cardiff City)
- Scott Hogan (Birmingham City)
- Chiedozie Ogbene (Rotherham United)
- Will Keane (Wigan Athletic)
- Evan Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion)
- Callum O'Dowda (Cardiff City).
Only u could spot that!Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Yep bad news but might give Evan Ferguson a half against maltaQuote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
It's only fair really, with Haaland pulling out for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by JR89
To be completely fair they should also now pull out Ødegaard to even things up.
Malta have named their squad too
Mostly domestic-based. Sutton United and Ettelbruck of Luxembourg there too. Oxford United and Saint Gilloise as good as it gets. Yet they beat Israel last month so they can be a banana skin.
Especially with our diminishing forward options, let's hope we don't have another Lithuania/Armenia on our hands with this one.
I don't think Ferguson is ready for this level yet, so striker options are indeed short. Probably forces Kenny's hand to play a stronger than intended lineup against the banana skin so blessing in disguise Keane is injured?