Must be a bit of a falling out between Mick and Shane .
Must be a bit of a falling out between Mick and Shane .
Comparing Mick's attitude to Hendrick and Long's situation is a futile exercise and a strawwman's argument when used as a stick to throw at Mick. Hendrick is fit, an integral component of the team and will start.
I wonder if this game could be a draw, yet another draw between the top teams in the group, a deja vu secenarion? Shaqiri will be missed but he didn't play in their game v Denmark where they went 3 up and controlled the game until that helter skelter last 10 minutes. They can play good football without him.
It's a big concern for us generally, since James is actually the player in the team with the most international goals; ten. Next up is a central defender, Shane Duffy, on three goals and even Whelan, a defensive or holding midfielder, is joint-third (with Hendrick) on two. None of our forwards have any goals at all between them, and that's despite us already having played group minnows Gibraltar twice.
That all makes it all the more puzzling that Long (who has 17 international goals to his name) has been omitted, yet Jeff Hendrick, who has also had a lack of competitive games recently since losing his place in the Burnley squad, has been included. (Not that I'm suggesting Hendrick should have been omitted. I just think Long should have been included and am pointing to an apparent inconsistency in Mick's selection rationale, since Long evidently isn't unfit or injured, given he got game-time for Southampton against Manchester United last weekend and played in the EFL Cup too.)
We really need at least one of our strikers in the squad to break their international duck during this set of games, preferably on Thursday.
And Glenn’s last goal was that screamer against Italy. That's about 10 years ago
Its unusual for mick not to want to have a look at parrott in training for himself. He could have been worth a run against Bulgaria. We need a goalscorer and sometimes the answer to a problem can be staring you in the face
I see Mick is comparing League 1's Alan Judge to Shaqiri:
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2019...haqiri-factor/
Closer in footballing ability to Shakira.
No harm in talking Judge up. To be fair I think he would be playing at a higher level if not for injuries. It would certainly be an interesting pick if he was selected to start --one of those guys it's hard not to root for.
Strangely enough my biggest concern is the possibility that Mick will omit Robinson from the starting lineup.
Paul Rowan saying this is the likely Swiss line-up:
Sommer (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Schär (Newcastle United)
Akanji (Borussia Dortmund)
Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Mbabu (VfL Wolfsburg)
Zakaria (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Xhaka (Arsenal)
Frueler (Atalanta)
Rodriguez (AC Milan)
Embolo (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Seferovic (Benfica)
Somebody is going to have smoke coming out of their ears !
Tets "Judge" jury and executioner
Not from me. The previous managers had to make do with the poorest collective of Irish players since at least prior to the Hand days. Hopefully with the likes of Stevens and Robinson doing well in the Premiership and some of the younger talent starting to emerge we can start to reverse the trend that has existed since McCarthy's first tenure that each successive manager had a poorer collection of players to pick from than his predecessors.
Interesting timing from Paddy Bam here I think. Had no interest and no comment when there was work to do and we were at a real low. We have started the campaign well, and a draw or a win next week, although maybe unlikely, would see us in the shake up. Suddenly he speaks, all of a sudden, Bamford moves to not rule it out.
CTP too cynical ?
Do you seriously think James McCarthy, Andy Reid, Steven Reid, Wessi and McGeady are some of the best players to ever play for Ireland? How long have you been watching football - 5 years? Hand and Charlton frequently had a selection of players playing for the best teams in Europe to pick from. Andy Reid, McGeady and Hoolahan were not even good enough to make a career above the Championship for any sustained period of time. Who is your etc etc? Caleb Folan?
O'Shea, McGeady, Given and Dunne were four of the top six players he picked most often. Only Glenn Whelan and Robbie Keane were picked more than those four.
Steven Reid was injured for large parts of Trapattoni's tenure, so I don't think he can be criticised for not selecting him.