Given, Westwood ,
O'Shea , Clark, Coleman, Dunne, St Ledger, Kelly, O'Dea.
Wilson, Gibson, Whelan, Green, McCarthy, Fahy, Duff.
Keane, Walters, Doyle, Long, Keogh.
Best and Lawrence have pulled out, Andy Keogh has been called up.
I think, as Stokes was on standby and a better player, he should have been given the nod ahead of Keogh.
How do you feel about the eligibility of Northern Irish born players playing for the Republic in this competition? Do you feel its our territory? Lets just get it out of the way.
Again, no logic in this decision to bring in Keogh ahead of Stokes. Keogh scored yesterday but his career has stagnated. Stokes has been a regular starter (although sub today)and scorer for Celtic and looks an improved player. Tuesdays game would be ideal time to have another look at Stokes to see if he has improved enough to earn a place in the squad. Keane and Fahey are playing today and in the squad so the playing on Sunday thing can't be used as an excuse.
Bizarre alright. Stokes is the man in form and was the original standby choice.
From the revised squad I'd pick
Shay or KW
Kelly-Dunne-JOS-Clark
Coleman-McCarthy-AN Other-Duff
Keane - Long
and get them to play enterprising high tempo football.
AN Other: I'd probablt go with Whelan, but I'm underwhelmed by all our CM options.
Don't speak too soon lads, 22 man squad has to be named for the tournament, 2 people pulled out and only Keogh has been called up. Now, my A1 in honours maths tells me that 22-2=20+1=21. I'd assume Stokes is in the squad but it hardly needs a press release.
If I'm wrong, you can vilify me.
Absolutely ridiculous.
What's the point in having someone on standby if you're gonna call someone else up to leapfrog them?? Keogh hasn't been lighting the world up and Stokes deserves more of a chance. We've seen Andy Keogh and what he can do on the international stage. He'll be a fringe player at best. Give someone else a go il Trap
I can't understand how people think Stokes is a better player than Keogh. Stokes has been a huge failure in both levels of English football while at the very least, Keogh is a proven Championship player. Stokes scores in the SPL which is a very small step up from LOI. Stokes couldn't score, or even hold down a regular place with any of the many English clubs he was with in England. Actually I don't see Stokes starting today, has he been dropped by Celtic?
It's possible that Stokes will yet be called up.
We all know he has difficulties with his phone communications.
Robbie Keane and James McCarthy have apparently pulled out of the squad, that'll be Stokes recalled so.
That's a real shame about McCarthy.
Very disappointed that McCarthy has pulled out of the squad. I thought that he'd make the starting lineup for this game.
Fuppin raging over this. My hopes of seeing McCarthy in the green permanently are rapidly waning. As mentioned in the McCarthy thread, its likely that there is more to this than meets the eye. This is the second time he's pulled out because of 'tiredness' FFS. I'm really starting to wonder if young James has had his head turned....
Feel free to put my mind at ease!
I very much doubt that he's considering playing for Scotland, although of course it's not impossible. Perhaps modern footballers are taking playing for the national team less seriously.
If he's had his head turned he'd be in the Scotland squad. I'm concerned myself, but it's not beyond reason that after a long absence he's not fully ready to play twice in a few days. He may well be feeling stiff and sore, especially after a heavy pitch. That's the naive, optimistic scenario anyway.
What date is our next fixture, friendly or otherwise, anybody? We have Macedonia next month and that will be the test of McCarthy's commitment. Pulling out due to tiredness or whatever should not be tolerated. I mean fair enough if he is feeling the effects of yesterday's game but what is stopping him joining up with the squad and becoming familiar with the setup. I see nothing wrong with Wigan and Ireland coming to some kind of verbal agreement where he plays the last 20 mins or something.
OK, the reasons might be genuine but I'm afraid I'm starting to get a whiff of bullsh!t.
I'm trying hard to find an angle here to blame Trap, any ideas? :)
Looks like Trap initial thoughts were sound, over a player needing time to fully recover from a bad injury into being match fit.
Hopefully that's all it is.
According to Sky Sports' Enda Brady, it's a problem with his ankle: http://twitter.com/#!/endabrady/stat...08449978417152
Quote:
James McCarthy took a knock on his ankle yesterday and won't be joining up with his Ireland team-mates for Tuesday's match.
I feel much better now knowing there's a real reason behind it.Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Other comments from Enda
"Irish sports reporters stagger me sometimes. Never let the facts get in the way of a good story eh lads?"
"People going on radio claiming players are 'tired'. He took an ankle knock yday and is gutted."