My squad would look like this:
Given
Kenny
Doyle
Finnan
Dunne (capt)
A O'Brien
J O'Brien
D Murphy (Hibs)
Mc Shane
St Ledger
O'Shea
Duff
Hunt
Kilbane
Carlsey
Lawerence
Mc Geady
Ireland ?
O'Hara
Miller
Morrison
Keane
Doyle
Long
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My squad would look like this:
Given
Kenny
Doyle
Finnan
Dunne (capt)
A O'Brien
J O'Brien
D Murphy (Hibs)
Mc Shane
St Ledger
O'Shea
Duff
Hunt
Kilbane
Carlsey
Lawerence
Mc Geady
Ireland ?
O'Hara
Miller
Morrison
Keane
Doyle
Long
O'Hara isn't eligible. He is now 21 and any decision to change "nationality" (he has played underage for england) must have been made before he turned 21.
Is David Murphy of Hibs eligible?
By and large I agree with your squad, without going to any great degree of scrutiny. I'd have Steven Reid in there for certain though.
Clinton is definitely due a recall and I think we need to keep looking at St.Ledger. By all accounts he's been playing very well.
I was surprised that Liam Lawrence was overlooked by Staunton apart from one call up I think.
From the Championship Walters, Lee and Yeates are deserving of consideration, maybe also Gary Doherty as back up CB.
The better U21 players are probably better off playing in the U21 team unless they're clearly better than older players in similar positions. What on earth was the point of Andy Keogh playing out of position against Germany and Cyprus? Despite this, I still have a feeling that Garvan might be worth giving a run in the senior squad.
What age is Darron Gibson? Still U21 eligble?
New manager = new start for Stephen Ireland hopefully.
I am not sure if either O'Hara or Murphy are eligble but sure we should give it a try. we need to freshen up this squad in certain areas . I only left out Reid as it may be too early ( he is out again with a calf injury at present, Gibson is only 20 I think...
O'Hara is definitely not eligible. He is already 21 and has played underage for England.
Steven Reid's injury isn't serious and being dropped was mainly precautionary so I'd have him in. Andy Reid will most likely be out I believe.
Would defo like to see Morrison back in there. Scoring quite regularly at the moment and has done really well for us in the past.
Would like to see Stokes in there as well. See what he can do from the start up front with Keane. Or at least 45 mins.
I would like to see A O'Brien start again as he has done well enough since his move and I'd leave out McShane for the rest he looks likes he needs.
David Murphy isn't eligible according to himself. Shame though. He's class
(think he'll be at celtic in coming days if rumours are true)
Hibs4ever were did you hear this mate?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwagner
Its been doing the rounds for a couple of months on the Hibs messageboards and various newspaperrs in Scotland. He has always said he wants to play in england again, but I think celtic are offering big money.
He is playing well at the moment but from what i have seen Wes Hoolahan surely deserves a call up ahead of LawrenceQuote:
Lawerence
I think there should be a focus on sorting out our problem positions; basically Richard Dunne's partner, left-full, and the central midfield partnership. Whatever squad is picked should be looking to try out players for these positions.
5 names I'd like to see asked for training are the following:
Garvan - fingers crossed he is our future at CM
Morrison - on fire and worth another look.
Liam Lawrence
Andy O'Brien - regular at Bolton now so deserves a call up
Hoolahan - goal scoring MF are always welcome to the table.
exactly....lets broaden our options and draft in some younger lads with potential this time (as opposed to Stan's policy of drafting in youth with connections to Pat Devlin):Quote:
Originally Posted by ifk101
i.e
LB - O'Halloran (any news of a loan move to the championship yet?)
CB - Slim pickings but St. Ledger should be in the squad from the off and maybe try and unearth a granny-ruler? (or bring back the doc! :eek:)
CM - definitely Garvan and McCann, also Walters as an extra option on the right
it seems that centre-half is our main worry should something happen to Dunne (God forbid!)....there has to be other options out there???
what about Bennet for CB. Seems to be playing regularly for Southampton.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
yeah forgot about Bennett. Thought he looked handy in the US so deffo worth a try...
from the Times on October 4th, 2007: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle2584735.eceQuote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
Of course he never did go out on loan, but at least it shows he was in O'Neill's thoughsQuote:
Martin O’Neill is mulling over whether to send Stephen O’Halloran, the 21-year-old defender, out on loan. “I have had loads of inquiries about him and he needs games,” the manager said. “But he isn’t a million miles away from playing here.”
On Villa's website today, there's this: http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page...204752,00.html
Quote:
We've got three established goalkeepers in that group of 23 [current Villa squad] so we're down to 20, which includes Stephen O'Halloran and Moustapha Salifou who have never played a game for us, Patrik Berger and Isaiah Osbourne.
Depsite the praise St Ledger has been getting lately, Preston are bottom of the Championship. How about Alex Bruce? Ipswich are playing some good football (well, at home anyway) and there's a large Irish contingent at the clubQuote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
Rory Delap is playing regularly in a decent Stoke side (4th in the Championship, could condemn Allardyce this weekend)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
Probably too early for JJ O'Toole, let him develop in the U-21's until the Autumn games
Walters on the right? Surely Hoolahan or Yeates would be a better option?
There are slim pickings at Premiership level, but we can still put out a Premiership team ofQuote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
Given, Kelly, Dunne, McShane, Finnan, Duff, Carsley, Steven Reid, Ireland, Keane, Kevin Doyle with Colin Doyle, O'Shea, Harte, Hunt and Long on the bench
That's still leaving Kilbane, Kavanagh, Stokes (amongst others) out of the matchday XVI
Even picking players from the Championship, I reckon a starting XI of
Kenny (if he can be persuaded to come back), Foley, Ledger, Doherty, Bruce, Yeates, Andy Reid, McCann, Hoolahan, Morrison, Lee/Walters, with Joe Murphy, Delaney, McCarthy, Garvan, Lee/Walters on the bench is not a bad side.
That's still leaving out Michael Doyle, Jay Tabb, Billy Clarke, Alan Mahon, Stephen McPhail, Mark Kennedy, etc
Even in the SPL, there's the bones of a decent squad with
Richie Byrne, Darren O'Dea, Sean Dillon, David Van Zanten, McGeady, Cregg, Alan O'Brien, Stephen Bradley, Barrett, Hunt.
What's the craic with Walters at Ispwich... Is he a centre forward or on the right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
any time i've seen him with Ipswich he's down as lining up on the right but I think he floats and joins the attack quite a bit, hence the amount of goals he's getting this season.
Started out as a striker when at Bolton afaik....
Tets - I take your point on Hoolahan and Yeates, I would class Yeates and Walters as very similar types of players i.e midfielders with a happy knack of scoring goals, always though of Hoolahan as an Andy Reid type player, has a lovely left foot on him....all deffo worth a look anyway...
Another option at CB is Paddy McCarthy. I would rate him ahead of Bruce anyway and he only has 3 yellows so far this season so he seems to have improved his dicipline since moving to Charlton. I don't know much about St Ledger.
What's the story with David Norris. I only know he's playing regularly and has 5 goals so far this season. Anyone been keeping a closer eye on him since he was first mentioned as an Irish prospect? He's 26 now so it would want to happen soon.
St Ledger is believed to be a target for Derby, WBA, Wolves and Charlton so must be worth a shout, a much more accomplished player than the likes of McShane, Bruce and McCarthy.
The Preston fans are calling him "The New Mark Lawrenson" high praise indeed.
I think we need to get him tired to Ireland asap!
He was on the bench away against Germany at the start of the qualifiers: http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=496929Quote:
Originally Posted by the doc
Don't think he can change his allegiance now, even though he didn't come on.
Think he will move down south myself. I think he has seen the way former players at the club are getting on in the Old Firm clubs from joining from the likes of Hibs. Think someone like Boro, Fulham or even Sunderland will go for him and be better choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hibs4Ever
I've never seen him play, but Ipswich have just been rejected after making a 7 figure bid for him:Quote:
Originally Posted by Irish_Praha
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,195...020069,00.html
He played on the left against Coventry recently. Probably Ipswich's most effective player. Garvan could hardly find a teammate with a pass and tried too many long balls. They're a different team at home.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
About Liam Lawrence - 8 goals and 12 assists this season.
A lot of people don't read the sticky so I'm repeating myself but McShane has been in very good form recently. I must be the only person in the country that still thinks he'll be a class act. :) Dunne-McShane still definitely our best partnership imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by the doc
Martin Rowlands should get a shot, Morrison should definitely get a recall (unless he just stops scoring...which is possible considering he is very streaky). I don't think Long deserves a spot either
He was out of the Charlton side for almost 3 months, and only got back in bacause of injury and suspension. But he took his chance and has kept his place ever since. Good article about him here on Charlton's website: http://www.cafc.co.uk/newsview.ink?nid=31749&newstype=p Didn't know about the charity donation every time he scores, Dean Kiely does something similar when he keeps a clean sheet AFAIRQuote:
Originally Posted by Irish_Praha
So far this season, he has 9 starts, and 2 substitutes appearances, with 2 goals and only 2 bookings. By the same time last season, he had 19 starts, and 2 substitutes appearance, 2 goals, 6 bookings and a sending off.
Probably says a lot about how the manager rates him that he signed McCarthy, despite being out injured for most of the second half of last season.
Here's a comparison of the season to date for the central defenders in the Championship: http://tetsujin1979.googlepages.com/...omparison.html
He's only missed one game for Plymouth this season, that was their League Cup game at home to Wycombe at the start of the season, and started every other game. Plymouth haven't lost a game where he scored, and only drawn one. He has four bookings this season, 2 of those in his last 2 games. Having said that, I don't see him getting into the starting XI, but he could be a squad player.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irish_Praha
I still have faith, he faded a little as the qualifiers went on, but I still think he could go on to be a top player for club and country. Still have him as a sub in my fantasy football too!Quote:
Originally Posted by eirebhoy
Who would Rowlands get in ahead of in the squad? Right now I think the widemen in the squad are going to be Duff, McGeady, Hunt and one from Hoolahan or Yeates. Rowlands is probably 6th (at best) behind those players, and KilbaneQuote:
Originally Posted by theworm2345
Agreed, on both counts. Clinton's one goal away from equalling his tally from last season. He's on a fantastic streak at the moment - 9 goals in 11 games - but before that he hadn't scored since August. Last season was similar, he scored 6 goals in his last 12 games, but before that he hadn't scored since December, where he hit 4 goals in 7 games.Quote:
Originally Posted by theworm2345
Probably not until his scoring record improves. Could still a job for the U-21s as well. He's only started 4 games all season, and one of those was in the Carling Cup, which Copell is on record as not caring about. If I was picking the squad tomorrow, the strikers would be Keane, Doyle, Morrison, and one from Lee, Walters and Hunt.Quote:
Originally Posted by theworm2345
Rowlands is at his best, in my opinion, in the middle. I forgot about Yeates and Hoolahan who also deserve a sport but I think Rowlands deserves it as much as them because he has been consistent throughout this and last season. I think the Brazil game would be a good test for all 3 of them (and I'm still hoping to see Glenn Whelan eventually as well) to see if they could do the job in the qualifiers. Perhaps JJ O'Toole if he starts starting againQuote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
I've also argued for Lee for a long time but no one here seems to agree. Walters seems to be very streaky as well and is not first choice (with Lee and Counago doing well together). I assume that is Noel Hunt you are talking about and I admittedly don't know enough about him (or Scottish football in general) to really make a judgement (besides that Anthony Stokes dominated up there and hasn't really dont much at all, even when, albeit too rarely, he is played at striker, in the CCC or EPL).Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Worm, I've argued for Alan Lee in recent times....can't say I agree with Connolly though ;)
Even I can't argue for him right now--though I can't really say its his fault he hasn't been scoring--he can't get a game for the team he got promoted (certainly it was as much him as it was Keane, but thats another discussion for another time)Quote:
Originally Posted by irishfan86
Ipswich are rumoured to be interested in Connolly.
Rowlands could be an interesting option in a 4-2-3-1 alongside Carsley. He's the right type of player and he's on good form at the moment but it says it all if our best central midfield options are at mid/low Championship clubs.
Agree about Long. Long, Keogh and Stokes should be in the U21s. Rather than demoralising defeats at this level we should be playing our best U21 team and actually building that way. Of the underage players only McGeady and Joey O'Brien should be in the senior team or thereabouts on merit, maybe also Garvan. If a kid has nothing to offer the senior squad that an older player can't do then leave him to enhance the U21s.
Player for player we've probably our strongest squad of players in over a decade. I say player for player because of Roy Keane's influence. :)
I'd probably go for Lee out of the three I listed above (Hunt/Lee/Walters), we've not had a genuine target man in the team since Niall Quinn retired - the Doc does not count - and he would offer something different to Keane and Doyle. I've had my doubts about Hunt in the past, but he's scoring regularly and deserves a chance, if he had the same scoring record in the Championship, people would be calling for him to be given a squad place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Ogba
Wasn't Yeates compared to Paul Gascgoine when he was at Spurs??
Jol definitely rated him, even though he was constantly sending him out on loan to get experience. He did say he had the same sort of tricks as Gazza in this article: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/...tes/article.doQuote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
I think the regular football at Colchester, as opposed to 2-3 months at various clubs, is having a positive effect on him. He's their joint top scorer, along with striker Kevin Lisbie, which is no mean feat for a midfielder playing in a struggling team. They're 2 points from safety, but it's very tight at the bottom of the Championship - 6 points separate 7 teams - if Colchester did go down you would hope his form this season would get him a move to a better Championship side, or even one of the promoted teams.
When you look at the young players we have coming through and playing regular 1st team footaball at Championship level and above, coupled with the regular national team players who are playing at Premiership level.
Then you have to say that it is looking good for the future of the national team, providing we can get the right manager in to take them forward of course.
We definitely need a big target man in the squad, if only to change things around from time to time. How many times last year did we see long balls going forward and no one big enough to win it.
In the Cyprus game Given was reduced to kicking towards Kilbane on the left. It became predictable. From what I've seen of Lee (admittedly not a lot), he looks reasonably mobile as well.
Rory Delap is tall, athletic, playing well in an in-form team and a central midfielder. Woefully under-considered in the past and frequently played out of position.
In the old soccercentral.ie days, just after WC02, Delap was my shoe-in CM option. Funny thing is, we haven't come up with anyone really better since. Have we been wasting our time with the likes of Douglas, Miller, Gibson etc. when there's a cpmpetent option right under our noses all along? Maybe we were too proud, i.e., unlike Northern Ireland we wanted a "name" in kudfield or failing that, a potential "name"?
Why not try Delap to fill the gap until the younger tyros are properly ready?
I like Lee a lot but he's in the Championship because he lacks mobility & athleticism. Very game player and a handful for defenders - certainly at 3rd & 4th seed international level - but mobile, alas not :)Quote:
Originally Posted by onceahoop
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I remember Giles suggested that we play him upfront
Didn't he end up playing as a striker in the away leg to Turkey for Euro 2000?Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
Yep, well remembered.