Gibraltar (H) - Sat, 11th Oct. / Germany (A) - Tues, 14th Oct.

**tetsujin1979** · 09/10/2014, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by Kingdom

One on of the links, it makes reference to another player being called up to this squad before Friday. Is it that Christie is this player, or are the two unrelated?

Could be, could be Stephen Ireland, or Jack Grealish, or AN Other.
His grandad was one of the Donegal Others, I believe

**SwanVsDalton** · 09/10/2014, 1:16 PM

Originally Posted by Ol� Ol�

It's interesting to note that Brian Lenihan was called in ahead of Christie so O'Neill isn't willing to let this type of player jump the queue that quickly ahead of an under-age stalwart like Lenihan.

I'm not sure if Lenihan is really in the queue so much as it was an opportunity to take a closer look at him. The queue is probably just Coleman with everyone else equally behind him.

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

Perhaps he could be moulded into a left back if he is that good.

Cyrus could be the next achy breaky Harte.

**paul_oshea** · 09/10/2014, 1:20 PM

HOpefully not SVD.

Perhaps Mark Noble the second one. I dont really believe this though, why call up 2 more players a day before the Gibraltar game. It makes no sense really.

**Stuttgart88** · 09/10/2014, 2:03 PM

Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton

Cyrus could be the next achy breaky Harte.

genius.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 09/10/2014, 3:05 PM

That's nice. English player gets called up ahead of an Irish player of the same profile who has played for his country all through the age levels. Calling up players for the sake of it instead of when the situation warrants it.

Noble, Naughton, Grealish etc etc... haven't worked out so has to call up some Granny ruler to prove a point, satisfy Irish journalists and prove it wasn't a fruitless exercise.

Edit: A League One player too.

**Wangball** · 09/10/2014, 3:31 PM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

Edit: A League One player too.

Derby are in the Championship. He's a Championship player.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 09/10/2014, 3:41 PM

For one match according to Wikipedia. For several reasons I think a call up can wait; that's one of them.

Doherty and/or McShane should be called up ahead of him. Try and scout Irish players and monitor players properly from underage level through their senior careers instead of pushing passports through for other players, who - let's face it - aren't much/better.

Lenihan too should be given a chance and no better time or place than the Gibraltar game. He has played for a Cork City team who were/are of a good level for God's sake. It's not much worse than the level some of the Polish players are playing at - much less Gibraltar.

But we all know the only reason he's in the squad is because he plays for Hull. Moving from Cork to Humberside has seemingly magically made him worthy of a call up all of a sudden - even though he was playing first team football at Cork (and isn't at Hull) . It's asinine.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/s...ld-290363.html

**SwanVsDalton** · 09/10/2014, 3:44 PM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

That's nice. English player gets called up ahead of an Irish player of the same profile who has played for his country all through the age levels. Calling up players for the sake of it instead of when the situation warrants it.

Noble, Naughton, Grealish etc etc... haven't worked out so has to call up some Granny ruler to prove a point, satisfy Irish journalists and prove it wasn't a fruitless exercise.

Edit: A League One player too.

Originally Posted by Wangball

Derby are in the Championship. He's a Championship player.

And he hasn't been called up yet. Don't worry TOWK, we're always happy to do basic fact checking.

The Irish Times says O'Neill has been in touch about him declaring.

**Stuttgart88** · 09/10/2014, 4:26 PM

Wrt the point of Doherty being injured, he returned for WW's last game so it'd appear he's fit, just overlooked.

If yer man Christie is actually called up this week it'd be strange alright but no need to get het up about it yet.

I bet bored of arguments about ex LOI players only being called up once they've made the move to England. It looks to me that this is a call up for the future and who knows what views management have taken on board. It's Gibraltar.

**tetsujin1979** · 09/10/2014, 4:44 PM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

For one match according to Wikipedia. For several reasons I think a call up can wait; that's one of them.

Doherty and/or McShane should be called up ahead of him. Try and scout Irish players and monitor players properly from underage level through their senior careers instead of pushing passports through for other players, who - let's face it - aren't much/better.

Lenihan too should be given a chance and no better time or place than the Gibraltar game. He has played for a Cork City team who were/are of a good level for God's sake. It's not much worse than the level some of the Polish players are playing at - much less Gibraltar.

But we all know the only reason he's in the squad is because he plays for Hull. Moving from Cork to Humberside has seemingly magically made him worthy of a call up all of a sudden - even though he was playing first team football at Cork (and isn't at Hull) . It's asinine.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/s...ld-290363.html

It's ten matches according to soccerbase - http://www.soccerbase.com/players/pl...layer_id=55833 - plus one game in the League Cup against Championship side Reading.

That's more appearances this season than McShane, and only one less than Doherty. Strange you mention McShane in one sentence and then promoting underage players in the next.

BTW I would pay cash to see you tell Roy Keane this is asinine to his face.

**OwlsFan** · 09/10/2014, 5:07 PM

Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

But we all know the only reason he's in the squad is because he plays for Hull. Moving from Cork to Humberside has seemingly magically made him worthy of a call up all of a sudden - even though he was playing first team football at Cork (and isn't at Hull) . It's asinine.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/s...ld-290363.html

You've love-in with the new management hasn't even lasted until the first competitive home game.

**DeLorean** · 09/10/2014, 7:13 PM

Maybe MON has watched Doherty and wasn't impressed, or sees more value in what Christie could bring right now. Isn't that why he was hired? It's easy to look at a few team sheets, match reports and message boards every week and see which Irish guys seem to be doing okay, but decent managers are hired because they should be able to judge what is needed and who is best suited. They eventually live or die by the accumulation of their decisions and the success or failure it brings. No point in freaking out over minor judgement calls before a ball is even kicked. The Delaney thing is far more baffling but, again, we don't know his reasoning.

**backstothewall** · 09/10/2014, 7:20 PM

I'd have started Shane Duffy now that he is getting regular football at Blackburn, but who am I to tell Martin O'Neill what's what about a Derry lad

**DeLorean** · 09/10/2014, 7:21 PM

Richard Keogh is a big injury doubt now as well.

**Kingdom** · 09/10/2014, 7:54 PM

Originally Posted by DeLorean

Maybe MON has watched Doherty and wasn't impressed, or sees more value in what Christie could bring right now. Isn't that why he was hired? It's easy to look at a few team sheets, match reports and message boards every week and see which Irish guys seem to be doing okay, but decent managers are hired because they should be able to judge what is needed and who is best suited. They eventually live or die by the accumulation of their decisions and the success or failure it brings. No point in freaking out over minor judgement calls before a ball is even kicked. The Delaney thing is far more baffling but, again, we don't know his reasoning.

At 6'2", quick, athletic, an eye for a forward pass but also quick to put the foot in, it's possible O'Neill has another idea.

Employing the 532/352 formation (successfully) at Celtic was a real masterstroke by O'Neill, and shows the kind of tactical nous that I hoped we could look forward to seeing - not that he would use 352 (although I'm a really big fan of it) but that he could come up with systems to suit the players strengths and skillsets and to maximise our abilities, just like Marcelo Bielsa can/does.

Now, I'm not saying O'Neill will or should be reinventing the wheel for us, but it is possible that this boy Christie could be a real budding right-side-of-a-3-centre-half, with someone like O'Shea/Pearce/Duffy anchoring, and Wilson/Clark the Christie equivalent on the left.

Or he could just be an alternative to Coleman.

**TrapAPony** · 09/10/2014, 8:04 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

HOpefully not SVD.

Perhaps Mark Noble the second one. I dont really believe this though, why call up 2 more players a day before the Gibraltar game. It makes no sense really.

If there is a second player then it's most likely David McGoldrick

**backstothewall** · 09/10/2014, 8:08 PM

Is it allowable to keep on some of the U21s who played tonight and potentially name them on the bench against Gibralter?

**Kingdom** · 09/10/2014, 8:20 PM

Originally Posted by backtowalsall

Is it allowable to keep on some of the U21s who played tonight and potentially name them on the bench against Gibralter?

They can name anyone eligible they want right up until an hour before kick-off can't they>

**tetsujin1979** · 09/10/2014, 8:37 PM

40th in the world ranked Slovakia beat 8th ranked Spain tonight at home, they lead 1-0, before Spain equalised until a late winner from Stoch made it 2-1
well now, isn't that something

**gastric** · 10/10/2014, 1:43 AM

Hopefully, McGoldrick, Bamford, Grealish, Crowley, Noble, Kane and Christie all come on board soon. It will be great to have new options. Great move by O'Neill to bring in Lenihen too. Always nice to see a fresh face in the squad. It's amazing how Wikipedia has become a source of info on here, some people never learn!

What Christie might mean for Ireland is that Coleman could move into right midfield if necessary. Having two players who can attack as well as defend would certainly strengthen the team. If only Christie could play at left back!