Joey O'Brien

[noddy102]

Didn't watch the match tonight, but I'm going to guess he worked his socks off like the rest of the 10 Wanderers around him.

A relegation battle and a stint @ Europe has to do him the world of good and provide him with the necessary experience that we need for when taking the stage for Ireland.

Where the hell can Trapattoni play him though!? Can he make the starting 11?

[irishfan86]

Didn't watch the match tonight, but I'm going to guess he worked his socks off like the rest of the 10 Wanderers around him.

A relegation battle and a stint @ Europe has to do him the world of good and provide him with the necessary experience that we need for when taking the stage for Ireland.

Where the hell can Trapattoni play him though!? Can he make the starting 11?

I'd say he'll be in the matchday squads for sure, and will be competing for a spot as a fullback, and possibly at centre mid if there are injuries.

But I'd see him as a defensive central midfielder in that role, and Carsley and Stephen Reid, possibly even O'Shea would be ahead of him in that role.

Assuming Finnan doesn't come back, our fullback situation will be: Kelly, O'Shea, Kilbane....he's really not far off the starting XI as a fullback as I say.

Foley at Wolves looks promising but I don't think he's ready just yet.

[kingdom hoop]

Looks like he played centre-mid (ahead of Campo, somewhat interestingly) tonight;

Bolton: Jaaskelainen,
Hunt, Andrew O'Brien, Cahill, Samuel,
Giannakopoulos (Diouf 59), McCann (Campo 58), Nolan, Joey O'Brien (Meite 85), Taylor,
Davies.

Anyone see the match? Probably more likely to be more Atletico fans than Bolton here I'd say.

[drummerboy]

Megson seems to rate O'Brien highly, playing him regularly as a central midfielder. I think Joey's biggest problem is the number of injuries he seems to pick up.

[elroy]

Apparently Andy O'Brien had a very good game last night as well, seems to be doing very well for them of late. Joey is a good player he has struggled with injuries in the past but he's only been back in action the last 5 months or so, hopefully with a bit of luck he'll stay clear of injuries for the rest of the season.

[eirebhoy]

Andy is a stick on for their player of the year.

[BigmanCas]

J o Brien over S Kelly any day - I mean - any day. Poor performance against Cyprus in Croker will stand to him without doubt. Andy had a great game - Trapp might have a word - and he might reconsider - A few players were made examples of after the shambles that was away to Cyprus. Andy had the ultimate of shockers but S Ireland was not doing his job in the centre of the park so he cannot be totally to blame. If he wants to return he should be welcomed and encouraged. Paddy Kenny is another one who has be disavowed since that fateful night. Again he had a stinker but can anybody stand up and say that he is a bad goalkeeper? No. I think not.

[Kingdom]

what annoys me about the fallout over the away Cyprus game was definitely the treatment to Andy O'Brien and Paddy Kenny.
Maybe our reluctance to test new players out in friendlies has come back to haunt us because the lack of gametime between defence and keeper is killer. Both need to have confidence in each other and that was missing completely in the said game.
What was more upsetting was that Staunton more or less leaked the personal difficulties Kenny was having in a press conference. It was totally unprofessional and is something I didn't expect particularily from someone who is split from the Mrs himself.

As for Andy O'Brien, his superb performances in the previous campaign obviously held no sway with posters on this site, and I was gutted when I heard he was finishing. An O'Brien Dunne partnership would have been a good one I've no doubt. He was unneccessarily picked against Cyprus when he hadn't played a club game in months against a pacy front pair that had caused our regualr back 4 trouble in the past. To compound it Staunton then admitted he had been advised against selecting him.
Oh dear/

[youngirish]

J o Brien over S Kelly any day - I mean - any day.

I would hope with J O'Brien now starting to be used by Bolton in his more natural defensive central midfield role we will see him replace Carsley for Ireland instead of S Kelly in the future.

I worry about his injuries though. He's still getting injured far too regularly and considering he's missed more than a full season of development at such a young age it probably will hold him back.

I rated him as a better player than S Ireland a couple of years ago when they both began appearing in the Premiership but the extra year and a half of development that Ireland has managed (through avoiding injury) seems to have made a difference.

Hopefully J O'Brien can steer clear of injuries now and fulfill his potential. Bolton under Megson seems to be a good club for him.

[tetsujin1979]

To compound it Staunton then admitted he had been advised against selecting him.

Other way around, Staunton was going to pick McShane against the Cypriots based on his performance in training, but Sir Bobby advised him to go with O'Brien

[Kingdom]

Other way around, Staunton was going to pick McShane against the Cypriots based on his performance in training, but Sir Bobby advised him to go with O'Brien

I got mixed up. He still shifted the blame.