Nigeria and Bulgaria Squad

[Drumcondra 69er]

He is far from muck and has put in alot of excellent performances in an Irish shirt.Im not going to start running down players like Fahy or Garvan because I believe that they will eventually be in Irish squads as they are quality players but Andy Reid has proven to be a good Premiership player which those lads havent and when Reid was in the Championship he proved every bit as good as those lads if not better. He has also shown in the past that he is a much better option on the right wing than Andy Keogh ever will be and he is head and shoulders above Liam Miller.
He deserves alot more respect than people saying he is muck

He has had a poor season though, never really laid down any markers.

That said, he should be in ahead of Miller without question.

[Razors left peg]

He has had a poor season though, never really laid down any markers.

That said, he should be in ahead of Miller without question.

Im in danger of boring myself by saying the same thing all the time,but the Miller one is obvious... the one that really bugs me is that Keogh is considered ahead of Reid on the wing.Im not trying to say that Reid is world class by any means but he is definately worth a place in the squad as back up for the wings or to bring on in a tight game where his passing abitity is needed to split a defence.
Some people seem to have short memories and totally forget that he has proven himself to be a very capable player at international level.I accept that it hasnt been his greatest ever season but I still think that he is one of our best 25 players at the moment

[geysir]

Reid is a different player than Miller.
Trap sees a reason to have Miller around and pointless to have Reid.

Mick eulogises about the value of Keogh to his squad, I assume Trap also sees the same.

[paul_oshea]

geysir, in fairness Trap can get things wrong, not every decision he does might have a rational reasoning behind it that you always give. Sometimes managers do get things wrong, there isn't always a need to make sense of it!

[Jicked]

geysir, in fairness Trap can get things wrong, not every decision he does might have a rational reasoning behind it that you always give. Sometimes managers do get things wrong, there isn't always a need to make sense of it!

But it's not like Trap is saying Miller is a better technical football player than Reid. He's not. But Reid would not be able to do the role Trap needs from either his central midfielder or his winger. Miller and Keogh can both play the style he wants, (though neither can do it particularly well), that's why they're in the squad.

[Razors left peg]

I think at this stage if Reid wants to change Traps mind he will have to go away this summer and do what Steven Ireland did last year and do some intensive training and try get rid of some of the weight. If he wants to have have any hope of playing in the world cup,should we get there,he is going to have to do some thing pretty dramatic it seems.

I see today that Trap has started dropping hints about staying on beyond the current campaign.Id be very happy with that,but I do hope that after the Italy game he now trusts his players to play more attacking football now

[eirebhoy]

He has had a poor season though, never really laid down any markers.

Reid hasn't played central midfield all season as far as I'm aware. Almost every game he played last season was in the centre and he was absolutely brilliant.

[geysir]

geysir, in fairness Trap can get things wrong, not every decision he does might have a rational reasoning behind it that you always give. Sometimes managers do get things wrong, there isn't always a need to make sense of it!

There is a rationale, Trap's rationale. It would astonish me if Trap did not have a rationale for excluding Reid and including others.
It remains to be seen if it's the right rationale. That will be seen at the end of the qual games. Keep the faith.
It's funny how discussions can get overly focussed on who should be the 25th squad member.
For our game against Bulgaria, there are much bigger issues

[Stuttgart88]

the one that really bugs me is that Keogh is considered ahead of Reid on the wing

I'm not so sure Trap believes that after Bari. He took him off after 20 minutes.

Now Lawrence is in the squad I think we have the right side of midfield sorted, it'll either be McGeady or Lawrence.

I buy into Neil McD's theory that Reid was left out after the first few squads because his attitude was affecting others. He's obviously unhappy at not starting or even coming on and if his demaenour is having a negative effect, then maybe Trap's right to leave him out.

There was an interesting snippet about S. Ireland in one of today's papers. Trap is supposed to have hinted in the press conference that if Ireland returned he'd have to consider changing the system and playing him in a Totti-like role. I reckon he thinks that Reid is best suited to that role too but doesn't think changing the system would be worth it for him.

Also, whereas players like Lawrence and St. Ledger have clearly played their way into the squad with consistently good club performances, the same can't be said of Reid. Roy Keane says Reid hasn't done enough for his club and I'd agree.

I think with Whelan doing really well in the latter part of the season and with the performances of Whelan, Andrews and then Gibson in Bari I think Reid's absence is less critical.

That said, I'd 100% have him in the squad myself.

Miller doesn't deserve it at all but tbh that's the only real complaint I have about this squad.

We have 3 good keepers including an exciting newcomer, 3 really good CBs, 2 good RBs (double-counting JOS), an interesting rookie that can play across the back 4 including LB, 2-3 decent LHM options, 2 decent RHM options, variety upfront and 3 decent enough CMs, each of whom is a better player than 6 months ago. That's the positive way to look at it I suppose. I'm being unfair on McShane but he's not a bad player to have as back-up and I think he can improve given time.

[eirebhoy]

I actually think if McShane and Dunne are solid enough against Nigeria Trap will stick with that pairing in Bulgaria. Reasons being that after McShane's mistake against Serbia he kept his place at centre half against Colombia with O'Shea playing right back. He was terrific. It was only when he got injured that Trap put O'Shea at centre half and has stuck with that since. He felt strongly enough against Italy to switch McShane and O'Shea around at half time and now Dunne and McShane will start together against Nigeria.

If there's one player I'd want to see McShane mark it's Berbatov so I hope they do well against Nigeria. Do we risk Foley's confidence by playing him against Petrov? It took O'Shea about 30 games to gain a bit of confidence in a green shirt.

[paul_oshea]

I think at this stage if Reid wants to change Traps mind he will have to go away this summer and do what Steven Ireland did last year and do some intensive training and try get rid of some of the weight. If he wants to have have any hope of playing in the world cup,should we get there,he is going to have to do some thing pretty dramatic it seems.

I see today that Trap has started dropping hints about staying on beyond the current campaign.Id be very happy with that,but I do hope that after the Italy game he now trusts his players to play more attacking football now

can you provide that, i didnt read this?! Maybe its a way of letting clubs know he is still interested in coaching, I reckon he would love the chance to manage in England.

[paul_oshea]

There is a rationale, Trap's rationale. It would astonish me if Trap did not have a rationale for excluding Reid and including others.
It remains to be seen if it's the right rationale. That will be seen at the end of the qual games. Keep the faith.
It's funny how discussions can get overly focussed on who should be the 25th squad member.
For our game against Bulgaria, there are much bigger issues

i said rational, i didn't say it was or wasn't

[paul_oshea]

I do not see him playing mcshane in the centre against oshea, he knew that the italians were offering nothing down the centre, and the only exploiting they were doing was down the right wing, plus oshea offered better service running up and down the wing supporting the right midfielder. That is the only reason he played mcshane in the centre, and it will not happen against bulgaria bar injury.

[Stuttgart88]

kept his place at centre half against Colombia with O'Shea playing right back. He was terrific.

He did very well for most of the game but gifted Columbia a gilt edged chance through sheer clumsiness and Kiely bailed him out. Like Dunne in his early years (and even in recent games for City from what I've seen) McShane has one big error in him still.

He reminds me of me learning to drive: In the first 6 months or longer I did every journey pretty well but always made a balls of at least one routine gear change or other manoevre. Only after time did every trip become mistake free.

I think you could be right though. Trap might pick him.

[geysir]

6 months

I do not see him playing mcshane in the centre against oshea, he knew that the italians were offering nothing down the centre, and the only exploiting they were doing was down the right wing, plus oshea offered better service running up and down the wing supporting the right midfielder. That is the only reason he played mcshane in the centreand it will not happen against bulgaria bar injury

Only reason? The first half, McShane was like pea out of his pod.

I wouldn't put my house on it but I think McShane has definitely played himself out of being our RB for the foreseeable future.

[eirebhoy]

I do not see him playing mcshane in the centre against oshea, he knew that the italians were offering nothing down the centre, and the only exploiting they were doing was down the right wing, plus oshea offered better service running up and down the wing supporting the right midfielder. That is the only reason he played mcshane in the centre, and it will not happen against bulgaria bar injury.

I bet ya McShane plays in the centre vs Bulgaria!

I'm positive McShane would have played centre half against Norway if he wasn't injured and then on to the qualifiers (unless he really messed up). I hope Trap has realised that he's a useless right back. If he's not playing centre half don't play him at all.

btw - Italy played a few long balls up to Iaquinta in the 2nd half and McShane dealt with most of them.

[Razors left peg]

can you provide that, i didnt read this?! Maybe its a way of letting clubs know he is still interested in coaching, I reckon he would love the chance to manage in England.

from yesterdays Independent....
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...y-1743517.html

[alltogethernow]

I think at this stage if Reid wants to change Traps mind he will have to go away this summer and do what Steven Ireland did last year and do some intensive training and try get rid of some of the weight. If he wants to have have any hope of playing in the world cup,should we get there,he is going to have to do some thing pretty dramatic it seems.

My point exactly.
You want Reid in to play on the wing ahead of Keogh?

Who do you think has the better chance of knocking a ball past a player and getting a cross in…..Reid isnt going to get by anyone with pace. He has had some good performances but he is finished. He has had a poor season and as you said Fahy and Garvan will get the chance but they should be now because they are the type of player that will go to a world cup if we qualify.

[Stuttgart88]

Who do you think has the better chance of knocking a ball past a player and getting a cross in…..Reid isnt going to get by anyone with pace.

In fairness Andy Reid is one of the best ball deliverers we have, from wide or central positions. Keogh may be more athletic but he doesn't have the guile to beat a man one-fotr-one out wide and is certainly no expert ball crosser. Reid has the brains to make space. I'd have Reid ahead of him any day, but at the moment I'd have McGeady or Lawrence ahead of Reid though.

[elroy]

from yesterdays Independent....
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...y-1743517.html

There is a very strong likelihood that the team Trap will have a team at the end of this campaign that will be far superior and have a greater potential than the team he inherited. At his age, I think international football suits him, compared to other international jobs, the Irish one isnt too demanding from a media perspective and I genuinely think he has enjoyed his role. So I would not be surprised if he wants to stay on, whether we could afford it is another thing, not sure if there will be any gifts/donations forthcoming next time around.

He has brought a structure and purpose to the team that was notably absent only 12 months ago. I understand some people dont like his style etc but he has been a success so far and stands a good chance of success in the future. I def would welcome him taking us through the Euro 2012 campaign, where i think second place in a qualifying group would guarantee qualification.