Who will replace Miller in the squad.

[Lenny82]

As Miller is still without a club, perhaps Trap is trying to do him a favour by keeping him in the squad in the hopes a club come in for him. I honestly don't think he has a chance of getting a game against Cyprus.

McCann, Fahey and Ward are all making names for themselves in the Premier this season and must be giving Trap food for thought but other than Miller, who would you leave out of the squad in place of some of these options?

[Bluebeard]

Kilbane in particular should have stayed back, as he could have released McGeady, who was giving the opposing full back kittens every time he got in possession.

Now there is surely the problem. Every time Ireland got the ball to the left, McGeady was too preoccupied in dispensing cuddly gifts to the Aussie right full. How carrying these kittens while waiting for possession must have distracted him: kittens are very distracting at the best of times, never mind when you are trying to hold them, and presumably half the stand beside you going "Aaahh!" It is a wonder he ever got the ball in the first place. And why he was waiting to give them to the Australian full back until he got possession beggars belief.

Fair play to Trap though - it might be a wild tactical experiment, and one I woudn't agree with, but the time to try those is in the friendlies alright. Hopefully now I can be certain that there is no chance he'll just send over a crate of kittens to the sideline by Duff or McGeady if it's 0-0 in Nicosia with 20 minutes left. I mean to say, that kind of thing might have some effect on the likes of your teams from civilised countries, but sure the Cypriots have that latin temperament, and presumably eat them or f*ck them or something, and wouldn't waste five minutes on them. You'd want to watch them Cypriots, cat hating foreign b@st@rds.

[dr_peepee]

yeah, but you can't just magic up a left back and a genuine quality CM just to complete the picture. Steven Reid is a free gift that can be added to the squad, Finnan too, but for all the complaints about Murphy, Fahey, McCann etc. they're all marginal decisions that aren't going to be decisive.

It's not Trapp's fault that we haven't got a proper left back for the first time since independence and S. Reid and Finnan are injured and that Stephen Ireland, who is increasingly looking like a class act, is a deluded knob end.

Obviously.... But is it not true to say that part of his job is to make sure we the best LB from an average bunch in this case?? Is left full our weakest position? I think it is for definate. Is Kilbane the best LB we have availible to us. Maybe? But based on what? Form? Experimentation? Lack of options? What options have been looked at? We have an aging converted Midfielder whose form isn't good. Is that still better than a fullback switching flanks (Kelly's played there for Spurs and Brum in the premiership), or a young inexperienced left full in the top flight (Ward) or a Championship level specialist LB (Delaney, Paintor etc) and so on...

I think a problem has been identified and not much is being done to correct it. I think your right about the Andrews, Fahy, McCann Whelen, Reid decision etc being marginal. I think the left full thing could be decisive though.

[Stuttgart88]

Well, he did try Delaney twice and Nolan has played twice, once as sub I think. Delaney imperessed me in both his games and I thought he looked good for Ipswich away to Coventry. Delaney is still under consideration judging by his standby status for the Australia game. Nolan looked a bit ropey against Nigeria, but it was his debut. Trap must have made the value judgmenmt that it's KK, then Nolan, then Delaney, with maybe JOS being an option if we have cover at RB.

Kelly failed to impress at right back, let alone trying him at left back! I hope Kelly can step up though as we need options at RB too. I think Kelly played LB at home to Czech Rep (1-1) and did quite well.

Painter is only a sub at Swansea. He probably hasn't been looked at but I think it's fair to say that Delaney & Nolan rank higher.

I can't remember who played LB at Dalymount in the B game. Did Ward get a call up for that? I have only seen him a few times on telly and each time he's done something that'd concern me, like the abovementioned near-penalty concession.

[Stuttgart88]

Just for clarity Doc, I'm coming a cross as a bit of a pro-Trapp zealot but I actually share your concerns about the lack of experimentation but the recent capping of several new players has given me cause to believe that he's not as set in his ways as many think.I actually have great faith in Trapp's judgment but it's his Irish colleagues that I have doubts about. In Givens' case, grave doubts.

[eirebhoy]

I can't remember who played LB at Dalymount in the B game. Did Ward get a call up for that? I have only seen him a few times on telly and each time he's done something that'd concern me, like the abovementioned near-penalty concession.

Ward and Foley started that game as far as I remember.

[tetsujin1979]

I can't remember who played LB at Dalymount in the B game. Did Ward get a call up for that? I have only seen him a few times on telly and each time he's done something that'd concern me, like the abovementioned near-penalty concession.

Yeah, that was Ward. I was sitting right behind him in the first half. He didn't play badly, and looked comfortable in possession. However, Hoolahan in front of him didn't show enough for the ball IMO, and lost possession too easily when he did take a pass. O'Dea beside Ward was probably the worst player on the night (Bruce as captain outshone him in defence, make of that what you will). Andrews was playing on the left of central midfield, and came back to give Ward an out ball on a few occasions.

To summarise, he didn't play badly, but the players around him made it look like he did. I'd like to have seen him get another chance.

[Wolfie]

If Finnan remained injured - I'd liked to have seen Delap included in previous friendly squads and deployed at Right Full. He has played there before at club level. I think it would be a short term but effective initiative.

Making use of O'Shea's experience at playing either side - I'd play him at left full.

Many would contend that Delap would be a viable option within midfield - but I think he would provide a solid and assured presence at right full which could have the affect of shoring up our back 4, along with O'Shea on the other side.

There is the obvious additional benefit of the long throw - but this should not cloud the fact that Delap has footballing ability and the throw-in is an added benefit.

Unfortunately, the time-frame may now have passed for this to be a realistic option.

[dr_peepee]

Just for clarity Doc, I'm coming a cross as a bit of a pro-Trapp zealot but I actually share your concerns about the lack of experimentation but the recent capping of several new players has given me cause to believe that he's not as set in his ways as many think.I actually have great faith in Trapp's judgment but it's his Irish colleagues that I have doubts about. In Givens' case, grave doubts.

Yeah!! It's defo not as bad as it was a few months ago. I'd actually forgotten about Nolan too... The names like Paintor were just bantered about. I wasn't advocating a particular player. I just feel we're going to get hurt through Kilbane at left full and think the SA friendly is now a missed oppertunity to check another option..

[geysir]

KK looks to be in poor enough shape.
What other options are there that have not been tried out? Nolan is in the squad with Delaney thereabouts. Nolan has been given a run out in the last 2 friendlies.

Delap? offers a solid versatility, apart from his throw ins, which would be useful as cover for a lot of possible eventualities.

[dr_peepee]

KK looks to be in poor enough shape.
What other options are there that have not been tried out? Nolan is in the squad with Delaney thereabouts. Nolan has been given a run out in the last 2 friendlies.

Fair point. I'd actually forgotten about Nolan earlier when I started my rant. But I do feel we're compressing this into a couple of recent friendlies, when I think it's fair to say that left full has been a problem position, if not the, since day one.

Nolan was O.K. Did he do enough to cement his place?? Is it that Trapp believes he's definately the second best left full we have?? I don't even think it's that.

I think it's that he's being too rigid in his windows of oppertunity. If you miss the boat it's "Tough...Wait til next summer or B match. I've plans for the other friendlies and I don't tinker with competitive squads". I mean what harm calling an extra 1 or 2 players in any squad if only to get a look in training, if not a game.

I'm not gunning for Trapps head or anything. I wouldn't swap him for any other manager. Just an opinion..

[geysir]

KK will live a bit longer, I seriously hope he gets back to his old self.
Nolan did enough to be in kept in the squad. I didn't scrutinise his performance closely but I thought he was defensivly more sound than KK and got up the wing to get involved. He looked confident. I guess trap appreciates that in a player, like Bruce perhaps
As regards midfield, Andy Reid's exclusion may have been done for the greater good but by all accounts he is no O'leary. I think he will get a recall once he starts being played by Sunderland. Possibly a few injuries will clear his path.

[shakermaker1982]

Kilbane needs to be phased out. He'd be a useful man to have around the squad but his defensive frailties have been exposed this campaign and I hope the Trap considers playing O'Shea at LB over in Cyprus.

The thinking behind the Trap's decision to keep including Miller is probably more to knowing the player himself after seeing him up close at numerous training camps. Consequently he knows what Miller is and isn't capable of. Bringing Fahey and McCann in now for the three crunch games is probably a risk too far for the Trap at this late stage of the campaign. The Trap doesn't want any unknowns going into the Cyprus game. He has enough to worry about after our showing in the Austalia game!

[NeilMcD]

Yeah!! It's defo not as bad as it was a few months ago. I'd actually forgotten about Nolan too... The names like Paintor were just bantered about. I wasn't advocating a particular player. I just feel we're going to get hurt through Kilbane at left full and think the SA friendly is now a missed oppertunity to check another option..

I think the other option will be Nolan in the South Africa friendly.

So far in a just over a year Trap has introduced

Whelan
Andrews
Nolan
Best
St Ledger

to the squad and had B international with a lot of the players many have called for. The only ones not to get a chance are Mc Cann, Morrison and Carsle

[geysir]

Traps 28 man squad in May last year,included seven previously uncapped players - O'Dea, Scannell, Delaney, Foley, Garvan, Hoolahan and Whelan

New caps added to the squad along the way after the first 2 friendlies,
Andrews, Nolan, St Ledger, Lawrence, Folan and Best.

[Stuttgart88]

Westwood and Foley too.

[geysir]

I mentioned Foley

[Stuttgart88]

I thought you were saying new caps.

[NeilMcD]

So basically that puts and end to the notion that he does not introduce new players. Our best youth coach of all time Brian Kerr only capped a couple of new players when he got the job.

[geysir]

I thought you were saying new caps.

I can see how you got there.
I am only trying to supplement what yourself and Neil have written

The jist is that he brought in a minibus load to check out with his first squad,
some stayed some not.
Then during the campaign he brought in another 6 new players to the squad who were capped.
As Neil and yourself have said, he has tried almost everybody who is available except McCann and a few others.