QuoteI agree Connolly and Keane don't work well together but that apart from that he is generally rubbish for us. When Connolly gets a great chance i never truly believe he'll put it away and he invariably doesn't.
Obviously he's not going to be called up for the Czech game for the same reason as Breen, O' Shea, Mc Ateer .. and of course .. cough ... Babb and Keane .. but he seems to be bang in form for Sunderland at the moment, and apparently scored a cracking free kick last night.
I agree Connolly and Keane don't work well together but that apart from that he is generally rubbish for us. When Connolly gets a great chance i never truly believe he'll put it away and he invariably doesn't.
Bit harsh - Kinsella hasn't been playing the last season or two, which is why he hasn't done as well. He's now playing, so there's no reason he shouldn't be in the squad. This whole thing of building a team for the future all the time is silly - England are always at it and are always underachieving in the present (best example being England fans hounding Shearer 'cos he was past it at 29, and now they're stuck with Vassell and Heskey!). We have to pick our best 22 players for a squad to get the best results in the present.Originally Posted by NigeSausagepump
Anyway, Kinsella's only 31 - not as if he's nearly finished.
Kinsella hasn't been playing the last year or so because his performances haven't been up to it. He's not really been injured. He couldn't force his way into what at the time was a poor Villa side and was dropped for untested kids such as Hitzelsperger and Whittingham. Was rarely even on the bench. I'm not one throwing the baby out with the bath water and playing a team of 20 year olds but it's a long time since Kinsella has looked like an international midfielder.
Spoke to a Charlton supporter last year, he says Kinsella was never the same after a major injury he had
Colgan and Finnan are out, so Murphy and Maybury in. I can't see the logic in that one, surley Thompson is ahead of Maybury in the pecking order at this stage? I'd forgotten all about Maybury.
Thompson doesn't even get his game for Forest.
Maybury is only 25, I thought he was a lot older.
I thought he was a Forest regular? Makes sense then I suppose
Thompson was a Forest reg untill Joe Kinear took over, now he
appears more on the subs bench, however that may be tactical move
as he needs a more attacking formation, however as harder to win
games appear on the fixture list he may get more of a look in,
but I am no expert.
Forest have also made several loan signings so competition for
places is tougher.
Forest remain dangerously close to relegation (1 point off) with a
pretty tough run in (very tough in my opinion).
Yes we (Forest) are up **** creek hence my visit to Nottingham in a few weeks to preserve my record of having never seen them lose. Thompson hasnt figured much as of late, hes miles off international football. As for Reid he'll be gone in the Summer to the highest bidder.
Alan Maybury is still not a bad footballer. Not quite good enough to really set the world alight. Would have liked to see Alan Quinn sort out his club situation (MOVE!!!) because I thought he showed a lot of potential.
The ball is round and has many surprises.
Connolly and Dunne withdraw
David Connolly and Richard Dunne have been forced to withdraw from the Republic of Ireland squad to face the Czech Republic on Wednesday evening at Lansdowne Road (Kick off 7:30).
Striker Connolly made his first start in two months for West Ham United against Gillingham on Saturday while Dunne started for Manchester City in a 0-0 draw with Fulham, though both have now been withdrawn by their respective clubs.
On Sunday afternoon, manager Brian Kerr was happy with the squad that was due to arrive in Dublin though he admitted he may call in extra players should there be any more withdrawals.
On Friday, Kerr added West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Joe Murphy and Hearts’ full back Alan Maybury to the squad after Nicky Colgan and Steve Finnan were withdrawn.
Squad: Given (Newcastle United), Murphy (West Bromwich Albion), Kenny (Sheffield United), Maybury (Hearts), O’Brien (Newcastle United), Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Carr (Tottenham Hotspur), Harte (Leeds United), Carsley (Everton), Delap (Southampton), Kinsella (West Bromwich Albion), McPhail (Leeds United), Holland (Charlton Athletic), Kilbane (Everton), Reid (Nottingham Forest), Duff (Chelsea), Lee (Cardiff City), Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Morrison (Birmingham City).
Miller has been called up and is expected to play some part in Wedensday's match.
Woo-hoo!
Given the current shape of the squad, I'd like to see:
.................Given.....................
Carr.....O’Brien....Cunningham..Harte
Reid....Kinsella.....Zilbane.........Duff
.......Morrisson....Keane...........
We need a fairly good side to take on the Czechs, but this lets us assess Harte, Kinsella and Reid for the qualifiers, as well as trying out the Keane/Morrisson combo up front and the O'Brien/Cunningham one at the back again.
You can't spell failure without FAI
I don't know if O'Brien is injured but according to Sky Sports news, Kerr has said that Doc will start alongside Cunningham. Due to lack of first team action for Harte, i'd say Maybury will start at left back. Delap is playing great football for Southampton so should get in instead of Kinsella. Miller and Kenny will play some part in the match and Morrison should partner Keane up front.
I can't think of a single reason anyone would pick Mark Kinsella when we have Delap in the squad, if Kerr thinks Kinsella is a long term option and, yet again, overlooks Delap I'll go mad.
Given the current shape of the squad, I'd like to see:
.................Given.....................
Carr.....O’Brien....Cunningham..Harte
Reid....Kinsella.....Zilbane.........Duff
.......Morrisson....Keane...........
We need a fairly good side to take on the Czechs, but this lets us assess Harte, Kinsella and Reid for the qualifiers, as well as trying out the Keane/Morrisson combo up front and the O'Brien/Cunningham one at the back again.
Agreed.
Kinsella even said himself in an article over the weekend that he doesn't expect to be around for the WC if we qualified. I've no idea what playing him will achieve apart from proving that he's now past it.
Maybe you should put her on a leash, agent-man.
He said he didn't expect to be in the squad for that. He's not 35, for God's sake. He's not retiring at the end of the season.
What will it achieve? Proving that he's not past it, perhaps. If the guy's match-fit, and playing well for a team pushing for promotion into the Permiership, surely he's worth another look. If he is past it, so beit, put Delap on for the second half. If he's not, you people will look stupid, and we'll have another viable option for the midfield in the qualifiers. And given how many people seem to want to grant Miller an automatic starting place in our future midfield on the basis that he's played a few good games for Celtic, that can't be a bad thing.
You can't spell failure without FAI
Delap does deserve a place in the team over Kinsella but just because Kinsella doesn't believe he will make the sqaud for 2006 doesn't mean he won't make it for the qualifiers in September. This is Ireland we have qualified for 3 world cups, who says we'll do it this time? The same thing was said when R** K**** hinted he wanted to come back, everyone said he will be too old in 2006. Eh, the qualifiers are in a few months, not 2006.
Last edited by eirebhoy; 30/03/2004 at 5:16 PM.
In my opinion Kinsella and Holland's porous central midfield axis was the main reason why we didn't qualify for Euro 2004. They allowed too many opposition attacks through and created pretty much nothing going forward. Not, I would suggest, reason enough to drag Kinsella back into first team duty.
If you claim that because he's playing wellish for a promotion chasing 1st Div club he deserves another run, then why not give David Connolly another chance? He may not have as many good Irish performances as Kinsella in the past (and God knows Kinsella's performances were in the dim and distant past), but at least he has relative youth on his side.
As it happens, I don't think Connolly is the way forward either. Just trying to draw a parallel. Players who have shown they are not up to it at this level don't deserve a call up. Kinsella was good in 2002, but then so were Man Utd. He's patently no longer international standard.
Maybe you should put her on a leash, agent-man.
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