Squad/Team v Russia/Slovakia

[bwagner]

Coleman has never started a Premiership game

Bla Bla Bla
Neither has St.Ledger !

[SkStu]

Should Andrews be unfit, Green is the only player that I would have alongside Whelan for these 2 games.
Possibly Josh, but anybody else in there means a free fast lane through CM for the opposition, space which even Andorra could exploit.
Green has a defined job to do and he does it well enough, at least better than anybody else would. He fits in there like a glove. He is made for our team. Howl at the moon all you want.

keep banging that Trappatoni drum.

"better than anybody else"? Crazy talk.

[Razors left peg]

I agree that Green isnt good enough but Im happy with the way the group has started so Im not gonna start bitching about the squad at this stage

[TrapAPony]

I agree that Green isnt good enough but Im happy with the way the group has started so Im not gonna start bitching about the squad at this stage

Anything less than beating Armenia and Andorra would have been hugely embarrassing. However, the Slovakia & Russia games are going to tell an awful alot about where we are right now.

[Charlie Darwin]

I know what you saying but there is a difference in badly mistiming a challenge and a player miscontrolling the ball and leaving the door open for a challenge. It's not as if he does it week in/week out.

Yeah but how many penalties have Ireland given away in the last 2.5 years? For all of KK's obvious limitations, he's a very disciplined player.

A lot of the squad wont play either and dont have the potential that some of those omitted have.

Surely the time for these players to get the experience is to be involved with the competitive squads where they'll be at the coalface and not in friendly squads where the atmosphere is bound to be more relaxed.

My opinion is that since Brady has left the setup the scouting has gone to pot and Trap is taking a lazy approach to squad selection and eyeing up new players.

The difference is the players in the squad could step in for frontline players and essentially do the same job. McCarthy, Wilson and Coleman haven't been in squads before so they don't have the experience of Trap's rigid system.

exactly what i was going to say. Trappatoni doesnt make changes for friendlies. Its a bit ridiculous at this stage. Paul effing Green.

Surely Green was a change made for a friendly?

[Razors left peg]

Anything less than beating Armenia and Andorra would have been hugely embarrassing. However, the Slovakia & Russia games are going to tell an awful alot about where we are right now.

Andorra yes, but winning away in Armenia was a very good result considering some of their results at home in recent years

[SkStu]

Surely Green was a change made for a friendly?

friendlies that were part of the career defining training camps.

[TrapAPony]

Andorra yes, but winning away in Armenia was a very good result considering some of their results at home in recent years

We even managed to concede against Andorra. Not many teams can brag about that one. IMO not beating Armenia would have been a disaster.

[Razors left peg]

We even managed to concede against Andorra. A draw against Armenia would have been a disaster IMO.

yeah it was sloppy to give a goal away against Andorra and we should have scored more but its not just under Trap that we havent hammered weak teams. We always seem to drop to the level of the opposition for years now.

Anyway, we can argue about the merits of the squad all we want but if we get 4 or 6 points from these 2 games then it will have been justified.

[Charlie Darwin]

friendlies that were part of the career defining training camps.

Of the current frontline players, Lawrence, Green, Andrews and St. Ledger were all brought in mid-campaign for friendlies. He's not very adventurous in his choice of player but I see no reason why he wouldn't bring in Wilson to compete with similar-minded players like Andrews and Whelan.

[tetsujin1979]

he said regular premier league players. Didnt mention starters anywhere.

Coleman's only played 3 games in the Premiership, doesn't make him a regular

[bwagner]

Coleman's only played 3 games in the Premiership, doesn't make him a regular

Whats your point???

He is a regular this season !

[tetsujin1979]

My opinion is that since Brady has left the setup the scouting has gone to pot and Trap is taking a lazy approach to squad selection and eyeing up new players.

According to this - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...264348498.html - Brady finished with the setup after the Brazil game in March. Since then Paul Green, Greg Cunningham, Keith Fahey, Keith Treacy and Cillian Sheridan have all made their debuts, while Shane Duffy and Brian Murphy were called into the training squad before Algeria and Paraguay

[tetsujin1979]

Whats your point???

He is a regular this season !

if anything this season, his record is as a regularly introduced substitute. Is he going to start either game against Russia or Slovakia ahead of Stephen Kelly (who is a regular starter at fulham) or John O'Shea (who is Trapattoni's regular starter at right full). Plain and simple, no he isn't. So there's not much point in calling him up at the moment, should either or those players get injured between then and now then he's still behind Foley in terms of Premiership experience, and call ups to the Ireland squad under Trappatoni.
I said last week these are not the games to call him up to play in, and I still believe it.

[SkStu]

Coleman's only played 3 games in the Premiership, doesn't make him a regular

3 games in 5 makes him a regular. Obviously not an ever present but certainly regular and certainly more regular than others in the squad.

[dr_peepee]

Squad as expected... I think the Norway friendly we'll see some of the new faces.

I hope... Ye never can tell with Trapp.

[tetsujin1979]

3 games in 5 makes him a regular. Obviously not an ever present but certainly regular and certainly more regular than others in the squad.

see my response in post 54

[SkStu]

oh okay so a "regularly introduced substitute" is not the same as a "regular player" then. Bizarre.

[geysir]

keep banging that Trappatoni drum.

He is the manager. I support the team. Trap defines how the team plays. At this stage you can either accept that he defines the team or howl at the moon. If you accept that he defines the team, then his selections make perfect sense.

"better than anybody else"? Crazy talk.

Who else is there, to play the holding role that Trap would want in the absence of Andrews?
Possibly McCarthy? came on against Brazil but he was not there in the Summer and he won't be used against Russia.

[SkStu]

If anything, the calls should be for Foley to be in the squad (5 starts, equal to O'Shea and Kelly), not Coleman

We're obviously arguing two different points. I think its too soon for Coleman too. Foley should be there so should Ward Wilson and McCarthy. Is there any justification for Greg Cunningham being there ahead of Ward that doesnt involve a training camp?