Ireland team v Slovakia

**paul_oshea** · 01/09/2011, 12:53 PM

given, o'shea, dunne, st ledger, ward, duff, whelan, andrews, mcgeady, long, keane

#kenEarly

Btw if tets or the others provided the list first he would have got a thanks

He is probably kicking himself now...

**paul_oshea** · 01/09/2011, 12:54 PM

Interesting that he has gone with Long instead of doyle, to me that sounds like a more attack minded policy instead of hoofing the ball up to doyle to hold up and pick out the wingers.

Looking forward to seeing how keane and Long work together. Nice to see a couple of surprises.

**jbyrne** · 01/09/2011, 12:56 PM

dont think keane and long play well together. other than that no surprises

**Kingdom** · 01/09/2011, 12:57 PM

Muppet. He's dropped Doyle?
Muppet.

of course that's ok if Doyler is injured. I'm not mental.

**Duggie** · 01/09/2011, 12:57 PM

brilliant, im very happy with this. i think long is better than doyle, its looking good. possibly st'ledger the only weak link, hasnt got much first team football at leicster so far this season.

**Real ale Madrid** · 01/09/2011, 12:59 PM

Doyle is our best player, hope there is nothing wrong with him.

**BonnieShels** · 01/09/2011, 1:00 PM

We will be fine.

**Kingdom** · 01/09/2011, 1:01 PM

Originally Posted by Duggie

brilliant, im very happy with this. i think long is better than doyle, its looking good. possibly st'ledger the only weak link, hasnt got much first team football at leicster so far this season.

So which one of Keane and Long do you think is going to beat Skrtel in the air for the numerous hoof's up the field?

**zero** · 01/09/2011, 1:06 PM

surprised at doyle's omission - i guess he's looking for pace up front with keane dropping a bit deeper.

or maybe doyle isn't 100%.

only time will tell if it's the right call.

**Duggie** · 01/09/2011, 1:07 PM

Originally Posted by Kingdom

So which one of Keane and Long do you think is going to beat Skrtel in the air for the numerous hoof's up the field?

eeh have you ever seen long play?? hes as good as doyle in the air and stronger if you ask me. hes physical, fast, good in the air and scores more goals than doyle. this is the exact team i would have picked if i were trap.

**zero** · 01/09/2011, 1:12 PM

Originally Posted by Duggie

eeh have you ever seen long play?? hes as good as doyle in the air and stronger if you ask me. hes physical, fast, good in the air and scores more goals than doyle. this is the exact team i would have picked if i were trap.

he really isn't.

**AlaskaFox** · 01/09/2011, 1:13 PM

If I know one thing from watching Ireland in 2011:
Trap is always right.

**Kingdom** · 01/09/2011, 1:14 PM

Originally Posted by Duggie

eeh have you ever seen long play?? hes as good as doyle in the air and stronger if you ask me. hes physical, fast, good in the air and scores more goals than doyle. this is the exact team i would have picked if i were trap.

Yes Duggie, I've seen both players play, many, many times. And not once would I have said Long was stronger, or better in the air than Doyle.
Longy has a great leap on him no doubt, but he's not as effective as Doyle one-on-one for kick-outs, hoofs, free's etc.
Quicker? Yes. Scoring more in the EPL? More effective to his team than Doyle? Nope.

**Closed Account** · 01/09/2011, 1:14 PM

I had a feeling he was going to go with Long, based on the bibs at training. Personally I'd of gone with Doyle as I think Long is better coming off the bench rather than vice-versa. Fair play to Long, from being behind Cox 3 months ago for the Macedonia game, he's staked a claim for a starting berth.

Kingdom, Long is very strong in the air. Any time I've seen him, even playing with Doyle a few years ago, he always played as the target man.

**zero** · 01/09/2011, 1:16 PM

long will score now of course and shut us all up.

god willing.

**Sullivinho** · 01/09/2011, 1:19 PM

With one very notable exception, very predictable. Didn't see the Doyle/Long switcheroo coming at all, assuming Doyle is fit and available. Mixed feelings on that but excited at the prospect of a bullish Long harrassing their defense.

**Kingdom** · 01/09/2011, 1:23 PM

I'm not gonna debate the Doyle v Long in the air comparison. Nobody will convince me otherwise. If we were to go with a single player up front in a competitive game, with everyone available, I'd go with Doyle every time.
Long from the bench is a game changer.

Naturally I still want us to win as much and if Longy works out, I'll bow down to you all.

And re: Macedonia in June, Cox was very much the right call. Long had a horridly arduous season, and to be eliminated from the Championshiop in cruel fashion missing a sitter in the process couldn't have helped his moral, whereas it was openly commented on how positive Cox was during the Celtic Cup games.

Just something else, I'm not saying I wouldn't start Long, I'm saying if he's fit, I wouldn't drop Doyle, that's all.

**geysir** · 01/09/2011, 1:25 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

given, o'shea, dunne, st ledger, ward, duff, whelan, andrews, mcgeady, long, keane

#kenEarly

Btw if tets or the others provided the list first he would have got a thanks

He is probably kicking himself now...

Beaten to the punch again, Paul.

01/09/2011 12:50 PM #256
JGKyne
Team Confirmed http://twitter.com/#!/FAIreland

**TerryPhelan** · 01/09/2011, 1:30 PM

James McCarthy has been called into the senior squad and will join up later this evening after the under 21 game in Sligo.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/soc...303337812.html

**DannyInvincible** · 01/09/2011, 1:34 PM

I believe Kilbane was four or five starts away from beating Billy Wright's record of 70 consecutive international starts for England. Unfortunate for him, but left back has long been a problem area and hopefully Ward can do the job there now. He's made a very good start to the season with Wolves.