Irish on view at stamford bridge

[drummerboy]

Birmingham are away to Chelsea. Manager Chris Haughton (sp) fields 4 Irish lads today. Doyle, Carr, Fahey and Rooney. Amazing to think that only one will be considered for Poland. Although the quality of our players may not be as good as 20 years ago, we certainly have a lot more decent players around. There was a time that once you played in England you were in the Irish squad. Doyle was a great prospect a few years ago, I was convinced he would be a top keeper. He had one bad game in the Premier League and Bruce bottled it, and banished him to the reserves where he has remained for 3 years. He looked shakey last season in his few appearances but has started to show he has matured in his more frequent appearances this season. This will be a huge test. Fingers crossed. I really think the 3 keeper spot in the Irish squad should be between him and Henderson. Forde has never convinced me.

[seanfhear]

Has there been a better manager than Chris Hughton this year.

How many first team players have left and Chris has done a remarkable job.

He should be in the running for manager of the year if he keeps this up for the rest of the season.

[drummerboy]

Doyle just saved peno. Birmingham leading 1-0. Carr off injured.

[tetsujin1979]

all updates happening in real time on the live blog here - http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/Live
no need to refresh, just leave it open and watch the magic happen!

[nigel-harps1954]

Superb penalty save from Doyle. Delighted to see them get the draw against Chelsea.

[rebelmusic]

Watched the game. Doyle was fantastic, couldnt do anything about the goal. Fahey had a pretty bad game by his standard, lots of sloppy passes. Rooney was impressive in a harrying role, really didnt get many opportunities. Pity Doyle cant get a good run of games.