'Artey!!!

[Donal81]

so you have to prove yourself to be woeful to be excluded from an Ireland squad..... great, i must still have a chance of getting in the squad one day!

harte was top scorer in last wc campaign and is only natural left back we have playing at a decent level. i stand my view that it became trendy to slag off harte and kilbane without foundation. kilbane in particular has proved many wrong with his recent motm performances...... fact!!

What I meant in regard to Maybury was that when he's come in, he hasn't played terribly or brilliantly. He hasn't been given a chance to shine in the Ireland team. I'm not saying he ever will but Harte has had his chance.

Regarding Kilbane, let's get this straight. Kilbane never performed well for Ireland until very, very recently and he's been in the squad for a long time. He was criticised for his performances as a winger. Now he's in central midfield, his performances have improved and he's done very well. This is a good thing, obviously, but it is by no means a vindication for those who defended him while he was on the left wing. If anything, taking him off the wing only proves that he was f*cking terrible there. A good performance against France is not vindication of any sort.

Also, tell me this. How much foundation do you need to criticise the two without being part of this trend you talk about? They were the weakest links in McCarthy sides without question. Kilbane couldn't attack and Harte couldn't defend. Harte could add to attack, Kilbane could add to defence at times, but in their positions they were useless. On that issue, I don't understand where you're coming from. The notion that they received criticism as a result of a trend instead of playing poorly is ridiculous, frankly.

They both give their all, definitely, as I've written a million times on this. But you and I would also give our all if we were picked for the Croatia game. Does that mean we shouldn't be subjected to criticism?

[eirebhoy]

Why are we all saying Harte in for Maybury? Maybury has played better for Ireland at LB than O'Shea but O'Shea will always be in the squad because he plays for Man U. At the moment, and for the forseable future, O'Shea is a utility player at United and hasn't played at LB in ages while Maybury is playing against the likes of Feyenoord, Shalke and Basle.

I'd personally prefer us to have better options at LB but unfortunately we don't. O'Shea has been poor for over a season now and gets away with so much because of the club he plays for.