Republic of Ireland V Switzerland 25th March & Slovakia 29th March 2016 - Friendlies

[SolitudeRed]

It seems that Nelson McCausland's little tirade did a good job of deflecting attention from his DUP colleague Sammy Wilson's faux pas whilst filming for a BBC documentary about the EU referendum I am not sure if that was the intention but that picture of the 1916-2016 crest was released a while back IIRC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-35693195

Amazingly Nelson's take on the Ireland Jersey was on the front page of a local Unionist daily the Belfast Telegraph! (ironically the telegraph is owned by Independent News and Media)

However I doubt they will they be giving this story about politics being brought into football such prevalent coverage...

http://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/0...genda--438725/

[Charlie Darwin]

Unionists are such bad liars. You'd think they'd have learned SOMETHING from Sinn Féin after all these years.

[DeLorean]

Independent.ie - Hopefuls waiting for Ireland debut call from O'Neill

[Closed Account]

Squad to be named Friday:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2016/...nt-for-oneill/

On Friday, Martin O’Neill is scheduled to announce the Ireland squad for the friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia at the end of March.

[tetsujin1979]

squad announced: http://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/oneil...nal-friendlies

Goalkeepers
Darren Randolph (West Ham United)
David Forde (Millwall)
Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday)
Rob Elliot (Newcastle United)
Defenders
Cyrus Christie (Derby County)
Seamus Coleman (Everton)
Richard Keogh (Derby County)
John O'Shea (Sunderland)
Alex Pearce (Bristol City*)
Shane Duffy (Blackburn Rovers)
Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa)
Paul McShane (Reading)
Stephen Ward (Burnley)
Greg Cunningham (Preston North End)
Matt Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Midfielders
Robbie Brady (Norwich City)
James McCarthy (Everton)
Jeff Hendrick (Derby County)
Darron Gibson (Everton)
Harry Arter (Bournemouth)
Eunan O'Kane (Bournemouth)
Glenn Whelan (Stoke City)
Paul Green (Rotherham United)
Stephen Gleeson (Birmingham City)
David Meyler (Hull City)
Stephen Quinn (Reading)
Aiden McGeady (Sheffield Wednesday*)
James McClean (West Bromwich Albion)
Alan Judge (Brentford)
Jonathan Hayes (Aberdeen)
Chris Forrester (Peterborough United)
Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City)
Jonathan Walters (Stoke City)
Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City)
Forwards
Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)
Shane Long (Southampton)
Daryl Murphy (Ipswich Town)
Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids)
Anthony Stokes (Celtic)
Simon Cox (Reading)

Little surprised to see Forrester in there if I'm honest. Really happy for Hayes, he's been in great form for Aberdeen this season

[DeLorean]

This extended squad thing has grown on me. It's handy for letting us and the players know who's in his mind, even if they don't make the trimmed down version.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Cox, Stokes, Green, O'Kane, Gibson and Pearce don't have any business being named in a squad.

We have plenty of midfield options. We don't need to be selecting two players who have barely played all season and one who is 33 years old & never realistically going to fulfill any kind of role for us again.

Cox has barely played all season and I can't remember the last time he scored a goal. Same thing with Pearce.

So you have to temper expectations for lads like Doherty, Judge and Forrester. They are in his plans but Doyle and Green are just window dressing and they are in the squad too.

Surprised about Hayes. Didn't he say he doesn't care about the national team and would be following Northern Ireland in France?

[DeLorean]

Some of the inclusions look like borderline teasing at this stage alright.

[DeLorean]

Surprised about Hayes. Didn't he say he doesn't care about the national team and would be following Northern Ireland in France?

Kind of, but not really...

When Ireland didn’t look as if they would qualify I planned a trip to France with a couple of pals to support Niall [McGinn] and I’ll probably still go as a fan.

We’ll maybe hire a van – and no doubt I’ll be left with the driving. We’ll go for a few days and I’m still pledging my allegiance to Niall, only because I can get match tickets from him.

It’s nice to think the Ireland manager might watch our games on TV but it’s not in my head – I forgot the game was even being shown on Sky. I’m only focused on my team and my own game.

If something ever came about then obviously I’d be happy but I don’t think about it. Why not? Probably because I’m a pessimist.

Look, if asked, you wouldn’t say no – you couldn’t. I’d get some amount of stick back home if I did.

However, it’s different if you’re playing well every week in the Premier League.

Previous management teams in Ireland didn’t watch the SPL at all, so maybe it has something to do with that. If it happened, it would be a bonus.

[Olé Olé]

Stephen Gleeson is one who raised my eyebrows a bit. Good season for Birmingham and could have something to offer as a defensive midfielder.

I don't expect Forrester to feature at all really. Given that he's playing at League One it would be difficult to throw him in at the Euros without the proper acclimatisation. They are well-aware that the chances are he'll be playing at a higher level next season. What harm if he's looking for a move and his CV has been endorsed by this also.

[SkStu]

I had thought that Given was now excluded and was quite relieved but now been told it may be down to injury?

[TheBoss]

The fact that Chris Forrester is included is yet another kick in the teeth for the League of Ireland. He only left the league last July and now 8 months later he is good enough to be included in an Ireland squad. So on that logic he has dramatically improved so much in that 8 months to be worthy of a call-up, which is complete and utter nonsense. He was same player 8 months back as he is now. It was the exact same situation with James McClean, he joined Sunderland in August 2011 and made his Ireland debut in Feb 2012, there is just no way that you could improve that much in that short period of time. The simple fact is that both players played at the same level in their respective new leagues as they did in Ireland.

[DeLorean]

MON said he's only seen Forrester play once (not sure if he means in person) but has got some good reports. He said Barry Fry rang him raving about him as well! The West Brom cup game probably put him on the map big time.

Yeah SkStu, Given is still out with his knee.

A lot of Irish starters in this F.A. Cup quarter final this evening - McShane, Quinn and Cox for Reading, Delaney for Palace.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I'm amused by the fact Jack Byrne isn't called up despite putting in MOTM shifts against teams like Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven this season. And the big Dutch teams aren't as good as they used to be, granted, but the rest of the league is stronger than it used to be. It's a decent standard.

Kick in the teeth for Cillian Sheridan not to be involved. He's one of the top scorers in the Cypriot League and has put in decent shifts in Europe.

How on earth Paul Green and Simon Cox are more worthy of a call up is utterly beyond me.

Just goes to show that if you don't play in Britain, you are not on their radar.

Aside from that, Samir Carruthers can count himself unlucky. He has been decent for MK Dons. Joe Mason is another glaring omission. Far more talented footballer than Simon Cox. Alan Browne too..

[Fixer82]

Mason and Sheridan have cases alright. I think Rooney would be there if he wasn't injured. Probably at the expense of Cox or Doyle.
Forrester has proven he can hold his own in England. Towell was the best player in the league last year and has not proven he can hold his own over there yet. Unfortunately, the league is a long way behind the UK still. I do think a compulsory LOI player or two per squad would be a good idea though. Although it could be just seen as tokenism

[DeLorean]

I'd definitely prefer to see Sheridan in the squad too over at least two of those striker options, namely Cox and Stokes and probably Doyle too at this stage.

[Stuttgart88]

Good to see Cunningham, Forrester, Hayes, Gleeson, Doherty, Duffy etc all being included. I'd say Rooney would have been included if fit. No big issue with Green and Cox. It is quite a progressive selection by and large.

[osarusan]

The fact that Chris Forrester is included is yet another kick in the teeth for the League of Ireland. He only left the league last July and now 8 months later he is good enough to be included in an Ireland squad. So on that logic he has dramatically improved so much in that 8 months to be worthy of a call-up, which is complete and utter nonsense. He was same player 8 months back as he is now. It was the exact same situation with James McClean, he joined Sunderland in August 2011 and made his Ireland debut in Feb 2012, there is just no way that you could improve that much in that short period of time. The simple fact is that both players played at the same level in their respective new leagues as they did in Ireland.

He has proven himself against a higher standard of player since the move.

It's sometimes hard to gauge just how good somebody is in LOI.

[DeLorean]

Pretty sure I heard on the radio that despite being called up for the U-21's, Jack Byrne will be given the opportunity to train with the senior team also. Best of both worlds really if I heard correctly.

[paul_oshea]

Ya it's confirmed in today's independent. Jees that site is getting worse and worse.