Republic of Ireland v Georgia - Thursday, 6th October 2016 -World Cup 2018 Qualifier

[DeLorean]

Squad to be named on Friday.

McCarthy and Gibson unlikely to feature so presumably Glenn the indestructible will rack up caps number 76 and 77.

I'm hoping but not expecting to see Hogan's name in the squad. A striker on top of his game is exactly what we need for these two matches.


BBC Football: Everton pair doubtful for World Cup qualifiers

Irish Examiner: Scott Hogan hat-trick gives Martin O'Neill plenty to ponder

[DmanDmythDledge]

Does anyone know what the range of ticket prices are for this game? Ticketmaster site isn't loading for me at the moment.

[DeLorean]

Upper tier and behind the goals seems to be nearly all €40. Lower tier by the sidelines are €50. Premium is €80.

[DeLorean]

Eligibility thread for now I would think.

[pineapple stu]

Upper tier and behind the goals seems to be nearly all €40. Lower tier by the sidelines are €50. Premium is €80.

That is very expensive, particularly given how crap the last game against Georgia was, and indeed how bloody awful the last match (in Serbia) was.

Will the crowd top 30k I wonder?

[jbyrne]

That is very expensive, particularly given how crap the last game against Georgia was, and indeed how bloody awful the last match (in Serbia) was.

Will the crowd top 30k I wonder?

the season ticket that I have works out at about €32 per match and its not the most expensive ST available. you would pay at least twice that to an equivalent rugby international. If people want to buy on a match by match basis then they will pay a premium for it

[nigel-harps1954]

Republic of Ireland Squad
Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (West Ham United), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Danny Rogers (Falkirk*)
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Cyrus Christie, Richard Keogh, Alex Pearce (Derby County) Paul McShane (Reading), John O'Shea (Sunderland), Shane Duffy (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ciaran Clark (Newcastle United), Marc Wilson (Bournemouth), Stephen Ward (Burnley)
Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Preston North End*), James McClean (West Bromwich Albion), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), James McCarthy (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Burnley), Stephen Quinn (Reading), David Meyler (Hull City), Conor Hourihane (Barnsley), Harry Arter (Bournemouth), Eunan O'Kane (Leeds United), Stephen Gleeson (Birmingham City), Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City), Robbie Brady, Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City), Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City), Jonathan Hayes (Aberdeen)
Forwards: Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Newcastle United), Jonathan Walters (Stoke City), Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids)

*Indicates player is currently on loan

[tetsujin1979]

Doyle's injured at the moment, missed the Rapid's last game, but should be back in time
Rogers is an interesting one, supposed to be highly rated but two season on loan in the Scottish Championship isn't great preparation for international football.
Byrne can have no complaints if he can't get into the Blackburn team then he shouldn't be in the senior side

Egan is maybe the big omission, should be there ahead of Pearce.
Will McCarthy be fit in time?

Little disappointed that there's no Dundalk players in the squad

Other than that, no complaints about that squad

[pineapple stu]

33 man squad all told - so presumably the likes of Hayes, Hourihane, Gleeson, etc, will get cut.

I'd forgotten about Pilkington - when was he last called up?

Never heard of Danny Rogers. Second tier of Scottish football isn't a great level, even if he did make the team of the season when Rangers, Hearts and Hibs were in there too. Still, almost more comfortable having him there than the other Rogers!

[DeLorean]

Hourihane's inclusion is the most notable thing about that squad I think.

[nigel-harps1954]

Presumably no Dundalk players down to fixture schedules. They're already cramming in stupid amounts of games into short periods of time so the last thing they need is an international break too and more games called off. Remember League of Ireland doesn't break for international games.

[tetsujin1979]

In English lower league football, you can postpone a fixture if two (or possibly three?) of your squad are called up for international duty, is there something similar for League of Ireland? Although it's unlikely that amount of players from one club would be called up

[pineapple stu]

There is - as Cork and Dundalk fans have been telling us for the past ages. One senior call-up would be enough. Can get a match called off for U-21 call ups.

Dundalk's issue is they don't really have any time to postpone games. The FAI are even talking about extending the season for them.

[Dodge]

There is - as Cork and Dundalk fans have been telling us for the past ages. One senior call-up would be enough. Can get a match called off for U-21 call ups.

It's 2 players. They changed the rule after Cork had a game called off because Joe Gamble went to the US Cup.

Oh and it's not obligatory. Clubs have to ask for the games to be called off. Cork did this year with Maguire & O'Connor. Pats didn't last year with Hoare and Desmond (mainly as they had nothing to gain/lose)

[pineapple stu]

Appreciate it's not obligatory alright. Didn't realise two was the criterion for senior call-ups though; thought it would be less than for underage call-ups.

[nigel-harps1954]

The manger also said that a number of Dundalk players, thought to be Daryl Horgan and Garry Rogers, were not considered because of their hectic club schedule."I am in constant touch, with Stephen (Kenny), who is a very busy manager at this minute, they have issues with fixtures because of their success. Fantastic on one hand and pain on the other hand. I have to speak to Stephen.

"Horgan has done exceptionally well. In normal circumstances, he would have been in the provisional squad. Without a doubt. He was excellent in Holland, along with a number of other players. I would like to speak to Stephen (Kenny) before anything else."

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-35073057.html

[Olé Olé]

Delighted for Hourihane. Disappointed for Doherty and Egan. Issue for Doherty is that MON probably doesn't need another full-back in the squad as he has Christie, Coleman, Ward and Brady (even Wilson and Clark). For Egan, I'm not sure if there's any point in having McShane and Pearce in there ahead of him. That's the disappointment there, for me anyway.

It's probably a bit too early for Hogan and apparently he has some rehabilitation scheduled during the international break. You can understand his hesitance there. Hopefully it'll be revisited in November.

[seanfhear]

Good to give a young goalkeeper the experience of being in the squad .

[Stuttgart88]

My only bone to pick with Ole Ole is that I am absolutely sure there is no point in having Pearse and McShane ahead of him.

[Kingdom]

Republic of Ireland Squad

Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (West Ham United), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Danny Rogers (Falkirk*)

I don't know whether it says more about me, or the FAI, that my first assumption was that they picked the wrong Rogers by mistake! It probably says a lot about me that my first inclination is that this is a surprise, although I'm struggling to think of a more qualified candidate instead, especially with Lawlor being injured

Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Cyrus Christie, Richard Keogh, Alex Pearce (Derby County) [/B] Paul McShane (Reading)[/B], John O'Shea (Sunderland), Shane Duffy (Brighton & Hove Albion), Ciaran Clark (Newcastle United), Marc Wilson (Bournemouth), Stephen Ward (Burnley)

I suspect and hope McShane and Pearce are cut here. Considering he's not going to call up O'Shea to sit on the bench, there surely there isn't going to be a better time in the group to get a look at Egan, considering the opposition we face, especially to get a look-in at training. Doherty has to be close to the group now too, and I've consistently banged the drum for Greg Cunningham too, so no point stopping now.

Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Preston North End*), James McClean (West Bromwich Albion), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), James McCarthy (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Burnley), Stephen Quinn (Reading), David Meyler (Hull City), Conor Hourihane (Barnsley), Harry Arter (Bournemouth), Eunan O'Kane (Leeds United), Stephen Gleeson (Birmingham City), Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City), Robbie Brady, Wes Hoolahan (Norwich City), Anthony Pilkington (Cardiff City), Jonathan Hayes (Aberdeen)

Pilkington I've never been gone on, and to be honest, I think it's a slap in Daryl Horgan's face that he's not in the squad, fixture pile-up or no fixture pile-up. He's good enough for this level, and would offer us something that would allow Brady to be used more centrally.
I quite like our midfield options generally speaking now though, even if the central options are a touch magnolia. Hourihane finally gets called up which is great to see. Suspecting that McCarthy isn't fit, then I can only see Gleeson getting culled from the above

Arter hasn't started this season in the same form as last, but he's still a great option offensively; McGeady has started reasonably well for Preston, so he's definitely a live option, but in the system O'Neill in theory is espousing, I'm not really sure where McGeady fits, unless it's part of a more-central two behind a single striker.
On the flanks, I definitely would like to see something from O'Dowda, and Jonny Hayes - credit where it is due - and as much as I think McClean doesn't offer as much guile as some of his peers, he definitely is ultra-competent as part of a high-pressing front 3.
it is nice to see different options in midfield though.

Forwards: Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Newcastle United), Jonathan Walters (Stoke City), Kevin Doyle (Colorado Rapids)

Nothing to add except that if Hogan wasn't scheduled for rehab abroad in line with his recuperation from the cruciate, then he likely would be in the squad, as per Matt Ogden on Off the Ball on Weds night. It sounds like Ireland's proactivity in speaking to him - allied with the depth of strikers ahead of him for England - has won out, regardless of whether he has actually been capped yet or not. So that's nice to hear.