Andorra V Republic of Ireland - Thursday, 3rd June 2021 - Friendly

Let him play a match for us before we start saying he's the worst ever player to be called up for Ireland.

Originally Posted by Fixer82

Let him play a match for us

If I was being mischievous, I'd say I'd rather not!

its only a training camp with a couple of end of international season friendlies thrown in. lots of players missing, a few new ones getting a try out.
a discussion like this about the worst player to appear in a squad for us is hugely insulting to the player(s) concerned. more worthy of another fans forum i can think of.....

The unspoken question is whether it's the worst squad Mandroiu's ever been in!

On the face if it, a LoI XI should be capable of giving Andorra a game, so it's pretty low risk bringing one player into the fold. He can only end up with either more or fewer caps than Jason Byrne, Glen Crowe, Joe Gamble and Alan Bennett - more, maybe he makes it and we all benefit; fewer, he's another footnote. Ultimately, I'd rather see circumstances evolve where, initially, the padded out spaces in friendly squads go to young LoI players rather than twilighters in League 1, and gradually every squad could have a handful of LoI players without it being considered weakened or unusual.

Sammie Szmodics (25, midfield) called up to the BIG squad. (Granny from Granard).

Peterborough's Sam Szmodics called up, along with Mark Travers; Randolph, Connolly, and Robinson all out with injury: https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/sam-...hree-ruled-out
Honestly, I've never heard of this guy, but he seems to have a decent record this season with the Posh, 16 goals in 46 appearances: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammie...eer_statistics
Does this mean that Scully and Shodipo are even further from the first team than we thought? Kenny mentioned Sykes was on the periphery of the squad when it was announced, so why isn't he involved now?
I can understand not wanting to break up the U21 squad any more than it already has been, but Conor Coventry has been involved with the senior team, so why not call him up?

Connolly spends more time on social media than he does on the football pitch at this point. Fairly surprised that Obafemi wasnt called up to replace him. A huge preseason needed from both those lads.

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Honestly, I've never heard of this guy

And that's saying something!

Actually, Randolph out is the bigger issue. How's Kelleher's fitness? Don't want to restart Keeper Wars from March, but I think we're generally agreed that Kelleher has to get game time here.

I suppose it's potentially a good sign in terms of the FAI scouting network that they've managed to call up a player that wasn't on the radar here at all. Can't remember that happening before really (apart from Lapira I suppose). What's the story with Marcus Harness? Would have expected him to be called up by now if he's not injured too?

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Honestly, I've never heard of this guy

Attacking midfielder, assists man with a goal in him now and again too. Was key to Peterborough getting promoted, was on loan there the season prior and they spent a million quid to get him permanently from Bristol. He didn't establish himself in the Championship with Bristol but is back in that division next season. Was key also to Toney top scoring the division a year ago as well at Clark Harris doing so this season for Peterborough, creative player.

One of the better players in L1 is what id say and had no idea he was eligible. Wonder who's next.

So, anyway, is Sam Szmodics the worst player to ever be called into an Ireland squad? Time will tell.

Originally Posted by Demesne Lad

Sammie Szmodics (25, midfield) called up to the BIG squad. (Granny from Granard).

Who!?

Originally Posted by Exgrad

So, anyway, is Sam Szmodics the worst player to ever be called into an Ireland squad? Time will tell.

I think he's only in there for intel on Hungary tbh

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Actually, Randolph out is the bigger issue. How's Kelleher's fitness? Don't want to restart Keeper Wars from March, but I think we're generally agreed that Kelleher has to get game time here.

Rnadolph being out at least opens the door for Kelleher to start. I'm sure all 3 will get a bit of time.

What does the rest of the team look like?

I'd like to see something like this start:

Kelleher
Coleman, O'Shea, Egan, Obamidele, Manning

Cullen, Hourihane, Molumby

McGrath
Idah


With Hourihane a little bit further forward than the other 2 in midfield.

I defo give McGrath a start if he play that 10 role andb8ve never seen the man play that's how desperate I am

Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

Rnadolph being out at least opens the door for Kelleher to start. I'm sure all 3 will get a bit of time.

Not sure if two games is great for giving three keepers time, especially when Kelleher is behind the other two in terms of international experience. Based on the March games, I wouldn't want Bazunu or Travers anywhere close to the starting line-up for our next game (Portugal away), so I think we need to have a proper look at Kelleher now in case Randolph is unavailable. I'd start Kelleher in both games, give one of the others a half against Andorra (assuming we're doing ok) and give Kelleher the full 90 against the more challenging Hungary.

It's really hard to pick a starting XI out of that squad that would excite you or give you any confidence for the immediate future.

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Not sure if two games is great for giving three keepers time, especially when Kelleher is behind the other two in terms of international experience. Based on the March games, I wouldn't want Bazunu or Travers anywhere close to the starting line-up for our next game (Portugal away), so I think we need to have a proper look at Kelleher now in case Randolph is unavailable. I'd start Kelleher in both games, give one of the others a half against Andorra (assuming we're doing ok) and give Kelleher the full 90 against the more challenging Hungary.

It's really hard to pick a starting XI out of that squad that would excite you or give you any confidence for the immediate future.

Possibly so. I'd be happy enough with another 15 mins for Bazunu with the clear directive not to get too creative....Travers should be happy enough just to be in the camp given he was a late call up and I still believe Bazunu has the higher ceiling but I know we disagree there.

Kelleher is still the most immediate heir apparent to Randolph so I'd expect him to start both games as you say.

Elsewhere I'd like to see how Ogbene stacks up. It wasn't that long ago that he was an exciting if not exactly dominant player in the LoI and I haven't been following him since.

I'd of course love Mandroiu to get 15-20 minutes. Could see it happening against Andorra and it's always nice to see your club's player step out in the green jersey. Regardless of what it says about the squad we have available, it's a credit to the lad after all the question marks from last season about his application.

On your last point - I suppose it depends on what excites you or what you see as progress? I'm ok with us developing players a bit and the associated struggles we might have to endure. It'll be enough to see a few green shoots as my expectations are pretty low for the next number of years.

Originally Posted by passinginterest

I suppose it's potentially a good sign in terms of the FAI scouting network that they've managed to call up a player that wasn't on the radar here at all. Can't remember that happening before really (apart from Lapira I suppose)

Cyrus Christie was a player that nobody knew was eligible when he was called up

Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

I still believe Bazunu has the higher ceiling but I know we disagree there.

No, I think Bazunu has a higher ceiling than Travers too. I just think both were really poor in the March games and neither is ready yet.

Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

On your last point - I suppose it depends on what excites you or what you see as progress? I'm ok with us developing players a bit and the associated struggles we might have to endure. It'll be enough to see a few green shoots as my expectations are pretty low for the next number of years.

I think there's a few players in there who, in and of themselves, would be an interesting call-up. The problem is we seem to have a squad full of them, and that's not good enough. Those kind of players are a percentage call at times; they're not all going to become senior regulars.

We need to beat Andorra - they are poor, with all due respect to them - but I think we also need to beat them playing Kenny's passing football style. A 1-0 in Gibraltar win would be a disaster for example. Yet I can't shake the fact that they've never rolled over for us. I think we're in for a nervy time of it next week.