Embarrassment of riches: who is Ireland's best goalkeeper?

**Razors left peg** · 08/01/2022, 10:47 AM

Expand how? We can't magically pull players out of thin air to play. We are relatively stacked, considering the recent past, at center half with young players coming through, but much like the keepers it'll be a few years before we know just how good they will be. Collins, O'Shea and Omobamidele are 3 very young players who already have Premiership minutes. From our point of view that is stacked. Especially when u add them to what we already have with the others.

On a different note, I keep seeing that Kenny should try this player or that in the March friendlies. Yet he'll get hammered if we don't get results in those games. We have momentum now that he needs to continue. The March friendlies can't be used as almost B games to look at guys

**pineapple stu** · 08/01/2022, 11:34 AM

Expand as in bring new options into the senior team. Give Collins a full debut, call up Dunne, re-consider Lenihan.

Centre-back was always a strong position for us, and I don't think three very good defenders (Duffy, O'Shea, Egan) and one very promising starlet (Omo) is quite what I'd define as "relatively stacked" when we play three at the back.

But yeah, certainly I agree that we can't just go playing out a B team in March. There's a couple of other positions where I'd be more concerned about looking at medium-term replacements (wing back the obvious one) and the dire issues up front have to be addressed too.

**tetsujin1979** · 08/01/2022, 11:36 AM

They're the last chance for new players to be added ahead of the nation's league games in June.
I'd hope to see at least two new caps awarded.
Incidentally, if Kenny awards three new caps, he will have given as many debuts in his time in charge as Brian Kerr did in his

**JR89** · 08/01/2022, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Are we that stacked at centre-half?

For the three September games, we only called up four, and when O'Shea got injured in the first game, we ended up playing our only three centre-halves for the rest of the fixture list. Omo is young but unproven - shaky in Portugal, excellent against Serbia, not getting his game for a dire Norwich team.

Collins has made his debut since, which is good. There's the great Clark debate, and Lenihan at Blackburn is being similarly ignored, though he's captaining a side second in the Championship. Dunne is doing well at QPR it seems, and Kevin Long is still in the Premier League with Burnley somehow. And we can drop a wing-half or two into the centre if we're stuck (but that's not ideal). Bagan and McGuinness are coming through at Cardiff, but it seems a bit early yet to consider them for the senior squad.

I wouldn't mind seeing us expand on our options in the March friendlies tbh.

We called up five in September but Collins got injured before the Portugal game.

**pineapple stu** · 08/01/2022, 12:05 PM

OK, fair point. So if we take Collins as a squad regular, we have three good centre-halves (none at particularly prominent clubs in fairness - Brighton, West Brom and Sheffield United) and two promising starlets with ten PL games between them. It's down the list of concerning positions for sure, but I wouldn't quite call us "stacked" yet.

**ontheotherhand** · 08/01/2022, 1:42 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

OK, fair point. So if we take Collins as a squad regular, we have three good centre-halves (none at particularly prominent clubs in fairness - Brighton, West Brom and Sheffield United) and two promising starlets with ten PL games between them. It's down the list of concerning positions for sure, but I wouldn't quite call us "stacked" yet.

It's about the same as GK really, minus the very established options like Coleman/Egan/Duffy (unless you count Randolph which I'm not sure we should anymore). Calling either position stacked depends on where you think Ireland are in terms of player quality. I think we have 3 very good options in goals now. Some would say we have only 3 promising options..some would say we only have 1 absolutely world class option with 2 who should retire from football immediately in disgrace. In the same way I think we have good depth at CB now so I'd call it stacked in relative terms.

Compared to wingback/centre mid/forward, both GK and CB are in good shape no?

**pineapple stu** · 08/01/2022, 2:34 PM

Well, you only have to play one keeper, but three centre-backs.

But yeah, I think GK and CB are our two areas of least concern. I agree with tets that it'd be nice to see 2/3 new caps in March (maybe let's extend that to starts for players with less than 5 caps). That of course depends on who we're playing, and it's why I don't really want to see us playing France/Belgium/England as mooted, much and all as I know why the FAI need the money.

I think if you rank where we are across the various positions -

Forward - we're desperate. Robinson has, let's be honest, quite possibly saved Kenny's job, yet he's only an ok Championship forward really. Still, he's our best choice. Idah, Connolly and Parrott - I wouldn't have them near the pitch in March unless something changes at club level; they've made no impact in 30+ caps between them. Never been convinced by James Collins or Curtis; Maguire keeps getting his game for Preston but hardly ever scores, so I don't know if he's playing deeper or what, but we've enough forwards who can't score already; Ogbene and Horgan are lovable triers who are great to have but their position in League One kind of flags their inconsistency too; Long I think we can happily retire (with thanks for that goal against Germany particular). Keane, Scully and Hogan are maybe the three to look at here, with the usual reservations about the third tier in general.

Wing-back - succession planning is a growing concern. McClean, Doherty, Stevens, Brady and Coleman are all solid options, but they'll all be the wrong side of 30 by March and probably they've all past their peak in a very energetic position (you could argue Doherty maybe just needs a move). I'd like to see some new blood here in March - but who? Manning has been called up but not used, and there seems to be question marks around him. Scales was also called up but he's only played a handful of games at Celtic so far. Ebosele is also very raw.

Centre-mid - we're doing ok, though Portugal (intermittently) and Serbia (too often) went right through us like a bad dose. Cullen and Knight are two of the finds of the last year. Molumby hasn't kicked on as hoped, but he's been starting games for West Brom lately and maybe he's finding his feet at senior level now. Hourihane drives me mad, but Hendrick is quietly underrated. There's been calls here for Conor Coventry to be called up, but I don't see he's an option given his loan was terminated early, and that's the problem with players at that stage of their careers (which a lot of our guys are at). Maybe Gavin Kilkenny could be an option for 20/30 minutes, but he's very raw at club level still.

Goalkeeper - we know what three will be called up in March. I think we're still a year away from being comfortable with any of them - Bazunu's blunders, Kelleher's bench time and Travers' distribution all need to be sorted still - but in a year's time I think they'll still be the three in the squad, and we can be happy we'll have a long-term number 1 out of those three. Is it too simplistic to give them an hour each in March, assuming two friendlies? I think they're all a stage in their careers where gametime would help.

Centre-back - three solid options (thank God for Duffy's rebirth!) and it's been our strongest position under Kenny, but I think we could still do with another reliable option here. I'd like to see Collins in particular get a start, although again he's very raw. And the Lenihan/Clark positions are curious.

So that's Keane, Hogan and Nathan Collins I'd be thinking of starting in March, and maybe looking at Kilkenny, Scully and Lenihan. For all that the squad has been transformed in the past 12 months, I think there's still plenty to do yet.

**Razors left peg** · 08/01/2022, 5:26 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Expand as in bring new options into the senior team. Give Collins a full debut, call up Dunne, re-consider Lenihan.

Centre-back was always a strong position for us, and I don't think three very good defenders (Duffy, O'Shea, Egan) and one very promising starlet (Omo) is quite what I'd define as "relatively stacked" when we play three at the back.

But yeah, certainly I agree that we can't just go playing out a B team in March. There's a couple of other positions where I'd be more concerned about looking at medium-term replacements (wing back the obvious one) and the dire issues up front have to be addressed too.

Starting Collins I'd agree with,but he's there on merit. I like Dunne and Lenihan but if u pick them who do you leave out instead. I think being "stacked" is that some good players will be left out.

**pineapple stu** · 08/01/2022, 5:40 PM

Well the flip side is Collins/Dunne/Lenihan have three caps between them (two as sub) Collins has only been in two squads I think, and Lenihan hasn't played at all under Kenny. I wouldn't necessarily trust them if we had to throw them in in an emergency. I think they need a bit of time on the pitch to get used to Kenny's way of playing and ensure they're a more viable option if/when needed. That's what I'd see as the key goal from the March friendlies (beyond performance/result of course)

**Jd2793** · 08/01/2022, 6:02 PM

ogbene plays wing back for rotherham btw who are favourites for promotion, obviously kenny has used him higher up but no reason he cant be a viable option out there in future for us. Horgan needs to be dropped in March imo. Worried about Parrott now, gone off the boil completely since november internationals. he looked really good up til then.

**Razors left peg** · 08/01/2022, 9:51 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Well the flip side is Collins/Dunne/Lenihan have three caps between them (two as sub) Collins has only been in two squads I think, and Lenihan hasn't played at all under Kenny. I wouldn't necessarily trust them if we had to throw them in in an emergency. I think they need a bit of time on the pitch to get used to Kenny's way of playing and ensure they're a more viable option if/when needed. That's what I'd see as the key goal from the March friendlies (beyond performance/result of course)

Getting players experience in friendlies is over rated. Omobamidele and Bazunu were thrown in at deep end in qualifiers and were fine. If they are playing regular 1st team football they can adjust quickly. Playing a half hour in a friendly is meaningless from the point of view of adjusting to international football

**elatedscum** · 09/01/2022, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Getting players experience in friendlies is over rated. Omobamidele and Bazunu were thrown in at deep end in qualifiers and were fine. If they are playing regular 1st team football they can adjust quickly. Playing a half hour in a friendly is meaningless from the point of view of adjusting to international football

I think it’s more useful for the coaching staff to see you. There are players you can take a low risk chance on in a friendly and they might show you they’re ready.

Definitely true about Bazunu and Omobamidele, but there’s someone like Travers who really struggled v Serbia. Ideally, you wouldn’t have to take those chances and you’d have a deep enough pool of quality that you can afford to pick and choose the moments to use introduce young players or debutants…

Were McGrath, Ogbene and Knight brought in during the summer friendlies? I think so but could be wrong, Knight was perhaps a bit earlier

**Stuttgart88** · 09/01/2022, 9:13 AM

I think for the most part debutants have acquitted themselves very well in Kenny’s tenure. Knight, Ogbene, Bazunu, Kelleher, O’Shea, Omobamidele and Cullen (not sure if he’d been capped previously) spring to mind. Others have been hit and miss but none has been an expensive error. Ineffective has been the worst you can say. Travers maybe cost us a point in Belgrade but his performance was no worse than some outfield players. Keepers are more susceptible to costly performances. It’s part of the job.

There’s a obviously more risk in blooding players in important matches but we don’t have the luxury of picking from a deep pool of proven players. If someone like Collins or Dunne has to step in without friendly experience, so be it.

There are several guys with a chance to play themselves into the team before Euros qualification. They’ll get their chances. Having them around the squad in the first instance is a good start.

**John83** · 09/01/2022, 10:28 AM

Is Smallbone in the picture for March? He did his cruciate* in January, but has been back playing a few months. Just a couple of senior games, I think, but we don't have the talent pool to ignore him if he's fit.

I do think Collins is worth a look, but I agree that having these guys in the squad is the main thing, but a few judicious caps won't do any harm.

The front line has to be the main location of any experimentation in March. We're not going to do much in the nations league depending on Duffy's head and Robinson overperforming.

* I always like an opportunity to tell of my favourite piece of Irish commentary I've ever seen. Watching Sacar Beo on TG4 many moons ago, some Spanish league match, and the commentators are discussing a player when one of them comes out with the line, "Bhí sé amach anuraidh le anterior cruciate knee ligament injury." I nearly fell off my chair laughing.

**JR89** · 09/01/2022, 10:38 AM

Smallbone is out injured again. Has a calf injury at the moment.

**Razors left peg** · 09/01/2022, 2:30 PM

So we finally have unequivocal proof of who's the better keeper between Bazunu and Kelleher... only one of them conceded against Shrewsbury this season!