Bring back James McCleanOriginally Posted by Razors left peg
Bring back James McClean
I take it you're being facetious, sure didn't he have some words about the regime in September?
A rabbit has been pulled out of a hat to a certain extent with O'Toole. He's playing regularly in MLS which is probably a higher level than I anticipated we would end up picking a right back from (League 1).
But given the likelyhood that we would face this slection crunch at left back it's madness that he's not been capped before now. In an ideal world he would have spent a window with the squad without playing, then come back for a second window and made his international debut in a friendly or getting 10 minutes at the end of a Nations League. Instead of that he'll be expected to take a transatlantic flight, overcome any jet lag, train with the squad for 2 or 3 days and somehow get up to speed with how we play, then presumably play 90 minutes of a World Cup qualifier up against Bernardo Silva?
Is there any other option at left back for that game? I can't see any in that squad.
The FAI need to explain when they became aware of his eligibility and when he became available for selection (post any paperwork with FIFA if that was necessary).
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
HH said yesterday that O'Toole has been working on the paperwork for the past year, and that his clearance has just come through. Missing is the motivation as to why he chose O'Toole ahead of others. Not that I think Will Ferry should be in the squad, but the lack of continunity in the addition of new faces to squad selections is troubling. As much as players need to hit the ground running when they come in, there needs to be some balance in allowing them to bed in and get to know what's wanted/ how we play. Difficult to build a team if the makeup is in constant flux.
Just on FIFA eligibility, clearance paperwork etc... it always seems to take an age with us when a player is moving from another nation to us. I was struck by how swift the Rice move to England got done by FIFA in 2018/19.....
Deccers got it done in 3 weeks. The IFA when dealing with Michael Duffy took a new approach by just ignoring the transfer for near 3 years until FIFA stepped in. Meant that both Martin O'Neill and Stephen Kenny couldn't call him up when he was deserving of a place in the squad and they wanted to call him up.
Mostly. Didn't realise he had a hip injury anyway.
But honestly if there's the choice is between dropping in a debutant who is entirely unfamiliar with Irish football to play in a make or break, backs against the wall performance against Portugal, who has spent just a week of his post-toddler life in Ireland, who has never been to the stadium, probably never seen the majority of his teammates play even on tv and equally, none of his teammates have seen him play - versus James McClean who will give everything to defend and fight and bleed and sweat for the shirt. I think I'm taking James.
I don't mind calling O'Toole up - but I wouldn't want him as the only option. To say we don't have many options is an understatement:
Considering Manning, Brady, O'Dowda, Honahan and McClean were out, realistic options were:
Will Ferry - SPL player - I guess they didn't like what they saw in the last camp
Corrie Ndaba - handful of Serie A appearances after 2 years in SPL
Jon Gallagher - comfortable on either side of full back. Former MLS all-star, seems more highly rated over there than O'Toole
Joel Bagan - league 1 player, technically the best or most composed of the 3 in the same league
Sean Roughan - league 1 player, physically and mentally strongest and best left foot
Tayo Adaramola - league 1 player, quickest and best dribbler of the three
Kevin Kilbane calling the inclusion of O'Toole "totally bizarre, totally off the wall". Oh dear ...
McGrath and Kenny in for Ferguson and Sykes. Ferguson not yet ruled out of the Hungary game.
Too early to post our lineups for Portugal?
I’d be playing a 4-4-1-1 asking a lot of Ebsole and Ogbene to support defensively and counter quickly when we get the ball.
I’d play O’Shea at left fullback which is asking a lot but I believe he has the quality and mobility to get through it.
With Ferguson out, would get Idah to lead the line and tell him to stand on the halfway line when Portugal is pressuring us and drop to support defensively under no circumstances— this only puts us under additional pressure by allowing Portugal to push defenders forward.
With Idah staying on the halfway line and Ogbene and Ebosele on the pitch, Portugal will have to hold more bodies back which will slightly reduce their attacking capability.
—————Kelleher—————-
Coleman—-Collins—O’Brien—O’Shea
————-Cullen——-Taylor———
Ebosele———-Parrott——-Ogbene—-
——————-Idah———-
Last edited by irishfan86; 12/11/2025 at 5:33 AM.
I'd imagine they'd like to have the Armenia/ Hungary result before naming the team.
Question may be did our line-up work in Portugal last month? If it did, then should we try keep as close to that as possible?
It worked in that Portugal didn't score until injury time. It didn't work in that they had 28 shots to 3, including missing a penalty, and if we go down that route again we run the risk of the game ending 4-0.
So the October team was -
-------------Kelleher------------- (has to start)
----O'Shea--Collins--O'Brien---- (not sure we have much to improve on this. A defensive setup probably makes sense)
Coleman-----------------Manning (Scales in for the suspended Manning? Options here aren't great)
-----Molumby---Cullen----------- (do you throw Coventry in for his debut with Molumby suspended/Smallbone injured/Browne not included?
Ebosele-------------------Ogbene (not sure these guys are as good as others suggest, but equally Johnston was worse when he came on in Portugal and I don't think McGrath is an upgrade either)
--------------Parrott-------------- (has to start)
Don’t think Parrott has to start. If the intention is to sit deep, keep Portugal scoreless and play high and long relief balls out of defence, Idah is the better choice for striker. Parrott is the choice based on pure merit, but horses for courses and all that.
I'd agree with the 4-4-1-1. We know we'll control nothing through the middle so go with 2 DMs instead of 5 at the back. Basically we should be playing the Trappatoni formation. Yes we got annihilated in some matches with that but we also drew with France and got results against Italy. 5 at the back will be a repeat of the laat match and they'll be wrecked for Hungary.
If Hungary don't win, put out a second string imo. The worst management of this will be if Hungary don't win and whatever we way we play on Thursday has the team knackered for the final match
Kelleher
Coleman O’Brien O’Shea O’Toole/Scales
Collins
Cullen Molumby
Ebosele Ogbene
Idah
Meh. I’ve no idea. Parrot and Azaz could also start.
Johnston could come in. But they’re all attacking players. Not sure we have much room for creative attackers in this game. Time will tell as the game goes on I guess
Rumor doing the rounds that Ronaldo pulled out of training today with thigh strain.
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