The Squad for Croatia

[Daxion]

Given (Newcastle), Kelly (Blackburn), Kiely (Charlton), Colgan (Hibernian);
Kelly (Leeds), Staunton (Aston Villa), Harte (Leeds), Breen (Coventry), Finnan (Fulham), Dunne (Man City), Cunningham (Wimbledon), Doherty and Carr (Spurs), Maybury (Leeds), O'Brien (Newcastle), O'Shea (Manchester Utd), Quinn (Coventry), Babb (Sporting Lisbon);
Keane (Manchester Utd), Kinsella (Charlton), Carsley (Coventry), McAteer (Blackburn), Holland (Ipswich), Kilbane (Sunderland), Delap (Southampton), Kennedy (Wolves), O'Neill (Middlesbrough), Reid (Millwall), McPhail (Leeds), Kavanagh (Cardiff City), Mahon (Blackburn), Duff (Blackburn), Farrelly (Bolton);
Quinn (Sunderland), Robbie Keane (Leeds), Connolly (Wimbledon), Morrison (Crystal Palace), Foley (Watford), Crowe (Bohemians

Any body and every body is included, is he trying to confuse the Croatians or the Dutch?

[Gerry Desmond]

Possibly himself, Daxion!
Gerry

[Neil]

What's wrong with getting a lot of players together? Christ, we manage to moan about anything..

[Gerry Desmond]

Well, nothing really I suppose, except Babb for one thing. And Carsley, and some (not myself) might suggest Connolly...
Also it seems a little bizarre to select a panel of 39 players when maybe 16-17 might actually get a run leaving 21-22 - or two full teams - idle. Now had he been playing a series of games in a short period or even some sort of Ireland A v Ireland B I could understand his thinking, but not for this.
It strikes me that it allows him plenty of 'cop out' potential.
i.e. if Crowe for instance doesn't get a run again we'll hear the 'well, there were a lot of good boys in the squad who didn't play...' type of excuse.
I don't think people are moaning about it, I think they just can't comprehend his logic.
Gerry

[Neil]

Mick will have the players together for 2-3 days. There's more than just the 90 minutes against Croatia that is gained from this. Players like Crowe, Foley, Reid and more will gain experience from training with the likes of Keane. I agree with the Babb issue - he is shocking and will offer nothing.

[Dodge]

More worrying is the fact that 39 players were selected and only one from this league. I mean I know I'd rather have Liam Kelly in my Pats team than Dominic Foley.

Another thing is Graham Kavanagh playing at a high standerd for Cardiff? I know they have money behind them but you can't tell me Cardiff play at a higher level of football then the National League.