S Reid needs to be given a chance at CM, excellent this season for Rovers and he has always impressed me when wearing the green sheet.
Given, Kenny
Finnan, Carr
Kilbane? Harte?
O'Brien, Dunne, McCarthy, O'Shea
Kavanagh, Ireland, S Reid, O'Brien
Duff, Reid, Winger 3, Winger 4
Keane, Morisson, Doyle, Elliot
S Reid needs to be given a chance at CM, excellent this season for Rovers and he has always impressed me when wearing the green sheet.
Well Carr has retired for a start.
I think the best U21s or recent ex-U21sshould be given a grounding in the senior squad. So this includes the likes of Kelly & Foley as back-up right-back. For friendlies I think it's worthwhile having enlarged squads. It gives everyone a chance to show what they're about and just generally feel involved.
I think Steve Reid is on great form and made a difference in the 15 mins he was on against Switzerland. Jay Tabb will remain in U21s I accept, but he's a decent prospect. Mark Kennedy was singled out on SKY on Friday for the quality of his performance at left-back.
do you not think kennedy had his chance and he blew it?
he shouldnt be banned from the squad but there are other people more deserving.
posted this inthe player's thread, but think it's a little relevant here too:
from independent.co.uk's review of Ipswich VS Sheffield United
With an 18-year-old goalkeeper, Shane Supple, and the 17-year-old Owen Garvan in the centre of midfield there is clear promise, but Ipswich need to find more players who have both class and experience.
No harm in bringing Supple along with the squad, especially if he's getting first team experience. If Stack manages to break into the starting XI at Reading, there's 3 keepers (Kenny, Stack, Supple) all playing well in the top half of the Championship
you could argue that he's older & wiser now and we're not exactly blessed with left-back options. personally i'd like to see him or kk tried there. if anyone can sp[ot a left-back you'd imagine it'd be staunton though!Originally Posted by klein4
What a good post imo. I was reading an article today (possibly by Dion Fanning) about how much Robby Bobson is going to try to get Kevin Nolan on board. This would be a bad idea. The lad doesn't want to play for Ireland, it would appear to be as simple as that. And its not as if the foreigner rule would complicate things as its no longer there.Originally Posted by Superhoops
Its not like supporting you're club, where you would like the best possible players playing for you, this is our national team, we should be getting the best players that want to play for us, not just lads who want to play international football for the sake of it, regardless of who they play for.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
No, it's even simpler. His amnesty has expired. He's not even eligible under the rules!Originally Posted by Kingdom
Trundle I've no problem with. As discussed ad infinitum on this board he nailed his Irish colours to the mast as early as he possibly could have. I respect the position he's coming from.
Ay didn't make it that clear tbh. I've no problem with Trundle, just like I'd no beef with Kilbane, Breen or Carsley for that matter. These are guys who quite clearly consider themselves Irish and they are right. But its the so-called mercenaries (sp?) like messrs Morrison and Mattie Holland that I could take or leave (although both of these guys always gave 100% imo!).Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Thats why the attitude of Stephen Ireland really p!ssed me off. The amount of paper inches that lad has got over the past few months has been crazy. Before he has become an established figure at City he was having articles written about him and how he was going to consider where his allegences lie with respect to his international future! Utter bullsh!t. All because he didn't get to play in a fcuking friendly international in front of mammy and daddy. Get a bit of fcuking perspective young fella.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
What has Ireland done wrong?
He went back to his club after being dicked around by Kerr when promised a game? Why call him over if your just gonna make him sit in the stands? Plus his first ever interview was with the Guardian on Saturday so it's not as if he kept on banging about it. The papers and media had a good go at him but he kept his mouth shut. He stated on Saturday he wants to play for Ireland and is committed, good luck to him because he looks a good player.
So basically when you're not gonna get a game you have every right to leave a squad? If that's the case then what is the point in having a 22/23 man squad.Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
Also then if his first ever interview was with the Guardian last Saturday then a lot of papers in the past 5/6 months have been quoting him by mistake I suppose. Not a week went by without something about his situation with the national team brought up in some paper or another. I read at least one article where he was talking about the choices he had internationally. I just felt he was punching above his weight for an inexperienced, albeit talented, youth international.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Stan looks to parentage rule, youth
January 16, 2006
New Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton admits he will look at blooding younger players, and taking advantage of the parentage rule, in a bid to add to his pool of players for the forthcoming European Championship qualification campaign.
Staunton was unveiled to the national media at a press conference at Dublin’s Mansion House on Monday morning.
And in addition to monitoring the form of younger players, the new man in charge admitted he would consider pursuing players who qualify for Ireland through Uefa’s ancestry rules, a policy pursued with vigour in the past by former Irish boss Jack Charlton.
Staunton said: “You saw at the weekend, the players that are coming through. Young [Stephen] Ireland at Manchester City and Joey O’Brien at Bolton are just two.
“We’re also definitely going to look down the “granny” rule, because I think that’s vital for us. If we can get three, four or five players, then that would be a beneficial to us.”
Its crazy to suggest some very young inexperienced players who have had a few senior games at club level as senior international options. They should be playing U21 for a couple of years although with Given in charge they will probably get worse...
Its only suggesting young players in positions like forward where the squad very thin on options.
Robbie Keane, Damien Duff etc etc did not play U21 IIRC.Originally Posted by pete
Not necessarily so Pete. Van Basten called up some very young and heralded lads for the Dutch squad when he took over and he did well enough.Originally Posted by pete
I was under the impression that Joey O'Brien had played quite a few games more in the Premiership than Stephen Ireland. The Ipswich lads would seem to be playing week in week out in the Championship so they should be given a seeing to.
Also Alan Quinn should be given a proper chance to shine. He's played well for us every chance he's been given (Holland springs to mind) and never was really called upon competitively.
Oh and was just thinking of this earlier....... what if Richard Sadlier hadn't got injured? Oh woe is me.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Yeah but they were clearly a class apart for Ireland in position we hadn't many players for.Originally Posted by colster
Suggesting 17-18 year olds that have played a few Championship games to replace experienced senior internationals doesn't make sense. The only players i'd include in Duff/Keane likeness are Ireland & Doyle (we have few forward options & he no flash in the pan).
They turned out to be yes but Robbie Keane was only at Wolves when he got a call up so why not Ireland, O'Brien or Garvan?Originally Posted by pete
I wouldn't go as far as saying the Ipswich lads would be ready but if a midfielder is good enough to be instrumental in the defeat of Manchester United then he ought to be good enough for an Ireland squad. More's the point, what would playing under Don Givens teach him?
Likewise Joey O'Brien who can help keep a clean sheet and get an assist against teams like Arsenal.
Personally I think Joey Barton has been a great help to Ireland. He's on great form and is full of running. The only other player in our squad who can do that type of role is Steven Reid. Maybe O'Shea who I personally think has been playing very well since Keane left and is showing signs of actually being very two-footed. I'd have some reservations about a Kav / Ireland partnership though I'm a fan of Kav.
I think Ireland's best work is done in an advanced position. I lost count of the number of times he released the front two on Saturday. As I discussed with someone on this board only last week, you could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times our central midfielders released our front two in the WHOLE of the last campaign. That's why I think he's ready for inclusion in the senior squad.
Pete - I presume it was Ireland & O'Brien you were referring to.
If I was to pick a 23 man squad on the form currently I'd have:
Shay Given
Paddy Kenny
Graham Stack
Steve Finnan
Richard Dunne
Andy O'Brien
John O'Shea
Ian Harte
Paul McShane/Paddy McCarthy
Alan Maybury
Joey O'Brien
Graham Kavanagh
Alan Quinn
Stephen Ireland
Steven Reid
Kevin Kilbane
Liam Miller
Andy Reid
Damien Duff
Robbie Keane
Stephen Elliot
Kevin Doyle
Clinton Morrison
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Don't think too many people could argue with that?
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I would suggest Aiden McGeady, but I don't know many things about Kevin Doyle, to compare him to the celtic manOriginally Posted by Kingdom
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Apart from this, I'm agree with u
Many many faith in Steve, c'mon
I'm 21, I'm italian, but I love Ireland, and I always support the irish national team!
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