Ireland Squad, Reid back in

Vokes

Damn, better get on the blower to Carsley

MrJoeSoap

Another day, another new spate of injuries for Steve Staunton to worry about.

The number of players to withdraw from the Irish squad for Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Cyprus rose to EIGHT yesterday when Stephen Carr and Alan Quinn were ruled out.

And, as if that wasn't enough for Staunton to contend with, it could rise to NINE today, with Kevin Doyle being rated very doubtful for the must-win clash in Nicosia.

Reading striker Doyle, who would be likely to start after his performance against Germany in Stuttgart last month, is suffering from an ankle injury he picked up in training with Reading last week.

While he came through the full 90 minutes of the Royals' 1-0 win over West Ham last Sunday, the Wexford man has had a reaction and is listed as a serious doubt.

Carr definitely won't be travelling to the Mediterranean - he didn't even make it as far as the squad's Portmarnock base yesterday as a result op the injury he suffered during Newcastle United's defeat by Manchester United last Sunday.

Quinn, who was called up only on Sunday, will also be staying at home following the sudden death of his mother Alice on Monday.

To cope with these latest setbacks, Staunton has summoned Luton's Kevin Foley and Brentford's Jay Tabb into his travelling party, once again overlooking the claims of Lee Carsley, who has played in all seven of unbeaten Everton's Premiership games this season.

"I haven't got enough time to go through all the injury problems - there's too many," said Staunton yesterday.

Contention

"Kevin Doyle is struggling. He's still in contention for Saturday but, if there's any doubt, with the Czech Republic game on Wednesday, then we can't afford to play him. Stephen Carr has had a problem with his hamstring. There's a lot of inflammation there so he's not right and he's stayed back in Newcastle for treatment."

In addition to that, Clinton Morrison and Paddy Kenny both sat out the final part of yesterday's training session as they are carrying minor knocks.

"Paddy's had an ongoing problem, but it's just more protection rather than a worry of any sort. We're going on advice from Sheffield and from our physios. He doesn't have to do anymore than what he does with Alan (Kelly). That's his scenario.

"Clinton has a bit of tightness in his calf. It's nothing major but, with Kevin Doyle a worry, it's not wise for him to take a chance in training," continued Staunton.

It all leaves the rookie manager with a remarkably inexperienced squad for a competitive international. Shay Given, Ian Harte, Carr and Steven Reid would be all have been almost certain starters and Graham Kavanagh, Andy Reid and Stephen Elliott would also have been in the frame for the first 11.

The latter pair hope to be fit for next Wednesday's date with the Czechs at Lansdowne Road, while Carr hasn't given up hope of recovering in time for that game.

For the moment, though, Staunton must focus on the game with Cyprus. When asked if he had ever experienced injury mayhem like this, he quipped: "Yes, before the Holland game," in reference to the friendly international at Lansdowne Road in August.

And we all know what happened on that occasion. Worrying times indeed.

http://www.unison.ie/sportsdesk/football/stories.php3?ca=12&si=1699716

patmac

PHB wrote:

I agree with Stan that we should be focusing on 2010 more than 2008.

Folks the problem with focusing on 2010 is that our seeding for qualifying depends on results obtained in qualifying for 2006 and 2008 already we have slipped to 26th from 22nd which will mean we may forget about 2010 if things don't improve. This is why Norn Ireland and Wales keep getting horrendous draws because they are seeded usually in the 4th group of seeds, which is where were heading at the moment, every result is vital which Stan hasn't copped onto yet but it's not the only thing he hasn't understood like the fact that Carsley is the same age as Kavanagh. I've never backed against Ireland before but the 11/2 offered for Cyprus is tempting the gambler in me, remember when we last played them only the brilliance of Given kept the Cypriots out, and his absence followed by a decimated squad gives me a bad feeling for next week, hopefully I'll be proved wrong.

ninebeanrows

patmac wrote:

Folks the problem with focusing on 2010 is that our seeding for qualifying depends on results obtained in qualifying for 2006 and 2008 already we have slipped to 26th from 22nd which will mean we may forget about 2010 if things don't improve. This is why Norn Ireland and Wales keep getting horrendous draws because they are seeded usually in the 4th group of seeds, which is where were heading at the moment, every result is vital which Stan hasn't copped onto yet but it's not the only thing he hasn't understood like the fact that Carsley is the same age as Kavanagh. I've never backed against Ireland before but the 11/2 offered for Cyprus is tempting the gambler in me, remember when we last played them only the brilliance of Given kept the Cypriots out, and his absence followed by a decimated squad gives me a bad feeling for next week, hopefully I'll be proved wrong.

hear hear, could well be another devastating week for Irish international football...

We are well and truly back to the bad times..

here's hoping for some miracle work..

ho hum:rolleyes:

GuanYin

Weathercheck wrote:

hear hear, could well be another devastating week for Irish international football...

We are well and truly back to the bad times..

here's hoping for some miracle work..

ho hum:rolleyes:

In fairness, the bad times for Irish soccer go way back to before John Giles and were more down to the policy of avoiding the Granny rule, having large amounts of League or Ireland players and having selection commitees picking squads and teams instead of the managers. Giles reformed things somewhat and sowed the seeds for the successes under Charlton and McCarthy.

We're not likely to ever revert to that standard, we have a strong semi-professional domestic league with players good enough to play for Ireland (contentious claim, but Doyle is a good example). We have more eligible players in england that will declare for Ireland than we did in those days and while the FAI are still a shambles, they are nothing like the jokers of the pre-Giles era.

We're at a slump now, not unlike we were in the last days of Charlton's management (we were down in the rankings at around 50-60 then), but is nothinglike the bad days of Irish soccer. We rebounded from our slump to qualify for the WC. Hopefully if we can put in a good showing here, even if we don't qualify, we'll have more experienced players ready for 2010. It will be a tough task with a drop in seedings but hopefully we can make some progress as a team by 2010 qualifying.