Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2017

keeponhurling

It's now or never for Robbie if he wants to play in the LoI (and have an impact).

He's already well past his best, and as we saw from Duff's time at Rovers, no point doing it when you are no longer physically able.
The standard might be lower, but you still need to get around the pitch.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

Surely no reason why Robbie could not register and play for Shamrock Rovers or any other League of Ireland club (Dundalk could afford his wages could Rovers?) while waiting to get a deal elsewhere, would attract a new audience to games in Tallaght or any other League of Ireland club.

yabadabado

Walters played the 90 minutes last night.Mate watched the game and said he looked to be fully fit and was still chasing and closing down everything to the end.

A huge boost to have him available for the upcoming qualifier.

keeponhurling

Young Irish goalkeeper in the squad for the Man United game tonight
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4290430/Kieran-O-Hara-Manchester-United-keeper.html

BullBlackNova

yabadabado wrote: »

Walters played the 90 minutes last night.Mate watched the game and said he looked to be fully fit and was still chasing and closing down everything to the end.

A huge boost to have him available for the upcoming qualifier.

Poor f*cker. Didn't he know that Barca were playing PSG? :eek:;):p

keeponhurling

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Need that ar$e in the 89th minute at the corner flag protecting that 1-0 lead

The Talking Bread

Apparently he was filthy last night, should have been sent off! at least 2 professional fouls, but I searched his name on twitter and the Stoke fans were more than delighted with his performance

ahlookit

That is one of Irish footballs proudest moments

Love this t shirt:

https://www.redbubble.com/people/westonoconnor/works/17674214-jonathan-walters-irish-warrior?p=t-shirt

(Disclaimer: I am not the designer of that t shirt and won't benefit in any way from anyone buying it!)

eire4

keeponhurling wrote: »

Great memories indeed. For sure it is a significant boost for us having Walters back and fit for the Wales game.

Ferris_Bueller

Game is two weeks from tomorrow. What way will we line out assuming there are no injuries?

Randolph
Coleman O'Shea Clarke Ward
McCarthy Whelan
Hendrick Hoolahan McClean
Walters

That's what I think we might see but not easy to pick the team outside of the back 5. Arter, McGeady, Long and Murphy are all arguably in contention for a starting role. This is arguably the most options we have in central midfield in a long time with McCarthy/Whelan/Hendrick/Arter/Meyler/Hourihane all options.

The Talking Bread

Long will 100% start. Especially at home.

Walters would be wasted as an out and out striker.

yabadabado

I think Long and Arter start.

Is there a need for McCarthy and Whelan in the team ?

Long up top and Walters out wide is getting the best outta them.

keeponhurling

10 who could get the call
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/0309/858497-ireland-squad-hopefuls/

Brock Turnpike

yabadabado wrote: »

I think Long and Arter start.

Is there a need for McCarthy and Whelan in the team ?

Long up top and Walters out wide is getting the best outta them.

Think Whelan is likely to miss out. He's being phased out slowly now. McCarthy will be the deep midfielder, barring injury.

Brock Turnpike

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

Think Whelan is likely to miss out. He's being phased out slowly now. McCarthy will be the deep midfielder, barring injury.

He's started 3 out of the 4 qualifiers. But they were all away.

keeponhurling

Any chance MON might reward Meyler for his performance against Austria, I wonder?
He'd be pushing Whelan for a starting place

yabadabado

keeponhurling wrote: »

Any chance MON might reward Meyler for his performance against Austria, I wonder?
He'd be pushing Whelan for a starting place

I would say no ,well down the pecking order for a starting spot imo.

Trond

keeponhurling wrote: »

10 who could get the call
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/0309/858497-ireland-squad-hopefuls/

Surprised Lenihan off Blackburn isnt listed.

Personally I think Forrester will get a call up before Towell. He could also be a far more influential/useful player long term is he continues his progression.

The Talking Bread

Seriously, though, why would you waste the energetic battler Walters as an all out striker in a home game where the battle in midfield will be pivotal. It would be a very bad decision to bench Long in such a game. I know he isn't a guaranteed starter for Southampton but he is involved in every game and scored 4 goals since the end of January which is a great return for a guy who only started 2 of those games.
Wales have plenty of players who arent regulars for their clubs, it is the nature of international football for such "mid-achieving" nations.

We are playing at home for god sake in arguably a game we can't lose and a game where a point would be a little disappointing, show some ambition, don't play a guy who has evolved into a winger up front and bench a proper and quality centre forward.















Saying that, I look at that midfield and I think, who do I drop!!!

Maybe I would not start Wes and bring him on middle of the second half. By then, Hendrick or McClean are bound to have picked up a stup1d yellow card and on the verge of another!

Really looking forward to this now, great sense of optimism!

Yeah, if it comes down to Walters or Long, for me it's Long every time.

Though would have thought at home playing Walters on the wing is an option again. He did have such a great campaign last time, in fact think the pic of him shielding the ball from 2 players underrates his contribution.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

Patrick McEleney of Dundalk a serious contender for the squad against Wales and a run against Iceland, was brilliant in the Champions League and Europa League for Dundalk and has been outstanding in the early season. Northern Ireland will cap him if we dont, he's destined for big things in the game.

Mushy

Mcgeady got player of the month in the championship. I'm one of his detractors, but will surely be pushing for a starting spot with his form.

johnnyryan89

Alfa Quadrifoglio wrote: »

Patrick McEleney of Dundalk a serious contender for the squad against Wales and a run against Iceland, was brilliant in the Champions League and Europa League for Dundalk and has been outstanding in the early season. Northern Ireland will cap him if we dont, he's destined for big things in the game.

Serious baller and wouldn't be surprised to see him move to England during the summer. Hopefully MON has a word with him and invites him to training with the senior team cause Northen Ireland would cap him while he still plays in Ireland and wouldn't be surprised to see them try and call him up this month with the form he's in.

yabadabado

Alfa Quadrifoglio wrote: »

Patrick McEleney of Dundalk a serious contender for the squad against Wales and a run against Iceland, was brilliant in the Champions League and Europa League for Dundalk and has been outstanding in the early season. Northern Ireland will cap him if we dont, he's destined for big things in the game.

Not a hope he is in the squad for the Wales game.

dr.kenneth noisewater

Alfa Quadrifoglio wrote:

Patrick McEleney of Dundalk a serious contender for the squad against Wales and a run against Iceland, was brilliant in the Champions League and Europa League for Dundalk and has been outstanding in the early season. Northern Ireland will cap him if we dont, he's destined for big things in the game.

If he wants to play with NI let him off. We shouldn't be rushing to cap a player who will play with whoever calls him up first

Ferris_Bueller

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Saying that, I look at that midfield and I think, who do I drop!!!

Maybe I would not start Wes and bring him on middle of the second half. By then, Hendrick or McClean are bound to have picked up a stup1d yellow card and on the verge of another!

Really looking forward to this now, great sense of optimism!

This is the thing, what midfielder do you drop? Hoolahan, Hendrick & McClean have been excellent for the national team over the past year or so and offer a bit of a threat going forward, Whelan & McCarthy are a solid midfield partnership which have been O'Neills first choice when they are both available, hard to see him dropping either of them for such a big game.

O'Neill seems to rather select a big man up front as well and it could be argued Long is more effective off the bench. If I was picking the team myself I would have Long start up front but hard to know what O'Neill will do, hardest starting XI to predict in a long time.

Mushy

Daryl Horgan goal and assist, Andy Boyle an assist too

Ferris_Bueller

Great to see the two Dundalk lads doing well. Horgan has to be in the squad, he has had an unbelievable 12 months.

Squad predictions:

Randolph
Westwood
Elliott

Coleman
Christie
O'Shea
Clarke
Keogh (if fit?)
Egan
Wilson
Ward

McCarthy
Whelan
Hendrick
Meyler
Hoolahan
McGeady
McClean
Horgan
Hourihane

Walters
Long
Murphy

If Keogh is out injured then hopefully one of Cunningham or Doherty get a call up.

Bandage

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

This is the thing, what midfielder do you drop? Hoolahan, Hendrick & McClean have been excellent for the national team over the past year or so and offer a bit of a threat going forward, Whelan & McCarthy are a solid midfield partnership which have been O'Neills first choice when they are both available, hard to see him dropping either of them for such a big game.

O'Neill seems to rather select a big man up front as well and it could be argued Long is more effective off the bench. If I was picking the team myself I would have Long start up front but hard to know what O'Neill will do, hardest starting XI to predict in a long time.

While Whelan and McCarthy were first choice players for a long time, the former was dropped in the Euros for the Italy and France games and he possibly only started the autumn qualification games because McCarthy himself was out for some of them. We also took Brady out of the midfield three to play left back for at least one game.

We usually play a 1-2 alignment in our three man centre midfield with one holder and then two narrow on either side of him. O'Neill seemed to conclude as the Euros progressed that we get more out of McCarthy as the holder/controller rather than as one of the two shuttlers. We played well with Hendrick and Brady narrow on the right and left respectively in front of McCarthy so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

We could also play more of a 4-2-3-1 set up as that would probably suit Hoolahan better but I'd be inclined to play Arter and Hendrick in front of McCarthy in a 4-1-2-3.

McClean has been our best player in the campaign so far and will start wide left so the remaining decisions are whether to start Walters upfront so that Hoolahan can be accommodated. He would effectively be in the team as a nominal right winger but with licence to come infield to link the play and thus leaving the space free for Coleman to bomb forward into.

The alternatives are to leave Hoolahan out and play either McGeady or Horgan as more traditional wide right players or to play Walters on the right and give Long or Murphy the start upfront.

Alfa Quadrifoglio

yabadabado wrote: »

Not a hope he is in the squad for the Wales game.

Your most likely right but he is the best player I have seen in the League of Ireland since Wes Hoolahan, superb skill, great touch and incredible conditioning.
Great to see Ex Dundalk players Andy Boyle and Daryl Horgan playing for Preston today and Horgan scoring again and with two assists, a firm fan favourite at Deepdale already.

Brock Turnpike

Alfa Quadrifoglio wrote: »

Patrick McEleney of Dundalk a serious contender for the squad against Wales and a run against Iceland,.

What's your line of thinking here? I like the look of him as a player. But to make a jump to this conclusion is just mental.

So midfield and up front to be selected from

Arter, McCarthy, Whelan, Hendrick, Hoolahan
McClean, McGeady
Long, Walters

With others like Meyler, Murphy and Horgan waiting on the wings.

It's a wonderful headache for O'Neill. The only thing is it features a lot of players of a certain level and no superstars...but that level has been good enough to top the group so far...

blinding

sugarman wrote: »

Ruled out for 6 weeks with his hamstring apparently.

Well covered in that area anyway.

I think that McCarthy has a long term issue with fitness and that it is stopping him reaching his full potential .

Initial 78 man squad named. Or 56. I dunno why they do that tbh.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/martin-oneill-springs-two-surprises-as-he-names-ireland-squad-for-crunch-world-cup-qualifier-against-wales-35525484.html

Mokuba

Just FYI - Duo package for Austria/Uruguay on sale today. These sold out in 8 hours for Wales game.

Might be of use to those with "FAI sources" who constantly seem to let them down.

noodler

Deleted User wrote: »

Initial 78 man squad named. Or 56. I dunno why they do that tbh.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/martin-oneill-springs-two-surprises-as-he-names-ireland-squad-for-crunch-world-cup-qualifier-against-wales-35525484.html

McCarthy in there there as well.

Mokuba

Seanie Maguire can't be far off. Will become our starting striker at some point in 2018.

White Horse

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

What's your line of thinking here? I like the look of him as a player. But to make a jump to this conclusion is just mental.

Terrific talent, can score goals from out of nothing, that lob against Zenit last November was outrageous.

If he keeps up his current form, he will be in contention.

dr.kenneth noisewater

White Horse wrote: »

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

What's your line of thinking here? I like the look of him as a player. But to make a jump to this conclusion is just mental.

Terrific talent, can score goals from out of nothing, that lob against Zenit last November was outrageous.

If he keeps up his current form, he will be in contention.

Was there any talk of him going to England in January? Doubt he will get a call up until he moves over tbh.

elefant

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Initial 78 man squad named. Or 56. I dunno why they do that tbh.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/martin-oneill-springs-two-surprises-as-he-names-ireland-squad-for-crunch-world-cup-qualifier-against-wales-35525484.html

How on earth is Greg Cunningham not in that extended squad?

The Talking Bread

Here is squad for easier "non link" scrutiny.

CHealy

Mokuba wrote: »

Seanie Maguire can't be far off. Will become our starting striker at some point in 2018.

He wasnt starting with the u21's last year but he has really stepped it up the end of last season / start of this season, he has 3 from 3 so far and I wouldnt bet against him getting a couple tonight v Sligo. To be honest he's head and shoulders above every other striker in the LOI and when he gets a good move to England this summer or end of LOI season, we will see him in the Irish squad then.

The Talking Bread

Regarding Cunningham, I agree, there must be some issue, it is a bit baffling why a 26 year old defender playing 90 minutes every week for a team pushing (albeit in vain I think inevitably, for promotion) isn't being bred into the squad.

Unlike many, I believe McShane deserves his spot. After that there aren't many others you can exclude either in defence.

johnnyryan89

Mokuba wrote: »

Seanie Maguire can't be far off. Will become our starting striker at some point in 2018.

Maguire will be lucky if he's even named in a match day squad in 2018 unless he moves to England in the summer and carries on scoring goals or years it up in Europe and helps Cork qualify for the group stages.

Horgan was the inform Irish player of 2017 and could only get named in one squad and even then he saw no game time.

I like Maguire and would have named him in the squad even for just training to have a closer look at him but unless he's playing over in England at a decent level then he might get a cap in 2019, just look at Forrester who is bossing the midfield at Peterborough and club captain but cant get a call up because he's playing league one.

Edit: forgot Ireland are playing a friendly in America two days before another friendly in Dublin so there might be a possibility someone like Maguire or Patrick McEleney might go to America cause I couldn't see any first team players travelling and some lads might only be finished playing in the league play offs.

The Talking Bread

I have been a huge fan of Kevin Doyle throughout his career but he has scored 12 goals in 56 games he has been involved in (most of which he has played 90 minutes) since moving to a standard of football probably mid to low Championship level at best, has scored once in his last 10 games, 3 in his last 20 games, (with 2 coming in one game) so how in God's name is he included!

I know the guy was never really prolific but surely his confidence in front of goal is at a career low and our team doesn't play 4-4-2 so we don't need a non scoring but important "second striker" to do the donkey work.

He is 33 and, although I am one person who rolls my eyes at fans fawning over LOI players, I do think I have to conceed Maguire should be bred into the squad at this stage. I also think whoever represents him should have looked to have got him a League one move in January. I know he was at West Ham before when he was younger but I think he should, at 22, get over there while his confidence is high and his blood is young.

johnnyryan89

The Talking Bread wrote: »

He is 33 and, although I am one person who rolls my eyes at fans fawning over LOI players, I do think I have to conceed Maguire should be bred into the squad at this stage. I also think whoever represents him should have looked to have got him a League one move in January. I know he was at West Ham before when he was younger but I think he should, at 22, get over there while his confidence is high and his blood is young.

If he wants to play for Ireland he'll need to be in England but couldnt see him joining anything less than a championship club unless the money is too good to turn down.

With the latest moves from the league with Horgan, Boyle and Paudie O'Connor joining upper/mid level championship then Maguire himself will probably aim for mid championship team.

The Talking Bread

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

If he wants to play for Ireland he'll need to be in England but couldnt see him joining anything less than a championship club unless the money is too good to turn down.

With the latest moves from the league with Horgan, Boyle and Paudie O'Connor joining upper/mid level championship then Maguire himself will probably aim for mid championship team.

Why not?? He is young, 22, get over to England, join a League 1 team and if he is good enough he will be noticed and incrementally work up to Championship.

Average weeky wage in League 1 is circa £2000 so he won't be short a few quid.

yabadabado

Wasn't there talk of Maguire joining PNE?
I think he is good enough for championship and hopefully a good move materialises for him.

Cork let Ogbene go so they must be confident of holding onto Maguire for the season.

Wilberto

yabadabado wrote:

Cork let Ogbene go so they must be confident of holding onto Maguire for the season.

Yeeaaah, I wouldn't really say that we let Ogbene go tbh, but that's a different debate.

GLaDOS

Oh no, someone mentioned Ogbene!