Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2017

keeponhurling

Wilberto wrote: »

I've no problem with constantly having friendlies against Poland. It's always great seeing a full house for a friendly!


What we need to do is organise another friendly tournament with three of Poland, Lithuania, Wales, Nigeria, or maybe even Romania, along with ourselves. The games will be guaranteed to be sellouts!

China, India, Ghana......lot's of potential there.
We could organise a mini-tournament.

dr.kenneth noisewater

Up to 31st in the latest FIFA Rankings. Thought beating Italy in a tournament would rise us significantly more than 2 places especially seen as teams like Ukraine and Romania are still ahead of us!
Suppose the defeat to Belarus didn't help!

Trond

Greg Cunningham been strongly linked with Villa. Could be a good move if Villa sell Amavi otherwise not so much.

yabadabado

Trond wrote: »

Greg Cunningham been strongly linked with Villa. Could be a good move if Villa sell Amavi otherwise not so much.

You would expect a few clubs to be in for Amavi so Cunningham would be the replacement.
Be interesting to see what Villa do with Toner this season.Be hoping he gets plenty of opportunities as they will surely move on some of the CBs at the club.

Mushy

Callum O Dowda gets a move to Bristol City in the Championship

yabadabado

Mushy wrote: »

Callum O Dowda gets a move to Bristol City in the Championship

Hopefully be a good move for him,only problem could be Bristol are likely to be in bottom half of league and may not be the best place for a young winger to get games if they are struggling.

Dots1982

Corholio wrote: »

sugarman wrote: »

Thanks, but no thanks. Dont need any 2nd rate, journey man blow ins.

We're well covered in that area too.

Duffy, Clark, Keogh, Wilson.. with the likes of Hoban, Toner, Long, Keown etc.. being phased in.

We're well covered in that area in numbers but the quality still isn't great. I'm not saying this guy is but a performing player in the same division as pretty much all our other centre backs should never be dismissed.

+1, although I wouldn't say our numbers at centre half are great either. Who know's what Hoban, Toner, Long & Keown will amount to? Our centre half options compared to when we had Dunne and O'shea there together are absolutely poison. Look at the amount of goals (3) Clark's and Duffy's mistakes cost us in the euros. Before you get the two mistakes Mccarthy did to cost us goals.

I think we may be in for a rude awakening in the qualifiers.

yabadabado

If pre season is anything to go by then Hoban looks to be a big part of Watfords plans .
Need as many CBs playing at the highest level as possible.

SantryRed

yabadabado wrote: »

If pre season is anything to go by then Hoban looks to be a big part of Watfords plans .
Need as many CBs playing at the highest level as possible.

Prodl and Cathcart are still away due to being on duty at the Euros. However, it does look they're moving moving to 3 at the back so there will be more opportunities there.

keeponhurling

He's no relation to the Hoban lad who lined out at midfield for Romania in the Euros, is he ?

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2016/teams/player=250030842/index.html

eire4

yabadabado wrote: »

If pre season is anything to go by then Hoban looks to be a big part of Watfords plans .
Need as many CBs playing at the highest level as possible.

No question about that. It certainly is not an area of strength either starting wise or in depth.

RickyOFlaherty

yabadabado wrote: »

If pre season is anything to go by then Hoban looks to be a big part of Watfords plans .
Need as many CBs playing at the highest level as possible.

Zuniga signed on loan. Not good for Hobson's chances?

SantryRed

RickyOFlaherty wrote: »

Zuniga signed on loan. Not good for Hobson's chances?

Zuniga's a full back. Will have no impact.

keeponhurling

So, still no news on moves for the any of the Euro 2016 heroes,

Hendrick, Brady, Long all staying put it seems

There was also talk or Randalph looking to go somewhere he'd be a regular starter

Sin City

keeponhurling wrote: »

So, still no news on moves for the any of the Euro 2016 heroes,

Hendrick, Brady, Long all staying put it seems

There was also talk or Randalph looking to go somewhere he'd be a regular starter

Leicester to renew interest in Brady after Kante sale


http://www.balls.ie/football/robbie-brady-leicester-2/340061

Eathrin

Would love to see Brady somewhere like Leicester or Southampton.
Hendrick should be competing at PL level anyway.

Coillte_Bhoy

Eoghan O'Connell scored a cracker today V Leicester and had a very good game.

dr.kenneth noisewater

I see Anthony Stokes has joined Blackburn! Missed that a few weeks ago

keeponhurling

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Eoghan O'Connell scored a cracker today V Leicester and had a very good game.

A bit too early to be thinking about him in terms of the Irish senior team.

However would love to see him force his way into the Celtic first team squad.
Ireland could do with some new CB options

earlytobed

Olamide Shodipo has started the pre season friendlies for QPR an has looked pretty good. Have also heard that Grant Hall, centre half at QPR in considering declaring for Ireland

Mr.Nice Guy

Ryan Delaney is the latest Irish player to make a move to the Championship. He's joined Burton Albion from Wexford Youths after doing well on trial. Nigel Clough seems to have high hopes for him (via RTE):

"(Ryan) can play left-back or left centre half. He's only 19 and hasn't yet played at a decent level but he does a lot of things naturally.

“He has not been in full-time training which means he's been blowing a bit in the last 20 minutes of games but we think we can get him up to speed."

Hopefully he gets some games under his belt.

Wilberto

Ryan's made to move to a League 2 club that'll be playing Championship football. Hopefully he will see a good bit of game time, but then again, hopefully the next two seasons won't dent his confidence when Burton inevitable get sent back from where they came. :pac:

keeponhurling

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Eoghan O'Connell scored a cracker today V Leicester and had a very good game.

It seems that Celtic have quite a few injuries in defence, so O'Connell will probably keep his place for the Champions league qualifier this week.

A great opportunity for him to impress.

Corholio

keeponhurling wrote: »

It seems that Celtic have quite a few injuries in defence, so O'Connell will probably keep his place for the Champions league qualifier this week.

A great opportunity for him to impress.

He really started to look a player on loan at Cork City before he went back.

Just don't play him at right back :pac:

Corholio

Shay Given retires from international football.

Fantastic servant and a quality goalkeeper.

brianregan09

Until the next tournament comes around at least

TrustedApple

I have a felling that Shy will play to he is like 50 as long as there is warm bench around willing to pay him

Mr.Nice Guy

He is the greatest goalkeeper we have ever had and I won't forget how many times he saved Ireland's arse, especially in the tournament drought years between 2002 and 2012 where he produced performances that deserved to be seen on a European or world stage.

It's a pity he was subjected to petty sniping the past few years simply for wanting to represent his country. Some didn't like that he was featuring, but he wasn't the one picking the teams. I am thankful he was passionate about the country and wish that other players had his pride.

Thanks for everything Shay and a happy retirement to you.

TrustedApple

TrustedApple wrote: »

I have a felling that Shy will play to he is like 50 as long as there is warm bench around willing to pay him

I don't think his application to playing for his country can really be challenged. Like Robbie Keane, they made themselves available for pretty much every run out, an admirable quality in an era when so many bow out of international football completely far too early solely to further their club (ie. money generating) career.

noodler

I'll never forget the two one on one saves at home versus Iran in the play off for WC2002.

A number of saves in Moscow.

Legend. We will never see his like again in the no.1 Jersey.

Nalz

noodler wrote: »

Legend. We will never see his like again in the no.1 Jersey.

Ahh now bit much

SantryRed

Nalz wrote: »

Ahh now bit much

We haven't had anyone close to the class of Given to be honest! Fantastic servant to the country. Brilliant goalkeeper in his day. Basically made the Ireland jersey his own for the guts of 15 years. That itself is an achievement in itself!

Mr.Nice Guy

Nalz wrote: »

Ahh now bit much

Why?

Closest Irish keeper to him in terms of quality that I've seen was Dean Kiely; and while Kiely would be an easy number one nowadays, at the time the two were competing for the jersey Given certainly deserved it.

No one we have at the moment compares to Shay Given at his peak, and I would question whether we will ever see an Irish keeper make the PFA Team of the year on two occasions like Given did.

TaosHum

In his prime, Given was world class. His performances at Newcastle, who always had a porous defence in front of him, are up there with some of the best I've seen.

Adamocovic

Given during his prime was phenomenal. Some brilliant performances all while everyone kept bringing up his height as a concern.

I can't think of any other keeper from Ireland who has made the English (premier/first) division team of the season since it was introduced in the 60s/70s and Shay made it twice.

I think people forget sometimes how good he was since his best days are behind him.

I'd love for a young keeper to come out and try replicate the dominance he showed in terms of fighting for the position. I was hoping Lawlor would and although he's still very young it seems he's now behind Gunn with Man City in terms of pecking order. Hopefully he can get another loan move and kick on.

noodler

Nalz wrote: »

Ahh now bit much

Eh..what?

eire4

keeponhurling wrote: »

It seems that Celtic have quite a few injuries in defence, so O'Connell will probably keep his place for the Champions league qualifier this week.

A great opportunity for him to impress.

He played the full 90 minutes and put in a very solid performance. It will be very interesting to see how O'Connell does at Celtic this year.

Adamocovic

eire4 wrote: »

He played the full 90 minutes and put in a very solid performance. It will be very interesting to see how O'Connell does at Celtic this year.

Yeah and Rodgers was impressed, after the match he said of him:

"I thought he was outstanding. For a young player, he has been on the fringes for a few years, coming into that environment, under pressure, he had very few mistakes in the game.
"You would expect him to make some as a young player but he coped in a very difficult situation."

Hopefully an indication that he will see more game time his way.

Nalz

Given imho was a brilliant keeper but I wouldn't put him as world class and I'm sure we'll see the likes of him again. There was nothing significantly phenomenal about him.

An 8 or a 9 out of 10 keeper. Never a 10.

Nalz

Nalz wrote: »

Given imho was a brilliant keeper but I wouldn't put him as world class and I'm sure we'll see the likes of him again. There was nothing significantly phenomenal about him.

An 8 or a 9 out of 10 keeper. Never a 10.

Maybe not Buffon or Kahn, but on the other hand when our neighbours for years fluted around with keepers like Robinson, Green (both good, not great), Foster and Carson (just not internationals), we were undoubtedly good in that position.

Nalz

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Maybe not Buffon or Kahn, but on the other hand when our neighbours for years fluted around with keepers like Robinson, Green (both good, not great), Foster and Carson (just not internationals), we were undoubtedly good in that position.

What's average English goalkeepers got to do with Shay Given? No doubt he was better than them and a great player for us but world class and "never see the likes again" is OTT

noodler

Nalz wrote: »

Given imho was a brilliant keeper but I wouldn't put him as world class and I'm sure we'll see the likes of him again. There was nothing significantly phenomenal about him.

An 8 or a 9 out of 10 keeper. Never a 10.

You aren't really addressing what you were criticised for saying.

You think it is OTT to say we will never see the likes of him as Ireland No.1 again. Nothing you have said comes even close to explaining what you base this on.

Best keeper we have ever had by a mile and the longest stint at number one by a mile.

I mean, my god, we can't even get a keeper playing in the EPL in the squad these days.

Nalz

noodler wrote: »

You aren't really addressing what you were criticised for saying.

You think it is OTT to say we will never see the likes of him as Ireland No.1 again. Nothing you have said comes even close to explaining what you base this on.

Best keeper we have ever had by a mile and the longest stint at number one by a mile.

I mean, my god, we can't even get a keeper playing in the EPL in the squad these days.

I think it's OTT to say such a thing about a 8/10 goalkeeper regardless of what we had before and after him. He's been our best keeper, possibly ever. But who is to say we won't get a better keeper in the near or distance future?

The fact that it's a bit of a silly phrase plus that he was not world class comes close for me to explain what I'm basing this on.

I'm not arguing he's not Irelands best keeper or that he wasn't excellent. My nephew is going to be just as good anyways so we're grand

weldoninhio

Nalz wrote: »

What's average English goalkeepers got to do with Shay Given? No doubt he was better than them and a great player for us but world class and "never see the likes again" is OTT

I agree, he was a good goalie, but nowhere near as good as made out in here. There's a reason he played mainly at Man City before they got money and Newcastle

Trond

He was a world class shot stopper but there were also aspects of his game that were never world class..

GLaDOS

weldoninhio wrote: »

I agree, he was a good goalie, but nowhere near as good as made out in here. There's a reason he played mainly at Man City before they got money and Newcastle

He joined City after they were taken over

Minderbinder

If you ask non-Irish football fans I think you won't find any of them describing Shay as world class. He was an outstanding shot stopper as he had to be because he wasn't a great commander of his area and was very slow to come off his line. It's kind of like asking Padraig Harrington why his short game is so good - it's because he missed so many greens.

But I'd agree we'll be waiting a while before we find a better keeper for the Irish team.

noodler

Nalz wrote: »

I think it's OTT to say such a thing about a 8/10 goalkeeper regardless of what we had before and after him. He's been our best keeper, possibly ever. But who is to say we won't get a better keeper in the near or distance future?

The fact that it's a bit of a silly phrase plus that he was not world class comes close for me to explain what I'm basing this on.

I'm not arguing he's not Irelands best keeper or that he wasn't excellent. My nephew is going to be just as good anyways so we're grand

You only mildly address the point.

However, the chances of Ireland ever having a keeper as good as him, at such a young age, whereby he can be an automatic number one for 15 years will almost certainly never happen again. I find it difficult to see how anyone could argue that.

So again, we will never see the likes of him again at Number 1.


As an aside, I despise this new hip opinion which became more prevalebt after the 2012 Euros that Given was never a class keeper or that his contributions to Ireland over the years wasn't enormous and tangible. Some people who really hated Trap seemed to use Given as another stick to beat him with.

PTH2009

Robbie Keane to retire in the coming weeks too. MON says he wants and hopes JOS stays on

The Serbia game is only a month or so away and is as important as the Italy game last june was in terms of the future

Wary of Georgia in the Qualifers though, they owe us a beating and we knw each other well by now

Nalz

noodler wrote: »

You only mildly address the point.

However, the chances of Ireland ever having a keeper as good as him, at such a young age, whereby he can be an automatic number one for 15 years will almost certainly never happen again. I find it difficult to see how anyone could argue that.

So again, we will never see the likes of him again at Number 1.


As an aside, I despise this new hip opinion which became more prevalebt after the 2012 Euros that Given was never a class keeper or that his contributions to Ireland over the years wasn't enormous and tangible. Some people who really hated Trap seemed to use Given as another stick to beat him with.

Mildly address the point? If you say so. Given had his flaws...just because you don't agree with that doesn't make it "hip" as you put it. His contribution to Ireland was great, but was he an all time great? I would say no. Can we say with confidence we'll never see a goalkeeper for Ireland as good or almost as good if not better in the near future? I would say no also.

Using the phrase you used implies he was exceptional and it's near impossible we'll see as Irish fans for a while a great goalkeeper again between the sticks for Ireland. I think that's bollox tbh.

He never was the full package or complete goalkeeper. He had obvious flaws. His positional sense for one. He wasn't the greatest on crosses and being only 6f (or slightly over/under depending what website you read) had cost him in the past. Was he a great organiser and commander of the box and his back 4?

Great keeper. Great guy. Great career.

World class? No. Will we see as good again? Who knows but there is every chance. Every chance.