Republic of Ireland Team Talk/News/Rumours 2020/2021 - see Mod Note in OP [18/11/20]

Banjaxed82

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Conor Ronan came on as a sub for Grasshopper in their 2-1 win yesterday, involved in one attack (3min 50sec mark).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pAOiFOx-tg

22 and struggling to get a run of games in 2nd division Swiss side. What's the story with Ronan? Things have just never clicked. Has never gone to that (consistent) next level needed.

Brock Turnpike

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

22 and struggling to get a run of games in 2nd division Swiss side. What's the story with Ronan? Things have just never clicked. Has never gone to that (consistent) next level needed.

He isn't "struggling to get a run". He starts most games for them and has played well all season. They are top of the table.

johnnyryan89

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Conor Ronan came on as a sub for Grasshopper in their 2-1 win yesterday, involved in one attack (3min 50sec mark).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pAOiFOx-tg

Can't understand why he's sticking around with Wolves, only signed a four year contract last season before going out on loan.

It's honestly a head scratcher why a lad whose not going to make it at Wolves thought it was a good idea to sign a four year contract.

He'll be 25 by the time his current contract ends and probably won't make another appearance for Wolves in the mean time. Probably spend the best part of the four years at Grasshoppers.

Brock Turnpike

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Can't understand why he's sticking around with Wolves, only signed a four year contract last season before going out on loan.

It's honestly a head scratcher why a lad whose not going to make it at Wolves thought it was a good idea to sign a four year contract.

He'll be 25 by the time his current contract ends and probably won't make another appearance for Wolves in the mean time. Probably spend the best part of the four years at Grasshoppers.

If, as looks likely, Grasshopper get promoted to the top flight this year and he's playing in the Swiss Super League for a couple of years, isn't that better than mincing about in League One in England?

Assuming he stays there of course. I do agree that sticking a four year deal to stay at Wolves seems strange. But given the links between Jorge Mendes, Wolves, Grasshopper, then it could well be that he's signed a four year deal at "Wolves" knowing he'd be playing in Switzerland for a few years.

franglan

A four year contract with a solid premier league club must bring alright money even if he's not in the orbit of getting into the match day squad. Some security there, I would absolutley sign in that scenario. Money is guaranteed, alternatively let's say he signs the same for a mid table championship club - say Derby and they only pay first 70% of wages due to financial issues or go belly up... Sounds ideal, look at Kevin Long's career at Burnley. I would think he's financially secure at this point without the Premier league appearances.

Francie Barrett

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

It's honestly a head scratcher why a lad whose not going to make it at Wolves thought it was a good idea to sign a four year contract.

I think it would have been a head scratcher to not sign that contract. A 4 year deal as a senior player on a nice wage in the Premier League? Imagine turning that down only to end up playing League 1 football at Rochdale.

Pawwed Rig

Exactly. If he broke his legs and was out of contract he would get nothing. Footballers like to have long contracts as it gives them security and a wages baseline. If they are good enough someone will buy them out of the contract. If they're not good enough at least they got paid for 4 years.

Scoundrel

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Can't understand why he's sticking around with Wolves, only signed a four year contract last season before going out on loan.

It's honestly a head scratcher why a lad whose not going to make it at Wolves thought it was a good idea to sign a four year contract.

He'll be 25 by the time his current contract ends and probably won't make another appearance for Wolves in the mean time. Probably spend the best part of the four years at Grasshoppers.

Christ almighty I hope you're not in a business where you have to negotiate your own contract

Dr. Bre

Kevin long starts for Burnley

Tchaikovsky

Robbie Brady linked with a pre-contract deal with Celtic according to the Daily Record.

Weepsie

Robbie brady with a terrible 3 mins for Burnley. Silly Booking and brutal attempt at a goal line clearance

RoryMac

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

Robbie Brady linked with a pre-contract deal with Celtic according to the Daily Record.

Hope that doesn't happen both as an Irish fan and Celtic fan

wadacrack

Weepsie wrote: »

Robbie brady with a terrible 3 mins for Burnley. Silly Booking and brutal attempt at a goal line clearance

Subbed at 64, not his day

Andrew00

Weepsie wrote: »

Robbie brady with a terrible 3 mins for Burnley. Silly Booking and brutal attempt at a goal line clearance

Subbed on and then subbed off 20 mins later.

He's really awful tbf

For Forks Sake

Andrew00 wrote: »

Subbed on and then subbed off 20 mins later.

He's really awful tbf

Francie Barrett

Doherty back in what looks a second string.

Francie Barrett

Andrew00 wrote: »

Subbed on and then subbed off 20 mins later.

He's really awful tbf

He has actually been decent for Burnley, and he was subbed off because of injury.

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/robbie-brady-injury-is-latest-headache-for-ireland-boss-stephen-kenny-40106578.html

Mr.Nice Guy

Shane Flynn made the Leicester bench again for their Europa tie.

AhhHere

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Shane Flynn made the Leicester bench again for their Europa tie.

Looking forward to hanging our hopes on this guy until he starts playing.

LuckyLloyd

AhhHere wrote: »

Looking forward to hanging our hopes on this guy until he starts playing.

johnnyryan89

https://twitter.com/KennysKids/status/1362720529862569989

Francie Barrett

Not great news. My guess is that the starting centre back pairing will be Duffy and Clark with O'Shea and Long also in the squad. It's a shame O'Shea has been dropped for WBA, otherwise I think he might have squeak in ahead of Duffy.

pgj2015

Looking forward to the inevitable mistake/mistakes Duffy will make in our next campaign that will cost us goals. Hopefully Kenny has the nerve to drop him.

ballsymchugh

i'm hoping that the team won't have any passengers still living off euro 2016!

Brock Turnpike

pgj2015 wrote: »

Looking forward to the inevitable mistake/mistakes Duffy will make in our next campaign that will cost us goals. Hopefully Kenny has the nerve to drop him.

A weird thing to look forward to

Tchaikovsky

pgj2015 wrote: »

Looking forward to the inevitable mistake/mistakes Duffy will make in our next campaign that will cost us goals. Hopefully Kenny has the nerve to drop him.

What mistakes has he made for Ireland?

TheCitizen

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

What mistakes has he made for Ireland?

Was wondering about this. He's had a terrible season at Celtic and his confidence may be very low but he's been a good solid leader for Ireland.

~Rebel~

TheCitizen wrote: »

Was wondering about this. He's had a terrible season at Celtic and his confidence may be very low but he's been a good solid leader for Ireland.

Didn't make any really glaring errors that I can think of, but did look a bit shaken of confidence alright (understandably enough given his club form).

Pretty poor distribution though, which is perhaps a big enough concern given the way Kenny has the team set up to play, and I don't think that's as much of a confidence issue as simply being something he's just not great at.

I wouldn't go dropping him because of it, but I think it's important that whoever is picked beside him has a better passing range, and can walk out of defence more confidently than Duffy can. The other option is a clear setup that everyone shifts into as soon as we're about to progress out from the back - like Cullen/McCarthy dropping deep as an option, with both fullbacks picking up open easy passing positions, so we can make that first pass fast, and move the ball forward quicker from there.

Dr. Bre

Duffy more likely to score than anyone else

johnnyryan89

Tchaikovsky wrote: »

What mistakes has he made for Ireland?

None yet, but his form nose diving off a cliff at club level (now sits on the bench while a 21 yr old kid who has more appearances for Greenock Morton than Celtic starts ahead of him) is frightening.

I've said it before that until he ****s up in an Ireland shirt he'll start, but the mistakes he's made at club level can't be overlooked because he never made them in an Ireland shirt. Kenny needs to be looking at Long or O'Shea to play next to Clark.

Even O'Shea in his first season at premier League level has made mistakes, but Duffy's have been on another level all together for a lad that's been playing at senior level for years now.

Pawwed Rig

Are we now saying that club form doesn't matter as long as you did a reasonable job the last time you were capped?

Pawwed Rig

Long has been getting a couple of runs and hasn't done anything deplorable when he played. O'Shea aswell was doing reasonably well when he was playing. Duffy has been awful for some time.

Banjaxed82

Duffy will primarily be undone by the lack of options infront of him. If Kenny doesn't start a sitter who actually wants to be on the ball and will be a constant outlet for Duffy, then I weep.

Every team will target Duffy as we try play out from the back.

Mistakes will happen or...
Duffy will start lumping it, undoing Kenny's possession philosophy or...
Duffy will go out of his way not to be on the ball as much as possible, equally undoing Kenny's possession philosophy.

Duffy's not the most ideal defender to have when it comes to the ball at your feet, but our midfield do him no favours.

Not one midfielder should be given a starting spot if they have any ideas of avoiding being in possession. Too much pointing and running around in midfield and not enough responsibility being taken.

johnnyryan89

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

Duffy will primarily be undone by the lack of options infront of him. If Kenny doesn't start a sitter who actually wants to be on the ball and will be a constant outlet for Duffy, then I weep.

Every team will target Duffy as we try play out from the back.

Mistakes will happen or...
Duffy will start lumping it, undoing Kenny's possession philosophy or...
Duffy will go out of his way not to be on the ball as much as possible, equally undoing Kenny's possession philosophy.

Duffy's not the most ideal defender to have when it comes to the ball at your feet, but our midfield do him no favours.

Not one midfielder should be given a starting spot if they have any ideas of avoiding being in possession. Too much pointing and running around in midfield and not enough responsibility being taken.

IMO Cullen has to start for this simple reason. Even if Duffy doesn't start Cullen should be starting still for this reason because it's going to be an issue for all our defenders.

~Rebel~

Is the Livescore teamsheet right? Is Knight playing up front for Derby tonight?

I see they're showing Kazim-Richards at right wing, maybe he's actually up front with Knight in midfield?

Also, mad to see Kazim-Richards still playing, feels like he's been around forever!

Francie Barrett

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Is the Livescore teamsheet right? Is Knight playing up front for Derby tonight?

I see they're showing Kazim-Richards at right wing, maybe he's actually up front with Knight in midfield?

Also, mad to see Kazim-Richards still playing, feels like he's been around forever!

It's close enough. Derby are playing with three upfront. Waghorn is playing wide right, Kazim and Knight are switching between the wide left and centre forward positions.

~Rebel~

Francie Barrett wrote: »

It's close enough. Derby are playing with three upfront. Waghorn is playing wide right, Kazim and Knight are switching between the wide left and centre forward positions.

That's quite interesting... more time in attacking positions would be great for him anyway. He's one of the standout candidates for the most attacking of the 3 midfield spots.

pgj2015

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

A weird thing to look forward to

:pac: im not really looking forward to Duffys inevitable fcuk ups, but I know they will happen. I would have a couple of LOI defenders in the team ahead of him and trust them more.

TheCitizen

pgj2015 wrote: »

:pac: im not really looking forward to Duffys inevitable fcuk ups, but I know they will happen. I would have a couple of LOI defenders in the team ahead of him and trust them more.

He has 41 caps for Ireland and has done nothing in an Ireland shirt to warrant such a comment. Quite the opposite actually in a time when Ireland were in the doldrums he was a leading light.

Your comment is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. A joke.

johnnyryan89

~Rebel~ wrote: »

That's quite interesting... more time in attacking positions would be great for him anyway. He's one of the standout candidates for the most attacking of the 3 midfield spots.

Think how we played against Slovakia in the second half would suit him, though that would only really work if McGoldrick was to actually come out of retirement.

~Rebel~

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Think how we played against Slovakia in the second half would suit him, though that would only really work if McGoldrick was to actually come out of retirement.

Yeah, the unfortunate reality is that without a proper frontman to tie everything together, the system kinda falls flat right from the off.

Francie Barrett

~Rebel~ wrote: »

That's quite interesting... more time in attacking positions would be great for him anyway. He's one of the standout candidates for the most attacking of the 3 midfield spots.

To be honest, he doesn't really look like an attacker. He's a good player, but it's clear that Derby haven't quite found the role for him yet given that he seems to play a different position every week. I think his long-term position is going to be somewhere in central midfield. That leverages his best qualities (work rate, pressing, determination) with his decent ability on the ball.

I don't think he's being managed too well. He needs to be coached in playing a proper position, not charging up and down the pitch. I have real worries the way he plays now will mean he'll be burned out in no time.

pgj2015

TheCitizen wrote: »

He has 41 caps for Ireland and has done nothing in an Ireland shirt to warrant such a comment. Quite the opposite actually in a time when Ireland were in the doldrums he was a leading light.

Your comment is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. A joke.

That was then, this is now. He is a shadow of the player he was.

TheCitizen

pgj2015 wrote: »

That was then, this is now. He is a shadow of the player he was.

Your comment was still ridiculous. His move to Celtic has not worked out that doesn’t mean he can’t resurrect his career elsewhere somewhere else in the English Premier league or Championship.

pgj2015

TheCitizen wrote: »

Your comment was still ridiculous. His move to Celtic has not worked out that doesn’t mean he can’t resurrect his career elsewhere somewhere else in the English Premier league or Championship.

maybe. we will see. im not so sure though.

Francie Barrett

Jack Byrne is still injured and will not be playing in the game tomorrow's game against top of the table Omonia Nicosia - https://twitter.com/EmeraldExiles/status/1362820369753792512

APOEL still have a chance at making Europe next year, they are in the semi-final of the Cypriot cup which takes place this Wednesday. Hopefully Jack can recover by then and take part in that game.

~Rebel~

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Jack Byrne is still injured and will not be playing in the game tomorrow's game against top of the table Omonia Nicosia - https://twitter.com/EmeraldExiles/status/1362820369753792512

APOEL still have a chance at making Europe next year, they are in the semi-final of the Cypriot cup which takes place this Wednesday. Hopefully Jack can recover by then and take part in that game.

Just took a look at the table, seems the new lad has done alright, win tomorrow and they end the regular season only a point off the championship playoff. Shame to have gotten so close to contention, without now being able to make it.

Brock Turnpike

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Just took a look at the table, seems the new lad has done alright, win tomorrow and they end the regular season only a point off the championship playoff. Shame to have gotten so close to contention, without now being able to make it.

Going by some comments on their Twitter, fans seemed to be suggesting the club wanted to miss out as it meant they would not have to pay bonuses to players.

Ferris_Bueller

Hourihane scores again for Swansea, a free kick this time. I've never been overly impressed by him in a green Jersey but he is our form player at the moment and you'd imagine he will be a definite starter in Belgrade at this stage.

johnnyryan89

If Hourihane is to start in midfield then lads like Cullen and Knight need to start in midfield to make up for the lack of effort you'll be getting from Hourihane.