Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

athlone99

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Agree 100% with this very surprised more people are not saying it. Maybe it because some people want to buy into the myth that Ireland can be a 'cultured' team?. A new 'identity' and so on?

And maybe some do not want to admit that Trap, Mick, and MON had the right methods based on the players they had? It got results and Ireland were hard to beat for the most part.

But for whatever reason the players did not implement them properly by the end of those managers tenures. They just went launching it all over the place. It seemed to me the problem had little to do with the type of footballing philosophy but a lack of footballing intelligence and players with a lack of confidence in themselves.

Play to a teams strengths based on players available simple as that. Kenny mentioned in one interview I saw, he does not know why it took so long to get the one win after so many games.

But sure you could have told him that after three/four games in your post above. It is spot on. Yet this is the fella that is paid 540k and is paid to make a team play and get results.

So based on everything you have said there and previously what players have some out and complained about what the manager is trying to do and implement? It takes time for a manager and players to understand what the other is looking for. Maybe after the last 2 weeks they now have had a chance to do that.

Have you considered that the players are actually now enjoying being challenged to try and play a better style of football?

You mentioned Trap, his best team performance was when the team plainly ignored his instructions and played France off the park and were robbed.

gormdubhgorm

athlone99 wrote: »

So based on everything you have said there and previously what players have some out and complained about what the manager is trying to do and implement? It takes time for a manager and players to understand what the other is looking for. Maybe after the last 2 weeks they now have had a chance to do that.

Have you considered that the players are actually now enjoying being challenged to try and play a better style of football?

You mentioned Trap, his best team performance was when the team plainly ignored his instructions and played France off the park and were robbed.

Trap qualified the team for Euro 2012 that was passing one of the exams.
As for players comments. Some players are going to look for excuses where possible. It is easy for players to slate a manager that has gone, and claim to get behind a new man.

I feel you need a bit of realisation Kenny has played 13 games and has got one win. Against Andorra. In many of the games the performances have been insipid and very slow. Extremely easy for even the most average of teams to play against. As a result the players lost confidence and played even safer sideways and backwards. Kenny was wedded to that 'identity' has he called it.

After the poor goal conceded against Andorra Kenny admitted that he did not practice defensive set pieces! I mentioned that he said that a day or so after the Andora game and it provoked no comment on here.

Yet later, it was one of the first things Kevin Doyle said before the game against Hungary in studio . I thought to myself glad I am not the only one who was shocked at that. Doyle continued that he could not believe that a manager would admit he did not practise set pieces. Set pieces are a given etc.

Yet, I have seen some posters on here praising Kenny because he got a Chelsea coach in for set pieces. But on the other hand Kenny has admitted they did not practice them!

I am all for giving Kenny a chance as the options are limited. But you have to call out eejitry when you see it. It seems Kenny is getting a free pass by most, despite glaring mistakes he as made so far, both tactically and in training. I find that baffling.

Give him credit when he does well, fair enough.
But you surely cannot ignore stuff like poor tactics based on players available over a decent period. Plus this was predominantly against weaker/on par opponents at that - which Ireland should be able to 'play' against. And then add in not practising set pieces in training! They were supposed to be in a training camp. It baffles me anyway.

Pogue eile

athlone99 wrote: »

So based on everything you have said there and previously what players have some out and complained about what the manager is trying to do and implement? It takes time for a manager and players to understand what the other is looking for. Maybe after the last 2 weeks they now have had a chance to do that.

Have you considered that the players are actually now enjoying being challenged to try and play a better style of football?

You mentioned Trap, his best team performance was when the team plainly ignored his instructions and played France off the park and were robbed.

That's a fairly wild assumption that you are presenting as a fact.

To use your own logic what players have some out and complained about what Trap was trying to do??

athlone99

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Trap qualified the team for Euro 2012 that was passing one of the exams.
As for players comments. Some players are going to look for excuses where possible. It is easy for players to slate a manager that has gone, and claim to get behind a new man.

I feel you need a bit of realisation Kenny has played 13 games and has got one win. Against Andorra. In many of the games the performances have been insipid and very slow. Extremely easy for even the most average of teams to play against. As a result the players lost confidence and played even safer sideways and backwards. Kenny was wedded to that 'identity' has he called it.

After the poor goal conceded against Andorra Kenny admitted that he did not practice defensive set pieces! I mentioned that he said that a day or so after the Andora game and it provoked no comment on here.

Yet later, it was one of the first things Kevin Doyle said before the game against Hungary in studio . I thought to myself glad I am not the only one who was shocked at that. Doyle continued that he could not believe that a manager would admit he did not practise set pieces. Set pieces are a given etc.

Yet, I have seen some posters on here praising Kenny because he got a Chelsea coach in for set pieces. But on the other hand Kenny has admitted they did not practice them!

I am all for giving Kenny a chance as the options are limited. But you have to call out eejitry when you see it. It seems Kenny is getting a free pass by most, despite glaring mistakes he as made so far, both tactically and in training. I find that baffling.

Give him credit when he does well, fair enough.
But you surely cannot ignore stuff like poor tactics based on players available over a decent period. Plus this was predominantly against weaker/on par opponents at that - which Ireland should be able to 'play' against. And then add in not practising set pieces in training! They were supposed to be in a training camp. It baffles me anyway.

And yet despite 1 win in 13 games, no players of the 50 odd he has had to call up have called for his head, or given out or said they dont understand what they are being asked to do or downed tools. In fact every player that has spoken to the media has praised the managers ideas, the training and what he is trying to implement. Maybe we should follow the professionals and get behind the what he is trying to do?

The goal against Andorra was a joke. But that came from 1 player and 1 player only not following his man and standing on the edge of the box with his hand up. If that was an instruction from the management team, why did every other player drop and track their runner?

Anthony Barry or the Chelsea coach as you say is known for his attacking set pieces, not defensive and again the goal against Andorra came from a player not tracking his player. Hard to blame the manager on that in my opinion.

You slate his training sessions and his tactics? Have you been to watch his training sessions? If not i'll refer you to Harry Arters interview in the papers last week.

And then to clarify your last point, SK came out and said they used the training camp to focus on attacking play not defensive set pieces. And also again that goal came from 1 player not following the runner.

Things have not been perfect and definitely need to improve. But unlike you I am prepared to give him time and would like him to get the Euros campaign also and then assess where the team is.

johnnyryan89

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

But for whatever reason the players did not implement them properly by the end of those managers tenures. They just went launching it all over the place. It seemed to me the problem had little to do with the type of footballing philosophy but a lack of footballing intelligence and players with a lack of confidence in themselves.

Not gonna talk about Trap or Mick, but the reason players weren't implementing MONs tactics properly by the end of his reign was because he was still trying to play as if we had Walters and Murphy up front.

He had three or four games before the 2018 nation's league where he tried different things and played three at the back but the minute the first competitive game came up it was straight back to 4-4-2 with a finished Jonathan Walters. It was sad to see him try run around when his career was clearly finished.

Edit:

And Hoolahan had just retired, or was retired by MON since we saw Whelan came back after MON had retired him, but we truly became one dimensional at that stage because now we didn't have anyone in midfield who could take the ball and make something happen for us or just hold onto it comfortably for a bit. As a matter of fact we became less than one dimensional because we now had Sean Maguire and Scott Hogan trying to replace Daryl Murphy and Jonathan Walters but still tried to play as if we had Jonathan Walters and Daryl Murphy up front.

athlone99

Pogue eile wrote: »

That's a fairly wild assumption that you are presenting as a fact.

To use your own logic what players have some out and complained about what Trap was trying to do??

Almost everyone interview i have heard about that game the players have implied that they went out and did their own thing. That is the impression i get, you may think different but looking at all his other games and the way he set up the team, there is no way he decided to go all out and play football and try play France at their own game.

https://www.balls.ie/football/keith-andrews-on-euro-2012-360526 - Last paragraph - "The former Ireland international went on to explain the players' mindset ahead of that superb infamous night in Paris back in 2009, where Ireland reportedly ignored Giovanni Trapattoni's instructions and played ball."

Pogue eile

athlone99 wrote: »

Almost everyone interview i have heard about that game the players have implied that they went out and did their own thing. That is the impression i get, you may think different but looking at all his other games and the way he set up the team, there is no way he decided to go all out and play football and try play France at their own game.

https://www.balls.ie/football/keith-andrews-on-euro-2012-360526 - Last paragraph - "The former Ireland international went on to explain the players' mindset ahead of that superb infamous night in Paris back in 2009, where Ireland reportedly ignored Giovanni Trapattoni's instructions and played ball."

And if in 5 years time no player has said anything negative about Kenny then you have a very valid point!

Kingp35

athlone99 wrote: »

And yet despite 1 win in 13 games, no players of the 50 odd he has had to call up have called for his head, or given out or said they dont understand what they are being asked to do or downed tools. In fact every player that has spoken to the media has praised the managers ideas, the training and what he is trying to implement. Maybe we should follow the professionals and get behind the what he is trying to do?

This is a really poor point. Why would any current squad member come out and slate the tactics? That would be an idiotic decision that would probably see them dropped from the squad. You only hear things after a manager has been sacked or a player retires.

The players might love what SK is trying to do or they might hate it, we have absolutely no idea.

athlone99

Kingp35 wrote: »

This is a really poor point. Why would any current squad member come out and slate the tactics? That would be an idiotic decision that would probably see them dropped from the squad. You only hear things after a manager has been sacked or a player retires.

The players might love what SK is trying to do or they might hate it, we have absolutely no idea.

There is always leaks, look at the leak of the row between Keane and Walters/Arter. If its a happy camp they dont happen.

For example Harry Arter has hardly played under SK but yet praised him more than i've ever seen an Irish player praise a manager. That also doesnt happen if players are unhappy. Evidence seems to me that the players are very happy with whats going on and whats been asked of them. They clearly werent that happy under previous managers.

DM_7

athlone99 wrote: »

Are you sure your an Ireland Fan?

3 great moves that were not seen from other managers that were stopped with last ditch tackles. That game was reason for optimism with young players leading the way and had me thinking we may have a bright future, but your right we are utterly crap, i think i'll start following the cricket team or the hockey team.

Mod: please stick to soccer points without the snarky parts. Other posters are welcome to have another view and where you wish to out forward another view you can but in a respecful way.

johnnyryan89

Rhys Essien wrote: »

Looks like young Caoimhin will be getting the new Ferrari.....cha ching.

https://twitter.com/AnfieldWatch/status/1402875856150700032?s=19

Talk now he'll be remaining at Liverpool as the number two and won't be going out on loan. Not good for him if Bazunu gets a good loan move.

SomethingElse

sugarman wrote: »

Yeah not good. Hes needs regular game time, he'd probably play maybe 10 games a season? Maybe even less if Alisson overcomes his fitness/injury issues of the last 2 seasons.

If Bazuna even gets a Championship move and plays week in/out, he'll be #1.

Bazuna will be doing well to be first choice for a Championship team next season.

johnnyryan89

SomethingElse wrote: »

Bazuna will be doing well to be first choice for a Championship team next season.

Yeah I'd say some decent League One teams would be hesitant also. Yeah fair enough Rochdale have been hoovering around the relegation spot before he went there last season, but he still conceded 55 league goals.

Had Rochdale stayed up I wouldn't have been surprised to see him return there with a couple of other City players. The original plans were for Bazunu to train two days a week with City while out on loan but couldn't because of Covid.

Fandymo

athlone99 wrote: »

So based on everything you have said there and previously what players have some out and complained about what the manager is trying to do and implement? It takes time for a manager and players to understand what the other is looking for. Maybe after the last 2 weeks they now have had a chance to do that.

Have you considered that the players are actually now enjoying being challenged to try and play a better style of football?

You mentioned Trap, his best team performance was when the team plainly ignored his instructions and played France off the park and were robbed.

Repeat a lie often enough and it’ll become the truth, eh?

https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/kevin-doyle-ireland-france-thierry-henry-165395

“However, Kevin Doyle, who played that night, has disputed any suggestion that the team ignored their manager's tactical plan.“

gormdubhgorm

athlone99 wrote: »

Things have not been perfect and definitely need to improve. But unlike you I am prepared to give him time and would like him to get the Euros campaign also and then assess where the team is.

Where did I say I am not willing to give Kenny time? I said the exact opposite because the FAI is broke and there are few other credible options that would take the job on the cheap.

In your previous post you danced in circles trying to gloss over the fact that Kenny admitted that he did not practice defensive set plays against Andorra.

It was Andorra remember and yet you are desperately scrambling:

1) To justify not doing defensive set pieces

2) Tried to conjure up a reason on conceding the goal against Andorra, which does not mention clear tactical/organisational ineptness. I believe McClean had his arm up and ended up shaking his head.

Fandymo

Fandymo wrote: »

Repeat a lie often enough and it’ll become the truth, eh?

https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/kevin-doyle-ireland-france-thierry-henry-165395

“However, Kevin Doyle, who played that night, has disputed any suggestion that the team ignored their manager's tactical plan.“

Ummmmmmmm.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, your link doesn't contradict his point at all.

He said players ignored Trap's instructions. Your response contains a Kevin Doyle quite denying there was a meeting on the bus at which players decided to ignore Trap's instructions. They are not mutually exclusive.

The repeat a lie thing is a bit silly. The article you linked also contains the following observation...

Their adventurous approach was the antithesis of the football that had been played to that point under manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

athlone99

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Where did I say I am not willing to give Kenny time? I said the exact opposite because the FAI is broke and there are few other credible options that would take the job on the cheap.

In your previous post you danced in circles trying to gloss over the fact that Kenny admitted that he did not practice defensive set plays against Andorra.

It was Andorra remember and yet you are desperately scrambling:

1) To justify not doing defensive set pieces

2) Tried to conjure up a reason on conceding the goal against Andorra, which does not mention clear tactical/organisational ineptness. I believe McClean had his arm up and ended up shaking his head.

I didnt dance around anything, He said straight out they didnt practice defensive set pieces and was very annoyed by the goal. They decided to focus on forward attacking play for the week. Ive played league of Ireland football and too me that goal simply came from 1 player not tracking his man.

So if 1 player stands there with his hand in the air and the rest of the players drop whos at fault? A player who switched off and put his hand up or the other 8 players who dropped to try and defend the freekick? Thats looking for something to blame a manager your not convinced by out of a simple mistake by 1 player.

johnnyryan89

£12m bid from Burnley set to be accepted according to Alan Nixon in The Sun. Same lad has been the one tweeting about the interest in Collins too.

Surely at that price there would be a few more bids for him. Also says that Stoke need the money badly if they're accepting that low of a price. Think there parachute payments stopped last season and they'd probably have some high earners still on the payroll.

~Rebel~

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

£12m bid from Burnley set to be accepted according to Alan Nixon in The Sun. Same lad has been the one tweeting about the interest in Collins too.

Surely at that price there would be a few more bids for him. Also says that Stoke need the money badly if they're accepting that low of a price. Think there parachute payments stopped last season and they'd probably have some high earners still on the payroll.

If only we could produce in other positions with the frequency we produce decent centre backs!

eire4

~Rebel~ wrote: »

If only we could produce in other positions with the frequency we produce decent centre backs!

As bad as we are at the moment we look actually to have real quality and depth going forward at goalkeeper with young lads Bazunu and Kelleher both looking good. Travers there and veteran Randolph still there in the short term. Probably in the squad goalkeeper is our strongest position right now.

Beechwoodspark

Folks re Robbie Keane and Brian kerrs comments

Seems to me delaneys plan all along was to give Stephen Kenny a “run” in the job then get rid and have Robbie lined up to take over....

It’s some mess now for sure

Pawwed Rig

eire4 wrote: »

As bad as we are at the moment we look actually to have real quality and depth going forward at goalkeeper with young lads Bazunu and Kelleher both looking good. Travers there and veteran Randolph still there in the short term. Probably in the squad goalkeeper is our strongest position right now.

I don't think we are there yet with any of them. Lots of potential but one or 2 of them need to make a breakthrough

lawred2

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Folks re Robbie Keane and Brian kerrs comments

Seems to me delaneys plan all along was to give Stephen Kenny a “run” in the job then get rid and have Robbie lined up to take over....

It’s some mess now for sure

so a double succession plan :rolleyes:

johnnyryan89

~Rebel~ wrote: »

If only we could produce in other positions with the frequency we produce decent centre backs!

One of the next age groups has some talented attackers with big potential. Lads like Andrew Moran, Evan Ferguson, Kevin Zefi, and Caden McLaughlin. The last two being part of the 2005 age group and possibly the strongest age group we've produced at youth level.

It's also the same age group where we're now seeing the lads going to Germany and Italy for trials. We'll hopefully get that one attacking player who'll be the difference maker with this next bunch of youngsters.

johnnyryan89

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Folks re Robbie Keane and Brian kerrs comments

Seems to me delaneys plan all along was to give Stephen Kenny a “run” in the job then get rid and have Robbie lined up to take over....

It’s some mess now for sure

Said the same thing myself. There's no other reason that you'd give a coach a four year contract like that if your plan wasn't for him to step into the senior manager role after the four years.

Like countries have done it before, but JD took it a step too far by potentially trying to sort out our next three managers with a weird succession plan.

Francie Barrett

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

£12m bid from Burnley set to be accepted according to Alan Nixon in The Sun. Same lad has been the one tweeting about the interest in Collins too.

Surely at that price there would be a few more bids for him. Also says that Stoke need the money badly if they're accepting that low of a price. Think there parachute payments stopped last season and they'd probably have some high earners still on the payroll.

This has already been a fairly long running saga so there's been plenty of time for clubs to get bids in. So far Burnley have been the only team to bid on him (twice in January, and again today in Summer). Reading between the lines on this suggests that Stoke are alerting clubs that they've one final chance to place a bid on Collins before they accept Burnley's offer.

It would be great if Arsenal or Leicester came in for him, but even if they don't, I am happy enough with Burnley. He'll be in the Premier League and if lives up to expectations, he will start 30+ games a year.

Francie Barrett

~Rebel~ wrote: »

If only we could produce in other positions with the frequency we produce decent centre backs!

Kenny is going to have some headache when it comes to selecting defenders in September with any luck. We could potentially have Omobamidele and Collins (who're both uncapped) playing in the Premier League. It's going to be hard to leave guys like them out when the current first string is in the Championhip.

dr.kenneth noisewater

Francie Barrett wrote:

It would be great if Arsenal or Leicester came in for him, but even if they don't, I am happy enough with Burnley. He'll be in the Premier League and if lives up to expectations, he will start 30+ games a year.

That will only happen if Mee or Tark are injured or leave this summer, he'll be on the bench most the season otherwise

Francie Barrett

Assuming Kenny had everyone to choose from and was going to play 3-4-1-2, what's his first team?

---

Bazunu

---

Coleman Egan O'Shea
Doherty McCarthy Molumby Brady

---

Knight

---

Connolly Robinson

Bazunu starting against Hungary suggests to me he's now number 1. I think you need to have Coleman in central defence to play in Kenny's system, he's by far the most comfortable player on the ball and Kenny's already used him in central defence. That allows us to have Doherty as RWB and while he hasn't been great, there are really no better options. LWB is up for grabs, I think Brady's our most naturally talented player here and if fit he has to start. Having seen enough of Cullen, I think McCarthy if fit is the better option. Whether he plays for us again again or not is up for debate. Connolly spent most of last season crocked, but I still get the sense that Kenny feels himself and Robinson are his favoured options upfront.

dr.kenneth noisewater

Francie Barrett wrote:

Assuming Kenny had everyone to choose from and was going to play 3-4-1-2, what's his first team?

Francie Barrett wrote:

Bazunu Coleman Egan O'Shea Doherty McCarthy Molumby Brady Knight Connolly Robinson

Francie Barrett wrote:

Bazunu starting against Hungary suggests to me he's now number 1. I think you need to have Coleman in central defence to play in Kenny's system, he's by far the most comfortable player on the ball and Kenny's already used him in central defence. That allows us to have Doherty as RWB and while he hasn't been great, there are really no better options. LWB is up for grabs, I think Brady's our most naturally talented player here and if fit he has to start. Having seen enough of Cullen, I think McCarthy if fit is the better option. Whether he plays for us again again or not is up for debate. Connolly spent most of last season crocked, but I still get the sense that Kenny feels himself and Robinson are his favoured options upfront.

Not sure Molumby, Brady or McCarthy are near being in his best team. Stevens will be LB or LWB, Cullen seems most likely to start in CM alongside someone else, possibly Knight.
Molumby only played a half hour in the 2 games so has fallen down the pecking order. I think he sees Brady as more advanced the LWB in either a front 3 or attacking CM

johnnyryan89

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Kenny is going to have some headache when it comes to selecting defenders in September with any luck. We could potentially have Omobamidele and Collins (who're both uncapped) playing in the Premier League. It's going to be hard to leave guys like them out when the current first string is in the Championhip.

There'll be no chance of Omobamidele getting capped anything soon unless there's a massive injury crisis at CB. I'd say Doherty and Enda Stevens would probably be ahead of him in the pecking order to step into CB if needs be.

Didn't get capped against Andorra which was like a competitive training match, and he's not going to feature in the PL unless Norwich end up with another injury crisis in defence.

Collins being injured for the training camp was a massive shame as he seems to be the next defender that will break his way into the senior squad if he stays liquid injury free.

johnnyryan89

dr.kenneth noisewater wrote: »

Not sure Molumby, Brady or McCarthy are near being in his best team. Stevens will be LB or LWB, Cullen seems most likely to start in CM alongside someone else, possibly Knight.
Molumby only played a half hour in the 2 games so has fallen down the pecking order. I think he sees Brady as more advanced the LWB in either a front 3 or attacking CM

If Brady is somewhat fit and still involved you'd have to imagine he'd be better suited to an impact role from the bench, similar to Horgan whose really grabbed his chances whenever he's played. Substitutions will be crucial for us and we'll need certain players that deliver an impact when introduced.

McCarthy in midfield I wouldn't mind but he needs to be playing in midfield with a partner. It's a problem area for us and Smallbone being injured was disappointing because Southampton see him as a long term number 6 as that's where he feels most comfortable so would have been great to have him in the training camp.

Think it will be another while before Knight plays deeper in that midfield two. We need players in that front who'll press high and hard which you'll get with Knight and we haven't got many options in that position. Even Jack Byrne I'd love to see in that midfield two for a bit. He's definitely someone who'll look for the ball and try to play it forward unlike some of our senior midfielders.

If I had to pick a starting XI for Portugal:

.......................Bazunu

.............Duffy - Egan - O'Shea

Coleman - Byrne - Cullen - Stevens

.........Knight - Robinson - Connolly

The two positions I wouldn't be that sure on are goalkeeper and LWB. It's a toss of a coin for who'll be in goals and should come down to which player is playing. Stevens hasn't shown why he should be first choice LWB, and feel Kenny could even stick with McClean come September.

pjohnson

dr.kenneth noisewater wrote: »

That will only happen if Mee or Tark are injured or leave this summer, he'll be on the bench most the season otherwise

They renewed Kevin Longs deal so he'll be competing with him to deputise for Mee/Tarkowski.

gormdubhgorm

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

If I had to pick a starting XI for Portugal:

.......................Bazunu

.............Duffy - Egan - O'Shea

Coleman - Byrne - Cullen - Stevens

.........Knight - Robinson - Connolly

The two positions I wouldn't be that sure on are goalkeeper and LWB. It's a toss of a coin for who'll be in goals and should come down to which player is playing. Stevens hasn't shown why he should be first choice LWB, and feel Kenny could even stick with McClean come September.

Jayus I wouldn't be so sure about Robinson frustrating player pace and nothing else. Connolly I am 50/50 on he has energy but weak on end product.

Surprised you have no place for Parrott. I would be inclined to stick with the Idah- Parrott partnership and let it develop.

Would you say Knight could play in the position you have Cullen?

Tchaikovsky

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Jayus I wouldn't be so sure about Robinson frustrating player pace and nothing else. Connolly I am 50/50 on he has energy but weak on end product.

Surprised you have no place for Parrott. I would be inclined to stick with the Idah- Parrott partnership and let it develop.

Would you say Knight could play in the position you have Cullen?

Robinson has been excellent the last few games he's played for us.

johnnyryan89

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Jayus I wouldn't be so sure about Robinson frustrating player pace and nothing else. Connolly I am 50/50 on he has energy but weak on end product.

Surprised you have no place for Parrott. I would be inclined to stick with the Idah- Parrott partnership and let it develop.

Would you say Knight could play in the position you have Cullen?

Should have added that CF would be another position I'm iffy about because we don't have any good CFs. None of the senior players are really good enough and the younger lads have a higher ceiling but are still very raw.

I'd also like to let the Idah - Parrott partnership develop, but think starting against Portugal and Serbia could be a step too much for both lads. Idah replacing Robinson in the team cool because Robinson isn't really a CF, but I wouldn't be starting both Idah and Parrott in a front three against Portugal.

I think Knight could, but for now he's better suits us playing in that higher position to pressure the opposition defence. Horgan has shown he's effective in that role, but seems he's more suited to an impact role from the bench. Wouldn't mind seeing Ogbene get minutes against Portugal because his pace could be effective. They're full backs will push on leaving space for us to possible play a long ball in behind for someone to chase.

Don't envy Kenny one bit when it comes to squad management for September. You'd much rather the order of games was in reserve with Serbia up first who can be hit and miss, and a better keeper in March we could have taken a result. Portugal first up is a nightmare because we ain't getting a result, and they could spank us which will have a negative affect on morale going into the game against Azerbaijan who will stick XI behind the ball hoping to nick a goal and make it frustrating for us to make things happen.

~Rebel~

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Jayus I wouldn't be so sure about Robinson frustrating player pace and nothing else. Connolly I am 50/50 on he has energy but weak on end product.

Surprised you have no place for Parrott. I would be inclined to stick with the Idah- Parrott partnership and let it develop.

It's a bit hard to get away from how little either of them have actually done though... I'd be inclined to keep Parrott in or around the first team since he got his few goals and offers more of a number 10 option, but I'd rather we shuffle Idah back a few places in the pecking order until he's playing a bit of football. There's some potential there, but he's just not playing enough at club level yet to justify his inclusion. He's still yet to have that bit of a breakout season Connolly and Obafemi have had - could have been last year if not for being injured all season. Hard to see him getting any time with Norwich having been promoted. Like many of our players, he badly needs a year on loan next season.

Will be interesting to see the sorts of clubs that come in for the players, and will tell us a bit about how they're rated by others. I'm confident Obafemi will get a good move anyway, given how hard Swansea were pushing for him, but I wonder if Parrott's bad spell in the Champ last season will hurt his chances. Hopefully the bit of international exposure will have raised his profile a little. Idah I think should get a decent enough move though. Could bring him along a lot.

Connolly is in one of the most frustrating positions, where his team are just bad enough that they'll likely need him on the bench, whereas Southampton have a good range of quality like Ings, Adams, Wallcott, Redmond etc, so they can afford to let Obafemi go get time elsewhere.

He might not be for the long term, but right now Callum Robinson is a nailed on starter for me - the most accomplished of any of those lads. With West Brom going down, he'll be in for a big season with them next year too. Scored a goal every 2 games in his last Championship run, including a run of 9 in 13 before he picked up an injury.

Would you say Knight could play in the position you have Cullen?

Nah, not at this stage anyway, it's just not where he plays, and not what he's shown to be best at. Cullen is much better as a holding midfielder. Knight is much better with freedom to run and move forward. We also have so little talent in the middle bringing the ball forward that losing him from tha role would really hamper us.

dr.kenneth noisewater

The big issue with predicting a team is that the future of so many is up in the air

Goalkeeper
Randolph is 2nd choice at WH so if Bazunu/Kellegher/Travers get a loan move and play regularly then they will be number 1. All 3 need to go on loan and play regularly next season and we can get a better judgement on them.

Defence
Egan/O'Shea/Coleman/Doherty/Stevens/McClean/Collins/Clark/Manning should all see regular enough gametime at their current clubs next year.
Duffy needs a move, O'Connor needs a step up on loan, Omobamidele should be fine developing at Norwich unless they sign additional CB's in the summer.

Midfield
McCarthy/Brady are unattached. Hourihane/Coventry/Molumby need to move/loan moves this summer.
Arter/Hendrick/Browne/Knight/Cullen/McGrath/Byrne will see plenty of gametime with current clubs. But some like McGrath and Knight might be on the move which could affect their chances

Forwards
This is where things are most up in the air.
Parrott and Idah need to go on loan and play regularly. Connolly needs to get fit and play more. Robinson/Collins should be fine.
Horgan/Ogbene/Curtis are playing L1 so will be playing regularly and hopefully they might get moves up to the championship this summer.

Mars Bar

Not a great half there at all.

Is that Alan Cawley on commentary? Jesus I had to put the Irish game on mute and turned on the Arabic commentary on the UAE game. Its bad when someone would rather watch a game in a language they don't understand.

Francie Barrett

Hourihane will likely be leaving Villa, and according to Agbonlahor he won't be short of Premier League options - https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/newcastle-and-nowich-tipped-to-make-aston-villa-move-plus-west-ham-and-fulham-track-ps20million-striker-gossip-3270902

Francie Barrett

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/west-hams-ademipo-odubeko-will-play-for-ireland-again-insists-agent-amid-nigeria-speculation-tjzd9bdq9

The West Ham United striker, Ademipo Odubeko – who has turned down call-ups to the Ireland under-21 side amid reports that he might switch allegiances to Nigeria – is adamant that he will play for Ireland again, but a final decision on his international future could be some way down the line.

What sort of nonsense is this?

passatman86

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Hourihane will likely be leaving Villa, and according to Agbonlahor he won't be short of Premier League options - https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/newcastle-and-nowich-tipped-to-make-aston-villa-move-plus-west-ham-and-fulham-track-ps20million-striker-gossip-3270902

Off topic
Why did agbonlahor retire early

passatman86

passatman86 wrote: »

Off topic
Why did agbonlahor retire early

To devote more time to women and drugs?

Though think the drugs were all fairly harmless level stuff, but he was always in the tabloid press under 'love rat" headlines.

johnnyryan89

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Hourihane will likely be leaving Villa, and according to Agbonlahor he won't be short of Premier League options - https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/newcastle-and-nowich-tipped-to-make-aston-villa-move-plus-west-ham-and-fulham-track-ps20million-striker-gossip-3270902

Well Newcastle did give Hendrick a five year contract and a possible pay rise. Anything is possible but I can't see it unless he takes a big pay cut to be a squad player somewhere else.

Like Newcastle is legit the only side I can think of that finished below Villa who'd sign him. Of the three teams that are coming up neither Norwich or Brentford would touch him and not sure what Watford's squad is like.

Pawwed Rig

I can't see a EPL club taking him as a first team player. Maybe a squad player but my instinct is that he is championship bound

eire4

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I can't see a EPL club taking him as a first team player. Maybe a squad player but my instinct is that he is championship bound

I would say that is what is level is IMHO. At 30 as well he has gone as far as he is going to in the game. I think from a playing time standpoint a second tier club where he plays regularly would be best for him from a footballing standpoint.

johnnyryan89

Paulo Fonseca is strongly tipped to be the next Spurs manager and could be announced this week. For all we know Doherty could be moved on, doubt it will be permanently because he's on a good wage, but the new guy seems to favour a three at the back formation. So if Doherty does remain with Spurs it's good that the new guy favours a formation we've start to use with the senior team.

Similar the talk around the new Everton manager has Nuno Santo as the favourite for the job, which again is good for us because Nuno is known to favour three at the back. We could potentially have both lads playing that RWB role when the season starts or even see Coleman playing as part of a back three even.

topmanamillion

passatman86 wrote: »

Off topic
Why did agbonlahor retire early

He said it was injuries piling up. By 32, he had a lot of miles on the clock.
Apparently if he played a game on the Saturday he was still buckled by the Tuesday.
He was a player that relied heavily on pace and was a one club man. Once Villa show him the door he probably didn't fancy lower league England or somewhere abroad.

LuckyLloyd

Watching the Euros makes me fundamentally reject the thesis of ‘there’s no point going to tournaments unless you play “proper” football’. Being there is everything. You can see that from the players and fans of ostensible “no hoper” teams like Macedonia or Finland.

The only thing that matters is competitiveness and whatever approach maximises our ability to qualify for these tournaments imo. This is solidified by watching then play out in our absence.

LuckyLloyd

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Watching the Euros makes me fundamentally reject the thesis of ‘there’s no point going to tournaments unless you play “proper” football’. Being there is everything. You can see that from the players and fans of ostensible “no hoper” teams like Macedonia or Finland.

The only thing that matters is competitiveness and whatever approach maximises our ability to qualify for these tournaments imo. This is solidified by watching then play out in our absence.

That's not what people are saying to be fair. Of the team learns to play some ball we should win more games. We scraped a game against Gibraltar 1-0 I. The last qualifying campeign the ability to pass the ball a little bit would have seen us walk them. We got grief for beating a team of lower league andorran players 4-1 but you seem to think there was no issue with just beating a team of firemen and butchers 1-0?

Of coarse there have been issues over the first few games but 11 back and hoof the ball forward may get us the odd unexpected win but it won't see us qualify for anything either