Republic of Ireland Team 2023/24 [old thread]

Must have had John Delaney's number rather than Jonathan Hills and he agreed to take the **** fixture list for an extra few quid.

Ukraine two away fixtures to Scotland and us before two home fixtures.

Scotland two home fixtures before playing us and then away to Armenia.

Armenia are A, H, A, H, but their away fixture in-between the home games is Ukraine.

WBA fans seem to have a strong dislike towards Livermore and probably annoys them more that the manager has said before he starts when fit because he's the captain.

Scheduling for the next Nation's League will be just as jam packed with the introduction of the South American teams to the competition. Top 6 teams go into League A making it a 22 league team and the remaining 4 into League B making it 20 teams.

Looking like Uefa and Conmebel coming together to give FIFA and their biannual world cup the two fingers.

That's very interesting. I'd certainly prefer it to a biennial World Cup - especially given the ridiculous 48 team format of the World Cups from 2026 onwards. I wonder where all of those CONMEBOL teams would ultimately end up League-wise. Brazil and Argentina are obviously A-standard. I have a feeling that most of the rest would be B-league, apart from Venezuela and Bolivia who would be C-league. Ecuador and Bolivia would both really suffer with the loss of their high altitude home game advantages.

In terms of the format. UEFA's 55 teams + CONMEBOL's 10 gives 65 teams. That's only 1 off 64 which is a great number for dividing. 4 Leagues with 4 groups of 4 in each (and an extra team somewhere) seems like the best format, although it would likely take a few cycles to get to that point.

Yes I understand that that's where they will be placed initially. I'm speculating about where they will end up after a few versions of the League have been played and relegations occur.

CONMEBOL teams can't qualify for the play-offs? That's bizarre. If they're going to have them in the competition they should treat them the same as any other nation in it.

Oh sorry. I misread your statement. I thought you meant the knockout tournament at the end to determine the overall winner. Ah yes yeah it wouldn't make sense for them to be in the Euros play-offs.

Wasn't many matches on this weekend but a few lads put some good performances in.

Gavin Kilkenny - 7

Perhaps Bournemouth's standout outfield player. Playing at the base of midfield, Kilkenny swept up second balls well, made key interceptions/blocks and tried to switch the play with intensity. This particular noion was reflected in Parker's decision to keep him on over Lewis Cook for the final 10 or so minutes.

Mark Travers - 8

Undoubtedly the best player. Made two key saves at the start of either half and was kept busy throughout. It seemed Travers made stops with every part of his body (chest, legs, of course hands). He even dived the correct way for the penalty, but was just out of reach.

Again, the Irishman was commanding in dealing with crosses and was left completely exposed by the lack of protection ahead of him.

Darragh Lenihan - 9

Enjoyed more touches in the opposition half than he did his own but he was absolutely colossal once more. Responded to everything Birmingham threw his away, dominant and aggressive. And the pass for his assist was exquisite.

Lenihan seems to be getting better and better each week and they're now third in the table and one point behind Bournemouth who were poor yesterday. Travers getting all the plaudits for keeping the score line to 1-0. The one downside to Travers though is his distribution isn't the best. It's probably the one thing that will keep him third choice once Bazunu, who I think is going right to the top and Kelleher are available. Even with Kelleher picking splinters from his hole I think his ability with the ball at his feet will keep him second choice.

Should Kelleher go on loan ? Or is he at that awkward stage?

Not as good as the first team option. But nice to have for a few cup games or if the no1 is out.

Jake Doyle-Hayes starting for Hibs in the Scottish League Cup final against Celtic. Game is live from 3pm on Premier Sports. Liam Scales on the bench for Celtic.

It ends 2-1 to Celtic as they claim the cup. Scales subbed on for the final ten minutes. Doyle-Hayes played the whole game and had a quiet first half with one or two nice moments. He was mainly on defensive duties with Celtic dominating the ball.

Only if a good contract offer comes in from somewhere, which I can't really see happening. He went there on a free, so he'll be on a very good wage, which I doubt he'd be willing to give up since he's turning 30 in a few weeks. He's one they might keep around for the promotion battle next season maybe. 2 more years left on his deal after this one, so if they got back up I wouldn't be surprised to see them pay him off with 1 year to go.

I think out of all the young strikers we were hoping would progress Obafemi is the most alarming. I actually think he could drop even further. Himself and Connolly need to really get the heads down now and start working hard on the training pitch. Idah needs a loan move. A full season in the championship or even league 1 wouldn't do him any harm. It's actually hard to gauge the progress when he's only playing 10-15 minutes per week. I'd also hope that Kellher see a bit more game time soon in cups or what have you. He is young for a goalie but it's very hard to progress sitting on the bench. I think a championship loan for Bazunu beckons next season and that will help him continue with his progress. Himself and Travers are really solid goalies as is.

He's also just over three years younger than Kelleher but has 60 club games to his name already compared to Kellehers 11. Has one less international cap at 19 than Kelleher has games for Liverpool at 23.

I mean, he's a total freak for his age. Physically and mentally, he's way ahead of where 99.9% of 18 or 19 year old keepers are.

Kelleher's development is the norm for good keepers - Bazunu is a total outlier amongst outliers. Hopefully it continues!

Don't think Doherty will be in a rush to leave unless Spurs are gonna cover his wages. Two and a half years left on a 65k a week contract.

Doherty starts tonight against West Ham in EFL Cup

Scales starts in the SPL for Celtic.

Madison scored from about 35 yards and he was getting criticism for it . But he's being dubbed the hero for the pens and was mobbed at the end

Got a strong hand on 1st,on another day he'd have kept it out, 2nd only 2 yds out, do nothing about it 3rd an absolute worldie, straight over him, even in slow motion, it flew in, just couldn't react to it, 2 decent peno saves, plus 2or 3 really good saves during game which kept pool in it

Would be our starting keeper if he was playing regularly. If he was playing regularly I think Kenny brings him in as number one after coming back from his injury.

Oh for me Bazunu is gonna be our number one for years to come. The lad is gonna be a star and probably City's number one when Ederson moves on in a few years.

He has grabbed his chance with Ireland with both hands and has played well though feel Kelleher would have been thrown in as number one in September if he was playing first team football. His loss is Bazunu's gain though.

Travers for me will be let down by his distribution. He was good in Bournemouth's recent game but his distribution can be poor. One instance in the first half tries to play a long pass to a player out on the touch line but drops the pass short because he probably feels it's going into touch otherwise and Bournemouth lose the ball. Bazunu is pinging that straight at you and Kelleher probably the same. Think the fact he's comfortable with the ball at his feet will have ahead of Travers in the pecking order.

Oh I think we're sorted for quite some time with the three lads.

Don't see Steffen as the future number one when Ederson leaves and think his role at City is similar to Kelleher at Liverpool of being a solid back up when needed. Thankfully for Bazunu that Steffen signed a new four year contract to allow him an extra couple of years out gaining experience before returning to City.

I don't know if I'd be of the opinion that Kelleher is to good for Liverpool to send away or sell. It's really impossible to judge how good he is until he gets a serious run of games under his belt. The odd one in a cup really isn't comprehensive enough tbh. No doubt he is good but will he be of PL quality? Impossible to say.