Under two weeks to match day. Damien Duff should come back but Steve Finnan is almost definitely out and possibly Steven Reid too. We drew 1-1 at Croke Park last year, in a match where Cyprus were robbed. We should be aiming for a bit more thsi time 'round
The Republic of Ireland squad is: Shay Given (Newcastle United), Dean Kiely (West Brom), Joe Murphy (Scunthorpe United), Alex Bruce (Ipswich Town), Damien Delaney (QPR), Richard Dunne (Manchester City) , Kevin Kilbane (Wigan Athletic), Joey O'Brien (Bolton Wanderers), John O'Shea (Manchester United), Paul McShane (Sunderland), Stephen Hunt (Reading), Aiden McGeady (Glasgow Celtic), Damien Duff (Newcastle United), Liam Miller (Sunderland), Andy Reid (Sunderland), Glenn Whelan (Stoke City), Kevin Doyle (Reading), Robbie Keane (Liverpool), Andy Keogh (Wolves), Shane Long (Reading), Daryl Murphy (Sunderland). So, Steven Reid, Finnan and Kelly all out. I suppose this means we can assume that McShane will start at right back, as he has been doing quite well there for Hull City. But midfield? Andy Reid? Liam Miller? Joey O'Brien? Even vs. Cyprus at home, I would have serious reservations about a Miller-Whelan central midfield pairing. Thoughts?
yeah, I wouldn't think we'd go with a Miller-Whelan midfield. I would hope it to be A.Reid-Whelan pairing, but with Whelan not even plaing club football you'd have to wonder if Trap will go with something else all together (keep the opponents guessing). There's an Ireland XI match against Notts Forest on Thursday night, who knows maybe he'll add to this list after that match, or is 21 the max he can select?
An Irish XI are playing Nottingham Forest in a friendly tomorrow. Should be quite interesting; Caleb Folan gets his first runout in a green jersey. Wish we had someone other than Potter in the middle, though. Republic of Ireland XI v Nottingham Forest: Joe Murphy - Scunthorpe United Kevin Foley - Wolves Alex Bruce - Ipswich Darren O’Dea - Celtic Stephen Ward - Wolves Andy Keogh - Wolves Keith Andrews - Blackburn Rovers Darren Potter - Wolves Wes Hoolahan – Norwich City Shane Long - Reading Caleb Folan - Hull City Substitutes: Anthony Stokes - Sunderland Kieran Westwood - Coventry City Eddie Nolan - Blackburn Rovers Darron Gibson - Manchester Utd Martin Rowlands - QPR Owen Garvan - Ipswich Town Sean Scannell - Crystal Palace Keith Treacy - Blackburn Rovers.
Would this be considered an 'A' side? Would they all get Senior caps for this? There isn't many caps among these guys as it is.
No, no caps will be given out as it's not a full international. Think of it as a reserve side - though it's not even officially the "B" team. Idea is for Trapattoni to have a look at some of the marginal players first hand.
Ireland 1-0 Forest at half time. Folan with the goal. Stokes started rahter than Long, and Gibson rather than Potter. Both are listed as substitutes.
Caleb Folan is staying on with the senior squad after tonights match, Trap is apparently impressed. Darren Potter and Keith Andrews have also caught Traps eye, and could be sticking around too. Alex Bruce was injured in tonight's match so another defender could also get a call up.
Caleb Folan (Hull City) Darren Gibson (Man. United) Anthony Stokes (Sunderland) Kevin Foley (Wolves) Keith Andrews (Blackburn) All called up to the senior squad for the game against Cyprus.
Ireland Squad to face Cyprus: Shay Given John O'Shea-----Paul McShane---Richard Dunne---Kevin Kilbane Aiden McGeady----Glenn Whelan---Darron Gibson----Damien Duff Robbie Keane----Kevin Doyle. got to give it up to Trap, he goes with what he likes, Gibson wasn't even in the original call up. He impressed against Forest, got the call up, impressed in training and now he's starting. Can't wait to see how it works out..any thoughts?
Curiously, I'm not. If there's one thing about the teams that Trapattoni puts out, it's that they are solid and unlikely to succumb to unusual results. He doesn't, as Staunton did, put teams out with no defensive midfielder; he does, however put out well marshalled teams where everyone knows his job. That may not lead to many 5-0 scorelines, but it often does lead to 2-1 wins.
http://www.justin.tv/tictalk For live stream....a bit sketchy, but its been working for me for the past few minutes...
Not the best of performances we'll ever see but at least we got the 3 points, tied at the top of the group with Italy on 7. Nice start to the campaign. The usual suspects were great tonight, Dunne was a machine and Doyle was brilliant, he never stopped running all night. It was good to see Duff put in a good performance too, his set-up play for Keane's goal was special.
Only saw the second half but I though Duff, Doyle & Dunne were great. McGeady is a very frustrating player. He can make space for himself but then usually makes the incorrect decisions like holding on the the ball too long. Also a poor attempt on goal near the end. Not only that but carelessly gave away a few frees to Cyprus, thankfully the defense held firm. I thought Whelen & Gibson should have asserted themselves more in midfield. But overall, it's the result that counts. I'm sure confidence is growing in the team and Trap will play that up. One step at a time. Job done. Remaining Schedule: Feb 11 Ireland v Georgia Mar 28 Ireland v Bulgaria Apr 1 Italy v Ireland Jun 6 Bulgaria v Ireland Sep 5 Cyprus v Ireland Oct 10 Ireland v Italy Oct 14 Ireland v Montenegro
Good point about McGeady, I dont know how many times he had the chance to put the ball into the box but decided to try and beat his marker one more time, and then lose possession because he ran out of space. Good player and a lot of upside, but still needs to learn when to serve the ball, kind of reminded me of Ronaldo in his early days at United. Hopefully the coaching staff will have a word with him.
Great to get the three points but's lots there to worry me , McShane was brutal , totally lost at full back , his positioning was awful and his distribution was worse. The centre of midfield was outplayed and we can thank both Robbie and Damian for so much chasing back. Substitutions should I feel have been made , in particular Hunt should have been introduced late in the game to pin the Cypriots back. Great response to the applause for Noel O'Reilly even if the FAI were 20 years out with his birth year ( 1948 not '28 ). Great also to see Davy Walsh introduced at half time , another great Waterford footballer and a friend of my father !
Just watched the match on Setanta, thought we had a good first half, and good moments in the second, Duff, Doyle and Dunne were all fantastic. Gibson & Whelan didn't work in the middle, and I was shocked that Trappatoni never made any changes till the bitter end. We could have done with a shake up about the 60 minute mark, this worries me. We could've scored 2 or 3 more, McGeady had the best chance. Cyprus were a better team in the second half and I feel against Bulgaria or Italy Trap is going to have to make some serious decisions in the centre of the park.