We'll use this thread to discuss the Irish in England, Scotland, Spain and elsewhere! Start with today's Premiership matches: Crystal Palace v Birmingham -Kenny Cunningham played quite well, though was taken off late-on for an attacker. Arsenal v Southampton -Rory Delap starts for Southapton. Leon Best is on the bench. Charlton v Middlesbrough: -Dean Kiely and Matt Holland for Charlton. Everton v Aston Villa: -Kevin Kilbane starts, Lee Carsley is suspended. Fulham v Spurs: -Robbie Keane starts up front for Spurs, with Jermaine Defoe. Portsmouth v Manchester United: -Suprisingly, no Irish for United. O'Shea is out injured, Keane probably isn't 100% fit but is on the bench, as is Miller. Good to see that Miller seems to have beaten out Djemba Djemba and Kleberson. West Brom v Chelsea -Duff starts for Chelsea.
Rory Delap notched two goals for Southampton at highbury. Both headers, I believe. Surely he'll be in the squad for Croatia after that. Damien Duff also scored Chelsea's third at West Brom. Roy Keane did come on for Man United, but Liam Miller remained on the bench (Ferguson brought Brown on late on, when United needed goals. I'm sure Miller would have been a better option) In Scotland, McGeady played 82 minutes for Celtic, and scored their first goal. Richie Foran bagged a penalty for Motherwell.
Down a division, Andy Reid scored again, even though Nottingham Forest lost 2-1. Stephen Elliott again started (though failed to score) for Sunderland.
Premiership: Given, Carr and O'Brien all played for Newcastle. I believe Given was at fault for Bolton's second goal. Pretty unusual for him. Championship: Alan Mahon scored Wigan's first in thier 2-0 win at Leeds, to put them 6 points on top of the Championship table. He's another one who I would like to see get a run in the friendlies. Gary Kelly played for Leeds, Paul Butler was suspended and there was no sign of Andy Keogh who made his debut in midweek. Scotland: Ryan O'Leary was on the bench for Aberdeen as they were drubbed by Rangers. He did not come on.
Norwich v Man City: No sign of Gary Doherty. Willo Flood and Richard Dunne start, while Paddy McCarthy is on the bench. And Willo has scored his first Premiership goal, a volley on 11 minutes to give City the lead!
..hit the post as well, apparently. Didn't get to see highlights so I couldn't tell you what sort of effort it was, unfortunately. Did McCarthy get on the pitch?
No, McCarthy remained on the bench. Man City only made two subs, both fairly attack minded. Dunne came off after 68 minutes for a 17 year old Nigerian midfielder whose name escapes me. Though when you're 1-1 at home to Norwich, I don't really blame Keegan for not bringing McCarthy on. Good to see him on the bench all the same.
In the Champions League tonight: Aiden McGeady makes his first European start for Celtic at home to Shaktar, while Duff played the full match for Chelsea in their victory in Moscow.
Elliott and Lee both bagged goals in the Championship tonight. I reckon Elliott has to be in the squad for Croatia.
Elliotsa goal was excellent too. Liam Lawrence got Sunderlands two other goals and he has said he wants to play for us.
Liam Miller and Roy Keane each played 90 minutes of Champions League football last night. Miller was again wide-right, where he's not as effective, but it's better than nothing. Steve Finnan played most of the second half for Liverpool in Spain, at right of midfield.
Given and O'Brien both played for Newcastle United last night in the UEFA Cup. Carr missed out with a minor injury. Also, Alan Maybury played the full match in Hearts' 1-0 loss to Schalke,
Robbie scored a penalty for Spurs yesterday. Most of the regulars played, and Stephen Reid was apparantly very good for Blackburn. Also Douglas was on the bench. Elliott missed out on Sunderland's Friday match at Millwall because of injury. Mark Lynch played, as did Graham Stack (kept a clean sheet) and Alan Dunne came on for Millwall. I also saw Kenny Cunningham play against Liverpool yesterday, and I thought he was superb. Finnan came on in the second half and was good. He's a better fullback than Josemi in my opinion, and should be starting there. Today, only Andy O'Brien starts for Newcastle. Stephen Carr faced a fitness test, so I assume that's why he misses out. Harper starts, and Given is not on the bench so I suppose he must be injured. Hope it's not serious. Should be lots of Irish in Manchester derby later today. BTW, John O'Shea needs an operation to correct a hernia that has been bothering him for some time. Out for two months at least. Pity, though perhaps it will mean his return to his form of a couple seasons ago.
Dunne was superb for Man City today. Willo was pretty good, too. Keane was solid, while Miller was by no means poor, though he was taken off at half time.
In the Carling Cup, Robbie has scoreda good goal for Spurs against Burnley. Stephen Kelly is also on. Patrick Cregg is on the bench for Arsenal again, which is good news. Carsley and Kilbane play for Everton. Rory Delap starts for Southampton (who are losing to Watford). Kavanagh, Lee and Boland all play for Cardiff. In Scotland, Richie Foran has scored at Motherwell.
Cregg did make a late debut for Arsenal tonight. Also, Stokes and O'Donnell scored for the Arsenal reserves last night. http://www.eleven-a-side.com/acrossthewater/irish_soccer_detail.asp?newsid=14543
Yesterday in England: Robbie Keane played fairly well for Spurs against Arsenal. Duff played at right of midfield for Chelsea. Kilbane and Carsley (I thought Carsley was very good) played for Everton, while Cunningham captained Birmingham City. Morrison failed to shake off an injury. Steve Finnan was only on the bench for Liverpool. Somehow, he can't beat out Josemi for right back. Richard Dunne was again solid for Man City, while Willo Flood started but was taken off with half an hour remaining. Macken failed to shake off an injury. Steven Reid played the full match for Blackburn. Rory Delap played the full match in Southampton's south-coast derby win. Matt Holland was apparantly very good for Charlton. Gary Doherty cannot get into the Norwich squad. Graham Barrett and Alan Quinn both scored for their respective clubs in the Championship, while Kavanagh was sent off for Cardiff. Andy Reid played a full match for Nottingham Forest. Scotland: Aiden McGeady played the full match for Celtic v Inverness. Spain: Ian Harte played for Levante; they lost 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruna. Today: Newcastle vs. Manchester United: Andy O'Brien is dropped for Newcastle (worrying), while Stephen Carr starts. Given also starts. Actually, O'Brien has replaced the injured Carr after 25 minutes. Carr surely won't be going to Dublin, then. For United, Miller drops out as Fletcher starts on the right. Roy Keane starts. Mo sign of O'Shea, but he isn't fully fit (needs an operation).
Yesterday in the Premiership: Manchester United 2-0 Charlton Roy Keane started for United, and was very good. O'Shea came on as a late sub. No sign of Miller, which is disappointing as he was quite good vs Croatia. Dean Kiely and Matt Holland started for Charlton. Holland was quite poor, IMO. Crystal Palace 0-2 Newcastle Only Shay Given for Newcastle. Carr and O'Brien are both injured. Everton 1-0 Fulham Carsley and Kilbane. Kilbane made the Everton goal. Middlesbrough 2-0 Liverpool. Steve Finnan started at right of midfield, then moved to right back when Josemi was taken off. Norwich 2-1 Southampton Delap played for Southampton, and Gary Doherty was an unused sub for Norwich. Chelsea 2-2 Bolton Duff started and scored after 35 seconds. Portsmouth 1-3 Manchester City Richard Dunne was solid again, and Macken played okay. Willo Flood was dropped as Macken and Barton returned, though he was on the bench (did not come on). In the Championship, Alan Quinn scored another screamer for Sheffield United (mabye he does deserve his place in the squad?). Andy Reid played for Forest, despite being injured in midweek, and Graham Barrett could only manage the last ten minutes for Coventry. In League One, Jonathan Walters scored for Hull. McGeady played the last ten minutes in Celtic's old firm defeat at Ibrox. Today: Steven Reid starts for Blackburn, and made their first goal. Clinton Morrison starts for Birmingham as does Kenny Cunningham. And down a division, Stephen Elliott scored his eight league goal of the season in Sunderland's 2-0 win over Ipswich. Gary Breen also played. Graham Stack kept a clean sheet as Millwall beat West Ham 1-0.
Just as I hit post reply, I hear that Steven Reid has scored for Blackburn. They're 3-2 down at home to Birmingham.