Squad for the game on 11th Feb is getting named today and Stephen Ireland isn’t in it. Whether that’s Trap’s doing or the player’s doing isn’t clear yet.
What kind of a team are we likely to put out:
Given
Kelly*-Dunne-O Shea-Kilbane
McGeady-Whelan-Gibson-Duff
Doyle-Keane
- Have the feeling that McShane might start but I hope not and I think Stephen Kelly would be a better option
[quote=“The Puke”]What kind of a team are we likely to put out:
Given
Kelly*-Dunne-O Shea-Kilbane
McGeady-Whelan-Gibson-Duff
Doyle-Keane
- Have the feeling that McShane might start but I hope not and I think Stephen Kelly would be a better option[/quote]
Keith Andrews will start ahead of Gibson. Trapp went to see him at the weekend and by all accounts he played well.
I’d prefer to have Kevin Foley right back. Kelly is just back from injury. Paul McShane is permanently useless.
Hopefully we can sneak a 3 points. Only Given and Doyle playing well at the moment. Some of our players having shockers e.g. O’Shea, Dunne, McShane, Keane and McGeady. Whelan and Gibson have been getting more game time recently but are still miles short.
Keith Andrews might well start but we won’t know until he trains in that position with the first team. Trap obviously has very definite and unbudging views on what he expects from his central midfielders so while Andrews might fit the bill on paper it depends on how he shows up on Gannon (spit) Park really.
I’d expect us to win this one. When the players are playing well for their clubs, the form doesn’t seem to be carried over to the international games as much as we would like. So hopefully when they aren’t playing well, the same might be true, and may not necessarily be a bad thing. If there is one thing the Trap’s stubbornness and closed mind can be useful for it might be to stamp out bad habits picked up at club level.
I read that Trap attended Preston-Blackpool and Blackburn-Newcastle on Saturday alright. Keith Andrews was reported to have played well so he could come into the reckoning. I’m not sure who he was looking at in the first game - maybe Sean St Ledger. Stephen Elliot was also playing for Preston and I presume Chris McCann was in Burnley’s team.
Ireland U21 captain Eddie Nolan was also an unused sub for PNE.
Given
Kiely
Westwood
Finnan
Kelly
Dunne
O’Shea
Delaney
Kilbane
Bruce
Duff
Keogh
McGeady
Hunt
Andrews
Whelan
Gibson
Miller
Keane
Doyle
Long
Folan
Hunt
Murphy/Stokes/Foley on stand by
No fat Andy either. And Miller still gets in there.
Given
Kiely
Westwood (who?)
Finnan (failed medical at Hull)
Kelly
Dunne
O’Shea
Delaney
Kilbane
Bruce
Duff
Keogh
McGeady
Hunt
Andrews
Whelan
Gibson
Miller
Keane
Doyle
Long
Folan (sub at hull)
Hunt
Murphy/Stokes/Foley on stand by
No McShane!!
Brady and Trap said they’re still waiting on contact from Ireland. Brady said it’s about time Ireland showed pride for his country.
Surprised at the exclusion of McShane. Not disappointed though obviously.
Miller isn’t up to much and doesn’t deserve to be in there. We look very short at the back.
Sledge and Locke not very good at this stuff. McShane is in there.
Here’s the squad:
Shay Given - Newcastle United
Dean Kiely - West Brom
Keiren Westwood - Coventry City
Alex Bruce - Ipswich Town
Damien Delaney - QPR
John O’Shea - Manchester United
Kevin Foley - Wolves
Paul McShane - Sunderland
Richard Dunne - Manchester City
Stephen Kelly - Birmingham City
Steve Finnan - Espanyol
Kevin Kilbane Hull City
Aiden McGeady - Celtic
Damien Duff - Newcastle United
Darron Gibson - Manchester United
Glenn Whelan - Stoke City
Keith Andrews - Blackburn Rovers
Liam Miller - QPR
Stephen Hunt - Reading
Andy Keogh - Wolves
Caleb Folan - Hull City
Kevin Doyle - Reading
Robbie Keane - Liverpool
Shane Long - Reading
Noel Hunt - Reading
No Stevie Me Granny, the epic adventure goes on.
Man thats a poor squad for the most part.
[quote=“therock67”]Sledge and Locke not very good at this stuff. McShane is in there.
Here’s the squad:
Shay Given - Newcastle United
Dean Kiely - West Brom
Keiren Westwood - Coventry City
Alex Bruce - Ipswich Town
Damien Delaney - QPR
John O’Shea - Manchester United
Kevin Foley - Wolves
Paul McShane - Sunderland
Richard Dunne - Manchester City
Stephen Kelly - Birmingham City
Steve Finnan - Espanyol
Kevin Kilbane Hull City
Aiden McGeady - Celtic
Damien Duff - Newcastle United
Darron Gibson - Manchester United
Glenn Whelan - Stoke City
Keith Andrews - Blackburn Rovers
Liam Miller - QPR
Stephen Hunt - Reading
Andy Keogh - Wolves
Caleb Folan - Hull City
Kevin Doyle - Reading
Robbie Keane - Liverpool
Shane Long - Reading
Noel Hunt - Reading[/quote]
Andy Reid would have been perfect for this game to start preferrably or even to come on.
Folan, Miller and McShane should not be in any squad. Miller has been tried to death and never delivered. Well only in the SPL. Its getting to the stage that I fucking hate McShane and Folan. McShane’s cameo for Sunderland at the weekend had to be seen to be believed. Thoroughly useless donkeys the pair of them. I fully expect both of them to make some kind of appearance against Georgia to make matters worse.
Surprised St Ledger didnt get a call up since Trapp saw him in the flesh at the weekend.
Sorry chaps, one of the lads just e-mailed me that, would normally check it, but there is a very fine line between breaking a TFK exclusive and taking the time to check one’s sources. 
McShane is abject, another horrific mistake when facing his own goal again on Saturday. Once the ball is in front of him to be dealt with, he’s not too bad, but turn him, and you’re fucked. Folan hasn’t done enough in an Irish jersey to convince me one way or the other.
Reid should be in there, but everyone knows there’s only one winner when you piss off the boss.
Anyone know why he’s naming the squad so early anyway? As far as I know, the next international week isn’t until 8th February - another 3 weeks away.
Possibly because ticket sales could be slow - this early press conf might give that game some little bit of hype. Also, perhaps Trap and Brady were hoping to hear from Mr Stevie Ireland over the weekend and this could have definately got alot of people talking and looking forward to the match.
As in this country… any kind of hype = people wanting to say they are going to the match to their mates/work colleagues. Any sports marketing person in Ireland should know that. Munster/Leinster do it brilliantly in the rugby but bar certain events the GAA have regularly failed to realise this potential.
[quote=“KIB man”]Andy Reid would have been perfect for this game to start preferrably or even to come on.
Folan, Miller and McShane should not be in any squad. Miller has been tried to death and never delivered. Well only in the SPL. Its getting to the stage that I fucking hate McShane and Folan. McShane’s cameo for Sunderland at the weekend had to be seen to be believed. Thoroughly useless donkeys the pair of them. I fully expect both of them to make some kind of appearance against Georgia to make matters worse.
Surprised St Ledger didnt get a call up since Trapp saw him in the flesh at the weekend.[/quote]
Surprised at St Ledger too, presumed the sighting in the flesh was to rubber-stamp in jumping ahead of Bruce in the pecking order. Don’t think McShane is good enough but we do have precious few alternatives.
Boring, tired old clichd stuff from you about Miller by the way. He did fuck all in the SPL, put in a few decent European performances though.
Don’t know who I’d have ahead of Folan either to be honest.
Finally on Andy Reid you have to make some allowance for the dispute with the manager. It’s not ability alone that has him excluded. He may not have burned his bridges the way Ireland has done but there’s no point protesting about his exclusion when there’s more factors than just his ability at stake.