We Can Do It

Right, Trapp has announced his 29 man squad, the squad that will be responsible for, firstly, taking the Macedonians out of the running in our group and, secondly, they will also be responsible for keeping us in with a chance of topping the group. Victory against Macedonia is essential to this campaign, just as it was with Armenia & Andorra.

If we look at the Macedonian team, we should be hockeying the fuck out of them to be honest; most of their players are playing in Eastern European Leagues with most of them coming from the Cyprus National League and Azerbaijan National League. The only danger is their Captain Fantastic, Goran Pandev, the man responsible for pulling Inter out of that hole they were in against Bayan Munich



Here is the 29 man squad -

Goalkeepers
Westwood (Coventry), Randolph (Motherwell), Forde (Millwall)

Defenders
Foley (Wolves), O'Shea (Man Utd), Clark (Aston Villa), Coleman (Everton), Dunne (Aston Villa), St Ledger (Preston), O'Dea (Ipswich), Kelly (Fulham), Kilbane (Huddersfield), Wilson (Stoke)

Midfielder
Gibson (Man Utd), Whelan (Stoke), Green (Derby County), Laurence (Portsmouth), MacCarthy (Wigan), MacGeady (Spartak), Treacy (Preston), Andrews (Blackburn), Fahey (Birmingham), Duff (Fulham)

Striker
Keane (West Ham), Walters (Stoke), Doyle (Wolves), Long (Reading), Best (Newcastle), Keogh (Bristol City)

First thing that jumps out at you is, obviously, no Given. Who do we pick in goal? Everyone in the media is saying Coventry's Kieran Westwood who already has 5 Irish caps to date but, I'm thinking, this guys is in goal for Coventry who haven't been exactly playing well this season, they are two places from relegation in the Championship. This new guy, Randolph, who has had pretty successful season at Motherwell, they are in the top half of the Scottish Premiership and he's playing every game. I say give this guy a go. So my choice for at least the Uruguay game is Bray-born goalkeeper is Darren Randolph, give him a run out.

Onto my pick for central defenders, Dunne has today and tomorrow to prove to Trapp that he's fit, he has my vote to take that first Centre Back place, if he recovers in time that is, wishful thinking, I love John O'Shea in that central role rather than on the right, we have plenty of cover of the right so I want him in the centre. There are other good options in the centre, though. Marc Wilson has been playing savage for Stoke, particularly well in that 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle at the weekend. I would worry about giving it to St Ledger as Preston are rooted to the foot of Championship, letting in 65 goals in 36 games, that is not the best by any stretch. And as for Darren O'Dea, who has been gracefully warming the Ipswich bench for the season, well, he can just ger ow of it.

We have an abundance of players that can fit into the wide defender roles. Right back, we, of course, have O'Shea, who I have already put in the centre, but we also have Foley who has been playing week in - week out for Wolves and even though they are at the foot of the Premiership, they have been playing well all season. Seamus Coleman has been playing amazingly for Everton and will have to feature in the Irish set-up regularly for the foreseeable future but I believe he belongs at Right Midfield but he is good cover. The other cover at right back is Fulham's Stephan Kelly, who I am confident enough in. We have a fountain of talent at left back, first on the team sheet has got to be Villa's left back, Ciaran Clark, he has had a great season so far scoring 3 goals this season, one of them being that whopper against Arsenal. Marc Wilson, the Stoke defender, can also cover in this position but the one thing I can’t understand is the presence of Kevin Kilbane, I know we Irish are sentimental but this is ridicules. Kilbane has played 17 of Hudderfield's 38 games this season in League One . . . League One. Where the fuck is Stephen Ward? Not only has Stephen Ward been playing left back for Wolves all season in the Premiership but he can also cover at Left Wing, Defensive Midfield & Striker. We also drastically need Greg Cunningham to find another club, pronto.

Onto midfield, Centre Midfield,

Before we weight up our options here, we need to get onto this buzz, I like to call it the Jamie O'Hara buzz - http://www.joe.ie/football/international-football/jamie-ohara-admits-hes-up-for-playing-for-ireland-009880-1



Anyway . . .

Everyone is gagging to see the competitive debut of one James MacCarthy, he played well at the weekend and I have no doubt he will start on Saturday. His partner in the centre will be the defensive Stoke midfielder, Glenn Whelan, believe it or not but Whelan is growing on me. He is playing regular football for Stoke and he is playing well, I would be confident with these two in the centre against Macedonia. But if that doesn't work out, who do we have in cover? I think Andrews got another injury so he looks like he's gonna miss out, Gibson, eeehhhh, he's got a good shot and he's playing at one of the top clubs in the world but not enough to hang your hat on. Not to get back to something I've already touched on but we have to get onto this Jamie O'Hara buzz, pronto! We cant get away from that, I don't want to be relying on the likes of Paul Green when we're coming up against Russia or Slovakia in 6 months time, there are others that we can have in there and that are playing regularly in the Premiership - Stephen Ward, Andy Reid, Stephen Reid & Rory Delap, they should all be considered.

Out wide again, we have a wealth of talent to choose from, on the right, Seamus Coleman who is probably on his way to becoming Everton's player of the season is a defo, with cover from Liam Laurence who has been solid for Portsmouth with 7 goals this season and Spartak Moscow's Aiden McGeady as well, it is safe to say we have the position of Right-Mid covered for a few years - especially when there are other players thinking of claiming - 'Jermaine Pennant, I'm looking at you.'



The Left, we have good'oul Duffer, a bit injury prone in his old age but solid as fuck, and he's been getting a few goals of late for Fulham, but when Damien is out of action, what do we do? You need not have any fear with cover from the likes of Birmingham's Keith Fahey who just won himself a Carling Cup medal and young Keith Tracey, okay, like St Ledger, he plays for Preston who are not exactly Top of the Pops at the moment but the one time Tracey put on the green shirt, he didn't look too bad, speedy, Terry Phelean style. There is also the injured Stephen Hunt who can play on both sides; we are truly blessed for wide players in this squad.

And finally, we look at our front two. Obviously, the question on everyone’s lips is do we play Keane, our fearless leader. I think for the moment, we have to play him. His influence on the team is huge and I believe, when he gets his shit together and starts banging in the goals for West Ham, we will be laughing at the idea of even considering dropping him. Partnering him, we will have Kevin Doyle beside him, who hasn't been as prolific as some of the others in the squad but deserves the place. The other options on the bench, firstly, Shane Long, he has banged in 20 goals in 40 games this season, pretty fuckin sweet, he should be next choice after Keane and Doyle. Then there is Leon Best with his 6 goals in his last 7 games, pretty deadly, and that Jonathon Walters is not looking to bad as well for Stoke. Now, let’s forget about Andy Keogh for 2 seconds and lets have a look at another player, he should be in here. Anthony Stokes at Celtic and what he has been at? Wanna know? Wanna Know? He has scored 12 goals in 23 games this season for Celtic. Now why the fuck is Bristol City boy, Andy Keogh, even being considered here over this dude, the cunt has scored 15 since 2008. Anthony Stokes all the way.

The bottom line is, after this analysis, I am pleasantly optimistic, I’m confident with this bunch of players, just a few trims here and there and we should have a tasty looking squad, a squad well capable of winning this group and certainly able to kick three colours of shite out of Macedonia on Saturday. For the Uruguay game, Trapp should start a lot of the new boys, all the covering players, Best, Long, Fahey, Wilson etc. I am hopeful; we seriously need a Champion Finals. Come on Ireland!