Thats what I was thinking.It's not our best young players, it's the young players who haven't been good enough to secure a contract in England.
The Republic of Ireland Under-23 squads will consist entirely of eircom League of Ireland players, which represents an exciting new opportunity for the league’s top young players to test themselves against European opposition. The squad named for the match against Slovakia includes players from ten eircom League of Ireland clubs, which shows the strength across the league. Pat Fenlon said: “It is a huge honour for me to be given the opportunity to manage the Republic of Ireland Under-23 side. It is also a fantastic opportunity for the players to represent their country. We have a very strong squad and that shows the quality that is in the eircom League of Ireland.†Republic of Ireland Under-23 squad Barry Murphy - Shamrock Rovers Darren Quigley - UCD Gavin Peers - Sligo Rovers Conor Kenna - UCD Conor Powell - Bohemians Seamus Coleman - Sligo Rovers Ger O’Brien - Shamrock Rovers Darren Murphy - Cork City Sean Kelly - Cork City Kevin Deery - Derry City Cillian Brennan - Derry City Paul Keegan - Drogheda United John Paul Kelly - Bohemians Stephen O’Donnell - Bohemians Stephen Bradley - Drogheda United Stephen Rice - Bohemians Patrick Kavanagh - Bray Wanderers Conor Sammon - UCD Denis Behan - Cork City David Mooney - Longford Town Mark Quigley - St. Patrick’s Athletic Ger Rowe - Shamrock Rovers __________________
Great to see such a spread of talent from the various clubs in the league. Think I'll definitely be heading down to this one seeing as its going to be a barren week of football otherwise with the build-up for internationals taking place at the time.
Denis Behan is on fire at the moment for Cork City, he scored 10 goals in 7 games against Bray two weekend's ago. Not bad going!!
I agree it is a great decision to have an EL players select, however being an international competition will it have any bearing on any of these players progressing into the senior squad? What I mean is, taking Denis Behan for example, if Denis continues his scoring spree into this tournament, with the likes of Keane drawing blanks against the bigger teams (taking he is not capt. anymore), do you believe that the likes of Behan would be given a chance on the senior squad, no matter who takes the managerial post?
Not all 7 games were against Bray ... let me put a comma in there. He scored 10 goals in 7 games, against Bray ....