IRELAND’S 23-MAN matchday squad has been finalised for tonight’s Euro 2020 qualifier with Switzerland as Enda Stevens returns while Jack Byrne makes way.
Stevens missed Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Georgia due to suspension but the Sheffield United defender was always likely to come straight back in after establishing himself as a regular at left-back in this campaign.
The 29-year-old’s inclusion sees Shamrock Rovers midfielder Jack Byrne drop out in the only change from the draw in Tbilisi.
Mick McCarthy’s side are currently top of Group D with tonight’s match and a home tie with Denmark on 18 November remaining.
Here’s the Ireland squad in full for tonight’s game in Geneva:
Ireland (Matchday squad v Switzerland)
Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph, Kieran O’Hara, Mark Travers.
Defenders: Shane Duffy, Seamus Coleman, John Egan, Enda Stevens, Kevin Long, Derrick Williams, Matt Doherty.
Midfielders: Glenn Whelan, Alan Judge, Conor Hourihane, James McClean, Jeff Hendrick, Callum Robinson, Alan Browne, Josh Cullen, Callum O’Dowda.
Forwards: James Collins, Seán Maguire, Aaron Connolly, Scott Hogan.
Ryan Bailey steps into the presenter’s chair where he’s joined by Murray Kinsella and Eoin Toolan on the line for Japan to tee up one of the biggest, if not the biggest week in Irish rugby: a World Cup quarter-final against back-to-back champions New Zealand.
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Byrne making way is a joke, would have at least 5 players ahead of him in that decision.
That’ll teach Jack Byrne to try and actually pass the ball constructively.
Have to see the team first to see if we have a chance.
If the usual suspect boodymen are playing then we dont.
Senior players that arent cutting the mustard need to be dropped, and fresh blood tried.
@Morgan: the usual suspects will be picked. In fairness our options are limited plus Mccarthy is out of a job after euros, so irelands future is not relevant to him. Anyway it won’t be pretty
How you can look around that midfield selection and end up with excluding Jack byrne is beyond me.regardless of league standards.so frustrating.
I would not have played Byrne against Georgia who are a team that put a lot of pressure on. I don’t think Jack would have had time to get the ball out of his feet. However, the Swiss are a lot less pressuring and I would have loved to see if Byrne could ping those passes around sort of like the way Wes used to do.
Jack Byrne plays league of Ireland ball and has been kicked out of several clubs.
Let’s assume Mick knows best and hasn’t seen enough in training over the last week.
Get behind the players he does pick. One win away from the euros
@aidoroch: Irrelevant.
Georgia had players playing in farmer leagues and they outplayed us, what’s you’re point?
He’s technically far superior to any midfielder we have and is able to handle big occasions as seen with his performances in Europe for shams and his Ireland debut.
Play players who are actually going to try help you win the game ie, create some chances and score. It will be the same conservative boring selection and try knick a draw.
I would take out Whelan, judge, Cullen and Browne ahead of Jack, does mick not get it a boring draw won’t do it tonight, it’s a free pass go for the win, grab the game by the scuff of the neck,but no leave out the guy who ran the show when he came out at Aviva last time, can’t wait till Kenny steps up, I’m more looking forward to u21 match today, and what’s even better is you know Kenny won’t be playing clowns like Whelan,
@Happy entertainment: Browne and Cullen are regulars with championship clubs. Byrne wasnt a regular in league 1. He is a good player but people are losing their minds about him because of 20 minutes vs a diabolical Bulgarian team in a friendly.
@Tadhg Keating: I see Jack Byrne week in week out and it wasn’t just a once off, he ran the games in Europe when everyone said rovers didn’t stand a chance, Burnley manger coming over to look at Byrne in cup final, he could play premier league easy if giving the chance
@Happy entertainment: he couldn’t make it in championship or league 1 but you think he can make it in premiership, your logic there is a bit skewed.. you probably thought Graham Burke would make it too
@Noel Peacock: he was one of top players in Holland and fell out of love with the game, it happens all the time,he has found that again,anyway you seem to know more than the dozen scouts who come to watch him each week and more than Burnley manager who is coming to see him for himself after getting rave reviews from scouts but yeah you know best
@Happy entertainment: scouts attend most league of Ireland matches week in week out..
They are regular at games like myself and I’ve watch him struggle in bigger games for rovers because he’s lazy and does not work hard for his teammates, he expects them to do all the hard work and then give him the ball…
It’s a reason why rovers have struggled in bigger games because he does not pull his weight for the team
@Noel Peacock: yeah scouts come over for loads of league of Ireland games but to have the manager of a premier league team come over means they must like what they see, and just cause he goes missing in big games don’t make him rubbish, look at lukaku went missing every big game but is still a top goal scorer, I wouldn’t want Jack Byrne to be back helping out he needs to be up the field anyway, and I actually never liked burke and seen him every week travelling up and down the country with Rovers, he scored great goals that’s about it, and we don’t know that Bradley hasn’t told Jack to play like that cause on his Ireland debut he tracked back a few times,
@Noel Peacock: as someone who has watched him all seasong long, i think you’re off the mark there Noel. He ran the show in rovers biggest games which were in europe. Struggled for proper match fitness until later in the season and in certain games that became scraps he wasnt on the ball as much but thats football. Certainly not lazy. Runs and shows for the ball and everything goes through him. Not shy of winning it back himself either. His work rate just got better and better to be honest. Very rarely didn’t finish the full game as well. Unproven at international level, sure, but your points aren’t accurate.
There was no need for that rude comment about Glen Whelan.
They say “it takes one to know one”
Jack Byrne was frozen out at Oldham for non football reasons. He was critical of how the club was being run. At that time the club was a mess and Oldham fans wanted him back in the squad so to say he didn’t make it at Oldham football wise is untrue
@Joe G: was it the same at Blackburn kilmarnock and Wigan!!!! He played ok against Bulgaria’s reserves.. Bulgaria’s first team beaten 6-0 last night and should have been 10
@Noel Peacock: I never said he made it at every club just pointing out your comment about Oldham was incorrect
@Noel Peacock: Haha. He played ok against Bulgaria? He changed the whole game. Regardless of who it was against. Maybe he’s not international standard compared to the likes of England or Germany etc, but not many of our squad are, but at least Jack tries to play football. You obviously feel he must play in England to be any good. Well our English based players haven’t been doing too well or haven’t you noticed.
Jack Byrne is a league of Ireland footballer who could not make it at oldham, people should get a grip about him… keyboard warriors think they know better than an experienced manager.. get a grip
Probably our best player left out? How is Hendrick ahead of Byrne… just show’s the manager’s attitude to playing football. Can’t wait for Kenny to come in.
@running man: best player!!!! What planet do you live on… he’s bang average at best that’s why he’s playing LOI