Who should take the penalties against Austria?

With captain and first choice penalty taker Robbie Keane out of the squad for the game against Austria tonight, the question has been going around on social networks of who should take a penalty if the ref does point to the spot during the game?
Examining the player stats this season, Keith Andrews has scored the most penalties of any Irish player this season, strangely all four of his goals have come from 12 yards. Of the players in the squad, starter Jonathan Walters has scored the most penalties, finding the back of the net twice from the spot, although he has missed two further penalties, most infamously in the same game he also scored two own goals and gave away a penalty. Of the other players in the squad, only Andy Keogh, Wes Hoolahan and Simon Cox have scored a penalty this season, with one conversion each.

*Robbie Keane's penalties all scored in the last MLS season

Player	Penalties
Keith Andrews	4
Jon Daly	3
Michael Spillane	3
Rhys Murphy	3
Shaun Williams	3
Adam Rooney	2
Jonathan Walters	2
Mark Byrne	2
Owen Garvan	2
Padraig Amond	2
Robbie Keane	2
Andy Keogh	1
Billy Clarke	1
Harry Arter	1
John O'Flynn	1
Lee Frecklington	1
Liam Lawrence	1
Martin Rowlands	1
Matt Doherty	1
Paul Heffernan	1
Richie Foran	1
Robbie Williams	1
Simon Cox	1
Wes Hoolahan	1

Robbie Keane's goals to date

Robbie Keane's 54 international goals to date are as follows

Date	Level	Home Team	Away Team	Time
14-October-1998	European Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Malta	16 18
1-September-1999	European Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Yugoslavia	54
8-September-1999	European Cup Qualifier	Malta	Republic of Ireland	13
13-November-1999	European Cup Play off	Republic of Ireland	Turkey	79
23-February-2000	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Czech Rep	87
2-September-2000	World Cup Qualifier	Holland	Republic of Ireland	21
10-November-2001	World Cup Play Off	Republic of Ireland	Iran	50
13-February-2002	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Russia	20
27-March-2002	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Denmark	54
5-June-2002	World Cup Finals	Germany	Republic of Ireland	92
11-June-2002	World Cup Finals	Saudia Arabia	Republic of Ireland	7
16-June-2002	World Cup Finals	Spain	Republic of Ireland	9
21-August-2002	Friendly	Finland	Republic of Ireland	12
7-June-2003	European Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Albania	6
11-June-2003	European Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Georgia	58
18-November-2003	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Canada	60 87
31-March-2004	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Czech Rep	90
5-June-2004	Friendly	Holland	Republic of Ireland	45
4-September-2004	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Cyprus	5
13-October-2004	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Faroe Islands	14 3
16-November-2004	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Croatia	24
4-June-2005	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Israel	11
1-March-2006	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Sweden	48
15-November-2006	European Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	San Marino	31 5 85
22-August-2007	Friendly	Denmark	Republic of Ireland	29 40
17-November-2007	European Cup Qualifier	Wales	Republic of Ireland	31
29-May-2008	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Colombia	3
20-August-2008	Friendly	Norway	Republic of Ireland	44
15-October-2008	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Cyprus	5
11-February-2009	World Cup Qualifier	Republic of Ireland	Georgia	7 78
1-April-2009	World Cup Qualifier	Italy	Republic of Ireland	88
29-May-2009	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Nigeria	38
5-September-2009	World Cup Qualifier	Cyprus	Ireland	83
11-November-2009	World Cup Play Off	France	Ireland	33
28-May-2010	Friendly	Republic of Ireland	Algeria	52 85
7-September-2010	European Cup Qualifier	Ireland	Andorra	54
8-October-2010	European Cup Qualifier	Ireland	Russia	72
26-March-2011	European Cup Qualifier	Ireland	Macedonia	21
24-May-2011	Nations Cup	Ireland	Northern Ireland	27 53
29-May-2011	Nations Cup	Ireland	Scotland	23
4-June-2011	European Cup Qualifier	Macedonia	Ireland	8 37
11-November-2011	European Cup Play-Off	Estonia	Ireland	71 88
7-September-2012	World Cup Qualifier	Kazakhstan	Ireland	89

Strangely, there's an equal number of goals scored in the first and second halves, 27 each.
He has scored 34 goals scored at home, 16 away from home, and 4 at neutral grounds.
34 goals were scored in competitive games, of these 20 were at home, 11 were away, and 3 were on neutral grounds.
Robbie Keane scores a goal, on average, in the 47th minute of a game

Irish Managerial Highs And Lows

was a little bored earlier, so I went through the history of Ireland games on soccerscene.ie to see who are the highest ranked teams defeated, and lowest ranked sides lost to by Irish managers in competitive games, by matching up the teams with the rankings on fifa.com
here are the results:
    

Manager           Highest Ranked   Lowest Ranked                    Team Defeated    Team Lost To Jack Charlton           Italy(4)     Austria(42) Mick McCarthy         Croatia(4)   Macedonia(85) Brian Kerr           Georgia(84) Switzerland(44) Steve Staunton      Slovakia(37)     Cyprus(103) Giovanni Trapattoni  Armenia(44)      Russia(25)

Ireland's monthly records

After figuring out the highest ranked team beaten, and lowest ranked side lost to, by recent managers a few weeks ago, I was reminded of Staunton's quote that we play better in March anyway (at least I think that's what it was, the only record I can find of it is here: http://www.munster-express.ie/sports/studsup/staunton-survives-and-its-all-to-play-for-in-september/ ) so I decided to see if I could use the same results set as before to find out what month we play best in. The results history I'm working off of is here if you want to check any of them: https://sites.google.com/site/tetsujin1979/matches
Month         P  W  Win %  D Draw %  L  Loss %  GF GF/G   C  C/G
January       0  0  0.00%  0  0.00%  0   0.00%   0    0   0    0
February     26 13 50.00%  6 23.08%  7  26.92%  36 1.38  24 0.92
March        41 24 58.54%  7 17.07% 10  24.39%  61 1.49  37 0.90
April        38 15 39.47%  8 21.05% 15  39.47%  45 1.18  45 1.18
May         106 35 33.02% 22 20.75% 49  46.23% 123 1.16 165 1.56
June         64 25 39.06% 21 32.81% 18  28.12%  77 1.20  71 1.11
July          1  0  0.00%  0  0.00%  1 100.00%   0 0.00   2 2.00
August       16  4 25.00%  7 43.75%  5  31.25%  19 1.19  21 1.31
September    56 26 46.43% 18 32.14% 12  21.43%  85 1.52  55 0.98
October      75 30 40.00% 24 32.00% 21  28.00% 128 1.71 106 1.41
November     54 20 37.04% 17 31.48% 17  31.48%  93 1.72  66 1.22
December      9  0  0.00%  1 11.11%  8  88.89%   8 0.89  26 2.89
GF = Goals For
GF/G = Goals for Per Game
C = Conceded
C/G = Conceded Per Game

So, the first thing to note, is that Staunton was right, with a 58% win ratio, March is our strongest month!
Technically, July is our weakest month, losing the only game we ever played in July, the 2-0 loss to Holland in World Cup '94. However, December is probably worse, losing 8 of 9 games played in the final month of the year, also the most goals conceded per game in any month, with over 2 goals per game
We've scored more goals in October than any other month, just ahead of May, but by .01 of a goal per game, November has the highest goals per game
May is comfortably our worst defensive month, conceding 165 goals (probably due to end of season syndrome) almost 60 more than the next worst, 106 in October

Irish Players in the Premier League since 2008/09

A recent post on foot.ie stated the the author could not remember when Ireland had so few players starting in the Premier League. Taking this on board, I resolved to examine the Irish Abroad database and get the list of players who have started at least one Premier League game in each of the last seven seasons. With 25 players starting at least one game in the 2012/2013 season, it is below the average for the previous six season, which is 28, but Irish players are still the third most represented nation in the PL, after England and France

2006-2007: 24
Stephen Carr, Lee Carsley, Kevin Doyle, Damien Duff, Richard Dunne, Steve Finnan, Caleb Folan, Derek Geary, Shay Given, Matt Holland, Stephen Hunt, Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane, Paddy Kenny, Kevin Kilbane, Shane Long, Alan O'Brien, Andy O'Brien, John O'Shea, Stephen Quinn, Alan Quinn, Darren Randolph, Andy Reid, Steven Reid

2007-2008: 27
Stephen Carr, Lee Carsley, David Connolly, Colin Doyle, Kevin Doyle, Damien Duff, Richard Dunne, Steve Finnan, Caleb Folan, Shay Given, Ian Harte, Stephen Hunt, Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane, Stephen Kelly, Kevin Kilbane, Shane Long, Paul McShane, Liam Miller, Daryl Murphy, Andy O'Brien, Joey O'Brien, Roy O'Donovan, John O'Shea, Steven Reid, Andy Reid, Anthony Stokes

2008-2009: 24
Keith Andrews, Rory Delap, Damien Duff, Richard Dunne, Caleb Folan, Darron Gibson, Shay Given, Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane, Stephen Kelly, Dean Kiely, Kevin Kilbane, Liam Lawrence, Paul McShane, Liam Miller, Daryl Murphy, Andy O'Brien, Joey O'Brien, John O'Shea, Steven Reid, Andy Reid, Keith Treacy, Glenn Whelan, Marc Wilson

2009-2010: 32
Keith Andrews, Stephen Carr, Lee Carsley, Rory Delap, Kevin Doyle, Damien Duff, Richard Dunne, Keith Fahey, Steve Finnan, Caleb Folan, Kevin Foley, Darron Gibson, Shay Given, Stephen Hunt, Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane, Stephen Kelly, Andy Keogh, Kevin Kilbane, Liam Lawrence, Chris McCann, James McCarthy, Paul McShane, David Meyler, Daryl Murphy, Andy O'Brien, John O'Shea, Andy Reid, Steven Reid, Stephen Ward, Glenn Whelan, Marc Wilson

2010-2011: 27
Keith Andrews, Leon Best, Stephen Carr, Ciaran Clark, Seamus Coleman, Rory Delap, Kevin Doyle, Damien Duff, Richard Dunne, Keith Fahey, Kevin Foley, Darron Gibson, Stephen Hunt, Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane, Stephen Kelly, James McCarthy, David Meyler, Andy O'Brien, John O'Shea, Steven Reid, Andy Reid, Conor Sammon, Jonathan Walters, Stephen Ward, Glenn Whelan, Marc Wilson

2011-2012: 34
Keith Andrews, Leon Best, Ciaran Clark, Seamus Coleman, Simon Cox, Rory Delap, Kevin Doyle, Damien Duff, Shane Duffy, Richard Dunne, Kevin Foley, Anthony Forde, Darron Gibson, Shay Given, Wes Hoolahan, Stephen Hunt, Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane, Stephen Kelly, Paddy Kenny, Shane Long, James McCarthy, James McClean, David Meyler, John O'Shea, Anthony Pilkington, Steven Reid, Conor Sammon, Marc Tierney, Jonathan Walters, Stephen Ward, Keiren Westwood, Glenn Whelan, Marc Wilson

2012-2013: 25
Ciaran Clark, Seamus Coleman, Damien Duff, Robert Elliot, Darron Gibson, Shay Given, Ian Harte, Wes Hoolahan, Noel Hunt, Stephen Ireland, Stephen Kelly, Shane Long, James McCarthy, James McClean, Joey O'Brien, John O'Shea, Alex Pearce, Anthony Pilkington, Steven Reid, Enda Stevens, Jay Tabb, Marc Tierney, Jonathan Walters, Glenn Whelan, Marc Wilson

Irish Abroad statistics for February 2013

Irish Abroad statistics for February 2013: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=2
Hull's Irish midfield duo David Meyler and Robbie Brady won the most games in February, both players starting four wins
Derby's recent Irish debutants Richard Keogh, Jeff Hendrick and Conor Sammon started the most draws, with three games finishing all square
Three was not the magic number for a number of players, David Forde, Darren Randolph, John O'Shea, Stephen Kelly, Brendan Moloney, Michael Harriman, Chris McCann, Aaron Doran and Liam Miller all started three losses in February
Richard Keogh, Sean Dillon, Willo Flood, David Meyler, Aaron Doran, Jeff Hendrick, Robbie Brady, Michael Harriman, Patrick Cregg, Jon Daly, Conor Sammon all started six games in February, with Richard Keogh, Sean Dillon, Jeff Hendrick, Robbie Brady and Michael Harriman completing 90 minutes in each one
Of the six games he started, Aaron Doran went on to be substituted in four of them, no other player was substituted more than twice in February
Striking trio Adam Rooney, Eoin Doyle, Philip Roberts were all introduced from the bench three times in February
Outfield players Conor Pepper and Joe Mason were unused substituted as many times as goalkeeper Colin Doyle, five times in total
Paul Heffernan comfortably topped the scoring charts in February, scoring six goals, including a hat trick
Midfielder Patrick Cregg was booked four times, no other player was shown the yellow card more than twice

Irish Abroad statistics for Janaury 2013

Irish Abroad statistics for Janaury 2013: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=1
Reading teammates Ian Harte and Alex Pearce started the most wins, with three victories in January
Keith Andrews, Gary Deegan, Callum Reilly and Tim Clancy had the most draws, each player starting three games that finished all square
Full backs Kevin Foley and Greg Cunningham were in the starting XI for the most losses, with both player losing four times
Ciaran Clark started the most games, starting seven games for Aston Villa and went on to complete 90 minutes in each one
New U21 callup Callum Reilly was substituted the most, the Birmingham midfielder was withdrawn from the action four times
Conversely, Keith Treacy was introduced more than any other player in January, the Burnley winger was brought off the bench four times
Unsurprisingly goalkeepers top the most unused substitute table with Conrad Logan and Keiren Westwood staying on the bench five times. They are joined by outfield players Stephen Ireland and Adam Rooney
Jeff Hendrick celebrated being called up to the Ireland senior side by scoring three goals in January, the most of any player
Derby won two and lost one of these games, but won both games that fellow international call up Conor Sammon scored in
Jonathan Hayes, James McClean, Keith Andrews, Gary Deegan and Ciaran Clark were all shown two yellow cards in January

Irish Abroad statistics for the first five months of 2012/2013

Irish Abroad statistics for the first five months of 2012/2013: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=13
Damien Delaney leads the wins table with 12 wins for Crystal Palace
Aaron Doran has started the most draws, with 12 games finishing level for the Inverness Caledonian Thistle winger
Stephen Dawson has started an extremely unlucky 13 losses up until the midway point of the season
Paddy Kenny, Stephen Ward, Richard Keogh and Aaron Doran have all started 26 games this season, with Kenny and Keogh going on to complete 90 minutes in every one of those!
Andy Reid has been withdrawn from the action the most so far this season, the Forest midfielder has been substituted 14 times
Midfielder Conor Pepper and striker Joe Mason have both been introduced from the bench more than any other player this season, 12 times in total
Unsurprisingly, goalkeepers top the most unused substitute table, with Conrad Logan remaining unused 27 times, and Colin Doyle one behind with 26, both more than twice as many as the highest outfield player, Stephen Kelly with 12
Jim Goodwin has the unwanted honour of the most bookings so far, picking up 10 yellows in only 20 appearances
It's a Scottish hat trick at the top of the goals table, with Jon Daly(11), Richie Foran(10) and Eoin Doyle(8) topping the goals chart, with Daly also scoring the most penalties at the half way point with three conversions from the spot, the same as midfielder Keith Andrews
The goals of quartet Shane Long, Daryl Murphy, Andy Keogh and Conor Sammon have all led to four wins for their respective sides

Irish Abroad statistics for December 2012

Irish Abroad statistics for December 2012: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=12
Robbie Brady and David Meyler won five of Hull City's games, no other outfield player won more than three with only Stephen Henderson winning four games
With the busy Christmas period, Matt Doherty started eight games in 31 days, completing 90 minutes in each one, and going on to end all square on five occasions
Jay Tabb mirrored Reading's form by starting five losses in the final month of 2012
Wes Hoolahan was withdrawn from the action in five of the six games he started in December
Conversely, quite a few players were introduced from the bench three times, with Aiden White, Patrick Cregg, Stephen Ireland, Keith Treacy, Joe Mason and Noel Hunt each achieving a hat trick of introductions
Unsurprisingly, Keiren Westwood was an unused substitute more than any other player, remaining on the bench seven times. For outfield players, midfielder Daniel Kearns was an unused sub on five occasions
Striker Jon Daly scored the most goals, finding the back of the net six times, including three penalties, the same amount as Keith Andrews. David Meyler's three goals from midfield led to three wins for Hull
Jim Goodwin continued his form of being booked on average at least every other game by picking up three bookings in four games

Irish Abroad statistics for November 2012

Irish Abroad statistics for November 2012: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=11
Millwall's David Forde finished the month with 5 wins
Midfielders Daniel Kearns, Wes Hoolahan and Anthony Pilkington all started 3 draws in November
Wolves duo Stephen Ward and Kevin Doyle started the most draws, finishing on the losing side 5 times
Quite a few players started 6 games with Paddy Kenny, Darren Randolph, Stephen Henderson, David Forde, Richard Keogh, Damien Delaney, Sean Dillon, Stephen Ward, Gavin Gunning, Matt Doherty, Tommie Hoban, Daniel Kearns, Willo Flood, Conor Sammon, Jon Daly and Kevin Doyle all in the starting XI six times
Of these Paddy Kenny, David Forde, Darren Randolph, Stephen Henderson, Damien Delaney, Richard Keogh, Sean Dillon, Stephen Ward, Gavin Gunning, Matt Doherty, Tommie Hoban, Daniel Kearns and Jon Daly all went on to complete 90 minutes
Eoin Doyle was withdrawn from the action more than any other player, the Hibs striker was substituted 5 times in November
Coincidentally, another striker was introduced from the bench the exact same number of times - Alan Lee
Unsurprisingly, goalkeepers are left on the bench once again the most with Colin Doyle remaining unused 7 times. Of the outfield players, Derby's Mark O'Brien was an unused sub the most, remaining on the bench 5 times
After defender Damien Delaney topped the goalscoring charts in October, no defender scored in November. Lee Frecklington, Jon Daly, Paul Heffernan, Andy Keogh and Conor Sammon all found the net 3 times, with Keogh's goals leading to 3 wins for Millwall

Irish Abroad statistics for October 2012

Irish Abroad statistics for October 2012: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=10
In a month of relatively few games, three wins was enough to top the wins table, with Paul McShane, Damien Delaney, Lee Frecklington, Andy Reid, Aaron Doran, Joe Mason, Simon Cox and Philip Roberts all reaching that amount
Three was also the magic number for draws and losses with Paddy Kenny, David Forde, Richard Keogh, Matt Doherty, Alan Dunne, Jeff Hendrick and Seamus Coleman starting three games that finished all square, while Stephen Henderson, David van Zanten, Jim Goodwin, Matt Doherty, Tommy Hoban, Stephen Dawson, Graham Carey and Daryl Murphy finished on the losing side three times in October
Matt Doherty's loan to Bury meant he started 7 games, but inside the top two leagues in England and Scotland Paddy Kenny, David Forde, Alan Dunne, Kevin Foley, Stephen Ward, Paul McShane, Damien Delaney, Richard Keogh, Tommy Hoban, Alan Dunne, Kevin Foley, Stephen Ward, Paul McShane, Damien Delaney, Richard Keogh and Tommy Hoban all started 5 games
Doherty completed 90 minutes in each of his starts, along with Paddy Kenny, David Forde, Paul McShane, Alan Dunne, Damien Delaney, Richard Keogh, Stephen Ward, and Tommy Hoban
Philip Roberts was withdrawn from the action more than any other player, the striker was substituted 4 times
Unsurprisingly, goalkeepers Conrad Logan and Colin Doyle remained on the bench more than other players in October, both netminders were unused 5 times, while outfield players Alex Pearce, Paul Green and Sean Murray remained on the bench 4 times each
For possibly the first time ever, a defender tops the scoring leagues in a single month, Damien Delaney finding the back of the net three times. Palace remained unbeaten in these games