Round up - Midweek games of 26th January 2016

Tuesday, 26 January 2016
League 1
Bury 0-0 Crewe Alexandra
John O'Sullivan made his first start for Bury, and was booked for the first time since the end of November

Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Manchester City 3-1 Everton
James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman were both named as substitutes in the same game for only the second time while both players have been at the Toffees

Further Reading
Back In The Groove - www.wolves.co.uk
Up In Smoke - Howler

Round Up - Weekend of 22 January 2016

Friday, 22 January 2016
Scottish Premier League
Aberdeen 1-0 Dundee
Jonathan Hayes made his one hundred fiftieth appearance for Aberdeen, and marked the occasion with his fourth assist for an Adam Rooney goal this season. It was Rooney's 16th of the season, and his 13th in his last 17th appearances for the Dons!

Saturday, 23 January 2016
Today was the fourth times this season that two Irish players have been sent off on the same day, and the first time that there has been more than one own goal on the same day.
Premier League
Norwich 4-5 Liverpool
Wes Hoolahan scored his sixtieth goal in England and Scotland

Championship
Birmingham City 3-0 Ipswich
Jonathan Douglas was sent off for the third time in his career after his first red card since October 2009

Cardiff 2-2 Rotherham
Anthony Pilkington scored his fifth and sixth goals for Cardiff in the same game he scored his first OG against them!

Leeds United 1-0 Bristol City
Alex Pearce made his first appearance for Bristol since signing for them on loan during the week as a second half substitute

Preston North End 1-3 Brentford
Greg Cunningham unfortunately marked his one hundred fiftieth career start with the first own goal of his career

League 1
Barnsley 6-1 Rochdale
Kevin Long marked his one hundredth appearance in England with his second goal of the season for Barnsley

Burton Albion 1-2 Shrewsbury
Callum Reilly returned to Burton's starting XI for the first time since November 21st, in the same game that Damien McCrory scored his tenth goal for the Brewers

Scunthorpe 3-0 Colchester
Paddy Madden scored his fifteenth and sixteenth goals of the season for Scunthorpe in their win today

Southend United 3-0 Coventry
Cian Bolger made his one hundredth career appearance, while teammate Gary Deegan was sent off for the second time for the Shrimpers, slightly more than a year since his last red card on January 17th, 2015
After signing a short term contract with Coventry City, Stephen Hunt made his first start for the Sky Blues, this was his first appearance since May 2015.

League 2
Bristol Rovers 1-1 Plymouth Argyle
After recovering from medial ligament damage in a game at the end of November, Graham Carey returned to the Plymouth Argyle side as a late second half substitute

Mansfield Town 0-2 Luton
After signing for Mansfield Town on loan until the end of the season, Sean Kavanagh went straight into the starting XI for the Stags. This was also the full back's twenty-fifth career appearance.
Opposing him in the Luton starting XI was fellow Irish full back Alan Sheehan, making his first start since signing for the Hatters on loan

Newport County 2-2 Dagenham and Redbridge
Conor Wilkinson had an eventful first appearance for Newport County, the Bolton striker scored on his debut, and was also booked!

Scottish Premier League 
Dundee United 5-1 Kilmarnock
Sean Dillon's second goal of the season was the first time he's scored twice for Dundee United since the 2007/08 season!

Scottish First Division
Hibernian 3-1 St Mirren
Anthony Stokes scored on his return to Hibernian, this was the Celtic striker's first goal in more than a year, having not scored since finding the back of the net in a 4-1 win for the Bhoys in December 2014

Cypriot Premier League
Omonia Nicosia 1-0 Ermis
Cillian Sheridan came off the bench to score his eleventh goal of the season. Strangely, the Cavan striker now has scored more penalties than goals from open play for Omonia in 2015/16!

Monday, 25 January 2016
Championship
Burnley 4-1 Derby County
Richard Keogh scored his third own goal for Derby County, according to OptaJoe, no other Championship defender has scored as many since he signed for the Rams (see below)

Further Reading
Sell-ons, bench-warmers and fill-ins: the life of Premier League academy graduates - The Guardian
Forrester finds his solace in the face of sacrifice - Irish Independent
Ian Lawlor and Paddy Madden in the Football League Team of the Week - www.football-league.co.uk 

4 - No Championship player has scored more own goals since August 2011 than Richard Keogh. Clumsy.

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 25, 2016

Round up - Midweek games of 19th January 2016

Tuesday, 19 January 2016
FA Cup
MK Dons 3-0 Northampton
John-Joe O'Toole achieved the milestone of his fiftieth start for Northampton Town in their third round replay

Portsmouth 2-1 Ipswich
Jay Tabb was in the starting XI for Ipswich Town for the first time September, all of his appearances for the Tractor Boys in 2015/16 have been in the cup competitions - three in the League Cup and once in the FA Cup. Ireland U18 striker Shane McLoughlin made his first appearance in a matchday squad for Ipswich, the Kerry born player was named on the subs bench

Aston Villa 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers
Ciaran Clark scored his first goal of the season on what his 150th appearance for the Villains

Yeovil 1-1 Carlisle United
After suffering a succession of injury problems, Kevin Dawson made his first appearance for Yeovil in more than a year. The midfielder last played for the Glovers in an FA Cup third round tie against Manchester United in January 2015

Scottish FA Cup 
Inverness CT 2-0 Stirling Albion
Richie Foran introduction from the bench was his first appearance since September 19th

Wednesday, 20 January 2016
English FA Cup
Liverpool 3-0 Exeter
This was the first game since the end of November that Clinton Morrison was in the starting XI for Exeter

Further reading
The Story Of New Star Soccer - [the set pieces]
Republic of Ireland record against Group E opponents - uefa.com 
Chelsea - Accidents Will Happen - Swiss Ramble 

Round Up - Weekend of 15th January 2016

Saturday, 16 January 2016
Premier League
Southampton 3-0 West Bromwich Albion
Shane Long started five consecutive Premier League games for the first time since the end of the 2013/14 season with Hull

Newcastle Utd 2-1 West Ham United
Robert Elliot was booked for the first time this season

Championship
Blackburn 0-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
Darragh Lenihan's start today was his first league start of the season, having previously only started for Blackburn in a League Cup game in August

Derby County 0-3 Birmingham City
Stephen Gleeson's fourth goal of the season came more than two months after his third, his last goal came on November 7th

League 1
Bradford City 1-0 Oldham
Billy Clarke made his fiftieth start for Bradford in their win over Oldham

Bury 2-3 Walsall
John O'Sullivan made his first appearance on loan at Bury, while teammate (and fellow loanee) Ian Lawlor was booked for the first time in his career
Similar to Stephen Gleeson, Anthony Forde's winner for Walsall was also his first goal since November 7th

Coventry 0-2 Burton Albion
After being an unused substitute for seven consecutive games, Callum Reilly came off the bench to make his first appearance since November 24th

League 2
Crawley 0-1 Notts County
Ronan Murray made his first start of the season in this away win for Notts County

Dagenham and Redbridge 1-2 Northampton
John-Joe O'Toole scored his fifth goal of the season

Plymouth 3-2 Stevenage
After signing for them on loan, Keith Keane went straight into the starting XI at Stevenage for his first start since August

Scottish Premier League
Partick Thistle 2-4 Dundee
After signing for them until the end of the season, Darren O'Dea made his first start for Dundee
  
Australian A-League
Perth Glory 2-2 Melbourne City
Andy Keogh picked up his first booking for Perth Glory in his second spell at the club, in his second appearance since re-signing for them

Sunday, 17 January 2016
Scottish Premier League
Ross County 2-3 Aberdeen
Adam Rooney scored his fifteenth goal of the season

Monday, 18 January 2016
English FA Cup
Newport Co. 1-2 Blackburn
Darragh Lenihan's second start in three days was his twenty-fifth career appearance

Further Reading
Ozil assisting in more ways than one, says chart-topping Shrimps winger - The Football League Paper
The force is still with Leicester City but history may not be - The Guardian
PSG V M.I.A. – The Big Picture PSG VS M.I.A The Big Picture - Pog Mo Goal

Midweek games - 12th January 2016 Round Up

Tuesday, 12 January 2016
Premier League
Bournemouth 1-3 West Ham United
Harry Arter's opener for Bournemouth was his first goal of the season

Championship
Bristol City 1-2 Preston North End
Greg Cunningham's first goal for Preston came against his former club, almost a year since his last goal on February 24th

MK Dons 0-5 Burnley
Darren Potter's two hundreth start for MK Dons will be memorable for all the wrong reasons after this result!

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 Fulham
Matt Doherty's first goal of the season was worth waiting for. The Dubliner's long range finish was his first goal in more than two years, his last strike came on 17th August 2013!

League 1
Wigan 3-3 Sheffield United
Chris McCann marked his twenty-fifth appearance of the season for Wigan with his second goal of the season, having not found the net since early September

League 2
Plymouth 1-2 Northampton
Following his move from Shrewsbury Town, James Collins made his first start for Northampton and marked the occasion with a debut goal
Brendan Moloney was booked for the first time in 2015/16

Wednesday, 13 January 2016
Premier League
The three goals scored tonight by Irish players is the most in a single day in the Premier League this season, two goals were scored on two previous occasions - 26 September and 26 December

Stoke City 3-1 Norwich
Jonathan Walters scored his seventh goal of the season in what was his two hundredth start for Stoke
This game had four Irish players between the two starting XIs - Walters, Glenn Whelan, Robbie Brady, and Wes Hoolahan - the most in a Premier League game this season

Southampton 2-0 Watford
Shane Long scored his fifteenth goal for Southampton, in his fifth consecutive start for the Saints - the first time he's done that since signing from Hull

Thursday, 14 January 2016
Football League Trophy
Millwall 0-2 Oxford United
Callum O'Dowda's booking tonight was his first of the season, and his first in more than two years. His last booking came in November 2013

Further Reading
Millwall forward O'Brien signs new long-term contract - Millwall Official Site

The best editions of PES and FIFA: The games that shaped football’s greatest (virtual) rivalry - FourFourTwo
Stan’s teams were painful to watch, but relentless abuse of an Irish legend didn’t sit right - The42

Round Up - Weekend of 8th January 2016

Friday, 8th January 2016
FA Cup
Exeter 2-2 Liverpool
U19 midfielder Conor Masterson made his first appearance in a Liverpool squad, as an unused substitute

Saturday, 9 January 2016
League 1
Oldham 1-2 Millwall
U21 striker Aiden O'Brien came off the bench for Millwall to make his fiftieth appearance for the Lions

Rochdale 2-3 Chesterfield
Jay O'Shea's goal for Chesterfield, his third in two games after not scoring since August, was his fortieth since moving to England in 2009. Previous to this, he hadn't scored in consecutive games since March 2015

Swindon Town 4-2 Southend United
Michael Timlin and Gary Deegan returned to the Southend United starting XI for their tie against Swindon. Timlin's last start came on November 7th, Deegan hadn't started for the Shrimpers since October 31

Blackpool 0-1 Port Vale
Following his signing for Blackpool during the week, Mark Yeates made his first start for the club

League 2
Barnet 1-0 Bristol Rovers
After leaving Shrewsbury Town to join his former Mansfield teammate Darrell Clarke, Liam Lawrence made his first appearance for Bristol Rovers

FA Cup
West Ham United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Darren Randolph's start for West Ham was his first start for the Hammers since September

Hartlepool 1-2 Derby County
Alex Pearce made his second appearance of the season for Derby, but has still to appear in the league for the Rams

Ipswich 2-2 Portsmouth
Adam Barton's booking against Ipswich was his first yellow card of the season

Bury 0-0 Bradford City
After signing for Bury on loan for the rest of the season, Ian Lawlor went straight into the starting XI for the Shakers

Everton 2-0 Dagenham and Redbridge
Darron Gibson made his second start of the season for Everton

Hull City 1-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
Richie Towell made his first start for Brighton after receiving his international clearance

Middlesbrough 1-2 Burnley
Stephen Ward's winner for Burnley was his first goal for the club, and his first goal since May 2014!

Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Stoke City
Jonathan Walters was booked for Stoke for the first time in 2015/16.

Scottish FA Cup  
Hearts 1-0 Aberdeen
Adam Rooney was shown his first yellow card of the season

Cypriot Premier League
Omonia Nicosia 4-0 Ayia Napa
Cillian Sheridan scored his tenth goal of the season for Omonia Nicosia in their win today

Australian A-League
Perth Glory 1-3 Adelaide United
Andy Keogh returned to Perth Glory to make his first appearance for them since Apr 25th

Sunday, 10 January 2016
English FA Cup
Oxford United 3-2 Swansea
Patrick Hoban's late appearance off the bench for Oxford United in their shock third round win was his fiftieth appearance for the club

Further Reading
Euro 2016 Simulated on Football Manager - EuroSport (in French)

Midweek Games - 6th January 2016 Round Up

Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Cypriot Cup
Omonia Nicosia 2-0 Ethnikos Achna
Cillian Sheridan picked up his seventh booking of the season.

Further Reading
Irish Sport Social Media Report: FAI social reach growing at double rate of GAA - Trevor Keane
Robbie Brady's crosses are inaccurate 77% of the time - football365

The 9 best editions of Football Manager/Championship Manager - FourFourTwo

Weekend of 2nd January 2016 Round Up

Saturday, 2nd January 2016
Premier League
Norwich City 1-0 Southampton
This was Shane Long's third start in a row, before this he hadn't started more than two games in a row for Southampton in 2015/16. He hasn't started more than four consecutive games for the Saints since signing from Hull City.

West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Stoke City
Jonathan Walters came off the bench to score his fifth goal of the season for Stoke, and his first since his League Cup goal against Chelsea in October

Championship
Burnley 0-0 Ipswich
Stephen Ward second start in a row for Burnley, his first consecutive starts since December 2014, was his three hundredth career appearance in England

Cardiff 1-0 Blackburn
Joe Mason marked his return to the Cardiff starting XI (his first start since November 21st) with his first goal since October 3rd
Darragh Lenihan made his second appearance of the season for Blackburn Rovers, his last coming in a League Cup game against Shrewsbury in August

Leeds United 1-1 MK Dons
Darren Potter's start against Leeds was his two hundredth appearance for MK Dons

Preston North End 2-1 Rotherham
Similar to Joe Mason, Eoin Doyle's return to the Preston starting XI was also marked with a goal, in his case his first since scoring the winner against Nottingham Forest in November

League 1
Burton Albion 1-0 Blackpool
Colin Doyle returned to the Blackpool team after recovering from an ankle injury sustained playing for the Seasiders in the FA Cup against Barnet in early November

Chesterfield 7-1 Shrewsbury
Jay O'Shea made his one hundred fiftieth appearance for Chesterfield memorable by scoring his fourth and fifth of the season in this win. Coincidentally, his last goals for the Spireites was also a brace, against Millwall in August.

League 2
Notts County 2-4 Oxford United
U21 forward Callum O'Dowda scored his fifth goal of the season for Oxford

Scottish First Division
Dumbarton 0-6 Rangers
Robert Kiernan's start in this win for Rangers was his one hundredth career start

Sunday, 3rd January 2016
Premier League
Crystal Palace 0-3 Chelsea
Damien Delaney's booking this afternoon was his first of the season

Further Reading
Manchester City Loan Report (Part 1) (includes Jack Byrne) - In Good Kompany
Manchester City Loan Report (Part 2) (includes Ian Lawlor) - In Good Kompany

The contenders to make the Irish squad on Martin O’Neill’s friendly route to Euro 2016 - Irish Times

Five month summary for 2015/16

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for 2015/16 so far: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=13

Wins

Danny Rogers has won 15 of his 23 games on loan at Falkirk so far this season. Of the outfield players Derby's Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie along with Aberdeen's Jonathan Hayes have all won 13 games so far in 2015/16

Draws

Defenders Greg Cunningham and Shane Duffy both started 10 drawn games before New Year's Day

Losses

Sean Dillon and Derrick Williams have both started 11 losses in their games in 2015/16

Starts/Completed Games

Along with his 13 wins, Jonathan Hayes has also started the most games to date, the midfielder has started 26 games for Aberdeen. However, Richard Keogh, Daniel Devine and Stephen Gleeson have completed the most games, each player was still on the pitch after ninety minutes in 24 games this season

Substitutions/Introductions

Wes Hoolahan, Anthony Pilkington and Graham Cummins have all been substituted 11 times in 2015/16, while Ipswich striker David McGoldrick has been introduced in each of the 11 games he's started on the bench

Stayed on bench

Goalkeeper Jack Bonham has been an unused substitute in 24 games this season, while defender Stephen Ward has stayed on the bench 22 times.

Goals

Robbie Keane's 19 goals since July 1st is more than any other Irish player, while Adam Rooney has scored more penalties than anyone else. Six of the Aberdeen striker's 14 goals have been from 12 yards

Discipline

Alan McCormack has been booked more than anyone else in 2015/16. The Brentford midfielder has acquired seven yellow cards

December 2015 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for December 2015: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=12

Wins

Ipswich's Irish duo Daryl Murphy and Jonathan Douglas won the most games in the final month of 2015, starting four wins for the Tractor Boys

Draws

Charlton's Stephen Henderson started three draws in December, as did Derby's Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie

Losses

John O'Shea, Paul McShane and Lee Frecklington all had identical loss records in December, each player lost one game at home and three away

Starts/Completed Games

Henderson, Keogh, Christie, Douglas, Frecklington, and Murphy also started the most games in December, along with Seamus Coleman, Greg Cunningham, Anthony Pilkington, and Alan Judge. Each player started six games. Of these Henderson, Keogh, Coleman, Cunningham, Christie, and Judge completed 90 minutes in each game

Substitutions/Introductions

Anthony Pilkington was substituted from the action more than any other Irish player in December - four times - while Jonathan Walters was introduced from the bench more than anyone else - also four times

Stayed on bench

Goalkeepers Aaron McCarey and Jack Bonham were both unused substitutes six times in December. Of the outfield players, Stephen Ward, Darron Gibson, Marc Wilson, and Simon Cox were left on the bench five times

Goals

Alan Judge and Adam Rooney topped the scoring charts in December with four goals each. Neither of their clubs lost a game when either player scored.

Discipline

Richard Keogh, Greg Cunningham, Shane Duffy, Harry Arter, Jonathan Douglas and Robbie Brady were all booked twice in December