Monday, 27 June 2016

UEFA Euro 2016 Report

Monday, 13th June 2016
European Championships
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Sweden
Seamus Coleman's 33rd start was also his 35th appearance for Ireland
Darren Randolph's sixth start was also his tenth appearance for Ireland
Jonathan Walters 27th start was also his 40th appearance for Ireland
Robbie Keane's appearance off the bench, his 144th appearance for Ireland, was his first appearance for the national side since Sunday, 11 October 2015 against Poland, which was also the last time Glenn Whelan was booked before this game
Wes Hoolahan scored his third goal for Ireland, 20 months after his last goal in October 2014 against Gibraltar
James McCarthy was booked exactly for the first time in exactly a year, the midfielder's last booking was on Saturday, 13 June 2015

Saturday, 18th June 2016
European Championships
Belgium 3-0 Republic of Ireland
Robbie Brady's 20th start was also his 25th appearance for Ireland
Wes Hoolahan made his 20th start, and his 32nd appearance, for Ireland
Stephen Ward continued his strange record of only starting for his country, making his 34th start in his 34th appearance for Ireland
Shane Long made his 29th start in his 65th cap for Ireland
James McClean appearance off the bench was his 40th appearance for Ireland
Robbie Keane made his 145th appearance for Ireland
Jeff Hendrick was booked for Ireland for the first time since Friday, 14 November 2014

Wednesday, 22nd June 2016
European Championships
Italy 0-1 Republic of Ireland
Shane Duffy matched Stephen Ward's record of only making starts for his country by making his fourth start in his fourth appearance for Ireland
Seamus Coleman made his 35th start in his 37th appearance for Ireland
James McCarthy made his 35th start in his 38th appearance for Ireland
Stephen Ward made his 35th start in his 35th appearance for Ireland, and was booked for the first time since November 2015
Shane Long made his 30th start in his 66th appearance for Ireland, and was booked for the first time in more than three years - his last booking came in March 2013 against Austria
Robbie Brady scored his fifth goal for Ireland, seven months after his last goal for Ireland against Bosnia in November 2015

Sunday, 26th June 2016
European Championships
France 2-1 Republic of Ireland
James McClean made his 20th start for Ireland, in his 42nd appearance
Shane Duffy was sent off for the first time for Ireland in his fifth start, and his fifth cap
Daryl Murphy made his tenth start for Ireland, in his 23rd appearance
Jeff Hendrick made his 18th start, and his 25th appearance for Ireland
Stephen Ward made his 36th start and his 36th appearance for Ireland
Robbie Brady scored his sixth goal for Ireland
Seamus Coleman was booked for the first time since 29th March 2015 against Poland

Monday, 6 June 2016

Irish Abroad player statistics for 2015/16 season

With the Champions League final behind us, and less than a week until the Republic of Ireland open their Euro 2016 campaign against Sweden, we've compiled the appearance statistics for Irish players in England, Scotland, the MLS* and the Eredivisie across the 2015/16 season: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=14

Wins
Aberdeen's loan goalkeeper Danny Rogers won 24 games on loan at Falkirk, just ahead of Richard Keogh who started 22 wins for Derby

Draws
In the Championship, Preston North End's Player of the Season Greg Cunningham started 16 games that finished all square, just ahead of fellow Championship players Keogh and goalkeeper Kieren Westwood

Losses
Norwich City's Robbie Brady started 20 losses for the Canaries in their relegation season, his second year in a row dropping out of the top flight after being relegated with Hull City last season

Starts/Completed Games
Keogh again started more games than any other player across the season (having also done so in 2014/15) - the Derby captain started 49 games and completed 90 minutes in 48 of them.

Substitutions/Introductions
Midfielders Wes Hoolahan and Anthony Pilkington were both substituted on 20 separate occasions across the season, Pilkington was withdrawn as many times as at home as way - ten each, while Hoolahan was taken off more often at home than away - 12 times as opposed to 8 when Norwich were on the road. Striker David McGoldrick came off the bench more than any other player, Mick McCarthy called upon the striker 15 times in 2015/16

Stayed On Bench
As always, a goalkeeper was left on the bench more than any outfield player, Brentford's Jack Bonham will hope to improve on his record of only making one appearance and being left on the bench 47 times next season. Of the outfield players, defender Alex Pearce failed to play a minute in 28 games where he was named in the matchday squad, behind only Bonham and Darren Randolph

Goals
Robbie Keane scored more goals than any other Irish player since 1st July 2015, the LA Galaxy striker found the back of the net 23 times. Aberdeen striker Adam Rooney was the only Irishman to score more penalties than Keane, the Dons player found the back of the net seven times from 12 yards. Midfielder Alan Judge scored almost as many (14) as the next two top scoring midfielders combined - Pilkington(9) and Harriman(8) in less appearances than either player. The top scoring defender Shane Duffy scored more goals in 2015/16 (four) than in his career up until the beginning of the season!

Discipline
Mk Dons midfielder Samir Carruthers was shown 14 yellow cards this season, one of only three player to get into double figures along with Shane Duffy(10) and Darragh Lenihan (11). All of Lenihan's bookings came in 2016!

*The MLS stats are calculated from July 2015 to May 2016, not as their season runs from March to November, to accurately compare players

Friday, 3 June 2016

May 2016 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for May 2016

Wins
Shane Long and Anthony Stokes both finished 2016/16 with three wins in the last month of the season

Draws
Robbie Keane and James McClean's started two draws in May

Losses
Aberdeen teammates Willo Flood and Jonathan Hayes started three losses as the Don's title challenge petered out

Starts/Completed Games
Stokes started and completed all six of Hibernian's games in May, two more than any other player

Substitutions/Introductions
Flood was also substituted in two of hid games, as many as fellow midfielder Josh Cullen and striker Connor Smith, while striker Richie Foran was introduced three times for Inverness

Stayed On Bench
Due to a reduced number of games in May, defender Aidan White has the rare distinction of being an outfield player left on the bench more than a goalkeeper - three times in total

Goals
Strikers Keane, Stokes, Graham Cummins and defender Daniel Devine all scored twice in May while Foran and David McGoldrick were the only players to score a penalty. For each of the top scorers, their respective teams went on to win when they scored, except for Cummins who won one and drew one of the games where he scored

Discipline
Stokes was also the only player to be shown more than one yellow card, the on loan striker was booked twice in May

Wednesday, 1 June 2016

Round up - May 2016

Friday, 27th May 2016
International Friendly
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Netherlands
After missing the friendlies in March, Jonathan Walters returned to the Ireland starting XI for the first time since the second leg of the play off against Bosnia in November, the same game where Jeff Hendrick made his last appearance before making his 20th appearance for Ireland against the Dutch today.
Darren Randolph made his fifth start for Ireland
David McGoldrick's start was the striker's first appearance for Ireland in almost a year, having not played for the Boys in Green since 7th June 2015
Harry Arter's second cap for Ireland, almost a year after his first, was the Bournemouth midfielder's first start for Ireland, and unfortunately marked it with his first yellow card
Darron Gibson came off the bench to make his first appearance for Ireland since Nov 2014
Wes Hoolahan made his twentieth home appearance for Ireland
Shane Long scored his sixteenth goal for Ireland

Sunday, 29th May 2016
League 1 Play Off Final
Barnsley 3-1 Millwall
Conor Hourihane made his fiftieth start of the season in the play off final and the Barnsley captain led by example, assisting two of the Tykes' goals in their win.

Monday, 30th May 2016
International Friendly
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Belarus
Shay Given returned to the starting XI for Ireland for the first time since the home qualifier against Germany in October 2015
Darron Gibson made his first start since November 2014
Ciaran Clark made his tenth home start for Ireland
Jeff Hendrick and Richard Keogh both returned to the Irish starting XI for the first game since the second leg of the play off against Bosnia in November
Cyrus Christie made his fifth appearance for Ireland, all of which have seen the Derby defender named in the starting XI
Wes Hoolahan made his thirtieth appearance for Ireland
David Forde came off the bench to make his first appearance since November 2014
Congratulations to Callum O'Dowda on making his senior international debut for Ireland! The Oxford United midfielder is the first player born after USA '94 to play senior international football for the Republic
Stephen Ward scored his third goal for Ireland, more than four years after his last international goal in November 2011