Round Up - Weekend of 29th October 2016

Saturday, 29 October 2016

Premier League

West Bromwich Albion 0-4 Manchester City
After being booked for the third game in a row, James McClean has picked up five yellow cards this season and is suspended for the next game

Arsenal 4-1 Sunderland
John O'Shea made his 350th start in the Premier League, but unfortunately had to be substituted due to injury in the first half

Today is John O'Shea's 350th Premier League start.

What a marvellous achievement. 👏https://t.co/HOMHF6eujG#SUNARS pic.twitter.com/Rn91R5ajT4

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 29, 2016

Championship

Brighton and Hove Albion 5-0 Norwich
Robbie Brady introduction from the bench was his 50th appearance for Norwich City

Derby County 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
This was the first game where two Irish international defenders scored since November 2009 when Ian Harte and Richard Keogh scored for Carlisle in a 3-2 defeat to Bristol Rovers
Cyrus Christie marked his 100th start for Derby County with his first goal of the season
Alex Pearce's first goal for Derby (also his fifth in the Championship) was the defender's first goal since 14 April 2014

Ipswich 2-2 Rotherham
David McGoldrick marked his return to the Ipswich Town starting XI since August 6th with his first goal since the same game

Leeds United 2-0 Burton Albion
Eunan O'Kane's 250th career appearance was marred with his first booking of the season

Reading 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Paul McShane made his 50th start for Reading

League 1

Oxford United 1-2 Millwall
Aiden O'Brien scored his 15th goal in League One

Bolton 3-1 Port Vale
After returning to the Port Vale side with an appearance from the bench a week and a half ago, Sam Kelly made his first start since August 9th

Fleetwood 2-1 Gillingham
Cian Bolger was booked for the first time this season

Sheffield United 2-1 MK Dons
Darren Potter scored his first goal of the season, before this the midfielder hadn't scored since January 31st

Scunthorpe 4-1 Swindon
The second goal of Paddy Madden's brace against Swindon (his fourth goal in four games) was the former Shamrock Rovers' striker's fiftieth goal for Scunthorpe, in 140 appearances for the Iron

Southend United 1-1 Shrewsbury
Stephen McLaughlin scored his fifth goal of the season, having gone more than a month since his last strike

League 2

Cambridge United 0-1 Portsmouth
Noel Hunt marked his first appearance for Portsmouth since September 10th with his first booking in over a year, having not been shown a yellow card since Monday, 31 August 2015
Michael Doyle was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Carlisle United 3-1 Crawley
Mark Connolly's consolation goal was his fifth time scoring for Crawley

Doncaster Rovers 2-2 Wycombe Wanderers
Michael Harriman was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Leyton Orient 0-2 Crewe Alexandra
After appearing on the Sky Sports documentary "Out of Contract", Michael Collins signed a short term contract with Leyton Orient and came off the bench against Crewe to make his debut for the O's

Mansfield Town 1-2 Stevenage
Patrick Hoban scored his fifth goal in League Two

Scottish Premier League

Inverness CT 3-3 Hearts
Having returned to the Inverness first team last week, Aaron Doran scored his first goal of the season in almost 18 months against Hearts, his last goal came on Saturday, 2 May 2015

St Johnstone 1-2 Partick Thistle
Adam Barton was booked for the first time in two months

Cypriot Premier League

Omonia Nicosia 3-1 Aris
Cillian Sheridan scored his 25th goal for Omonia Nicosia on his 50th appearance for the club

Australian A-League

Western Sydney Wanderers 1-1 Central Coast Mariners
Roy O'Donovan was booked for the first time this season

Round Up - Week of 25th October 2016

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

English League Cup

Newcastle Utd 6-0 Preston North End
The yellow card awarded to Eoin Doyle (his first booking of the season) was the first time the striker had been booked in 18 months, his last booking came on Saturday, 18 April 2015Alan Browne's red card was the first time the former Cork City player had been sent off in his career

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Scottish Premier League

Motherwell 0-3 Inverness CT
After eight introductions from the bench this season following a serious injury, Aaron Doran returned to the Inverness starting XI for his first start since Thursday, 23 July 2015

Rangers 1-1 St Johnstone
Robbie Kiernan was booked for the second time this season

English League Cup

West Ham United 2-1 Chelsea
Darren Randolph made his fifth appearance of the season for West Ham, but has yet to make an apearance in the league for the Hammers in 2016/17

Round Up - Weekend of 21st October 2016

Friday, 21 October 2016

Australian A-League

Melbourne City 2-3 Perth Glory
Andy Keogh scored his first hat trick almost exactly two years after his last triple on 19th October 2014.

Saturday, 22 October 2016

Premier League

Burnley 2-1 Everton
Seamus Coleman made his 200th start for Everton
Jeff Hendrick was booked for the first time since the opening game of the season

Championship

Brentford 0-2 Barnsley
Conor Hourihane was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Newcastle Utd 3-0 Ipswich
David McGoldrick came off the bench to make his first appearance since August 9th

Rotherham 0-1 Reading
Paul McShane scored his second of the season, two months after his last goal on 20 August 2016. The defender has now scored more than once in a season for the first time since 2012-13

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Leeds United
Matt Doherty was booked for the first time this season, exactly 200 days after his last yellow card on April 5th

League 1

Bradford City 3-3 Sheffield United
Billy Clarke scored his fifth goal of the season

MK Dons 0-3 Southend United
Simon Cox's scored his third of the season, two months after his last strike on August 20th
Darren Potter was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Scottish Championship

Dundee Utd 2-1 Dumbarton
Willo Flood picked up his fourth booking of the season, his first since August 20th

Round Up - Weekend of 14th October 2016

Friday, 14 October 2016

Scottish Premier League

Inverness CT 0-1 Rangers
Robert Kiernan returned to the Rangers' starting XI for his first appearance since September 10th

MLS

Colorado Rapids 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes
Kevin Doyle marked his return to the Rapid's starting XI (his first start since September 4th) with two strikes, his first goals since July. Before this brace, the Wexford striker hadn't scored twice in the same game since December 2012!

Saturday, 15 October 2016

Premier League

Manchester City 1-1 Everton
James McCarthy came off the bench to make his first appearance for Everton since the end of August
Seamus Coleman was booked for the first time this season

West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Tottenham
James McClean made his 50th appearance for West Brom. THe Baggies have yet to lose a game the winger has started this season (via football365)

League 1

Charlton 3-0 Coventry
Chris McCann was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Fleetwood 2-0 Peterborough
Jimmy Ryan was booked for the first time this season

Northampton 1-3 Millwall
Shaun Williams made his 250th appearance in England

Scunthorpe 2-1 MK Dons
Paddy Madden's two goals were the striker's first goals in more than a month, and the first time the former League of Ireland player had scored a brace since January

League 2

Accrington Stanley 2-1 Blackpool
John O'Sullivan made his 25th start for Accrington Stanley

Cambridge United 0-1 Grimsby
James Berrett scored his first goal for Grimsby

Carlisle United 3-2 Hartlepool
Padraig Amond's opener was his fifth goal for Hartlepool and his 40th goal in League Two

Leyton Orient 1-2 Luton
Glen Rea's return to Luton's starting XI after seven weeks was his 25th career start

Plymouth 2-2 Portsmouth
Connor Smith marked his 50th career appearance with his first goal in League Two

Scottish League One

Airdrie Utd 1-3 Peterhead
Joe Gorman made his first appearance in two months

Cypriot Premier League

Omonia Nicosia 2-0 Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Cillian Sheridan scored his fifth goal in his last five games

Sunday, 16 October 2016

MLS

Portland Timbers 1-0 Colorado Rapids
Kevin Doyle was booked for the fifth time this season

Further Reading
The Premier League's most defensive attackers - football365

Dispelling The Mistrust Myths

A recent post by Póg Mo Goal examined the recent claims in Irish media that Wes Hoolahan is not trusted by the international management team. While the creative midfielder has been omitted by Martin O'Neill for some high profile fixtures, most notably Scotland and Poland in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, there has always been an explanation - for Scotland he was injured, and the midfielder himself asked to be excluded from the starting XI in the Poland game after not feeling fit having completed 90 minutes against Germany three days previously. Having witnessed that famous victory first hand, I clearly remember Hoolahan signaling to the bench that he had to come off late in the game. However with all three substitutes already used, the playmaker was forced to remain on the pitch until the final whistle.

After examining the appearance data for players during O'Neill's reign, the stats do back up their discovery. Only Shane Long(31) and James McLean(30) have had more appearances than Hoolahan's 28 caps in the manager's 34 games to date

Player	Caps	Goals
Shane Long	31	8
James McClean	30	7
Wes Hoolahan	28	2
Aiden McGeady	24	3
Glenn Whelan	24	0
Jeff Hendrick	24	1
Robbie Brady	24	6
John O'Shea	23	1
Robbie Brady	23	8

While researching the appearance details for Martin O'Neill, we also compiled the appearances under previous managers. Having given Glenn Whelan his international debut, Giovanni Trapattoni went on to select the midfielder more than any other player. earning 51 caps in the manager's 64 games in charge

Player	Caps	Goals
Glenn Whelan	51	2
Robbie Keane	50	28
John O'Shea	48	0
Aiden McGeady	42	2
Shay Given	39	0
Richard Dunne	39	3

Despite the Italian's reputation for defensive football, his predecessor Brian Kerr favoured defensive players, with Kenny Cunningham(28), Shay Given(27), John O'Shea(26) making up three of the top four most selected players during the former St Patrick's Athletic manager's 33 games. You could arguably add Kevin Kilbane to the list as a defensive player, given that he played at left full under Kerr.

Player	Caps	Goals
Kenny Cunningham	28	0
Kevin Kilbane	28	2
Shay Given	27	0
John O'Shea	26	1
Damien Duff	24	4
Robbie Keane	24	11
Clinton Morrison	24	6
Stephen Carr	23	0

The defensive trend continued with Mick McCarthy. In his 68 games, only Robbie Keane and again Kilbane(both 40 caps) appear in the top five most appearances, with centre half Gary Breen earning the most caps under McCarthy - 50.

Player	Caps	Goals
Gary Breen	50	6
Shay Given	47	0
Ian Harte	47	9
Kenny Cunningham	44	0
Steve Staunton	41	2
Kevin Kilbane	40	3
Robbie Keane	40	14

Further Reading
MythBusters: O'Neill doesn't trust Hoolahan - pogmogoal.com

Round up - Weekend of 8th October 2016

Saturday, 8 October 2016

League 1

Peterborough 3-1 Bury
Chris Forrester's equaliser for Peterborough was the former St Patricks Athletic midfielder's first goal in two months

Swindon Town 0-1 Bolton
Sean Murray made his 100th career appearance

Rochdale 3-0 Southend United
Niall Canavan scored his first goal of the season

League 2

Luton 1-1 Crewe Alexandra
Alan Sheehan made his 25th start for Luton

Australian A-League
Perth Glory 3-3 Central Coast Mariners
Roy O'Donovan started the comeback for Central Coast Mariners by scoring their first goal at 3-0 down and scoring the equaliser from the penalty spot on 86 minutes.

Sunday, 9 October 2016

FIFA World Cup European Qualifying

Moldova 1-3 Republic of Ireland
Stephen Ward made his 40th appearance for Ireland
Ciaran Clark made his 20th start for Ireland
Shane Long scored his 17th goal in his 71st appearance for Ireland
Eunan O'Kane came off the bench to make his fifth appearance for Ireland
Callum O'Dowda made his first competitive appearance for Ireland
James McClean scored his sixth and seventh goals for Ireland
Seamus Coleman was booked for the fifth time in his Ireland career
Jonathan Walters was shown his first yellow card in almost a year, before this game the striker had not been booked since 11 October 2015

Round Up - Week of 4th October 2016

Tuesday, 4 October 2016

Football League Trophy

Bolton 1-0 Blackpool
Eddie Nolan returned to the Blackpool starting XI for his first appearance since Tuesday, 30 August

Cambridge United 2-1 Middlesbrough U23
Coincidentally, Sean Long also returned to the Cambridge starting XI for his first appearance since Tuesday, 30 August

Carlisle United 2-0 Blackburn Rovers U23
Anthony Stokes made his first appearance since 27 August 2016

Fleetwood 0-2 Oldham
After coming off the bench against Bradford a week ago, Cian Bolger made his first start since Tuesday, 30 August

Doncaster Rovers 2-2 Derby County U23
Paul Keegan made his first appearance of the season and was booked for the first time in more than a year

Rochdale 2-1 Notts County
Niall Canavan made his 25th start for Rochdale
Graham Burke's start for Notts County was his first appearance since 31 August 2016

Grimsby 0-1 Leicester City U23
James McKeown was sent off for the first time in his career

Sheffield United 1-2 Walsall
Kevin Toner was booked for the first time this season

Bristol Rovers 0-0 Yeovil
Kevin Dawson was sent off for the first time in his career

AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Plymouth
Connor Smith scored his first goal of his career

Southend United 1-0 Leyton Orient
Alan Dunne made his first appearance of the season, before this the defender had not played since Sunday, 15 November 2015

Millwall 2-1 Gillingham
Emmanuel Osadebe made his 25th appearance for Gillingham

Thursday, 6th October 2016

FIFA World Cup European Qualifying

Republic of Ireland 1-0 Georgia
Seamus Coleman scored his first goal in what was his 40th appearance for Ireland
Jeff Hendrick was booked for the fifth time in his 20th start for Ireland
James McCarthy made his 40th appearance for Ireland
Robbie Brady made his 30th appearance for Ireland
Shane Long made his 70th appearance for Ireland
Jonathan Walters made his 30th start for Ireland

Round Up - Weekend of 1st October 2016

Saturday, 1 October 2016

There were 20 yellow cards shown to Irish players today, the most since 22nd November 2014

Championship
Birmingham City 1-0 Blackburn
Stephen Gleeson scored his first goal of the season
Tommie Hoban was shown his first yellow card since March 2015!

Ipswich 0-1 Huddersfield
Jonathan Douglas made his 50th appearance for Ipswich

Leeds United 2-1 Barnsley
Conor Hourihane made his 250th career start, in what was the midfielder's 260th career appearance

Preston North End 2-0 Aston Villa
Greg Cunningham was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game

Rotherham 0-1 Newcastle Utd
Lee Frecklington marked his 150th appearance for Rotherham with his first booking since April 2015

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Norwich
Robbie Brady scored his first goal for Norwich since March

League 1

Northampton 2-3 Bristol Rovers
Rory Gaffney scored his first goal of the season for Bristol Rovers

Port Vale 0-2 Coventry
Chris McCann scored his first goal of the season

Shrewsbury 1-1 Swindon Town
Gary Deegan was sent off for the third time in his career

League 2
Cheltenham 1-1 Luton
Alan Sheehan made his 25th appearance for Luton

Crawley 1-0 Blackpool
Mark Connolly's winner for Crawley was the Monaghan defender's first goal since December 2015

Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Mansfield Town
Patrick Hoban's first goal for Mansfield was his first goal since November 2015 while the striker's booking in the same game was his first yellow card since February 2015

Grimsby 0-3 Hartlepool
Padraig Amond's brace was the first time the former Sligo Rovers player had scored in a month
Jake Carroll was booked for the first time this season

Plymouth 4-1 Yeovil
Graham Carey scored his fifth goal of the season

Scottish League One

Peterhead 1-2 Livingston
Fiacre Kelleher scored his first senior goal, on loan at Peterhead

Indian Super League

NorthEast United 1-0 Kerala Blasters
Graham Stack made his first appearance for his new side on the opening day of the new Indian Super League season

Saturday, 2 October 2016

Premier League
Burnley 0-1 Arsenal
Congratulations to Jeff Hendrick on reaching 200 league appearances after starting for Burnley this afternoon

.@BurnleyOfficial 's Jeff Hendrick makes his 200th career League app while @Alexis_Sanchez has scored 3 & made 1 assist in 3 apps v Burnley pic.twitter.com/8NhbvzogDl

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) October 2, 2016

Hendrick's favourite opponents

Jeff Hendrick opened his account for his new club Burnley with a goal last weekend against Watford, but perhaps we should not have been too surprised that he scored against the Hornets.
In the seven games the midfielder has played against them, he's scored four goals, including a brace in April 2014
He'll get another chance to add to this total when the Clarets face Watford at Vicarage Road in February

Opposition	Goals
Watford	4
Bolton	2
Brighton and Hove Albion	2
Bristol City	2
Millwall	2
Nottingham Forest	2
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2

September 2016 Appearance Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for September 2016: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=9

Wins
Sheffield Wednesday's Keiren Westwood was joined by Leeds' Eunan O'Kane and Norwich City duo Robbie Brady and Wes Hoolahan in winning four games in September

Draws
Defender Daniel Devine, and midfielders Jonathan Douglas, Gary Dicker, and Olamide Shodipo all drew two games in the second month of the 2016/17 season

Losses
Derby County's defensive pairing Richard Keogh and Cyrus Christie both started four of Derby's losses in September

Starts/Completed Games
Keogh, Christie and fellow defender Greg Cunningham all started six games, with the Derby pair completing 90 minutes in each game. Cunningham also managed to collect three bookings in these six games

Substitutions/Introductions
Wes Hoolahan was substituted in all four games he started in September, while fellow midfielders Stephen Quinn and Darragh Lenihan were both introduced four times

Stayed On Bench
Goalkeeper Jack Bonham was an unused substitute five times in September, while of the outfield players, John O'Shea, Anthony Forde, Alan McCormack and Jack Byrne were all left on the bench by their respective managers three times

Goals
Robbie Keane(3) and Anthony Pilkington(2) were the only Irish players to score more than once in September