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