Irish Abroad: September 2020

Tuesday, 29 September 2020

Round Up for weekend of Friday, 25th September 2020

Friday, 25th September 2020

Championship

Huddersfield 1-0 Nottingham Forest

Both Harry Arter and Cyrus Christie made their debuts for Forest

Polish Ekstraklasa

Wisła Płock 1-3 Warta Poznan

Cillian Sheridan came off the bench for his 20th league appearance for Wisła Płock

Saturday, 26th September 2020

Premier League

Crystal Palace 1-2 Everton

Seamus Coleman completed his first assist in a year

West Bromwich Albion 3-3 Chelsea

Callum Robinson scored his fifth and sixth goals for West Brom in his 20th appearance for the Baggies - the first player to score twice in the first half of a Premier League game since Shane Long for Southampton against Aston Villa in May 2015

Championship

Birmingham City 1-1 Rotherham

Scott Hogan's start was his first appearance of the season
Kieran Sadlier's penalty was his first goal for Rotherham, and his first goal in the Championship

Cardiff 1-2 Reading

Greg Cunningham continued his return from injury with his first start of the season. This was the defender's first start since October 2019, and his tenth appearance for Cardiff.

Derby County 0-4 Blackburn

Jason Knight's start was his 40th appearance for Derby County
Derrick Williams' start was his 110th appearance in the Championship

Preston North End 0-1 Stoke City

Alan Browne was named in the Preston North End starting XI for the 200th time
Sean Maguire was booked for the first time this season - his first yellow card since November 2019

League 1

Accrington Stanley 1-4 Oxford United

Ryan Cassidy scored his first goal in league football in his fifth appearance for Accrington
Anthony Forde made his first assist of the season, his first in more than a year, in his 20th start for Oxford United

Crewe Alexandra 2-0 MK Dons

Richard Keogh came of the bench to make his first appearance for new club MK Dons - this was the defender's first appearance since Saturday, 21st September 2019

Fleetwood 0-1 AFC Wimbledon

Glenn Whelan's start was his 20th appearance for Fleetwood
Callum Reilly made his 40th appearance for AFC Wimbledon
Shane McLoughlin was booked for the first time this season

Ipswich 2-0 Rochdale

Jimmy Ryan was booked for the first time this season

Plymouth 1-1 Shrewsbury

Niall Canavan was shown his first yellow card of 2020/21 in his 80th appearance for Plymouth

Portsmouth 1-2 Wigan

Ronan Curtis made his 90th start for Portsmouth

Sunderland 1-0 Peterborough

Aiden O'Brien was booked for the first time since Saturday, 24 August 2019

Swindon Town 4-2 Burton Albion

Stephen Quinn scored his first goal of the season - this was his first goal since Tuesday, 3 September 2019

League 2

Bradford City 2-1 Stevenage

Billy Clarke made his first assist of the season in his 70th appearance in League Two

Mansfield Town 1-2 Exeter

Harry Charsley was booked for the first time this season in his 25th career appearance
Stephen McLaughlin made his first appearance for Mansfield Town

Scottish Premier League

St Mirren 0-1 Kilmarnock

Jamie McGrath made his 20th appearance for St Mirren
Sam Foley made his 40th appearance for St Mirren

Sunday, 27th September 2020

Scottish Premier League

Ross County 0-3 Aberdeen

Jonathan Hayes completed his first assist of the season since Wednesday, 25 September 2019

Norwegian Eliteserien

Kristiansund 1-1 Brann

After recovering from error, Sean McDermott made his first appearance of the season. This was the goalkeeper's first appearance since Sunday, 1 December 2019

Monday, 28th September 2020

Premier League

Fulham 0-3 Aston Villa

In his 120th start for Aston Villa, Conor Hourihane scored his first goal of the season, and also made his first assist of the season. This was the third time Hourihane scored and assisted in the same Premier League game.

Friday, 25 September 2020

Round Up for week of Tuesday, 22nd September 2020

Tuesday, 22nd September 2020

English League Cup

West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Brentford

Dara O'Shea was booked for the first time this season in his 25th appearance for West Bromwich Albion

Newport Co. 3-1 Watford

Padraig Amond scored his first goal of the season in his 130th start for Newport County

West Ham United 5-1 Hull City

Sean McLoughlin's start was his tenth appearance for Hull City

Football League Trophy

AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Brighton and Hove Albion U21

James Furlong was named in the starting XI in his first senior football debut

Wigan 6-1 Liverpool U21

Caoimhin Kelleher started his fifth game in senior football

Stevenage 2-1 Southampton U21

Will Ferry started a game in senior football for the first time
Thomas O'Connor was booked for the first time this season

Oldham 4-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers U21

Ian Lawlor's start was his fifth appearance for Oldham
Conor Carty came off the bench for his first appearance in senior football

Wednesday, 23rd September 2020

English League Cup

Preston North End 0-2 Brighton and Hove Albion

Joe Rafferty's start was his 300th career appearance
Sean Maguire came off the bench for his fifth appearance of the season

Millwall 0-2 Burnley

Following his loan move during the summer, Troy Parrott made his first appearance for Millwall

Morecambe 0-7 Newcastle Utd

Ciaran Clark's start was the defender's 250th career appearance

Thursday, 24th September 2020

English League Cup

Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool

Anthony Scully started a game for the tenth time in his career. Coincidentally, this was also his tenth appearance for Lincoln City

Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth

Gavin Kilkenny came off the bench for his first appearance of the season - just short of one year since his last appearance on Wednesday, 25th September 2019

Europa League

Riga 0-1 Celtic

Shane Duffy was booked for the first time this season

Sporting Lisbon 1-0 Aberdeen

Tommie Hoban's start was 90th career appearance

Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Round Up for weekend of Friday, 18th September 2020

Friday, 18th September 2020

Polish Ekstraklasa

Wisła Kraków 0-3 Wisła Płock

Cillian Sheridan's introduction was his 70th appearance in the competition

Saturday, 19th September 2020

Premier League

Manchester United 1-3 Crystal Palace

James McCarthy was named in the Crystal Palace starting XI for the 20th time

Everton 5-2 West Bromwich Albion

Seamus Coleman started a Premier League game for the 250th time

Championship

Blackburn 5-0 Wycombe Wanderers

Derrick Williams scored his first goal since Saturday, 9th November 2019

Norwich 2-2 Preston North End

Sean Maguire's start was his 100th appearance for Preston North End

League 1

AFC Wimbledon 4-4 Plymouth

Shane McLoughlin scored his first goal of the season in his 40th appearance for AFC Wimbledon
Niall Canavan's goal was his fifth for Plymouth

Burton Albion 2-1 Accrington Stanley

Seamus Conneely's start was his 60th appearance in League One

MK Dons 1-2 Lincoln City

Joe Mason scored his fifth goal for MK Dons in his his 20th appearance for the Dons

Oxford United 0-2 Sunderland

Liam Kelly was booked for the first time this season in his tenth appearance for Oxford United

Peterborough 2-1 Fleetwood

Jack Taylor scored his first goal of the season

Shrewsbury 1-2 Northampton

Michael Harriman's start was his 60th appearance in League One

League 2

Carlisle United 2-0 Southend United

Joshua Kayode scored his first goal of the season
Alan McCormack made his first appearance for Southend since his return to Roots Hall

Crawley 1-0 Scunthorpe

Mason O'Malley made his first appearance in the competition

Forest Green 2-2 Bradford City

Reece Staunton made his fifth appearance of the season
Anthony O'Connor was sent off for the first time in his career
Paudie O'Connor was sent off for the first time since October 2018

Leyton Orient 2-2 Mansfield Town

Harry Charsley assisted a goal for the first time this season in his tenth start for Mansfield Town

Morecambe 0-5 Cambridge United

Wes Hoolahan scored his first goal for Cambridge United

Scottish Premier League

Dundee Utd 2-1 St Mirren

Dylan Connolly scored his first goal for St Mirren

Sunday, 20th September 2020

Premier League

Newcastle Utd 0-3 Brighton and Hove Albion

Aaron Connolly first goal of the season was the tenth goal of his career

Leicester City 4-2 Burnley

After David Connolly, Clinton Morrison, Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle, and Wes Hoolahan, Jimmy Dunne is the sixth Irish player to score on his Premier League debut

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 0-3 Motherwell

Tommie Hoban's start was his 15th appearance for Aberdeen

Bulgarian Championship

CSKA Sofia 2-2 Ludogorets

Graham Carey was booked for the first time this season in his 30th appearance in the Bulgarian Championship

MLS

Atlanta United 1-2 Inter Miami

Jon Gallagher scored his first goal in MLS football, in his fifth appearance for Atlanta United

Monday, 21st September 2020

Premier League

Aston Villa 1-0 Sheffield United

John Egan was sent off for the third time for Sheffield United

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 12th September 2020

Saturday, 12th September 2020

Premier League

Crystal Palace 1-0 Southampton

Will Smallbone made his tenth career start - this was also his fifteenth senior career appearance, and his tenth appearance in the Premier League

West Ham United 0-2 Newcastle Utd

Following his transfer to St James' Park in the summer, Jeff Hendrick made his debut for Newcastle, and marked the occasion with a goal and assist - the first Irish player to do so in a Premier League game since Conor Hourihane for Aston Villa against Newcastle in November 2019. This was Hendrick's first appearance since March, his first goal since January, and his first assist since February

Championship

Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Rotherham

Daryl Horgan was named in the Wycombe Wanderers starting XI for the first time

Bournemouth 3-2 Blackburn

Both Mark Travers and Derrick Williams made their first appearances since January - Travers hadn't played since Monday, 27th January, and Williams had not made an appearance since Saturday, 4th January

Barnsley 0-1 Luton

James Collins' winner was his 15th goal in the Championship

Derby County 0-2 Reading

Jason Knight started a game for Derby for the 25th time

Huddersfield 0-1 Norwich

On his first appearance in the Championship, Adam Idah scored his first goal in the competition - his first goal anywhere since January

League 1

Doncaster Rovers 1-1 MK Dons

Warren O'Hora's first appearance in League 1 was his fifth appearance in senior football

Fleetwood 2-1 Burton Albion

Paddy Madden scored his 130th goal in English football
John-Joe O'Toole unfortunately marked his 450th career appearance with his fourth red card for Burton Albion - this was the tenth time in his career that the midfielder has been sent off

Lincoln City 2-0 Oxford United

On his fifth start for Lincoln, Anthony Scully scored his first goal since February

Portsmouth 0-0 Shrewsbury

Marcus Harness was booked for the first time since Sunday, 29 December 2019

Swindon Town 3-1 Rochdale

Eoghan O'Connell start was his 40th appearance for Rochdale, and the defender was named in the starting XI in each one
Jimmy Keohane scored his first goal for Rochdale - also his first goal in English football since September 2015

League 2

Bolton 0-1 Forest Green

Eoin Doyle's start for Bolton was his 90th appearance in League Two

Bradford City 0-0 Colchester

Anthony O'Connor made his 90th appearance for Bradford City

Mansfield Town 0-0 Tranmere

Harry Charsley started a game for the 20th time in his career

Salford City 2-2 Exeter

Darron Gibson was named in the Salford City starting XI for the fifth time

Scottish Premier League

Ross County 0-5 Celtic

Shane Duffy marked his debut for Celtic with his first goal since November 2019

Monday, 14th September 2020

Premier League

Brighton and Hove Albion 1-3 Chelsea

Aaron Connolly came off the bench for his 30th appearance for Brighton's senior side

Monday, 14 September 2020

The First Game Is The Hardest

Following the draw in Bulgaria and the loss in Aviva Stadium, I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football to discuss the two results. What did Stephen Kenny get right and wrong, and what do the results mean for the crucial play off against Slovakia, and the two Nations League games in October.

Wednesday, 9 September 2020

2021 UEFA U17 and U19 Championship Qualification

While looking into the qualifying groups for the UEFA 2021 Under 17 Championship(for players born on or after Thursday, 1st January 2004), and Under 19 Championship(for players born on or after Tuesday, 1st January 2002), I read that the elite round for all underage tournaments (male and female) have been abolished, and that the qualifying rounds for next years' tournaments has been postponed until February and March 2021. The dates, and locations, for all fixtures have yet to be announced.

It was decided by UEFA that, for the U17 Championships, the winners of each qualifying group will go straight to the finals in Cyprus in May 2021. Top seeds Spain and the Netherlands, who would have joined the group winners and runners up from the Qualifying Round in the Elite Round, have been granted a bye to the finals. Ireland's Under 17s have been drawn against Slovakia, Northern Ireland, and Estonia in Group 3, and will host the group in March 2021.

For the Under 19 Championships, the winners of each qualifying group, along with top seed Portugal, will be drawn in a play off to determine the seven qualifiers for the finals in Romania. The Republic of Ireland's under 19 team has been drawn against Poland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Estonia, and will also host the group.

The group winners, and two best runners up, from the twelve Under 17 qualifying groups for the Women's Under 17 Championship will be drawn in a play off to determine the seven qualifiers that will join hosts the Faroe Islands at the finals in May 2021. Ireland will face group hosts Portugal, Wales, and North Macedonia in their group, which will take place in February 2021.

Qualification for the Women's Under 19 Championship final in Belarus is similar to the new format for the male tournament, only the best runner up in the twelve groups will make it to the play offs, where they will be joined by top seed Spain and the group winners. Ireland will be going to Greece to face the hosts, England, and Kosovo in February 2021.

Further Reading
UEFA postpones youth national team competitions
2021 UEFA European Under 17 Championship Qualification
2021 UEFA European Under 19 Championship Qualification
2021 UEFA Women's Under 17 Championship Qualification
2021 UEFA Women's Under 19 Championship Qualification

Tuesday, 8 September 2020

A disappointing duo of performances

Squad

The omission of Michael Obafemi, both from the original and amended squads, created unneeded pressure and questions for the new manager, and may come back to Stephen Kenny. If things go wrong, his handling of it will be a stick to beat the manager with. Other players were omitted, but also contacted because they were called up by the previous manager, and the excuse that Obafemi did not earn a cap under Mick McCarthy was weak. The striker is a full international, and was one of the top performing Irish players in the Premier League when the competition restarted, scoring against two teams who finished in the top four. Selecting Sean Maguire ahead of him when Troy Parrott had to withdraw due to injury, and then not including the Preston striker in the squad against Finland warrants further questioning. For a manager steeped in League of Ireland football, excluding all LOI players from the squad was unexpected, especially considering they would have better fitness levels than the players from the still-in-preseason English clubs. The inclusion of highly promising, and uncapped, Adam Idah and Jayson Molumby was a reward for both players' performances for their club sides, as well as their performances for Kenny's U21 squad.

Teams

Four of the starting back five were never in contention - the goalkeeper, centre halves, and left full back had little competition in the squad - and the appearance of Coleman at press conferences, as well as being described as captain in FAI interviews led many (myself included) to believe he would start, but he played no part in either game. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Irish players with genuine Premier League class are rare, and to discard one of the few who have played and performed consistently across the last decade was unexpected, to say the least. Considering that the full back did not play one minute across the two games - will he play a part in the three October internationals?
After talking up James McCarthy in the build up to the Bulgaria game, the Crystal Palace midfielder was selected as one of a central midfield trio, alongside Conor Hourihane and Jeff Hendrick, but then all three were dropped from the starting XI against Finland. McCarthy did report to the squad after picking up a knock during a preseason game with Crystal Palace, so it's possible that contributed to his omission in the second game. Of the other two midfielders, Hourihane offered a threat from set pieces, and shot from distance, but little else. Hendrick seemed uncomfortable in the unfamiliar setup, but I'm not sure if he did enough (or didn't do enough) to warrant dropping from the starting XI. Was the change to the starting midfield three a tacit admission by the manager that he got it wrong in the first game? Although O'Dowda was awarded man of the match against Bulgaria, I didn't think he did enough to keep his starting position against Finland. With the three other changes in midfield, I think the manager didn't want to make too many unforced changes. Connolly and Idah performed well, considering their lack of international experience, and I was happy to see them start again on Sunday. Connolly's performance on Sunday made me think he will start. Of the three that replaced them, Arter performed best and his performance should see him start against Slovakia. Molumby showed in passages what he is capable of with some runs from midfield, but didn't show enough of what he does offer to justify his replacement of Hendrick. Brady's assist against Bulgaria, as well as his threat from free kicks, meant he was the clear replacement for Hourihane. His lack of fitness showed towards the end of the tie, and he possibly would have been replaced ahead of O'Dowda if the Bristol winger had not gone down with a strain.

Performance

Bulgaria lost 3-1 to Ireland in a friendly less than a year ago, and only managed one win in their qualification group for Euro 2020 - a 1-0 win against an already qualified Czech Republic - and conceded 10 goals in their four group home games. They did score four goals in those four games, so their opening goal was not unexpected. A lot has been made of the amount of possession that the Ireland team had in Sofia, but it's comparable to possession of their opponents in those qualifiers. From their four home qualifiers, Bulgaria only had the majority of possession (57-43) in one game, the 1-1 draw against Montenegro, who finished bottom of their group. The possession stats in their other three games were 44-56 in the 3-2 loss to Kosovo, 32-68 in the 6-0 loss to England, and 36-64 in the 1-0 win over Czech Republic, so the 41-59 divide in possession was not unexpected. This is a team used to not having the ball at home, and can still grind out results with a lower share of possession.

That was our first loss to Finland, albeit in the first game between the sides in 18 years. During their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, Finland only won two of their five away games - winning 2-0 against both Armenia and Liechtenstein - and conceded eight goals in the other four games. The 48% possession enjoyed by the Finns on Sunday is similar to what they experienced in their away qualifiers. I actually think the 2-0 win over Armenia in Yerevan by the Finns - an away win in a game where they had seven shots on target, with 51% of the possession, and completed 82% of their 490 passes - is the closest comparison to the Ireland game - an away win with seven shots on target, with 48% of the possession, and completed 84% of their 522 passes.

Results

Both results have to go down as disappointments. There were some encouraging passages of play - during the first half of the Bulgaria game, and a short spell at the second half of the Finland game. We attempted and completed more passes in both games - 549/612(59%) against Bulgaria and 437/522(84%) against Finland - than in all but one of the Euro 2020 qualifiers under Mick McCarthy - 419/526(80%) V Gibraltar(A), 371/515(72%) V Georgia(H), 271/300(72%) V Denmark(A), 484/564(72%) V Gibraltar(H), 251/325(77%) V Switzerland(H), 292/382(46%) V Georgia(A), 255/323(79%) V Switzerland(A), and 410/518(79%) V Denmark(H) - but overall I thought that, even with the majority of possession, we struggled to create clear cut chances. We had three shots on target against Bulgaria, comparable to the opposition in their home qualifiers against Czech Republic(3), Kosovo(5), and Montenegro(4) - in the outlier, England had 13 shots on target in their 6-0 win in Sofia. Similarly, Finland conceded five shots on target in Aviva stadium, which is slightly more than the average shots conceded by the Finns(4.8) in their away Euro 2020 qualifiers - Italy(3), Armenia(5), Liechtenstein(2), Bosnia(8), and Greece(6).
Prior to Thursday's game, I expected us to take at least a draw from both games, so to lose the home game is especially disheartening. The results in the other Nations League games mean we sit bottom of the group, still to face first placed Wales, and now have to get a result in Finland.

Our play off opponents Slovakia had the same results in their two Nations League games - a 3-1 home loss against the Czech Republic, and a 1-1 away draw with Israel - but led until the final minute in Netanya. The play off itself is a month away, and the squad announcement will probably be around Friday, 25th September. The return to full time football in England should see an increase in fitness and performance of the players, but going by what I saw in these two games, I don't see us coming away from Bratislava with a win

* All possession and passing stats taken from uefa.com