Episode 37 - 2021: A Year In Football

I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick and Philip Flanagan of The Bottomless Pit of Football, in one of our longest episodes to date, to review the highs and lows of Irish international football in 2021, including the worst home result of our lifetimes, the worst moment of Stephen Kenny's reign, and how, in the final seven games of the year, the manager has gotten the team to play the football he wants them to play, and we want to see.

Round up for weekend of Saturday, 18th December 2021

Saturday, 18th December 2021

Championship

Blackburn 4-0 Birmingham City

Darragh Lenihan assisted a goal for the first time since November 2020

Nottingham Forest 2-1 Hull City

Sean McLoughlin was booked for the first time this season, more than a year after his last booking in November 2020

League 1

Oxford United 2-3 Wigan

Anthony Forde made his first assist of the season
James McClean scored his first goal in seven weeks
Will Keane scored his tenth goal of the season

League 2

Rochdale 3-0 Newport County

Liam Kelly scored his first goal in eight weeks

Scottish Premier League

Dundee 0-1 Hearts

Aaron McEneff made his 25th appearance for Hearts

Scottish Championship

Queen of the South 3-0 Ayr

Ruairi Paton assisted a goal for the first time since Saturday, 6 November

Scottish League One

Montrose 1-1 Queen's Park

Sean Dillon's start was his first appearance since coming off the bench on Saturday, 9 October

Sunday, 19 December 2021

Premier League

Newcastle United 0-4 Manchester City

Jeff Hendrick came off the bench for his first appearance since Saturday, 2 October

Scottish League Cup

Hibernian 1-2 Celtic

Jake Doyle-Hayes was booked for the fifth time this season

Episode 36 - 2022-23 UEFA Nations League Group B-1

Following the draw for the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, I'm joined by Mark Kennedy of Hawkeye Sidekick to discuss the Republic of Ireland's group, and the fixtures next year against Ukraine, Scotland, and Armenia. 

Note: this episode was recorded after the draw was made, but before the fixtures were announced.

Round Up for weekend of Saturday, 11th December 2021

Saturday, 11th December 2021

Championship

Bournemouth 0-2 Blackburn

Robbie Brady made his first start for Bournemouth, 10 months after his last start in January 2021

Derby County 1-0 Blackpool

Eiran Cashin came off the bench for his first career appearance
Richard Keogh's introduction was his first appearance in five weeks

Hull City 2-2 Bristol City

Callum O'Dowda was named in the Bristol City starting XI for the 100th time <-- CHECK THIS

Preston North End 2-1 Barnsley

Sean Maguire's start was his 150th appearance for Preston North End
Alan Browne scored his first goal of the season

West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Reading

Callum Robinson scored his first goal in four months, and was shown his first yellow card since February 2020

League 1

Cheltenham 2-2 Lincoln City

Sean Long was booked for the first time in a month

MK Dons 1-2 Oxford United

Troy Parrott assisted a goal for the first time in ten weeks

Portsmouth 2-0 Morecambe

Marcus Harness scored his tenth goal of the season

Sunderland 2-1 Plymouth Argyle

Aiden O'Brien was booked for the first time this season

League 2

Bradford City 2-2 Sutton United

Niall Canavan was sent off for the second time for Bradford City, just over a year after his last red card on Saturday, 21 November 2020

Bristol Rovers 4-2 Rochdale

Trevor Clarke assisted a goal for the first time this season in his first start in two months

Leyton Orient 1-2 Crawley Town

Will Ferry was named in the starting XI for the first time in six weeks

Walsall 3-0 Colchester

Emmanuel Osadebe made his 50th start for Walsall

Scottish Premier League

St Mirren 1-1 Hibernian

Joe Shaughnessy scored his tenth goal in the SPL
Alan Power was booked for the fifth time this season

Scottish Championship

Dunfermline 3-3 Queen of the South

Mark Connolly scored his first goal for Dunfermline, this was his first goal since January 2020, and the 15th goal of his career

Sunday, 12th December 2021

Scottish Premier League

Celtic 1-0 Motherwell

Jake Carroll's first start in 15 weeks was his 50th start for Motherwell

Round Up for week of Tuesday, 7th December 2021

Tuesday, 7th December 2021

League 1

Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Oxford United

Mark Sykes scored his first goal in six weeks

Rotherham 5-1 Gillingham

Chiedozie Ogbene scored his first goal of the season, this was his first goal since January 2020

Sunderland 5-0 Morecambe

Aiden O'Brien assisted a goal for the first time in nine weeks

Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 Burton Albion

Conor Shaughnessy scored his first goal in eight weeks

League 2

Bristol Rovers 1-2 Port Vale

Trevor Clarke's introduction was his first appearance since Tuesday, 19 October

Leyton Orient 4-1 Swindon Town

Aaron Drinan scored his ninth goal in eight games
Shadrach Ogie was booked for the fifth time this season

Mansfield Town 1-0 Carlisle United

Stephen McLaughlin scored his first goal of the season

Walsall 1-1 Crawley Town

Liam Kinsella was booked for the first time this season

Scottish FA Cup

Greenock Morton 1-1 Inverness CT

Daniel Devine scored his first goal of the season

Wednesday, 8th December 2021

League 1

Wigan 2-1 Shrewsbury

James McClean assisted a goal for the first time in eight weeks
Joshua Daniels was named in the starting XI for the first time since Tuesday, 31 August

League 2

Hartlepool 2-1 Rochdale

Aidan White was booked for the first time this season, this was the defender's first booking since October 2019

Thursday, 9th December 2021

Europa League

Celtic 3-2 Real Betis

Liam Scales made his first start for Celtic

2️⃣ Celtic have named two @FAIreland players in the starting XI for the first time since Anthony Stokes and Eoghan O'Connell started for the Bhoys against Dundee United in August 2015#COYBIG https://t.co/DlhOfcfpIN

— Irish Abroad (@irish_abroad) December 9, 2021

Round Up for weekend of Friday, 3rd December 2021

Friday, 3rd December 2021

Championship

Fulham 1-1 Bournemouth

Robbie Brady came off the bench for his first appearance of the season, this was his first appearance since Saturday, 13th March 2021(268 days)
Mark Travers was booked for the first time this season

Eerste Divisie

Dordrecht 2-5 Roda JC

Liam Bossin was booked for the first time in eight weeks

Saturday, 4th December 2021

Premier League

Newcastle United 1-0 Burnley

Nathan Collins was booked for the first time since Wednesday, 25th August 2021

Southampton 1-1 Brighton and Hove Albion

Aaron Connolly came off the bench for his first appearance since Wednesday, 27th October 2021
Shane Duffy was booked for the first time in five weeks, unfortunatel this was the defender's fifth booking this season and is suspended for the next game

Championship

Coventry 1-2 West Bromwich Albion

Callum Robinson assisted a goal for the first time in a month

Blackburn 1-0 Preston North End

Darragh Lenihan was booked for the fifth time this season

Bristol City 1-0 Derby County

Jason Knight was booked for the first time this season

Cardiff 2-3 Sheffield United

James Collins was booked for the first time in two months
On his 100th start for Sheffield United, David McGoldrick scored his 30th goal the Blades

Millwall 3-1 Birmingham City

Dan McNamara assisted a goal for the first time in 10 months
Scott Hogan made his first assist of the season - this was his first assist since February 2020

League 1

Accrington Stanley 5-1 Fleetwood

John O'Sullivan's introduction was his 50th appearance for Accrington Stanley, across three spells with the club
Cian Hayes was booked for the first time this season in his first appearance in League One

Scottish Championship

Queen of the South 0-0 Partick Thistle

Ruairi Paton was booked for the fifth time this season

FA Cup

Burton Albion 1-2 Port Vale

Conor Shaughnessy 'was booked for the first time in three months

Lincoln City 0-1 Hartlepool

Gavan Holohan was booked for the first time in five weeks

Leyton Orient 4-0 Tranmere

Aaron Drinan scored his seventh goal in his previous seven games

Cambridge United 2-1 Exeter

Wes Hoolahan assisted a goal for Cambridgee for the 15th time

Walsall 1-2 Swindon Town

Emmanuel Osadebe scored his first goal since Tuesday, 19th October

Carlisle United 1-2 Shrewsbury

Corey Whelan was booked for the first time since Saturday, 7th August
Joshua Daniels' introduction was his first appearance in six weeks

Portsmouth 1-2 Harrogate Town

Coincidentally, both Gavin Bazunu and Shaun Williams were named in the Portsmouth starting XI for the 20th time

Australian A-League

Brisbane Roar 0-0 Adelaide United

Jay O'Shea was booked for the first time this season

Sunday, 5th December 2021

Premier League

Tottenham 3-0 Norwich

Adam Idah started a game for the first time in eleven weeks

Scottish Premier League

Dundee Utd 0-3 Celtic

Liam Scales scored his first goal for Celtic in his league debut for the Bhoys

Dark Matters: A Deep Dive Into Debuts Under Giovanni Trapattoni

On Episode 2187 of the Second Captains podcast, released on Monday, 15th November, while reviewing the 3-0 win against Luxembourg, Ken Early claimed that Giovanni Trapattoni never played anyone under the age of 27.

When Trapattoni was the manager, he barely used a guy under the age of 27, he barely brought in a new player in the entire five years that he was there. Who did he actually introduce to the team? James McCarthy, eventually, after he was begged for two or three years, please play this guy. Seamus Coleman eventually became established in the team in 2013, the year that he turned 25, right, after he was left out of the Euros the previous season because he was only 24, maybe 23, I'm not sure what point his birthday is in the year, Seamus Coleman, but he was an established Premier League fullback, and still didn't go to the Euros because Trap was like "well, is he experienced enough?". That's the attitude that we were dealing with. That's the era when a lot of the damage was done.

Before those claims are examined, one minor point. Seamus Coleman was born on Tuesday, 11th October 1988, making him 23 years old when Euro 2012 kicked off, and turned 24 the following October.

Giovanni Trapattoni barely used a guy under the age of 27

In the 64 games he was in charge of, from Thursday, 1st May 2008 until Wednesday, 11th September 2013, Trappatoni awarded caps to 61 players. Of these, 42 played at least once for him before their 27th birthday, whereas 31 players were capped after turning 27. Breaking it down even further, the manager awarded 929 caps in total, 431(46.4%) of these were earned by players under the age of 27, with the remaining 498(53.6%) earned by players after their 27th birthday.

Rating: False - almost half of the caps awarded by the manager were to players under 27

He (Giovanni Trapattoni) barely brought in a new player in the entire five years that he was there

During the Italian's time in charge, 37 players made their international debut , including current squad members James McClean, Jeff Hendrick, and national team captain Seamus Coleman, as well as Robbie Brady and James McCarthy. From the list of former full time managers of the national side, only Mick McCarthy, who managed 16 more games than Trapattoni, awarded more new caps to Irish players. Eight of those 37 players(21.86%) have gone on to earn 50, or more, caps for their country, a higher percentage than all previous managers, except Jack Charlton(9/34 - 26.47%).

Rating: False - Trapattoni debuted more players than all but one previous manager, and of those a higher percentage have earned 50, or more, caps for the Republic of Ireland than all but one previous manager

Seamus Coleman should have been included in the Euro 2012 squad

"Seamus Coleman should have gone to the Euros" is an opinion that has come up from time to time, usually in negative pieces about Trapattoni's time in charge. As Early says, Coleman was an established Premier League full back at the time. and actually reached 50 appearances in the competiton during the 2011/12 season. However, the landmark was reached in less than half of the 114 games Everton played in the previous three seasons. The defender played 24 games that season, but only completed 90 minutes in six of the 17 games where he was named in the Toffee's starting XI that season, the last of which came against Arsenal on Saturday, 11th December 2011. From New Year's Day in 2012 until the end of the season in May 2012, Coleman only started four games (two in the PL, two in the FA Cup), and failed to complete 90 minutes in all four. At the time of the squad announcement in early May 2012, he had four international caps, the last of which had come eleven months earlier, against Italy in June 2011.
Compare that with the recognised full backs in the squad - John O'Shea, Stephen Kelly, Paul McShane (who Trapattoni claimed was included because he could cover both centre half and full back positions), and Kevin Foley, who was controversially removed from the squad on the eve of the tournament
75-times capped John O'Shea had played 34 times that season for Sunderland, after transferring from Manchester United, starting all and completing 90 minutes in all but four games.
Stephen Kelly had also played 34 games in 2011/12 for Fulham, including seven games in their Europa League campaign, and strangely completed 90 minutes in each of the 30 games he started
Finding his chances of getting first team football at Hull City restricted, only playing twice in the first half of the season, Paul McShane moved to Crystal Palace on loan in January 2012 and went on to make 12 apperances for the Eagles, completing 90 minutes in seven of these. When Trapattoni announced the squad, McShane had played 26 times for his country, and would go on to play in a friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovinia before Euro 2012 started.
Kevin Foley's appearances in the first half of the 2011/12 season were restricted by an ankle problem that ruled him out from September 2011 until the following December, and after recovering went on to make 18 appearances for Wolves, completing seven of those - all of which came between January and May 2012. At the time, he had made eight appearances for his country, but would not add to this total before retiring in 2018.
Should Coleman have been included in the squad? It's an interesting question, and there's no simple answer. He had not been a regular in the Everton team that season, and had not played for his country in eleven months at the time of the squad announcement, so even if he had gone, he almost certainly would not have started. Arguably, he would have been third choice right full behind O'Shea and Kelly.

Rating: Neither true nor false - Coleman had not done enough in the 2011/12 season to justify a starting position in the national side ahead of the established players, but with more appearances under Trapattoni in the previous two years could have been a squad player

Player	Caps Under 27y	Caps Over 27y
Shay Given	0	39
Kevin Kilbane	0	23
Damien Duff	0	33
Robbie Keane	0	50
Dean Kiely	0	3
Steven Finnan	0	3
Richard Dunne	0	39
John O'Shea	0	48
Steven Reid	0	3
Joe Murphy	0	1
Liam Miller	0	5
Martin Rowlands	0	2
Aiden McGeady	40	3
Kevin Doyle	21	16
Joey O'Brien	2	0
Stephen Kelly	8	17
Liam Lawrence	0	15
Kevin Foley	8	0
Daryl Murphy	3	0
Paul McShane	19	3
Shane Long	33	0
Darron Gibson	17	0
Stephen Hunt	1	28
Anthony Stokes	1	0
Andy Keogh	22	3
Alex Bruce	1	0
Darren O'Dea	20	0
Glenn Whelan	25	26
Damien Delaney	2	5
Keiren Westwood	8	8
Wes Hoolahan	1	6
Leon Best	7	0
Caleb Folan	7	0
Keith Andrews	0	35
Noel Hunt	3	0
Eddie Nolan	3	0
David Forde	0	12
Ciaran Clark	8	0
Marc Wilson	10	0
Seamus Coleman	17	0
James McCarthy	18	0
James McClean	16	0
Conor Sammon	9	0
Jonathan Walters	0	22
Darren Randolph	2	0
Paul Green	0	18
Sean St Ledger	24	12
Jeff Hendrick	4	0
Robbie Brady	6	0
Simon Cox	27	0
Greg Cunningham	4	0
Keith Fahey	0	15
Cillian Sheridan	3	0
Keith Treacy	6	0
Stephen Ward	15	3
David Meyler	4	0
Alex Pearce	1	0
Richard Keogh	2	0
Stephen Quinn	0	2
Paddy Madden	1	0
Anthony Pilkington	2	0
Total	431	498
Count	42	31

Player	Caps
Glenn Whelan	91
James McClean	88
Jeff Hendrick	68
Seamus Coleman	63
Robbie Brady	57
Jonathan Walters	54
Darren Randolph	50
Stephen Ward	50
Wes Hoolahan	43
James McCarthy	43
Sean St Ledger	37
Ciaran Clark	36
Keith Andrews	35
Simon Cox	30
David Meyler	26
Richard Keogh	26
Marc Wilson	25
David Forde	24
Paul Green	22
Keiren Westwood	21
Darren O'Dea	20
Stephen Quinn	18
Liam Lawrence	15
Keith Fahey	15
Damien Delaney	9
Conor Sammon	9
Alex Pearce	9
Anthony Pilkington	9
Kevin Foley	8
Leon Best	7
Caleb Folan	7
Keith Treacy	6
Greg Cunningham	4
Noel Hunt	3
Eddie Nolan	3
Cillian Sheridan	3
Paddy Madden	1

Manager	Debuts	Ave. Age(y d)	>50 Caps(%)
Mick McCarthy	50	22y 197d	10(20.00%)
Giovanni Trapattoni	37	24y 138d	8(21.62%)
Jack Charlton	34	23y 263d	9(26.47%)
Johnny Giles	33	22y 224d	4(12.12%)
Martin O'Neill	28	24y 321d	1(3.57%)
Eoin Hand	24	23y 351d	5(20.83%)
Steve Staunton	23	21y 315d	2(8.70%)
Brian Kerr	15	23y 129d	1(6.67%)
Stephen Kenny	12	22y 43d	0(0.00%)
Mick Meagan	10	22y 87d	0(0.00%)
Liam Tuohy	9	23y 142d	1(11.11%)
Alan Kelly Snr	2	21y 28d	1(50.00%)
Don Givens	1	24y 336d	0(0.00%)
Sean Thomas	1	22y 320d	0(0.00%)

Round Up for week of Thursday, 30th November 2021

Tuesday, 30th November 2021

Premier League

Newcastle United 1-1 Norwich

Ciaran Clark was sent off for the first time for Newcastle United. This was the third sending off of his career, and his first since being sent off in January 2015

FA Cup

Exeter 2-1 Bradford City

Paudie O'Connor was booked for the fifth time this season and is suspended for the next game - this was his first yellow card in eight weeks

Football League Trophy

Bolton 1-0 Fleetwood

Eoin Doyle assisted a goal for the first time since August
Cian Hayes started a game in senior football for the first time in his career

Rotherham 1-1 Port Vale

JJ Kayode started a game for the first time in five weeks
Kieran Sadlier assisted a goal for the first time since Tuesday, 26th October

Leyton Orient 0-0 MK Dons

Troy Parrott was sent off for the first time in his career

Cambridge United 2-0 Walsall

Liam Kinsella was named in the starting XI for the first time since Saturday, 18th September

Swindon Town 1-2 Colchester

Alan Judge was booked for the first time this season

Wednesday, 1st December 2021

Premier League

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Burnley

Nathan Collins' start was his first appearance since Wednesday, 27th October

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen 2-0 Livingston

Jonathan Hayes assisted a goal for the first time this season

Hibernian 0-1 Rangers

Jake Doyle-Hayes was booked for the first time in two months

St Mirren 0-0 Ross County

Both Charles Dunne and Connor Ronan were booked for the first time this season. Dunne's yellow card was his first booking since December 2018

Sunderland 0-1 Oldham

In his first start in six weeks, Harry Vaughan scored his first goal in nine weeks

Thursday, 2nd December 2021

Scottish Premier League

Celtic 1-0 Hearts

Aaron McEneff started a game for Hearts for the first time since Saturday, 10th July

Bulgarian Parva Liga

CSKA Sofia 2-0 Lokomotiv Sofia 1929

Graham Carey was booked for the first time since Thursday, 22 July