Victims XI?

A recent article on joe.ie asserted that Birmingham City midfielder Stephen Gleeson is the real victim of Martin O'Neill's approach to squad selection. The former Wolves trainee is currently sitting in sixth in the Championship, ahead of senior international squad members Anthony Pilkington(ninth with Cardiff City) and Paul Green(24th with Rotherham) among others, but has yet to be called up by the manager. With this in mind, we analysed the appearance data for this season of players in England, Scotland and the USA to see if a starting XI of players who have not been capped by the manager since his appointment can be produced.

Goalkeeper 

While we're informally sticking to players who have at least ten appearances so far in 2015/16, we're bending the rules to include Charlton's Stephen Henderson between the sticks. Falkirk's on loan keeper Danny Rogers has made 16 appearances to Henderson's two starts since returning from shoulder surgery, but with Rogers currently in the U21 squad, Stephen lines out to continue the family legacy of his grandfather Paddy and uncle Wayne with international caps for Ireland.

Defence

Bristol City's Derrick Williams starts at left full for our side, the Championship defender is a graduate of Aston Villa's academy and has started all but three of the Robins' games so far.
Matt Doherty fills the right back slot in the team. The Wolverhampton Wanderers defender has appeared in 11 of their 17 games this season.
The Scottish Premier League provides both centre halves. Daniel Devine*, of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and St Johnstone's Joe Shaughnessy are partners in central defence. Both players have European experience this season, playing against AFC Astra of Romania, and Alashkert FC of Armenia in the early rounds of the UEFA Cup.

Midfield

At left wing, Huddersfield's Sean Scannell provides both a goal threat and a creative spark. The winger only has one assist this season and has yet to find the back of the net, but finished 2014/15 with seven assists and four goals.
On the opposite wing, Aberdeen's Willo Flood fulfills the promise shown after breaking through at Manchester City and joins Glenn Whelan and Stephen Elliott as former Blues trainees with senior Republic of Ireland caps.
We agree with with joe.ie that Stephen Gleeson should start in midfield, and have paired him with Alan McCormack. The Brentford midfielder plays a little deeper than Gleeson, but still has a pair of assists this season.

Strikers

Up front, Cardiff City's Joe Mason and St Johnstone's Graham Cummins are the only uncapped strikers available to Martin O'Neill. Mason has scored five times for the Bluebirds this season, while Cummins has six goals in Scotland, and also provided four assists.

Below is the data used to pick the side, what players would you have picked in favour of the XI assembled here?

Player	Age	Position	Starts	Intro	Apps	Goals
Jonathan Hayes	28	Midfielder	18	0	18	1
Joe Shaughnessy	23	Defender	17	0	17	1
Daniel Devine	23	Defender	17	0	17	1
Stephen Gleeson	27	Midfielder	16	0	16	2
Graham Cummins	27	Striker	12	4	16	6
Danny Rogers	21	Goalkeeper	16	0	16	0
Derrick Williams	22	Defender	12	3	15	1
Jonathan Douglas	33	Midfielder	12	2	14	0
Alan McCormack	31	Midfielder	12	2	14	0
Joe Mason	24	Striker	14	0	14	5
Alan Browne	20	Midfielder	9	5	14	1
Willo Flood	30	Midfielder	8	5	13	0
Samir Carruthers	22	Midfielder	9	4	13	0
Sean Scannell	25	Midfielder	11	0	11	0
Matt Doherty	23	Defender	6	5	11	0
Aidan White	24	Defender	4	6	10	0
Conor Wilkinson	20	Midfielder	3	7	10	1

*Daniel Devine has underage caps for Northern Ireland, and declared for the Republic of Ireland in May 2011

Hoolahan's Short Turnaround

Following Ireland's loss to Poland in the final game in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group D, the focus turned on why the players were not able to reproduce the performance from the previous game at home to Germany. Chief among the reasons given was the absence of Norwich playmaker Wes Hoolahan from the starting XI.

In a pre match interview with RTE's Tony O'Donoghue, manager Martin O'Neill stated that the player had told him that he was not fit to start the game, and had been carrying a heel injury going into the Germany game.

At 33, Hoolahan is very much in the autumn of his career, and rarely completes ninety minutes in two consecutive games in such a short turnaround. We have to go back to December 2011 to find the last time he completed two games in four days, when a then 29 year old Hoolahan faced Tottenham Hotspur on the 27th, with compatriot Anthony Pilkington coming off the bench, before lining out alongside Pilkington against Fulham on the 31st.

To find the last time he played two games in three days, we have to go back more than 22 months, to February 2010 when Hoolahan completed 90 minutes against Southampton on the 20th and Southend on the 23rd in League One. In this pair of games, Hoolahan was joined in the starting XI by Donegal's Gary Doherty.

September 2015 Stats

Irish Abroad players appearance statistics for September 2015: http://irish-abroad.appspot.com/MonthlyStats?month=9

Wins

Everton's James McCarthy was the only midfielder to win three games in September, but defenders Joe Shaughnessy, Daniel Devine, Paul McShane, Cyrus Christie and Richard Keogh all finished on the winning side three times. No striker managed the feat.

Draws

In the same month defender Greg Cunningham returned to the Ireland squad, he started three games that finished all square. In addition, all three games were at home.

Losses

Three was also the magic number for losses, with John O'Shea, Alan McCormack, Stephen Gleeson, Alan Judge and Samir Carruthers all starting three losses in September.

 

Starts/Completed Games

Stephen Gleeson started the most games in September, the Birmingham midfielder was named in the starting XI for his side six times, and went on to completed 90 minutes in each one.

 

Substitutions/Introductions

Cardiff City striker Joe Mason was substituted three times in September, twice at home and once away, while Derby County midfielder Jeff Hendrick was introduced from the bench three times.

 

Stayed on bench

Goalkeeper Jack Bonham was named on the substitutes bench five times in September, without being introduced, while outfield players Stephen Ward and Sean Kavanagh started and finished four games on the bench.

 

Goals

Jonathan Walters, Shane Long, Joe Mason and Adam Rooney only needed two strikes to top the scoring charts in September. Rooney and Mason's goals led to wins for their sides, and both of Rooney's strikes came from the penalty spot.

 

Discipline

Alan McCormack was booked three times in his five games in September, all of which came at home.