Ireland's Pre-Euros Training Camp - The Main Losers and Winners

extratime

The announcement of the Republic of Ireland squad for Euro 2016 was a typical Martin O'Neill affair: at once understated and nerve-racking, with a couple of surprises to boot.

The decision to wait until after the friendly with Belarus at Turner's Cross was widely criticised, not least because Cork City's stadium doesn't possess anything like the media facilities of the Aviva Stadium, but few could have expected the announcement would come on the back of a dispiriting defeat.

It wasn't how it was supposed to turn out – and Roy Keane was never going to pass up the opportunity to deliver a few targeted messages afterwards – but the task of selecting the squad remained, and a number were bound to be disappointed.

While there were no shock omissions in the end, however the contrasting performances, and results, across the two games will have proven useful for Martin O'Neill in determining which of his squad members he'll be able to rely upon in France and who's going to make up the numbers.

For several who featured over the two games, it may have been the last time they wear the green shirt on Irish soil. For others it may be the last time they wear the shirt altogether.

Here's our list of the main casualties and beneficiaries of the May friendlies, and the lie of the land heading into Ireland's third-ever European Championship appearance.

The Losers

David Forde

When the ex-Galway United and Derry City goalkeeper was introduced for Shay Given with 15 minutes remaining, in a ground he'd be more than familiar with from his League of Ireland days, it could have been seen as confirmation he'd won the final goalkeeper's shirt from Keiren Westwood. As it happened, the beaming smile of the unused Westwood upon the final whistle confirmed he'd gotten the nod, and Forde had paid the price for losing his first-team spot at Millwall to 17-year-old Jordan Archer. Martin O'Neill clearly agonised over the decision, a particularly cruel one given the magnificent role Forde played in claiming a vital point against the World Champions in Gelsenkirchen, however eventually his lack of football and declined status told. His cameo at Turner's Cross is likely, then, his farewell in an Ireland shirt, though perhaps not his final action at a League of Ireland ground.

Darron Gibson

Like his Everton team-mate Aiden McGeady, Gibson fell down the pecking order in the last year at Goodison Park, as another series of long-term injuries restricted the 28-year-old to just seven Premier League appearances, mostly as a result of injuries. Martin O'Neill acknowledged as much when he urged Gibson to leave on loan during the January window in order to remain in the frame for the Euros, and perhaps moreso than McGeady his injury profile meant he needed the gametime. Whereas McGeady's decision to move on loan, albeit unsuccessfully, earned him some credit in the manager's ledger, O'Neill didn't see enough against Belarus to suggest his fellow Derryman would be a sufficiently useful option in France. Perhaps he will come to regret his decision not to heed O'Neill’s advice.

David McGoldrick

The Ipswich forward was hugely impressive in his first appearance for his adopted country, brilliantly running the space between midfield and attack in a 4-1 victory over the United States, but like others he's struggled to avoid injury this year. He missed four months around the turn of the year and wasn't able to rediscover the form that had then Mick McCarthy rebuff a high seven-figure offer for his services from then Premier League newcomers Leicester City two summers ago. A third cap against the Netherlands proved promising, as McGoldrick played well the floating midfield role usually afforded Wes Hoolahan, but inferiority to Hoolahan and similarity to Robbie Keane seem to have put the kibosh on his chances of earning the fourth striker slot ahead of fellow Tractor Boy Daryl Murphy.

The Winners

Stephen Quinn

If ever there was a game in which a player was going to impress by his mere absence, Tuesday's was that game, as the Irish midfield disintegrated in the face of lowly Belarus, whose neat triangles of passing football allowed them to easily bypass their nominally superior opposite numbers. Jeff Hendrick struggled in an advanced role, though he'll surely be favourite to start against Sweden, but David Meyler can consider himself lucky Harry Arter sustained an injury in training on Monday, leaving Gibson to draw the short straw. Quinn, alongside Arter, was busy against the Netherlands without inviting much attention, either positive or negative. That high-energy approach and cultured left boot likely swung it for the Cherry Orchard product.

Aiden McGeady

If Quinn benefited from being spared the indignity of a Bela-roasting, McGeady was undoubtedly fortunate to be given the relatively simple task of playing his way into form against a depleted side beaten 3-0 in Belfast last week. McGeady arguably put in one of the stronger shifts of an ignominious outing for Martin O'Neill's second-string, but his very selection reinforces the fact that McGeady is no longer in the frame for a starting spot. That O'Neill's preferred system is now to play without wingers sums up his predicament, and unlike James McClean he doesn't offer an option up front. What O'Neill clearly values is his ability to turn around defenders and, on occasion, deliver a killer final ball, as he did when he put chances on a plate for Daryl Murphy and Ciaran Clark against Belarus. Any opportunity to do so at the Euros will come as an act of desperation.

Shane Duffy

While many players went into these friendlies looking to earn or cement a place on the plane to France – and Duffy could have been considered among them – only the Blackburn Rovers centre-half has put his hand up as a serious option for the first eleven come June 13^th in Saint-Denis. The Derryman was caught ball-watching for Luuk De Jong's late equaliser against the Netherlands, but Martin O'Neill will have been particularly impressed by his aerial prowess in attack. While the goal came about from a rare John O'Shea header, Duffy was Robbie Brady's preferred option from set-pieces, and the one-time Ireland under-21 team-mates seem to have a natural rapport at both ends of the pitch. Ciaran Clark's impressive performance against Belarus will have pressed his claim too, but Duffy has begun to display maturity beyond his three caps, and may yet profit from partnering-up with O'Shea this week.