Ireland could theoretically have 19 squad members playing in the Premier League next season.
By the time the September and October qualifiers come around, Martin O’Neill should be taking his pick from at least 15 players in the top flight of English football – and that’s men who are already in the international setup.
All the pre-Euro 2016 talk was fairly glum.
The team wasn’t that good, we thought. There was no-one coming through, we thought. Barely any of the big clubs were touching the Irish talent that was available to them as well.
We were wrong, wrong, and wrong.
Brighton’s promotion from the Championship on Monday brings two extra men to the top table with them whilst Rafa Benitezz’s Newcastle revolution looks set to be good news for the country too. There’s still plenty to play for in both divisions however.
And with the playoffs still to come in the Championship, there’s even more to play for down there.
What that means is that there are a hell of a lot of players who will be mixing it at the top next season. And even more to come.
Definites*
*Beyond reasonable doubt.
- Darren Randolph (West Ham)
- Rob Elliot (Newcastle)
- Seamus Coleman (Everton)
- Shane Duffy (Brighton)
- Ciaran Clark (Newcastle)
- Stephen Ward (Burnley)
- Robbie Brady (Burnley)
- Harry Arter (Bournemouth)
- James McCarthy (Everton)
- Glenn Whelan (Stoke)
- Jeff Hendrick (Burnley)
- James McClean (West Brom)
- Jon Walters (Stoke)
- Shane Long (Southampton)
- Daryl Murphy (Newcastle)
Probables
- David Meyler (Hull City)
- Richie Towell (Brighton)
Possibles
- Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday)
- John O’Shea (Sunderland)
- Paul McShane (Reading)
- Darron Gibson (Sunderland)
- Stephen Quinn (Reading)
- Eunan O’Kane (Leeds United)
Suddenly things aren’t looking so bad.
Here are the remaining games in the World Cup qualifying group.
- Ireland v Austria (June 11)
- Georgia v Ireland (September 2)
- Ireland v Serbia (September 5)
- Ireland v Moldova (October 6)
- Wales v Ireland (October 9)
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