Adam Idah

He was up against 2 second choice centre backs whilsts both are strong players, their not world class.

Spot the Liverpool fan. 

He clearly needs a full season of games, a complete waste not loaning him out to a Championship or League 1 side. Give the lad a chance

I agree he needs a run of games against weaker teams. Needs perhaps that extra split second to set himself to strike at goal that you don’t get at PL level. 

If he starts to get a taste for goal then maybe he might transfer back to PL level or even upper championship level (which is probably the best we could expect as anything higher you have to be top class scorer these days)

That said, a loan would be good for him 

He is a young player playing in the worst team in the best league in the world! He has been involved in 5 out of 7 games I think it is?! And in those games they've played Liverpool twice, Leicester, arsenal. He was never going to be banging in goals in those games, Norwich were always going to be losing and playing with very little possession.

I'm more interested in seeing how he gets on in games against the rest of the league, Norwich are still probably going to lose most of those games but the standard will be closer. And even if he ends the season with only 2 or 3 goals but has been involved regularly then that will be a massively successful season.

If it gets to a stage that he isn't involved for multiple games in a row then maybe the loan will be the way to go as the manager might have lost confidence if that has happened but until that happens then he is grand where he is

Since the beginning of the 2020/21 season - Parrott has had 5 goal involvements (4 goals, 1 assist in roughly 2,500 minutes of senior League football, mainly L1, some championship where he managed 0 in 11 appearances). He was anonymous during the Azerbaijan game. Idah in the same period has had 4 goal involvements (3 goals, 1 assist) in 464 minutes of League Football (PL and CH), he was arguably MotM away to Portugal and has featured in 6 of Norwich's 7 games this season. He's grand where he is for now as long as he continues to be involved, Pukki's form isnt great and he's not the player he was 2 seasons ago. If Idah falls out of the first team squad and isnt consistently making the bench come Christmas then maybe a loan would suit and I'm sure there would be Championship clubs showing an interest.

Parrott has absolutely done nothing to warrant a starting place for Ireland ahead of Idah.

Our next 4 international fixtures come in October and November and are effectively dead rubbers (bar for Kenny trying to save his job), replacing Idah with Collins who will be 31 in December (and hasnt had a goal or an assist this season) would be a retrograde step and contradict everything Kenny has said publicly about prepping these lads for Euro 24. Parrott should start the friendly vs Qatar. As far as I can see, these 3 are our only viable hold up #9 options. 

Robinson and Connolly should start either side of Idah in the two "must win games for Kenny". Scully deserves a call up and a chance maybe vs Qatar, but if not certainly in next March's friendlies. Obafemi has played just 218 minutes of senior football since June 2020, maybe he can work his way back in, but he has shown nothing to suggest he "should" be included yet. Long is 35 in January and hasnt played a minute of football this season. his last international goal was 5 years ago (he has played for us at least 18 times since). Shane has been a great servant and if qualification was at stake, you might have him on the bench, because he works defenders, but tbh he forgot how to put the ball in the net about 5 years ago now. Will Keane has been doing ok at L1 level for a while (no better than Scully and Curtis), but he's 28 with a very poor history of injuries (only 120 odd senior games played), if Kenny selected him it would only be a rod for his own back, it's not going to happen.

Worth pointing out also that Didzy (33), every ones favourite retiree managed 1 goal in 14 for Ireland, while Robinson (26) (probably the best we have currently tbf) has managed 1 in 20. 

Hogan (29) has 0 in 8, Maguire (27) has 1 in 12 for Ireland. None are ripping up trees at club level or suggesting they have improved significantly. Hogan has 10 goals in 2500 minutes since the start of the 20/21 season and has lost his place in the team to Deeney, Maguire has 5 goals and 4 assists in 2,100 minutes over the same period and is an irregular starter. If we are serious about building for the future, I see no point in selecting either for dead rubbers. We can revisit where everyone is at in advance of the Nations League.

Meanwhile, post WC 22, I see it like this hopefully going forward, maybe one of the older lads can enjoy a serious uptick in form and get in the mix also, maybe one of the younger lads like Ferguson can continue to progress.

RF - Robinson/Obafemi

ST - Idah/Parrott 

LF - Connolly/Scully