Alan Browne

Not too difficult... 

Agree. I thought he actually gave the ball away quite often today. Got his goal but dont think he did that well. Good squad player though.

Lovely finish.

Lenihan too 

Put me in the group that thinks Browne is underrated. He's been one of our better performers in big games over the last few years - Denmark (h), Slovakia, Serbia (a), and now popping up with that important goal vs Belgium.

Start of last year Kenny tipped Browne to have a big year, but then of course he missed a lot of Ireland games because of covid/injury, so he's been unlucky.

zizu Kilbane wrote: I clocked that and his reaction alright!  It was a fantastic header. Fair play to him for making an impact when he came on. i actually think he's been decent when played under Kenny. He's 26 though, I think he's probably at his level. Good squad player/ impact aub to have

An example I always come back to, Enda Stevens was in League 2 at 26, Wilder plucked him out of obscurity and ended up playing 2 seasons in the Prem (the 1st being excellent) by 30. As I said in another thread, we have an awful lot of late bloomers.

He'll be entering the last year of his contract come June, so he might move on. He could get a lucky break and end up at a yo-yo club like Norwich, a get a few seasons in the PL.

His best form came when he was nailed on in one position.

Dare I say his name but before he jumped ship, Stephen Ireland had fantastic positional awareness and timing when it came to getting in the right areas to score and Browne looks to have that in him too. He wouldn't have the raw ability Ireland had overall but he could definitely be a huge impact sub for us over the next few years.