Will Keane

If Kenny can a pull a mad one out of his hole like starting Jamie McGrath against Portugal, then Keane starting against Azerbaijan is well within the realms of possibility. 

You started making a valid argument about Will Keane's record but then decided to have a go at your alter egos / arch nemesis (most of us on here can't determine which or what the relationship actually is). Why don't you just use DM, save us all having to read this sh*te? 

It is all very strange. 

No its disingenuous to refer to Keane's record at CH/PL level when he hasn't played there since 2018/19. Players can and do improve as they get older btw - Drogba, Vardy, Walters, Mc Goldrick, Daryl Murphy etc.

He is 28 and since the start of the 2020/21 campaign he has 15 goals in 42 L1 games. Scully has 18 goals in 51 L1 games, Parrott has 5 in 26 L1 games (plus 0 in 11 CH games) over the same period. As pointed out by several others, Scully is a left sided forward and playing in the same position as Connolly and the position in which Robinson has played for West Brom this season. Keane and Scully have similar goals per game ratios in League 1 over the last season and a bit, but they are entirely different types of player, which may explain Keane's selection over Scully. I was surprised at Keane's inclusion, but I can see a certain logic to it - it's either brave or stupid. I was not particularly surprised at Scully's exclusion - he will get his chance in March.

I have never seen either Scully or Keane play a full game - the management team have made a decision, you can lump on when and if it all goes tits up, but the faux outrage is all a bit ott tbh.

For the record and I would share some of the reservations (primarily regarding his ability as I haven't seen him play a full match and he is a L1 player), Collins, Maguire, Hogan, Scully. Mc Goldrick, Robinson, Curtis and Aiden O'Brien were all born in England, I cant be bothered to check which of them have underage caps for England, (perhaps they weren't good enough?) but I know Robinson and Scully have.

I'm a realist. I'm fully aware the vast majority of English-born players are playing for us because they aren't good enough to play for England. I'm referring to the average Joe you'd see commenting on 42 or Twitter. What they know of Keane is his Man Utd past, past England caps, and a brother who is a senior England intl and former Ireland intl.

The FAI media team really need to look at the optics here. If it was Patrick Bamford, even the most cynical among us would have our spirits raised by a PL player who consistently scores goals at that level declaring for us.

But this is 28-year-old Will Keane, who has a 1 in 13 record at Championship level. The lack of self-awareness is almost comical.

McG wrote: FAI seem to be really whoring him out on their social channels.

Where? On Twitter & Instagram all I see is one post welcoming him to his first Ireland camp.