Put a list of 60 players together (which includes 20 or so younger players) and put a target for them for the upcoming 2021-22 Season. Either looking to cement a regular spot they have at their club, looking to get a loan or permanent move or needing to push hard and nail down a regular spot.

Obviously its my own opinion (and open to criticism) but the very fact that there is a pool of 60 players shows we have a decent pick of players (but without the top top players we might have had in the past!)

Some interesting young players coming through and we'd be in a decent position if some of the players pushing for a starting spot at their clubs could nail it down....

Continue to be regular starter
Seamus Coleman - hopefully can remain a regular starter at Everton under a new boss
Dara O'Shea - relegated with West Brom but will surely look to stay and become a 1st team regular
John Egan - will be 1st choice at Sheff Utd if he stays
Matt Doherty - new manager due in at Spurs so needs to impress and continue to be a regular starter
Enda Stevens - will continue to be a 1st team regular at Sheff Utd if he stays there
Andrew Omobamidele - should look to cement his place as a 1st team starter for Norwich
Ciaran Clark - will presumably continue to be a regular starter with Newcastle.
Cyrus Christie - a regular starter for Notts Forest in the Championship and will be hoping this stays the same next season
Alan Browne - continue to be a regular starter for Preston. Hopefully they can push on and challenge for playoff spots
Josh Cullen - continue to be a regular starter at Anderlecht
Jason Knight - regular starter at Derby, with the possibility of a move higher up the chain
Sammie Szmodics -  regular starter at Peterborough and will be looking to keep his place now that they have moved up to the Championship
Jamie McGrath - will be an obvious starter at St Mirren but talks about potentially a move higher up the chain in Scotland or to a Championship club
Callum O'Dowda - presumably will carry on to be a regualr starter for Bristol City in the Championship
Daryl Horgan - a regular contributor for Wycombe in the Championship and will hope to keep this form going.
David McGoldrick - will prob stay with Sheff Utd and continue to be one of their main strikers
Ronan Curtis - regularly involved with the 1st team match day squad at Portsmouth. Needs to ensure he makes a starting place his own.
Callum Robinson - finished the season well with West Brom, presumbaly will stick with them in the Championship and hope to become a regular scorer

Needs a new permanent move
Robbie Brady - has been let go from Burnley. Some Premier League teams may be interested in him. Was worth £13million a few years ago. Needs to re-find some form.
Harry Arter - left out of the Notts Forest squad for the end of the season, so hard to know what the future holds. Probably needs to move on.
Conor Hourihane - will be back at Aston Villa after a loan at Swnasea. Maybe look to secure a move to Swnasea full time or a move to a Championship club to secure regular football.
James McClean - Not sure whether he will remain at Stoke. Would ideally be starting full time or look for a move.

Needs a loan move
Gavin Bazunu - possibly would require another loan deal having spent last year at Rochdale from Man City. Possibly higher up the league this time.
Caoimhin Kelleher - establish himself as No.2 at Liverpool or potentially join a Championship side on loan
Mark Travers - got some game time on loan at Swindon last season but returned to Bournemouth and sat on the bench. Will have his work cut out replacing Begovic so may need to move on loan again.

Troy Parrott - needs a loan move to a Championship club and for it to go well. Needs to be scoring goals to make an impression.

Needs to push for a starting slot
Darren Randolph - Will stay at West Ham and continue is role as No.2 but needs 1st team games to fend off younger keepers in Ireland panel
Ryan Manning - ended the season as a sub at Swansea and needs to force his way into the starting 11
Kevin Long - didnt feature very much for Burnley last season. With Tarkowski set to leave for West Ham, it may open up a CB slot but not sure Long will be the one to be given the opportunity
Shane Duffy - needs to break back into the Brighton 1st team or look to go out on loan to a Championship club, perhaps even a full time transfer
Jack Byrne - contracted with APOEL in Cyprus. Challenge is to get back from injury and become a regular starter.
James McCarty - suffers from long spells out through injury, only started 10 game last year. Will be hoping to stay injury free and work his way back into Crystal Palace team in the Championship
Jeff Hendrick - Spent the latter part of last season on the bench at Newcastle and needs to get back into starting 11
Jayson Molumby - Brighton loaned him to Preston last year and he ended the season on the bench. Needs to progress forward again.
James Collins - just joined Cardiff so challenge is to become regular starter and scorer for them.
Adam Idah - will be hoping to nail down a regular starting spot for Norwich in the Premier League
Aaron Connolly - needs to get back into first team as a regular starter and looking to hit 10 goals a season
Sean Maguire - finished the season the bench at Preston. Needs to get back into the starting team on a regular basis.
Michael Obafemi - unused sub at Southampton towards the end of the season. Needs to work hard to break into the team or move out on loan somewhere
Chiedozie Ogebene -  Will be looking for 1st team football on a regular basis at Rotherham in League One next season.

Younger Players (under 21)
Lee O'Connor - will return to Celtic after a year on loan at Tranmere. Needs to impress the new manager and nail down a spot in the first team squad even if he isn't a regular starter.
Nathan Collins - likely to move on from Stoke and Burnley are preparing a bid. Would need to become 1st team regular if he joins.
John Joe Patrick Finn Benoa - 6 substiture appearances for Getafe in La Liga back in Jan/Feb. Hopefully he can push on and get some regular action with them next season
Will Smallbone - picked up a knee injury in Jan and will be out for a while. Hopefully can get some 1st team action at Southampton when he refurns to full fitness
Ademipo Odubeko - has been on the 1st team bench regularly. Needs to get some regular experience coming on and potentially make a few starts. Getting on the scoresheet.
Mark McGuinness - was on loan at Ipswich last season and potentially needs another loan move to a Championship club or perhaps stay with Arsenal and push to become a member of 1st team squad.
Oisin McEntee - 20 yr old was given a new contract at Newcastle this summer so hopefully he can get into the first team squad at some stage next season
Festy Ebosele - made the bench last season and needs to break through and be a consistent member of 1st team squad at Derby
Shane Flynn - break through and be a consistent member of 1st team squad at Leicester
Sean Roughan - rumoured to be moving from Lincoln with Chelsea and Southampton interested. If this doesnt happen, continue to get 1st team games at Lincoln
Ansemlo Garcia McNulty - 18 yr old with Wolfsburg in Germany. Needs to push into 1st team squad from their second string.
Conor Coventry - make the jump through to the 1st team squad at West Ham and be a regular match day member
Gavin Kilkenny - 21 yr old lad who consistently makes the bench for Bournemouth. Needs some 1st team game time at this stage. Only got 1 appearance from 19 times on the bench.
Will Ferry - unused sub at Southampton towards the end of the season. Needs to get a few subsstitute appearances under his belt and push on
Conor Noss - 20 years old, regular in 2nd team at Borussia Monchengladbach, needs to impress further and secure first team appearances
Louie Watson - highly regarded by Derby and finished the season with 8 sub appearances in the 1st team. Hopefully can push on and get a starting position
Ryan Johansson- 20 year old, playing with 2nd team in Seville. Will be interesting to see if he can get close to the first team
Luca Connell - went on loan to Queens Park from Celtic last season, ended it with a couple of goals. Needs to impress new Celtic manager and get some game time
Bosun Lawal - 18 yr old highly regarded at Watford, could possibly look to get experience with the 1st team squad
Jonathan Afolabi - 21 yr old, went to Dundee on loan from Celtic last year, mostly used as a sub. Will be looking to impress the new Celtic manager or move on permanently.

+1

Good work all the same

A few names that may be worth adding to the list.

Danny Mandroiu was called up recently and if there's one LOI player who might get a decent move abroad, it's him. 

Darragh Lenihan at Blackburn is still only 27 and plays every game.

Excluding Collins who's already broken through, which of these lads will make the biggest breakthrough next year?

I am going to go with Luca Connell. He wiped the floor when out on loan earlier in the year and he show huge ability in the under 21 games for us, he's also got an unreal left foot and is not afraid to take a shot at goal. He's going back to a Celtic team filled with deadwood and a new manager. I think he puts in a big pre season and the new manager sees his quality, next stop a 35 yard screamer in the old firm derby 

When you look at it you really hope that some of the next crop of younger lads really take off.  If this list had been done a year or two back it would have been way more optimistic about Connolly, Molumby, Parrott etc.  

Plus Thomas O’ Connor 

On loan at Gillingham the last 2 seasons from Southampton.

Just turned 22 so hopefully he can get a loan move to a championship club or added to Southampton squad. 

If he looked a cut above why was he on the bench for their biggest game of the season?

I believe he has 17 goals and 11 assists for last season and he wasn't always in the team as you pointed out. He's 22 and I suspect has fitness issues which means he doesn't finish 90mins on a regular basis.

Fixing his fitness issues is achievable especially at his age and if he works that out I feel he'll be very good.

But still to deliver what he has last season is remanarkable

True. 

Anyone watch the programme on BBC the other night about Roberto Martinez?

It followed him in his day to day work in the lead up to the euros, some amount of analysis and data he goes through with his team on a daily basis. 

Of course he has the players but its certainly high performance work from him, you'd wonder what ours is like in comparison

I think the overall panel for Euro 2024 is looking good.

We have some excellent senior pros and if we can get progress from the two keepers and a decent chunk of the likes of Collins, Parrott, Molumby, Idah, Connolly, Obafemi, O'Connor, Smallbone, Adebuko, McGuinness, Flynn, Roughan, Coventry, Watson, Lawal, we'd be looking at a competitive side....

There’s plenty lads that could do it. 

Connell would be one yes I would hope he will get into the Celtic picture they are not teeming with depth at midfield. I could see Garcia McNulty getting close to first team action at Wolfsburg too.  

Festy Ebosele I think would be likely to break into the Derby team next season if staying. Will start getting very handy amongst their side. 

Odubeko with a good pre season will hopefully start getting appearances in Cup competitions/Europa League games for West Ham. (presuming he sticks with us) 

If Will Smallbone can come back and get fit he will get a run of first team games for Southampton. Only for injury he’d already be doing this his manager seems to have a very high opinion of him. 

Of the 2003 born lads Callum Kavanagh is one that may well get a first team appearance. Very talented player. 

Also Tayo Adaramola at Crystal Palace is rated really highly there. Another one that may get a first team/cup game look in this season at some stage. 

Its a crucial part of management, and its a role that has evolved in such a way that managers need to be attuned to it, and if it isn't their strongest suit, they have somebody in the management team that is dedicated to it. The Irish rugby team have had this for a long time (potentially there is somebody in the football management team), but for years, the Irish high performance director has sat alongside Schmidt and now Farrell in the booth, and is almost as visible. The closest I have heard with the FAI was when Noel King had a player identification role, after he left the Under 21 job. But it is a sports science, and when applied, I believe to the list of players that Greenshoots has mentioned, that you could undoubtedly create a team that not only should have been able to get to the Euros, but would still be in the hunt for the World Cup.

In many respects, high performance analytics is something that is way more important that haphazardly giving young players 'minutes' and assuming it will stand to them, or trying to force players to play to a standard that they aren't capable of and assuming it will come good. 

 

+2

 

It was as long as one of Sid's posts but I actually read this one out of interest.

March 2023 is the first of these games. That’s the next target. We will have a solid defence by then I think and the two young keepers I have no fear of them. Kelleher particularly but Bazunu should continue to develop too. 

What is key is the young attackers or even the likes of a Szmodics who has declared for us rise on up the ranks and continue to develop. 

I’d love to see Connolly Obafemi Parrott and Idah get loan moves tbh. The first two to the Championship Parrott to League 1 and Idah to either one. Regular gametime is vital and I don’t see Connolly and Parrott in particular getting it at their parent clubs. Drop down a level play regularly find their feet get momentum hopefully start scoring some goals too. People mention Robbie Keane but I’d point Long Walters who spent their early 20s in the Championship or lower even Damien Duff spent two seasons playing Championship football in his young 20s before coming back up with Blackburn. It’s even more competitive for young attackers today in England then it was then I’d argue comfortably so.  

Also young midfielders such as Johansson Smallbone Connell Coventry Molumby Hodge Kilkenny etc find their way and level. Jack Taylor another one at Peterborough will be intriguing to see how he handles the step up. He’s very talented and I’d be hopeful he will impress next season. 

It will be fascinating to see where these lads will be by March 2023. 

I remember going to the Ireland open training session in LR and thinking it's great to be able to see how these elite players train under (O'Neill and Keane)

One group were taking shots on the keeper and then the other group were doing the circle and a player in the middle trying to intercept the ball. 

You'd barely see this at the academy level.

Biggest hopes for me for next season would be an EPL move for Collins, maybe Knight also, Bazunu getting another good loan, Kelleher getting a run of games at some stage and the four younger lads up front getting more game time, probably on loan in most cases.

To be fair I never considered Connell to be a slow player. He plays that holding midfield role and am not convinced he's as slow as say hourihane or Glenn Whelan who have made good careers for themselves.

I dont think declan Rice is particularly fast either.

I think he looks a very good player that has been unlucky with injuries more than anything else.

Conor Coventry- still hasn't played men's football and when you consider that Knight is 2 years younger than him and has nearly 100 appearances he really needs to go on loan now. Hes already falling behind.

Gavin Killkenny - similar to Coventry and finding himself on the bench but unlikely to get on the pitch. Needs a loan move to a championship club.

Troy Parrott - really needs to continue the progress he's making with a loan, championship would be ideal but league 1 also good. Would be very easy to lose progress he's made by sitting in the spurs u23.

Jimmy Dunne - not fancied at Burnley but has impressed in games. A permanent move to a championship club where he could get games would be great for his development, possibly one of those players that peaks late on.

Adam idah - he's not going to get goals in the EPL as he's only played a handful of games in men's football. Needs a loan to the championship.

Jayson Molumby - had a decent first season with millwall followed by a bitterly disappointing season with Preston. Needs to be playing football week in week out now. Also needs to settle in the holding midfield role. Hes most definitely not a box to box player. I feel he could be a very good holding midfielder though.

Luca Connell - needs a loan move to a better team the queen's park. Needs to stay injury free and go on loan to a league 1 level club to get back on track but I think he could be a really class player for us.

I would have thought he is the opposite of what you just said. 

It might have been about 18 months after the Euros, cant remember exactly when but we had started our decline just before the end of the WC2108 qualifying campaign. But I'll never forget seeing either a post or an Instagram story of the players doing rondos at the start of a session.

If it was a team from the LSL, you would have been slating them for how bad it was. Honestly some of the worst attempts at possession I've seem from a team, regardless of them being professionals or not.

Molumby doesn't contribute to assists or goals. Every time I've watched him I found he lacks composure in the final third. He also tends to lack positional sense and leave gaps in the midfield.

Where he looks very good is in the tackle, his energy and carrying the ball forward from deep. His passing forward from the back seems to be good too. He needs to lock down his position now.

The fact that he couldn't lock down a position at an average Preston midfield is a worry. As an attacking midfielder, box to box midfielder or holding midfielder.

Pretty much it. He played for Millwall in that position and the position but also the club suited him. I generally got disagreed with on here for saying he’d have been better served doing the extra year at Millwall when most were saying he was ready for Brighton. If he did go back to Millwall it might be a different conversation now. 

He would play regularly for plenty Championship clubs next season id have no doubt I wouldn’t knock him too much for Preston bit of a basket case in the 2nd half of last season were Preston they got a good young winger from Everton on loan with Molumby who similarly didn’t get much of a look in. 

Who’s to say he won’t get a run at Brighton especially if they sell Bissouma. 

It was very evident from our international windows that the players weren't fit enough. It's not much good saying you're a PL footballer when you barely feature. We'll see much better performances if all our players are getting regular game time, even at Championship level.

100%. We cant have a repeat of last season which started brightly only for a number of key players to fall out of first teams, and match day squads. The moves for Duffy, Doherty, Hendrick and Arter not working out was exceptionally disappointing, as those were moves that should have progressed these players. The loan deals for Parrott, Long and Molumby were, for the most part, poor. Travers' loan deal getting cut was unhelpful. Enda Stevens' being at one of the poorest PL teams since 1992 was regrettable. Kelleher's injury probably has stunted his growth a little.

Then there are lads like McCarthy and Brady who now need other clubs to take them on. I expect there will be suitors, but they would be better off in the Championship or SPL playing weekly, than bench warming in the PL. Hourihane probably needs a move too, as I suspect Villa will have moved on from him. And if he is one of Kenny's preferred players that becomes all the more pressing. Ditto Horgan, who seems to have the bit between his teeth in the Green. I'd rather him do it from the Championship than League 1. Collins has got a move to Cardiff, but ostensibly he will either be working in co-ordination or competition with Moore. If in competition, that means Collins is likely to start the season off the bench.

Next season could also be defining for Coleman. With luck, whoever takes over at Everton will see him as integral. Of course, it could go another way if a new manager comes in with evolution on his mind, at which point Coleman might be seen as more of a leader off the pitch, which won't help our cause.

Then there are the clutch of young players like Omobamidele, Collins, O'Shea who had decent and promising seasons last term (even with Collins having an injury). They need to build on that, and hopefully they will. Obviously with Norwich promoted, and Burnley circling, the first two may well be PL bound which will be welcome.

I also think depending on how the season starts, in addition to the 60 the GS has discussed, the likes of Scott Hogan, Glenn Rea, Aiden McGeady ought to be looked at. Looking at the Euros, age and lack of favour at club level isn't hurting players, so that shouldn't be too much of a bar either.

Great to see Gavin Bazunu get a loan move to Portsmouth. Should be of huge benefit to him.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/ireland-goalkeeper-gavin-bazunu-joins-portsmouth-on-loan-1.4607886" rel="nofollow - https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/english-soccer/ireland-goalkeeper-gavin-bazunu-joins-portsmouth-on-loan-1.4607886

If he is playing regular 1st team football in August / early Sept, it might be enough to keep him in the Irish team ahead of Randolph and Kellher.