- Will Smallbone to leave Southampton as a free agent this summer. Will meet clubs after his honeymoon and has attached himself to Stephen Hunt Sports Management. (Alex Crook, TalkSPORT)

- Turkish club Goztepe on verge of snapping up Ireland international Sinclair Armstrong. Moved reported to be €2.5m for the Bristol City striker. (John Fallon, Irish Examiner)

- Goalkeeper Max O'Leary has officially signed a new 3 year contract with West Brom

- The FAI have not given up on on Arsenal’s Ceadach O'Neill despite the 18-year-old getting fast-tracked into O’Neill’s squad for this week’s friendlies. (John Fallon, Irish Examiner)

- The new League of Ireland 3rd tier clubs will be permitted 2 loan players under the age of 21 from 1st & 2nd tier LOI clubs (Derek Beale, CK Utd Director of Football)

First move of the summer!

Don't mind it, he's not done enough in the Championship to jump the queue so going east, best case scenario is he finds form like Troy did & gets in from there. Worst case if it bombs he can still get a move back

Celtic fan here.

A lot of our fans don't want Robbie Keane for political and football reasons. I can't say I've followed him closely, but he was an elite striker.

Is the criticism fair or over the top?

I see he's won things, but also heard he's not come off well at times.

Who was the best prediction and worst prediction?

Anything we can learn from this?

I found it interesting that pretty much nobody had Kelleher as first choice keeper. I know Bazunu was number one at the time but I didnt realise how universally it was agreed that this would never change.

Well lads.
Any plan for the Canada game in Montreal? Pubs pre game etc

▪️8 first-time call-ups

▪️Rory Finneran involved after senior cap

▪️16 year old Cillian Murphy makes the squad

Sat, June 6 | 🇭🇷 v 🇮🇪

Tue, June 9 | 🇮🇪 v 🇶🇦

Head Coach Jim Crawford has handed eight players their first call-ups to a youthful Under-21s squad with senior international cap Rory Finneran named in the travelling 23.

Dundalk’s Gbemi Arubi has been rewarded for his League of Ireland Premier Division form with a place in the squad, his first call-up since representing Ireland at Men’s Under-19s level. 

Cork City’s 16-year-old Cillian Murphy is among those heading to Zagreb having helped the Ireland Men’s Under-17s reach the World Cup in Qatar with a hat-trick against Slovakia.

There are also first call-ups for Shamrock Rovers pair John O’Sullivan and Naj Razi who will be part of their first Under-21s squad. 

Burnley’s Kian McMahon-Brown, who has impressed for both club and country this season, also gets the call as does Brighton & Hove Albion’s Sean Keogh and Stoke City’s Gabriel Kelly.

Doncaster Rovers’ Sean Grehan and Bohemians’ Harry Vaughan return to the squad having missed out in March.

Ireland face Croatia on Saturday, June 6 before taking on Qatar Under-23s on Tuesday, June 9.

It will be the final preparation for Jim Crawford’s side before the final run of 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifier campaign.

I can't say I blame her for going to a city rival because Arsenal really should have made her an offer that reflected her ability and why would she uproot her life just to make it less glaring for Arsenal?

Chelsea will always be there or thereabouts in the WSL and the CL so a good landing spot on all counts.

I'm aware we've been at this since the 80s, which was before we were even in the financial mess that we're in now, but surely greed won't fuck the fans over again when we don't even need the money. They have to question the fact that we are literally the only national team in the world that does this.

Big things ahead for these lads. I see Moore is after being promoted to the Bundesliga 2 squad for next season while Sherlock is still only 17. Well done to them.

edit: Found it! Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know where I can find a full replay of Ireland's friendly this week? I'd really like to watch the whole match rather than just the highlights.

Any pointers would be much appreciated. Thanks, COYBIG!

Credit to @1960j on YouTube. https://youtube.com/@1960j?si=IGnjfUNorYH5aumF

Tomorrow morning/afternoon will see the U21s squad announced for games against Croatia & Qatar. With a number of lads called up to the seniors & others injured, there's a few I'd like to see take the step up:

- James Storer (GK, Wolves): had a great season on loan in the Scottish 2nd tier. 21 years old now but someone who coule push on and become a backup option in a few years.

- Alex Noonan (GK, Shamrock Rovers): Did brilliant for Ireland U17s at the World Cup & isn't far off getting senior minutes for his club. Still only 17 so can drop back down to the U19s for their Euro qualifiers later this year.

- Matteo Egan (RWB, Empoli): On paper he seems to be having a breakout season for Empoli's youth side, winning the Suppercoppa Primavera 2 & making a goal contribution on average every 3 games from right wing back in the Primavera 2 itself. At 18 it might be a bit early, but friendly camps like this are made for seeing if players can make the step up.

- Sean Keogh (LB, Brighton): Has achieved everything he can at youth level this season following his move from Dundalk. With Murphy off to Canada he seems like the natural replacement.

- Rory Finneran (CM, Newcastle Utd): No explanation needed here

- Victor Ozhianvuna (CM, Shamrock Rovers): Another one where no explanation needed, would be exciting to see him in a midfield 3 with 2 of Finneran/Mullins/Devaney/Ochoa/Moorhouse

- Gbemi Arubi (ST, Dundalk): Killing it for Dundalk this season, work ethics and hold up play will have him easily in contention to replace Melia.

- Kian McMahon-Brown (RW/ST Burnley): Scoring constantly for Burnley in PL2, PL Cup, FA Youth Cup & has been named on the bench for Burnley.

Hopefully one or more of Rocco Vata, Cathal O'Sullivan & Franco Umeh will be included, but unsure if any are back from injury.

Anyone else you'd like to see take the step up?

Finn Sherlock and Matthew Moore are playing in the German U19 final for Hoffenheim at 12, Moore is captaining the side

https://www.instagram.com/p/DY_-U4aqxBd

Lads and lassies, I think it's fair to say that most Irish fans agree a boycott of the Israel game is the right thing to do and worth the sacrifice.

Here is a list of all the FAI board members:

Paul Cooke, Dave Moran, Tony Keohane, Packie Bonner, Tom Browne, Ciara Carty, Nadine Conlon, Laura Finnegan, Nixon Morton, Gerardine Nagle, Caroline Rhatigan, Ursula Scully, Robert Watt, and David Courell

These people are all contactable via LinkedIn and other social media.

Let's flood their mailboxes and remind them all that their kids will one day be proud of them for making the right decision and being on the right side of history.

COYBIG