McCarthy in provisional Ireland squad

Tuesday, 26 September, 2017 46comments  |  Jump to most recent
James McCarthy has been included in Martin O'Neill's provisional squad for the upcoming international break but it remains to be seen whether he will be fit enough to play for his country.

The midfielder has been battling to regain full fitness since pre-season and has yet to play any minutes so far in any competition.

He was listed in Ireland's preliminary squad for the last tour of World Cup qualifiers but was excluded from the final group because it was clear he wasn't fit.

McCarthy is said to be closer to making his comeback but is not ready for action yet.

 

Reader Comments (46)

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Robert Leigh
1 Posted 26/09/2017 at 16:53:49
Guarantee he will – Koeman said he'll be back training/playing this week.

It'll be very disappointing if he does play, but I guess in some way we've got used to not having him as an option given the last 18/24 months.

I'd like to see him play instead of Morgan Schneiderlin sometimes given the energy he has, but equally Davies's emergence has given us that.

Christy Ring
2 Posted 26/09/2017 at 17:00:25
Hopefully he'll be fit and ready for first-team action, with a couple of weeks training during the international break, because all the Besic fans now know, he's not the answer.
Rob Dolby
3 Posted 26/09/2017 at 17:02:59
Here we go again.
Eric Paul
4 Posted 26/09/2017 at 17:06:51
Get rid of McCarthy as soon as we can; he's not interested in playing for us but he always makes himself available for Ireland.
Liam Reilly
5 Posted 26/09/2017 at 17:15:55
Eic - I'm sure the rules are that he has to go when requested by the national coach to be assessed.

He didn't play the last time and he'd be foolish to play this time and hopefully he'll see common sense.

Keith Monaghan
6 Posted 26/09/2017 at 17:19:49
He had a very good first season after he joined us from Wigan. Since then, he has mainly been poor when he has played and has been unfit far too often. Maybe he's suffering from burn-out after so much football in his early years?

Even at his best, he offers very little going forward.

IMO a mediocre Championship player – needs to move if another club would make a reasonable bid for him.

Lee Jackson
7 Posted 26/09/2017 at 17:41:49
Keith, I want to see him gone too as he is only playing the midfield role that Gueye and Davies can do. But to call him a mediocre Championship player is a bit harsh.

I would label him a good premier league player of upper mid table standard. We are looking for very good/excellent players to move us forward though.

Anto Byrne
8 Posted 26/09/2017 at 17:52:34
It's interesting how players get slagged off and not good enough when Morgan and Gana have struggled for form. Both Besic and McCarthy are decent players. Pity Barkley and Davies are the future.
Duncan McDine
9 Posted 26/09/2017 at 18:07:03
It's Groundhog Day, folks!
Ian Burns
10 Posted 26/09/2017 at 18:17:57
I'd like to see him in a provisional Everton squad first!
John Keating
11 Posted 26/09/2017 at 18:30:24
There must be something seriously lacking with Martin O'Neill.
Lev Vellene
12 Posted 26/09/2017 at 19:05:14
I'd love for McCarty to join the Irish national team for any matches! Especially as no-one connected to EFC even knows what he looks like any more, not having played for the club who pays his wages while he's perpetually sick-noted during, or after (inter-)national stunts like this!

Three cheers for McCarthy, the Evertonian! Bah!!!

Christy Ring
13 Posted 26/09/2017 at 19:12:01
Keith @6,

To call him a mediocre Championship player, is an insult. A fully fit McCarthy, if he can sort out his recurring hamstring problem, is well capable of playing in the first team. Apart from Gueye, he's the only aggressive, defensive and combative midfielder we have.

Dave Abrahams
14 Posted 26/09/2017 at 19:32:53
Get fit, James, and prove to everyone how good you can be, when fully fit. In your first season here, you were much much better than Schneiderlin has been for most of this season.

I hope you get to train with Eire and get a few minutes on the pitch with them.

Matt Williams
15 Posted 26/09/2017 at 20:09:34
I don't get this "McCarthy is an mid- to upper-table Premier League player".

All I can seem to recall him doing is running towards our own centre-halves who, then pass the ball to him but, despite being in about 20 yards of space he passes it immediately back to them with such haste that anyone would think it was a live hand-grenade. His passing stats are probably amazing.

I do however blame entirely the buffoon who was our previous manager for this. I'm sure there is a decent player in there somewhere.

Jim Wilson
16 Posted 26/09/2017 at 20:32:29
McCarthy is our best midfield option. He has pace and aggression. Just what we are desperate for at the moment (with Barkley).

He just needs to prove his fitness. It was Martinez who played him when he wasn't fully recovered from a hamstring injury. His problem goes that far back.

Martin Mason
17 Posted 26/09/2017 at 20:43:44
He was superb in his first season and he did exactly what Schneiderlin can't do in that he pressed hard and could take the ball forward.

Why are we again looking to unload a player who could maybe be a key piece in the jigsaw puzzle? For me, he is another problem that has been created by the Coach.

Jim Jennings
18 Posted 26/09/2017 at 20:53:40
Martin (#17),

You are absolutely correct except for one word. He is a problem that has been created by the former coach.

McCarthy's problems can be traced back to Señor Martinez playing him (on more than one occasion) when injured. The result: terminal hamstrings.

Colin Glassar
19 Posted 26/09/2017 at 21:02:40
Robles has confirmed he's leaving in either January or in the summer so we need to get him and Jimmy Mac off the books for a decent fee while we have the chance.
Brian Hennessy
20 Posted 26/09/2017 at 21:08:31
Better than Schneiderlin, not as good as Gueye and not good enough for any team looking to break into the top 6.

Rick Cole
21 Posted 26/09/2017 at 21:39:09
James is a quality player. He brings pace, energy, power and most importantly, a hunger to win! I also think he is underrated going forward, and can be used as a box-to-box midfielder.

The notion that he doesn't want to play for Everton is ridiculous. His attitude on the pitch is brilliant, I doubt he becomes a Drenthe or Van Der Meyde off it. He has simply been unlucky or poorly managed through injury.

Give him time to fully recover from his hamstring woes and he will be back to being one of our best. I would really like to see what a team with McCarthy, Davies and Klaassen in it could do.

Andy Crooks
22 Posted 26/09/2017 at 21:48:17
James has the potential to turn our season around. He has not been fit for a long time but, when he is, he is exceptional. I believe we have missed him more than Bolasie or Coleman.

Martin O' Neill, for whom I have the utmost admiration, rates him highly. He can make a huge difference.

Christy Ring
23 Posted 26/09/2017 at 22:27:58
Andy (#22), I agree, hopefully after the long break, his hamstring problems are finally behind him.

A fully fit McCarthy, would be like a new signing, and hopefully Koeman gives him his chance, but the less said about Martin O'Neil, the better.

Fran Mitchell
24 Posted 26/09/2017 at 23:04:29
If he is fit, then hopefully International football can help him get match fit.

If he ain't and plays and gets injured... well.

Besic is crap, so McCarthy has much to offer as an alternative to Gueye / Schneiderlin, or to not overplay Davies.

Keith Monaghan
25 Posted 26/09/2017 at 23:14:25
Apart from anything else, when was he last fully fit and available for selection for a month?

I fail to see how a player who is hardly ever fully fit can be of any benefit to the club.

Our best midfield option?! Even in our patchy performances this season, Davies and Gueye at least have shown themselves to offer much more than Macca at his best.

Clive Mitchell
26 Posted 26/09/2017 at 23:15:07
Andy (#22) – of course it doesn't much matter how much we've missed him since Koeman probably wouldn't pick him.
Steve Ferns
27 Posted 26/09/2017 at 23:25:41
You couldn't make it up.
Steve Ferns
28 Posted 26/09/2017 at 23:30:57
McCarthy at his best was wanted by most of the big 6; that only changed after injury struck. He's still young; whenever he gets fit he gives us something we lack.

He's can do everything Gueye can, but he can actually pass the ball and shoot. He's far more mobile than Schneiderlin. Neither of those two can play as a single pivot, but McCarthy can.

He'd be our best central midfielder if he can only get fit and stay fit.

Ian Horan
29 Posted 26/09/2017 at 23:35:10
With injured mid fielders in mind, we're is Barkley and Bolas sie at with their return to the fold
John Pickles
30 Posted 27/09/2017 at 00:07:28
A good defensive midfielder when fully fit but going forward offers nothing, There are goalies with more career goals and assists than J MaC.
Andrew James
31 Posted 27/09/2017 at 00:08:21
McCarthy's middle years have been ravaged by injury. But I would like to see him remain with us. He's a good player who had his development stunted by injury and our former manager.

For me he's just as good as Gana and certainly better than Besic. With Barry having gone, we need strength in depth in that part of the pitch, especially given our manager's preference to play two DCM's regularly. If Gana gets injured, we will be struggling unless Morgan rapidly improves.

Mike Connolly
32 Posted 27/09/2017 at 00:08:39
I would not be surprised if Martin O'Neill adds Coleman to his squad.
Kevin Dyer
33 Posted 27/09/2017 at 00:20:29
It's that time of year again!

I've said this before but imo McCarthy's problem is he plays 100% all-out and played a lot of 90-min games (for Wigan and us) at a young age. I rated him at Wigan and he was great for us – until the injuries started. He's gradually become more limited by them and tbh I don't see this trend reversing.

We should have sold him the previous 2 summer windows. Koeman clearly rates him, and he is one for a defensive midfielder, as we know but the ship has sailed and we really should be looking to offload him in January.

Matt Muzi
34 Posted 27/09/2017 at 05:17:10
I hope he doesn't play, or even join their squad, because if he does we all know what will most likely happen.

A good player on his day, no doubt... but, come January, I'd be looking to move him on.

Matthew Williams
35 Posted 27/09/2017 at 12:02:00
Blues first... country second.

Priorities... never rated him even if Bobby Bullshit did... says it all really!

Sell... Next!

Dave Abrahams
36 Posted 27/09/2017 at 12:02:28
John (#30) in two of the last games he played for us versus Arsenal and Liverpool, he was the player that forced us to attack against Arsenal, verbally and physically he helped drive us on to victory. He was doing the same against Liverpool until forced off at half time with his hamstring going, when he went off our hopes of a win went with him.

I think he impressed Koeman in those two games, then of course he got injured with Eire and hasn't been able to get going again, of he can get and stay fit he is a very good player. Well worth keeping if that becomes the case.

John Pickles
37 Posted 27/09/2017 at 14:50:37
I don't doubt he did, Dave, but in the others he looked about as likely to trouble the scoreboard as Hibbo.

Maybe now we have a couple of dozen No 10s, it matters less, but I can't help feeling the top teams have a McCarthy with a shot or a killer pass in them.

Chris James
38 Posted 27/09/2017 at 21:07:01
Dear Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane,

We would kindly request that you please fuck off and stop playing injured players and/or causing injury to our fit ones.

Yours sincerely,
Everton

ps: Any plans for holidays next summer?

Alan J Thompson
39 Posted 28/09/2017 at 06:30:21
What is it about the English language that it is not understood that he is injured and unfit to play. This could easily have been avoided by a phone call.

On the other hand, If Eire, or their insurers, are paying his wages as he was injured while on international duty, I suppose they are entitled to confirm it for themselves without further exasperating the problem. However, could they not have done this at Finch Farm?

Will Mabon
40 Posted 28/09/2017 at 11:25:15
It's a weird one (again) if reports today are to be believed -– that Koeman has warned him not to risk his fitness with Ireland, which implies he's likely to go, or Koeman believes so. This also might indicate he's getting near to full fitness again.

Totally crazy. If he isn't fit then why the hell is it even a question that he might go? Enough have said it before: an independent medical body should have the final say, and no risks taken.

Steavey Buckley
41 Posted 28/09/2017 at 13:15:54
Martin O'Neill is the biggest threat to James McCarthy's footballing career, because he is happy to play him when he is not match fit, in the hope he can squeeze some time out of him on the field, even though it may injure him for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, James McCarthy does not want to know this, even from Koeman, his manager.

Paul Ward
42 Posted 28/09/2017 at 14:08:20
Jim Jennings @18

Spot on, Jim, I have felt for some time he would not fully recover. In the past, he would spend so much time out injured; then, when he was declared fit, he was a shadow of himself; then out injured again.

Dave Abrahams
43 Posted 29/09/2017 at 18:29:17
John (#37), it's not all about scoring, John. I think Colin Harvey scored about 18 league goals in about 350 games, didn't make him a poor player.
John Smith
44 Posted 01/10/2017 at 07:39:33
We've had no industry since McCarthy and Coleman have been gone.

Idrissa does, but he's the only one.

Neil Cremin
45 Posted 05/10/2017 at 20:52:44
Steavy
Do you really trust that Koemanns motives are the players welfare or just him showing that he is the boss. What’s the betting that he will be fully fit after the international break.
Oliver Molloy
46 Posted 05/10/2017 at 21:21:08
McCarthy will not play because he is simply not fit.
What's going on here is a wind up from O' Neill and Keane.

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