'He has not been that talkative (in camp this week) but he stood up and sung last night.'

Who was your man-of-the-match?

Ger McCarthy picks out the key lessons learned as the Republic of Ireland defeated New Zealand 3-1 in tonight's friendly.

It’s actually not all about the boy tonight but the build-up to Troy Parrott’s senior debut against New Zealand can certainly make it seem that way.

Barring any training ground mishaps, two boys in green can be expected to dominate attention in tomorrow night’s friendly against New Zealand at the Aviva.

It was Mick McCarthy who told Alan Judge that without bad luck he would have no luck at all.

With the decisive battle to come next Monday at the Aviva, there’s no getting away from the phoney war status of Ireland’s friendly against New Zealand at the same venue on Thursday night.

Spurs teenager Troy Parrott and Celtic's Lee O'Connor both make the move up from Stephen Kenny's U21 squad

Seamus Coleman will miss out as he serves a two-game suspension but will be invited to join up with the squad in Dublin for the final Euro 2020 qualifier.

At least the phoney war is over, the fable of Mick McCarthy clothed in Merlin the Magician garb belatedly binned.

Wow, this Aaron Connolly kid looks pretty good, are we sure he’s not English? Like, really sure?

Darren Randolph is making no apologies for the Republic of Ireland being difficult to beat as they attempt to secure a trip to a third successive European Championships finals.

In the run-up to big games, we easily pleased meeja types like nothing better than when rival managers and players have the fabled ‘pop’ at each other.

Of their 19 games since the start of 2018, Switzerland have lost five, tacked on by a penalty shoot-out loss to England in the Nations League finals last time out.

While Mick McCarthy is always prepared to cut a little slack for a couple of his more experienced and established names, the manager has never sought to minimise the weight he attaches to the general requirement that, in order to play for their country, his players really need to be playing for their clubs.

Mick McCarthy's men face Switzerland in a "huge" Euro2020 qualifier on September 5 before a friendly with Bulgaria five days later.

Mick McCarthy is considering delaying a decision on the make-up of his final squad for the Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland and the friendly against Bulgaria, amid concerns about the impact of injuries and the amount of game-time some of those in contention are getting with their clubs.

Mick McCarthy is considering delaying a decision on the make-up of his final squad for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland and the friendly against Bulgaria, amid concerns about the impact of injuries and the amount of game-time some of those in contention are getting with their clubs.

Mick McCarthy has named his Ireland squad for the forthcoming European Championship qualifier against Switzerland and the friendly with Bulgaria.

The squad for the Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland will be announced on Friday.

Manchester United may have finished only sixth in the table last season but they comfortably retained their position as the leading developers of Premier League talent.

En route to an audience with Robbie Keane in Crumlin the other day, the journey down the Long Mile Road and past the Half-Way House offered a handy metaphor for where Ireland are at in their Euro 2020 campaign.

At the half-way point in Euro 2020 qualifying, the good news for Ireland is that they sit atop the group table with a healthy haul of ten points from four games.

A bore fest rather than a score fest, Ireland once again made heavy weather of seeing off Gibraltar.

Ireland’s striker quartet remain without a goal after David McGoldrick saw his effort against Gibraltar chalked off an own-goal.

As expected, Ireland have overcome Gibraltar thanks to an own goal and a late Robert Brady strike. Ger McCarthy runs the rule over the lessons learned.

It was just of 5pm local time, four hours before kick-off, when an open-topped party bus stopped in traffic outside the Ireland team’s hotel in the centre of Copenhagen.

Brendan O'Brien It’s eight years since Leinster faced an ‘away’ league final.

The call-up will be a boost for Connell after his club, Bolton Wanderers, went into administration following their relegation from the Championship.

The new arrival was welcomed into the world on Sunday, April 28.

A funny thing happened on the way to the top of Group D last Tuesday night. The Republic of Ireland forced Georgia to change formation during the first half of their second successive 1-0 win on the path towards Euro 2020.

Mick McCarthy had talked before this one about how his ambition was to win with style, and his team certainly delivered on both counts to the delight of the Aviva last night.

The lessons learned from Rep of Ireland v Georgia.

A wonderful free kick by Corkman Conor Hourihane set the Republic Of Ireland on their way to victory over Georgia at the Aviva Stadium tonight in this Euro 2020 qualifying clash.

Mick McCarthy has made two changes to his team which struggled past Gibraltar for tonight's visit of Georgia.

After the Rock, it’s time for Ireland to roll.

Unlike the ultra-defensive Gibraltar, Mick McCarthy can expect Georgia to adopt a more orthodox 4-1-4-1 formation that held Switzerland scoreless for close to an hour last Saturday.

Mick McCarthy insists he hasn’t given up on the idea of Matt Doherty playing on the right side of midfield for Ireland, even though a lack of penetration and crosses into the box meant the manager opted to replace the Wolves man with Robbie Brady before the hour mark in Ireland’s grim 1-0 win in Gibraltar on Saturday.

A win, any kind of win, was the minimum requirement considering all the negativity that surrounded the final months of Martin O’Neill’s tenure.

It’s the second coming of Mick McCarthy and upon this Rock he will build his church.

The right side of defence isn’t the most alluring of sectors on a teamsheet but all eyes will gravitate there when the first starting XI of Mick McCarthy’s second stint in charge of the Republic of Ireland is released today.

The parallels are striking. For Liechtenstein in Vaduz almost 23 years ago read Gibraltar in the Victoria Stadium on Saturday.

After his first day back on the training pitch as Ireland manager, Mick McCarthy has given a strong hint Matt Doherty will feature in an attacking right-flank role against Gibraltar.

Shamrock Rovers midfielder Jack Byrne has received a last-minute call-up to replace the injured Callum O'Dowda in Mick McCarthy's first Republic of Ireland squad back in charge.