Town manager Roy Keane says he’s surprised that keeper Brian Murphy hasn’t been selected by the Republic of Ireland for their Euro 2012 qualifiers against Russia and Slovakia during the international break. Keane says some players constantly get picked by the Irish set-up, while others are always overlooked.

Keane said: “I can’t believe that Murph our goalkeeper isn’t in the Irish squad. Certain players seem to get picked all the time and others I’m left scratching my head about.

“People like David Norris, and Jon Walters last year, you don’t know what these boys have to do to get selected.”

Murphy has received several call-ups but it yet to win a cap, while Town skipper Norris and former Blue Walters have been tipped for Ireland careers but are yet to appear in a squad.

The keepers in Giovanni Trapattoni's current squad are Manchester City's Shay Given, Coventry's Keiren Westwood and Scunthorpe's Joe Murphy.

The Town glovesman is currently out of the Blues first team, but Keane says this isn’t considered a problem when it comes to other players: “I don’t think Shay Given’s playing regularly, I don’t think Robbie Keane’s playing regularly. A lot of the Irish boys aren’t playing for their clubs regularly but they’ll be playing for Ireland next week.”

On-loan Celtic man Darren O'Dea was the only Town player named in Trapattoni's squad but withdrew yesterday due to his knee injury.

Meanwhile, the Blues, Celtic and QPR are reported to be interested in Bohemians striker Paddy Madden. The Bhoys are believed to have agreed a £100,000 fee for the 20-year-old Dubliner but have so far been unable to agree personal terms with the Republic of Ireland U21 international.

Madden, who played alongside Brian Murphy with the League of Ireland club, has scored nine goals so far this season and was named the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland Player of the Month for June.

Photo: Action Images

I_Like_Pies added 10:08 - Oct 2 I agree with Norris/Waters comments. But to compare Brian Murphy to the likes of Shay Given and Robbie Keane is laughable. Of course he's not in the Irish squad, he can't even get into the team at a second rate championship club. Keanes needs to stop talking utter drivel. He comes across a fool.
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Martus added 10:30 - Oct 2 Well u obviosly don't have faith in him if replaced him.
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HampshireBlue added 11:01 - Oct 2 "I agree with Norris/Waters comments. But to compare Brian Murphy to the likes of Shay Given and Robbie Keane is laughable. Of course he's not in the Irish squad, he can't even get into the team at a second rate championship club. Keanes needs to stop talking utter drivel. He comes across a fool." It would help if you understood the point Keane is making. Your final sentence is incredibly ironic.

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ChambersM added 11:02 - Oct 2 More drivel
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suffolksam added 11:22 - Oct 2 keane showed how much he cared for the republics team by walking out on them during the world cup. i dont think anyone in the FAI will be interested in his two bobs input stick to things you can control roy like beating leeds and not throwing more valuable points away
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robdaful added 12:00 - Oct 2 The problem is that Shay Given is a top keeper so thats a no brainer for him to be selected while Westwood and Joe Murphy are playing first team football regularly.
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Mark added 12:14 - Oct 2 Roy seems to take any chance to have a pop at the RoI team. If Murphy was playing really well for us then fair enough, but he is not in the side and was presumably felt so weak that we spent much of our summer transfer budget on a replacement for him. I like Fulop and he is probably a better keeper, but I am still worried that we should have focused our available funds on goal scorers rather than another keeper.

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Yallop added 12:55 - Oct 2 Or maybe Roy is trying to boost one of his players whilst the armchairs on here would rather have a pop at him
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suffolksam added 13:21 - Oct 2 i ad one of those popping armchairs once ...bloody beanbag
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Acen added 14:41 - Oct 2 Why does it surprise you, you never pick him?
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Tractorog added 20:39 - Oct 2 The difference between the Murph and Given is that Given is a proven stopper at the highest level, wheras Murph has proven himself a decent championship goalie, but nothing more to date.
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TheBlueStig added 19:20 - Oct 3 Most like something to do with the fact you are not playing him in your First Team Mr Keane.. unless the Irish manager takes regular trips down to the likes of Clacton for reserve team games.. I think not :)
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WickedBlue added 06:06 - Oct 4 @I_Like_Pies spoken like a man with vast experience of coming across like a fool.....well done.
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