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.