The latest JOE Scout’s Report looks at four more Irishmen plying their trade in England – including three League of Ireland exports.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Keith Fahey (Birmingham City)
Fahey will be looking forward to joining up with Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad for a training camp at the end of the season but he’s found himself squeezed out of the Birmingham City side in recent weeks.
A debut season in the Premier League has still yielded more than 30 appearances, including 18 starts, so he should be more than satisfied with that.
It’s less than 18 months or so since Fahey made the switch from the League of Ireland to St Andrews, and his progress has been good. However, he needs that to continue – at 27, he’s a latecomer to the top flight and both he and Birmingham must guard against so-called Second Season Syndrome next term.
CHAMPIONSHIP: Seamus Coleman (Blackpool)
The young Donegal man is another League of Ireland export but unlike Fahey, he really has time on his side. Coleman turned 21 in October and a fortnight later he made his first-team debut for Everton.
That ended in a 5-0 pasting by Benfica but it’s been all good ever since. A Man of the Match appearance as a sub against Tottenham alerted Toffees supporters to his electric capabilities as an attack-minded right back.
Sent on loan to Blackpool in March for invaluable first-team experience, Coleman has delivered in style, starting all nine games for the Seasiders since and playing a key role in the club’s rise from mid-table to the promotion play-offs.
Only champions Newcastle have beaten Ian Holloway’s unfashionable minnows since Coleman’s arrival, and only Newcastle have been in better form during that time – Blackpool have won six of those nine games and despite being held to a home draw by Bristol City in the final game of the regular season on Sunday, they held onto the final play-off place by dint of Swansea’s failure to win at home to Doncaster.
The play-offs begin on Saturday lunchtime when Nottingham Forest visit Bloomfield Road, and armchair Irish fans will be keeping a keen eye on Sky Sports for a closer look at Coleman, whose absence from Trapattoni’s end-of-season training squad raised eyebrows last month.
LEAGUE ONE: Alan Sheehan (Swindon Town)
The Athlone lad is on loan from Leeds but he will be attempting to help Swindon overhaul his employers on the final day of the League One season on Saturday.
You have to go all the way back to January 2009 for Sheehan’s last appearance for Leeds and as he’s been on loan at Crewe, Oldham and Swindon since that game, it’s probably fair to say that he won’t shed too many tears if he manages to get the Robins past Leeds on Saturday.
As it stands, Leeds lie in second place and on course for automatic promotion but any slip-up in their final game at home to Bristol Rovers – and slip-ups have been par for the course for Leeds throughout 2010, in which they’ve won just seven of 22 games in the league – and it opens the door for three teams to take advantage.
Swindon, in fourth, travel to south London to take on third-placed Millwall, while Charlton in fifth are still in contention if results go their way. Sheehan has been virtually ever-present since moving to the County Ground in November, starting 21 games, and even if the Robins fall short this weekend he will still have the play-offs to look forward to.
LEAGUE TWO: John O’Flynn (Barnet)
O’Flynn, who enjoyed a long and productive association with Cork City before returning to England two years ago, has been in fine form for Barnet this season, scoring 16 goals in all competitions.
However, that has not been enough to prevent the club from dropping dangerously close to the relegation zone and going into the final weekend of the League Two season, the Bees could still fall out of the Football League.
Barnet are at home to high-flying Rochdale on Saturday and failure to win there, combined with a victory for Grimsby at Burton, would mean relegation. The powers-that-be have already decided that enough is enough, sacking manager Ian Hendon last week in a bid to steady the ship.
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