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Kevin Kilbane reckons with two famous Football personalities present in the team management of Republic of Ireland, they would draw media’s attention more than the team which would let the players be themselves and play without any pressure.

On British Broad Casting Network, Kilbane said, “Coaching-wise, Roy has functioned excellently. He has a lot to give from the technical side of the game and in that way, he has been great to the team and also, to Martin. You can see the two have proved an effective combination for Republic of Ireland.”

Martin O’Neill reckons now that there is likeliness of Shay Given getting some game time for the Potters because of the unavailability of the injured Jack Butland, it might help him earn the ticket to France with the Republic of Ireland National squad.

As Given had lacked much Football of late, it was almost certain that he would not be pondered over even for the second choice shot stopper’s spot when O’Neill finalizes the Irish squad for France, but, it would be a different case altogether if he has some games between the sticks now for Stoke.

Stephen Ireland has been a player of Stoke City since September of 2013 but his time in the Premier League club might be reaching it’s end as the experienced midfielder is struggling with injuries and is being rumored with an exit from Stoke City.

The 29 year old midfielder has not played a single match for Stoke City since October of 2015 but he might just make a return to the main squad of Mark Hughes’ team when the Premier League re-starts in January.

Robbie Keane remained on the bench for the whole duration of the two matches that Ireland played against Bosnia & Herzegovina and he was not given much of a playing time against Germany or Poland either.

He is in his mid thirties now and is by no means a guaranteed pick for Euro. But, he has been backed by his club teammate Steven Gerrard.

According to Gerrard, on the basis of the experience that he has got, the veteran striker should definitely be selected to represent the Green Army in France.

Gerrard was in conversation with the media in an event in Ireland the other day.

Derby County came very close to reaching the Premier League last season. Steve McLaren did a decent job with the resources at its disposal. Yet, he ended up leaving the club last season.

Derby County youngster Max Lowe believes that he will get much more first-team opportunities under the regime of Paul Clement.

The former Real Madrid assistant manager was appointed as the replacement for Steve McClaren, who was sacked at the end of last season. Derby looked like returning to the Premier League even via the automatic places for much of the campaign, but a run of just three wins in the final few months of the season saw them miss out even on a play-off place. McLaren has paid for this form with his job and he has since taken over at Newcastle United.

The 51 year old manager of Stoke City, Mark Hughes extended his contract with the Premier League after penning a new deal which will keep the Welsh manager at the club for 4 more years. In March of the current year Hughes agreed to stay as the head coach of Stoke City at least until the summer of 2019.

Hull City manager Steve Bruce has complained that midfielder Stephen Ireland should have been sent off for his challenge on defender Maynor Figueroa.

The latter suffered an injury in the recent 1-0 defeat against Stoke City. More than the result, Bruce is left contemplating about the fitness of one of its important players because of what he feels is a very harsh challenge from Ireland. The former Aston Villa and Manchester City midfielder has been a regular feature of this Stoke City team, which has been trying to shake off its physical image under Mark Hughes.

The Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton has hailed Roy Keane for the positive influence he had on the club for the small period of time that he was there.

Keane was added to the management team of Villa just before the start of the season, but, he could not hang on to his position even for the whole season and the previous week, he announced that he had parted ways with the club.

The reason that Keane gave to the media and to the Villa fans for his exit was that he wanted to concentrate on his other job i.e. of the assistant manager of the Ireland national team.

The presence of Stephen Ireland was unable to prevent Stoke City from suffering a fourth consecutive loss in the league.