Setanta Sports announced on Monday that ESPN and BT Sport are set to become part of the Setanta package from August 1. That means you will be able to watch live coverage of 71 Premier League matches, featuring top analysis from the likes of Michael Owen, Owen Hargreaves and David James.
There will be plenty of focus on players' form heading into World Cup 2014 and hopefully that will include a debate on which Irish players could force their way into Trap's squad for Brazil. We take a look here at five up and coming young Irish stars who will be featuring in the Premier League next season and who will be hoping to pull a James McClean or Phil Babb and earn a late call up for the boys in green.
1. Robbie Brady
This is Robbie Brady's big chance to establish himself as a Premier League standard winger. After years of promise at Manchester United and not many actual minutes on the field, Brady last year followed in the footsteps of Paul Pogba, Darron Gibson and Ryan Shawcross and sought to advance his career by becoming a relatively bigger fish in a smaller pond by signing permanently for Hull City.
In the last year he played 32 league games for Hull, bagging four goals and crucially thirteen assists, helping the club to automatic promotion. On top of that, he has also managed to break his way into the full Ireland set up, scoring on his debut aginst Oman. Mister Trapattoni is notoriously mistrustful of young players, preferring to ease them into his system only after hours of drills and tests of loyalty, but the fact that he has taken to Brady so quickly suggests an inherent discipline that perhaps is not present in other players who have failed to impress the Italian. If Brady helps Hull stay up this season, it could be a vital stepping stone in the realisation of his full potential.
2. Jack Grealish
Aston Villa have one of the strongest academies in the UK at the moment, a fact evidenced by the club's victory in last year's NextGen series. Already several of Kevin McDonald's charges have managed to break into Paul Lambert's full side and there are high hopes at the club for attacking midfielder Jack Grealish.
Grealish, at the age of 16, was named on Aston Villa's bench in March for a game at Chelsea. Now 17, it is thought he will feature again in Lambert's plan in the season ahead. Grealish comes from Solihull in the English West Midlands, although he has chosen to represent Ireland in underage international football so far. Such is the impression Grealish has made already though, the FA are rumoured to be keen to try and sway the player's allegiance. Grealish looks set to make waves firstly in the Premier League though and is one to watch for the season ahead.
3. Samir Carruthers
The most exciting aspect of the Aston Villa academy from an Irish point of view is the number of our compatriots coming through it. Samir Carruthers, like Grealish is an English-born Irish underage international who is set to successfully graduate from the Villa underage sides and will hopefully feature more regularly for Paul Lambert next season.
Having failed to cut the mustard at the Arsenal academy, Carruthers was picked up by Kevin McDonald in 2009 and the winger now has three full first team appearances to his name, while also captaining Aston Villa in their successful NextGen series campaign. Carruthers is eligible to play for England, Ireland, Italy and Morocco but has played for the Irish U-19 and U-21 squads. Aston Villa are fast becoming the most interesting Premier League entity for Irish fans.
4. James McCarthy
James McCarthy is of course already a fully fledged international player and an FA Cup winner. The reason why he is one to watch this season though is the fact that the 2013-14 season will probably reveal just how far McCarthy can go in the game. It seems that he will more than likely be reunited with his old boss Roberto Martínez at Everton, who may now be regretting his calculated attempt to drive up the midfielder's asking price with months of lavish, fawning and perhaps a little over-egged praise.
If McCarthy can become the metronome for a successful Everton side that can break back into Europe or finally claim a long awaited trophy, his stock in the game will be proven with results rather than promise. McCarthy looks like the most likely Irish player to feature in the Champions League in the coming years and next season represents the next step in what is hopefully a lengthy upwards trajectory.
