The Irish Sun are today reporting that Martin O'Neill is planning on making a number of drastic changes to the Irish side against Italy, and among the numerous high-profile casualties will be John O'Shea. O'Shea has captained Ireland throughout the tournament as Robbie Keane has remained on the bench, making his potential exclusion all the more surprising.
The same report expects Seamus Coleman to be the only surviving member of the back-line who were ruthlessly picked apart by the Belgians, with Stephen Quinn expected to be parachuted into the middle of the park, most likely at the expense of James McCarthy, whose lack of match sharpness has exacerbated the flaws in his game over the tournament thus far.
O'Neill spoke this afternoon of the need to take both example and inspiration from the 1-0 qualifying victory over Germany, and he may choose to mimic an aspect of his team selection from that night in the Aviva: there is a chance Darryl Murphy will start, with Shane Long used as an impact substitute from the bench.
Why would O'Neill drop O'Shea? While Clark has grown increasingly ragged as the tournament has gone on, O'Shea - while undoubtedly tainted by association - has looked reasonably solid. It may point to an Irish back-line playing higher up the field than normal, in the knowledge that we must go for Italian throats.
The squad will find out the line-up not long before the FAI crack Graphics Team inform the rest of the word, so O'Neill may be burning the midnight oil in a bid to ensure Ireland can remain afloat in this competition.
