There's always that question, football fans can't help but ask themselves, how would the national team get on in a competitive league with club teams?
Ireland, in particular, would be a fascinating prospect were somehow the rules completely re-jigged and the men's senior team allowed to compete in the Barclays Premier League, as while the squad would lack a superstar player, it would have the team spirit, and certainly support, to achieve great things.
Or so you would think, right?
Football Manager experiments are becoming increasingly popular in the media these days, so we figured we'd give it a go and there was only one place to start.
How It Happened
This year Football Manager 2016 included the 'Create A Club' feature, so... We created a club. We had to eliminate one Premier League club from existance, so naturally that had to be Aston Villa.
Sorry, Villa fans, it was the only call.
For the new club? Proper logo, green kits, and every Irish player likely to go to Euro 2016 in the first team:
And we also stacked the previously Villa U21s with the best young Irish talent and fringe first team players:
And we needed a manager, so naturally we made the only call that needed to be made:
The Season Begins
Ireland would face Manchester United in at Old Trafford in the first Premier League match:
And Van Gaal was already talking shite:
Nevertheless, here is the team we sent out, as true to life as possible:
We would then simulate the entire season, with no input from ourselves, to see how that squad, under the guidance of an inexperienced manager in Clinton Morrison would get on.
But not before we checked every single granny-rule imaginable:
Sorry, Mauro, we just can't swing it.
Just before the season got underway we found out that Liam Brady got himself a handy new number:
Eat that, Nicky Butt.
The Entire Season Was Then Simulated
Martin O'Neill's job as international team, not club team manager, was made much, much easier:
For us, it was a case of just going on holiday and watching what happened.
It Did Not Go As We Had Hoped
We wanted to bring you evidence that Ireland could mix it up with the Premier League elite, but sadly, we got absolutely battered nearly every week.
Here is the final table, with Ireland in dead last, 12 points off safety:
So... What The Hell Happened?!
Well, when results didn't go our way, Clinton was sacked days before the transfer window opened (not that that would have made a difference).
The man charged with saving Ireland was, strangely, Frank De Boer.
And his big plan to save the season was to sign Tomas Rosicky and Steven Taylor:
It did not work.
A quick look at the season overview shows we were also knocked out of both cup competitions in the third round:
And our best player was Seamus Coleman, who's average rating was a respectable 7.12:
Shane Long top-scored with 11 league goals. Rosicky wasn't worth the trouble.
So There You Have it... ?
Well, no.
There were several flaws with our system, first and foremost the use of an inexperienced manager in Clinton Morrison. We will run a follow up where we resign in pre-season, allowing a manager to take over and have full control, but really it might not go too much different judgding by De Boer's reign.
Here's the team that finished off the season.
A disaster for all involved.
We will be giving it another crack soon, so hopefully it won't all be doom and gloom with a proper gaffer, no offense to Clinton, it was a big ask.
