“Heart breaking” – Southampton star suffers dismal night on international duty

•  Shea Charles’ red card during the international break is a setback for Southampton and Northern Ireland.
•  Michael O’Neill believes that Charles can learn from the experience and avoid similar mistakes in the future.
•  The yellow card for dissent early in the game put Charles at risk for further trouble, and Slovenia capitalized on it to secure the win.

Southampton star summer signing Shea Charles has suffered a setback during the international break.

The midfielder for Northern Ireland was sent off during Tuesday night’s Euro 2024 qualifying match against Slovenia.

One of the few shining moments in Michael O’Neill’s team’s otherwise dismal campaign has been the 19-year-old.

Before receiving a second yellow card and an early bath for challenging Andraz Sporar in the 58th minute, he had been booked for dissent early in the first half.

At Windsor Park, Slovenia’s goal from the ensuing free kick proved to be the game-winning difference.

What has Michael O’Neill said about Shea Charles’ red card for Northern Ireland?

 

O’Neill refrained from being overly harsh of the Saints player, emphasizing that his background will save him from repeating the same errors.

The former manager of Stoke City was not pleased with the yellow card for dissent, but he thinks he can learn from the way Slovenia handled the situation to get Charles sent out.

Young players have a learning curve, according to O’Neill, via News Letter.

“Compared to us, Slovenia has a lot more international experience.

“That’s evident in the way they handled the matter and somewhat impersonated the referee.

“Obviously, the players felt some of the intensity in the stadium, and everyone became a little impatient with some of the choices.It’s bad if you’re scheduled for disobedience.

“You forced yourself, and we must take that as a lesson.

We’ve probably witnessed a small mix of inexperience on the part of a few players as well as the raw emotion of the moment when you’re trying to win against a squad that has a little bit more experience and that can players have a learning curve, according to O’Neill, via News Letter.

Championship Table (As it stands w/c October 9th)
	Team	P	GD	Pts
9	Hull City	11	2	17
10	Southampton	11	-4	17
11	West Brom	11	4	16
12	Swansea City	11	4	16
13	Coventry City	11	4	15
14	Bristol City	11	1	15
15	Millwall	11	-2	15
16	Middlesbrough	11	-1	14

Charles will miss Northern Ireland’s match against Finland next month, despite having participated in all of his country’s qualification matches thus far this international season.

O’Neill’s squad finished fifth in a group of six after the loss, and they were mathematically eliminated from the German competition Euro 2024.

The midfield player, who previously played for Manchester City, joined Russell Martin’s team for an estimated £10.5 million.#

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For the south coast club, the young player has made nine appearances in the Championship thus far, five of which have been starts.

After 11 games, Southampton is now in 10th place in the table, one point off of the play-off spots.

The Saints will play their first game back this weekend on October 21 at MKM Stadium against Martin’s team, Hull City.

Can Shea Charles learn from his latest international setback?

Receiving a yellow card for disobedience so early in the game puts you at risk of getting into trouble later on.

Slovenia made good use of that, but Charles should learn from the absurdity of using that as an excuse to get into trouble.

The team had a depressing day even though the game had no real significance, and the fact that Charles gave up a free kick that led to the winning goal only made it hurt even more.

O’Neill has been reasonable in his remarks following the match, and Martin need to try to talk to him about the issue when he gets back to Southampton.