Georgia V Ireland - Saturday, 6th September 2008 - World Cup 2010 Q - Mainz, Germany

[NeilMcD]

Anybody got a link to the goals other than RTE

[Noelys Guitar]

Great to wake up on a Sunday morning with 3 away points in the bag. We made Georgia look a bad team ( I bet they will take points off of Bulgaria). It is great to see us defending from the front again. McGeady can blow hot and cold but he made the first goal and chased back to defend. Steven Reid is our best player and he rarely wastes the ball. Always seems to have more time to place his passes than other players. Hunt was lucky he was'nt sent off fo that early tackle. He has to watch that as I don't want to see us playing with ten men. If we can get the 3 points on wednesday then we will have already put some daylight between ourselves and Bulgaria.

[paulie_walnuts]

Great start to a campaign, I can't remember when we last started with 3 points (Germany defeat, France draw, Russia defeat, Holland draw.. the Euro 2000 group, we beat Croatia, was that our first game?).

Times have changed, there won't be 3 goal victories over the likes of Georgia anymore, Wales struggled yesterday, Scotland lost, Bulgaria drew, these 'weaker' teams are better than they once were, so this is a great 3 points. Bulgaria could go to Tbilisi and easily lose.

[boovidge]

They will be a handful in the group.

We've heard that one before ;)

[irishultra]

In fairness Wales are a minnow, and yeah the Croatia game was our last win......i know cause it was my first competitive Ireland game..:)

[paulie_walnuts]

That was the one campaign in the last 13 years that I've missed most matches.

Another thing thats struck me. After our fifth seeded team took points from Bulgaria (something I wasn't too surprised about), we could be in serious danger of not getting into the playoffs if we only finish 2nd, as this is looking like a seriously competitive group.

[Bottle of Tonic]

Really enjoyed watching us yesterday evening. First time in ages. Went to an AC/DC tribute after the game and had a great night. Just out of bed and off to the pub again to watch the hurling. Not working tomorrow. Sport makes life great sometimes. :D :ball:

[endabob1]

3 points in what was potentially a very tricky away game, better teams than Ireland will drop points away to Georgia but still the constant moaning and sniping goes on.
If we win on Wednesday 6 points from 6 in 2 away games will be an unbelievably good start, In Trapp we trust :-)
Reid was awesome, Whelan did what he is there to do, still think Carsley would be a better crab & hats of to O'Shea his best game in a long time in a green shirt I thought, although there's a case for him getting closer for their goal.

[mjpcc]

Great start to a campaign, I can't remember when we last started with 3 points (Germany defeat, France draw, Russia defeat, Holland draw.. the Euro 2000 group, we beat Croatia, was that our first game?).

Times have changed, there won't be 3 goal victories over the likes of Georgia anymore, Wales struggled yesterday, Scotland lost, Bulgaria drew, these 'weaker' teams are better than they once were, so this is a great 3 points. Bulgaria could go to Tbilisi and easily lose.

Me neither. When was the last time we won a competitive game away from home?

The last two campaigns I went to matches with hope and optomism only to come away bitterly disappointed having not enjoyed the game because we
played sh**e.

This was enjoyable - we knew what we were doing. We scored and did not panic. I though of all the times we scored and you just knew we would collapse after that and pile 10 men back in defense.

Only the last minute or two were hair raising. But this is an amazing improvement and I'm so looking forward to Wednesday.

[Wheels]

It was great that we got the result, it's only the first competitive game and gives us a shot in the arm that we really need.

I disagree with many commentators that we played well. I thought we were mediocre, not terrible, but nothing great. We seemed to coast through long sections of the game.

And I was FURIOUS at the end. The last 5 minutes it was obvious that we were back to our old ways of being terrified of conceeding a late goal... they hadn't created a good chance all through the game (except for that first half corner)... so what were we scared of?? We need to learn the lesson from that one immediately.

We're in a very tight group. Italy and Bulgaria both SCORED late goals, we conceeded one. If we're in a tight game with them then it could cost us dear.

Still we got the win... that's all that REALLY mattered from that game.

[paulie_walnuts]

Me neither. When was the last time we won a competitive game away from home?

The last two campaigns I went to matches with hope and optomism only to come away bitterly disappointed having not enjoyed the game because we
played sh**e.

This was enjoyable - we knew what we were doing. We scored and did not panic. I though of all the times we scored and you just knew we would collapse after that and pile 10 men back in defense.

Only the last minute or two were hair raising. But this is an amazing improvement and I'm so looking forward to Wednesday.

Bar San Marino, even though we did our best to make that one competitive... Cyprus Oct 05, 1-0 win under Kerr?

[Razors left peg]

there were negatives to look at in the game but a very comfortable 3 points and I thought we looked very confident, possibly a bit too much and we eased off alot. But it looked to me like there were another few gears if needed.Great start to the campaign

[eirebhoy]

For me Stephen Reid and Kevin Doyle were excellent. I am not sure cause I was at the game but I noticed Doyle making runs time and time again, his running of the channels was top class and himself and Keane seem to have a system going on.

Yeh, you can't appreciate Doyle watching on TV. He's such a great player when you see him live. He'll be back playing in the top flight before he's 26 anyway, no doubt.

[Noelys Guitar]

Yeh, you can't appreciate Doyle watching on TV. He's such a great player when you see him live. He'll be back playing in the top flight before he's 26 anyway, no doubt.

Difficult player to mark. The header for the goal was excellent. Showed real guile to move the ball around the keeper. If he gets the service he will score against Montenegro.

[shakermaker1982]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/player-ratings-1471033.html

independent ratings here. A little OTT, 8 for Keane and Dunne?!

[boovidge]

load of tripe those ratings. It was a good performance but only kilbane deserved the 8/10.

The individual ratings seem to be based on the result, if Georgia had got a lucky defelcted equaliser the ratings would be much lower.

[eirebhoy]

Difficult player to mark.
Keane:

“After the game on Sunday, Ledley King – for me one of the best defenders in England – said Kevin was one of the toughest players he has played against this season.

“He said it’s not about when he has the ball, it’s about when he hasn’t got it, running into the channels and that makes him hard for defenders to mark.”

[Cymro]

In fairness Wales are a minnow

:rolleyes:

[irishultra]

I guess the truth hurts.

[Cymro]

Ah yes, 'the truth hurts' good way of following through on a point without actually backing it up.......

Given that we finished all of TWO points behind you in the last qualification group which we were both in, can you really level that accusation at us without taking a look at yourselves? And don't give me the 'it's all Staunton's fault' crap, he may have accounted for a couple of points gone missing due to inexperience and tactical naivety but mostly it was just because your players weren't good enough. The 5-2 defeat to Cyprus which you all rave on about - those things don't happen because of a manager getting tactics wrong, they happen because you are second best on the day. Maybe something like Slovakia away where you conceded a late goal to draw 2-2 you can blame on Staunton, but not everything.

[seanfhear]

Cymro dont pay any attention to people trying to wind you up here.
You have some good young players and all the best in the qualifers.

[SkStu]

This might be the single most absurd bunch of idiocy i have ever read.
All garbage. Jump on or jump off but dont do it midway. Every thing you stated has #1 Been disproven or too lazy to deal with..or #2 So obvious it is taken up by your Aunt Honey in Surrey in 1967.
Awful Awful Post. But, I do respect you for writing it, and i will continue to read it.
Peace.

thanks for the feedback Crosby87.

And im sorry that it wasnt up to your standards. From what i can see your only contribution of note has been to ask why McGeady falls down so much, which is one of the most burning questions of the modern era of Irish soccer. I salute you.

I will aim to deliver similarly valuable insights in the future but please bear with me while my learning curve continues... :rolleyes:

[SUB of the day]

In fairness Wales are a minnow, and yeah the Croatia game was our last win......i know cause it was my first competitive Ireland game..:)
....beating Cyprus 3 0 in Lansdowne under Kerr, was the last time we started a campaign with a win, didn't qualify, late goal in Israel started the rot.Thank God we don't do that anymore;)

[youngirish]

Ah yes, 'the truth hurts' good way of following through on a point without actually backing it up.......

Given that we finished all of TWO points behind you in the last qualification group which we were both in, can you really level that accusation at us without taking a look at yourselves? And don't give me the 'it's all Staunton's fault' crap, he may have accounted for a couple of points gone missing due to inexperience and tactical naivety but mostly it was just because your players weren't good enough. The 5-2 defeat to Cyprus which you all rave on about - those things don't happen because of a manager getting tactics wrong, they happen because you are second best on the day. Maybe something like Slovakia away where you conceded a late goal to draw 2-2 you can blame on Staunton, but not everything.
Stauntons tactical naivety cost us well more than a couple of points in the last campaign. It cost us 2 against Slovakia, at least 2 against Cyprus (possibly 3) and Don Givens who replaced him cost us a further 2 against Wales alone which meant you finished 2 points behind us instead of 5. We are far better than Wales. We even finished ahead of you with easily one of the most clueless international managers of recent times and that alone should settle that argument.

[irishultra]

....beating Cyprus 3 0 in Lansdowne under Kerr, was the last time we started a campaign with a win, didn't qualify, late goal in Israel started the rot.Thank God we don't do that anymore;)

:o

I was also there that day....shouting at the doc warming up....good lad he is, and Reid scored an amazing goal.

[paulie_walnuts]

....beating Cyprus 3 0 in Lansdowne under Kerr, was the last time we started a campaign with a win, didn't qualify, late goal in Israel started the rot.Thank God we don't do that anymore;)

That game completely slipped my mind, I was out gettin chips when I heard the cheer, the girl in the chip van asked who scored, obviously it was Ireland, some young lad thought he was funny and said 'Ireland, what are ya, stupid?' clown, haha. Thought we started in France, but that was a month later.

[old git]

It's been clear since 2002 that Stephen Reid was always going to be important to us. He had a couple of decent sub appearances under McCarthy (and a world cup appearance) and a storming game in Brian Kerr's first game in Scotland but he has been dogged by injuries ever since and only played a handful of games for us. We desperately need him to stay fit.

On Andy Reid I think Trapp will get to know his abilities over time but then the question is how to fit him into the system. He won't get up and down the wing like Duff, McGeady and Hunt but I think Trapp wants a solid, no nonsense centre of midfield rather than flair. I hope he can work it out.

Someone posted earlier that Robbie Keane is overrated but IMHO he is still our most important player. He was unlucky to hit the post today and other than that didn't get much of the ball (which he can't be blamed for).

When we went 1-0 up there was definitely a strategy of playing out the game like the Italians would. I think the manager had more faith in our ability to do that than the fans (he hasn't gone through the last 3 campaigns the way we have). I was really nervous for 15 or 20 minutes but the second goal did ease the nerves a bit.

A good start but we need to keep improving on the performance. Everyone did their job today - no complaints on effort from anyone. Hunt tries his heart out but needs to pass more (he can't beat them all). At times he gave the ball away but I think it was one of McGeady's best games yet.

Given the injury he got just seven days ago I think Kilbane was my personal star today.

3-points away to start - brilliant. Let's go and get 3 more on Wednesday.

Someone posted earlier that Robbie Keane is overrated but IMHO he is still our most important player. He was unlucky to hit the post today and other than that didn't get much of the ball (which he can't be blamed for).

have to disagree he is totally overated gave nothing to the team as captain lost possesion very easily and unlucky to hit post is to kind of him a world class forward would have scored it this miss could have cost us 2 points in the end :ball:

[irishultra]

He's got an amazing first touch using his chest.

[FarBeag]

thanks for the feedback Crosby87.

And im sorry that it wasnt up to your standards. From what i can see your only contribution of note has been to ask why McGeady falls down so much, which is one of the most burning questions of the modern era of Irish soccer. I salute you.

I will aim to deliver similarly valuable insights in the future but please bear with me while my learning curve continues... :rolleyes:

Well said.Good reaction.

[Stuttgart88]

yeah, well done Stu.

[Blue Man]

Boy I am not looking forward to reading anything on this board if we get beaten that's for sure .
Bottom line an away win againist Georgia is a very good start , 3 points in the bag and at the top of the table .

NEXT PLEASE .

Agree 100%. What does be with the negativity sometimes? What was the aim at the start of the match? 3 points. What is the objective of the campaign? To qualify for a World Cup. How do you get to a World Cup? By winning games.

Nowhere did it say Trap had to play beautiful football. He's there to do a job, so far he has done it. We're still unbeaten under him and have maximum points. To say that you dont trust him is ridiculous. I dont know about others, but I'd prefer to qualify for South Africa by winning games at any cost, no matter how muck we play.

[George2605]

Sorry I'm a bit late guys, but let me congratulate you on the deserved win. I don't want to quote my own posts, but whoever can be bothered, can check the "Georgia profile" thread here to see my assessment of our goalkeepers...well, this is perhaps the key position in a football team, so if you've got someone like Loria playing there, then you can't really expect much, I suppose...and in fairness, it's not as if anyone else in our team played up to their standards, apart from the goalscorer Kenia, of course.

The Irish team played a lot better than when I last saw them, but they were far from outstanding, even compared to the Scotland team that we totally outplayed a year ago, for example, so naturally it's a very disappointing start for us. This really was a game we had to get something out from, and in this regard, special thanks must go (apart from the 'keeper) to our federation, for virtually handing all venue advantage to Ireland, to save themselves some travel money and inconvenience. They really have the talent to do things against the best interests of the team and the fans.

Well, I don't even know if I should bother watching the Italy game on Wednesday, but in any case good luck to you guys, you'll probably need it against Montenegro, who like I predicted are a tough team. See you in February, and I hope the game will be at Croke Park (I'm not sure when your new Lansdowne Rd will be finished), as it's a stadium I always wanted to visit.

[cheifo]

Given was hardly tested the whole game.He will proably have a lot more to do
on Wednesday(if fit?) and will be worth points to us in these qualifiers.

I was happy with the leadership our more experienced players gave us, something totally lacking on the pitch for some reason under Staunton.
The team had that sense of purpose about it.

IMO Robbie also played well making intelligent runs, turning their defenders, and making and forcing two experienced defenders(Kaladze and the lad from Blackburn) into errors.

[irishultra]

Sorry I'm a bit late guys, but let me congratulate you on the deserved win. I don't want to quote my own posts, but whoever can be bothered, can check the "Georgia profile" thread here to see my assessment of our goalkeepers...well, this is perhaps the key position in a football team, so if you've got someone like Loria playing there, then you can't really expect much, I suppose...and in fairness, it's not as if anyone else in our team played up to their standards, apart from the goalscorer Kenia, of course.

The Irish team played a lot better than when I last saw them, but they were far from outstanding, even compared to the Scotland team that we totally outplayed a year ago, for example, so naturally it's a very disappointing start for us. This really was a game we had to get something out from, and in this regard, special thanks must go (apart from the 'keeper) to our federation, for virtually handing all venue advantage to Ireland, to save themselves some travel money and inconvenience. They really have the talent to do things against the best interests of the team and the fans.

Well, I don't even know if I should bother watching the Italy game on Wednesday, but in any case good luck to you guys, you'll probably need it against Montenegro, who like I predicted are a tough team. See you in February, and I hope the game will be at Croke Park (I'm not sure when your new Lansdowne Rd will be finished), as it's a stadium I always wanted to visit.

In fairness we were far from our best. I'm not saying we're Argentina or anything but we were playing in second gear for a lot of the match.

[mypost]

That game completely slipped my mind, Thought we started in France, but that was a month later.

Was the game that forgettable?

First time to win an away game as first match since the 5-0 revenge win in Liechtenstein in 1996.

Agree with the OTT negative comments. We won the game, that's all we needed to do. Wasn't perfect, but we're not a world class team. How many people will criticise Italy for needing an injury time goal to beat the mighty Cyprus?? :eek: No, it will be put down to their "never say die" attitude. :rolleyes:

[Reality Bites]

Ireland much improved but still a lot of questions to answer

I have no faith in them or the manager now. They have three points but a better team would have drawn or beaten us. Why is Liam Lawencre or Rory Delap not in the squad.

S Hunt is a headless chicken not up tp this level.
McGeady was good

Centre mod still a prob. A Reid should be in the team

Robbie Keane is totally over rated.

Trapatoni has many questions to answer

Still conceding late goals

They have improved though from Stan's chaotic era.

Celtic Tiger Muppet head!

[Reality Bites]

Reading alot of these post here suggest to me that alot of people have a misguided belief in how good the players are, the simple fact is they are average and the manager cannot makes silk purses out of sows ears and THERE ARE NO WHIPPING BOYS IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ANYMORE, look around Europe ye of the expectant masses - Romania and France lost to what on paper are inferior teams, England struggled to get two passed Andorra, Italy poxed a win against Cyprus and Bulgaria drew at the death, Georgia have a pedigree manager and some good players to boot with this in mind everyone should be hailing this result as a huge stepping stone , to qualify for this tournament will probably be the greatest sporting achievement of an Irish Football team, I base this on the fact that the players available are infinitley inferior to bygone eras.

[Wolfie]

Content enough with that performance as we secured the all important 3 points.

There were periods of the game where we diced with inviting the Georgians back in. Put it this way - I wouldn't like to have see what was coming if Whelan hadn't have scored when he did.

I thought our first goal had a little touch of class to it. Vaguely reminiscent of Robbie Keane's goal against the Dutch in the qualifier in 2000.

Stephen Reid - take a bow. Thought he was composed and intelligent. On various occasions played the simple but effective ball. Involved in both goals and kept things moving.

Minor gripes overall - we're up and running (at least for a few days).

[Duggie]

job well done - end of story. look at some of the results around europe over the weekend. bit worried about the montenegro game, so hope we keep it tight and maybe nick the win which would be brilliant. but stephen hunt had a terrible game. gave the ball away every time and confirmed my suspicions that he is way over-rated. other than that im happy enough, stephen reid had a great game and whealan was solid. roll on wed !

[Billsthoughts]

Minor gripes overall - we're up and running (at least for a few days).

I dont think it will be the end of the world to lose out in Montenegro. I have a feeling that they will be one of these teams dont travel too well.

[Duggie]

I dont think it will be the end of the world to lose out in Montenegro. I have a feeling that they will be one of these teams dont travel too well.

eh yes it would - cant afford to lose. we have to at least get the draw.

[drummerboy]

I thought McGeady had a bad game. Gave the ball away on countless occasions. However he did work hard and he did provide a perfect cross for the first goal. And the much maligned O’Shea had a steady game. Other than that it was a good workmanlike performance, something we yearned for when Stan was in charge.

[Duggie]

only thing is we still seem to let games slip away from us when we score or go ahead. need to press on and close games a bit more.

[tetsujin1979]

The RTE panel's review of the game is online: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0906/highlights_av.html

[OwlsFan]

Lads just woken up after a great night in Mainz, best Ireland trip in a long time and the singing last night was top notch.

Yep, the fans came across loud and clear on the TV. Great performance by them.

[gufct]

best crack at an Irish game in years .Were on the one road and molly malone is was like 88 all over again.

Two negatives the clown who went for the ref and those stupid tossers that were selling and buying the f**k england scarves they should be told where to go.

[bwagner]

3 points is everything , what was the story with that knacker that ran on the pitch ? and how much for the F England shirt as i want 2 lol

[Stuttgart88]

I'd like to think that on my part the tone was of objective criticism rather than negativity. If I was manager and trying to set the psychological tone I'd emphasise the positives but I think we're capable of playing better than we did and failure to do so may cost us on Wednesday. I don't think you can control a game from start to finish against anyone and even the smallest monnows can cause grief from corners etc. but I thought we faded out of the game on Saturday for longer than was healthy to be honest.

If we can get 3 ugly wins to start though I'll be thrilled as I've no doubt that as time passes we'll improve steadily under Trap, especially if we continue to be in contention. So far so good...

[Duggie]

I'd like to think that on my part the tone was of objective criticism rather than negativity. If I was manager and trying to set the psychological tone I'd emphasise the positives but I think we're capable of playing better than we did and failure to do so may cost us on Wednesday. I don't think you can control a game from start to finish against anyone and even the smallest monnows can cause grief from corners etc. but I thought we faded out of the game on Saturday for longer than was healthy to be honest.

If we can get 3 ugly wins to start though I'll be thrilled as I've no doubt that as time passes we'll improve steadily under Trap, especially if we continue to be in contention. So far so good...

agree - if we can stamp this out of our game i think we can qualify. this is the type of game under stan that we might have drawn. we did what we had to do, 3 points is all that matters.

[Voice of Reason]

McGeady's cross for the goal was great but he hit that first time.

After that he held it and got tackled every time.

That might have affected his confidence so he started misplacing passes etc.