Republic of Ireland V Georgia - Wednesday, 11th February 2009 - World Cup 2010 Q

[OneRedArmy]

Triumph of effort over skill.

Our defence is as shaky as hell, midfield is purposeless, but the two wide lads and Robbie and Doyler always give us a chance.

Still feels like we're papering over the cracks tbh.

[Dr. Ogba]

jaysus just thinking now, if we beat Bulgaria in March we'll be 10 points ahead of them!! :eek:

[mypost]

Georgia will never want to see us in their group again that’s for sure. We were lucky to beat them both times. Whelan’s goal in the first leg should not have gone in, game played in a neutral venue and a penalty tonight that should never have been.

We are not a good team but if we continue to have the luck we are having we just might get a play off place. There is no way we will beat Italy away or at home. We will struggle against Bulgaria in both legs and there is a good chance Cyprus will beat us.

You can't win with some people. There we are: Second in the group, 10 points from 4 games, best start to a campaign since the 96 qualifiers, and all you get is whinging.:rolleyes:

By all accounts, Italy aren't exactly firing on all cylinders atm, and as for Bulgaria, they're 7 points behind having sacked their coach last game. I fancy Montenegro to get a result at home to Italy next month, and if we win, we're clear of the lot heading off to Bari.:D

And there'll still be cry-babies on here. :rolleyes:

[danonion]

I'll take a crappy Finnish referee over Spanish or Italian referees thank you. There were bad calls i nthis game, but Spanish and Italians will make calls that go against us deliberately, we've seen it before. They do not rate as a footballing nation, and would preserve the status quo by making bad decisions against us if it favored one of the big footballing nations.

Haven't we been robbed enough times to see this?

[TheBoss]

The game was there to be won in the first half but the team was too slow in its attacks and passing, they needed to press higher up the pitch and get in their faces cause we could have easily won 3/4-0. The second was much more like it, I think the players forgot a bit about the tactics and decided to play 100% to get the win and it worked to an extent despite the lucky penalty and the corner.

[elroy]

The key tonight was the result, one nil down with twenty mins to go I wouldve been delighted with a win. It looked like one of those nights. Never was a penalty but then again I think Andrews goal should have stood. To summarise:

- We really miss Steven Reid, heres hoping he gets back to fitness by the summer and is available for our final three games.

- Andrews did ok for his first full cap, more effective than Gibson was and offers a goal threat. Whelan good in places but gave away the ball alot. Cant fault their effort. However, neither is capable of a killer pass or really using the ball effectively to release the wingers or the strikers. The best pass of the night was by JOSH when he played a long through ball for McGeady.

- Keane was poor tonight but he kept at it for a guy who's confidence must be quite low. Doyle played well, however I dont think we use his aerial prowess near enough, he is far better in the air than Keane imo. His header late on was a great effort.

- This is as good as it gets, other than Finnan in for Kelly that was our best XI tonight. Dont mention SI, he is not available - end of. Andy Reid should be in the squad but not in the XI in my opinion, doesnt fit in the system unless you drop Keane or Doyle.

- Dont think we utilise Duff enough, the guy still has amazing footwork and any time he cuts in and takes defenders on ie for the Andrews goal he causes havoc.

- McGeadys delivery although better in the first half is still not good enough. In fact you could lay that accusation at most of the team. Most of Duffs deliveries were poor. Too many balls looped into the box with zero pace - too easy for the defenders. The GK didnt catch the ball once all night but we didnt take advantage of this. Best cross of the night was probably Hunts for Doyle near the end.

- I think if we hadnt conceded so early and settled in to the game at nil-nil we wouldve won and well. The Georgians werent great but we gave them a hell of a start and they were full of confidence as a result. It was always going to be difficult to break down the two banks of five and four.

- The bench looked quite poor tonight, we may have some up and coming players but other than Hunt, there really wasnt a whole lot on the bench that you wouldve considered bringing on. Unfortunately just further illustrates the lack of quality in the team at the moment.

- The team is very ordinary, but its real strength is the back five. Take Kelly out of the equation and you have a world class GK, very solid pairing of experienced centre halves and a good left back and right back in Kilbane and Finnan respectively. The defence may well get us to South Africa as I believe that Traps system will yield the greatest dividends in the upcoming games away from home when other teams have to come at us. As could be seen tonight, it is not a strength of this system for the team to chase a game.

- We now have a fantastic chance to qualify with a very ordinary set of players. If we manage a win against Bulgaria at home [do remember we have not won a game against a "big" team at home since arguably the Dutch in 2001] we are pretty much guaranteed second. All going well we may well set ourselves up for a winner takes all game against Italy in Croker to decide who tops the group - heres hoping!!

[Torn-Ado]

You can't win with some people. There we are: Second in the group, 10 points from 4 games, best start to a campaign since the 96 qualifiers, and all you get is whinging.:rolleyes:

By all accounts, Italy aren't exactly firing on all cylinders atm, and as for Bulgaria, they're 7 points behind having sacked their coach last game. I fancy Montenegro to get a result at home to Italy next month, and if we win, we're clear of the lot heading off to Bari.:D

And there'll still be cry-babies on here. :rolleyes:

And how did that fair out? There is still a massive amount of work to be done with team if we have any hope of qualifying.

[Uncle_Joe]

What comes around goes around!
Im tired of seeing Ireland go unlucky in games. We deserved to win tonight.
I've seen goals like Andrew rules offside aplenty so know no problems there. THe penalty was a disgrace, the referee f**ked up and was afraid to go back on his own decision. DISGRACE!!!
However we played them off the park an deserved to win.
THe incident with Doyle WAS a stonewall penalty, the replay the player clearly stood on his foot, had no contact with the ball at had contact with Doyle after the initial contact. Penalty!
We deserved to win and we did, no matter if it included a lot of luck.
Finally a little bit of credit to Robbie, who "never scores against big teams" according to so many. Who cares? he saved us tonight.
RANT OVER.:o

[Torn-Ado]

Anyone got highlights, I left the pub in disgust after 65 minutes only to return after a few texts, with 6 minutes to go.

[kingdomkerry]

here we go!!

[mypost]

And how did that fair out? There is still a massive amount of work to be done with team if we have any hope of qualifying.

How should we be?? Barce bleedin-lona?? :confused::rolleyes:

It was tight, it was scrappy, it wasn't pretty, but we won. Italy needed a last minute goal to beat Cyprus, and didn't play well when they beat Georgia. They won the game. That's what counts ultimately.

2 years ago, we needed a last minute winner in San Marino, and couldn't beat Cyprus and Slovakia. Finally we are getting the results we need, that's what the coach is getting paid €2 million a year to do. How we get them is immaterial, tbh.

[geysir]

Anyone got highlights, I left the pub in disgust after 65 minutes only to return after a few texts, with 6 minutes to go.
:D:D
I'd rather walk barefoot to South Africa before I'd send you the highlights.

[MariborKev]

I'm with mypost on this one.

We have an average group of players and we have managed to amass ten points. We haven't got a string of world/top european players out there. The coach is helping us to get points on the board, something the last incumbent was unable to do.

[irishultra]

at last at least we dominated possession in a match.

[eirebhoy]

Crap view of the match from the singing section so couldn't really give anywhere close to an accurate judgement other than us being very poor for the first hour. What I will say though is the Irish really have a dislike for McGeady. Stephen Hunt runs out of play - clap, clap, head up. Stephen Hunt balloons a cross - clap, clap, head up. McGeady overhits a corner and half the bloody crowd are on his back. Get a grip lads for gods sake! I thought McGeady was quite poor for the best part of an hour but I thought he's done enough overall since the Denmark away game that he wouldn't be treated as a Kevin Kilbane of the McCarthy days.

I try to make a point when I'm at games to say that we shouldn't be criticising our own players. It tends to make everyone around me clap instead of groaning. If all fans only knew what a positive difference that makes to a player. A division 4 player makes a mistake in a cup game against a division 1 player. His fans will usually give him encouragement. He'll leave that incident with his head up and even more determination.

[irishultra]

there was a mcgeady chant going for a bit, i am 100% positive if mcgeady had been subbed, a standing ovation would have been received.

[tetsujin1979]

Not long back from the game, still defrosting.
Given was his usual self, outstanding, alert and composed. Let down badly by Kelly for their goal. I really do hope he can do what Hughes says, and plays until he's 40.

Kelly started badly and took a long time to recover. Obviously short of match sharpness, we can only hope he's back to his ever-present best in 6 weeks
Dunne and O'Shea continued their strong partnership, and I still stand by the statement that it will take injury or suspension to either player to break it up. O'Shea was harshly penalised late on for what I felt was a legitimate challenge. Dunne was obviously fresh after his recent suspension, and played as well as I have seen him this season.
As you were for Kilbane, but I felt his positioning sense has improved. Never faulted for effort, I thought he'd been knocked unconscious when he took a boot to the head.

Hard to rate Duff's performance. He's not back to his best, but he's far from his worst. Although McGeady provides a better balance to midfield, he spent a large part of the game on the left, where Duff excels compared to the right wing. Their link up play from throw ins was impressive, but lacked end product.
Andrews was the better of the two central midfielders. Linked up well between defence and attack, specifically the wingers. Tracked back, harried, and played the simple ball. I don't think he's the solution, but he's not the problem either.
Whelan tried hard but a lot of it didn't come off. Wasted a free kick late on and put a shot into orbit. Having said all that, central midfield was identified early on by Trapattoni as a weak point, and you have to say introducing Whelan has gone a long way to solidifying it.
McGeady was my MOTM before any of Ireland's goals. With the comments the manager made in the build up about him needing to contribute more, I was half tempted to have a punt on him scoring. His run and shot in the first half deserved a goal, and he had 2 crosses in the game hit the netting. The defence backed away from him when he was in possession, and he is clearly improving under the new management

Doyle ran himself into the ground, their entire defence must have been sick of the sight of him when they were in possession. Despite not scoring, I still think he contributed more than Robbie Keane did to overall play and to the team in general.
Keane is clearly not match fit, and I would not have been surprised to see him substituted before scoring. Must have ice in his veins to score that penalty, I was nearly getting sick in the stands!! The second goal was the icing on the cake, but he was still anonymous in the last minutes of the game. A subsitution would have lifted the crowd to applaud him, but there was precious little on the bench.

Stephen Hunt came on and was...well, Stephen Hunt. Never stopped moving, tried hard, took a shot when it was on, and could have had his second international goal. It's unfortunate but he'll never be a starter when he can be an impact sub

Overall, Ireland were the better side, and had some good passages of play. Georgia went out to foul their way to a win. Having said that, I really didn't think either team deserved to lose (not that I'm complaining!!). IT's hard to criticise a win, but the lack of substitutions is still baffling.
Just as a general comment, while behind, we seemed to be inches away from a goal. From McGeady's shot, to Andews' ball behind Keane instead of in front of him, there just seemed to be a lack of...accuracy I guess. These are the things that cost goals, especially at this level, and still need to be worked on.

[bishbash]

Crap view of the match from the singing section so couldn't really give anywhere close to an accurate judgement other than us being very poor for the first hour. What I will say though is the Irish really have a dislike for McGeady. Stephen Hunt runs out of play - clap, clap, head up. Stephen Hunt balloons a cross - clap, clap, head up. McGeady overhits a corner and half the bloody crowd are on his back. Get a grip lads for gods sake! I thought McGeady was quite poor for the best part of an hour but I thought he's done enough overall since the Denmark away game that he wouldn't be treated as a Kevin Kilbane of the McCarthy days.

I try to make a point when I'm at games to say that we shouldn't be criticising our own players. It tends to make everyone around me clap instead of groaning. If all fans only knew what a positive difference that makes to a player. A division 4 player makes a mistake in a cup game against a division 1 player. His fans will usually give him encouragement. He'll leave that incident with his head up and even more determination.

i agree. I dunno maybe its the irrational dislike of celtic on these boards and the fact that he is a celtic player justifys more criticism. anyway as far as hunt goes he is an at best an average player but dont get me wrong cause for as limited a player as he is, his fantastic attitude has carved a really great career for himself and for that i cant praise him enough. he is an example to any youngster out there that hard work and the right attitude goes so far in the game. But while duff and mcgeady are no world beaters they are still by far better players than hunt anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.

[eirebhoy]

i agree. I dunno maybe its the irrational dislike of celtic on these boards and the fact that he is a celtic player justifys more criticism.
I'm actually talking about the people at the games rather than these forums. There's no doubt McGeady gets a lot more abuse than the other Irish players. Even stuff that's completely unjustified like pulling out of a challenge that he's never going to win. When McGeady holds onto the ball for 5 seconds a lot of the crowd shout at him. They think he's brainless and they know better. When most other players do it they obviously feel the player knows what he's doing. It just really got to me tonight more than any time. He's been doing pretty well for us for a while now.

[eamo1]

Just back from the game,brutal first half,decent second half but my qs is this.WHATS THE GAME PLAN???????i was in the singing section tonight and had a decent view as we were up towards the back of it but i didnt see any pattern to our play at all.Only in the last 20mins did the game plan seem to be "get the ball out wide to our wingers as quick as possible".Before that howver we were clueless.CANT believe we are joint top playing how we are but ill take it.

[Razors left peg]

McGeady was magic tonight, best performance in an Ireland shirt by a mile

[co. down green]

Just home in Belfast with the supporters club, after a strange night in Croker.

Where do i start? We did win, We are joint top of the group.

I suppose its 3 points and the table is what matters.

too tired to get into the whole analysis of the game, but Jesus, it was not pretty.

But if we do the Bulgarians next month, we are in a great position.


FIFA World Cup European Qualifying : Group Eight Table

P W D L F A GD PTS
1 Italy 4 3 1 0 6 2 4 10
2 Ireland 4 3 1 0 5 2 3 10
3 Bulgaria 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 3
4 Montenegro 3 0 2 1 3 4 -1 2
5 Georgia 5 0 2 3 3 7 -4 2
6 Cyprus 3 0 1 2 2 4 -2 1

[Pike B]

All I have to say about that game is,

PHEW....

[FarBeag]

You can't win with some people. There we are: Second in the group, 10 points from 4 games, best start to a campaign since the 96 qualifiers, and all you get is whinging.:rolleyes:

By all accounts, Italy aren't exactly firing on all cylinders atm, and as for Bulgaria, they're 7 points behind having sacked their coach last game. I fancy Montenegro to get a result at home to Italy next month, and if we win, we're clear of the lot heading off to Bari.:D

And there'll still be cry-babies on here. :rolleyes:


What makes you think I am crying about it? I am over the moon that we have a chance to qualify. I am just pointing out that we were lucky to beat Georgia twice.Ok you make your own luck but do you think we deserved to win both games on merit? I dont think so!

Anyway I still think we don’t have a good team but a good bunch of lads who play with their heart on their sleeves.

[Galwayman]

Ah Jesus lads - we really need to get the team sorted out for the next games against Bulgaria and Italy. The biggest problem we have is the centre of midfield.We've been getting murdered in that area against average teams in every game so far.
Trap needs to bite the bullet, swallow some pride and get Stephen Ireland back.It's really unfortunate that Stephen Reid is out at the moment because a midfield of himself and Ireland would be a major improvement.
Even if Stephen Ireland were to come back though, I'm not sure Trap would play him in the centre as he favours 2 defensive players here and Ireland certainly is not that.
Whelan was terrible last night.Gave the ball away time and time again and looked unbelievably slow getting around the pitch.

We also need to get some quality cover for Finnan at right back.Kelly is a rubbish player - and I'm not saying that because of last nights game.I have watched him at least 20 times between club and country and he has been very poor the majority of times I have seen him. He is terrible on the ball. You can't get away with a full back who is crap on the ball at club level never mind international level these days.

Thank God for the referee and his joke of a penalty decision.
We really did get out of jail last night. Now we have to take advantage of that by sorting the proiblem areas in the team out before the next games.

[gspain]

I'm actually talking about the people at the games rather than these forums. There's no doubt McGeady gets a lot more abuse than the other Irish players. Even stuff that's completely unjustified like pulling out of a challenge that he's never going to win. When McGeady holds onto the ball for 5 seconds a lot of the crowd shout at him. They think he's brainless and they know better. When most other players do it they obviously feel the player knows what he's doing. It just really got to me tonight more than any time. He's been doing pretty well for us for a while now.

I think you are too sensitive. I was in the lower Hogan and didn't think McGeady or indeed anyone else got much abuse. There were groans and frustration in the first half when his final ball was poor after excellent approach work. He had a great second half. There were a few comments re Robbie Keane which I didn't like (before the goals) although Robbie had one of his worst games in a green shirt (apart from the goals).

As for the game I thought we deserved to win but were very lucky with the penalty. I thought Andrews goal should have stood so maybe it balances out but had we lost like that in Sofia or Bari I'd be gutted. We've had our share of bad decisions in the past against us albeit most now a long time ago.

Nice to see Khizanishvili wasn't booed. Hopefully the minority of bigots have moved on from that now although they probably weren't even there last night.

We still haven't played the 2 group heavyweights. However we are in great shape for the runners up spot. Splitting the points with Bulgaria would probably be enough although a home win is our best chance of that. The squad are talking about winning the group and that is as it should be. However I can't see that happening.

[Newryrep]

We played with 2 wide men yet there were plenty of times it looked like a football match in primary school, 20 players in or near the centre circle, even if we did win it there was no pass to get things going as nobody was available. Duff and/or Mageady should of been told to hug the wings at least it would of dragged a couple of Georgians out of the centre and offered an outlet ball.

good to comeback from a goal down - how long has that been ?, atsmosphere considerably better than before with the Singing Section, 3 points in the bag and we are still in with a shout of qualification although Italy wont exactly be quaking in their boots.

Roll on Bulgaria at home but a better performance required

[Dr. Ogba]

gspain/eirebhoy - i think you'll find idiots wherever you go. I was sitting in the cusack upper and this fool behind me kept on giving out about McGeady even when he was beating players or playing decent through-balls....i sometimes wonder why these fools even go to games. :rolleyes:
Go to support your team, if people are going to matches just to whinge and moan no matter what then we don't want them there - hopefully we'll get rid of that element when we go back to Lansdowne...

[dr_peepee]

I pity those fools...

[Drumcondra 69er]

I'm actually talking about the people at the games rather than these forums. There's no doubt McGeady gets a lot more abuse than the other Irish players. Even stuff that's completely unjustified like pulling out of a challenge that he's never going to win. When McGeady holds onto the ball for 5 seconds a lot of the crowd shout at him. They think he's brainless and they know better. When most other players do it they obviously feel the player knows what he's doing. It just really got to me tonight more than any time. He's been doing pretty well for us for a while now.

No offence mate but I was in the singing section, my view was fine and I think you're talking through your hoop. McGeady was well supported by the fans where I was and the general concensous was that it was his best match for Ireland so far and he deserved the MOM award. However, he hasn't been doing pretty well for us for a while and I think you've got green and white hooped tinted galsses on if you think that. He's been average at best so far but stepped up last night and long may it continue.

As for the game I thought we showed great character and well deserved the win. The penalty wqas a joke but no way Andrews goal should have been disallowed and we didn't get a stonewall handball in Montenegro so swings and roundabouts. We looked poor in central midfield with Whelan in particular having a poor game. Andrews deserves his place, workmanlike though he is.

And some of the negativity in the media disgusts me, David Kelly's report in the Indo is a joke. 5 for McGeady in his ratings? Laughable, what match was he watching? We've often flattered to decieve against 'lower ranked' teams in qualifying, I remember being at Lansdowne in the Euro 88 qualifiers against Luxembourg when we went one down and came back to win 2-1 and hearing similar nonsense. All forgotten about once Gary Mackay scored. Results are the important thing in qualifying campaigns and we're unbeaten in 4 and would have a 100% record had we got that stonewall pen against Montenegro. I'll take that thanks very much. Roll on Bulgaria.

[Claret Murph]

The day after the night before .
Well to see all the goals in the lower Dav stand was a first , well maybe be not . Just ashame we had lots of empty seats again around us .
As for the game with 20 mins to go I would have taken a draw to be honest but when Robbie scored the winner everyone around me went nuts just loved it really and I don't care what people say as the full time score will always read 2-1 . Fair play to Mypost I am in the same boat as you and only think positively at the moment .:)

[brianw82]

Aye, there's plenty of time to be negative. Let's just enjoy this for the moment.

Absolutely delighted for Robbie that he got the (genuine) winner. You could see what it meant to him after the last 6/7 weeks he's had to endure.

[wexfordned]

Shocking performance last night, but thanks to a joke of a penalty Ireland sneaked a win. First half Ireland played far too narrow. 2nd half to be fair they used the wings alot more, especially McGeady. Set pieces last night where shocking. Ireland had plenty of chances from free kicks/corners to test a dodgy keeper but poor deliveries never took advantage of it.

To be fair to Ireland & Trap we have alot of average footballers in the squad, especially in centre midfield. An injury prone Steven Reid & the enigma that is Stephen Ireland the only real quality players who can play there. Not a whole lot Trap can do about that.

Last night Andrews & Whelan looked out of their depth & where chasing shadows at times. Andrews unlucky to have the goal disallowed but the distribution at times was terrible and Andrews in particular gave away alot of fouls with poor tackling.

I thought McGeady was our best player last night, especially in the 2nd half. Contanstly ran at the fulll back & even when Georgia tried to double up on him they struggled to deal with him.

[antrimgreen]

Center midfield lacking quality in terms of attacking ability but defensively fairly good, Kelly was caught cold but was fairly ok after that, thought Dunne and O'Shea were solid, defo best game in a green shirt for McGeady and i was in the singing section and everyone around me agreed mcgeady was good. Need to work on set pieces we had so many that lacked good delivery. Why did Whelan hit that free kick when he refuses 9 out off 10 to shot from play on the edge of the box but is happy to hit a free?? I understand trap's style in terms of defending but at home surely we could have a holding midfielder and a creative attacking midfielder, don't know the ins and outs about S Ireland but what i do know is that he is class would almost say world class and he is Irish, i wish they would just bury the hatchet and he would play again for Ireland.

30 minutes to go unbareable final whistle 3 points in the bag job done roll on the 28th!! Come on you boys in green!!

[tetsujin1979]

Incidentally, I think that was the first competitive game since Andorra in 2001 that we came from behind to win

[Stuttgart88]

stuff the quality, smell the points.

Only for a truly awful first 20 minutes from Kelly we weren't that bad. I agree with endabob that it looked like Dunne should have gone for the header, JOS should have picked up the flick and Kelly should have remained at RB, but it loooked like each was sucked forward one position. Clearly an error by Kelly but in cold light of day the defensive unit got it mixed up too.

I actually wanted Kelly to play but I suppose we can now look at McShane's inadequacies at full back in a better context and hope that Finnan or Foley can step in.

I thought Andrews had a very good game, covered lots of ground and was a presence where we've often lacked it. I thought the disallowed goal was harsh. In the old rules fair enough but in the new interpretation of offside I thought it was ok, perhaps Doyle being active because he was so close to the defender. I thought Doyle was slow out but I suppose the new rules don't necessarily encourage him to get back.

Shay is a rock. How easy did he make that catch look in injury time?

On the positive side I thought once we went ahead we never looked in danger which is rare for us. Full marks to KK for his commitment at the end.

When we won our Euro 88 group we drew 0-0 at home to both Scotland and Belgium and came from behind to beat Luxembourg 2-1. Look what happened next! OK, we had better players then but it's all about the points, nothing else. The circumstances were fortunate but there were positives and bar Kelly's nightmare most others played well. Not sure about Whelan but I do think he won some good tackles late on.

[Saint07]

I think before the game last night all anybody wanted was the 3 points. It wasn't the best of starts but these things happen. The group looks great and if we beat Bulgaria the Italy game will be huge, especially if they slip up against monty on the Sat before.

Overall its another game out of the way and we got the 3 points needed, still some tough games ahead!

[irishultra]

I felt so good after the game last night, contrast that to the Cyprus game where there was a real depressing mood after that game.

I thought Duff was very good, but yet again if we just had a proper playmaking midfielder in there we would be well on our way. I really hope Ireland could be with us for the fixtures against Bulgaria and Italy, surely if he doesn't come back then the DOOR MUST BE SHUT.

[blobbyblob]

We're not Brazil. We wont be in my life time. Skill and Brilliance are not our thing. We should accept that and move on.

The thing however that is our thing and that has disappeared from Irish football since the last penalty kick against spain in Japan was heart, spirit and togetherness. Whether that died within the Irish camp after the shenanigans with Roy or not we will never know. Post traumatic Stress Syndrome maybe for a lot of young impressionable lads.

McCarthy called for its return, I didnt come and he knew when the right time to go and he went
Kerr called for it (and maybe deserved it) but it didnt happen - no juice in the tank. Players happy to use him as a scapegoat.
Staunton didnt have the ability to call for it and the players didnt have the willingness to offer it in the absense of leadership

Last night we walked off at half time after,at times, one of the worst 1st halfs Ive seen in 4 years. I sent a message to a friend and it read "This is Scary stuff. The sad thing is we have nobody that we can bring in that can make a difference" - No changes were made by Trappatoni. The crowd were muted and I felt that we were starting to accept defeat even at that stage. Maybe we were not good enough.(AFAIK the boos were directed at the referee rather than the players BTW)

I watched a 2nd half performance, with the exact same eleven filled with passion, effort, heart, courage and togetherness. And the crowd in the Singing Section responded and respected the effort of all involved. We're not Brazil, We dont have Ronaldinihos, Romarios and Ronaldos. We're Ireland - We have Duffs, We have Dunnes, We have Doyles.

We just remembered that last night.

Im not saying there isnt room for improvement. There always is. Im sure Trap would agree that theres lots of room from improvement tacticly and technically. Im just saying Its just great to hear fans sing all the way back to Connolly Station. It's been a long time coming.

Were the Irish Independent reporters at the game last night? Bizarre comments in todays edition.

[geysir]

Apart from the freakish early goal conceded, the game was standard fare,
2 nil is the barometer.
Of teams who have been seeded lower than us, this is a strong bunch of 4th 5th & 6th seeds. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Italy just manage a point against Montenegro and be happy about it.
I wonder what Lippi made of it? I don't think he would be too perturbed but we know that we have at least one heroic performance somewhere in our repetoire.

We are in a better position now than before the game.

[geysir]

On the positive side I thought once we went ahead we never looked in danger which is rare for us. Full marks to KK for his commitment at the end.
When called upon, the man is instinctively fearless.

[bishbash]

Apart from the freakish early goal conceded, the game was standard fare,
2 nil is the barometer.
Of teams who have been seeded lower than us, this is a strong bunch of 4th 5th & 6th seeds. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Italy just manage a point against Montenegro and be happy about it.
I wonder what Lippi made of it? I don't think he would be too perturbed but we know that we have at least one heroic performance somewhere in our repetoire.

We are in a better position now than before the game.

its so far so good. as already stated we are not brazil but a win is a win. i do share the other concerns about playing better quality teams though. i think most agree that the two reids are the strongest pairing we have. every manager has their preferences for players but to not have andy reid in the 22 is just silly. in my opinion we dont have 11 better players than him never mind say 25! in saying that we are in a great position to qualify and i hope trap makes us all look like idiots!!

[Stuttgart88]

Were the Irish Independent reporters at the game last night? Bizarre comments in todays edition.Super post all round, but I read the Indo too and agree with you entirely - esp David Kelly. Midfield was "obliterated"? I actually thought that while it usually is obliterated Andrews stood up and was counted last night, even making clever fouls when needed. David Kelly also blamed the first goal on our midfield. Was it not from a long crossfield ball that went over our midfield? Can't really remember the eaxct circumstances.

[BigmanCas]

When called upon, the man is instinctively fearless.
It was a super second performance. It was very exciting watching it from the canal end. At half time it was looking ominous. I thought Mc Geady outstanding throughout!!! Always trying!!! Duff and Doyle not far behind him. Well Done....

Andrews did well I thought. Stephan Kelly is as poor as you'll find. I sorry but he is worse than Mc Shane.

[Crosby87]

Bottom line is, Ill take 3 points any day regardless.

[Dr. Ogba]

It was a super second performance. It was very exciting watching it from the canal end. At half time it was looking ominous. I thought Mc Geady outstanding throughout!!! Always trying!!! Duff and Doyle not far behind him. Well Done....

Andrews did well I thought. Stephan Kelly is as poor as you'll find. I sorry but he is worse than Mc Shane.


one thing overlooked about McGeady's performance was his tracking back, he broke up quite a few attacks down his wing with some super tackling...fair play to the lad, a performance of skill and passion which should be acknowledged...

[Razors left peg]

I honestly cant believe the negativity on this forum sometimes. Maybe it was different watchin it on tv or something but I came out of the ground last night thinking that it was a very good 2nd half performance and was buzzing.I made a comment to one of my mates on the way out that was one of the more exciting games Ive been too for a while, and credit to the crowd there was a very good atmostphere in 2nd half.

We were pretty poor in first half but the manager did what he is paid to do at half time and we were a different team in 2nd half.Aiden McGeady and Kevin Doyle in particular were brilliant and took the game by the scruff of the neck.We got very lucky with both goals to be fair, but its about time, Ive lost count of the amount of time Ive come out of games cursing the ref or our luck so I'll quiet happily take some good while its going.

Im not getting carried away though because it wasnt all positive.Glenn Whelan was so far out of his depth it was scary. He is not a defensive midfielder.Steven Ireland, Andy Reid, Owen Garvan to name 3 attacking midfielders would be able to do a better defensive job than him and also give us more going forward. I dont see Trap changing his mind so I just hope it doesnt come back to haunt us

But anyway we are now join top with Italy and when alot of people we predicting that Italy and Bulgaria would be fighting it out for the group Im sure they would have taken this situation....... Organisation and team spirit have improved a thousand times since the Staunton campaign

[geysir]

Kelly can play much better, I am not too perturbed about rb. Anyway he is not the first option.

Trap talk.
“I am always proud of this team. At half-time in the dressing room, I was calm and gave them security because I believed it was possible for them not to lose the game.

“We showed great character and heart in the second half and I think over the 90 minutes we deserved to win. It was an important reaction with good spirit.

“Yes, we were a bit lucky with the penalty but I think Shay Given had only save to make in the second half. We suffered a little bit but we won.”

Trap paid tribute to the work rate of his two wingers.

“Aiden McGeady is very, very important and can improve more with confidence. He and Damien Duff worked very hard, front and back - the same with Kevin Doyle.”

[antrimgreen]

one thing overlooked about McGeady's performance was his tracking back, he broke up quite a few attacks down his wing with some super tackling...fair play to the lad, a performance of skill and passion which should be acknowledged...

Wasn't overlooked by me or those around me, i thought he was excellent tracking back nicking the ball away or hassling their players. Great to see him play like that, especially the working back its as important as attacking.

[irishultra]

one thing which will stay with me forever is when georgia scored the second, everyone just went completely quiet and then SUDDENLY it was disallowed and the celebrations were class.