Imagine this Team

[Brendan 82]

In a 4-2-3-1 set-up



Given

Finnan Dunne St. Ledger O'Shea

S. Reid J. McCarthy

Fahey Ireland Duff

Keane

[Razors left peg]

Given

Finnan Dunne St. Ledger O'Shea

S. Reid J. McCarthy

Fahey Ireland Duff

Keane



:eek:
some team

Fahey ahead of McGeady?
Good player but not that good

[tetsujin1979]

not bad, but lacking a lot of height

Man, what I wouldn't give for a striker in the Drogba mould to come along.

[irishultra]

not bad, but lacking a lot of height

Man, what I wouldn't give for a striker in the Drogba mould to come along.

I was out running last weekend and there was a match on, and there was a kid playing for Lourdes Celtic and he looked the split of Drogba!!!!!! Maby he will be as good too??;)

And that team is class, but take McCarthy out and replace him with Fahey, and put McGeady where Fahey is. Perfect, such a good attacking team :D

[tricky_colour]

I see ireland is playing in the 'hole', trouble is he has fallen into it and disappeared :D

[Razors left peg]

not bad, but lacking a lot of height

Man, what I wouldn't give for a striker in the Drogba mould to come along.

Folan........... :)

[danonion]

Not a great team in my opinion. Hunt's delivery has been crucial and he's been dropped. James McCarthy is more of an attacking midfielder than a good engine room partner for Reid. Keane up top on his own? Not tested and not a good time to try it either. Fahey would have a job to displace Hunt/McGeady.

[irishfan86]

Keane can't play alone up front effectively. He likes to drop into that "in the hole" position himself. I think it will be hard to get the best out of Keane and Stephen Ireland in the same team, as they both like to play in a similar position.

[fionnsci]

I'd rather

Ireland-Keane-Duff

-Folan-

Maybe have Fahey further back.

[SVCFC2007]

Given
Foley Dunne OShea Ward

McGeady Ireland S.Reid Duff

Keane Doyle



Maybe A Reid or Hunt included

[Junior]

Given
Foley Dunne OShea Ward

McGeady Ireland S.Reid Duff

Keane Doyle



Maybe A Reid or Hunt included

Take the Wolves mask off.

[kingdomkerry]

.............Given
Finnan Dunne St Ledger O'Shea
............S Reid
....Duff Ireland McGeady
...........Keane
..........Doyle

[youngirish]

How about this for a team for our first world cup game (if we qualify):

Given

Finnan St Ledger Dunne O'Shea

S Ireland S Reid McCann Duff

Keane Doyle


Looks much stronger than what we've been fielding recently on paper providing McCann and St Ledger get a season in the Premiership next year and S Ireland does indeed decide to return (I personally don't want him back due to his apathetic attitude towards the International team but I believe he's better than both Hunt and McGeady by too far a margin to leave out if he did return).

[Closed Account]

Regretfully, and I hope I'm wrong, but its about time that everyone realised that Steve Finnan is finished as a top level footballer. He'll be 34 by the start of the next world cup and in my opinion thats a bit too old for a latter year injury prone full back. I'd love if he proved me wrong. He'll be the same age as Gary Neville is now who is already finished.

[youngirish]

Regretfully, and I hope I'm wrong, but its about time that everyone realised that Steve Finnan is finished as a top level footballer. He'll be 34 by the start of the next world cup and in my opinion thats a bit too old for a latter year injury prone full back. I'd love if he proved me wrong. He'll be the same age as Gary Neville is now who is already finished.

Possibly. Paul McShane it is then at right back for our opener against Brazil.

[Closed Account]

Possibly. Paul McShane it is then at right back for our opener against Brazil.
:(:mad:

[SkStu]

.............Given
Foley Dunne St Ledger O'Shea (Finnan, Kilbane)
......S Reid.......Whelan (Andrews, Gibson)
....Duff Ireland McGeady (Hunt, Long)
...........Keane (Doyle, Folan)

my team (subs in brackets) - based on the assumptions that Ireland returns and no new faces will play their way into the first team between now and the WC (if we get there).

Only real controversy is Foley for Finnan who i think may be finished as a starter if/when he returns from injury. It remains to be seen if his absence will have affected his game - he is no spring chicken.

[BigmanCas]

Given
Finnan Dunne St Ledger O Shea
Ireland S Reid K Andrews Mc Geady
Keane Doyle

This is the strongest team at Trapps disposal providing S Ireland sees sense????? Duffer would be first attacking sub, was unlucky to miss out. I wouldn't play Ireland up the middle as he has proven he doesn't fancy it in international football - See Cyprus in Nicosia and Slovakia in Bratislava. Hats off to S Hunt for his last 2 performances but he is still abilityless. He would be better off shuting his big stupid gob as he has no brain cells - in fact if he did he'd be twice as stupid.. Not bad as an impact sub. Would like to see James Mc Carthy capped and Gibson improve. Outside bets K.Foley at right back, Duff on wing, Folan to get an extended run up front? Can he score tho? Any arguments?

[Scram]

In a 4-2-3-1 set-up



Given

Finnan Dunne St. Ledger O'Shea

S. Reid J. McCarthy

Fahey Ireland Duff

Keane

Imagine it how, in a friendly or as a bad dream or what?

[Weatherman]

mine would be

Given

O'shea Dunne St.Ledger

Mcgeady Fahey S.Reid Duff

Ireland Keane

Doyle

[Deckydee]

mine would be

Given

O'shea Dunne St.Ledger

Mcgeady Fahey S.Reid Duff

Ireland Keane

Doyle

Mine too

[SVCFC2007]

why is everyone bigging up st.ledger.Is he really that good?

[Yard of Pace]

I thought Finnan was so impressive last autumn so I really think he'll still be good enough to get a game. He's an intelligent footballer and he seems the sort to really look after himself.

[MMVIII]

Why does everybody have Duff in there starting 11?

I really can't understand how people think hes that good. Usless player. Good in 02, and thats about it.

[Hibs4Ever]

Fahey ahead of McGeady?
Good player but not that good



Yeah, a Premiership player over an SPL player. What was he thinking :rolleyes:;)

[gustavo]

Why does everybody have Duff in there (sic)starting 11?

I really can't understand how people think hes that good. Usless player. Good in 02, and thats about it.

Maybe because he's played well for us in this campaign :confused:

[Irish_Praha]

why is everyone bigging up st.ledger.Is he really that good?

Think it's more to do with him being potentially a better option than McShane. That is; his inclusion frees O'Shea up to play one of the full back roles without having to play McShane at CB. Show's how limited our options are at CB really.

[Stuttgart88]

I'd go further than that and say St. Ledger is actually a very good player, not just a better option than McShane, and I expect he'll be important for us in the next few games & next few years.

[lionelhutz]

Why does everybody have Duff in there starting 11?

I really can't understand how people think hes that good. Usless player. Good in 02, and thats about it.

Maybe because he's been consistently excellent for Ireland in a way that no other Irish player has been for the past few years.

I seem to remember a few games where he was injured and we struggled badly to create anything.

Looking at our last game, he was brilliant against Bulgaria, the only Irish player to be able to consistently hold onto possession when we were under pressure.

[briar007]

The problem with all them teams is the contain a certain mr. Ireland and his self-imposed exile is not one that will end anytime soon ... Andrews would fill that spot nicely...

[ChrisRed]

I heard a rumour that Phil Bardsley is eligable to play for Ireland, could be a usefull back up for the squad, especailly given the Finnan situation.

However I couldn't imagine the Rangers ties going down to well.

[irishfan86]

I heard a rumour that Phil Bardsley is eligable to play for Ireland, could be a usefull back up for the squad, especailly given the Finnan situation.

However I couldn't imagine the Rangers ties going down to well.

Bardsley would be just as good an option as any of our alternatives (bar Finnan at full fitness)- I think he's a very good player.

Don't care who he plays his club football for- I remember Maybury saying that he dreamed about being the first RoI player to play for Rangers, didn't bother me then.

[tetsujin1979]

It so very nearly could have been Joe Lapira!

[galwayhoop]

don't know how anyone could think r. keane as a lone front man is even an option. we have two options for that now and they are k. doyle and c. folan. doyle would get the nod (form and fitness permitting) for me.

with that in mind (assuming everyone fit and making themselves available/available):

..........................Given
Finnan Dunne (capt) St. Ledger* O'Shea
...................Andrews S.Reid
Ireland..................................McGeady
.........................Keane
.........................Doyle

subs: 1. GK??, 2. Kilbane/McShane/AN Other, 3. Hunt,
4. Whelan??/Fahey??/McCarthy??/Gibson??/McCann??,
5. Folan, 6. Duff/a.reid, 7. s.long



*if he is as consistent as he looked good the last time out

[Brendan 82]

I like that team galwayhoop. I think you're right about Keane being better when he is dropped off a bit more. I'm really looking forward to the Premiership next season because there is going to be a lot more Irish players on view than last season. Fahey will hopefully have a cracking season and force his way into the squad, it will also be interesting to see what happens with Gibson and James McCarthy. There could be some surprises too.

Actually, anyone want to make an educated on guess who will be the surprise packages next season?

[youngirish]

I like that team galwayhoop. I think you're right about Keane being better when he is dropped off a bit more. I'm really looking forward to the Premiership next season because there is going to be a lot more Irish players on view than last season. Fahey will hopefully have a cracking season and force his way into the squad, it will also be interesting to see what happens with Gibson and James McCarthy. There could be some surprises too.

Actually, anyone want to make an educated on guess who will be the surprise packages next season?

I usually start a new thread on such a topic before the season kicks off and attempt to guess which young Irish players will stake a claim for the senior squad due to their performances during the season. I think personally McCann is the one to watch this season if (and this is the big if) Burnley don't turn out to be the cannon fodder many are expecting them to be.

Others to watch are Doran and Judge at Blackburn. Gibson and McCarthy as you already mentioned. Fahey at Birmingham has been mentioned by other posters. Seamus Coleman could make an appearance for Everton. Foley at Wolves could have a decent season. Marc Wilson might force himself into a starting berth at Portsmouth and finally its a big year for Joey O'Brien. If he gets over his injury problems and Megson continues to play him in his preferred midfield position he easily could become a viable alternative to Andrews and Whelan. I see the former in particular struggling to nail down a starting spot in midfield under Allardyce this year.

[Oink]

Just to throw something into the mix.


---------------------------Given---------------------------

----------------StLedger-- Dunne -- O'Shea---------------


Hunt-----------------Andrews -- Reid-------------------Duff

---------------------------Ireland---------------------------

------------------Keane------------------------------------
--------------------------------Doyle-----------------------

[the doc]

I'd go further than that and say St. Ledger is actually a very good player, not just a better option than McShane, and I expect he'll be important for us in the next few games & next few years.

Makes you wonder why it took Trapp so long to realise it, Trapp and Tard were full of praise about St Ledger, after seeing him in training and matches.


From what I'm hearing in Preston, is that Celtic are preparing to bid £2.5m plus £2m in add ons.

But they will face competition from WBA, should Alan Irvine take the managers job there. In addition to the likes of West Ham, Everton and a few Italian clubs.

[Closed Account]

Makes you wonder why it took Trapp so long to realise it, Trapp and Tard were full of praise about St Ledger, after seeing him in training and matches.


From what I'm hearing in Preston, is that Celtic are preparing to bid £2.5m plus £2m in add ons.

But they will face competition from WBA, should Alan Irvine take the managers job there. In addition to the likes of West Ham, Everton and a few Italian clubs.
Sean, will ya relax, your in the team now. Stop questioning the management. Just enjoy your holidays.

[galwayhoop]

Just to throw something into the mix.


---------------------------Given---------------------------

----------------StLedger-- Dunne -- O'Shea---------------


Hunt-----------------Andrews -- Reid-------------------Duff

---------------------------Ireland---------------------------

------------------Keane------------------------------------
--------------------------------Doyle-----------------------

terrible formation. 3 centre backs went out with the flood.

especially in this part of the world. our players aren't able to play in anything other than a back 4. it's all they ever played from day one.

invariably with 3 at the back you end up compensating by pulling back the wingers (or wing-backs as they more accurately are) and/or one or both of your midfield players sit in. it usually ends up as a back 5 or 6 so the same numbers end up with defensive duties as with the 4-4-2 we currently play (and are comfortable with) - and at least in our current formation we use players more suited to defending than in that christmas tree you drew!!!!

as john giles says it is players than win matches not formations (or tactics) - he's right of course but i think formations can help you lose games.

[Oink]

terrible formation. 3 centre backs went out with the flood.

especially in this part of the world. our players aren't able to play in anything other than a back 4. it's all they ever played from day one.

invariably with 3 at the back you end up compensating by pulling back the wingers (or wing-backs as they more accurately are) and/or one or both of your midfield players sit in. it usually ends up as a back 5 or 6 so the same numbers end up with defensive duties as with the 4-4-2 we currently play (and are comfortable with) - and at least in our current formation we use players more suited to defending than in that christmas tree you drew!!!!

as john giles says it is players than win matches not formations (or tactics) - he's right of course but i think formations can help you lose games.

It's not a massive leap from what we are playing now, if you look at our right and left mid in any game under Trap they play as full backs when we don't have the ball and we do end up with a 5/6 defenders at those times. The formation works with one commanding centre back calling the shots and playing the sweeper role(Dunne). It also accomodates for our best 11 playing in their natural positions, albeit with slightly more emphassis on one role of that position. Our best form of attack is on the ground through the middle, at the moment this only happens with our wingers cutting inside... wingers who are told to defend first and so this is a rare occurrance. This formation satisfies the defensive approach Trap likes (2 defensive CM and Wide men) but also gives us great potential for agressive counter attacking through the centre.