Post Match and looking ahead

[Crosby87]

First of all the atmosphere seemed wonderful and it is a credit to all of you who were at the game...

I was proud to be Irish today.

1-0 is not the end of the world....
I am not going to be negative and hope for the best but if I am being honest, I mean it just seems the way it looks on paper. France is nothing special and we are average at best.
Any idiot could tell they were going to score.
To me this was anti-climactic.

I hope for the best but really the chances have to be slim we advance obviously.

Moving on: Will it be the same lineup for Wednesday?

[seanfhear]

If we score one in Paris then everything is up for grabs again.

It ain't over until its over.

[tricky_colour]

It was only a bit of luck which gave them the goal, I think we had more chances overall.
We know what we have to do now, go there and score, we would have to do that anyway.
I'd say we were the beter side first half.

[galwayjames]

I think we'll lose 2 or 3 nil in France, we're not good enough to go and win there.

[Crosby87]

Yes Tricky but what does that matter? First half and a dollar will get you on the subway, no?

Sean, France score every game. Logically they will score in Paris. So we are really looking at having to win 2-1. Yikes.

[DotTV]

Yes Tricky but what does that matter? First half and a dollar will get you on the subway, no?

Sean, France score every game. Logically they will score in Paris. So we are really looking at having to win 2-1. Yikes.

It's possible man. We could have got one towards the end. French keeper pulled off an unreal save against Whelan.
Another point is we didnt have many free kick opportunities. French are dodgy under set pieces so hopefully we'll get a few chances on Wednesday.

[tricky_colour]

Problem is we didn't really get any set pieces.
Having said that it was a bit daunting looking at the names on the French team.
Were we too tired second half? Or did we just sit back too much?

[seanfhear]

This battle is not lost yet.

We had chances today and the French did not have that many and got a lucky goal.

The manager, fans and players have to believe that we have a chance or should we just say we won't bother playing the second leg and say there you go France off to south Africa.

I would never go into battle saying I am beaten until I actually am beaten.

Fight to the last breath and then Fall on Your Enemy !

[Brenny]

Am proud of the lads tonight! Doyle outshone himself as usual...
One goal in the first ten minutes in Paris to frighten the ****** outa them & then it's up for grabs.
Fair fux to the crowd! All u lucky feckers goin' to Paris, make sure to scream extra for us less fortunate! ;)

[DotTV]

This battle is not lost yet.

We had chances today and the French did not have that many and got a lucky goal.

The manager, fans and players have to believe that we have a chance or should we just say we won't bother playing the second leg and say there you go France off to south Africa.

I would never go into battle saying I am beaten until I actually am beaten.

Fight to the last breath and then Fall on Your Enemy !

Dunne showed that after the whistle during the scuffle. Those boys will never take a backwards step. I'd honestly find it hard to fault any Irish player tonight

[Stuttgart88]

The scuffle at the final whistle may do us the world of good.

Realistically we're probably toast but as the Slovenian(?) coach said today: better to be wounded than dead.

If we score first in Paris then game on.

As underdog you've got to take your chances. We had 3 clear cut chances (Lawrence, Andrews from 18 yards and Whelan at the end) and took none. I think it's that simple. The better team won but their goal was lucky. C'est la vie.

Trap had better have something special up his sleeve for Weds. I think we need more aggression & bite than finesse - that means Hunt starting I think, with Duff on the right.
Did we beat ourselves by retreating though, or did they genuinely find another gear? They dominated the first 8 minutes but then Andrews won a crunching tackle and from then on we were in the game. There was no such moment in the second half.

History may be on our side: Bulgaria & Israel in Paris in 93?

[irishultra]

We don't have enough fight and heart to make up for the inferior style of play.

Sure they play with heart but not enough to compensate.

Giles has it right, these are pro footballers, it doesn't take 'technique' to be able to get on the ball and pass it, what it takes is personality something we don't have.

[backstothewall]

The scuffle at the final whistle may do us the world of good.

Realistically we're probably toast but as the Slovenian(?) coach said today: better to be wounded than dead.

If we score first in Paris then game on.

As underdog you've got to take your chances. We had 3 clear cut chances (Lawrence, Andrews from 18 yards and Whelan at the end) and took none. I think it's that simple. The better team won but their goal was lucky. C'est la vie.

Trap had better have something special up his sleeve for Weds. I think we need more aggression & bite than finesse - that means Hunt starting I think, with Duff on the right.
Did we beat ourselves by retreating though, or did they genuinely find another gear? They dominated the first 8 minutes but then Andrews won a crunching tackle and from then on we were in the game. There was no such moment in the second half.

History may be on our side: Bulgaria & Israel in Paris in 93?

We were no worse in the second half, but they were much better. We need agression, and a minor miricle. I would play Hunt and Lawrence. Its a cliche, but its all we have. Get stuck in.

Edit: Lets hope Andy Lee knocks the f*ck out of this French B*stard

[cavan_fan]

2 views on this:

There were four key moments in the game. France had amzing luck in three and showed poor skills in the other.

Lawrence chance. He actually it it well. Evra's deflection is not something you often see, in fact it was so surprising we all assumed it was a poor miss

Goal. Shay would almost certainly have saved the shot but for the deflection. to get a deflection wide enough to get past Shay but just tight enought to go in off the post is a one in a hundred thing.

Gignac chance (awful KK defending). This guy is the new Zidane. His miss makes him the next Carlton palmer.

Whelan chance. He actually took it well and cleared Lloris' body but just clipped his elbow. Again very unlucky.

So we were greatly unlucky. Of course france had more of the ball but our defence is better than theirs.

On the other pessimistic hand we now need to win a competitive qualifier against a top 20 team away from home for the first time since.........????

[Stuttgart88]

...Football began?

[irishultra]

oh and we NEED to change the Irish jersey and make it look like the french one. they looked so much more imposing, they looked like animals. they looked atlethic our players looked like skinny pub players.

[tricky_colour]

What like Geroge Best?

[shakermaker1982]

We don't have a plan B so we're probably ******. We have to chase the game and throw caution to the wind. Start Best and Doyle and just bombard the French back 4 with long balls?

0-0 would have been a brilliant result but we all knew deep down we'd concede tonight. Flukey deflection or not the French deserved the win after going up the gears in the second half. It could have been a lot worse after Kilbane's suicidal back pass. WTF was he thinking?!

First half we did ok. I thought Andrews and Whelan were solid and we could have easily gone in 1 nil at half time. However energy levels dropped after the restart, the French started finding space and it was only a matter of time before they scored.

[Brenny]

Haha, yeah they won the battle of the nipples tonight..;)

[onenilgameover]

The scuffle at the final whistle may do us the world of good.

Realistically we're probably toast but as the Slovenian(?) coach said today: better to be wounded than dead.

If we score first in Paris then game on.

As underdog you've got to take your chances. We had 3 clear cut chances (Lawrence, Andrews from 18 yards and Whelan at the end) and took none. I think it's that simple. The better team won but their goal was lucky. C'est la vie.

Trap had better have something special up his sleeve for Weds. I think we need more aggression & bite than finesse - that means Hunt starting I think, with Duff on the right.
Did we beat ourselves by retreating though, or did they genuinely find another gear? They dominated the first 8 minutes but then Andrews won a crunching tackle and from then on we were in the game. There was no such moment in the second half.

History may be on our side: Bulgaria & Israel in Paris in 93?

Totally agree Stutts. It aint over till the fat lady sings. 3 chances were an awful lot to give up. They are nothing to fear and that 8-15 mins they had possession we feared them we cannot do that in Paris. A fluke goal in the first 20 mins then its game ball. Its only half time. I'm proud to support.

[shakermaker1982]

How are the panel behaving tonight? I bet Dunphy is having a field day. He has been waiting for us to lose in a big game....

[Stuttgart88]

However energy levels dropped after the restart,was that it or did we place too much (false) belief in our system of playing behind the ball? I think a lot of it was the latter and a crucial tactical errror.

[backstothewall]

oh and we NEED to change the Irish jersey and make it look like the french one. they looked so much more imposing, they looked like animals. they looked atlethic our players looked like skinny pub players.

That may seem like a daft post, but I agree. We should play in a much darker shirt. The rugby boys did the grand slam in a darker jersey. We should mimic that. Light green has a certain leprecaun feel to it. We should darken down.

[irishultra]

just a psycological thing. the rugby jersey is exactly what im thinking of.

[Crosby87]

Nice responses so far, I cant keep up.

Here is one if any of you are looking to drink and listen to music...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8D_uN-73S0

[Crosby87]

Hey any of you looking to get down and dirty dont forget this one, a little long but worth it for the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwEv2YCrSoY

[old git]

Dunne showed that after the whistle during the scuffle. Those boys will never take a backwards step. I'd honestly find it hard to fault any Irish player tonight

who was the little tool from the f.a.i in the black coat who apperared in middle of scuffle and then went round with players as they saluted fans ... all players gave their all tonight and with a bit of luck should have at least got the draw their efforts deserved more of the same in paris an hopefully we can take our chances in front of goal .:ball:

[irishfan86]

I actually think we held our own except for a few short periods of French pressure. There was one 10 minute spell in particular shortly before the goal.

You can't throw away some of the football we played though- I think we passed the ball nicely in the first half and looked just as good as the French.

Here are my ratings anyway:

Given- 7- Solid with everything he had to deal with and can't be blamed for a very unlucky goal.

Kilbane-5- Poor in possession, and made 2 extremely poor decisions that could have f*cked us over.

Dunne- 7- Solid at the back.

St. Ledger- 6- Maybe should have closed Anelka down quicker, but you can't be diving in either. Very unlucky if they call it an OG.

O'Shea- 7- Wasted possession a few times but looked very solid defensively.

Lawrence- 6- You got hit the net on that one man.

Whelan- 7- Made some great tackles, and was unlucky not to score.

Andrews- 7- Maybe his best game in an Ireland jersey? Made some crunching tackles.

Duff- 7- Looked good on the ball, but I think he's not at full fitness...seemed to be sitting very deep in the second half which I didn't like.

Keane -6- Didn't get much service, went down too easy a few times.

Doyle -6.5- Thankless task up top, but was very good at keeping possession and holding the ball up.

Subs:

McGeady- 5- Wasted possession, and took a very optimistic long shot.

Best- 5- Gave the ball away a number of times including the play that led to the goal.

Hunt -6- Tried to bring his energy but wasn't really effective.

[DotTV]

The scuffle at the final whistle may do us the world of good.

Realistically we're probably toast but as the Slovenian(?) coach said today: better to be wounded than dead.

If we score first in Paris then game on.

As underdog you've got to take your chances. We had 3 clear cut chances (Lawrence, Andrews from 18 yards and Whelan at the end) and took none. I think it's that simple. The better team won but their goal was lucky. C'est la vie.

Trap had better have something special up his sleeve for Weds. I think we need more aggression & bite than finesse - that means Hunt starting I think, with Duff on the right.
Did we beat ourselves by retreating though, or did they genuinely find another gear? They dominated the first 8 minutes but then Andrews won a crunching tackle and from then on we were in the game. There was no such moment in the second half.

History may be on our side: Bulgaria & Israel in Paris in 93?

I don't think we retreated. They pushed on. There were 3 or 4 occasions before the goal that Sagna pushed way forward on the right. At one point I remember thinking that he looked more like a winger than a full back. In the end the goal came in from that side.
Totally agree we need more bite in Paris. The french don't like the rough stuff and we could do with Hunty from the start

[Den Perry]

No need to lose the run of our senses lad ffs...put the cans down!

lads, that central midfield just are not up to it.yes, they put in few crunching tackhoules, were completely outplayed in second half. As for stephen hunt? he shouldn't even be on the same pitch as Anelka, who in my opinion ran the show along with the bordeaux midfielder.By the way anybody who bitches about robbie keane should be ashamed of themselves after the work put in tonight.

I know one person who'll be happy tonight -Roy Curtis.He predicted an Irish loss. I hate that c***.avehis article last week was disgraceful.now, i'm of to have a few more pints of London Pride

[Emmet7]

Very dissapointing result and for a number of reasons.The players tried their best and the tactics were right, given the limited players we have. When you are facing Anelka and Henry, you need very good defensive midfielders and I think Andrews and Whelan among others did a great job of breaking up French play in the first half.

The Irish team got very tired in the second half. The subs were too late to make an impact. For me it was between Lawrence and Andrews for man of the match with Andrews putting in a supurb first half, but tired in the second. I don't think Andy Reid would have made a difference, 3 creative midfielders would just mean the French would walk through us.

1-0 was probably a fair result, the French dominated possession for long periods. That's not because we gave it away, it's because the French once they get it in any situation, from the breakdown of an Irish attack for example have much more technically gifted players.

I know some people will say Kevin Doyle did great, but there are a couple of things in his performance I wasn't happy with.

1. He was lazy when it came to closing down French defenders and Robbie Keane had to do it on his own which I'd say he found frustrating. When playing top teams it's vital for your forwards to stop the defenders having time on the ball to pass it out of defence. And that wasn't the fault of Trap or of Ireland 'sitting back'. Doyle didn't close down even when he was the furthest man up the pitch and on front of the ball. It's a very worrying trait he has.

2. Once more he never looked close to scoring apart from a deflected cross which would have been a flukely goal. People say he does his best work on the wings, but we don't need another winger, we need a centre forward who can actually score. I have a feeling he is out of his depth when it comes to scoring against top teams like Italy and France. Trap was right to sub him again because he didn't look like scoring and he wasn't pressuring defenders. He also has very little physical presence and wins about one header in five. He's not a target man for the high ball. He just didn't look like scoring, he gets shoved off the ball too easily, he gets pushed out the wings where the French would be happy to see him all night. We on the other hand need to see him in and around the six yard box, not out the wings. He should have done better with the header he put over the bar. And as for not getting service, Anelka and Henry have the ability to make their own service by dropping deep, collecting the ball and running at defences.

Tonight showed once more that we just cannot score from open play and that's depressing. We don't have the forwards. Even if Andy Reid is in the side, he has big strong forwards to aim at, when playing for Sunderland, Jones and Bent. But for Ireland Keane and Doyle just get pushed off the ball every time so Reid's passing would be wasted pretty much.

I think Folan if he was fit would have been ideal for at least the last 30 minutes and win headers and flick ons. We need a player with presence in the forwards who can dominate defenders rather than be dominated. You create and score goals by pressurising defenders and we didn't do that tonight. The French defenders looked comfortable for long stretches of the game apart from a couple half chances.

I think we saw the French players change the tactics themselves after the break with possible Henry calling the shots. I don't see us doing any better than we did tonight in Paris. We just don't have enough talent to do it all over the park.

Tie over imo. The limitations of the team has been shown up. Certain players should not be the squad for the Euros. Kilbane has been a great servant but he is an accident waiting to happen at left back and will cost us goals in future important fixtures. We need a new left back, it's a fact we need to face up to.

Sorry for the long post!

[rebelmusic]

Only two points in my head

Kilbane was terrible, watch him in the buildup to anelka's goal and to be honest i'd blame him more than sledge. He's done us proud in the past but he is not a fullback and needs to be replaced. I'd almost choose nolan ahead of him now who at least has that as his main position.

I know it won't happen, but i'd love to see lawrence instead of andrews on wed with hunt/mcgeady and duff on the wings. I don't think you could say that in any shape or form andrews is better than lawrence, and anytime lawrence had possession in the middle today he used it well.

Also, i saw the scuffle but didn't get why it happened, anyone know?

[Crosby87]

Don't know what 'reality' you live in mate but 'NYC' has obviously dulled your brain cell, Why on earth would you post something like that??

Another lost soul who leans on his history...pathetic.

Back on topic post required....

Tuned-in punters only please...

Relax Madam just having some saturday night fun.
Obviously I missed on asking your permission.
Sorry.

[Crosby87]

Sorry for the long post!

I think that was an awesome post, Emmet. Its obvious you take care in making it. I think it is blog worthy.
It sums up my opinion almost 100%.

[DotTV]

What like Geroge Best?

On a funny note, I had to watch the game in Canada on Tv5 with French commentary. Not sure what they were saying but they actually get more excited than Jimmy Mcgee. Once Leon Best came on I recognised a few words. "George Best", "britannique" , "sud irlande" "nord irlande" so obviously a little history lesson on Ireland's greatest player and the borders imposed on our island.

[endabob1]

I don't think we're coming back from that, I felt we were well in it and 0-0 would have been happy days.
We defended well, Given had very little to do Henry was very quiet and Andrews & Whelan chased and harried and didn't let them settle, we were fragile looking when we comitted men forward and they hit us on the counter but for the most part I was quite comfortable until the goal.
I can't see us scoring twice in Paris, unless we get an early goal BUT I can see trap going the same system again, because if we conceded early in Paris we will be dead in the water, as soon we have to come out and play their pace will kill us, as it nearly did in the last 10 minutes tonight.
The disapointments I can live with, it's the hope that gets me.

[Crosby87]

Relevance: questionable.
Age profile: 0
Maturity: Low
Personal Importance: 100%


WTF? :eek:

[kingoffifa]

WTF? :eek:

dont mind him - he is living up to his name....

[kingoffifa]

was anyone else less than impressed with Leon Best when he came on?
i thought he seemed to be strolling around a bit.
i am not saying he should have won the match or anything but according to "our man on the touchline" he was suppose to help the midfield. i presume that means to put himself about a bit.

not gutted - because they tried their hearts out. thats all i ever ask. fair play lads - better luck in paris on wednesday

[Billsthoughts]

not gutted - because they tried their hearts out. thats all i ever ask. fair play lads - better luck in paris on wednesday

sums up my feelings exactly. only half time so will see how wed nite goes.

[Jicked]

Well there goes all that about this French team being poor and there for the taking. They were quality, so quick and so skillful to always play the ball out from the back whenever they were in trouble. Anelka ran the show, his movement caused our system a lot of problems with people not really knowing who should pick him up. Overall though Trap's system worked a treat yet again. France were so good that they would have hammered us had we come out and attacked often (they could have scored a couple in the last ten minutes when we did have a go), instead we restricted them to shots from distance. One day we'll get that bit of luck that sees our shot bounce off a player and go in off the post!

Dunne had a couple of scary moments, and O'Shea's distrubution was awful which was a pity. Once we had it at the back we were far far to quick to get rd of the ball and ended booting it up the pitch too quickly, so even when our front two did win the ball they had no-one in the box to look for. Whelan and Andrews were great though I thought, while Lawrence worked hard too...but my god he'll be having nightmares about that miss. Robbie was fantastic tonight I thought, even the way he found Whelan right at the end for that chance. He deserves to go to a world cup again.

One thing I thought was strange was McGeady's positioning when he came on, he practically played up front instead of going wide where he can cause problems. Strange decision, so strange that I don't think it would have come from Trap but maybe he drifted inside naturally for some reason. Leon Best looked very poor when he came on too for a knackered Doyle.

What do we do for Wednesday? Really we need to just pray for getting a slice of luck. We need to be tight at the back and not change the system from today's to ensure we don't get hammered 2-0, 3-0. Play the way we did, but hope that we catch France on the break a bit more than today. For that reason I'd consider changing both wingers, drop Duff and Lawrence for Hunt and McGeady who's pace might be a big help to us on the break and be a better out ball.
Maybe just maybe we'll see a shot from 30 yards take a bad bounce and loop over Lloris. Sadly there's a gulf in class between the two teams so its going to take something like that to give us a chance. The lads have been magnificent in this campaign, and the fact that we can go to Paris very much in the tie is a credit to them and to Trapattoni.

90 minutes left and I'll fly out on Monday morning with some belief left. Get stuck in to them, upset them like we did at the final whistle, quieten the french crowd (who were awful tonight I thought), get an early goal, get a lucky break, get a better referee than tonight (did we win a single 50/50 all game, the linesmen made a couple of howlers too) and maybe just maybe. Unlikely yes, but remember footballing miracles do happen. And I think we deserve one to happen to us for a change.

[Guidedbyvoices]

Relevance: questionable.
Age profile: 0
Maturity: Low
Personal Importance: 100%

NY'er? :eek: Ex-pat -:rolleyes:

EDIT: Left out the word 'awesome' somewhere in my post(s).

Awesome dude. Touchdown.

Agree with everything you say mate. This is his usual contribution. He is without doubt the biggest imbecile on this forum.

[OwenGoal]

May be repeating an earlier post that seemed to fail but I thought the first half was about the best we could muster against a team of that calibre, so a bit depressing in tha sense. Centre-mid did its job very well but evidently faded in the second half as Andrews tired and France upped their game.

Is the sitting back and letting the opposition have the ball thing a tactic or just poor play on our part? I think it's both. It's happened in too many games for it not to be a Trap instruction. It'll be interesting to see if he changes his tactics in Paris now that we have to go for broke. Doubt it somehow.

Interestingly, for all this talk of Domenech being a loony, there was no evidence of that in his team's performance tonight. Thought they sussed us out quite well overall.

[Emmet7]

I doubt Best was sent on solely to help the midfielders but it's not a positive sign if that's the case, Trap probably admitting we were losing out in midfield. I guess it was to put in more tackles in midfield.

I think Leon Best should start in Paris alongside our best finisher Keane. The Doyle-Keane combination just isn't delivering the goals and without goals we won't win matches. Both are nice footballers and all that, but they don't have the muscle to dominate defenders. That's the main reason we don't score from open play, only setpieces.

Best is awkward and I would say cause the French defenders more problems than Doyle would.

No doubt Trap will change it for Wednesday with probably Best up front. The starting team tonight struggled to threathen the French defence. We need all out attack from the off in Paris.

[phillaldinho]

I don't think we're coming back from that

I don't see why not. France had all the ball and created very little- we had very little ball and contrived to make ourselves look dangerous on occasion.

France are not that great; like ourselves, they lack a driving force, a character to take a game by the scruff and drag it over the line. Andrews tried to step up tonight but got tired. Robbie Keane isn't capabale of it, no matter how many captain's arbands he has.
Dunne showed he might be the man to do it- after the final whistle had gone.

On to Paris- by the end of that game we will probably have Hunt and Best on again, with Lawrence having played his part. A different referee may give us more free kicks than we saw tonight, in better positions. We may just find that putting our foot on it and passing it properly is not so dangerous after all.

The show is only just beginning.

[rebelmusic]

Sorry to ask a question twice, but could anyone tell me the reason for the bust-up?

[Angus]

Well, that was like paying 50 snots to watch Henry and Anelka pass it to each other for 90 minuted

Hard to say it but Domenech's tactics were superior. With TH and NA playing off the stirker, but out wide, we had no idea how to stop them

Anelka gave the balla way once in 90 minutes - remarkable performance and Henry won every ball in the air

Robbie Keane is really struggling - keeps giving it away and is more interested in being hard done by than in actually playing


Men and boys

[Jicked]

Is the sitting back and letting the opposition have the ball thing a tactic or just poor play on our part? I think it's both. It's happened in too many games for it not to be a Trap instruction. It'll be interesting to see if he changes his tactics in Paris now that we have to go for broke. Doubt it somehow.


Its a tactic. We let them have all the ball they want in their own half and central areas. If we get too tight, our players aren't good enough, and their players are too good. A quick triangle of passes, burst of pace or skillful trick/turn and suddenly we're caught out of position, and leave a gap for Henry/Anelka/Gignac to run in to. So the gameplan is to mark space and ensure that they wont pass the ball through us, instead they're forced wide to cross the ball in to the box which we've a much better chance of defending, or take pot shots from distance which when you have Given in goal is a safe enough thing to reduce them too (until they get a lucky break as they did tonight!).

The only time they did pass through us and created chances to run at Dunne and Kilbane was in the last ten minutes when Whelan/Andrews were pushing on and so moved out of their usual 'zone'. The fact that we don't harry and hussle the way the Irish footballing mentality automatically thinks of (how many times in the first half were France on the ball, going nowhere, everyone marked up and not an inch of room only for the crowd to start demanding "pressure"!) is the reason we've come so far in this group, and thats the exact reason why we can't change the system going to Paris, we just have to hope that its our luck that changes.

[Jicked]

Well, that was like paying 50 snots to watch Henry and Anelka pass it to each other for 90 minuted

Hard to say it but Domenech's tactics were superior. With TH and NA playing off the stirker, but out wide, we had no idea how to stop them

Anelka gave the balla way once in 90 minutes - remarkable performance and Henry won every ball in the air

Robbie Keane is really struggling - keeps giving it away and is more interested in being hard done by than in actually playing


Men and boys

Are you mad? Domenech's tactics were superior because he had a player who ran the show from the first minute and didn't give the ball away but once. If only Trap had have thought of telling Whelan to be one of the best players in the world eh :rolleyes:

It was men & boys, you're right, and the fact it was 1-0 thanks to a deflected shot that smacked off the post, whilst we also had 3 good chances is proof that we had our tactics correct.

And Robbie isn't struggling at all, he played very well tonight.

[Guidedbyvoices]

If anyone thinks we will go to France and get a result, they are totally deluded. They are far superior to us and that is with them not getting out of first gear.