Republic of Ireland V Bosnia and Herzegovina - Saturday, 26th May 2012 - Friendly

[boysingreen]

Duff needs to put that away. Nice ball into Keane from Whelan (i think) and Keane's flick to Duff was brilliant.

[tricky_colour]

Twinkle toes Dunne!

[tricky_colour]

This is good practise for the next 0-0 :p

[boysingreen]

We must be waiting for the finals to turn on our attacking prowess

[boysingreen]

We should be up feckin 3-0... all chances from about 7/8 yards out. Duff's saved, McGeady hit post, Walters the crossbar.

[theworm2345]

Goal! Look who's learned to cross :eek:

[boysingreen]

GOOD MAN LONG!!! Great play and ball from McGeady, nice header from Long.

[tricky_colour]

LOL, my PC crashed!! It doesn't cope with the heat too well, total wipe-out.
When I rebooted they were showing the replay.
Ireland seem to play better when I am not watching!!

[geysir]

McGeady should be the motm.

edit. confirmed now

[theworm2345]

David Connolly would've had a hat trick today.

[tricky_colour]

Thought they just said McGeady was MOTM on the PA system.

Lol Long should have scored but the keeper done well.

[SkStu]

Unfortunately only followed this on text on extratime.ie. excellent updates by the way.

Seems like we were excellent. What sort strength team did Benson & Hedges put out?

[Philly]

Pretty good performance. McClean played very well in the first half but looked tired in the second. McGeady was a class act when he came on. I think Long and Walters looked more threatening than Keane and Doyle tbh. Westwood was solid, as was Ward apart from one mess-up near the end.

Overall a lot of positives!

[boysingreen]

Created a lot more chances in the second half. McGeady looks confident and in good form- find that very encouraging. We'll be pretty dependent on him helping to relieve the pressure on the back 4.

[BonnieShels]

Missed the first half hour. Thought we were excellent overall.
Really pleased with McGeady, Long and Andrews.
Thought McShane played well from what I saw and it was nice to see Gibson and Andrews in the middle.
A great workout.

[geysir]

We don't settle into a game by stroking the ball around, instead we hoof it until we find some rhythm and see where their weaknesses are.I thought we were better with Andrews after 1/2 time.
If you put those first half Gibson wayward passes down to lack of match sharpness, he did well. McShane was competent, he's a tough fecker and sound enough as stand by back up for Kelly/Foley, though it was a bit worrying to see Kelly's wrist strapped up with about 100m of bandage.
We missed a few sitters, at least we created the gilt edge chances. We have a more than able goalkeeper deputy in Westwood.
McGeady was the bright spark, he's on the top of his game, we can't ask for more from him if he does it on the pitch for us.

[boovidge]

I hope McGeady's on that sort of form at the Euros.

[DannyInvincible]

Very positive send-off. Was impressed with the directness and creativity. Didn't see the possession stat at the end (we had 51% at one point around the middle of the game) but I'd be confident we dominated overall possession, as well as efforts on goal. McGeady was taking the **** when he came on; excellent to see such confidence and eagerness to impress. Thought McClean did well but grew tired towards the end. Walters wins absolutely everything up front. I'd definitely consider him to start over Doyle. Attack-wise and on the wings, the competition in the squad is a very exciting prospect and will make for interesting times ahead. Will Gibson have done enough to push his way into the starting line-up?

The overall performance was a competent one. We could and should have won by a few more; some incredible chances missed due to the woodwork or great goalkeeping by Begovic. Should possibly have had a penalty too. The victory will do wonders for morale and should benefit our ranking as well.

[geysir]

ATM based on that game, I'd say the Gibson/Andrews partnership is ahead of Gibson/Whelan

I don't know if it is ahead of Andrews/Whelan, but it's not worse.

[seanfhear]

I know that some managers do not particularly like their players playing international football "But": Is there any players in the Irish squad that have not benefitted greatly from playing under the stewardship of Giovanni Trapatoni.

Hail Trapatoni !

[Colbert Report]

Steven Reid would be one.

[DannyInvincible]

Where will this win put us in the rankings, by the way? A victory over a top-thirty side will surely benefit to some degree.

[Olé Olé]

McGeady like that at the Euro's has the potential to cause devastation. It's amazing how anyone who wanted to assert some form of a faux-insightful opinion on him would state "McGeady's final ball isn't good enough." I'd like to think at this stage anyone who chances saying it would be ridiculed.

Again, Long and Walters cranked up the pressure on Doyle-Keane which is very positive. I'm still not sure as to combinations, but at this stage, with Keane somewhat undroppable, it should be Keane-Long or Keane-Walters at the Euro's, whichever Trap sees as a better tactical fit. Not sure if he'll go for it though.

As for McClean, he acquitted himself well enough but didn't blaze a trail onto first-team selection, particularly in light of McGeady's assist. He's first winger on now though, surely?

[Closed Account]

McGeady like that at the Euro's has the potential to cause devastation. It's amazing how anyone who wanted to assert some form of a faux-insightful opinion on him would state "McGeady's final ball isn't good enough." I'd like to think at this stage anyone who chances saying it would be ridiculed.
I would of been one of McGeady's biggest critics, and with justification, over the last few years. But he was very good when he came on today, and I'd have no reservation in giving him man of the match. Before his final ball was below par because he was wasting too much energy taking too much out of the ball. Today he got the balance right. I hope he carries this form into the Euro's. Being in the shop window will be an extra incentive for him.

[theworm2345]

LOL, my PC crashed!! It doesn't cope with the heat too well, total wipe-out.
When I rebooted they were showing the replay.
Ireland seem to play better when I am not watching!!
My PC is nearly 8 years old and also wasn't dealing well with the heat so yesterday I opened it up and cleaned out all the crap that was inside (especially around the fans) and it is running much smoother now.

[Olé Olé]

I would of been one of McGeady's biggest critics, and with justification, over the last few years. But he was very good when he came on today, and I'd have no reservation in giving him man of the match. Before his final ball was below par because he was wasting too much energy taking too much out of the ball. Today he got the balance right. I hope he carries this form into the Euro's. Being in the shop window will be an extra incentive for him.

Most definitely. I don't think either Aiden or his father John have ever attributed his allegiance to Ireland to cultural identity or heritage in too pronounced a fashion. Consequently, with a nod to careerism, McGeady is primed to establish himself in the eyes of Europe's biggest clubs, if he can at all manage to do so. That's Ireland's gain also.

[tricky_colour]

My PC is nearly 8 years old and also wasn't dealing well with the heat so yesterday I opened it up and cleaned out all the crap that was inside (especially around the fans) and it is running much smoother now.


Yes I have been thinking of doing that myself when I get the time. I got the CPU off ebay as an upgrade so maybe it has a slight problem
with heat. Not sure if I should have up graded the fan as well, I went from a amd 3800 to and a X2 version of the same chip. I think I put too
much heat sink sealant on when I upgraded so I could redo that.
Mind you by the time I get round to it this hot spell will probably be at an end.
Can't remember it being this hot in May before, dunno whether it will last, 4 months of over-cast skys with temp in the mid teens C is the norm round here!!

[Junior]

Most definitely. I don't think either Aiden or his father John have ever attributed his allegiance to Ireland to cultural identity or heritage in too pronounced a fashion. Consequently, with a nod to careerism, McGeady is primed to establish himself in the eyes of Europe's biggest clubs, if he can at all manage to do so. That's Ireland's gain also.

I'm confused. You think it was a career move choosing Ireland over Scotland?

[DannyInvincible]

Most definitely. I don't think either Aiden or his father John have ever attributed his allegiance to Ireland to cultural identity or heritage in too pronounced a fashion. Consequently, with a nod to careerism, McGeady is primed to establish himself in the eyes of Europe's biggest clubs, if he can at all manage to do so. That's Ireland's gain also.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSS61Deu8t8

[theworm2345]

Just banged the match up on Irish Torrents, don't think I won't know if you aren't seeding :curse:

[BonnieShels]

Zing!

[Crosby87]

Tricky you can put a small fan pointed towards the back in those situations if you have one.

[Murfinator]

Very impressed by McGeady and Longs finishing was superb. Pleased the defence kept a clean sheet, some of Keane and Duffs general interplay was clever. Walters needs to be less wasteful, though his movement was very good. One negative was I felt McClean was way out of synch with the team and looked a bit out of place at times in an otherwise tidy performance, he showed sparks of attacking quality that would merit him as an attacking impact sub if we fall behind but McGeady absolutely blew him to smithereens in the 2nd half in every aspect.

Overall a very positive performance and much better than I was expecting, main player who put their hand up tonight was probably Long while the rest of the expected first XI remain on course.

[SwanVsDalton]

Very good performance and a bit of a party atmosphere at the Aviva on a beautiful Saturday afternoon - hard to beat.

McClean was excellent in the first half, had the right back beat every time. Great to see him play with such confidence. Looked a bit tired in the second but I think he's in line for a significant contribution in Poland.

Sticking to the Derry theme, thought it was Gibson's best showing in an Ireland shirt. Few wayward passes in the first half, but by the end he played two or three superb balls for every poor one. His passing and vision is really a class above our other midfielders, and now the Everton move seems to have provided him more willingness - he was all over the ball like a rash. Great to see - not least because with Fahey out, Gibson will be more crucial as our defacto playmaking centre mid.

McGeady was excellent. Clearly he is still a rubbish crosser.

Defence were solid, though O'Dea looked like he switched off once or twice. McShane did ok even though he gives you the heebies every time the ball comes near him. Looked like he was battling early onset of sun stroke when he was taken off too, looked fairly wiped.

Doyle had a decent game but I'd be in favour of dropping him for Walters/Long. Probably the Stoke man for me, he's a beast physically but with an excellent touch and gets in great positions. Kevin just looks like he needs to find his predatory instinct again.

BTW did Hunt throw a bit of a strop in the second half? Noticed he was stripped to come on, then it cut to him on the stadium big screen and he was sitting back down but looked in a right huff. Take it there was a limit of six subs?

[DannyInvincible]

Clearly he is still a rubbish crosser.

If you watch the goal again closely, you'll notice Long not only has to run at least two or three metres to connect with McGeady's stray ball, he has to go as far as jumping too. At full stretch!

[SwanVsDalton]

If you watch the goal again closely, you'll notice Long not only has to run at least two or three metres to connect with McGeady's stray ball, he has to go as far as jumping too. At full stretch!

It wasn't even a cross - was a stepover gone wrong, he totally misjudged the ball and ended up hoofing it into the box. Hopefully Paul Green will give him some tips in training.

[tricky_colour]

Tricky you can put a small fan pointed towards the back in those situations if you have one.

Possibly but I would have to buy one first, the temperature here does not get anywhere near as high as say NYC for example,
so I don't know if it is worth the bother, especially as it might not make any difference anyway.
I have cleaned the air vents on the case a bit and I will see if that helps.
I will also have a look at the heat sink and give that a clean if necessary.
It's only happened 2 or 3 times in total so it's not a big problem.
I will also try it without the cover on - actually I think I would have put the fan in the wrong place because it seem the flow
goes in the opposite way to what I had though. So I will give it a clean and see how it goes. The CPU might actually be at slightly faulty as
I got it on Ebay and there is little reason to sell them as there is only about an extra 25% available increase in speed (38 to 48) available on the socket
and you pay a heavy price for that slight increase in speed. The X1 processor never had that problem but then is only had half the heat to deal
with.
I find the sound of the fan more annoying than the few annual crashes I get, it is pretty loud, it's enough to make you consider water cooling.

[fionnsci]

Haven't had such a positive feeling because of an Ireland performance (as opposed to result) in a while. Think Long really needs to start ahead of Doyle now. Keep Duff/McGeady on the wings but have McClean come on without doubt. Then have McGeady/McClean for our next campaign.

[Olé Olé]

I screwed up big time there lads! Always attributed McGeady to a real Irish background, must ascertain the sources that drew my opinion otherwise.

Sorry again.

[rebelmusic]

Just banged the match up on Irish Torrents, don't think I won't know if you aren't seeding :curse:

Can't seem to get on to this site and mad to watch the game (fecking China). Anybody know how to join it?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Not sure if worth posting, but maybe of interest, despite the source.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/euro-2012/irish-news/no-escaping-the-feelgood-factor-3119678.html

[Bottle of Tonic]

The second half was very enjoyable. I can't comment properly on the first as I had the usual poxy stream issues after getting turned away from every pub in my small english town cos they were showing horses or lower league English football. Very relieved we managed to nab the goal and head off with a win as even though the performance was good at 0-0 getting the victory gives us a great psychological boost that was in any case merited.

As usual it seemed to be our typical, solid but where-is-our-goal-coming-from performance but with that little bit extra creativity in the shape of an on form Aiden McGeady. Hopefully the little ploy of 'dropping' him in order to let McLean stake his claim will help carry that 2nd half showing through to Poland. A wee rocket up the arse for Aiden was no harm. Little bit of criticism in the press, the building hype around McLean and Aiden has responded magnificently. I've been a fan for years and he can easily our best player now and for years to come if everything clicks for him. However there is the nagging doubt that he is one of these 'unlucky' players. Hitting the post yesterday for example, or a good piece of work out wide coming to nothing - how often have we seen it? Trappers is often considered a 'lucky' manager. I don't buy that sort of ****. He makes his luck, he knows what he's doing. Conversely, if Aiden is constantly 'unlucky' (hitting the post yesterday) then there are reasons for that too.

But McGeady/McLean out wide going forward? Yeah - have to be happy with that.

I'm with the lads who question Doyle getting the nod along with Robbie. Walters and Long have just as much claim on a starting place going on form. The fact that the jersey is Doyles and has been for a while now is the only thing keeping him in the starting 11 at this moment. I like Walters. Strong, burly but quick and with a decent touch and its not like you are sacrificing mega goal getting if he plays instead of Doyle - you might even gain a bit?

Gibson. Him going to Everton could be one of the most important things to happen to the Irish side in a long time. Everyone can see that there is a player there.

Ward and McShane. Hmmmmmm. McShane is a bit of a cult hero at this stage and you can tell he loves the green jersey. There's a rash challenge and a penalty stalking him mercilessly though and there's no shaking it.

Like everyone else I can't wait to get over there. 2 days in Berlin, 3 in Poznan, 4 in Gdansk, 3 in Poznan, 2 in Berlin..... gonna be fecking brilliant.

[Olé Olé]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSS61Deu8t8

I can blame this bloody article. Came across it the other day and browsed through it. It must have subliminally slipped into the 'Facts' section of my brain, avoiding the 'Fiction' and 'Dubious' sections.
http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishpost/news/scottishtalentirishallegiance.asp

Aidan (sic) himself, however, has diplomatically steered clear of citing a pride in his diasporic heritage as the reason for his preference — explaining instead that having come through the Irish youth system and being capped at under-16 level he is simply following a natural progression by wishing to play at senior level for the Republic.
His father John, a former professional footballer with Sheffield Utd, has also been at pains to emphasize that Aidan’s decision has been motivated by purely footballing reasons, even going so far as to appeal to the Rangers support ahead of an Old Firm match not to single his son out for abuse for choosing to play for Ireland.

[ArdeeBhoy]

That's already been posted, sorry Ole Ole.

[Olé Olé]

That's already been posted, sorry Ole Ole.


What has? The video? It's wrapped in a quote box. If you're referring to the article, I'm only posting the link to show where my opinion had been misled.

[paul_oshea]

I think we now know the Nr1 top 2 players :)

This was the first time in an age I can remember watching us thinking we can actually play some football. I thought we were very good in the second half, very positive, and attack minded. I thought we lost our shape at the back because of this a few times though, which isn't normally like us and I can imagine Trap not being happy with this. But i did notice after half an hour that Bosnia weren't really keeping possession anymore so maybe its hard to gauge how good we were given the lack of urgency/will from the bosnian players.

Some people are very funny on here, Mcgeady was excellent his crossing was excellent his movement was excellent, and his timing, which was always a problem was excellent. He timed everything perfectly, but ya he used to be crap crossing, 1 game doesn't change that, but he has proved over the last couple of games that he is perfecting his timing and his crossing, which is great to see.

I'm sorry to blow all the hype and all the Derry red and white tinted glasses, but Mcclean was decidedly average, he got in about 3 good crosses in the first half but in the second half he was out of position and just generally out of tune, looked like someone who was just back from injury or something to be honest. But the fact Trap gave him the full 90 means he must be wanting him to get up to speed very quickly.

Gibson, played some great balls and definitely looked far better than we have ever seen before, interesting that gibson got to play both halves, these are things Trap wouldn't have done in the past, but he seems more willing to adapt to the posivity than the negative, he must have more confidence in the team and the players at this point than anytime in the past, which again is another positive. I still feel gibson can give at least another 50-60 percent.

Back 4 very solid most of the time but a few hairy moments that will be a lot harder take in the Group games.

Keane and Doyle V Walters and Long, we looked far more dangerous in the second half than the first up front. I know mcgeady made a huge impact but I dont think if it were keane and doyle up there we would have created as many chances, for all the hard work and running Doyle and keane to a lesser extent, their positioning and running isn't as direct as Long and Walters, where doyle and lesser keane pick up teh ball, is far less advantagous than where Walters and less so long pick up the ball. They hold it up well, but they dont hold it up or bring into play in the same dangerous areas that Walters or long find themselves in. Im not saying drop keane, but im thinking with 25 mins to go or so Id look at replacing keane and doyle (if he sticks with doyle) with Walters and Long. I would also agree that perhaps Doyle needs some bench time, Long or walters, walters for me really as keane always links well with a big target man.

Have we ever looked as good strenght in depth though, apart from maybe CB and LB. Irish_praha touched on it, but its the first time I've felt like this in along time about the team, I really do think we look like a tough team to beat, with good squad depth, and organised individual players.

Hunt did indeed throw a bit of a strop but he cant really be blamed he was told to warm up then told to sit down and kelly was the sub to come on. What i like though was Trap going up to him afterwards and the 2 were grand to eachother and Hunt was just happy to be there, but it shows a side of Trap I hadn't seen before, that he does have individual man management, and he does have the personal touch with every player. I think some on here, myself included, found it hard to gauge from his press conferences how he approached players, on a one-one basis.

It looks like a lot of the general Irish public didnt watch this game because of the lovely day outside....

Great atmosphere at the match, but I cant see how there were 37k at it...

[ifk101]

Bosnia were brutal. We did what we had to do but it was against an opposition going through the motions. Wouldn't read too much into team or individual performance given the opposition's lack of interest.

[Murfinator]

Bosnia were brutal. We did what we had to do but it was against an opposition going through the motions. Wouldn't read too much into team or individual performance given the opposition's lack of interest.

Would agree, in their position I don't think we'd have much interest either. End of season, probably filled with bitterness that we're going to the Euros and they aren't and most of all minds on summer holidays.
Still have to score your chances but don't think we were tested anywhere near defensively that we would have been under different circumstances.

[paul_oshea]

Agree Ifk, but you can only play against whats put up against you, and our passing and our movement was a lot better than I've seen it before.

[SwanVsDalton]

I'm sorry to blow all the hype and all the Derry red and white tinted glasses, but Mcclean was decidedly average, he got in about 3 good crosses in the first half but in the second half he was out of position and just generally out of tune, looked like someone who was just back from injury or something to be honest. But the fact Trap gave him the full 90 means he must be wanting him to get up to speed very quickly.

Good post POS, though naturally I'm going to take you on over this one...;)

Decidedly average seems a bit harsh, would you not say McClean was Ireland's most effective attacker in the first half? A half when Bosnia were at their most potent, and probably, their most true-to-form (as mentioned they seemed well disinterested in the second)?

It's all relative after all, but McClean was far more effective than Duff imo and was at the heart of most of our attacking moves in the first half.

Taking into account this is a guy making his first start - he burned his right back about half a dozen times in the first half, set up Gibson for an effort he should've hit the target with and slung in a few really good crosses.

Second half he wasn't so hot, though I think he was a bit unsettled after being shuttled over to the right for a period.

It was only last year he was playing left wing in the LOI - from that to Ireland's best attacker for a first 45 in the Aviva is some return.

Also I think McGeady's always been a good crosser - sometimes he's more in range than others. :)

Thanks for the Hunt clear up by the way - it was only because I saw Hunt stripped then looked up at the big screen and saw him sitting back down and having a minor tantrum, throwing his training top about kinda thing. Good chance he'll start against Hungary.