France 0-0 Ireland. Your views?

[sligoman]

I think it was a good game, we played brilliantly and we deserved to win,but did'nt unfortunately.Excellent performance by all especially Kilbane,Reid,Duff & Finnan.France still on very poor form.Plenty of support there too,fair play to them all.Roll on the Faroes :)

[Emmet]

I think we did well - it's a shame Morrison had to go off because he was looking quite useful. The way things are starting to pan out it looks as though Israel are going to be key - if we can get six points from them I fancy us to finish top. France and Switzerland have both dropped points to them so they must be a fairly decent side. On paper at least, we've played our two toughest games and come through both unbeaten.

[Adrianovic]

I agree with Emmet about the six point Israel comment, that really will be the key. I am confident we can get 4 points from France and Switzerland at home, and Cyprus and the Faroes shouldn't really be a problem.

Maybe I was alone, but I thought O`Shea was man of the match, and no, I don't support United. Everything he did was with confidence and he looked the part against the French, unlucky with his chance I thought, didn't really have time to think about bringing it down or do anything but just point it somewhere near the goal. The whole defence was really good though, KC and O`Brien kept their men quiet, and it was vintage from Carr. Seamus was Seamus.

Kilbane was solid in the middle, although I didn't think he would be, we got treated to the nickname "Zinedine Kilbane" in the UK which I had a giggle at. Zizu might not have giggled had he saw KK's tenacity! Roy really set the tone in the first half, I think it's nights like this we need his experience and name to help us on the right track. On the flanks Duffer caused problems like we know he can without the final ball, and Finnan on the right was a good decision, shored up that side defensively and was confident going forward.

It was a real shame that Clint had to go off injured, he really held the ball up well for us when he had it played into him, it was a tactic we had to abandon after that when we had the little men combination. Reid came on and did a job, seems like he was told to shoot on site, which is fair enough, delivery from set peices was smart. Not his best position, looked a bit tubby I have to say. Sorry Andy. Robbie worked hard and kept the Monaco centre backs challenged.

I will rate:

Given 8 - when called upon, superb.
Carr 7 - supported Finnan nicely, looked strong.
KC 7.5 - Solid, quiet, just the way he likes it.
O`Brien 7.5 - same as above, took the elbow from that bitch Barthez well.
O`Shea 8.5 - my man of the match, thought he did almost everything right.
Finnan 7.5 - Got forward nicely and was tenacious in defence.
Roy 7.5 - Would have been higher but for his quiet second half.
KK 8 - Proved many of us wrong, once again. Can't fault him for that.
Duffer 7.5 - Kept the defence interested and had the odd shot.
Robbie 7 - Will have more productive nights, worked hard.
Clint 5.5 - would have got more if he was on the field for it.

Reider 7 - did OK, did well with the set pieces.

Overall, a very good away point, there were a few things I picked up on that differ on the Kerr regime than under McCarthy. It's on night's like this under Mick, not meaning to lay into him, we'd decide a draw was a good result after a while and flat out defend, and often enough we'd concede and rob ourselves of the hard work and good performances before hand. Kerr had told Ireland to go to match up with France tonight and go for the win, there was no underdog methods or inferiority complex, it was two teams on a level playing field, we did well.

Also, Kerr didn't throw on Gary Doherty. Nothing against Doc, but we really didn't need the physical presence tonight, the French would have lapped it up. We stayed creative, played football like we know how and gave a good footballing account of Ireland. There will be days when it will be wise to throw on Doc and mix it up, but today was not that day and Kerr was wise not to do it, in my eyes.

Final mention goes to the fans who turned Stade France in to a neutral venue, if not a redeveloped Lansdowne Road, with better baguettes. Absolutely sensational to hear Robert "Olympic Diver" Pires get so much stick in his own home stadium, he musn't have known what to think of it. All the support must have settled the players in and took away any intimidatory edge that France might have had. A return of Que Cera Cera as well, does it get any better than that?

Well played Ireland, happy with the point tonight.

Ade

[dynamo kerry]

good game .. ran into the corners the last 5 minutes but thats no shame. clinton deserves a ton of praise for a well played first half. at least an 8. the guy was nearly cryin when he went off.

felt we were on pace all the way through. andy was great. kilbane was competant and more. Still not happy with his selection but the man himself can't do any more than he has. fair play.

good stuff by shay again. a class act.

pleased as it was very even and we showed we are on their level

[Emmet]

I'm not too sure about O'Shea - I think his distribution and his positioning have been suspect whenever he's played at left-back. He is a good tackler though. I don't think that left-back is his preferred position - perhaps when he's played a few times in midfield or in the centre of defence we'll get a better idea of how good he is.

You're right about the crowd - tonight they were brilliant - Pires' dive was disgraceful and he was rightly booed for the rest of the match. Roy Keane started well but tired in the second half.....Kilbane made up for that though - he was superb.

[irishfan86]

Great result-we could have gotten the win, but this was a game that truly could have gone either way. Shay Given is my Man of the Match. He made a few game-saving stops that could have really done us in. Carr looked comfortable back there for the first time in a while. O'Brien and Cunningham did a great job of keeping the middle an Irish-only zone, and O'Shea had one of his better games in green. Duff was his usual threatening self, but the French did a good job of keeping him fairly quiet. All the same he sent a couple of good crosses in-too bad we didn't have any big men to get on the end of them. Kilbane, against my wishes, started-and I'm glad he did. He really played well beside Roy in midfield. Roy had a solid game in the engine room, although I was disappointed with some of his balls hit into the offensive zone. The quality of his passing in the air left a little to be desired, but nevertheless he did well to keep the French quiet in the middle. Finnan played well on the right, and generated a number of opportunites. Up front Robbie worked fairly hard, but he's lacking that killer instinct right now. Clinton was playing wonderful until his injury, and it's a pity he had to come off. Andy did a good job when he came on, and to have a guy like him who is always looking to shoot is a good thing. Overall a great performance from the men in green, and more importantly, a key point.

[Réiteoir]

Job done - no one had scored against France at the Stade for a few years (last team to do so was Iceland) - so on reflection it's not all bad!

Faeroes on Wednesday - should be 3 points there...

However - Portugal were coasting to an easy win in Vaduz against Liechtenstein. 2-0 up - Liechtenstein came back to draw it 2-2!

[tricky_colour]

A good account of the match Adrianovic
I think everyone played well, I would not rate anyone under 7.5,
Clinton would have got a high rating if he had stayed on.
Given was in top form, I though Henry was a dead cert to score and
his full stretch stop was top draw.
Hard to pick a man of the match as everyone contributed, maybe I would give it to KK as Sam Alardyce did on the BBC, I though Finnan was good on the right wing too, we didn't look one sided. The defence was solid too, I can't recall a mistake. O'Brian impressed me too, he looked in control.
It was a solid performance all round, we never looked ruffled and more
often than not we took the game to the French, it was not a backs to the
wall job at all.
Shame we didn't nick a goal though
We need to get points from our home matches now and make sure
we don't drop point against Israel as the French and the Swiss have,
if we could take 6 points from them we will be flying high in the group.

[pipes]

Good post Adrianovic, I agree with pretty much everything you said.

i admit that i've been unconvinced with brian kerr to date, but today he's actually "man of the match" for me. he had everyone on the team on the same wavelength and he had us playing the perfect style v our opponenets today. i've been harsh on him in the past and today i'm happily eating my words. same goes for KK. he was arguably our best player today, which is saying something, as nobody played poorly. great game, we should have won. well done to the irish squad, and well done to the travelling support as well.

[irishfan86]

I do remember one thing that alarmed me though-when Roy ran off the pitch in the first half. I actually commented to those watching the game with me-"Oh hell! Korea all over again!"

[Burner]

Kilbane, surprisingly, was deserved man of the match. Losing Clinto was a huge blow to us- he gave us a great outlet in the first half.

Proud of the lads on the whole- we were well worth the point- roll on the faroes.

Come on you boys in green................................

[1MickCollins]

Huge, huge result! You can't pick a "Man of the Match" it wouldn't be fair, I think this game will help the squad and Brian Kerr as well - this was a big one.

Given that France and Switzerland have dropped points to Israel as well as dropping points at home to us - if we can get 6 points from Israel then we have the luxury of not needing to beat France and the Swiss at home. Right now though there is a long way to go we are in a sense in the driving seat and in control, France and Switz have to hope we make mistakes or they will have to beat us Lansdowne Rd.

[sligoman]

We better qualify for Germany 2006 because I am going defo been planing it for ages! :)

[tricky_colour]

We better qualify for Germany 2006 because I am going defo :)

Well I do hope your not the only Irishman there :p

My mother was from Sligo, by the way, Rathmagurry.

[sligoman]

This is from www.rte.ie/sport :

Ireland take a point from France

Saturday, October 09 2004 11:31
The Republic of Ireland claimed an important draw away from home against France in their World Cup Qualifying Group 4 encounter, but will feel slightly unlucky not to have taken all three points.

A hugely impressive display from Brian Kerr's men saw them force France onto the back-foot for long periods of the game, but they were unable to find that crucial breakthrough that would have seen them win.

French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was called into action to make last-gasp saves from Damien Duff and Robbie Keane, while Shay Given produced some fine saves for Ireland when called into action.

Ireland started brightly, taking the game to France from the start and created the first chance of the game inside 70 seconds. Roy Keane played a neat through-ball for Clinton Morrison to run onto, but the Birmingham striker was narrowly beaten to the ball by Barthez.

France soon found their feet and began to pass the ball about with their swagger of old, but Ireland were threatening up front themselves and Morrison missed arguably the best chance of the half on 30 minutes, when he could only glance Steve Finnan's cross wide from 12 yards.

The visitors' defence, led by Kenny Cunningham, were able to soaked up nearly anything the French threw at them although Shay Given was at full stretch to tip Robert Pires' 38th minute just shot wide of the post.

Ireland suffered a setback just after that effort when Morrison was taken off with a knee-injury, to be replaced by Nottingham Forest winger Andy Reid.

The second half started off in explosive fashion, with Barthez being stung into action by a low powerful attempt by Reid while at the other end Pires set up Gallas for a close range shot which he lifted over Given's crossbar when he really should have done better.

Robbie Keane, perhaps should have opened the scoring when he was one-on-one with Barthez but seconds later, and as Ireland turned up the pressure, Kilbane had his head in his hands after watching his shot trickle wide with Barthez out of his goal.

John O'Shea was the next to miss the target when he somehow side-footed the ball wide after a deep left-wing cross from Reid presented him with a relatively straight-forward chance.

Given then denied Henry in the 79th minute with a finger-tip save after the Arsenal striker's brilliant first touch had created the chance.

There was time for some late controversy as Barthez was lucky to stay on the pitch when he clearly aimed an elbow at Newcastle defender Andy O'Brien after some jostling in the area before an Irish corner.

Ireland were unable to find a way through despite a late push, and the draw leaves Group Four delicately poised after three games as Ireland, France, Switzerland and Israel all have five points.

[thecorner]

EMMET.........were u watching the same game as the rest of us. im not a fan of o shea but he did very well

[thejollyrodger]

Im glad Kerr got the point, 3 points would have been nice but if France scored in the dying minutes I would be really ****ed.

I was more happy with a solid team performance playing some nice football at times and getting a draw than seeing a weak performance and maybe scrape a win. We can beat the French in Dublin;)

I had €5 on a draw and €5 for Ireland to win so win €18 Im fairly happy :)

I thought Clinton was playing brilliantly. The French didnt know how to handle him at all. I thought they would either give a peno away or morrison would score. I hope he manages to continue that form playing for Ireland in the future.

I thought O Shea was better last night. I think he is still a bit low in confidence and he doesnt know should he go forward or stay back. I think he will come right in another season. Unlucky not to score but the ball came in that quick !

Robbie Keane looks out of form, I hope he gets a goal wednesday. He is still getting into the right positions and did well to hold the ball up on a number of occasions.

Kilbane was defintely man of the match. Played brilliantly and gave something in midfield that was lacking a real engine. The French rate him as well,


DION FANNING

In Paris

AT the French training camp on Friday afternoon, a member of their backroom staff sought out some Irish journalists. He had a question he wanted answered: "Is it true that Kevin Kilbane will not be playing?" At this stage, it seemed a possibility and when he was told that his place was under threat, he shook his head in wonder. "Why? We all think he is a great player." It was a point also made by Raymond Domenech, the French coach whose position will again be under threat following last night's unconvincing performance. "Ireland have some great technical players, Duff, Robbie Keane, Reid," he said before the game, before adding unexpectedly. "And Kilbane."

Another sound decison by Kerr, I wouldnt have included him or even Finnan but both were solid decisions.

Next up is the faroes islands. We can easily beat them and I hope the team goes on the attack for the 90 minutes with another solid performance. We really need to make up the goal difference.

I think Kerr is a TOP MANAGER. I was a skeptic until last night. He is very professional, makes great tatical decisons, has all the players on the same wave length and brings the best out in his players. He coached the likes of Morrison, who in my opinon looks a totally different player to the one who first played under Mc Carthy. I have no doubt he will bring on the likes of O Shea and Andy Reid. I think Ireland are playing better football as well under Kerr and the first 20 minutes were great to watch.

[liam88]

We played brilliant and the support was the best since 2002!
We outnumbered the Frecnh 3 stands to 1 in their own stadium and I could not be more proud!
France in Lansdowne-3 pts for us!

Givern, O'Shea, Reid, Morrisson all played AMAZING but i'm not going to single out because everyone was BRILLIANT! :D

[the 12 th man]

i have never see an irish team so comfortable on the ball against another "top team" before.

ireland completely dominated large portions of the game (a lot more than the french for sure).

that pires ............a diving wakner that deserves fifa sanction,thats the kind of thing that is destroying the game as a spectacle.

i hate to be critical of the team as they played great as a unit but i think
cunningham is way short of the pace needed at this level.

our midfield did really well on the night and we were unlucky not to get the full three points. :)

[Emmet]

EMMET.........were u watching the same game as the rest of us.

:) - judging from a lot of the posts on here, I'm not sure!

I do think that O'Shea still has quite a bit to learn as a left-back - he didn't make any glaring mistakes last night which is certainly an improvement on some of his past performances.......but he is potentially a top class player who can become as important to us as Duff or either of the Keanes. In a couple of years' time hopefully he'll have realised that potential.

[da Boy Wonder]

got exactly what we came for and fully deserved it. Could have nicked a goal, but then just as equally could France have too.

It's the first time I've been really convinced by an Irish performance in a competitive match under Brian Kerr. As before last night, we only seemed to look promising with our performances in the friendlies i.e. Brazil, Czech Rep, Holland etc, but when it came down to the crucial, important games i.e. Russia, Switzerland we were always failed to deliver the performance and were unconvincing - looked negative in the way we went about playing our game and fragile, ordinary.

However I take my hat off to them last night, it was a very important game and we produced what was required of us. We weren't intimidated by the French and their reputation, played them for man 11 vs 11 (12 if you want to include the superb 30k+ Irish support there), matched them over the park by playing a smart game which kept France quiet for long periods of the match and unlike the Swiss game last month, looked like we wanted to win the game rather than sitting back and being content with holding on for a draw. Had more hunger and were far more positive with our play, hope to see more of that for the return clashes with France, Switzerland and the double header against Israel.

Faroes next on Wednesday night, anything less than three points is disasterous. Would like to see us win by a decent margin too (3+) for goal difference sake. As with the way this group is shaping out, qualification or who finishes runner-up or third, could come down to it this time next year.

BTW: Fair play to Slovenia beating Italy and to Liechtenstein for finally taking the monkey off our backs (i.e. 0-0 1995 :eek: ) and holding Portugal to a 2-2 draw having been 2 nil down!

[wallis]

For me Kevin Kilbane was MOM. I never saw him miss a tackle. He broke up the french attacks, was intelligent on the ball, put hi,self about and never stopped running.

Shay did his job between the sticks and looked safe as ever and every man gave his all. Im disappointed we didnt take the three points.

The only worry I have is still our left side with JOS at left back. We never really got to grips with that area of the pitch.

Support was incredible - lets take the three points against the Faroes and go to our rightful place at the top of the group ! :D

[tetsujin1979]

It was as good as I've seen Ireland play so far under Kerr, a point was thoroughly deserved. The entire team played together, but I'd like to single out Clinton (who answered a lot of his critics with his performance until being taken off) and Kilbane, who completely justified his selection ahead of Kavanagh and Holland.

[Superhoops]

EMMET.........were u watching the same game as the rest of us. im not a fan of o shea but he did very well

Not sure if you were at the match of just watching it on TV. I have just got back from Paris and 90% of people I spoke to last night and today agree that O'Shea had a nightmare.

This is nothing to to with his goal miss, although it put the icing on a terrible performance.

JOS was selected at left back. Time and time again he was exposed down that flank and got sucked in to the middle out of position, leaving the French to launch most of their attacks down that wing. Look how many times Duff had to track back and play in our last third of the field. Shades of Ian Harte and Kilbane havng to back track (Now KK is free of that shackle, he showed last night he is more than worth his place in our strongest line-up).

O'Shea just cannot defend! He will never make a left back. He may make a midfielder in time, but needs more time in that postition. I cannot see where he fits into our current midfield set-up, certainly not ahead of Kilbane.

[thejollyrodger]

I disagree

I think Josh had an average game for his standards. He isnt full of confidence and I think thats the main problem. Duff did have to back track but even with all JOSH's mistakes Ireland were never really up against it. The play was very open but I wouldnt call it a nightmare.

I would call Ian Hearte and Japan a nightmare HAHAHAHA :D

[tricky_colour]

One thing we should remember about the France game is that
they are not actually a very good side!!
They also 0-0 drew with Israel at home and could only put two past
the Faroe Islands so lets just keep our feet on the ground.

We may well struggle to put more than two goals past the Faroes and
we may also struggle against Israel.

Look at it this way, Israel are a better team than France going by their draw away to France.

There is a big danger in becoming complacent and thinking we have
came on it leaps and bounds.

It could simply be that France are now a pretty poor side.

Beware!!

[Superhoops]

Maybe I was alone, but I thought O`Shea was man of the match, and no, I don't support United. Everything he did was with confidence and he looked the part against the French, unlucky with his chance I thought, didn't really have time to think about bringing it down or do anything but just point it somewhere near the goal.

O`Shea 8.5 - my man of the match, thought he did almost everything right.

Sorry, you have this totally wrong! Philip Quinn of the Indo has it spot on:

JOHN O'SHEA: He's six foot three, of imposing build, so what's he doing at left-back? Alex Ferguson won't play him at centre-half, and neither will Brian Kerr. Ultimately, neither are doing any favours to O'Shea because, by sticking him out on the left, he's vulnerable to pace. Such was O'Shea's uncertainty; he lacked the courage to press forward when his presence was needed. To be fair, he improved after half-time. So near and yet so far with THAT far post chance. 6

[roboyle]

Yeah, I'm not long back myself and the consensus from post-match discussions was that O'Shea was the weakest link in the team - just doesn't seem to be able to concentrate for 90 mins - there were times when the ball needed to be played quickly on and when te ball was passed to him, he almsot seemed like he didn't know what to do with it... as well as that, he seemed to be out of position more that Finnan, Carr or Duff, even though Duff (in particular) was covering alot more ground than him... I just don't know where his form from 18 months ago has gone...
As for MOTM nominations, Reid, Given and Duff all did particularly well but for the amount of ball won and tracking back done, Kilbane has to get the non - Ireland's new box-to-box midfield player!

[roboyle]

Note this however: We had practically our strongest team available, France had as many absentees as they're likely to have at any other stage in qualifying and we had the bigger, more vocal support, yet we only 'managed' a draw... should our expectations of the return leg be guided by this?

[Stuttgart88]

Really good performance, but Kilbane & Clinton stood out for me as they're probably the two players the fans have least faith in. They both rose to the oaccasion magnificently.

Our centre-back pairing is really gelling. That's two big games in a row now by O'Brien and he has really settled in at international level.

(I didn't see the Barthez incident - what exactly happened?)

The big thing in this group now is to bag the 3 points on Wednesday and get 6 points from Israel (will be tough) and a win in Cyprus.

By the time we play the Swiss at home it'd be nice to have second place guaranteed and wins against the "lesser sides" is crucial to get to this stage.

To be honest, I still think a draw would be a good result at home to France.

[pbn]

For all our good work on Sat night, I'm afraid the old problem of not being able putting the ball in the net still exists. Bartez played well because he commanded his area well making plenty of catches and punches but how many shots did he have to save? One i think. Clinton huffs and puffs, holds the ball up well and plays his heart out but he's not deadly in front of goal. Likewise Robbie needs a few chances before he gets one goal. We should have finished the game off but we weren't able to !!

On a more positive note I cant believe how improved O'Brien is and well done Kevin Kilbane who has been "plugging" away for years under a fair bit of criticism.

[thejollyrodger]

I dont think international's are as simply as that. Just look at Henry, great player in the priemership but I didnt see him doing too much damage around the irish goals. Robbie Keane isnt on top form but he is our best striker and he will come back on form when we really need him. Hopefully wednesday.

[Java Bleue]

From a french perspective it's a pity we dropped 2 points but it could have been worse, overall considering who was playing in our midfield I guess we have to be satisfied with that. For euro 92 and 2004 we had a 100% record during the qualif and then we were crap during the finals so maybe it's not a bad thing if we're struggling a little bit...

As for Ireland, fair play to you guys; let's not forget though that not so long ago you got a point from Holland and Portugal and you threw it all away in Macedonia, now wouldn't it be just stupid if the same thing was to happen again...

[Junior]

great performance from the lads, and I echoe what everyone on here says with regards to KK performance - superb.

However, I thought Kerr was a little negative in the last 15-20 minutes when we were in complete control, the win was there for the taking and we remained cautious. Two corners where AO'B and KC remained on the half way line marking fresh air. With all the controlled football we played, as someone else pointed out Barthez barely had a save to make.

France will be a different side in 11 months time and I hope we don't live to regret not taking the 3 points.

Having said all the that you would have snapped their hand off, if offered a point before kick off.

[Knoert]

Great match for us, I'm happy with the draw, but we just could have beaten them, what a miracle that should have been...

Magnificent support btw!

[Closed Account 2]

Great game, all the lads played well. If we play like that in our remaining games we'll win the group - but I have a feeling it wont be that simple. I think if Clinton hadnt gone off we might well have nicked all three points, I could see why Kerr brought Andy Reid on (and I'd have done the same), but with him being less of an out-and-out striker I think we didnt have as much of a pressure outlet in the 2nd half. Had Clinton been on longer, with his pace and size, I could have seen us getting a goal on the break.

My man of the match would probably be Given as he had to concentrate a lot (as wasnt being tested constantly unlike in the Swiss game). I also think Zinadine Kilbane did well and Robbie Keane (who was at times almost a lone striker). The best aspect of the game was the way we hardly ever gave possesion away thru mistakes (unlike in Basle) - by and large the French only got possesion from free kicks or when our attacks broke down in their area/half. Our passing was just right, we kept it simple (& a lot of credit needs to go to the back 4 esp. the full backs for giving our midfield players the simple option) and didnt go for the "Hollywood" pass too often. Another good thing was the fact noone got booked (at least I think that was the case).

As for the future well we have to win on Wednesday, theyre not an aweful side but if we are in anyway serious about going to Germany then we must win (and a few goals could be useful too). Similarly we need to win the matches in Nicosia and Torshaven - we are easily good enough to do that (no disrespect to the Cypriots or Faroese) if we put our minds to it. I think Israel will be a very big test, we should beat them at home but away it could be tricky (i'd compare it to the last time we competitivly played a team begining with "I"). Then that leaves the Swiss and French at home, both big games which the players should be up for - I'd take 4 points from those two home games.

Overall were in a better situation than 2 years ago, I think we'll get 2nd place... just.

[pineapple stu]

let's not forget though that not so long ago you got a point from Holland and Portugal and you threw it all away in Macedonia, now wouldn't it be just stupid if the same thing was to happen again...

Nah - different groups. Macedonia was Euro 2000, Holland and Portugal was 2002 World Cup, when we qualified. Dno't go taking that as me saying we're definites to qualify though!

Bizarre ratings in L'Equipe, the French sports magazine. Given got 6½ and was called absolutely impeccable. No-one else on the Irish team got more than 6 - O'Shea was one. Keane, Duff and Kilbane got 5½s. Barthez got 7½ for France, but Mavuba got 3½ and Cissé and Silvestre got 4. Don't sound very happy at all! Had an article on the Ireland fans with some small interviews, and a brief interview with Pires, where they asked him about 60% of the ground booing him (after pointing out that it was for a dive) - he said it only motivated him. Sunday Times gave most Ireland players 8s, with Kilbane on a 9 - seemed to make more sense.

[tricky_colour]

Yes I would be hard pushed to rate any Irish player below 7.5
The Sunday Times is a quality paper, not some French rag.
We made very few mistakes, Carr over hit one pass but that was
in the French penalty area, he defended well and put in a great
cross from a pass which looked like it was over hit, he also
defended very well.
O'Brian was class looked very confident on the ball, made me
feel save, often in the past I have felt worried when Irish defenders
are on the ball!! Finnan contributed a lot and combined very well
with Carr, I like Finnan, he always looks alert and aware of the
situation.
Clinton was magnificent when he was on, maybe I expected more
of Reid who repacedhim but thats cos I am a Forest fan and have
high expectations for him, even then he got a long shot on taarget
which the keeper could not hold. JOSH made the odd uncomplete
pass in the opposition half but that is to be expected.
Keane had a hic-cup when his jock strap slipped but was class
apart from that, almost played a killed ball to Clinton too.
Kilbane was a force in the midfield won a lot of possession and
caused the French problems. Cunningham was getting his head
on a lot of attacking balls, Duff was well marked as ususal but still
did well, creating space for others, Given well he close to MOM
for me but it would be unfair to give it to him cos it would
seem like we struggled and we didn't struggle at all, he made two
top class saves though, but that is what you expect from a top
keeper. And then there is Robbie Keane, he didn't get many
chances up front but he worked really hard helping out the midfield,
often when I looked back at the game to see who was doing the
work when I could not identify the midfield player it was Robbie.
So yes 8's and 9's are fair ratings, the French rag journalist
obviously doesn't have much of a clue about the game, you can
add 2 or 3 to his ratings apart from Barthez who was crap and
almost cost the French the game.

[eirebhoy]

Bizarre ratings in L'Equipe, the French sports magazine. Given got 6½ and was called absolutely impeccable. No-one else on the Irish team got more than 6 - O'Shea was one. Keane, Duff and Kilbane got 5½s. Barthez got 7½ for France, but Mavuba got 3½ and Cissé and Silvestre got 4. Don't sound very happy at all! Had an article on the Ireland fans with some small interviews, and a brief interview with Pires, where they asked him about 60% of the ground booing him (after pointing out that it was for a dive) - he said it only motivated him. Sunday Times gave most Ireland players 8s, with Kilbane on a 9 - seemed to make more sense.
AFAIK L'equipe give ratings out of 8.

Lads, there's a lot of credit going to the players, surely Kerr deserves a lot of it for everything he did.

[Hither green]

Great game, all the lads played well. If we play like that in our remaining games we'll win the group - but I have a feeling it wont be that simple. I think if Clinton hadnt gone off we might well have nicked all three points, I could see why Kerr brought Andy Reid on (and I'd have done the same), but with him being less of an out-and-out striker I think we didnt have as much of a pressure outlet in the 2nd half. Had Clinton been on longer, with his pace and size, I could have seen us getting a goal on the break.


I agree with you there. Clinton looked very good, held the ball up extremely well. Made sense bringing on Reid against the French but rumour has it he may also start up front against the Faroes. Don't we need an out-and-out striker?

[Junior]

the French rag journalist
obviously doesn't have much of a clue about the game, you can
add 2 or 3 to his ratings apart from Barthez who was crap and
almost cost the French the game.

Wouldn't agree with that. Barthez played well, commanded his box, though our own final ball helped him in this regard as I would say most of our crosses were 'keepers balls' That said, he made one wild swipe which is probably what you're referring to which could have cost him.

[IrishSpur]

Hi, well I think I am finally getting back to normality, voice still a few octaves lower but at least the sore calf muscles are gone!
Now I am home and think I have read at least 5 newspapers worth of football write ups on the match, I am dying to see it again. Unfortunatley the complicated world of setting a video to record escapes my brother....is there anyway of seeing the match again? :confused:

[Pat O' Banton]

Hi, well I think I am finally getting back to normality, voice still a few octaves lower but at least the sore calf muscles are gone!
Now I am home and think I have read at least 5 newspapers worth of football write ups on the match, I am dying to see it again. Unfortunatley the complicated world of setting a video to record escapes my brother....is there anyway of seeing the match again? :confused:

Try Eurpsport during the week, the entire game was on their yesterday and they regularly repeat.

France can and will play better in the group and they have the pace in the team to make 'home advantage' more of a liablity, however it should be noted that this is not a strenght that they play to often - holding the ball up in midfield too much and so not releasing Henry to early.

Kilbane was superb but don't forget that Vieira will be back for Lansdowne.

Clinton and Robbie had good games, but still to much as individuals rather then unit.
O' Shea; bit rough on him didn't think he was that bad. He was dealing with two players most of the time, with Gallas pushing forward loads and got covering help in fits and starts. However we need another goalscorer and a left back.

Lot of pluses from the match but still lot of work to do, certainly we would have lost this last campaign.

BTW the elbowing by Bartez? Surely as stick on penalty as you can get, did two officals at that end of the pitch really not see that?

*If any of the above is nonsense sorry but I was very, very drunk at the time.

[Plastic Paddy]

If any of the above is nonsense sorry but I was very, very drunk at the time.

I'm glad you made it back to your hotel, y'bastid. I schlepped all the way down to République on the understanding that you'd be standing up, drinking beer and willing to buy them all night. Lightweight.

;) PP

[Pat O' Banton]

I'm glad you made it back to your hotel, y'bastid. I schlepped all the way down to République on the understanding that you'd be standing up, drinking beer and willing to buy them all night. Lightweight.

;) PP

I'd feel guilty if I didn't still feel so rough ;)

[pineapple stu]

AFAIK L'equipe give ratings out of 8.

Bizarre - any reason why? Would make more sense though.


BTW the elbowing by Bartez? Surely as stick on penalty as you can get, did two officals at that end of the pitch really not see that?

I missed it and I was right behind the goal! :eek: