Republic of Ireland V Serbia - Wednesday, 5th March 2014 - Friendly

[legendz]

Good number of ex-LoI players starting as usual. Why oh why is this not highlighted more in positive terms for the league?
Another bad miss there by Long, he should be more clinical by now and has got to be.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

FFS take Long off and give Stokes some game time up front. We are going to get several more chances and Long isn't going to take any of them.

[shakermaker1982]

Long is still a very good player.

If he had the composure & finishing nous of say a prime Robbie Keane he'd be playing for one of the bigger clubs. He has everything else in his locker.

[shakermaker1982]

Poor by Coleman.

[paul_oshea]

Look at the space out left there?woeful. Glad to see meyler.

[legendz]

All over the shop at the back.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Useless positioning by Keogh. Head in the clouds after he got a few claps for a block.

[tricky_colour]

Yes Coleman should have cleared that first time, too much faffing around.

[backstothewall]

Awful poor defending.how lucky was trap with duff keane dunne and given in their prime?what we would do for 4 of them now at their peak!

I'm very worried how poor we actually are the players I mean.

I think there is much to be positive about to be honest.

Ward and Keogh aren't good enough, but when Dunne & JOSH come back in they won't be near the 1st 11. It'll be Coleman Dunne O'Shea & Wilson at the back. Nice balance to that. Coleman will offer a threat going forward while the other 3 will usually stay back to mind the shop.

With the width Coleman offers I would like to see Robbie Brady on the right cutting in on his left foot. That setup is possibly what O'Neill is looking at, with McClean playing the wide right role in. I would like to see McGeady in the #10 role for half an hour. For me he is a better player than Hoolahan.

As i type that Pilkington has come on for Hoolahan so I might get my wish.

[tricky_colour]

Bring back Trap!!

[SwanVsDalton]

True comedy defending there. Had Forde falling over and everything.

[DannyInvincible]

Careless, sloppy and disorganised. We were all over the place there.

[geysir]

Awful defending by Coleman for that goal.

[Paddy Garcia]

Ward is way out of his depth.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I think there is much to be positive about to be honest.

Ward and Keogh aren't good enough, but when Dunne & JOSH come back in they won't be near the 1st 11. It'll be Coleman Dunne O'Shea & Wilson at the back. Nice balance to that. Coleman will offer a threat going forward while the other 3 will usually stay back to mind the shop.

With the width Coleman offers I would like to see Robbie Brady on the right cutting in on his left foot. That setup is possibly what O'Neill is looking at, with McClean playing the wide right role in. I would like to see McGeady in the #10 role for half an hour. For me he is a better player than Hoolahan.

As i type that Pilkington has come on for Hoolahan so I might get my wish.

Think I have been proven right in saying that Delaney, Clark and Pearce would all offer more than Keogh; Duffy too if he continues his rate of progress. Thank God we still have Dunne and O'Shea playing at a high level too.

[Paddy Garcia]

Bring back Trap!!


Mmm silk purses & cows ears .......

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

O'Neill is probably scared that Long will throw a strop if he's taken off.

[backstothewall]

Think I have been proven right in saying that Delaney, Clark and Pearce would all offer more than Keogh; Duffy too if he continues his rate of progress. Thank God we still have Dunne and O'Shea playing at a high level too.

With that number of options one of them is bound to emerge as an heir apparent in time.

[paul_oshea]

Sows ears...

Coleman has been awful including first half who said he was class?

[Stuttgart88]

Coleman is class.
Coleman at fault for both goals!

[legendz]

Bring back Trap!!Bring back Mick McCarthy!

[Stuttgart88]

Very few of our lot look up to international standard at all.

Murphy and Walters on. Hoofball beckons.

[tricky_colour]

The Cavalry have arrived!

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

The era of the tall, muscular, powerful midfielder with driving runs. And we have that powderpuff Glenn Whelan getting muscled off the ball and barely able to break a stride.

FFS why the reticence to play Stokes? We keep talking about Keane this, Keane that and we could have a ready made replacement for him. Well, we will never know unless we give him a chance. He was very good against Germany and he wasn't even in position.

What in the blue hell is to be learned by bringing Walters on? If we were defending a lead, by all means bring him on and tell him to run around like a dog chasing its tail.

[zero]

i thought mcgeady was pretty awful tonight. very concerning display all round since about the 35 minute mark.

[Bottle of Tonic]

Grim. Well outplayed tonight at home. Sure, Serbia are better than us but we are well short of the standard required to be a decent international side.

[Paddy Garcia]

If the new era is characterised by the re-introduction of Murphy then we are in trouble...

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Coleman at fault for both goals!

Like he was the only one in that defence that came off badly..

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

If the new era is characterised by the re-introduction of Murphy then we are in trouble...

Well, some of the main contenders to come into the team started and lost 1-2 at home to Montenegro's U-21's, so.......

We've handled Walters, Cox and Sammon. Murphy is no worse.

[paul_oshea]

Simple example there of something we can never do.

Goalkeeper kicks it out to the middle striker comes in, controls it and picks out another midfielder to pass it to and set up an attack.

We could never find the space in midfield to get the ball never mind control and find someone else from a kicjout!

[tricky_colour]

Coleman needs to take some lessons in hoofing from Ward.

[the doc]

Think I have been proven right in saying that Delaney, Clark and Pearce would all offer more than Keogh; Duffy too if he continues his rate of progress. Thank God we still have Dunne and O'Shea playing at a high level too.

Give the lads and the management a break its early days, best to try things out in friendlies.

For me it's St Ledger with with Dunne or OShea alongside him as our best CB pairing.

[Paddy Garcia]

Whelan subbed - at least he knows which way sideways is....

[Paddy Garcia]

Well, some of the main contenders to come into the team started and lost 1-2 at home to Montenegro's U-21's, so.......

We've handled Walters, Cox and Sammon. Murphy is no worse.

Not so sure about that - I think he may be quite a bit worse..

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Give the lads and the management a break its early days, best to try things out in friendlies.

For me it's St Ledger with with Dunne or OShea alongside him as our best CB pairing.

St Ledger is pushing 30, has spent the vast majority of the last 3 seasons on the shelf, has failed to retain his place in the team at his last several clubs and has looked dodgy overall at club level.

He has served Ireland well but we have 5 or 6 players well ahead of him by now for various reasons.

[SwanVsDalton]

Don't think Murphy has offered himself for the ball once. Pilkington decided to have a shot and then put his feet up. I know second half of friendlies are enervating for players, but whatever happened to guys grabbing their chance?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

That's Walters. Slower than a dinosaur. Great play by Murphy to put him through.

[SwanVsDalton]

That's Walters. Slower than a dinosaur. Great play by Murphy to put him through.

Was a technically proficient leap right enough. ;)

[the doc]

St Ledger is pushing 30, has spent the vast majority of the last 3 seasons on the shelf, has failed to retain his place in the team at his last several clubs and has looked dodgy overall at club level.

He has served Ireland well but we have 5 or 6 players well ahead of him by now for various reasons.

Several clubs? Played every game at MBoro, same at Millwall, started as first choice at Leic this season until his injury.

5 or 6 players ahead of him? Name them?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

O'Neill's face has "What have I gotten myself into?" written all over it.

[shakermaker1982]

Serbia are a decent side to be fair.

This second half has been dreadful though. Intensity no longer there & a few of the players have done some damage to their chances of cementing a starting place for the qualifiers.

Passing back to Forde happening too often for my liking.

[Paddy Garcia]

Are we playing to keep the 1-2 !

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Several clubs? Played every game at MBoro, same at Millwall, started as first choice at Leic this season until his injury.

5 or 6 players ahead of him? Name them?

Dunne, O'Shea, Delaney, Clark, Wilson, Pearce, McShane, Keogh, Duffy...

Out of favour with Strachan at Middlesbrough, didn't earn permanent move to Millwall and has been out of the team at Leicester (and look how they are doing without him).

I like the guy and wouldn't be against him being in squads but he is no huge loss and his fitness issues make it a moot point.

[Stuttgart88]

Serbia showed why I love watching Eastern Europeans play football.

We were awful in that second half. Maybe Wilson looked OK.

Long will look back in horror set those misses, as should Meyler.

Plenty for O'Neill to chew on.

[tricky_colour]

That's Walters. Slower than a dinosaur. Great play by Murphy to put him through.

I don't think that is fair, some of those big dinosaurs had a fair burst of pace when it suited them.

[Yard of Pace]

Disappointing but Serbia are a good side and all their players play for top clubs. We started with lads from Derby, Wigan and Millwall.

Most disappointing thing for me is that Coleman, McCarthy and Long are all starring at club level yet had such poor games (even accounting for Long's goal). Hopefully that won't happen in a qualifier.

Plenty for MON and Roy to ponder on. Which is a good thing, I think.

[geysir]

Serbia decided to play in the 2nd half, how fortunate we were to miss them in the Euro qualifiers and end up with hapless Poland.
"O'Neill clueless", "makes Noel King look like genius", in the worst display from Ireland in ages.
I expect RTE panel to wipe the floor with O'Neill tonight, in a ruthless dissection from the "comedy show".
The shortest honeymoon in Irish football history reveals a manager who just hasn't a clue.

[SwanVsDalton]

Well, there's work to do. But no major surprise there.

As a rule, I don't put much truck in friendlies. Generally our non-competitive matches are so poor - and we're so bog awful - that it's difficult to make much from it. That was bad but whether it was worse than some of the dross over the last decade. Hard to say.

Our momentum grinding second half fall down, though, was a times hard to deal with. Not even a semblance of cohesion in attack or defence shows we're not a team and no one came off the bench to lift the crowd or team. All this tells us is we're a serious work-in-progress and we lack depth. Again, no surprises. But Keane, Dunne and O'Shea were the big winners tonight. Possibly Darron Gibson too.

O'Neill's bedding in is now over. He should have a decent idea of what he's gotten himself into and what he needs to do between now and September. There's some decent games to get things right. The aim should be to bring back our cohesion and composure while adding an extra bit of attacking threat we'll need to qualify. Over to you MON and Keane.

[tricky_colour]

A lot to learn there, we could not string two passes together most of the time.
Why take Wes off, he was the only one who completed a pass.

[the doc]

Dunne, O'Shea, Delaney, Clark, Wilson, Pearce, McShane, Keogh, Duffy...

Out of favour with Strachan at Middlesbrough, didn't earn permanent move to Millwall and has been out of the team at Leicester (and look how they are doing without him).

I like the guy and wouldn't be against him being in squads but he is no huge loss and his fitness issues make it a moot point.

Oh dear, you live up to your name, TheOneThatKnocksOneOut!

Your so wrong on every point here.

Dunne and OShea are the only ones near.
Still very good friends with GS and Leic wouldn't let him go back to Millwall or go to Ipswich, Derby, to name but a few.

As many on here will tell you,

"When the Doc talks you'd best listen!"

I know my Foot ie.