Republic of Ireland V Gibraltar - Saturday, 11th October 2014 - Euro 2016 Qualifier

[tricky_colour]

Gibralta seem to be play and attacking 6-3-1, maynbe we could try that v Germany?

[tricky_colour]

Hoolahan involved in all three goals. Would have been a nice gesture for Robbie to let Wes take the penalty seeing as he has 80 minutes to complete a hat-trick. C'est la vie. Minor gripe.

Hopefully Stokes, Murphy and Long come on to bag a few later.

Hoolahan & McGeady could lay off half a dozen more at this rate.

Cant see him giving up a hat trick chance, were it the 4th maybe.

But all goals go to his stats, takes him to joint 14th highest of all time,
need another 3 to be joint 12th, another 15 for top 10.

[BonnieShels]

Hoolahan involved in all three goals. Would have been a nice gesture for Robbie to let Wes take the penalty seeing as he has 80 minutes to complete a hat-trick. C'est la vie. Minor gripe.

Hopefully Stokes, Murphy and Long come on to bag a few later.

Hoolahan & McGeady could lay off half a dozen more at this rate.

Hoolahan will have a goal by game's end.

[DeLorean]

Hoolahan involved in all three goals. Would have been a nice gesture for Robbie to let Wes take the penalty seeing as he has 80 minutes to complete a hat-trick.

Instead of being professional you mean? I haven't heard of 'makers takers' since I was about ten.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

A hat-trick is a formality for him. 3 points are in the bag. I'm just saying it would have been a magnanimous gesture to allow Wes to take the penalty seeing as he had a significant part in all 3 goals. It's not like Wes hasn't taken a penalty before.

Like Tricky said, it's probably foolish to expect such a gesture, regardless of the circumstances, when someone is on course for a hat-trick. Maybe if it was for 4-0.

[Kingdom]

Marc Wilson is an incredibly frustrating player to watch. I'd nearly go as far to say he's lazy.

[DeLorean]

Remember the time the Man Utd players wanted Forlan to take a penalty but Roy Keane insisted on Van Nistelrooy? Well Roy is present again. It's more important for Robbie to keep knocking them in than Hoolahan anyway. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel with this kind of nonsense.

[Kingdom]

Centre midfield has been poor. Meyler has offered little going forward; O'Shea's use of the ball has been good.

McGeady and Ward have had fleeting good moments. McClean and Hoolahan have been very good.

[tricky_colour]

Well they seem to have figured us out, id predict 3-3 final score.

[NeverFeltBetter]

When Gibraltar got in to UEFA, I did wonder if they might have been able to rise to the level of 5th seeds maybe, just because of the connection to England and the chance to grab players from the Championship and such. But after the Faeroe friendly defeat, it was clear what kind of team they were likely to be. Very, very poor. Bad at stringing passes together, making plenty of mistakes, very nervy keeper, no kind of forward momentum.

Hard to judge Ireland too much. Keane's taken his goals well, McClean has been decent down the left. Ward and O'Shea have been munching any Gibratarian (?) they come across.

Edit: https://twitter.com/paulohehir/status/520978008359059456

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Remember the time the Man Utd players wanted Forlan to take a penalty but Roy Keane insisted on Van Nistelrooy? Well Roy is present again. It's more important for Robbie to keep knocking them in than Hoolahan anyway. You're really scraping the bottom of the barrel with this kind of nonsense.

Calm down. I said it was a minor gripe. It's a farce of a match. He's going to get a hat-trick anyway. It's just as important for other players on the pitch to get goals any way they come, seeing as there is a big issue being made about the spread of goals being at a premium. It's not like either will be playing against Germany (assuming logic) so I don't see why it's hugely important whether Robbie nets 2 goals.. 4 goals.. 6 goals.

Agree Hoolahan and McClean excellent. Hopefully one of them get the goal they deserve by FT.

[luiz]

They seem to be worse than Andorra and San Marino. Their first touch is possibly worse than mine, and are totally naive tactically. Ireland is whether playing terribly or not giving a **** anymore, otherwise would easily have been 10+

[NeverFeltBetter]

I suppose that's just because they haven't had proper competitive football before. Nice easy target though, getting to the same level as Andorra.

I heard commentary team bust out the "Lowest seeds should have another competition" idea, which is practically an old chestnut by now. I don't even know how you could make that work within UEFA qualifying, although maybe the Nations League idea will basically do for that.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Jeez, you'd think they could have held their shape for more than 40 seconds.

[DeLorean]

Unselfish by Robbie, it's all about doing the right thing at the right time.

[NeverFeltBetter]

This is comical stuff altogether.

[tricky_colour]

Ha ha the keeper is more effective than 3 of our strikers combined.:chuncky:

[NeverFeltBetter]

I would never dream of suggesting Ireland should let up, but this is getting very sad.

[tricky_colour]

McClean on a hatrick will be his best chance ever of getting one

[BonnieShels]

We need 7 at least. Then let up.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Come on bring Stokes & Murphy off the bench. They'll never have a better chance to open their Intl. accounts.

[BonnieShels]

There's Hoolahans goal TOWK.

[DeLorean]

Let up my arse, I've never seen us score more than five so I've no morals whatsoever... More, more, more.

The killer third quarter seems to be the Gibraltarian's Achilles' heel

[tricky_colour]

Nice goal pick of the bunch

[NeverFeltBetter]

Gibraltar keeper just cannot take a ball first time.

[tricky_colour]

Nice goal pick of the bunch


We could be on for double figurers, if Mcgeady sharpens up.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Great reactions by Forde in fairness, especially considering he had literally nothing else to prepare him for it over the course of the match.

[NeverFeltBetter]

David Forde saves with his face to spare Irish defence some blushes.

[tricky_colour]

Nice goal pick of the bunch


We could be on for double figurers, if Mcgeady sharpens up.

This....

[NeverFeltBetter]

35'123 in attendance say FAI. Way more than I thought.

[BonnieShels]

Decent crowd. Shows what decent ticket prices will do.

[DeLorean]

It's just like watching Brazil (v. Germany)

[NeverFeltBetter]

Change of keeper has been great for Gibraltar!

[Supreme feet]

We've offered nothing in the final third since Hoolahan and Keane went off. If Doyle and Murphy can't make an impression here then I despair for them.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Ireland subs and introduction of keeper who doesn't look petrified every time the ball comes near him have changed dynamic of game somewhat. Wouldn't be surprised to see no more goals.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

We've offered nothing in the final third since Hoolahan and Keane went off. If Doyle and Murphy can't make an impression here then I despair for them.

In fairness, other players performances have deteriorated at the same time and Gibraltar have been presented with 4 or 5 chances of their own now so you can't lay it all on their feet.

Long probably should have came on.

[BonnieShels]

Am I the only one disappoined with how this has ended?

[NeverFeltBetter]

Don't think you could say we've really learned anything too useful out of that. No one played badly. Keane, Hoolahan, McClean and Ward the best I thought. Gibraltar looked a fair bit better in last twenty minutes, but still going nowhere fast on the basis of the whole game, woefully unprepared for this level. On to Germany.

[BonnieShels]

Keane now the highest scorer in Euro qualifying history.

[Supreme feet]

The lads really stopped playing after the seventh goal. Pity - we should have beaten the record tonight.

A few little gripes - Wilson was alarmingly bad whenever Gibraltar attacked, and O'Shea lost a few 50-50s too. And it's clear that Hoolahan is absolutely essential; we offer very little in the final third without him. Compared to Keane's movement and sharpness in the first twenty minutes, Doyle and Murphy looked very limited both on and off the ball. Yes, they didn't have great service with Hoolahan off, but against the worst team in Europe, and a tired defence at that, they should have caused more problems.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Robbie Keane plays himself into the Germany game with a hat-trick against policemen, firemen and male strippers when, perhaps, his performance in the Georgia game would have been a greater indicator of who should get the nod against Germany.

Really need Long's mobility against Germany. We aren't going to get a bottomless well of chances set up on a silver platter in Gelsenkirchen so it's important we have his pace, energy, hold up play and ability to drop into midfield and add numbers while retaining the spring to properly utilise the counter attack. Hoolahan too has proven he is essential, can get physical and has linked up well with Long in the past.

[pineapple stu]

As others have said, Keane, Hoolahan and their keeper going off changed the game.

Three points; no real negatives. Pretty much as expected. Nice to have matched Poland's score against them.

On to the next game so.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

35'123 in attendance say FAI. Way more than I thought.

18,500 according to Sky Sports Live Centre.

[Supreme feet]

Robbie Keane plays himself into the Germany game with a hat-trick against policemen, firemen and male strippers when, perhaps, his performance in the Georgia game would have been a greater indicator of who should get the nod against Germany.

Really need Long's mobility against Germany. We aren't going to get a bottomless well of chances set up on a silver platter in Gelsenkirchen so it's important we have his pace, energy, hold up play and ability to drop into midfield and add numbers while retaining the spring to properly utilise the counter attack. Hoolahan too has proven he is essential, can get physical and has linked up well with Long in the past.

I would agree that Keane's effectiveness is limited to games where we dominate possession (which are few and far between), and I have a slight suspicion that O'Neill was resting Long so he can properly run himself into the ground on Tuesday. However, Long was absolutely septic when he came on against Georgia. The most worrying thing was that he didn't even look bothered. That's a big problem, as his game is all about enthusiasm and effort. I'm very disheartened by our striker stocks at the moment.

I'd love an in-form, confident and motivated Long starting for us ahead of Keane. But I'm not sure that's the case at the moment.

[pineapple stu]

Why was our goal early in the second half ruled out btw? Couldn't really hear in the pub; I think they were suggesting it might have been a dodgy offside call? Or was it a goal direct from an indirect free kick?

[pineapple stu]

Also worth noting that Slovakia drew 0-0 with this lot in September, and on Thursday beat Spain.

Tis a funny aul game.

[bennocelt]

The lads really stopped playing after the seventh goal. Pity - we should have beaten the record tonight.
.

Is the record 8?

[DeLorean]

I think it was given for offside. George and Ronnie were very confused but I think whoever missed the header was offside, and it would have been a stretch to say he wasn't interfering with play. I could be way off though as I haven't seen it since.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Also worth noting that Slovakia drew 0-0 with this lot in September, and on Thursday beat Spain.

Tis a funny aul game.

Yeah, but as said before, the first was a meaningless friendly.
When they are awful, they really are poor. UCD would beat them and Ardee Celtic would at least give them a game...

[tetsujin1979]

Keane now the highest scorer in Euro qualifying history.
for Ireland, or across Europe?