Republic of Ireland V Poland - Sunday, 29th March 2015 - Euro 2016 Qualifier

[Charlie Darwin]

Apparently McCarthy gave Mila a little dig. At the game, Mila went down like he'd been shot. I didn't see anything happen. The BBC text commentary says McCarthy slapped him though and should've went.

I care not a jot, the Poles were an absolute cynical shower the whole night. Pulling, tugging, pushing, tripping and generally souring my relationship with that great country.

EDIT - Vine of it here (http://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/vine-sebastian-mila-gets-touched-on-the-face-by-james-mccarthy-goes-down-like-hes-been-shot/19378), aye he could've been sent off (seen them given etc) but look at the absoute state of Mila going down like that...
Ref got that one right. It would have been embarrassing to see a player go off for that. A yellow card each and stop being children.

[DannyInvincible]

5 yellows last night. Anyone missing Scotland game?

Didn't hear of any suspensions after the players were booked, neither from the commentaryteam nor post-match from the panel.


A Polish mate texted that McShane could have been sent off with ten minutes to go for slapping an opponent?

McCarthy raised his hand and slapped (nothing too forceful) a Polish player on the cheek with an open palm. The Polish player went down like an elephant had taken a swipe at him with its arse. I don't think the ref properly caught it though as convention seems to be to send players off for conduct like that.

[DannyInvincible]

Ref got that one right. It would have been embarrassing to see a player go off for that. A yellow card each and stop being children.

Aye, was more unsporting than serious or violent. Yellow card was sufficient.

[DannyInvincible]

James has made this his profile photo on Facebook:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11049527_1664010130493702_3156880461944542129_n.jp g?oh=4b3e25a4a95a506f50f54bab75cf58b8&oe=55BBE51B&__gda__=1437079409_e7cd72bf5f4fdc8b746b13c43dba633 a

Great photo. :D

[Charlie Darwin]

Haha, I see his newfound maturity lasted about two days.

[OwlsFan]

Given - Had one save to make, should've saved it. He would've been in my team, but my view is other keepers (including two sitting on our bench) would have made it. Only fair to point that out since the debate rages on over our keepers. I have no doubt he's our number one for the campaign now though. His distribution was a very mixed bag as well, he was surprisingly slow to get the ball forward at times. It's undoubtedly an upgrade from Forde though.

Do you not see the contradiction in all that? Should have saved the goal, his distribution was poor and slow to get the ball forward. How is that an upgrade from Forde who has had an excellent campaign so far? And not wearing my blue and white glasses, Westwood has had a spectacular season so I see no justifiable basis for Given playing ahead of either. A split second faster reaction with his foot would have saved that goal.

I am not sure if you're saying that Robbie is useless for 90 minutes if he doesn't score?? He chased down their keeper and made him punt the ball in to touch on numerous occasions. Almost scored once and set up Coleman for a good opportunity. Not his most effective game by far but I have seen Long have ineffective games as well. Luckily the defender deflected the ball over the keeper because I am not convinced he would have scored either. Hero of the moment of course but swallows and summer come to mind.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

@ OwlsFan

Pull the other one. Keane did not set Coleman up for a good opportunity. He was too slow to react to another goalscoring opportunity. Stop acting like it was an expertly executed dummy. He chased the goalkeeper down and made him punt the ball into touch once. He didn't even touch the ball in the entire first half. We were practically playing with ten men FFS.

You're honestly having a go at the person who scored our goal for "getting in the way" of Keane's header and picking holes in his goal? Christ...

[SwanVsDalton]

Do you not see the contradiction in all that? Should have saved the goal, his distribution was poor and slow to get the ball forward. How is that an upgrade from Forde who has had an excellent campaign so far? And not wearing my blue and white glasses, Westwood has had a spectacular season so I see no justifiable basis for Given playing ahead of either. A split second faster reaction with his foot would have saved that goal.

There's no contradiction - I said his distritubtion was in an upgrade. It was, even if it wasn't great. Forde's is really poor. I was only talking about distrubution.

I'm probably Forde's biggest fanboy on here. To me he's done not much wrong and quite a lot right for Ireland. But I'd have picked Given for experience and leadership - for an extra edge for what he represents and he who is more than his actual current ability. I'm guessing that's why O'Neill went with him too.

I don't think he'll drop him now he's in.


I am not sure if you're saying that Robbie is useless for 90 minutes if he doesn't score?? He chased down their keeper and made him punt the ball in to touch on numerous occasions. Almost scored once and set up Coleman for a good opportunity. Not his most effective game by far but I have seen Long have ineffective games as well. Luckily the defender deflected the ball over the keeper because I am not convinced he would have scored either. Hero of the moment of course but swallows and summer come to mind.

I'm not saying that, not even close. I'm just saying he had a quiet game (which he definitely did) but he still nearly scored from the only opportunity he had. That's Robbie. For me, he's still our best goalscorer and I'd have in the team for must-win games.

I also pointed out Long was fairly ineffectual in everything else he did, bar the goal. But credit where it's due - all I want is him to score, whether it's a 30-yard screamer or a three-yard-off-a-defender's-arse-scramble-over-the-line. And last night he did it.

[SwanVsDalton]

Haha, I see his newfound maturity lasted about two days.

I hope you're not serious. 'Player takes pride in positive moment in sporting career' - stop those presses.


@ OwlsFan

Pull the other one. Keane did not set Coleman up for a good opportunity. He was too slow to react to another goalscoring opportunity. Stop acting like it was an expertly executed dummy. He chased the goalkeeper down and made him punt the ball into touch once. He didn't even touch the ball in the entire first half. We were practically playing with ten men FFS.

You're honestly having a go at the person who scored our goal for "getting in the way" of Keane's header and picking holes in his goal? Christ...

Translation - everything Keane did was literally the worst. Pull the other one aye?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Given - 5 Distribution poor.
Coleman - 7 On and off. Was at the heart of what we did wrong in the first half and what we did well in the second half.
O'Shea - 6 Right attitude in the second half. Tried to bring the ball out and be positive. Controlled the threat of Lewandowski.
Wilson - 6 Asinine to blame him for the goal.
Brady - 5 Badly exposed and average set pieces but second half showed why he should be played in his proper position.
McGeady - 4 Offered nothing.
Whelan - 6 OK. Offers absolutely nothing when we are on the front foot. Wasn't troubled defensively.
McCarthy - 6 Not the same player he is for Ireland that he is for Everton. Should have been sent off. Anyone not wearing green tinted glasses can see that.
Hoolahan - 7 Poor first half hour. Excellent in the last hour. Deserves to start regularly. Even won the ball on a couple of occasions.
Walters - 6 One or two bright moments but he shouldn't be starting at the expense of McClean, Brady and Long and he signifies everything that is wrong with the way we are set up. Put us under the cosh (like 2nd half injury time against Austria) deep in our own half and we could have been punished for it.
Keane - 3 Offered absolutely nothing. Was second best to everything and was off the pace any time the ball went near him. Instead of offering leadership to his teammates, he just constantly moaned and badgered the referee.
McClean - 7 Excellent impact off the bench. Offered more attitude than all his teammates put together. I said before the game our starting line up lacked pace, penetration and aggressiveness and James brought all of these things when he was finally brought on.
Long - 7 Right attitude when he came on and was quick enough and intelligent enough to react again, like he did when he came on against Russia in Dublin. Has to start against Scotland.

It is two points lost rather than one point won. This Poland team was absolutely dreadful. Lewandowski was anonymous. But they were missing half of their starters so they will be much stronger at home. The problem yesterday wasn't that our "kids" need to be coached better close quarter controls. The problem was that we were set up the wrong way again, the wrong players started again and we had no leadership or personality anywhere on the pitch. Coleman, McCarthy and Keane's temperament let them down time and time again.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Long on the pitch for 10 minutes when we are losing a crucial game and everything he did was wrong bar the goal.

Keane touches the ball about 6 times in the entire match just like he did against Georgia and Germany and yet we still have to indulge this fantasy that he is our best bet of scoring a goal and bailing us out.:rolleyes:

[nigel-harps1954]

Robbie Keane was absolutely anonymous for the entire game. I would have shot a Sunday League goalkeeper had they let in that header that Fabianski almost made a meal of.

There were too many passengers out there. Simple as that.

I also thought Shay Given should have saved the shot for the Poland goal, didn't make himself big, and gave too much of an angle for the shot. Westwood has been the form Irish keeper this year and it's a mystery how he'd not been given his chance for the game if we were to make any goalkeeping change.

I scratch my head at O'Neills tactics from time to time.

[SwanVsDalton]

Long on the pitch for 10 minutes when we are losing a crucial game and everything he did was wrong bar the goal.

Keane touches the ball about 6 times in the entire match just like he did against Georgia and Germany and yet we still have to indulge this fantasy that he is our best bet of scoring a goal and bailing us out.:rolleyes:

Hard to reply to a post so drenched in hysterical melodrama but I'll give it a go...

Long did well, scored when it mattered. He should start. Given that you spent about 30 posts last night calling for Walters to come off and slagging Keane, you of all people should appreciate a thorough examination of his performance which consisted of a) a miscontrolled pass near the touchline, b)a goal and c) a silly foul.

You consistently fail to acknowledge that the burden of proof isn't with a guy with 60 odd international goals and more footballing intelligence in his left foot than Shane Long has demonstrated in his whole career - it's with Shane Long. A guy who, despite your claims, has blown more chances to grab a starting spot than any other Irish player in recent history.

But he scored, and I'd like to see him start against Scotland.


Robbie Keane was absolutely anonymous for the entire game. I would have shot a Sunday League goalkeeper had they let in that header that Fabianski almost made a meal of.

There were too many passengers out there. Simple as that.

I also thought Shay Given should have saved the shot for the Poland goal, didn't make himself big, and gave too much of an angle for the shot. Westwood has been the form Irish keeper this year and it's a mystery how he'd not been given his chance for the game if we were to make any goalkeeping change.

I scratch my head at O'Neills tactics from time to time.

Granted I haven't seen the Keane chance again since I saw it at the game, at the time it looked a good header and a great save but I'll take your word on it.

Forde and Westwood should be right to be miffed, but they should've been miffed from the moment Given was brought back into the squad. As soon as that happened, he was getting into the team sooner rather than later and that was always going to be it.

We still don't play with any fluency or plan, tactics-wise. It's either spread the play wide for crosses or look for Walters, even though the team is clearly not designed to play off him. I still want more cohesion especially though midfield. Our goals come through intensity and pressure, but never from any kind of fluid attacking play.

We're winning the ball and keeping it far better than under Trap, so that's improvement. It's what we do with it now that has to get better, particularly if we're to have any hope of qualifying.

[Stuttgart88]

Do you not see the contradiction in all that? Should have saved the goal, his distribution was poor and slow to get the ball forward. How is that an upgrade from Forde who has had an excellent campaign so far? And not wearing my blue and white glasses, Westwood has had a spectacular season so I see no justifiable basis for Given playing ahead of either. A split second faster reaction with his foot would have saved that goal.

I am not sure if you're saying that Robbie is useless for 90 minutes if he doesn't score?? He chased down their keeper and made him punt the ball in to touch on numerous occasions. Almost scored once and set up Coleman for a good opportunity. Not his most effective game by far but I have seen Long have ineffective games as well. Luckily the defender deflected the ball over the keeper because I am not convinced he would have scored either. Hero of the moment of course but swallows and summer come to mind.
Was it a deflection? Shows you what I saw! I thought it was a composed jink over him from where I was sitting.

[DannyInvincible]

Was it a deflection? Shows you what I saw! I thought it was a composed jink over him from where I was sitting.

Went over the keeper off Glik.

Can see the deflection clearly at around the 40 second mark in the video here: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/0329/690706-video-long-equalises-for-ireland/

[the doc]

Reading through all these posts makes me realise, that I've forgotten more about football than Posters on here know about the game.

[Stuttgart88]

You still haven't answered my questions.

[DannyInvincible]

Reading through all these posts makes me realise, that I've forgotten more about football than Posters on here know about the game.

Sorry to hear that. What's it called? Total amnesia?

[DannyInvincible]

Some post-match videos...

Shane Long interview with FAI TV:


https://vimeo.com/123569440

[DannyInvincible]

Robbie Keane interview with FAI TV:


https://vimeo.com/123569642

[DannyInvincible]

Martin O'Neill at post-match press conference:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP2_MMxI8jQ

The RTÉ panel discussion: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2015/0329/690711-video/

[Fixer82]

Keane was on his own for most of the game. Not much he can do in that situation. He chased and hassled Polish players and keeper into rushing clearances resulting in throw-ins and regaining possession. And he almost scored. Thought he did well

[colonelwest]

Just sat down for a rewatch of the coverage on the RTE player after heading to the match as usual last night. Thought first half we were ropey to say the least, second half was the best half of football I've seen us play in donkeys years and we were well deserving of a draw at least. The Poles came over with a cynical gameplan and stuck to it. Unfortunately for us the ref seemed to think we were playing Warsaw and let them away with some quite frankly ridiculous carry on while at the same time coming down heavily on ourselves. Not that I'm saying he should have been a homer but he was more than favourable towards the away team which was incredibly frustrating, either be consistently good or consistently bad with both teams. Obviously the cake they gave him on Friday for his birthday meant he didn't want to show any hint of impropriety! :D

Cracking atmosphere in Landsdowne last night, ably aided by the local Poles. The supporter culture on the continent/ eastern europe etc is far more hardcore, for want of a better term, than we have here or over the UK the last 10/15 years which ties into the gentrification of the game/ the corporate culture the game has become in these parts at that level. Our support was on the whole very good but it seemed for a home game for us the ground was 50/50 and I'm being generous with that split!

Another late goal to keep us in the hunt, O'Neill has got the lads playing til the final whistle and starting to get out of the Trap mentality of playing within ourselves and trying to nick a goal here or there. If Trap was still in charge we could still be playing now and we'd have not found an equaliser, nor would we have gone for it in such a fashion in the second half to try and get back in the game. Ok, we may make mistakes or get caught out on occasion playing this way but at least we're giving it a go and trying to get a result instead of just sitting there and trying to nick a win/ trying to keep the score down etc. Three wins in our next three qualifiers are needed from Scotland and Georgia at home and then Gibraltar away before we end with Germany and Poland. If we're on 17 points heading to Poland, we're well capable of getting a result over there but we may well be reliant on Poland and Germany doing us a favour in Hampden in the autumn. Seeding wise we really are mired at the moment which is the culmination of the last few years and the luck of the proverbial draw in the group we're in, it was always going to be tight with the group we got.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Hard to reply to a post so drenched in hysterical melodrama but I'll give it a go...

Long did well, scored when it mattered. He should start. Given that you spent about 30 posts last night calling for Walters to come off and slagging Keane, you of all people should appreciate a thorough examination of his performance which consisted of a) a miscontrolled pass near the touchline, b)a goal and c) a silly foul.

You consistently fail to acknowledge that the burden of proof isn't with a guy with 60 odd international goals and more footballing intelligence in his left foot than Shane Long has demonstrated in his whole career - it's with Shane Long. A guy who, despite your claims, has blown more chances to grab a starting spot than any other Irish player in recent history.

But he scored, and I'd like to see him start against Scotland.

Speaking of hysterical melodrama, out of the 52 appearances Long has made for Ireland, 23 of them have been starts and he has scored 12 goals. He has made 7 competitive starts for his country and he has scored 2 goals. He's hardly the disaster you are implying he is.

Come off it for God's sake. You think I don't know that Robbie Keane wasn't a better player than Shane Long at his peak? Keane was better than Long over two campaigns ago. He is pushing 35 years old and he is playing in the MLS for LA Galaxy. Shane Long has been playing for mid-table Premier League sides over the last 4 seasons. He is playing at a better level, he can play in more systems and he is younger. Full stop.

An argument could be made for Robbie Keane keeping Long out of the team if he was playing well or scoring goals. He is doing neither. How many times has he touched the ball in the Georgia, Germany and Poland games combined? I'll go further. How many times did he touch the ball against Portugal before that. The games before that.

Long is 28 years old. Walters is 31 and Keane is 34. We don't have young strikers coming through. He needs to be given game time and I don't mean 1 competitive game before dropping him.

"Thorough examination of a 10 minute performance"?! "A silly foul"?!

I won't dignify either with a response but I will say that Jon Walters doing his utmost to give Poland back possession right outside our box in the immediate aftermath of Long's goal could have been considerably more costly than a Long foul deep in the opposition half when the alternatives were *gasp* a Poland goal kick or Poland throw.

Don't be fooled into thinking that I am having a go at Keane because of bias. If that was the case, I would not have given Walters a 6 in my ratings. I am having a go because he played crap again.

Walters & Keane shouldn't be playing if we want to win against Scotland.

[SkStu]

Keane played well. He was isolated for the first half but he was far more involved and dangerous when he had players in support in the second half. His harrying and chasing, as someone pointed out, led to a lot of possession in the oppositions half throughout the game. I agree that Long should be a starter and that Keane should be an impact sub at this stage of his career but really, you are doing the man and yourself a disservice with the way you analyse his performances and downplay his current value to the team. If you were balanced in your analysis I would listen more to what you have to say but I have never heard you have one good thing to say about him and during this particular game writing crap about getting him subbed off and Long on.

Like, we f*cking get it.

Its not his fault he is getting picked by successive managers and he is doing his best and, to be perfectly frank, he deserves a bit more from the likes of you given all that he has done for and in his country.

It was your brand of hyperbolic sh!t (and some others) that made me want to get out of here for a bit and not much has changed. Such entrenched positions add nothing to the quality of debate here. Stay silent on Keane and show us what else you have going on upstairs.

[SwanVsDalton]

Speaking of hysterical melodrama, out of the 52 appearances Long has made for Ireland, 23 of them have been starts and he has scored 12 goals. He has made 7 competitive starts for his country and he has scored 2 goals. He's hardly the disaster you are implying he is.

Where did I imply that? I said he did well, but that he was hardly error free and that some other players don't get away with erros so easily (you made this point for me a few lines later). If you're going to respond to my view, respond to my entire opinion in context.

And he did commit a silly foul. Would Walters or Keane get away with you harumphing 'I won't dignify that with an answer!' if they did the same? I think we all know the answer to that...

Instead of reacting so scandalised and shooting from the hip, why don't you accept that Shane Long has had opportunities? Maybe not as many as you (and some others) would like but he has had them nonetheless. And he hasn't been able to take the jersey off Robbie on merit so far. It's that simple.

This view not as wacko as your incensed reaction suggests. Take these reports from today:


O’Neill gambled again as Shane Long replaced Glenn Whelan. One early involvement saw him run down the right but miscontrol the ball. This sort of touch is the reason why Keane is still in the team.


A brief but desperately important contribution. If he finished every chance with that composure he’d start every time.

And before you pull a quote out and go off on one again - Long did well. He scored an important goal. I want him to start the next game.

[Olé Olé]

Walters & Keane shouldn't be playing if we want to win against Scotland.

Goals win games. Walters is the top Irish goal-scorer this season in the PL. Keane is the top Irish goal-scorer ever in the PL. Even if you think the latter record's relevance has faded with time, the same can't be said of the former.

If I were to pick my side for the Scotland game, on the basis of last night, I'd implement the following: Clark for Brady (with Wilson moving to left back), McClean for McGeady, Long for Keane. That said, McGeady is unlikely to make as much of an impact off the bench as McClean will. Is the same true for Keane? McGeady and Keane have superior levels of footballing intelligence and ability but McClean and Long's physical attributes and persistence make them very valuable to us also, maybe more so from the bench.

[the doc]

You still haven't answered my questions.

What questions? Stutta

[CraftyToePoke]

Speaking of hysterical melodrama, out of the 52 appearances Long has made for Ireland, 23 of them have been starts and he has scored 12 goals. He has made 7 competitive starts for his country and he has scored 2 goals. He's hardly the disaster you are implying he is.

He didn't imply any such thing, he advocated the guy should start. Why do you point both barrels at your feet and continue to reload and pull the trigger like this ?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Hmm, If MO'N & co. lose to Alba, it's a Goodbye for me...

[ArdeeBhoy]

Keane played well. He was isolated for the first half but he was far more involved and dangerous when he had players in support in the second half. His harrying and chasing, as someone pointed out, led to a lot of possession in the oppositions half throughout the game. I agree that Long should be a starter and that Keane should be an impact sub at this stage of his career but really, you are doing the man and yourself a disservice with the way you analyse his performances and downplay his current value to the team. If you were balanced in your analysis I would listen more to what you have to say but I have never heard you have one good thing to say about him and during this particular game writing crap about getting him subbed off and Long on.

Like, we f*cking get it.

Its not his fault he is getting picked by successive managers and he is doing his best and, to be perfectly frank, he deserves a bit more from the likes of you given all that he has done for and in his country.

It was your brand of hyperbolic sh!t (and some others) that made me want to get out of here for a bit and not much has changed. Such entrenched positions add nothing to the quality of debate here. Stay silent on Keane and show us what else you have going on upstairs.
Sorry Stu, less about agreeing with TWOK but disagree with most of this post.

Robbie is seriously past it v.the 'top' sides.
Retirement beckons.

[SkStu]

Sorry Stu, less about agreeing with TWOK but disagree with most of this post.

Robbie is seriously past it v.the 'top' sides.
Retirement beckons.

I did say clearly that
Keane should be an impact sub at this stage of his career as I agree that he is past it against the top sides.

[Stuttgart88]

Doc, how many home games did Trap win? How many times did we come from behind? How many leads did we squander?


What questions? Stuttathe ones above.

[Stuttgart88]

I watched the game again on telly. Given how picky the ref was I'm amazed he didn't penalise Walters for a foul on Fabianski that led to the corner. Even if it was a fair challenge (I'm biased so can see how it mightn't be a foul) it'd be penalised 95 times out of a hundred in almost any country. I'd be livid if that call went against our keeper.

[DeLorean]

Was thinking the exact same thing. McCarthy's was a clear red card also so we can't complain too much about the referee. One other thing which I don't think has got the attention it deserved was Long's first touch for the goal, top class and deserved the bit of luck with the finish for that alone. I must watch the game back tomorrow.

[Charlie Darwin]

I think Robbie and the other mouths did a good job of bringing to the ref's attention how much the Poles were play-acting, particularly when the sub made a fool of himself with McCarthy and wound up getting booked himself. I suspect by the end the ref might have been looking at that and thinking Flapianski was just looking to get a free.

I'm going to watch the first half back myself after Soccer Republic is over.

[DeLorean]

It's amazing the conspiracy theorists haven't accused McCarthy of deliberately trying to get sent off to miss the Scots game! It was so out of character that it's almost worth a second thought. :eek:

[Stuttgart88]

How the ref penalised McGeady for an excellent tackle is beyond me. He started well but made some odd calls later.

I was apoplectic with one Pole for play acting until I saw on telly he twisted his knee! The playa ting is not a modern thing though, as Souness would seem to believe. The 1991 edition of the Poland team was just as bad, their keeper in particular.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Blog on the game here for anyone interested.

http://afalsefirstxi.blogspot.ie/2015/03/pole-chancers.html

[elroy]

Im getting sick of the negativity no matter what from Irish fans, media, forums etc. Never ever bloody happy. We are a small nation with limited resources. Maybe we have been spoiled over the last 25 years with some really excellent even world class players.

Im not saying we get dont critique the team. But the criticism sometimes is crazy. The Scottish performance was the real disaster of the campaign not last night. Having said that it is possible with an organised clever team to go far in international football. I look at the likes of NI and wonder why we cannot do what they do at home (i.e. beat decent teams). Its actually embarrassing how poor our record is against mid to top level teams at home. But I think the negativity of the fans and the media is finding its way onto the pitch. There was an air of nervousness from the team in the first half last night, I think the crowd doesnt help that.

In summary, we have 8 points from 5 games. 3 of our toughest away games played. I dont think its a bad start at all. Another point or two and we'd be ecstatic. Its all in our hands, plenty to play for. Yes we all want more, we all want performances but the half term report does not deserve some of the over the top reactions on here.

[paul_oshea]

Now that trap ended the love affair and the heartbreak is over SvD speaks a lot of sense in the clear light of day rather than the blurred skies of love.

Those having a go at Mons tactics and lineup and yet who watched frustratingly over and over again traps one dimensional mickey mouse philosophy have me baffled.
Mon had a plan A and a plan B and even a plan C. He cannot be to blame for bradys mistake or the Irish players fear to get on the ball.
what he can be blamed for its our lack of coherence /cohesion or inability to do anything with our setpieces and the utter disregard for anything
that looked like urgency. We wasted nearly as much time as the polish did jig acting as we did from our own frees.
Still if a player is afraid to take ownership of the ball then Mon can't be blamed for that either.its all comfort zone stuff.
I still hope he can address it - it doesn't help that we have had so many different starting 11s and 7 from the previous competitive game.
By the time we have Scotland at home we will have played 3 home games so no excuses, there should be some consistency in team selection and player
familiarity by then.

Mccarthy annoys me time and again we needed someone to take the ball off the full backs something he does regularly and well at
Everton yet he never came to support the full backs and offer himself, available for a pass, or a nice turn and go.

Don't forget McLean came on when they were wrecked. His direct running works wonders after 70 mins and against mediocre opposition
but against a decent full back his pace is matched and that's all he's got let's face it.

Long did his usual give away a petulant free when he had no need to do it, he could have dispossessed the Centre back but needlessly pushed him
in the back instead. He took the ball down well for the goal, but he was lucky with the deflection, it looked like slow motion because it took an
age to get in because of said deflection. Everyone over scrutinises keanes input and game, yet Longs is not scrutinised nearly enough by those keane haters, people
only want to see the good he does in the same way they only want to see the bad in keane, he has nothing to prove, why is the world always trying to
bring in the next new thing and write people off before time? Having said that Keane didn't have a great game and I thought his positioning and
reactions were poor, mentally slow. I'd still probably go with him and long or walters for scotland. Long is a great impact sub, plenty of running
and of running and changing things up when a defender is mentally tired and assured that he has the beating of the attacking team after stifling them
for 70+ mins. Same goes for McClean.

I am quite worried about the players reaction and what they have been coming out and saying in the papers, I always get the impression
they dont grasp the importance of each fixture and where we stand relatively, the possible permutations etc. They should be disappointed that
they didn't take the poles yesterday as it would be far more difficult in warsaw if its a must win game, which it will more than likely be.

I was happy with the performance yesterday, I thought we would draw but the performance would be good, it was, except only for about 1/3 of the game.
We needed to bring it to them and tire them early, but we were poor and although wessi sprayed the ball around we were fairly one dimensional in attack.
We should have exploited their right back more often and earlier on, but robbie didnt offer much, and there was no overlap. Which brings me onto wessi
he usually gets involved in lovely 1-2s with the wide players or full backs but he didnt do it yesterday, he also got muscled off the ball too often, and
against superior opposition it would have ended a lot worse, away from home I would be a lot more worried about that.

"But when you look back on that era, there was a sense that Trap got away with it. How many 'big' teams did we actually beat in a competitive match? None."
-Stephen Reid.

ALways felt this with Trap and always said it too, interestingly it's what everyone has been saying ever since Trap left!.

Great to see CD consistent again, one thing ye have to give him, he is always wrong!

I think everything else has been pretty much covered already so I won't bother repeating it.

[paul_oshea]

OH ya and TOWK he pressurised fabiwanski 4 times and won 4 throws off it! Not once!

[Stuttgart88]

Good stuff above Paul, bar the needless dig at CD. If all it takes to get 6/10 is to pressurise a keeper into misplacing his kick outs I'd have 50 caps by now and could still be playing at 47.

[Charlie Darwin]

No Stutts, he's right. I did it get wrong, and Paul is always right (eventually). I will invoke Paul's caveat and say that Clark will start for Ireland... eventually. And then I'll have been right all along.

[paul_oshea]

It's amazing the conspiracy theorists haven't accused McCarthy of deliberately trying to get sent off to miss the Scots game! It was so out of character that it's almost worth a second thought. :eek:

Yes that and he wanted to prove his passion for the Irish Shirt after brady called him into disrepute and Oneill stuck up for him. It was a double edged sword. Great thinking, pity he didnt use his brain more often like that on the field.

[paul_oshea]

No Stutts, he's right. I did it get wrong, and Paul is always right (eventually). I will invoke Paul's caveat and say that Clark will start for Ireland... eventually. And then I'll have been right all along.

NO Cd, i was wrong about Seamie, but yesterday he had another sly dig and got away with it, granted outside the box. I really still cant fathom how he does, and many I know Evertonians and Irish fans agree.

There was also a walters elbow in the back i dont know how he got away with that and we still got a corner - not the goal one a previous one, far more subtle, but yet way more obvious.

[paul_oshea]

Good stuff above Paul, bar the needless dig at CD. If all it takes to get 6/10 is to pressurise a keeper into misplacing his kick outs I'd have 50 caps by now and could still be playing at 47.

Maybe but no one else was doing it, and its probably the most often we got the ball back, from an Irish player I mean...

[the doc]

the ones above.

We can wrap it up any way we want on this to back our opinions.

Bottom line Trap got us to one major tournament and was close to making another.

The guy was a living legend, ultra professional and rightly in my opinion stuck to what he believed was the best way to go with the players available.

In contrast MON has so far failed to make an impact and got lucky against Georgia, Germany and Poland, not forgetting to being out thought by Gordy in Glasgow.

You can't deny that.

This is the easiest it's been to qualify for the Euros due to the increased amount of teams for the final stages in France.

Yet we are in danger of not qualifying!

How can you defend that?

[CraftyToePoke]

In contrast MON has so far failed to make an impact and got lucky against Georgia

yada yada yada
How lucky was Trap away to Kazakhstan in '12 ? Keane 89 & Doyle 90 for an act of robbery of the three points. And we were well into his reign and his 'ways' by then, a lot more time than MON has had thus far.

[ArdeeBhoy]

I did say clearly that as I agree that he is past it against the top sides.
I did use the word 'most'.

:rolleyes: