Republic of Ireland V Scotland - Saturday, 13th June 2015 - Euro 2016 Qualifier

[Littlest Hobo]

Have to win this one. Nothing less will do.
Having watched the 1-1 with Poland again for the second time, I strongly believe MON should go with this setup against Scotland.

Forde or Given. Either will do a job. Selection will come down to form going into June.

Coleman O Shea Wilson Brady
Stick with the same back four.

Hoolahan Mc Carthy Quinn Mc Clean
Drop Whelan as he was non existent. Quinn will offer more attack and impetus in the middle. Hoolahan and Mc Clean were class and should start.

Walters Long
Would start Keane for Georgia/Gibraltar games as he struggled against the strong polish lads. Long was lively when he came on and Walters is a good target man.

Mc Geady, Gibson & Keane to come off bench.

[paul_oshea]

McClean was class because their right back was mediocre and was tired, he never has the same impact from the start.

Hoolahan i have a feeling would be really bullied against Scotland, they will have their homework done on him they know our players inside out.

[jbyrne]

McClean was class because their right back was mediocre and was tired, he never has the same impact from the start.

as fans we just love making excuses when we do something well don't we?

"we only played well in 2nd half as Poland let us have the ball"
"we only got an equaliser as the ref didn't give a foul on the polish keeper in the lead-up"
etc. etc. etc.

all a bit tiring really

[paul_oshea]

No Jbryne stop getting trapeyed again.

McClean has some great games and some ok games for ireland. The great games are usually when he comes on circa 70min time. No luck was mentioned from me above.

[zero]

No Jbryne stop getting trapeyed again.

McClean has some great games and some ok games for ireland. The great games are usually when he comes on circa 70min time. No luck was mentioned from me above.

it's a dilemma. i do tend to agree that mcclean had such an impact as he was facing a tired, relatively inexperienced full back. i would stick with mcgeady against the scots as he'll have something to prove and has the ability to create something from nothing.

mclean doesn't really have a trick in him as such. they are very different prospects.

i don't think i would go for quinn in the middle - he is 'busy' but lacks a bit of quality. i'd probably look at gibson.

[Stuttgart88]

McClean was class because their right back was mediocre and was tired, he never has the same impact from the start.

Hoolahan i have a feeling would be really bullied against Scotland, they will have their homework done on him they know our players inside out.
I dunno, in Glasgow we had nobody to occupy their midfielders. Our two against their three made Mulgrew look like Maradona. Hoolahan will give them something to think about and he plays against Scotland's standard of player week in week out. Don't be afraid of what Scotland's players think about ours. football can be over complicated sometimes. We need to put out a team to beat Scotland while being mindful of their own strengths.

I disagree with littlest Hobo above sbout Whelan. I thought he did fine on Sunday. One thing that bugged me on Sunday was how early our CBs played the ball even when they had space in front of them. A CB should be able to carry the ball ten yards before passing. Our inability to do this meant Whelan and McCarthy always received the ball deep in our half rather than just inside Poland's. That's a huge difference and made life much easier for Poland.

One quality I admire in Keogh is his willingness to carry the ball out. I'd like to see more of that in our better players. Only Hoolahan (all game) and McCarthy (late stages only) looked to actually carry the ball any distance, bar the wide players and full backs who you expect to do this. Driving the ball through midfield is how to break down two banks of four. Passing it wide always means the two banks of four have won.

[Stuttgart88]

as fans we just love making excuses when we do something well don't we?

"we only played well in 2nd half as Poland let us have the ball"
"we only got an equaliser as the ref didn't give a foul on the polish keeper in the lead-up"
etc. etc. etc.

all a bit tiring reallyoh come on, it's completely fair to comment that we got lucky with the Fabianski foul and it is not at all the same as saying we only got the result because of it. It was I who brought up that decision in this conversation, but I also said from the start that the draw was the very least our performance deserved.

[Stuttgart88]

Didn't mcClean start really wellin Stockholm and set the tone for a confident performance?

I'm not sure he's only an impact sub. I think it might be more that he is hit and miss, sometimes ineffective, sometimes inspirational.

[zero]

Didn't mcClean start really wellin Stockholm and set the tone for a confident performance?

I'm not sure he's only an impact sub. I think it might be more that he is hit and miss, sometimes ineffective, sometimes inspirational.

yeah - a dilemma as i say! in a way i'd rather bring him off the bench for mcgeady though rather than the other way around. i think he is capable of making more of an impact against a tiring full back than mcgeady but they are very different.

on the other hand, mcclean sticks to the touchline more than mcgeady thus offering a bit more protection to the left back - and if that's to be brady we will need it.

[paul_oshea]

Didn't mcClean start really wellin Stockholm and set the tone for a confident performance?

I'm not sure he's only an impact sub. I think it might be more that he is hit and miss, sometimes ineffective, sometimes inspirational.

Ya but he faded, lustig is no great shakes either an average right back who was marking him that night, although i think he switched to Safari park.

[tetsujin1979]

Disagree on Whelan as well, did a lot of cleaning up and covering when Coleman/Hoolahan/Brady were bombing on

[OwlsFan]

as fans we just love making excuses when we do something well don't we?

"we only played well in 2nd half as Poland let us have the ball"
"we only got an equaliser as the ref didn't give a foul on the polish keeper in the lead-up"
etc. etc. etc.

all a bit tiring really

I am guilty of that I have to admit but bearing in mind how fussy the ref had been throughout the game, if he had blown for a free no one would have been surprised.

Forde/Given coming down to form. Not sure about that. Given was selected on presence and leadership apparently. On form it would actually be Westwood but I am sounding like a broken record.

Back 4, on the basis that Brady will have learned from his mistakes, I agree.

I'd stick the to the 4 O'Neill selected. Whelan had a good game and doesn't deserve to be dropped. McGeady is McGeady - who knows what you'll get.

I'd still stick with Robbie and release the pace of Long and McLean as he did on Sunday but perhaps with 25 minutes to go rather than 10.

Staying with 4-4-2 which most thought was antiquated?

[nigel-harps1954]

Soccer Republic last night, Stuy Byrne suggested that Dane Massey of Dundalk be given a look at for the left back role. It's a very interesting point too, given that it is certainly a problem area for Ireland.

[Charlie Darwin]

Soccer Republic last night, Stuy Byrne suggested that Dane Massey of Dundalk be given a look at for the left back role. It's a very interesting point too, given that it is certainly a problem area for Ireland.
I can see why he'd pick Massey as he's arguably the best performing left full in the league, but the whole argument over LB is that the other options are weak at defending, and Massey's strong suit is not his defending. And I'd argue Brady and Ward, though they're not great defenders, have defended to a much higher level than anyone in the LOI.

[paul_oshea]

Owlsfan they were introduced with more, its just the time wasting from 70-80 mins and the fact we were so slow in taking our corners and set-pieces. I think it was about 4 and half mins of actual play in that period.

But I also suggested the 65 min mark as a good time to make the change - the mcclean one anyway, long for whelan was risky anytime sooner, but if he were to come on for robbie or someone then no problem.

[Stuttgart88]

Was it 442?

It was 4411 or 4231 to start with, though Walters interchanged between RHM and Central forward. So at times we had two upfront, other times Walters was wide right waiting for the long ball but going central when a wide player had the ball on the right.

When Whelan was subbed the shape was a bit of everything, 433, 424, whatever. I'd say there was relatively little of that game that was played as a rigid 442. It was about as tactically flexible as I have ever seen Ireland, though that's not saying much!

[SwanVsDalton]

Was it 442?

It was 4411 or 4231 to start with, though Walters interchanged between RHM and Central forward. So at times we had two upfront, other times Walters was wide right waiting for the long ball but going central when a wide player had the ball on the right.

When Whelan was subbed the shape was a bit of everything, 433, 424, whatever. I'd say there was relatively little of that game that was played as a rigid 442. It was about as tactically flexible as I have ever seen Ireland, though that's not saying much!

It was pretty fluid. When the ball was with Given (such as a goal kick), Walters drifted right for the kick and sometimes popped up there for long balls.

Actually thought that was part of our long-ball issue. They were always angled wide to Walters, who was quite far from Keane and Hoolahan on most occasions.

On that note - I suppose the idea is to have Walters up against a less aerially strong full-back, but if we're going to barrel it up there I'd rather have it going into the aul proverbial mixer.

[SwanVsDalton]

Whelan has to play - he played really well on Sunday.

There's increasingly a debate about McCarthy but I think he gets another shot if he's fit.

Given will be our keeper from now until the Euros, unless he gets injured. It was a cert from the moment he joined the squad.

I'd go fluid 442, Wilson for Brady, Clark at centre half and Long for Walters (harsh but simply as a change of philosophy because I'm not convinced our long ball game is up to anything).

[the doc]

[QUOTE=Stuttgart88;1811727]
One quality I admire in Keogh is his willingness to carry the ball out. I'd like to see more of that in our better players. [QUOTE]

Quality and Keogh????

You've lost all credibility with such a comment!

Dreadful CB, gives it away more times than a Dublin Barmaid!

[Stuttgart88]

I didn't say Keogh was quality, you know that. I said his willingness to carry the ball forward was a quality I admire and something I'd like to see O'Shea and Wilson do more of.

[Charlie Darwin]

You know you can't say anything positive about an Irish centre half other than SSL with the doc around. Speaking of SSL, his ability to carry the ball forward from defence is legendary...

[DeLorean]

We should really focus on our own performance for this one. Scotland's main attribute is probably their team spirit, and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way, it's probably ours too! I do think we have a better selection of footballers though so if we match them for desire, in theory, everything else should fall into place. There's a lot of talk about our failure to beat a direct group rival but I don't think Scotland are any better than, say, that Armenian side we beat home and away just two campaigns ago and, as it turned out, they were a direct group rival also. The local element makes it a slightly more daunting task than Armenia though.

A small aside, I don't like the way the away fans are put behind the goals in Lansdowne. Put them into some corner where they're less visible.

[geysir]

Less visible and a well ventilated area.

[BonnieShels]

Put them up on the upper level. Above the home fans.

Sure we can try it out when Scotland and England come to visit.

[elroy]

Whelan gets a raw deal from irish fans and media, played well the other night imo. One occasion in particular he won the ball after McLean was dispossessed and then set him off down the left hand side. He does a lot of tidying up that is easily forgotten. Admittedly he's not an imposing box to box midfielder but we don't have one of them.

What about Mcclean at left back???

[geysir]

Whelan gets a raw deal from irish fans and media, played well the other night imo. One occasion in particular he won the ball after McLean was dispossessed and then set him off down the left hand side. He does a lot of tidying up that is easily forgotten. Admittedly he's not an imposing box to box midfielder but we don't have one of them.

I don't know why it is, but Whelan and McCarthy don't seem to gel.


What about Mcclean at left back???

D................G................A............... D
How many times must he use a (false) left back
.............Em..............A7
before he can hear people cry?

[tetsujin1979]

Whelan gets a raw deal from irish fans and media, played well the other night imo. One occasion in particular he won the ball after McLean was dispossessed and then set him off down the left hand side. He does a lot of tidying up that is easily forgotten. Admittedly he's not an imposing box to box midfielder but we don't have one of them.

What about Mcclean at left back???Because he was tried there against Portugal last summer and failed miserably.

[paul_oshea]

ya he was woeful all over the place and his positioning was woeful.

[Stuttgart88]

He should have asked O'Neill to explain what left back means before the game. He was also tried there against Costa Porto.

McClean has Alan Thompson qualities. Thompson excelled as a left wing back under O'Neill.

[geysir]

Thompson was much more an excellent L sided midfielder, he was too slow/cumbersome as a wing back.
That was fine in the spl against teams you had to break down, but not against good teams.
I'd say McNamara was the quintessential Celtic left wing back.

[Stuttgart88]

Did he play on the left? I thought he was right sided. Good player alright and a nice guy too.

[geysir]

He could have been a right fb, I suppose my memories of McNamara are just from televised games in the last couple of seasons of his time with Celtic and he looked a class act on the left side.
maybe Agathe would be the quintessential wing back? equally adept at fb and wide midfield, fast and skilful.

[DeLorean]

I only remember McNamara from his early Celtic days when he was definitely a right sided player. I kind of lost interest in Celtic in the latter part of MON's reign so I would have never seen him play on the left, that I can recall. Who was starting on Celtic's right in that period to cause McNamara being moved? Was Agathe there that long? I remember McNamara scoring a brilliant goal against Liverpool in a UEFA Cup game way back, cutting in from the right and putting it into the far top corner with his left. It was the night Steve McManaman equalised in injury time after running from his own half. Bobby Petta was MON's original left wing back I believe, before Alan Thompson, running amok in that 6-2 win against Rangers!

[Charlie Darwin]

I only remember McNamara from his early Celtic days when he was definitely a right sided player.
As immortalised in song: http://footballchants.org/viewChants.php?divs=S0&division=Scots%20Prem&teams=98&teamname=Celtic&club=Celtic&let=J&p=

[zero]

a lot of our players seem to be coming into form at the right time - though i suppose you could argue for some it's that they are being given a chance in less meaningful fixtures.

in the prem today, given o'shea coleman mccarthy whelan walters wilson coleman and long all starting. that's nearly a first team.

grealish also features!

in addition we have 3 championship 'team of the year' players and mcclean who was player of the season at wigan. i refuse to believe we are not better than scotland.

[Stuttgart88]

Nah, we haven't got the players zero.

[Stuttgart88]

a lot of our players seem to be coming into form at the right timeo'shea off injured.


Bang on the head, so not a muscle injury.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

He has been getting a lot of bangs on the head lately.

[Stuttgart88]

It was in a clash with Shane Long.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Who has been taken off at half-time, as the stop start nature of his season continues.

Really needs a move this summer, but Southampton would have to take a considerable loss on their investment.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hull make a cheeky £6-7m bid for him if they stay up.

[Charlie Darwin]

Who has been taken off at half-time, as the stop start nature of his season continues.

Really needs a move this summer, but Southampton would have to take a considerable loss on their investment.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hull make a cheeky £6-7m bid for him if they stay up.
Why? They're hardly going to sell a good squad player for half what they paid for him a year ago.

[zero]

how big is this game overall?

i'd say it's our biggest game since the sweden home game in the last qualifying campaign. we desperately need a result. realistically a win. can we achieve it?

i've booked my flights to dublin for it but needless to say match tickets aren't even on sale yet. never really understood the idea of holding off on general sale til a few week before the game. maybe once upon a time it made sense.

[tetsujin1979]

Squad to be announced tomorrow: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/robbie-keane-in-fitness-race-for-crucial-scotland-clash-31211882.html
Also, McClean in talks with New York Red Bulls

[Fixer82]

Squad to be announced tomorrow: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/robbie-keane-in-fitness-race-for-crucial-scotland-clash-31211882.html
Also, McClean in talks with New York Red Bulls

really hope he doesnt got to NYC. Won't do his international career much good i dont think

[SkStu]

really hope he doesnt got to NYC. Won't do his international career much good i dont think

I don't think it would harm his international career to be honest. I think he would tear it up over there. I would however be concerned that he is just far too good for MLS. He should be aiming for a low PL or high Championship switch.

[Fixer82]

I don't think it would harm his international career to be honest. I think he would tear it up over there. I would however be concerned that he is just far too good for MLS. He should be aiming for a low PL or high Championship switch.

I don't think it would do him any good to be tearing it up over there.
Would rather see him in a more competitive league, obviously a Premier league club would be the ideal

[SkStu]

I don't think it would do him any good to be tearing it up over there.

Oh me neither Fixer, I just don't think it would harm his intl career, especially in the short to medium term.

As I said, he's good enough to aim for a move the PL or Championship but....looking at it from his perspective....a move away from the fishbowl that British footie is for him might be attractive to him...minimal poppy type controversy in NY.

[Fixer82]

Oh me neither Fixer, I just don't think it would harm his intl career, especially in the short to medium term.

As I said, he's good enough to aim for a move the PL or Championship but....looking at it from his perspective....a move away from the fishbowl that British footie is for him might be attractive to him...minimal poppy type controversy in NY.

That is certainly true

[Closed Account]

Martin O’Neill has named a 33 man provisional squad for upcoming games with England and Scotland. Squad be shortened ahead of June 1st





Forde








Given








Westwood







Randolph














Coleman

R Keogh

O’Shea

Wilson


Christie

Pearce

McShane

Ward











McGeady

McCarthy

Arter

McClean


Pilkington
Hendrick

Whelan

Brady


Judge

Quinn

Meyler

Hoolahan












Keane

Doyle

Walters




Long

Stokes

Cox




Murphy

McGoldrick
Rooney

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I think it's absolutely ridiculous that Adam Rooney has been called up ahead of Eoin Doyle. I would include Madden & E. Doyle over Rooney & Cox all day long.

Deserved for Alan Judge though.

You would think Sean Kavanagh or Tommie Hoban would warrant inclusion, considering the woes at LB.

Sean Scannell is, perhaps, unlucky there are better players in front of him.