Austria v Rep of Ireland - Ernst Happel Stadium, Vienna - Sat, 12th Nov 2016 - WCQ

[DeLorean]

In the few times I've seen Dundalk lately I've been more impressed with their other centre back, Gartland I think. I don't think we need so much cover in that area anyway, I'd have preferred if Maguire was included seeing as we've so few strikers.

[Closed Account]

Danny Rogers


Ian Lawlor


Cyrus Christie


Stephen Ward


Conor Hourihane


James McCarthy


Stephen Quinn



These 7 don't make the cut. Bit harsh on Hourihane.

[pineapple stu]

From the Irish Times (http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/james-mccarthy-out-of-ireland-squad-1.2858545) -


Both of the Dundalk players named in the 35 have survived the initial cut despite some concern when it appeared neither had received any information in advance of the cup final with regard to what precisely they were to do.
Interesting!

A further cut to come before the squad travel to Austria. Don't understand why the need to fooster around naming the final squad, but anyways.

[DeLorean]

Dundalk were a shadow of themselves in the final, and were visibly wrecked after 60 minutes hit.

Funnily enough I thought they kind of took over from that point after Cork had dominated the first 15/20 minutes of the second half, and they continued to control the game through extra time.

[DeLorean]

Bit harsh on Hourihane.

Definitely. He's the only fit outfield player to be cut, so far anyway. Seven centre backs seems like overkill in the extreme.

[backstothewall]

FAI Cup final was no barometer of their ability. Dundalk were a shadow of themselves in the final, and were visibly wrecked after 60 minutes hit.

Horgan is very similar, not only in look, to Duff. Yard of pace and ability to beat the man from any angle. He'll be a cracking addition to the squad. Boyle is more of a modern day centre half and good with the ball to feet. He'll not particularly improve or weaken the squad as such, but he'll be an able replacement should he be called upon.

The travelling is probably a reasonable point. I thought Horgan made a lot of bad decisions yesterday, but airports and hotels drain the mind as much if not more than the legs. He played some lovely passes and I could see the ability is there.

I think there is a place in the side for either him or O'Dowda.

With the idea that a point is a great result I'd go with

------------- Randolph --------------
---------------------------------------
Coleman -- Duffy -- Clark -- Brady
---------------------------------------
-------------- Whelan ---------------
SH/CO'D Arter Hendrick McClean
--------------------------------------
-------------- Walters----------------

[geysir]

From the Irish Times (http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/international/james-mccarthy-out-of-ireland-squad-1.2858545) -


Interesting!

A further cut to come before the squad travel to Austria. Don't understand why the need to fooster around naming the final squad, but anyways.
Horgan hasn't made the cut yet, there are still 13 midfielders with 4 likely to be shod and maybe strange enough, Boyle is in a better position being one of the 8 defenders left.

[Charlie Darwin]

Horgan hasn't made the cut yet, there are still 13 midfielders with 4 likely to be shod and maybe strange enough, Boyle is in a better position being one of the 8 defenders left.
He's one of seven centre halves though. With Brady likely to play left back, I'd say Horgan's chances are better. Also because he's a better player than Boyle.

[BonnieShels]

The most surprising thing for me was that we haven't had a friendly against them since 1968. God knows how many time we've faced Poland (who are generally of a fairly similar calibre) in that time

The most surprising thing is that 21 years later I still HATE Austria so so so much. It's obsessive at this stage.


FAI Cup final was no barometer of their ability. Dundalk were a shadow of themselves in the final, and were visibly wrecked after 60 minutes hit.

Horgan is very similar, not only in look, to Duff. Yard of pace and ability to beat the man from any angle. He'll be a cracking addition to the squad. Boyle is more of a modern day centre half and good with the ball to feet. He'll not particularly improve or weaken the squad as such, but he'll be an able replacement should he be called upon.

Even the missus (a Clare [I know I know] woman attending her first "LOI" match) was commenting on their lethargy. I was impressed she could see them wrecked as a opposed to them being shoite.


Funnily enough I thought they kind of took over from that point after Cork had dominated the first 15/20 minutes of the second half, and they continued to control the game through extra time.

Once Cork seemed to do nothing for that purple patch you could sense Dundalk might nick it. Smellbag of a goal to lose it by.

[DeLorean]

They were the better team for the last hour of the match including extra time. I was expecting them to tire badly, especially once it went to extra time, but if that was them tiring then Cork really are miles behind them, which I think they've proved is not really the case, especially this season. Dundalk would have had every reason to be shagged, but it wasn't overly visible I don't think. Cork were the ones hanging on. That's not to say Dundalk wouldn't have produced a silkier performance had they not had such a demanding schedule or a game in Russia on the Thursday, but I was watching it thinking they're looking remarkably fresh considering. Compare it to the cup final last year when Cork looked absolutely dead on their feet in extra time and there was no comparison really I don't think.

[Stuttgart88]

The travelling is probably a reasonable point. I thought Horgan made a lot of bad decisions yesterday, but airports and hotels drain the mind as much if not more than the legs. He played some lovely passes and I could see the ability is there.

I think there is a place in the side for either him or O'Dowda.

With the idea that a point is a great result I'd go with

------------- Randolph --------------
---------------------------------------
Coleman -- Duffy -- Clark -- Brady
---------------------------------------
-------------- Whelan ---------------
SH/CO'D Arter Hendrick McClean
--------------------------------------
-------------- Walters----------------

"SH"? Getting confused with a rugby winger? 😀

[OwlsFan]

Nice to see both Clarke and McGeady in the EFL Team of the week: http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/sky-bet-efl-team-of-the-week-3403839.aspx?utm_source=emailmarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=efl_weekend_roundup_07nov2016&utm_content=2016-11-08_0956

Not too happy about Mick McCarthy being the manager of the week ;) He was under a lot of pressure coming in to the game despite the miracles he had performed there with no money. Some fans have short memories. They were rock bottom of the league when he took them over a few seasons back.

[swinfordfc]

In the few times I've seen Dundalk lately I've been more impressed with their other centre back, Gartland I think. I don't think we need so much cover in that area anyway, I'd have preferred if Maguire was included seeing as we've so few strikers.

Gartland is very prone to making mistakes and has done so in the last number of games in Europe that he's played in!

[geysir]

Nice to see both Clarke and McGeady in the EFL Team of the week: http://www.efl.com/news/article/2016/sky-bet-efl-team-of-the-week-3403839.aspx?utm_source=emailmarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=efl_weekend_roundup_07nov2016&utm_content=2016-11-08_0956

Not too happy about Mick McCarthy being the manager of the week ;) He was under a lot of pressure coming in to the game despite the miracles he had performed there with no money. Some fans have short memories. They were rock bottom of the league when he took them over a few seasons back.
Another case of a manager who has raised the expectations of a club up a few levels and then when the club drops off the pace from that raised level for a period (mainly due to dwindling or overtaxed resources) the manager then takes the flak for not meeting those expectations which he was responsible for in the first place.

[backstothewall]

"SH"? Getting confused with a rugby winger? 😀

That's exactly what happened there.

I've hit the same fence as all those southerners down the years talking about David Trimble playing on the wing for the rugby boys.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Strange how Cunningham can't make the squad.

Acquitted himself well any time he has played for IRL.

Very consistent for Preston.

Hourihane is another bizarre omission. Especially considering he possesses the ability to score goals and the composure to pick a pass in the final third - something I don't think O'Kane or Arter have.

Hard to get hopes up about Horgan (or Boyle) when you see likes of Pearce, Gleeson and McShane making squads.

Egan too. Someone who clearly has more up side than the aforementioned.

Hoping to see something justifying the hype re: Arter.

I thought he was average enough against England and Oman. Slightly better against Holland.

[OwlsFan]

Hard to get hopes up about Horgan (or Boyle) when you see likes of Pearce, Gleeson and McShane making squads.

I suspect that McShane is in the squad because he is a versatile player who can play at either full back or centre-half and is currently playing well in a Reading team which has risen to 4th in the Championship.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I know but he's been in squads for over ten years and made no progress.

He's 31 in January and it's abundantly clear he is a last resort option.

It would make so much more sense to blood Doherty and Egan rather than keep lads like McShane and Pearce around.

I know there is a good lot of lads with half a dozen odd caps around the squad already, and maybe that factors in MON's thinking when it comes to this.

But this is what happens when you keep guys like Green, Cox and Kelly around squads way past their sell by date.

The squad is still too old. Work needs to be done to bring the average down in line with other teams.

[geysir]

The most surprising thing is that 21 years later I still HATE Austria so so so much. It's obsessive at this stage.
If I had to name 3 Austrians off the top of my head, they would be 1.Toni Polster 2.Peter Stoger and..3 ....... Kurt Waldheim, all figures that inspire very negative thoughts.

[zero]

Looks like Prodl will miss Watford's game tomorrow. He's a decent player.hopefully misses the game next Saturday.

The Austrian football federation says Bremen midfielder Zlatko Junuzovic has been ruled out of Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Ireland and a friendly against Slovakia because of a knee injury.

Coach Marcel Koller has called up Karim Onisiwo as a replacement for Junuzovic. The Mainz midfielder made his debut in a friendly against Switzerland a year ago but hasn't played for the national team since.

Junuzovic is the third regular starter for Austria to miss the Ireland game because of injury after goalkeeper Robert Almer (knee) and defender Sebastian Proedl (groin) were sidelined.

[tricky_colour]

James McClean is an injury concern for the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier in Austria after sitting out Tuesday's training with a back problem.http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37908364

[Eminence Grise]

If I had to name 3 Austrians off the top of my head, they would be 1.Toni Polster 2.Peter Stoger and..3 ....... Kurt Waldheim, all figures that inspire very negative thoughts.

No room in your top three for a certain Adolf H? (Admittedly, it's hard to knock Polster off top spot!;))

[Stuttgart88]

Weren't Opus Austrian? Life is Life, la la la la la. Total and utter Euro pop classic. Up there with Guns'n'Roses as one of my guilty secrets. Love that song.

[Diggs246]

Dont forget the star of the movie kindergarten cop

[BonnieShels]

No room in your top three for a certain Adolf H? (Admittedly, it's hard to knock Polster off top spot!;))

Nothing Adolf did comes close to Stoeger and Polster.

But Toni is a special kind of bast4ard!

[DeLorean]

Dont forget the star of the movie kindergarten cop

Josef Fritzl?

[Lionel Ritchie]

Falco?

[OwlsFan]

If I had to name 3 Austrians off the top of my head, they would be 1.Toni Polster 2.Peter Stoger and..3 ....... Kurt Waldheim, all figures that inspire very negative thoughts.

Hitler, Niki Lauda and Franz Ferdinand (the Archduke, not the band).

[paul_oshea]

Who got shot in? No googling...and his assassination caused?

[Diggs246]

World war 1

[johnnyc]

Who got shot in? No googling...and his assassination caused?

Lauda got shot in 1983, causing a nationwide manhunt for an unhinged Murray Walker.

[TonyD]

Who got shot in? No googling...and his assassination caused?

Shot in Sarajevo, leading to the outbreak of WW1. Do I get a prize :cool:

[Stuttgart88]

No, what seems deep and knowledgable to Paul is bread and butter to the rest of us. What part of Sarajevo was he in when he was shot? Why did it cause WW1?

[paul_oshea]

On franz ferdinand bridge of course stutts! :rolleyes: :P

Are you referring to the serbs and trying to blame them? To be fair it was a chain of events really but this was the final cog.

[OwlsFan]

No, what seems deep and knowledgable to Paul is bread and butter to the rest of us. What part of Sarajevo was he in when he was shot? Why did it cause WW1?

I wonder as the assassin rotted away in prison did he have any regrets over his action as he witnesses millions slaughtering each other on the battlefield ?

So who will be our Gavilro Princip on Saturday to bring down the House of the Habsburgs? Arter perhaps with a sneaky shot from outside the box?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Are the Hapsburg's the dynasty that died out due to inbreeding?

[geysir]

No, what seems deep and knowledgable to Paul is bread and butter to the rest of us. What part of Sarajevo was he in when he was shot? Why did it cause WW1?
or what type of hat was he wearing? For some reason I remember our leaving cert history book describe him as wearing a plumed feather hat on that fateful day.

Which brings me in one fell swoop to the upcoming fateful day where I think Austria will prevail. I don't think we have anything close to the mettle of the type of team that would beat Austria 2-1 :)
Perhaps an ugly draw, but another performance like that away to Serbia won't do it again, there would have to be something of an improvement.

[paul_oshea]

You mean an improvement to get a draw?

[Deckydee]

Got tickets for this one......amougst the Austrian fans! :( Look for the geezer with the M&Ms green hat and the tri-colour in among the Austrians! :)

[Deckydee]

Actually one quick question............if we beat them........would this be the first time we beat a team higher than us in ranking (away from home) since Scotland in 1987? They are 3 places above us: http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/

?

[Lionel Ritchie]

Actually one quick question............if we beat them........would this be the first time we beat a team higher than us in ranking (away from home) since Scotland in 1987? They are 3 places above us: http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/

?

I don't care what the record books say -we laid that curse to rest in Paris in 2009.

[tetsujin1979]

Actually one quick question............if we beat them........would this be the first time we beat a team higher than us in ranking (away from home) since Scotland in 1987? They are 3 places above us: http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/

?
when we beat Lithuania in 1997, we were ranked 55, they were 42nd

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

O'Kane is out. I repeat O'Kane is out.

[Diggs246]

I having a feeling McClean will start up front with Walters and Mcgeady on the flanks

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

If Walters does start it should be up front.

He clearly doesn't have the legs to play wide anymore.

[Stuttgart88]

I loved this in The Examiner

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/when-austria-hammered-ireland-in-1971-it-put-paid-to-league-of-ireland-argument-430007.html

[DeLorean]

Very good article, although McGeady is hardly keeping Horgan out of the team at the moment.

[backstothewall]

If I had to name 3 Austrians off the top of my head, they would be 1.Toni Polster 2.Peter Stoger and..3 ....... Kurt Waldheim, all figures that inspire very negative thoughts.

Hitler, Atilla the Hun, Hermann Maier

[liamoo11]

If Walters does start it should be up front.

He clearly doesn't have the legs to play wide anymore.

id be with you on this. This is a game for Jonny Walters to stick his arse into their centre halves to hold it up to bring our ball players in wes and mcgeady into it and play from there. I love long but his hold up play has not been great

[BonnieShels]

when we beat Lithuania in 1997, we were ranked 55, they were 42nd

That's the most Tets-like post that ever did Tets.