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

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Fantastic performance.

Randolph (8), Coleman (7), Duffy (8), Clark (8), Brady (7), Hendrick (6), Arter (6), Whelan (5), McClean (8), Hoolahan (8), Walters (6)

Meyler (8), McGoldrick (6), McGeady (6)

MON (8)

Can't give anyone a 5 on a night like this, except Whelan with mitigating circumstances.

Meyler has to be a bonafide option for us now.

[Metrostars]

What a fantastic result. Thought Austria was going to get it with Alaba's late rn and the chance for Janko. Phew.

[nigel-harps1954]

What a brutal game, what a brilliant result.

The Wales game in March is now huge.

[Metrostars]

Great run by McClean and finish through the legs.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Even the panel aren't complaining.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

What does Randolph have to do to oust Adrian at club level BTW?

Adrian badly at fault again against Stoke and Randolph hasn't let us down yet.

Bizarre...

[osarusan]

Best thing was how we didn't settle for what would have been, before the game started, a decent draw, but instead we were willing to press and really test them and capitalise, and then keep pressing until the last 10 minutes really.

[SkStu]

It was a beautifully worked and taken goal.

Fair to say that is our biggest away victory in some time?

[tricky_colour]

Dean Sanders not happy with Austria's performance on Sky Sports

[shakermaker1982]

Brilliant result. Tense final 20 but team didn't just camp on the box. Were crafty when they needed to be by wasting time etc. Meyer had a good game and what a ball by Wessi, Probably McClean's best performance for us.

[tricky_colour]

Highest ranks team we have beaten away form home.

[Metrostars]

It was a beautifully worked and taken goal.

Fair to say that is our biggest away victory in some time?

I would content that it is the best away victory in World Cup Qualifiers - ever.

[tetsujin1979]

when we beat Lithuania in 1997, we were ranked 55, they were 42nd have to update this now!

[johnnyc]

Very impressive in the 2nd half. We squeezed them high up the pitch, started winning second balls and put some decent attacks together. The irony of Austrian play-acting leading to them conceding a goal was just delicious.

[The Fly]

Some thanks should also go to Rafa Benitez for the improvement in Ciaran Clark.

[jbyrne]

just super result and performance. with us beating georgia at home and austria away we have already bettered top seeds wales in these two fixtures by 4 pts. beat wales at home and cant see is finishing outside the top two. all very impressive so far this campaign

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Detente between TOD and MON.

[tricky_colour]

Ireland 10
Serbia 7
Wales 5

So it will either go i10 s10 w5, i10 s8 w6 or i10 w8 s7

Not sure which is best maybe a Wales win? Anyhow being 2 points clears puts us in a strong position.
Anything but a Serbia win I think.

[SkStu]

I think I prefer the Serbia win but would be very happy with a draw here.

[shakermaker1982]

Did the RTE panel behave?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

MOTM James McClean reckons David Meyler deserved MOTM.

[backstothewall]

Did the RTE panel behave?

Even Dunphy was purring

[tricky_colour]

I'd rather not Serbia win they might come and beat us at home.
Serbia have not dropped points in a bad way, Wales drew with Georgia.
Serbia campaign is good so far. They dropped points against us but then we are a bit better than Georgia.

[holidaysong]

Pity O'Neill bottled the McClean substitution at the end and brought on McGeady rather than the form player Horgan. Apart from that a great win.

Comment from a Lilywhite tinted view.

[The Fly]

McGeady did very well when he came on though.

[MeathDrog]

Half time ratings: Randolph (7), Coleman (7), Duffy (7), Clark (7), Brady (6), Hendrick (5), Whelan (5), Arter (5), Hoolahan (6), McClean (5), Walters (4)

Meyler (6)

I feel we improved significantly after replacing Whelan with Meyler.

Sorry just reading back, but half time ratings. Would you ever go and do one FFS.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Sorry just reading back, but half time ratings. Would you ever go and do one FFS.

Which one/s would you disagree with and explain why.

[Fergie's Son]

That was terrific. Always expected them to come back based on prior experience but they didn't and it's a huge win.

Serbia-Wales draw would be the best result for us. Let them both drop points.

[Stuttgart88]

We were a bit lucky Janko was so rubbish but I think we were worth that win. Bad miss by Walters for what would have been a peach of a goal. Wes erratic, Meyler did really well. I wanted more from Arter and got it in the second half. McClean growing as a player and a man, charming and articulate in his Sky interview.

Armenia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Georgia etc were all important away wins but this is probably our biggest ever away scalp in a competitive game, and certainly best since Scotland.

Great night.

[Fergie's Son]

Any links to the goal? Had to be content with listening to it.

[SkStu]

Any links to the goal? Had to be content with listening to it.

Highlights here (great site btw)

http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/11/12/austria-vs-ireland-highlights/

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I admired the way we played after going in front. The polar opposite to the way we played after taking the lead in Serbia.

I wonder what Trapattoni thinks after seeing us dispatch teams like Germany, Italy and Austria by simply playing the right personnel, making the right tactical changes and being a bit more positive overall?

MON has left him in the dust.

[liamoo11]

McGeady did very well when he came on though.

he was very good great composure nice passing great sub for us to have to impact games especially at home when we might need some guile

[Yard of Pace]

I feel like a kid again. I'm absolutely in love with this bunch of lads and our management team. Having spent years watching us fail to put teams away, poor teams, where we never showed quality and the manager thought we were crap, these lads and MON and Roy have completely knocked that on the head. And rightly so.

The players will run through walls for the team. There is zero moaning, no ill feelings anywhere. Walters was said to have lost his legs and was finished. He was haring around the pitch all the way through, he was simply magnificent. The commitment is a joy to see. McGeady appears to have shed a stone and suddenly we've got a wealth of options and players who expect to go out and win.

Long may it last.

[backstothewall]

I feel like a kid again. I'm absolutely in love with this bunch of lads and our management team. Having spent years watching us fail to put teams away, poor teams, where we never showed quality and the manager thought we were crap, these lads and MON and Roy have completely knocked that on the head. And rightly so.

The players will run through walls for the team. There is zero moaning, no ill feelings anywhere. Walters was said to have lost his legs and was finished. He was haring around the pitch all the way through, he was simply magnificent. The commitment is a joy to see. McGeady appears to have shed a stone and suddenly we've got a wealth of options and players who expect to go out and win.

Long may it last.

I feel sorry for the Dundalk lads. Just when a domestic side gets to the level where they have to be considered, the bar is raised again.

[SkStu]

Get in. Smashing header.

[pineapple stu]

Long may it last.
I still think that the oldest squad in Europe can't last all that long, but fair dues to O'Neill and Keane; they're really getting the most out of this squad.

Yes, it's a decent group and the other teams are tripping over themselves to screw up, but we suddenly have a chance here.

The only downside at the moment is Brady's daft suspension for the Wales game.

[backstothewall]

Wales 1-1 Serbia FT

Delightful. Here's hoping Martin and Roy have a Merry Christmas. They've earned it in 2016

[tricky_colour]

That game showed the value of Wes, he paid a key part in the goal and also in creating the chance that
Walters put over the bar (so easy to do in such a situation).

Also great that McClean seems to have transformed himself into a clinical goal scorer, I can remember the days when he couldn't hit a barn never mind the door.

Also that shocking miss by Austria in injury time. Imagine the stick we would have given one of our players for that header?

[NeverFeltBetter]

I'd second the thoughts on Horgan, thought for sure he was coming on at the end. His time will come, I know it, but he might have to be playing outside of Ireland before he's given it.

Things do seem to be unusually well set-up in the Ireland team, and I mean that from a perspective of their being no inter-squad drama or incessant "Will X declare?/Will Y be asked back?" type stuff all the time. MON and Keane have found a squad that just works.

[geysir]

Great result in what was probably the worst ever intl game I have witnessed and thank fck for the cursed Janko.
We started poorly and hardly improved all game but didn't need to as Austria were just rank.
Our goal was perfect, a flower in the desert and blessed were we to have Janko endowed with the responsibility to finish off those real chances. I think the stats said we made about 150 passes, that would be slightly better or worse than San Marino.
Glad to see McGeady come in and do exactly what you'd want him to do, to take the heat off the last 5 minutes.

[Charlie Darwin]

I feel sorry for the Dundalk lads. Just when a domestic side gets to the level where they have to be considered, the bar is raised again.
They won't be feeling sorry for themselves. Horgan will make debut soon enough and Boyle will be back too, especially if he moves to England.

We did what we do under MON, which was just enough. It wasn't good to watch, if I was drinking I'd have forgotten every second by now, but we got the result. And at no point in the second half did I fear we'd concede. It's an amazing turnaround for the national team.

[tricky_colour]

We should not get too carried away with this result, Austria's recent form has been pretty poor, one win in the last 6 if you include this game.
1 point from their last 4 home games.

It is being reported that Janko has signed an advertising deal with Specsavers.

[Fergie's Son]

I'd second the thoughts on Horgan, thought for sure he was coming on at the end. His time will come, I know it, but he might have to be playing outside of Ireland before he's given it.

Things do seem to be unusually well set-up in the Ireland team, and I mean that from a perspective of their being no inter-squad drama or incessant "Will X declare?/Will Y be asked back?" type stuff all the time. MON and Keane have found a squad that just works.

So we won't mention Arter then...

[The Fly]

he was very good great composure nice passing great sub for us to have to impact games especially at home when we might need some guile

Somewhere out there there's a comma crying.

[jbyrne]

We should not get too carried away

who is getting carried away? having said that we are top by 2 pts with two away games against our main rivals played. very good start to the campaign

[DeLorean]

I'm getting carried away. It's our best start to a campaign ever I think! We've two away games out of the way against the big four, all of the others have only played one. Basically it's totally dependent on our home form now and there's reason for optimism there after the last campaign (unbeaten at least).

That's the best Ireland result that I've attended. I was beginning to think I was a bit of a jinx, or at least my absence being a lucky charm having missed the Germany games last time and Italy in Lille.

Wales are proving to be a bit of a one man team again after flirting with the idea that they're not in France. Serbia look the biggest threat, I'm not sure who it was that wanted them to win last night but that would have definitely been the worst outcome from our point of view.

[DeLorean]

Another example of how our world doesn't crumble without Glenn Whelan too. Not meaning to pick on him but we're a better team without him. Meyler was excellent, Arter had a really good second half.

[strangeirish]

Somewhere out there there's a comma crying.
Nah, it's hiding. It's a comma chameleon...

[pineapple stu]

Just thinking - did McGoldrick touch the ball after he came on?

The camera angle being so far out made it hard to spot individual players at times, but I can't remember a single contribution he made.

Did the same in the pre-Euros game against Belarus as I recall. Not sold on him at all unfortunately.