Wales v. Republic of Ireland - Monday, 9th October 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier

[shakermaker1982]

******** it’s Denmark not Sweden. Still prefer Danes out of the rest. Fingers crossed.

[Fixer82]

Denmark or Switzerland (we owe them one). I believe there are lots of holes in the Swiss defence (sorry).

Great job by O’Neill last night. I must say, he has some team spirit going with this group.
Look at the lads celebrating last night. McGeady and Hoolahan in the thick of the celebrations. Everybody is onboard with this team and there doesn’t seem to be any grumbling from fringe players.
Having Coleman, Walters and Long there at the game speaks volumes too. They’re very much part of the group, injured or not.

Dunphy made a good point about Long’s embrace of Maguire when he replaced him during Moldova game. There is no ego in this team it seems

[jbyrne]

Denmark or Switzerland (we owe them one). I believe there are lots of holes in the Swiss defence (sorry).

Great job by O’Neill last night. I must say, he has some team spirit going with this group.
Look at the lads celebrating last night. McGeady and Hoolahan in the thick of the celebrations. Everybody is onboard with this team and there doesn’t seem to be any grumbling from fringe players.
Having Coleman, Walters and Long there at the game speaks volumes too. They’re very much part of the group, injured or not.

Dunphy made a good point about Long’s embrace of Maguire when he replaced him during Moldova game. There is no ego in this team it seems

I know wales spirit is usually good also but I thought it was telling that 3 of our injured players (long, coleman and walters) were sitting just behind the bench last night while bale was looking down from the corporate boxes like Caesar. walters and coleman also sat behind the bench last friday

[NeverFeltBetter]

My girlfriend remarked on just the same as we were watching. Beyond any of his (many) faults as a team selector and a tactician, O'Neill, and Keane I'd imagine, do well in terms of general morale/cohesion. You'd imagine if, Coleman say, said he was going to watch from the stands Keane would have a bollicking ready.

[Fixer82]

I know wales spirit is usually good also but I thought it was telling that 3 of our injured players (long, coleman and walters) were sitting just behind the bench last night while bale was looking down from the corporate boxes like Caesar. walters and coleman also sat behind the bench last friday

Agree. They're a part of it and are made feel a part of it. It's a family atmosphere. Whoever is not playing is shouting on their team-mates. O'Neill deserves big credit for that.

[tetsujin1979]

Dunphy made a good point about Long’s embrace of Maguire when he replaced him during Moldova game. There is no ego in this team it seems

He also said Maguire was from Cork!

[tetsujin1979]

I tried to find the brief discussion after the win in Austria on whether or not Ireland had ever beaten two higher seeded opponents in a qualifying series.
I'm pretty sure we haven't.....until now!

[seanfhear]

He also said Maguire was from Cork!Probably lucky that he knew Maguire was playing for Ireland .

[swinfordfc]

Denmark or Switzerland (we owe them one). I believe there are lots of holes in the Swiss defence (sorry).

Great job by O’Neill last night. I must say, he has some team spirit going with this group.
Look at the lads celebrating last night. McGeady and Hoolahan in the thick of the celebrations. Everybody is onboard with this team and there doesn’t seem to be any grumbling from fringe players.
Having Coleman, Walters and Long there at the game speaks volumes too. They’re very much part of the group, injured or not.

Dunphy made a good point about Long’s embrace of Maguire when he replaced him during Moldova game. There is no ego in this team it seems

Where was McCarthy last night? ..Didn't see him there?

[Straightstory]

George Hamilton said that Wales needed to win after Croatia went ahead in Ukraine. Is that correct (he gets so many things wrong)? If Wales had drawn, they would have had 18 points (like Slovakia), but Wales GD was better. Anyone know?

[nigel-harps1954]

Where was McCarthy last night? ..Didn't see him there?

McCarthy returned to his club along with Hayes and someone else who's name escapes me.

[DeLorean]

Have you considered that if you can't find happiness tonight, then maybe this whole football thing isn't for you? There are all sorts of other sports and activities out there. Why not have a go at your local Archery Club or a try your hand at a Bridge society? Or even a bit of gardening or something!

Perhaps with your quest for ideological purity you would fit in with one of the revolutionary socialist political parties.

He's auditioning for the vacant role of TOWK.

[DeLorean]

George Hamilton said that Wales needed to win after Croatia went ahead in Ukraine. Is that correct (he gets so many things wrong)? If Wales had drawn, they would have had 18 points (like Slovakia), but Wales GD was better. Anyone know?

Wales' GD wouldn't have been better than Slovakia's.

[Philly]

Very proud of the team, great performance last night. It wasn't pretty, but it was never going to be. We defended brilliantly - Clark and Duffy have formed a great partnership. Ward and Christie also did their jobs very well. Randolph was fantastic. If we defend that well as a unit, we will be tough for any team.

For playoffs, I think a fear of Switzerland is misguided. They got a very easy group apart from Portugal, with the other teams being Hungary, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Andorra. Their winning streak in that group is a bit misleading.

We will need to work on keeping possession at home for the playoffs though - we have struggled this year at home against decent opposition. I am not sure what can be done in this period of time, but perhaps being away for the first tie would be good for us.

Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland are all good draws considering - none will be easy and we will be the underdogs. Last night showed that tag really does suit us just fine.

[tetsujin1979]

Have we all heard Kilbane's reaction to the goal on Newstalk last night: https://twitter.com/offtheball/status/917485622943780864/video/1

[BonnieShels]

Regarding the Swiss, i think theyd be the best team to get, good at crosses and can string the ball around, but rely to much on shaqiri, and dont like it up them...........very brittle team. But arent they our bogey team?

We beat them with little trouble last time out in that Rising friendly last year.

[DannyInvincible]

Did anyone else spot Dublin Gaelic footballer Bernard Brogan (far-left) in the crowd-shot just as the anthem was finishing?

http://i65.tinypic.com/scz91x.png


Where was McCarthy last night? ..Didn't see him there?

The FAI tweeted (https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status/917073928941654017) on Sunday that McCarthy, McGoldrick and Hayes had returned to their clubs.

[mark12345]

I'm sorry, but this isn't chance. It's possible to fluke one or 2 wins but we've now had wins against Germany, Italy, Austria (away), Wales (away), drew in Belgrade, won a playoff against Bosnia over 2 legs and gave France a hell of a fright in the Euros. These are all teams with better players than us on paper but esprit de corps counts for a lot in international football and that is what have in spades.

I enjoy a crisp passing move as much as the next man, but it's only one way to win a game of football. There are other ways and it's legitimate to pursue them if the manager feels it's the most likely approach to deliver success with the players available to him.

The harsh reality is that the group of players we have aren't going to win the World Cup, but O'Neills tactics have achieved as much as could have realistically been hoped for over 2 campaigns now. There have been ups and downs for sure but could we have achieved more with a different tactical approach? I'd suggest we probably couldn't have done much better, but we might have done an awful lot worse. Wes Hoolahan is a fine player, but it's not like he is someone like David Silva or Philippe Coutinho who can have a team built around him. He's a 35 year old who is usually on the bench for Norwich. The 2 guys who played in midfield tonight are starting regularly in the Premier League so clearly it isn't just Martin O'Neill who rates them highly.

If we draw Italy or Croatia it's probably going to be tough but if we get Denmark, Sweden or Switzerland we can do our thing and see what happens.

All good points.....but. We, you and I included, expected to see some cameo from Hoolahan last night. We didn't and it turned out fine. It worked out. I'm delighted it turned out that way. But now all of a sudden Meyler and Hendrick are better than Wes? They were brilliant last night both of them so let's give credit where it is due. But it could have been made easier with Hoolahan at some point after half time and a badly tiring Murphy taken off long before the final whistle. Players were brilliant in their effort, That said, it's not the time or place for this discussion. Maybe after playoffs.

[Bottle of Tonic]

Jaysis give it a rest with the Wes/passing/possession stuff. As others have said there is more than one way to win a game of football. And none necessarily 'right' or 'wrong'. JByrne highlighted to you how a 'possession ' game ended up for Wales in the 57th minute. It's safe to say MON knows a hell of a lot more about football than you or any of us on here. It's a lot more nuanced than 'pass the ball'. To not give him a shred of credit after last night is petty in the extreme.

[jbyrne]

Jaysis give it a rest with the Wes/passing/possession stuff. As others have said there is more than one way to win a game of football. And none necessarily 'right' or 'wrong'. JByrne highlighted to you how a 'possession ' game ended up for Wales in the 57th minute. It's safe to say MON knows a hell of a lot more about football than you or any of us on here. It's a lot more nuanced than 'pass the ball'. To not give him a shred of credit after last night is petty in the extreme.

yes, great defending is also great football. where does it say that great football must involve lovely passing and possession?

[mark12345]

Jaysis give it a rest with the Wes/passing/possession stuff. As others have said there is more than one way to win a game of football. And none necessarily 'right' or 'wrong'. JByrne highlighted to you how a 'possession ' game ended up for Wales in the 57th minute. It's safe to say MON knows a hell of a lot more about football than you or any of us on here. It's a lot more nuanced than 'pass the ball'. To not give him a shred of credit after last night is petty in the extreme.

Martin O'Neill does know an awful lot more about football than me or anyone else on here. That is 100 per cent true. And what's also true is that I told anyone who would listen, back when Martin was at Celtic, that he was the best manager in the British Isles. Better than Ferguson at United, Houllier at Liverpool etc. He was the best back then and also when he was at Leicester because he achieved so much with so little over his career in club management (beating the likes of Juventus, Liverpool and Barcelona and making the Uefa Cup Final with Celtic are achievements which no one can take away from him - simply superb). I am not a Martin O'Neill hater. He achieved a similarly successful result last night and all the credit to him. What he also should receive credit for is developing a defence which is becoming very very hard to score against. So let's put it all out on the table. But in saying that I feel he could have eased the pressure on his defence last night by making one or two changes at half time - my opinion, and that's all it is.

[geysir]

I didn't view the game live but had the SC4 version on recording set up. I had told most everybody that I was going home later to watch a recording of the Irl Wales game and just in case - don't even hint at what's happening there.
Just as I was about to leave, somebody else came along and exclaimed that Ireland have beaten Wales, congratulations. I was really píssed, 'what did you tell me that for? I haven't seen the game yet'. For 2 seconds I was annoyed at him but then felt quite pleased about it, a compromise was reached - 'okay then that's alright, just don't tell me the score'.

[Closed Account]

FIFA investigating an alleged headbutt by Robbie Brady on Ashley Williams in the 61st minute, in danger of missing the 1st playoff game at least.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12020/11074960/fifa-to-investigate-alleged-headbutt-by-robbie-brady

[DeLorean]

They showed that on the Sky Sports coverage alright last night, but not on RTÉ. Even Craig Bellamy was saying it's a joke if some overpaid fella in Switzerland tries to justify his salary by investigating it.

[Fixer82]

Martin O'Neill does know an awful lot more about football than me or anyone else on here. That is 100 per cent true. And what's also true is that I told anyone who would listen, back when Martin was at Celtic, that he was the best manager in the British Isles.

Enough of the British Isles talk. You’ve been listening to Chris Coleman too much.
Stick it in the drawer with Dunphy’s Londonderry comment last night

[seanfhear]

FIFA investigating an alleged headbutt by Robbie Brady on Ashley Williams in the 61st minute, in danger of missing the 1st playoff game at least.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12020/11074960/fifa-to-investigate-alleged-headbutt-by-robbie-brady
Some bit of skill by Clark to set up the chance for Duffy in those highlights . Great character / application by our lads .

[BonnieShels]

FIFA investigating an alleged headbutt by Robbie Brady on Ashley Williams in the 61st minute, in danger of missing the 1st playoff game at least.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12020/11074960/fifa-to-investigate-alleged-headbutt-by-robbie-brady

It'd be his 3rd suspension of this qualifying campaign!


They showed that on the Sky Sports coverage alright last night, but not on RTÉ. Even Craig Bellamy was saying it's a joke if some overpaid fella in Switzerland tries to justify his salary by investigating it.

Bellamy was very good I thought in the aftermath.


Enough of the British Isles talk. You’ve been listening to Chris Coleman too much.
Stick it in the drawer with Dunphy’s Londonderry comment last night

What was this now?

[bennocelt]

Enough of the British Isles talk. You’ve been listening to Chris Coleman too much.
Stick it in the drawer with Dunphy’s Londonderry comment last night

Sounds funny, what was that???:)

[DeLorean]

They were talking about Duffy's performance and Dunphy said (laughing)... "Another Derry man, where would we be without Londonderry?". Darragh just kind of said (also laughing) "ah here, stop" and Dunphy proceeded to analyse Duffy's performance.

[zero]

clip of the headbutt in this article

http://www.the42.ie/robbie-brady-ashley-williams-ireland-wales-fifa-3639124-Oct2017/

it's a headbutt, but very minor. williams barely even notices it. not sure if that helps...

[Stuttgart88]

Really enjoyed last night. We all live for the big nights and that was one of them.

I thought Randolph was really composed. He kept his focus well that time he made a blind save with an inswinger that everyone missed. That was really good, I love seeing that. One flap (was he really fouled?) but otherwise composed and very much in synch with Clark and Duffy. Both CBs were very good except Clark and his slices will be the end of me some day soon. Duffy and McClean both had serious brain farts giving away needless stupid frees in dangerous situations, but both were excellent otherwise. Christie defended well enough but struggled going forward. Meyler colossal, Arter so-so and Brady played OK in fits and starts. Murphy isn't effective at holding the ball up.

The key though was how well they played as a unit, especially without the ball.

What a strange campaign. 3 of our top ever away results, 3 really poor home results and especially performances. Now isn't the time to be critical of O'Neill but we really do need to turn a corner at home and I for one think he's too cautious. Germany and Bosnia are probably the only two notable competitive home wins since Stan was sacked.

[zero]

i'm still buzzing after last night to be honest. it's great being able to follow/catch up on the other footballing stories without having the worry of results going our way etc. i've watched games every night since thursday - scotland beating slovakia, the moldova game, greece cyprus, scotland again in slovenia and last night without ever really believing we'd do it, but so glad to be wrong.

whomever we get in the playoff it's been a huge turnaround to even get there after the september games. shame about meyler's booking but if we are at home in the first leg - as has been tradionally the case with seeded playoffs - that will suit us. 7 points from 9 away from home against the 3 top seeds in our group is some going.

[geysir]

clip of the headbutt in this article

http://www.the42.ie/robbie-brady-ashley-williams-ireland-wales-fifa-3639124-Oct2017/

it's a headbutt, but very minor. williams barely even notices it. not sure if that helps...


According to FIFA, it's okay for Williams to assault and fell Robbie off the ball with his shoulder and elbow, but they seek to investigate Robbie barely rubbing his nose on Williams' shirt?

[DeLorean]

if we are at home in the first leg - as has been tradionally the case with seeded playoffs - that will suit us.

We were at home in the second leg against B&H, despite them being the seeded side. I think I read Dan McDonnell (on Twitter) saying it could go either way as well.

[BonnieShels]

They'll place a seeded team and then an unseeded team into a third bowl and then the first team drawn out will be at home.

[geysir]

I don't think there is compelling evidence to support a contention that playing away first offers an advantage in these WC play offs.

A country that is heavily fancied usually does win, regardless. In other ties where the quality difference is less, the team who plays at home first is not at a disadvantage, judging by the play off results over the qualifying tournaments.

[BonnieShels]

I don't think there is compelling evidence to support a contention that playing away first offers an advantage in these WC play offs.

A country that is heavily fancied usually does win, regardless. In other ties where the quality difference is less, the team who plays at home first is not at a disadvantage, judging by the play off results over the qualifying tournaments.

It's certainly more advantageous in my eyes to play away in the second leg give that away goals count in ET.

[DannyInvincible]

Balls.ie have compiled some views of the game from the Welsh/British media here: https://www.balls.ie/football/welsh-media-reaction-3-375454

[geysir]

It's certainly more advantageous in my eyes to play away in the second leg give that away goals count in ET.
That hasn't come to pass yet in WC play offs. Only one wc play off has gone into et, the game that dare not be mentioned.

[nigel-harps1954]

That hasn't come to pass yet in WC play offs. Only one wc play off has gone into et, the game that dare not be mentioned.

Syria v Australia went into ET this morning.

[elroy]

This is somewhat a silly point as you can't really ignore the goal. But taking the goal out of it, was there much difference between this performance and the home game. If anything it drives home to me how small the margins are. The positive of our team is the defensive structure and solidity. We never looked like conceding. I just can't help thinking that we aren't getting the maximum football ability out of this team.

The Welsh were great hosts. The sparse ticket situation aside, I really enjoyed the trip and what an atmosphere. Reading their forums however, what a moany bunch of sore losers. Complaining about the physical nature of our game like whimps - it's laughable considering what happened in Dublin.

[BonnieShels]

That hasn't come to pass yet in WC play offs. Only one wc play off has gone into et, the game that dare not be mentioned.

That it hasn't come to pass in UEFA is irrelevant. The advantage still remains.

[BonnieShels]

This is somewhat a silly point as you can't really ignore the goal. But taking the goal out of it, was there much difference between this performance and the home game. If anything it drives home to me how small the margins are. The positive of our team is the defensive structure and solidity. We never looked like conceding. I just can't help thinking that we aren't getting the maximum football ability out of this team.

The Welsh were great hosts. The sparse ticket situation aside, I really enjoyed the trip and what an atmosphere. Reading their forums however, what a moany bunch of sore losers. Complaining about the physical nature of our game like whimps - it's laughable considering what happened in Dublin.

They are such sore losers. Always have been. Very Kiwi and Kerry-esque in their attitude.

[geysir]

Syria v Australia went into ET this morning.
To be more exact it was Australia v Syria and the home team prevailed by scoring in et.

Anyway, it's just what happens in UEFA land that matters to us and perhaps I should have mentioned I was only referring to UEFA territory WC play offs.

[KrisLetang]

Really enjoyed last night. We all live for the big nights and that was one of them.


Jeez Stutts I thought we agreed to keep that a secret?

[KrisLetang]

Did anyone else spot Dublin Gaelic footballer Bernard Brogan (far-left) in the crowd-shot just as the anthem was finishing?

http://i65.tinypic.com/scz91x.png



Is that Steve Carell with the blue jacket on?

[tricky_colour]

This is somewhat a silly point as you can't really ignore the goal. But taking the goal out of it, was there much difference between this performance and the home game. If anything it drives home to me how small the margins are. The positive of our team is the defensive structure and solidity. We never looked like conceding. I just can't help thinking that we aren't getting the maximum football ability out of this team.

The Welsh were great hosts. The sparse ticket situation aside, I really enjoyed the trip and what an atmosphere. Reading their forums however, what a moany bunch of sore losers. Complaining about the physical nature of our game like whimps - it's laughable considering what happened in Dublin.

It is fine margins, if McClean had missed it would have been a totally different story.

I remember seeing the Irish player in acres of space with the goal at his mercy and I was quite relieved to see it was McClean I just felt out of all our players he was the one most likely to make sure he scored, who ever was there has just enough time to realise the importance of putting it in the back of the net, which is also just enough time to screw it up, but I think he is the type to stay calm under pressure, nerves might have got to some in that situation. He struck it perfectly though, great moment.

[tetsujin1979]

I was watching the game on RTE, and I have the qualifiers app installed on my phone. Just as Hendrick was closing down the ball, my phone buzzed with an alert from the app, "McClean scores!". I looked up to see the cross going into the box knowing what was about to happen! Very surreal experience.

[Straightstory]

Tight margins to be sure. Hennessy looked around for someone to throw the ball to - or he could have kicked it long. You can see him considering his options. Luckily for Ireland he threw it to Ashley Williams.
Don't buy this thing about O'Neill's tactics being somehow masterful. He always does the same thing: Eleven men behind the ball; kick it into the 'channels' and hope at some stage to score from a set piece. The only deviation from this is to throw Wes Houlihan in when we're playing Moldova, then substitute him after we score with Glenn Whelan; then back to eleven men behind the ball; kick it into the 'channels' and hope at some stage to score from a set piece. His luck will run out at some stage. It's neanderthal stuff for international football.

[OwlsFan]

Just back from the game. Best vocal Irish support I've heard in a while. Both anthems spine tingling. I haven't been able to work out why or how there was a smallish enclave of Irish support in the main stand where James McClean went to at the end of the game - was that his girl friend who snogged him? Relations of the players perhaps?

A friend of mine who lives in Wales was with us. Doesn't know much about football. Of the 8 of us, he was the only one to predict 0-1 (shows that the art of predicting scores is somewhat random).

All the agony of previous defeats is worth it for nights like Monday. It now joins Keane, Long and O'Shea vs Germany, McAteer v Holland, McLean v Austria, Stuttgart and Giant Stadium and the best of them all, Gary Mackay vs Bulgaria. That's not a huge amount when you think of all the games I've been at but you travel in hope for nights like that. I heard McClean saying it means nothing if we don't qualify. You're wrong James. It means the world for the next month at least.
I won't deny that I didn't find the giving the ball away endlessly frustrating or the needless free kicks agonising but those in a way add to excitement of the night. If we had kept the ball and the Welsh never got a look-in, it wouldn't have been the excruciating 30 minutes that it was: no pleasure without pain. The first thing I did when we scored was look at the clock and then mumbled to myself "Oh God, 30 minutes to go". As the 90th minute approached, I guessed 5 minutes injury time as you could see he was adding on time for every slight delay. My mate, the one who doesn't know much about football, said with about 15 minutes to go "The Welsh are never going to score". I almost throttled him - he must be a relative of George Hamilton. He was right but he hadn't been there for the excruciating late goals that have killed us in the past, like Gelsenkirchen in 1988 when the sea of orange erupted around us for that fluke.

O'Neill got it right for this game and my worries about the play offs (home form etc) are for another day. Enjoy.