Republic of Ireland V Serbia - Tuesday 5th September 2017 - World Cup 2018 Qualifier

[AlanOB]

Analysis: http://bit.ly/2gEm2qk

[rebelmusic]

If Turkey beat Iceland we stand a very good chance as they'd finish on 11 points

Otherwise....

The most hopeful chance, assuming we beat wales is in group F

Ideal results:
Scotland beat Slovakia but lose to Slovenia.
Slovenia beat Scotland but lose to England
Slovakia can do what they want to Malta

Slovakia end on 12 points, Scotland end on 11 points and Slovenia end on 8 poiints

Bosnia and Greece is very remote and i'd expect Greece to sneak second
Montenegro have to hold off Denmark who are on 16 points as is
Sweden won't happen

[rebelmusic]

Or Turkey and Iceland draw...and we beat Wales by 3 or more goals

GD in the 2nd place table is Iceland @ +3 and us at +1
They beat us on goals For at 9-6

[Cymro]

Permutations are ridiculously complicated. Wouldn't it simply have been fairer to just use the whole group stage record regardless of the last placed team? All groups had 6 teams in advance of the groups commencing. Can't understand why a team moving from 6th to 5th on the last day in a group should determine who qualifies for the play-offs.

[pineapple stu]

The rule was set before the last two groups were bumped up to six teams.

Worth noting Wales are now the worst runner-up - so they'll need to go for the win against us in Cardiff if all stays the same. I don't know if that's good or bad for us

[tricky_colour]

The writing was on the wall after Georgia, it is hardly a surprise result.

[DannyInvincible]

Permutations are ridiculously complicated. Wouldn't it simply have been fairer to just use the whole group stage record regardless of the last placed team? All groups had 6 teams in advance of the groups commencing.

Aye, it's odd. It made sense as a way of creating a sort of parity when you had eight groups with six teams and the ninth group had only five teams (as was the case in UEFA qualification for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups), but when all groups have six teams already, I don't know what point it's supposed to serve other than needlessly complicating matters.

Edit: Just seeing pineapple stu's post, which explains why the rule is still in place:


The rule was set before the last two groups were bumped up to six teams.

[Cymro]

The rule was set before the last two groups were bumped up to six teams.

Worth noting Wales are now the worst runner-up - so they'll need to go for the win against us in Cardiff if all stays the same. I don't know if that's good or bad for us

I appreciate that, but surely you'd have thought they could have scrapped it once all groups had six teams?

If either of us are to make the play offs from our group we probably need to win both remaining games. This is perhaps easier for you given your easier game v Moldova.

Personally, I've not given up on us winning the group yet - Georgia and Austria are both capable of shocking the Serbians.

[rebelmusic]

Had another look, didnt realise we were on 11 points.

So if The nether-region beat Sweden, we're in as they'd be on 11.
Turkey Beat Iceland we're good
Turkey draw with Iceleand we're good
Montes beat Denmark but lose to Poland
Belgium beat Bosnia then it doesnt matter what they or Greece do..


To be honest, if we beat Wales we'll qualify. Odds are in our favour.

Beating Wales should not be a daunting task

[elroy]

For all the bitching about RTÉ panel several have got it wrong on the playoff scenario. It's not as crazy as you think.

We currently sit with ten points for purposes of play off. This assumes Moldova finish bottom.

Best options seem to be Bosnia, Slovakia or Greece group.

If we win our next two games and Bosnia do not win both their games, then we will definitely not be worst second place. One of their games is home to Belgium.

[geysir]

I haven't seen the game yet as RTE are not allowing access to it yet , nor the late evening's highlights.

I don't know what O'Neill is supposed to with Wes, bring him to Knock for some extra healing? Wes has only played half the time for Norwich this season, when he plays they win, when he doesn't they lose, I'd assume there are obvious fitness restriction issues

By the sounds of it, it was an improved performance from Ireland missing the vital ingredient of a good result.
That was a brilliant move for Serbia's goal, those cxnts decide to come good in this campaign when Austria faded and Wales plodded throughout.

If Wales manage to beat Georgia (still a tall order) , then it's all set up to be a final game where both teams slim chances to proceed are sabotaged.

[Fixer82]

Gutted!
I blame the jersey. It's a crap pyjama looking jersey.

In seriousness though, I thought the Serbian keeper was excellent. When Wes went off we were hoofing it more and more.
We should've had a peno but we didn't get the rub of the green.

Serbia were smart and cynical. They stalled and dived and hey, if it was an Irish team doing the same in that situation we'd think they were great.

Meyler played well too.
Hard luck to the team. It looks bleak but at least they put their heart and soul into it.

[geysir]

Had another look, didnt realise we were on 11 points.

So if The nether-region beat Sweden, we're in as they'd be on 11.
Turkey Beat Iceland we're good
Turkey draw with Iceleand we're good
Montes beat Denmark but lose to Poland
Belgium beat Bosnia then it doesnt matter what they or Greece do..


To be honest, if we beat Wales we'll qualify. Odds are in our favour.

Beating Wales should not be a daunting task

Have yet another look, Ireland are on 10.
Even if Wales beat Georgia, the final game v Wales - if it's not a dead rubber, it's looking very softish rubber.

[pineapple stu]

The only thing I can reckon with Hoolahan is that he's like that player in Championship Manager who has 20 technique and 3 stamina.

I don't recall much of him in the second half. I guess O'Neill chose to withdraw him based on the knowledge that once he starts to fade, he's gone?

Don't see why he didn't get the last 15 minutes in Georgia though. Had a great game tonight.

[SwanVsDalton]

Ooof. That smarts.

Thought we were really good in the first half, did all the things we didn't do against Georgia - pressed the Serbs, forced them into handy mistakes, overlapped, played some nice interlinking play. Only thing missing was the final ball (theme of the night).

We went to hell completely after they scored. The players rushed into panic stations and didn't leave there for 40 minutes (about 25 with an extra man). We lacked composure and clarity and our basic skills - touch, passing, crossing etc - completely deserted us.

But that's kind of what happens when you draw or win a bunch of games in the final minutes with pumped long balls - I can hardly blame the players for thinking it might work again, but bang, bluster and everything but the kitchen sink can only work so many times. We had an above average strike rate of pulling it out of the fire. It's just not sustainable.

Plan A, Plan B, Plan Cs - they're sustainable.

We've been riding our luck for a long time. Tonight wasn't the issue. It was the stand-offish performance against Wales, the crap against Austria at home, the absolute inanity of Tbilisi. We've been bad all year and the one night we turned up, we got beat. Bittersweet irony but, on the whole, we can hardly complain.

If I was to take a moment to defend O'Neill, I think some key players didn't perform well in the last two games for a variety of reasons - Long (match sharpness/confidence?), Walters (fitness?), Brady (did better tonight, but his crossing - dear lord, what's going on there).

I thought Wes looked tired when he came off and I was actually glad to see Hourihane, but the subs didn't work and it was dismaying that no one thought to try and calm some heads. The decision making of guys like McClean (who, otherwise, was at his McClean-iest) was dreadful in the last 10 minutes.

But, this is O'Neill's team, his players and it just hasn't been good enough. Choppy team selections, seat-of-the-pants tactical changes, odd substitutions. We're paying for the cumulative weight of several misjudgments. We don't deserve to be anywhere but where we are.

[seanfhear]

We needed to replace Hoolahan with a Fresh Hoolahan............

We really are lacking creative players and Hoolahan is 35 . Brady has a bit of creativity but needs help .

We Need Hoolahans....Hoolahans that can last 90 minutes.....Hoolahans that are 25 / 19 / 14

Send us Hoolahans.....Football Gods.......

[p2011]

Even though the last 30 minutes were a bit headless, there was a lot of good in the first 60 minutes. If we'd played like that in the previous few games, we wouldn't be in this situation now.

Meyler was excellent: tidy and very energetic, didn't do a lot wrong. He has been great when called on in big games (off the top of my head: last night, home v Germany, away v Austria). I'd love to know the real story about Wes H for club and country - does he really not have the legs, is he carrying an ankle injury or something all the time... why does he play every second game and why does he invariably get taken off so early? I know he is 35, but I think that a tired, strolling, non-pressing Hoolahan would still have been a better option to have on the field in the last 30 minutes last night. (A number 10 plays in a relatively small area of the pitch, so it's not like he has to hare around all the time if tired.) I really think Hoolahan operating at 50% is still a better option for us than what we see when he isn't on the pitch. (Especially against 10 men, but that's hindsight obviously as he was taken off before the foul on his replacement, Murphy.)

I don't want to be hard on the guy, but Christie got sucked into the middle for the goal last night and for the Georgian goal. In both cases: if he stays out to the right of the back four, the goal probably doesn't get scored. Coleman really has been a great loss - his defending, his crossing, his "getting up and down". He was the first name on the teamsheet before he got injured. And last night we were missing McCarthy, Hendrick, and McGeady (McGeady as a sub probably). All mitigating factors.

O'Neill really isn't greatest tactician. But at least he makes changes and rolls the dice by bringing on subs, and the players still seem to be playing for him. Trap was a poor motivator, not the greatest tactician, and sent out pretty much the same 11 in the same shape every time. (Exaggerating to make a point: Trap probably would have sent out the same team last night as v Georgia except for Cox on the wing for Walters.) So O'Neill is still a step up in my book.

It's not unthinkable that Wales will slip up in Georgia. And we will be facing them after they've had a round trip to Georgia. The permutations for second place do my head in.... if Wales don't slip up, we need to win twice to put us on 19 points, or 13 points and goal difference of at least +2 excluding Moldova (we're currently at +1 excluding Moldova, and a win v Wales would put us on +2 or better). If Bosnia lose to Belgium, they will probably end up on 11 points excluding Gibraltar and (again excluding Gibraltar) a GD around +2 (assuming they win by one v Estonia and lose by one v Belgium). If Greece overtake Bosnia with two reasonably likely wins, they will end up on 13 points and +4 or better. The Greece game that counts is v Cyprus away, so let's assume they won't win by much there (if they win at all).
If we win twice (big if), I would think we'll probably end up ahead of Bosnia if they are second, but probably not Greece if they come second.

[Straightstory]

If Wes had been hadn't been unfortunate enough to have most of his career co-incide with defensive, long-ball merchants/managers like Trapattoni and O'Neill, he might have got a hundred caps. Such a shame.
Don't think Wales will win in Georgia, so not unlikely we'll finish second in the group - but probably not enough to qualify for play-offs???
What is with Shane Long? When the ball is launched up to him it nearly always ends up a free kick - either to us or the opposition. Must be frustrating for the lad.

[Straightstory]

Interesting fact from BBC website:


Martin O'Neill's side have scored just two goals at home in 2018 World Cup qualifying; only Faroe Islands (1) and Latvia, San Marino and Liechtenstein (all zero) have scored fewer amongst European nations.

[OwlsFan]

That last 20 minutes were far more frustrating for me than the Georgia game. Two ball players in O'Dowda and Hourihane were brought on so I thought now we'll use the extra man by moving the ball around. Instead we played the long ball in to the box at every opportunity which didn't play to having the extra man on the field and then some of the moronic free kicks which we gave away when trying to build up a head of steam...madness. I know Arter had a poor game in Tblisi but should he not have replaced Hoolahan and Murphy for Walters, who was having another poor game? There was panic both on the bench and on the field. We needed 2 but it might have been one of those games where one followed another. Truth is that despite the so-called better performance in the first half, we barely created a chance worth talking about (the tip over is the only one which comes to mind) while they had clearer chances. We also started off so slowly in the second half and Wes pretty much didn't get a touch for the 15 minutes he was on. He certainly was able to bring our most potent attacking force, Christie, in to the game in the first half with some lovely balls but the end product was poor. I also noticed on a number of occasions Brady not showing for the ball.

So, assuming we beat Moldova, but without Robbie who's going to score, it's a must win in Wales and see how the other groups pan out. I think it would favour us if Wales just need a draw (remember France in Paris) - a team in such a situation never knows whether to stick or twist and then the nerves set in. If we're honest, we always suspected it would come down to the last game which it has (group permutations hopefully favouring us) - the memories of Serbia allegedly being "there for the taking" in the fist game are now long forgotten.

p.s. What's this about Murphy being fouled for a penalty? Didn't see it.

[Closed Account 2]

He was held inside the box by a Serbian defender as a cross came in, it was just after the red card. It was probably 60:40 a penalty, by that I mean it was a foul but the sort of foul that refs don't often spot/give.

[p2011]

Defender with his arms around his shoulders when a cross came in from our left with about 75-80 mins gone. Looked a definite penalty first glance on the TV, replays confirmed it. Fairly obvious penalty, especially given recent clamp-downs defenders grappling in the box.

Indeed, Wes H's career in green has been a crying shame. Which makes me think there's some inside story or injury or something.

[seanfhear]

Dead Cert Penalty .......Strong Case for Video Replay....... If there was Video replay then the defender would be slower to foul so blatantly at least.......

[Yard of Pace]

The writing was on the wall after Georgia, it is hardly a surprise result.

Nah the mantra was always beat the big teams at home and draw with them away. Georgia was a disaster but others dropped points and if we beat Wales. we'll have just done the mantra backwards!

[seanfhear]

Hopefully O Neill will have seen something in the way we played in the first half.....and continue it .

Lets try to beat Moldova playing in that manner and take it from there .We have to get away from continuous Long Ball Football if for no other reason it is un-watchable............

[nigel-harps1954]

I haven't read through the thread so no idea if any of this is being repeated, but here's my two cents.

We were the better side for the opening 25 minutes. After that, we never really looked like scoring at any stage. There was some passages of good football, but no end product at all.

Nobody in an Ireland jersey looks like they can accurately kick a football in the direction of their choosing, which was a poor reflection on their status as professional footballers. I was remarking on the horrendous shooting the players were at in the warmup to the fella I was at the game with. 4 of every 5 shots hit were way up into the crowd. That was reflected in some of the paltry attempts from range in the second half in particular.

Hoolahan would do well to retire about now. He offered nothing to us after half an hour. Those who criticise O'Neill for not starting a 35 year old midfielder who isn't getting much game time at club level would do well to watch last nights game back again before calling for him to be the focal point of our midfield.

Again, there was no plan B. When things started to go tits up, the ball gradually started to spend more time in the air without really getting anywhere. Shane Long was brutal again and could be there until next week without ever looking like scoring.

The sooner Seamus Coleman is back, the better. Christie didn't do an awful lot wrong, but he doesn't offer the same threat going forward as Coleman, and that's really badly missed at the minute. Also, the sheer drive Coleman brings to the team is completely lacking at the minute. There doesn't seem to be any real leaders out there.

It's sad that walking away from the ground, I heard more and more people saying "at least it was better than Georgia" as if that's something to be proud of. The minimum that should be expected from Georgia and Serbia is 4 points. Now you're facing a scenario where you need to win both games to end the group to have any minuscule chance of getting to a playoff.

[geysir]

It's sad that walking away from the ground, I heard more and more people saying "at least it was better than Georgia" as if that's something to be proud of. .
Usually in defeat something like that is expressed as a crumb, not as something to be proud of.

[Stuttgart88]

I haven't seen the game yet as RTE are not allowing access to it yet , nor the late evening's highlights.

I don't know what O'Neill is supposed to with Wes, bring him to Knock for some extra healing? Wes has only played half the time for Norwich this season, when he plays they win, when he doesn't they lose, I'd assume there are obvious fitness restriction issues

By the sounds of it, it was an improved performance from Ireland missing the vital ingredient of a good result.
That was a brilliant move for Serbia's goal, those cxnts decide to come good in this campaign when Austria faded and Wales plodded throughout.

If Wales manage to beat Georgia (still a tall order) , then it's all set up to be a final game where both teams slim chances to proceed are sabotaged.

There was a great poll question on Twitter this morning: would you give up ten years of your own life to make Wes ten years younger?

[mark12345]

We needed to replace Hoolahan with a Fresh Hoolahan............

We really are lacking creative players and Hoolahan is 35 . Brady has a bit of creativity but needs help .

We Need Hoolahans....Hoolahans that can last 90 minutes.....Hoolahans that are 25 / 19 / 14

Send us Hoolahans.....Football Gods.......

We have a budding Hoolahan at Reading. His name is Liam Kelly. But our manager didn't want to upset the pecking order of senior players ( which is understandable to a point) by bringing in a young upstart. However good managers aren't afraid to make those decisions. We need ball players and Kelly is definitely one we cannot ignore

[nigel-harps1954]

We have a budding Hoolahan at Reading. His name is Liam Kelly. But our manager didn't want to upset the pecking order of senior players ( which is understandable to a point) by bringing in a young upstart. However good managers aren't afraid to make those decisions. We need ball players and Kelly is definitely one we cannot ignore

I'd sooner say Chris Forrester is closer to a budding Hoolahan.

[shakermaker1982]

First half - that is Ireland when we are at our best. Combination of trying to play some football with the intensity that unsettles the opposition. Unfortunately the technique of how to cross a ball has not been mastered and it meant we wasted a lot of attacking opportunities.

20 mins to go against 10 men. Why did we panic? Why not play it around them and use the extra man advantage? Wales were 0-0 going into the last 15 and remained patient.

I've already mentioned the stupid fouls by Walters last night but it's still driving me crazy. What was he thinking??

Impressed with Duffy again. The guy wins everything in the air (both boxes) and he is turning into a real leader for us. Meyler did a good job as well. Deserves a place in the team.

The next Robbie Keane, Duffer or Hoolahan needs to be discovered ASAP. Anything coming through to lift the gloom?

Saw a few clips of Dunphy on social media post match. ****

[seanfhear]

We have a budding Hoolahan at Reading. His name is Liam Kelly. But our manager didn't want to upset the pecking order of senior players ( which is understandable to a point) by bringing in a young upstart. However good managers aren't afraid to make those decisions. We need ball players and Kelly is definitely one we cannot ignoreGood point Well Made .

That young Woodburn Fella has done well for Wales.....

[seanfhear]

I'd sooner say Chris Forrester is closer to a budding Hoolahan.Alan Judge was doing brilliantly until he broke his leg . I hope he gets back to his best soon......

[Dunners]

Scott Hogan will start up front for the last two games and we need to draft in Kelly and Manning to give the midfield a spark (youth , energy and creativity ) , although for the latter two this is likely to be for the next campaign

[kennedmc]

THought we were better than against Georgia but our quality in the final third is shocking. Tactics and setup were ineffective.

Wes was neat and tidy - he played well without running the game (Also re posts above - him being on the bench regularly for club is hardly a new phenomenon) - he is far better than brady and whelan. Brady is not a central player at all. We should have had a penno.

There was still way too much lumping it in the box from all angles! How many proper saves did their keeper have to make? I can only recall one or 2 routine saves although he was good at crosses

[colonelwest]

Fair points all round mostly, thought that was the best we've played since Italy in Lille but again as always a complete lack of ideas in the last third of the pitch and no-one who has a modicum of cop on to drop off a bit in the box for a knock down/ shot.

As mentioned by Dunners there Hogan will hopefully come in for the last 2 games, Maguire also should be in the last 2 squads as an option off the bench, similar style to Long but can actually finish. If Long and/ or Murphy are the answer up top for goals I'd hate to see what the question is and that question has been asked for a good few years now.

Why O'Dowda came on instead of Horgan given McGeady was injured was baffling, he was lost out there positionally and the 3 or 4 balls he tried to stick in went awol or straight into the defender 2 yards in front of him. Meyler outstanding again as he has been whenever he's stepped in. Difference between himself and Whelan is Myler has no problem showing for the ball, doing little give and goes and spreading it back and forth across 10-20 yards to keep things moving/ ticking over in possession. Wes was Wes as always, soon as he went off instead of knocking it about the midfield we went back 15 yards into our half and the centre halves were spreading it.

For all the negativity over the last week and the performances in 3 out of the last 4 games we're still night and day compared to the Traps tenure so a bit of perspective needed amongst the kneejerkery. Yes it's disappointing and frustrating and all that and there'll always be things to criticise, that's football. The most frustrating thing for me is once a year/ 18 months we put in a shift like last night or v Italy and then revert back to type most of the time but at least we gave it a go last night, the majority of Traps time we'd all be sitting there and there wouldn't even be that or an ounce of hope of getting something.

Thought Serbia put in a great away shift, cynical when needed when our only real clear cut chance came up, take him down and take the red, then the usual cynical time wasting and clinical in front of goal.

We've an aging squad but tbf we do have a fair couple of lads in their early to mid 20s who are pushing for their start/ a squad place and for the next campaign they'll hopefully push on in the euro qualifiers/ nations cup/ friendlies next year & the older heads taking up a squad place will be phased out. Still in a with a shout of making the playoff and we never make it easy for ourselves so we'll see what happens next month. The futures not as bleak as most are making out in my opinion albeit Russia is most likely out the window now.

[NeverFeltBetter]

When is O'Neill's contract up? Four straight competitive games with poor performances and dropped points speaks for itself. Obviously O'Neill's position should be evaluated at the end of the campaign, and if - a big if - they were able to get 4-6 points from those, I think the FAI will stick with him, but a big part of me thinks we should get ahead of the inevitable and look elsewhere now, as opposed to 18 months from now when we may very well be in the same position.

[mark12345]

I wouldn't have a problem with Forrester in the team. He's quite impressive as a creative midfielder. Kelly and Forrester to start against Moldova would be fine with me

[mark12345]

So do I. Judge is a fine player and could go a long way to softening the blow of Hoolahan's impending retirement

[Stuttgart88]

we're still night and day compared to the Traps tenure so a bit of perspective needed amongst the kneejerkery
I agree but only in an arctic winter night/day scenario! I can barely notice any difference.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Harry Arter poor with and without possession for a third competitive game, which proves the folly of pining our hopes on players who aren't good enough to play for England.

David Meyler was an improvement on Whelan and Arter and the only reason Arter got the not ahead of him despite Meyler being the better of the two in Vienna is because of hype and a media drive. It also makes a complete mockery of what Arter said recently about it “being harder” for granny rule players to get established in the IRL setup.

Wes Hoolahan was probably our best player when he was on the pitch, and despite all the myths about him being a luxury who “loses the ball in dangerous positions”, he didn't give away the ball once; in fact he won the ball several times.

Hoolahan showed every one of his 35 years, leading and organising the midfield and doing what Whelan failed thoroughly to do in Tbilisi, even as captain.

Meyler on the other hand, despite being MOTM, gave away the ball carelessly several times, and almost gave it away cheaply in the first half with a comically lackadaisical pass that fortunately wasn't intercepted like it should've been; this, again, shows the folly of the mythic Hoolahan criticism.

McClean is a sending off waiting to happen, completely lacking in the composure needed for games of this magnitude.

Brady was poor again but improved marginally, solely due to the presence of being able to interchange with Hoolahan.

I noticed on several other websites a few fans persisting with the folly of criticising Randolph, which is laughable in the extreme; he was almost entirely faultless, again, over the two games.

Walters was given the luxury of deciding if he was fit to play. He wasn't, but he completed 90 minutes over 72 hours as anyone could've predicted he would as soon as the gravity of the nature of his injury was disclosed. Nothing learned from the Euros debacle. But blame must lie at the feet of MON despite the selfishness of the player.

Murphy should've won a penalty, got a man sent off and won a free kick in an excellent position, and tested the goalkeeper. He should've been on from the start but this would've required dropping Walters, which is unthinkable, even when he is clearly unfit.

Long almost scored with a ferocious effort from outside the box and tested Stojkovic with another rare shot on target. He had no support at all, which was theoretically to come from Walters, and had to continuously resort to running the channels and into crossing positions.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
I was struck by how the only time we ever seemed to get more than one player in the box was at set pieces.
I was struck by how, from minute one, there was pockets of empty space left in front of our box, the space Meyler was supposed to be patrolling, the space Whelan continuously fails to protect when he plays; Serbia got joy time and time again but MON failed to do anything about it.
It was asinine how we ended up with no central midfielders against Georgia and with Hourihane as the closest thing to a central midfielder against Serbia. Against Georgia we ended up with McGeady, McClean, Brady, Walters, Long and Murphy on the pitch. O'Neill is clueless when it comes to adapting our shape and reorganising; it's fly by seat of pants stuff, real square pegs in round holes – which Walters sums up.
Christie is limited but game going forward. He had no support from an unfit Walters when defending, same as Coleman in Dublin against Georgia; but anyone could tell you Walters should play up front if at all. Christie did well to track back and stop a dangerous Serbia counter at point, when it would have been easy to go down.
Ward seems to think he's an auxiliary CB at times, tucking in and leaving us laughably exposed down his side.
Clark and Duffy were fine and are an adequate base to build on. If only O'Shea was a couple years younger, though, we badly miss his vocal presence and organisational skills.
The introduction of O'Dowda, who can't get off the bench for Bristol City, again, shows the folly of relying on granny rule players. He was ineffective apart from one decent cross.
Sean Maguire should've been integrated with the friendlies over 6 months ago. It's not like we could've possibly played any worse in those games if he was given a few minutes to show what he could do
It's laughable to see some fans use Woodburn as a reason for lads like Rice to be fast-tracked. A player who has about 270 minutes of senior football behind him and was brought off at half time in his last start because of a game changing mistake.
Hogan has finally given up on playing for England and thrown his lot in with us after one odd league goal in 20 games. We've been down this road before with Folan, Best and Cox. I would be pleasantly surprised if he is a success for us, but lads like Martin, Rhodes and McCormack have scored goals at Championship level with greater frequency over a longer period of time and have completely flattered to deceive at Intl level.
Why do we only come out and play when all seems lost? The Georgia game was the most frustrating since the 2-2 Austria game in Dublin. It's like we subconsciously play for a draw even when in front.

[osarusan]

O'Neill's teams at their worst are just as bad, but we are a bit more likely to get a more attacking performance out of them.

What bothers me is that the planning seems to be that the default tactic is defensive, long ball drudgery. It seems like only after a bad performance under such tactics will we set up to be attacking and pass the ball round a bit.

[colonelwest]

I agree but only in an arctic winter night/day scenario! I can barely notice any difference.

We haven't come within a million miles of plumbing the depths of Paul Green (unattached) coming on Vs Spain in Gdansk; needing 2 scabby last minute goals to beat Kazakhstan or the absolute drubbing 6-1 at home to Germany levels of despair. Anyone saying otherwise most definitely either has a short memory or is pulling a Maude Flanders!

As someone who heads every home game, most aways and was in Tbilisi for the game, yes that was horrific, but it was still nowhere near as bad as the dark days of the last while of Traps reign.

[nigel-harps1954]

Harry Arter poor with and without possession for a third competitive game, which proves the folly of pining our hopes on players who aren't good enough to play for England.



Can someone else point out the mistake in this please?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

A couple more points.

IRL need to be a bit more streetwise. The Georgians and Serbians were constantly wasting time, winding opposition players up and maintaining a dialogue with the referee throughout the game. The referee was probably (I like to think) going to send off Maksimovic anyway but it looked like he made his mind up after Walters performed his duties as captain and interjected. Until Walters did that it looked like nobody was going to pressure the referee. As for the penalty shout, it was a stonewall penalty but if Murphy had the common sense to go down it would've made the decision for the referee.

[geysir]

Can someone else point out the mistake in this please?
Harry was one of our better players last night?

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Harry was one of our better players last night?

Georgia was his third competitive game after the two Austria games. His only good performances have come in friendlies against Holland and Uruguay. If you read all my bullet points you'll see I'm aware that he didn't play last night; Hourihane's introduction off the bench in his stead was rather telling I thought.

[jbyrne]

As for the penalty shout, it was a stonewall penalty but if Murphy had the common sense to go down it would've made the decision for the referee.

he shouldn't have to go down to get the penalty. was clear live and even clearer when I saw the highlights at home after. the ref was in the perfect place to see it too and chickened out. sometimes hitting the deck actually looks suspicious and counts against the player being fouled

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

he shouldn't have to go down to get the penalty. was clear live and even clearer when I saw the highlights at home after. the ref was in the perfect place to see it too and chickened out. sometimes hitting the deck actually looks suspicious and counts against the player being fouled

It's cruel because I think we would've gone on to get a second if the penalty was given (and we scored it).