Absolute rubbish!

[onenilgameover]

In fact, Cunningham was our only 1 good outfield player last night. Everyone deserves their fair share of blame, not just the coach.

None of the papers seem to see it that way but I have to agree...Maybe too much blame is being heaped on Kerr but I think why people are so annoyed is beacuse it was so obvious what was wrong and what to do about it and its rare that that happens...People can go on and on thinking that they could pick the better team or make the right change but on Sat everyone was of the same mind during (I reckon) and after the game (on here now) because it was plain for all to see. Except kerr through the players held on for the 1 nil win and got stung. take for example when we were four on three at the back about ten to go with what looked like a decent oportunity to score. Kerr comes flyin out of the dugout screaming for players to retreat and not leave themselves exposed and I'm afraid that gesture and the shocking result (with consideration to how the game went) exposed Kerr.

[ken foree]

ken fore are you joking ?

I wanted to see us picking up the 3 points too. But we didnt deserve it. Questions must be asked about the mentality of this Irish side and the players who were picked werent up for it. In fairness if we had won we would all be cheering for Morrison and Kerr saying what a brilliant manager he is while papering over a dismal performance.

We would be going in to the China game not willing to make changes etc. As they say, more is learnt about a side in defeat than in victory.

no i agree with what you're saying! the thing that annoys me is our press/public is getting a bit british in its ability to blow smoke up the hole of what can be a very ordinary irish team at times, and i don't think it's a good habit. ireland didn't deserve it and if this performance and result renews some humility among us, then it's no bad thing.

[ken foree]

As for not winning being a good thing because it punctures the bandwagon, the softer aspects of the Irish media is a cross we will always have to bear unfortunately. I'd rather have the 3 points and still have an objective and honest appraisal of last night's performance from those who can tell their arse from their elbow.

Anyway, it's done now. Luckily we are still in a good position but I just hope some lessons are learnt from this. Maybe it's a welcome reality check.

yea looks like we might get out of jail with the french-swiss draw in paris.. at least we have a good chance if 4 wins/1 draw does it like i'm reading here. our poor performance deserved a draw and i hope that'll distill more belief in the players and setup.

[pedro]

i have to say, i cant see 1 good thing comin from that game. usually u can rely on keano, but he seemed knackered, and way more defensive than normal. going forward we were brutal, robbie was playing too deep and then when he eventually got the ball he had no idea what to do with it. there was no attemt to stretch the play with a long pass, it was all 1 2's which led to nothing.
for the last half hour the lads were just happy to keep the ball.
every time o'brien got the ball he arsed around at the back and was showin way to much of it to the israeli forwards. o'shea looked good coming forward, probably even more effective than duff down the left. kilbane was poor, thats all i'll say on him(i'd need a whole new thread to go into his performance!)
i know its not the end of the world and ever1 is still fairly upbeat about qualification, but if we can have a performance like that what makes you think we can face the french and swiss even at home???
i really cant remember a worse irish performance, makes me wish i wasnt a football fan.dreadful.

[Superhoops]

None of these teams have got a result against us on their home ground so their chances of doing so away from home are pretty slim, most will be happy to come away with a draw.

....at least we have a good chance if 4 wins/1 draw....
(a) Does anyone honestly believe we are good enough to go through the rest of the group unbeaten and get 3 or 4 wins?
(b) Will any combination of Andy Reid/Kavanagh and McGeady make a difference?
(c) Lets say Kavanagh (for Keane) and Reid (to allow Finnan to play R/B) play well against Israel will either of both be dropped to allow Roy Keane to return?
(d) Would Kerr still have played Roy Keane and Steve Carr against Israel at home if they were not suspended?

I would like the answers to be: Yes, Yes, No, No, but I suspect they are:
No, No, Yes, Yes.

[ken foree]

(a) Does anyone honestly believe we are good enough to go through the rest of the group unbeaten and get 3 or 4 wins?


the fact the other teams are so poor/mediocre helps! it's definitely possible and we have the best chance to do it by playing the big games at LR

[Superhoops]

the fact the other teams are so poor/mediocre helps! I think all the teams in the group are poor/mediocre. I think there will be several more draws and I think the Swiss will be the team to watch.

[tiktok]

I must admit I'm kind of glad that Roy Keane is out for the next game- he set the tone tonight- he stopped us playing.

I agree with a lot of what you said in your post, but this is rubbish.

The direction on how the game was approached clearly came from the manager, that much was obvious every time Duff or Finnan got the ball out wide, Keane (either of them), Morrison, Kilbane or anyone else didn't seem interested in getting into the box, we were trying to see it out for 85 minutes and it backfired, all down to the manager's negativity IMO.