Republic of Ireland V Northern Ireland - Thursday, 15th November 2018 - Friendly

[Stuttgart88]

Maguire looked like he had something about him when he came off the bench in October.

[Diggs246]

Will the squad convene tomorrow in Dublin?

[backstothewall]

Limited is an understatement - 90 minutes for Hogan, 99 for Maguire - I wouldn't omit them based on not being great in that time. Surely the most natural pairing up front, now that Long is injured, would be Robinson and Maguire - Robinson is our form striker (low bar at the moment, admittedly) and has impressed in his four caps, while Maguire has been scoring regularly for Preston when not injured, plus he'd have a clubmate alongside him this time out.

As regards Obafemi, first MON needs to check that he doesn't need to "consider his options" - if he's ready to commit, then perhaps give him 15-20 minutes against the North and maybe a few minutes at the end of the Denmark game, to put eligibility issues to bed but, more importantly, to give him a taste of competitive senior international football, so that he won't be completely wet behind the ears if he continues to get EPL games between now and March. I think the timelines are too tight to be considering him as a starter for the qualifiers proper so we should be thinking of using him off the bench, unless he goes on a scoring spree for Southampton between now and then

Sidenote - MON should also be following Aaron Connolly's progress closely and let him know that he's ready to promote him to the first team if he breaks into the Brighton first team - as part of this he should be in touch with Hughton regarding his plans for Connolly

Respectfully I disagree. What are friendlies for but giving youngsters a chance. I'd give him a start and at least 60 minutes against the north. If he does well he hangs on the the shirt for Denmark, but either way I'd be getting him on at some stage and tied down to us.

[tetsujin1979]

Shane long and Derrick Williams out due to injury, Lee O'Connor called up for training
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[Diggs246]

Obafemi to start?

Let him come off the bench to run at tired NI defenders, it will give him confidence and then bring him to Denmark

[tetsujin1979]

Not sure if it's been pointed out in the thread yet - Thursday's game is five years, to the day, since Martin O'Neill's first game in charge
Match thread: https://foot.ie/threads/184729-Republic-of-Ireland-V-Latvia-Friday-November-15th-2013-Friendly/
Highlights
4_0mrKaiT-8

[zero]

The most interesting aspect of this fixture for me was the potential chance of seeing a new striker in action.

Now? I'll still watch it but I'd put it at about the same level as the recent USA friendly. Ok it's Northern Ireland but really... so what?

[geysir]

The most interesting aspect of this fixture for me was the potential chance of seeing a new striker in action.

Now? I'll still watch it but I'd put it at about the same level as the recent USA friendly. Ok it's Northern Ireland but really... so what?
I think it's bigger than that, it has to be Guinness book of Record material. M O'Neill v M O'Neill, almost a bizarre republican nom de guerre conflict.

[Closed Account]

1063135234697412611

[tetsujin1979]

Lining up 3-4-3 according to sky sports.
McClean. Up front. Against the North.
That'll end well.

[The Fly]

There's little to comment on bar a couple of decent interchanges down the right side between Coleman and O'Dowda. Apart from that it's the usual cluelessness in possession and poor off-the ball movement.

Front 3 of NI are pressing very well.

[shakermaker1982]

I reckon my Sunday morning side would give Ireland a decent game.

[zero]

terrible stuff. worse than i expected. maybe i'm foolish to expect more.

[The Fly]

It's hard to maintain any enthusiasm when that's what you're served up with time and time again.

We look like a team of average footballers; whilst they're a team of average players. I'd prefer the latter.

[the 12 th man]

Dire,N.I. not much better,maybe it's just that they are cancelling each other out :p

[Cathalsmart]

These lads should be ashamed to call themselves footballers.

[Cathalsmart]

This is so dir you'd nearly wish the North would score.

[The Fly]

Randolph sparing our blushes here.

[the 12 th man]

N.I. should be out of sight at this stage..

[Cathalsmart]

We are so bad I cant help but laugh, I knew this year would be **** but christ almighty...3 goals and 1 win in 2018 2 against a USA kids team and 1 consolation goal that was handed to us when Wales were 4-0 up. How can the FAI look at this and not take action, even if it costs them alot how much will it cost them if we host a euros without us there.


EDIT - My apologies, forgot the 1-1 draw in Poland. Doesnt hide the fact we have been ****e though.

[Cathalsmart]

We dont have the players to play any football yet NI with all their championship and league 1 players can do that...

[the 12 th man]

Dundalk would beat Ireland right now.

[shakermaker1982]

Maguire is so injury prone.

We are terrible. Only positive has been Randolph.

[the 12 th man]

Randolph probably going to be MOTM,says it all.

[zero]

this is the worst we've been in my lifetime. worse than under stan - and that's borne out by the stats.

shocking. embarrassing. MON has to go.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Well. That was bad. And after all the drama over Obafemi.

[johnnyc]

Awful. No idea what brand of football we were trying to play. Shameful stuff.

[Bungle]

Can't believe i'm saying this but i hope denmark give us a tonking on Monday. This ****ing knobhead has to go. A joke of a manager. He's doing long term damage to football in this country.

[sbgawa]

Garbage. As usual.

[The Fly]

Don't get your hopes up too high - we can get rid of O'Neill but we still won't have a midfield.

[The Fly]

^ That said I still have my fingers crossed that Rice will declare for us and we can get Crowley settled in the side. Then build off the two of them going forward.

[TrapAPony]

^ That said I still have my fingers crossed that Rice will declare for us and we can get Crowley settled in the side. Then build off the two of them going forward.

Yes, but if Martin O'Neill is at the helm it wouldn't matter if we got Messi and Ronaldo to declare. We are absolutely atrocious under him and his sacking is way way overdue.

[seanfhear]

Don't get your hopes up too high - we can get rid of O'Neill but we still won't have a midfield.We need about 4 midfielders who can pass the ball . 2 Playing and 2 back up . It really is amazing that we don’t have midfielders that can pass the ball with a bit of quality .

[seanfhear]

We dont have the players to play any football yet NI with all their championship and league 1 players can do that...
I genuinely would love to swap managers and see if our players could pass the ball under Michael O’Neill . They also seem to have a bit of confidence that our players don’t .

Ya wouldn’t notice that Michael O’Neil had not won two European Cups and not played under Clough .

[Olé Olé]

I was one of 30,000 there tonight against what should be one of our biggest rivals. I shudder o think what the attendance will be at our next home match if we get whipped by the Danes away.

I can't believe how bad Hendrick and Brady were tonight. Ok, Brady is short of match practice but he lost so much possession. Hendrick was anonymous apart from some silly fouls. Hourihane was anonymous. They walked through us when Whelan went off. The back 3 were at sea a few times as a result.

And again, that impacted our forwards. Although I did like the effort of Robinson and Curtis has an edge that I like too.

Stevens looked really good at wing back. Food for thought.

[seanfhear]

^^^^^ We have no midfield . Brady did take some very good dead balls .

Is Hendrick getting game time at Burnley ? He was poor today as he has been lately . Brady hopefully will improve with games .

[The Fly]

We need about 4 midfielders who can pass the ball . 2 Playing and 2 back up . It really is amazing that we don’t have midfielders that can pass the ball with a bit of quality .

We haven't had midfielders of any real quality for around a decade now and fans shouldn't forget this. You can't get around this fact no matter who the manager is. The quality of our play has reflected it since Trapattoni was in charge. James McCarthy offered a glimpse of hope but he has hardly been stellar for us. With Rice and Crowley* alongside him I'd look forward with much more optimism though. Things are so bad right now that that old "it doesn't matter how we play as long as we qualify" mantra can't apply. We need to take active steps to build something like Wales and NI did. One thing they had in common though is young hungry managers, which is why I'd much rather Keane was manager than O'Neill.

* I mention Crowley often only because I watched him a number of times in some youth games and his ability was so blatantly obvious that I wanted us to secure him more than any other young Irish qualified player that I've seen in a long time.

[The Fly]

Yes, but if Martin O'Neill is at the helm it wouldn't matter if we got Messi and Ronaldo to declare. We are absolutely atrocious under him and his sacking is way way overdue.

I wonder if the players have downed tools on him a bit.

Look at the NI front 3 earlier with their constant pressing - the other O'Neill had them well drilled there.

[CraftyToePoke]

I wonder if the players have downed tools on him a bit.

I can't see how they would be fully playing for him any longer, no. They aren't blind, they aren't daft.
They know what a pro set up should resemble, pre and during games, and its no relation to what we are.
This needs to stop now, it needed to stop after Denmark & that's not being wise after the event. However MONs highly strategic dalliance with Stoke has made it very difficult to undo this, by difficult I mean expensive and very humbling for the FAI decision makers, who true to form are hiding from the decision.

[tricky_colour]

We make Theresa May look good.

[jbyrne]

They aren't blind

based on some of the dreadful passing last night I wouldn't be too sure about that. of course management has to take a lot of the blame but some of the passing and decision making was dreadful at times and the players must take responsibility.

some dreadful individual performances but enda stevens looks like he is our best left back / wing back option and, although some of his passes were dreadful, brady showed a couple of very neat touches and its a positive to have him back.

apart from that easily the most worrying performance of the last 3

[seanfhear]

We make Theresa May look good.
She is better organised in midfield , is able to pass and has vision . Its the headers all round her that are the problem there .

[ifk101]

Sure, individual performances could be better, but they are subject to how MON sets up the team. We gave the ball to the North by constantly sitting deep. In contrast, the North pressed high, which stopped us playing the ball out from defence – not that we do that anyways. Really can’t see any logical reasoning behind how we are set-up. There’s no intent to create, control, influence the game. It seems to be all about containing the opposition. Our only attacking threats are long balls from Randolph, kicked out of play for the most part, and set-plays which are monotonous and predictable. And talk of having no midfield players is nonsense, we chose to play the game without a midfield.

[Fixer82]

Shaun Williams was excellent in midfield against Poland.
Would love to see him get more game time under O’Neill.

[Straightstory]

The highlight of the game was in the second half when N Ireland put an outstanding move together, breaking forward at pace, passing skilfully and accurately, and it just needed one outstretched leg to put the ball in the net. You would never see the Republic try anything like that. Never. Ever.

[passinginterest]

I don't think there's ever been a better game to prove that our manager and coaching team need to be replaced. There's no argument that the opposition had more quality, or come from a different footballing culture, or are technically better, or have a couple of world class players that we don't have. That NI team had players from the same footballing culture and leagues, mostly playing at a lower level than ours, and, apart from not being able to finish their dinner, dominated in every statistic. 58% possession, 11 attempts to 8, 11 corners to 3. They passed the ball to each other better, they communicated better, they worked as a unit better, they created more. Yes, our players didn't perform, but the management have to shoulder most of the blame for sending them out without any kind of clear system of play. The NI players knew when to pressure, knew how to cut off supply to our wing backs, knew we wouldn't try to play through the middle, knew how to isolate the weak link in our back 3. They knew those things because they were coached to know them. Our players were told the team an hour before kick off and were told to go out and play with a bit of passion and like real men and good luck. That doesn't cut it anymore. Time for change.

[Olé Olé]

Shaun Williams was excellent in midfield against Poland.
Would love to see him get more game time under O’Neill.

Has barely played since. Maybe he went against O'Neill's instructions and retained possession too much?

[zero]

I don't think there's ever been a better game to prove that our manager and coaching team need to be replaced. There's no argument that the opposition had more quality, or come from a different footballing culture, or are technically better, or have a couple of world class players that we don't have. That NI team had players from the same footballing culture and leagues, mostly playing at a lower level than ours, and, apart from not being able to finish their dinner, dominated in every statistic. 58% possession, 11 attempts to 8, 11 corners to 3. They passed the ball to each other better, they communicated better, they worked as a unit better, they created more. Yes, our players didn't perform, but the management have to shoulder most of the blame for sending them out without any kind of clear system of play. The NI players knew when to pressure, knew how to cut off supply to our wing backs, knew we wouldn't try to play through the middle, knew how to isolate the weak link in our back 3. They knew those things because they were coached to know them. Our players were told the team an hour before kick off and were told to go out and play with a bit of passion and like real men and good luck. That doesn't cut it anymore. Time for change.

well said, agree with all the above.

[jbyrne]

The highlight of the game was in the second half when N Ireland put an outstanding move together, breaking forward at pace, passing skilfully and accurately, and it just needed one outstretched leg to put the ball in the net. You would never see the Republic try anything like that. Never. Ever.

last night was bad but please don't go overboard.
mccleans goal against Austria away sounds exactly like what you describe (except for the actual finish to the net)

[OwlsFan]

Nothing really to say about the game other than we continue to be terrible and they were slightly better (how some people might like to go back to the day when under Trapp we stuffed them during their last visit). And speaking of which my comments are more political than about football. What has happening during the intervening period ? At that last game about 4 or 5 years ago GSTQ was greeted pretty much in silence and respected. This time it was greeted with the loudest boos (or should I say booze) at the Aviva since Raheem Sterling played for England having left Liverpool shortly before. Has it something to do with Brexit ? Their booing of James McClean only started after the anthems so it couldn't be related to that. Some Nordies beside me sat down for the anthem. Some kids in front of me were perplexed by the jeers - welcome to Irish history. Even the drummer in the "singing section" couldn't resist a few bangs during the anthem. At least the bell wasn't rung. I am as nationalistic as the next man but I found the booing disappointing. In life if you want to persuade someone to do something, you don't jeer them and disrespect them. That sort of stuff does nothing to further the cause of unity and it just confirmed their view that there is a hostile State south of the border. Shame.