Slovakia v Republic of Ireland - 8th October 2020 - Euro 2020 Playoff Semi Final

[paul_oshea]

Obviously that was a disappointing result, had we scored it would have put a different perspective on the performance, the clearest of the chances was Hourihane's, one that a striker or McClean would have relished and probably dispatched.
First prize flight of fancy on how it all could have been different, goes to the idea that had we used a different taller goalie in the shoot-out, he would dived exactly like Randolph did and got his fingers to the ball.


Would it though, I know kenny wants us to hold possession but i have a feeling we would have conceded. I dont buy into it had one of those gone in, yes hourihanes at the end when there was so little time but not the others. Had one of slovakias earlier chances gone in we could have committed more men forward and got picked off. Swings and roundabouts, speculation your honour.

[geysir]

But you have no issue buying into the bizzarre, the theory of the goalie with the longer arms saving a peenalty?

[paul_oshea]

I've gone through the penos, and screengrabbed the photos(for a discussion on another forum), their penalties were certainly not as good as I first thought they were. I feel their keeper was much more suited to save their penalties and our own. He covers much more ground, even randolph at full stretch for the second hes only getting haflway across from centre to right post, and yes hes at full stretch.

[seanfhear]

Funnily enough sometimes Goalkeepers with bigger bodies and longer arms sometime make saves that goalkeepers with smaller bodies and shorter arms don’t !

How many Five Feet Goalkeepers do you see ? ?

Some Goalkeepers are much better at saving penalties. The Nottingham Forest goalkeeper ( can’t think of his name ) saved the One Penalty that Matt Le Tissier did not score ( 48 from 49 scored by Le Tissier, Incredible really ). He was known to be be very good at saving penalties.

The Wimbledon Goalkeeper that saved the John Aldridge ( for Liverpool ) Penalty in the FA Cup Final was also known as very good at saving penalties. For what its worth England should have subbed him for Peter Shilton in that semifinal shootout with Germany. Shilton while past his best by then was not a particularly good goalkeeper at saving penalties even at his best. Our own Shay Given was no great shakes as a penalty saver.

I suppose the main Goalkeeper might not take too kindly to being subbed off and ya could lose another wise very good goalkeeper for the chancy experiment. it certainly would not be worth it for all that Travers has shown yet.

Van Gaul did it in a championship with Holland and it worked but in a following game he did not substitute the goalkeeper and if I recall correctly lost that time.

Maybe FIFA should allow the Sub Goalkeepers to be used for shoot outs if desired ~ ~ It would be a very interesting talking point if nothing else !

[Razors left peg]

Everyone on here is disappointed so we are all looking for someone to blame for yesterday. If we weren't gutted then you're not a fan and wouldn't be on here in the 1st place. That being said getting into the penalties analysis is a bit pointless. Yes I think Randolph was bit slow to get down to a couple but there's no way Travers was ever gonna be subbed in for him.
We lost that game because we didn't take great chances, penalties can go either way on the night

[NeverFeltBetter]

I wouldn't dismiss the shoot out as just a case of "can go either way". There's a skill to them, taking and saving, and Ireland were weaker on both points, disappointingly so. Not that I think Randolph should have been subbed before hand, definitely.

[John83]

Both our missed penos were on our takers, not their keeper.

[Bielsa´s irish]

well id watched the whole game yesterday for 2 hours on espn Argentina. I am gonna start a thread about since no one else did it.

It was an even match, Eire was the better side had 8 or 10 clear chances to score. They had 2 very clear. Saved by randy and the one off the line in a mix up, i think it was egan or duffy again who allowed the ball in or randy didnt go in a shout.

We didnt take our chances, we played better grass footie. Ireland was better when McCarthy was on the pitch, i thought his replacement was really really bad, even though he had two big chances and screwed them .

Randolph 8 excellent once again can play 5 more years with his level.

Doherty 6 looked frustrated and angry. Had problem with his man in 1st half, Was tidy.

Egan 7 was ok, good on the ball.

Duffy 7 was ok, not as good as egan on the ball but a strong defender, this guy is still in the learning curve can be better

stevens 8 for me very good game . Awesome guy , just couldnt go forward a bit more but he made a hoolahan assist yesterday in a one on one

Hendrick, McCarthy and Hourihane all 7, they arer still learning the system, they are a unit,

Robinson started strongly but faded after an hour of game 5

McGoldrick dont see the great views, he plays as a false 9, we did his job, not spectacular 6

McClean was ok, but looked rusty , and with a few pounds extra, not as fast, 5


browne 4 he did a back pass that started a counter missed passes, misses two golden chances and a penalty kicked it like my aunt Grace.

odowda did a few runs, got hamsik booked, better than Robinson in that position

Long wasnt given good enough time

Kenny 5 made mistakes with the subsitutions, S Long the 1st change... up front we were light with a few runs he created more havoc than McGoldrick in 110 minutes,
And naive Kenny, the Connolly Idah situation just two strikers strange..... couldnt happen to an experienced manager....you just cover that up. Imagine that for Italy or Germany ...they cover that up in a decisive match. All on the bench

Dont see that in other national teams, we had Dybala who had covid 3 times and was on the bench

[geysir]

I do remember some game in the past, it happened that the manager put on a late sub, a penalty scoring sub and then the opposition grabbed a late winner.

And was there not a time when no matter what Dutch goalie was in goals they couldn't even save the so called 'perfect height' struck penalty, not even when their special penalty saving goalie sub was brought on in the 119th minute.

[Stuttgart88]

I agree (@John83). I think their keeper committed fully and early to the Browne pen because Browne's run up basically told him that he was going to hit it firmly, waist high. Randolph didn't have the benefit of any such telegraphed intentions. Did anyone see Marshall's save? Almost identical. I froze the TV picture at the point of impact of all of their pens. Randolph had put his weight to one side clearly for each but hadn't really started his dive. For both Browne's miss and Israel's miss, the keeper had read the intention and was already well across at the point of impact.

I'm not sure of this but across all 3 games last night (25+ pens?) all of the measured, low, calm penalties went in. Only the ones 2-4 feet off the ground were saved. Some were missed outright. It happens.

[Stuttgart88]

I do remember some game in the past, it happened that the manager put on a late sub, a penalty scoring sub and then the opposition grabbed a late winner.

And was there not a time when no matter what Dutch goalie was in goals they couldn't even save the so called 'perfect height' struck penalty, not even when their special penalty saving goalie sub was brought on in the 119th minute.Was that Tim Krull?

[Razors left peg]

Both our missed penos were on our takers, not their keeper.

Id agree with that, I thought Doherty made a poor choice to try hit the top corner in the scenario where if he missed we were out. The margin for error was high, especially when he had also hurt his hamstring. But Im not going to hammer him for it. Id much rather look at the Hourihane miss which I thought was disgraceful

[pineapple stu]

Some Goalkeepers are much better at saving penalties. The Nottingham Forest goalkeeper ( can’t think of his name ) saved the One Penalty that Matt Le Tissier did not score ( 48 from 49 scored by Le Tissier, Incredible really ). He was known to be be very good at saving penalties.

The Wimbledon Goalkeeper that saved the John Aldridge ( for Liverpool ) Penalty in the FA Cup Final was also known as very good at saving penalties.
Mark Crossley and Dave Beasant.

Funnily enough, I seem to remember Packie Bonner not being great on penalties at all. Except once :)

[seanfhear]

Both our missed penos were on our takers, not their keeper.
Was Browne’s Not saved ?

[seanfhear]

Was that Tim Krull?Krull was brought on for one penalty shoot out and Holland won it. If all the penalties are very well taken then maybe no goalkeeper will save them. I suppose if the goalkeeper is known as a good penalty saver it ups the pressure a notch !

[seanfhear]

Mark Crossley and Dave Beasant.

Funnily enough, I seem to remember Packie Bonner not being great on penalties at all. Except once :)
Great Knowledge there. Bonnar was no small fella. I remember one Argentinian goalkeeper who was said to be good on penalties having one great shootout and nothing the next. If they are all well taken they take a bit of stopping. 48 out of 49 for Le Tissier was some job. He pretty much took the lottery out of it except for once !

[Real ale Madrid]

Penalties are not a Lottery.

[seanfhear]

Penalties are not a Lottery.
If they were all well taken with a bit of disguise you would be very lucky to save any of them ! !

[Real ale Madrid]

If they were all well taken with a bit of disguise you would be very lucky to save any of them ! !

I think that proves my point?!

[pineapple stu]

Was Browne’s Not saved ?
Browne's was a poor kick - the one keepers love. Nice height, not in the corner. Means all the keeper has to do is go the right way.

[pineapple stu]

I remember one Argentinian goalkeeper who was said to be good on penalties having one great shootout and nothing the next.
Was that Sergio Goitoxchea (or however you spell it)?

Took over from the injured Pumpido in the 90 World Cup and got them through a shoot-out anyway. I think he had a reputation as a good penalty saver. But yeah, doesn't mean you won't lose 6-5 the next time.

I remember watching West Ham v Birkirkara in the Europa League a few years back (sounds nerdy, but it sticks in my mind cos I was watching it in the UCD bar straight after we'd lost to Slovan) and that went to penalties. The Maltese keeper was awful - he just moved too early ever time - and West Ham scored all their kicks. Keeper wasn't going to get near any of them. It's sometimes interesting to see a lesser player - with all due respect to the guy, who's obviously a lot better than me! - face top players as then you can really see the difference.

It's the below video -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwebJZy62Wc

[jbyrne]

Browne's was a poor kick - the one keepers love. Nice height, not in the corner. Means all the keeper has to do is go the right way.

thought their keeper was off his line for Brownes....

[seanfhear]

I think that proves my point?!
But sure if that happened to everyone we would be still watching them taking penalties now from last night.

Anyway I only ever took one in a game and had that touch of the Doherty ( maybe too much adrenaline ) = too good of a connection and hit the cross bar and over, not even the chance of a follow up rebound in live play.

It takes balls to take one all the same ! !

[seanfhear]

Professional footballers should be practising Penalties a lot these days. It can hardly hurt even the most basic technique !

[seanfhear]

Explains a bit more about the Connolly situation. I think if I was holding the Tape I would have got Two Metres !


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8823041/Aaron-Connolly-sat-10cm-close-Ireland-staff-member-tested-positive-Covid-19.html

[Razors left peg]

Explains a bit more about the Connolly situation. I think if I was holding the Tape I would have got Two Metres !


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8823041/Aaron-Connolly-sat-10cm-close-Ireland-staff-member-tested-positive-Covid-19.html

That cant be true surely?

[seanfhear]

That cant be true surely?
Kenny himself mentioned something about it on an interview with Sky News ( before the Game I think )

One Player was 1.9 Metres away ~ ~ Connolly I Assume.

Another player was 1.7 Metres away ~ ~ Idah I Presume.

Has the Irish Main Stream media called a Media Black Out on this ? ? We are in strange times with the Irish Media and the Political Establishment ! !

We are being fed controlled information these days !

[paul_oshea]

the thing is, if connolly and idah had been sent back to England afterwards, like they are now, which we all knew would have to be the case once it was confirmed, why didnt kenny just play them? and yes for anyone that missed it, Sloavkias rules and UK rules would have allowed for him to play, idah to come on.

I know when they returned they would have been in trouble as the players technically would have been in breach but who cares then? they'd have won and wales on sunday wouldnt matter :)

[seanfhear]

the thing is, if connolly and idah had been sent back to England afterwards, like they are now, which we all knew would have to be the case once it was confirmed, why didnt kenny just play them? and yes for anyone that missed it, Sloavkias rules and UK rules would have allowed for him to play, idah to come on.

I know when they returned they would have been in trouble as the players technically would have been in breach but who cares then? they'd have won and wales on sunday wouldnt matter :)Kenny sort of said that they kept it quite while appealing it, but as you said could they not just have taken advantage of the most advantageous rules of where they were.

The Two Lads have not tested positive as as far as I know !

[Razors left peg]

Kenny himself mentioned something about it on an interview with Sky News ( before the Game I think )

One Player was 1.9 Metres away ~ ~ Connolly I Assume.

Another player was 1.7 Metres away ~ ~ Idah I Presume.

Has the Irish Main Stream media called a Media Black Out on this ? ? We are in strange times with the Irish Media and the Political Establishment ! !

We are being fed controlled information these days !

Dan McDonnell pretty much confirmed this on Twitter too. Its absolutely effing mind boggling

https://twitter.com/McDonnellDan/status/1314557228750430208?s=20

[seanfhear]

Dan McDonnell pretty much confirmed this on Twitter too. Its absolutely effing mind boggling

https://twitter.com/McDonnellDan/status/1314557228750430208?s=20
Irish Media not giving it much coverage. The Irish media is Far Too Cosy with the Political Establishment ~ ~ ~ The Media is supposed to hold the Political Establishment to account not be the mouth pieces for the political establishment. The Lines in Ireland have been very blurred in this for as long as I can remember and I am no spring chicken.

This is very newsworthy, Kenny himself mentioned it on Sky before the match but yet a lot of the Irish Media keep Schtum ! !

[geysir]

Was that Sergio Goitoxchea (or however you spell it)?

Took over from the injured Pumpido in the 90 World Cup and got them through a shoot-out anyway. I think he had a reputation as a good penalty saver. But yeah, doesn't mean you won't lose 6-5 the next time.

I remember watching West Ham v Birkirkara in the Europa League a few years back (sounds nerdy, but it sticks in my mind cos I was watching it in the UCD bar straight after we'd lost to Slovan) and that went to penalties. The Maltese keeper was awful - he just moved too early ever time - and West Ham scored all their kicks. Keeper wasn't going to get near any of them. It's sometimes interesting to see a lesser player - with all due respect to the guy, who's obviously a lot better than me! - face top players as then you can really see the difference.


It's a good memorable shoot-out clip, but you'd have to say that the West Ham goalie was just as bad, possibly even worse considering his pathetic attempts to psyche out the pen taker for the first one and then point the direction for the 2nd. I'm more pleased when those cheap gimmicks don't have effect.

[geysir]

Krull was brought on for one penalty shoot out and Holland won it. If all the penalties are very well taken then maybe no goalkeeper will save them. I suppose if the goalkeeper is known as a good penalty saver it ups the pressure a notch !

Thanks for the correction. it was WC 2104 and after checking the records,
Tim Krull was brought on last minute for that penalty shoot out, saved 2 and Holland went through. Tim then started in the semi final to Argentina and let in all 4.
Life is Krull sometimes.

Next one I remember in 2015 was Iceland's Gylfi Sig v Holland (https://youtu.be/20vZDfbltsc?t=133), a bag of nerves penalty struck at a good height if not the 'perfect height' and Cillesonn (the goalie who was subbed at WC 2014) dived the right way but still let it slip through. He hammered the ground in despair. The slo mo replay of the penalty will haunt Cillesonn to eternity and beyond.

[Stuttgart88]

Great Knowledge there. Bonnar was no small fella. I remember one Argentinian goalkeeper who was said to be good on penalties having one great shootout and nothing the next. If they are all well taken they take a bit of stopping. 48 out of 49 for Le Tissier was some job. He pretty much took the lottery out of it except for once !Bonner was the hero in Genoa, saving 1 out of 5. A month earlier Celtic faced Aberdeen in the SFA Cup Final. Celtic lost. I think Bonner conceded 8 from 8 in Hamden.

Alan Mannus was Rovers’ hero in the Aviva vs Dundalk last autumn. He looked like saving every Dundalk pen. Against the Finns in Europe he let in, what, 10 in a row? Before finally making the key save. At least one of Rovers’ successful pens in August was absolutely brutal.

Penalties may not be a lottery but the footballing gods can be very capricious. Or history is written by the winners.

[Trequartista20]

From everything I've heard, Baraclough's preparation did seem to be better than Kenny's. If that's true and we didn't give ourselves the best possible opportunity then that's disappointing.

[Razors left peg]

I just rewatched the 1st hour of the game.

Hourihane was awful, gave the ball away so many times. Attempted some stupid passes.
I don't know what Hendrick is. Not a 10 for sure. Did some good things and some terrible.
Mccarthy was better than I thought.
My biggest take away from rewatching is that McGoldrick was terrible. He has no positional awareness. Was wandering all over the place but giving no options for good forward pass from the midfield. We need a striker urgently

[irishfan86]

I totally disagree RE: McGoldrick. His hold up and overall play were great. But as mentioned by others, we needed a No. 9 on the field to linger in the box, and get in behind. While Slovakia generally did sit deep, there were moments when if we did have a guy like Long on the pitch maybe he does get in behind.

Basically— McGoldrick played the same style he always does at club level, drifting back into midfield or over to the wing as needed. The problem was we didn’t have one of the wide forwards tuck in centrally whenever McGoldrick drifted out.

I judge managers based on whether we create enough chances to win. Kenny’s system generated three good opportunities (Browne X 2 + Hourihane). When the players don’t execute, I put that on the player.

It was a very disappointing outcome but I felt we showed improvement over some of the stuff we saw under McCarthy. If some of our young guys come good I think we have a positive era to look forward to. However, will Kenny be given time? Will he get more time than the World Cup qualifying campaign? If he needs to qualify for the World Cup with this group of players + 3 or so newcomers that break through, that’s a very tough ask.

[Razors left peg]

Yeah will definitely disagree on McGoldrick but I agree with you on Kenny. We created more than enough chances to win the game. McClean had a great chance just before half time too that I had totally forgotten about.

Even though I picked out the negatives on the rewatch I have to say overall we are massively improved. We didn't hoof the ball forward aimlessly once. We tried to be positive at all times. The difference to the Georgia away game where we were time wasting 15 mins into the game was unbelievable. We tried to take the game to them but I think we are a couple players short. Connolly could have made big difference.

I'm very enthusiastic for the future under Kenny but I think even though they are nothing games he needs at least 1 win next week to get the public on board. Too many bandwagon jumpers are already saying Mccarthy was better

[paul_oshea]

I totally disagree RE: McGoldrick. His hold up and overall play were great. But as mentioned by others, we needed a No. 9 on the field to linger in the box, and get in behind. While Slovakia generally did sit deep, there were moments when if we did have a guy like Long on the pitch maybe he does get in behind.

Basically— McGoldrick played the same style he always does at club level, drifting back into midfield or over to the wing as needed. The problem was we didn’t have one of the wide forwards tuck in centrally whenever McGoldrick drifted out.

I judge managers based on whether we create enough chances to win. Kenny’s system generated three good opportunities (Browne X 2 + Hourihane). When the players don’t execute, I put that on the player.

It was a very disappointing outcome but I felt we showed improvement over some of the stuff we saw under McCarthy. If some of our young guys come good I think we have a positive era to look forward to. However, will Kenny be given time? Will he get more time than the World Cup qualifying campaign? If he needs to qualify for the World Cup with this group of players + 3 or so newcomers that break through, that’s a very tough ask.

I didn't write it in so many words but this is what I asked for before the game. We saw it a bit in the second half but less than a handful of times, creating two clear cut chances those times. I think I did mention already on here earlier that maybe long centrally coming on earlier was a better idea, certainly not on 122 minutes.

Just one final thing on the penos we seemed to be playing more towards it as time went on even as we coincided with changes that didn't inspire confidence for penos. Id have much rather Robinson and MCG taking penos than brown or hourihane or even Doherty ( before any were taken)

[paul_oshea]

112* can't edit without deleting on mobile

[elatedscum]

Mark Crossley and Dave Beasant.

Funnily enough, I seem to remember Packie Bonner not being great on penalties at all. Except once :)

One of my earliest football memories (not really sure why), I guess I was about 5, is watching a penalty shootout between Spurs and Notts Forrest and Mark Crossley saved every penalty except for Ruel Fox, and even that one he almost saved, he started to dive and readjusted when it was smashed high and he tipped it onto the bar and it bounced down and in. Incredible to watch. Think Sheringham was one of the ones who had their penalty saved. Remarkable stuff... Jesus, he was good at saving penalties...

Some keepers lose the ability over time as the reactions lose a split second and what used to work for them no longer does.

There have been many theories and ways to become a good penalty saver.

Some keepers are better able to influence the takers of penalties. To show one side as the player is running up.

Pepe Reina's father was a famous penalty saver in Spain and he always said the key was the arms. Basically as the player is about to strike a ball, there are specific arm movements which indicate what he might do, like if the players arm on his standing leg moves backwards as he winds up to strike it, he's likely to pull it across his body, whereas if the arm moves forward, then he's likely to open his body up etc etc etc.

[elatedscum]

Equally in terms of taking penalties, there are many theories – and many people have been really good penalty takers by doing different things.

Many people believe in the idea of 'never change your mind', Le Tissier who was a famously good penalty taker always said the opposite, that ideology came from the place of fear. If you see the keeper going early or doing something, you've got to be prepared to react to that

[Bielsa´s irish]

I just rewatched the 1st hour of the game.

Hourihane was awful, gave the ball away so many times. Attempted some stupid passes.
I don't know what Hendrick is. Not a 10 for sure. Did some good things and some terrible.
Mccarthy was better than I thought.
My biggest take away from rewatching is that McGoldrick was terrible. He has no positional awareness. Was wandering all over the place but giving no options for good forward pass from the midfield. We need a striker urgentlyi

agree with almost everything but hourihane he was the better of the 3 amigos as Liam Brady wrote. Then McCarthy, and finally Hendrick McGoldrick should do his thing with a number 9, if that we change the system or we play mc goldrick with 2 holding mids.

[Bielsa´s irish]

That cant be true surely?o

only in Ireland they shoot their own foot. Imagine we or the spanish, english, italians, they would kept it a secret if it is a decisive game.

Only in Ireland

[Charlie Darwin]

One of my earliest football memories (not really sure why), I guess I was about 5, is watching a penalty shootout between Spurs and Notts Forrest and Mark Crossley saved every penalty except for Ruel Fox, and even that one he almost saved, he started to dive and readjusted when it was smashed high and he tipped it onto the bar and it bounced down and in. Incredible to watch. Think Sheringham was one of the ones who had their penalty saved. Remarkable stuff... Jesus, he was good at saving penalties...

Some keepers lose the ability over time as the reactions lose a split second and what used to work for them no longer does.

There have been many theories and ways to become a good penalty saver.

Some keepers are better able to influence the takers of penalties. To show one side as the player is running up.

Pepe Reina's father was a famous penalty saver in Spain and he always said the key was the arms. Basically as the player is about to strike a ball, there are specific arm movements which indicate what he might do, like if the players arm on his standing leg moves backwards as he winds up to strike it, he's likely to pull it across his body, whereas if the arm moves forward, then he's likely to open his body up etc etc etc.
There are other signs, like if he's Irish he'll hit it across his body absolutely every time.

[eekers]

the thing is, if connolly and idah had been sent back to England afterwards, like they are now, which we all knew would have to be the case once it was confirmed, why didnt kenny just play them? and yes for anyone that missed it, Sloavkias rules and UK rules would have allowed for him to play, idah to come on.

I know when they returned they would have been in trouble as the players technically would have been in breach but who cares then? they'd have won and wales on sunday wouldnt matter :)

Because the only reason players entering from non green list countries is allowed without a quarantine is the Irish team agreeing to sticking to HSE guildlines when the group is outside the country.

[liamoo11]

I just rewatched the 1st hour of the game.

Hourihane was awful, gave the ball away so many times. Attempted some stupid passes.
I don't know what Hendrick is. Not a 10 for sure. Did some good things and some terrible.
Mccarthy was better than I thought.
My biggest take away from rewatching is that McGoldrick was terrible. He has no positional awareness. Was wandering all over the place but giving no options for good forward pass from the midfield. We need a striker urgently

Mcgoldrick would be fantastic if we were playing 442 but we are not. He wanders into spaces where he rarely causes problems where it's much easier to get on the ball. Great players move into spaces that create danger and put themselves under pressure to work in those tight congested spaces.

Mcgoldrick takes the easy option by going backwards into space always rather than looking to get into the tighter spaces higher up. If mcgoldrick stays as our 9 then we will have difficulty playing a creative type of ten such as crowley or byrne(or wes if he was still around) because you need your 10 to be running past mcgoldrick just like Browne or Hendrick tried to do on Thursday. The problem then for me is that that type of 10 such as Browne has minimal guile totally reducing our ability to link the thirds together and God forbid create chances in tight spaces. Parrott as our 9 will offer the mcgoldrick ability but in far tighter and higher up the pitch positions as well as the ability to go in behind and be a genuine goalscorer who wants goals.

I think we also still are sitting too deep to protect Duffy and Egans lack of pace , I'd like to see what William's could add to us at centre half from a pace perspective to let us push higher defensively. His left back experience helps his footballing ability as well. Would love kelleher to play tomorrow to see him hold his starting position much higher than Randolph and be an option on the ball to become involved in the play so much more than Randolph (that Randolph mistake at the end of extra time when he passed it to the Slovak in the box was a woeful error) .

Tomorrow I'd like to see Byrne start with Cullen and molumby with long Brady and o dowda as a front 3.

[Bielsa´s irish]

lads tomorrow is a must win match

play the same team but Shane Long for McClean.

i cant believe what your goverment did in Slovakia, I read some english tabloids also making fun of it, calling it the bes result ever for Ireland. I like this Kenny chap but a bit naive, wouldnt have happened this to MON or Ancelotti

[Charlie Darwin]

lads tomorrow is a must win match

play the same team but Shane Long for McClean.

i cant believe what your goverment did in Slovakia, I read some english tabloids also making fun of it, calling it the bes result ever for Ireland. I like this Kenny chap but a bit naive, wouldnt have happened this to MON or Ancelotti
McGoldrick is out so can't do that.

[passinginterest]

So apparently now the positive test was a false positive, and the players had moved seats so probably shouldn’t have been as close as they ended up being.

Possibly that the players will be available again for Finland game. All a bit mad.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/international-soccer/fai-covid-case-that-led-to-connolly-and-idah-missing-slovakia-defeat-was-false-positive-39609951.html