Serbia V Republic of Ireland - Wednesday, 24th March 2021 - World Cup 2022 Qualifier

[Bielsa´s irish]

Big game for young Travers.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Under these circunstances I would populate the midfield, with a young keeper I wouldnt play a back 3, but a back 4. If it was up to me I would play doherty next to clark.

------------------------Travers---------------------------

-----Coleman Doherty Clark Stevens------

-------------------O'Shea ------------

Browne------Cullen ------Hendrick Connolly

-------------Robinson--------------

[TrapAPony]

My guess at the Ireland lineup :

---------------------Travers-----------------

---------Coleman--- Duffy-----Clark

Doherty---------------- -----------------Stevens

------Browne--------Hendrick--------Brady

--------Robinson-------------Connolly


O'Shea should probably start ahead of Duffy but I don't see Kenny dropping him. Cullen/Knight in with a shout at midfield too.

[CraftyToePoke]

Please tell me this forum is a little more welcoming to new members than YBIG?

Yeah, its grand here, off you cut there, speech speech speech.

& where were you yesterday when I needed bodies for the 2012 cause ? A day late but carry on.

[LurcherLover]

Yeah, its grand here, off you cut there, speech speech speech.

& where were you yesterday when I needed bodies for the 2012 cause ? A day late but carry on.

Great! Apologies for that, if I had of known I would of been on here yesterday and fully behind the 2012 cause.

[Kingdom]

Despite it being suitable for us for the guts of the last 8 years, it sounds as if we're finally going to three at the back given the soundings of some respected journalists - not you Lennon - on social media, so I reckon there's two possible teams:


----------------Travers ------ ---------- - or ----------------Travers
----Coleman ---Duffy -- Clark ------- ----------- ---Coleman ---Duffy -- Stevens
-Doc----- Hendrick Cullen ----Stevens ------- ---Doc---- Hendrick - Cullen ---- McClean
----------------Brady -------- ------ ----------------------------Brady ------
---------Collins------Connolly* ------- ------------- -----Collins------Connolly*



*If Connolly is fit, he starts. He's included in the squad (Manning, Coventry, Parrot & Curtis miss out) so think he'll start.
If not, then I reckon Robinson starts instead.

There's not a hope Robbie Brady won't start - esp with Hourihane out, nor Hendrick. Clark is a touch and go call - it's just as possible Stevens slots in there with Coleman either side of Duffy - this would allow them to track Tadic and their other slightly withdrawn attacker.
It's quite possible thwt Cullen doesn't start, with Hendrick sitting and having Browne or Knight giving the legs and Brady the passing "guile". Entirely possible that Knight Browne and Brady all start with Hendrick sitting, but that would mean only having one out and out attacker - and in that scenario, it would surely mean that Collins or Robinson would start with Connolly held in reserve for Saturday. Given that Curtis and Manning is not in the squad it's a huge hint that both McClean and Connolly are fine.


I prefer team 1 over team 2, but Still not the ideal team for me. I wouldn't start Duffy, although there's less pressure on him to have the ball at his feet in this formation. Cullen will afford him the protection he needs if he starts, but that's hardly a given either.

[ltfc_2004]

I am not convinced by Travers when I have seen him play and would of picked Bazunu because he is playing more regularly.. Either way this has the makings of a hammering but you cant bet against any Irish side digging in and grabbing a draw. No crowd in Belgrade is a huge bonus as well.

I feel for Shane Duffy, he went to Celtic expecting a nice year of European football and lots of medals and his form has gone over a cliff. Hopefully he digs deep tonight to prove himself and puts himself back in the shop window.

You can see what Stephen Kenny wants to do with them playing football but sometimes in the last 10 minutes you just need to go long and direct to grab a goal and it plays to some of our strengths.

Its the first game of the campaign we can live in hope till kick off or reality kicks in ....

[elatedscum]

Gonna say that I'm against us playing 3-5-1 as suggested:

https://twitter.com/BarringtonJF/status/1374743610520956934?s=20

[paul_oshea]

Can people start using have instead of "of" where appropriate. It's getting annoying.

[pineapple stu]

Please tell me this forum is a little more welcoming to new members than YBIG?


Can people start using have instead of "of" where appropriate. It's getting annoying.
There's your answer Lurcher. We're very friendly - if you use correct grammer :)

[paul_oshea]

There's your answer Lurcher. We're very friendly - if you use correct grammer :)

Grammar yes. And it wasn't just lurcher.

[pineapple stu]

Grammar yes
Too easy :)

[CraftyToePoke]

Can people start using have instead of "of" where appropriate. It's getting annoying.

Their their Paul, arent you're troubles small, wait till ten tonight and you might really have something to cry about, and we all know how upset you can become when your cranky about The Eire.

[ontheotherhand]

Agree with Randolph and the ball at his feet - see Helsinki if course.

But he's conceded what - 4 in 7 or something? Excluding England which was a silly game to play. He's played well, and we've needed him to play well. There's a lot more to goalkeeping than passing a ball.

I don't get the confidence in Bazunu; I think it's misplaced. I've seen it said Man City rate him very highly - I don't think that's the case; he's just another academy player for now. I've seen it said he's getting rave reviews; I haven't seen any. One Team of the Week award. A different Rochdale player got the division's Young PotM in January so it's not him plus ten incompetents in the team. And we know foot posters have a tendency to overestimate youth prospects. He's a promising player for sure, but that's no use right now.

I'm happy to remain pessimistic. I'll either be right, or pleasantly surprised. Win-win. :)

Bazunu was City's third choice keeper at one point before the loan and got included in their Champions League squad at age 18. He played 14 times for their u-23s, which, given that City have a decent amount of wedge to go after players and he was 4 years below the threshold probably speaks to how highly they rate him. It wasn't even long after he arrived that he was called in IIRC. Rochdale fans have mixed reviews but they aren't exactly in love with their team at the minute. Not sure if he's ready to step up for Ireland but he's a very mature lad for his age.

Lot of pressure on Kenny now, as there has been from day one. Have to laugh at the idea that he has somehow been able to fly under the radar. Not from you Stu but I saw something like that said. No LoI player or manager who gets called in for the national side is ever under the radar. A certain section of the Irish footballing community will be waiting with the knives out so they can go back to their insufferable LoI mates and say "I told you so, X isn't good enough". Sure there's even a leak within the camp/FAI out to get him. Every move has been scrutinized. People were treating Nations League games like WC group stage games and even claiming he wasn't unlucky with squad depletions. I also saw it suggested that his tenure has brought apathy...that's an odd one for me. Most of the people I know had given up during the Trap>MON>McCarthy years of dross.

I'm still not sure Kenny is up to it but the mere fact that we are debating which completely unproven keeper/strikers/midfielders etc to play is a sign that this is a difficult scenario. 5 players missing now is it from the team he put out in our best performance of his time against Slovakia? That we are disappointed about Conor Hourihane not being involved is telling...

I do agree with the previous post suggesting the players who are out aren't actually that great. They are experienced but have let us down many times. I hope Brady doesn't play today but I'm sure he will given the lack of options. I'm sort of delighted Kenny is being forced to play the younger lads this early as we need them to come on quick. We do have a decent enough back 4 for the young midfield to trust so........I'm excited to see what happens here.

I'm not confident of a result but I'm absolutely confident of an over reaction to a bad one.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Gonna say that I'm against us playing 3-5-1 as suggested:

https://twitter.com/BarringtonJF/status/1374743610520956934?s=20

is it accurate? Kenny is gonna do a 3-6-1 as Argentina in '86?

[paul_oshea]

Their their Paul, arent you're troubles small, wait till ten tonight and you might really have something to cry about, and we all know how upset you can become when your cranky about The Eire.

That's the price of schooling and a good education. Lucky art thou, don't even have the trouble of thought.

[Diggs246]

another disadvantage for us is, in my opinion is both team can use 5 subs.
Surly their bench will be stronger then ours

[paul_oshea]

But them are bigger then us, so it will be difficult anyway, regardless of whose on the pitch. : Roll:

I'm going with 1-0 Србија.

[sadloserkid]

Yes, because they were unknown, Zanetti and Verón were playing in 2 division

When did Zanetti play in the Second Division? Wikipedia says you're a liar and that he played with Talleres and Banfield in the Primera Division only before coming to Europe.

[Stuttgart88]

Please tell me this forum is a little more welcoming to new members than YBIG?

Almost certainly yes, and it's generally a better forum for decent debate too.

There are several types of poster here:
Almost everyone is well-informed and/or interesting in some way
Almost everyone is friendly
Some people are well-informed and interesting but can be a bit tetchy or confrontational
A small portion are just here to troll and annoy people
A smaller portion are just here to troll and annoy people but have decent grammar
An even smaller portion are just here to troll and annoy people and don't have great grammar
And then there's one person just here to troll and annoy people, who himself has terrible grammar but who has suddenly seen fit to pull others up on their own grammar

Welcome.

[seanfhear]

How important is Grammar on a Football Pitch ?

I think maths do have a lot to do with outcomes, mind.

[John83]

I think the grammatical sniping is more evidence of pre-match jitters. This is a squad in transition, and while I'm excited to see where Kelleher, Bazunu, O'Shea, Knight, Mollumby, Connolly, Idah, and Parrott are in a couple of years time, this is probably a campaign too soon for them to be part of the core of the team. The lack of quality in the older players is the real killer. I hope Serbia are kack tonight and we're all welcoming a new generation of talent after a massive performance, but I am not confident.

[CraftyToePoke]

I think the grammatical sniping is more evidence of pre-match jitters.

I don't agree, I think it was a cheap shot at a new poster, a cowards punch and an absolutely lousy thing to do which illustrated a lot more about Paul than anyone it was aimed at and none of it good.

[pineapple stu]

There was another "had of" on the page in fairness, but yeah, it did kind of come across that way.

Anyways, 150 minutes to go! (To the first goal... :o)

Holland losing in Turkey already, so could be worse; we could be Dutch.

[Kingdom]

Almost certainly yes, and it's generally a better forum for decent debate too.

There are several types of poster here:
Almost everyone is well-informed and/or interesting in some way
Almost everyone is friendly
Some people are well-informed and interesting but can be a bit tetchy or confrontational
A small portion are just here to troll and annoy people
A smaller portion are just here to troll and annoy people but have decent grammar
An even smaller portion are just here to troll and annoy people and don't have great grammar
And then there's one person just here to troll and annoy people, who himself has terrible grammar but who has suddenly seen fit to pull others up on their own grammar

Welcome.

There's a couple of older kaants as well LurcherLover, not saying whom.....^^^

[paul_oshea]

I don't agree, I think it was a cheap shot at a new poster, a cowards punch and an absolutely lousy thing to do which illustrated a lot more about Paul than anyone it was aimed at and none of it good.

I hadn't even read lurchers comments till stu posted after, go back over the posts there's a few more. Should of, would of, could of. its coming far too common place, not just here. Its getting tiresome the constant barbing here to be honest, and its all a bit lazy and far too easy. I think its time to say yourself and Stutts need to move on, let things go, it'll be easier if you do : )

And yes when I typed on the phone I often rushed, but I knew the difference, people using of instead of have, generally don't.

Welcome Lurcher :)

But lets get back to the football;

[CraftyToePoke]

Commonplace is one word.

bUt YeaH bacK to the f00tballl

& welcome Lurcher

[Fixer82]

Match day squad announced.

Parrott, Coventry, Curtis and Manning miss out.

Coming from a GAA background, I’ve never understood the point of this practice

[BonnieShels]

Please tell me this forum is a little more welcoming to new members than YBIG?

Much more friendly than YBIG, but you'll have to accept that you'll only ever be half the fan of those lads over there. Though, if you are a fan of the manbag, you will certainly go up in the estimation of your harshest critic. Just a heads up.

Welcome aboard.

[pineapple stu]

Match day squad announced.

Parrott, Coventry, Curtis and Manning miss out.

Coming from a GAA background, I’ve never understood the point of this practice
Of cutting people from the squad?

Two more games to come I guess. They may get a run yet

[ColourfulPeanut]

-----------------------------------Travers ------------------------

-----------------------Coleman - O'Shea - Clark ---------------

Doherty -------------------------------------------------Stephens

----------------------------Molumby - Cullen ----------------

-----------------------------------Browne --------------------

---------------------------Robinson - Connolly-------------

This is the team seemingly. Shape is obviously a guess.

[pineapple stu]

Confirmed on the FAI Twitter.

Hendrick and Long on the bench, so foregoing the bit of experience there. I don't think either is playing particularly well of late, though we're in dire need of some experience outside defence. But look, I think it's about as good as we have right now.

Horgan not the first name on the teamsheet, despite earlier suggestions ;)

[Olé Olé]

-----------------------------------Travers ------------------------

-----------------------Coleman - O'Shea - Clark ---------------

Doherty -------------------------------------------------Stephens

----------------------------Molumby - Cullen ----------------

-----------------------------------Browne --------------------

---------------------------Robinson - Connolly-------------

This is the team seemingly. Shape is obviously a guess.

With the options available, I won't complain. Amazing to see Duffy, Hendrick, Brady, McClean on the bench. Would have like to see Knight in for Molumby or Browne but its a small complaint.

[Fixer82]

Of cutting people from the squad?

Two more games to come I guess. They may get a run yet

Yes. Why not just name them all on the bench? Never understood it.
No benefit for the four lads to sit in the stands in their tracksuits

[pineapple stu]

Oh. I guess there has to be a limit to who goes on the bench. Otherwise Trap would have named 30 on the bench.

I presume FIFA cap the matchday squad at 23? 12 players go on the bench in finals tournaments (provided no suspensions, etc), so I guess it's the same here.

[ColourfulPeanut]

Yes. Why not just name them all on the bench? Never understood it.
No benefit for the four lads to sit in the stands in their tracksuits
You're allowed to name a squad of 23, that's the maximum you'll ever be allowed and that's very fair. It's not UEFA's problem that we picked more than that to travel

[shakermaker1982]

Looks like Kenny has ditched the 433. Thank the Lord.

Ditching Brady, Duffy & Hendrick a big call but the right one 100%. All out of form and they cannot have any complaints.

[paul_oshea]

Can't really complain with what he has picked, maybe a little lightweight and inexperienced but he's shown adaptability.

I really hope this works for him now, because it will be used against him no doubt, but its shown he isnt so rigid. I am happy, generally, personnel wise, perhaps not but lets see what the second half brings.

Our greatest striking threat is on the bench : )

[paul_oshea]

Looks like Kenny has ditched the 433. Thank the Lord.

Ditching Brady, Duffy & Hendrick a big call but the right one 100%. All out of form and they cannot have any complaints.

Agreed and if they come in or on after half time they'll have something to prove. Thats why i hope it works out for him, because thats what will be used against him if it doesn't even though theyve been generally sh1te.

[Bielsa´s irish]

Gonna say that I'm against us playing 3-5-1 as suggested:

https://twitter.com/BarringtonJF/status/1374743610520956934?s=20


When did Zanetti play in the Second Division? Wikipedia says you're a liar and that he played with Talleres and Banfield in the Primera Division only before coming to Europe.

Talleres de Remedios de Escalada, papucho!! it's a small team!!! not the other Talleres , de Cordoba who were big club were bankrupt then mexican money bought it a few years ago

[Bielsa´s irish]

how is the 11 ?

[Kingdom]

Match day squad announced.

Parrott, Coventry, Curtis and Manning miss out.

Coming from a GAA background, I’ve never understood the point of this practice

So a GAA squad in a season has about 40 players right? But the official panel is approx 30, which then gets whittled down to a matchday 26.
There's no difference, elite sports just do it in a different way.

[Razors left peg]

Love that Kenny has made bog decisions and left out some of the "bigger names". Please God let it work out

[Kingdom]

I'm giddy with excitement having seen that named team.

Round pegs - round holes? Check.
Picking form players? Check.
Dropping players who have underperformed? Check.
Have cohojnes the size of watermelons? Check.

I said here (or on the glorious whatsapp vacuum) that I wondered if Kenny would be saying to the likes of Cullen, Molumby, Idah etc, that once you're playing, I'll pick you - I trust you, you're my guys. It's why I thought the replacement call-up for Coventry was a good sign. I would feel possibly some sympathy for Jeff Hendrick, but it's marginal.

Never in my wildest dreams did I see him pick that side. I'd go so for as to say that's my preferred team everyone available. He gave the others a chance, and generally speaking they didn't take it. Time has come to stand up and be counted.

Giddiness abounds! Interesting to see if Clark or O'Shea is the central stopper. My money was on O'Shea, but that's a huge responsibility. Clark or O'Shea are interchangeable.
Unless of course Doc or Stevens are at centre half...


Likewise it looks like he's going for the 6, 8, 10 central midfielders, with 6 protecting, the 8 scavaging, and the 10 providing support, and so you'd have to expect it's Cullen 6, Molumby 8 and Browne 10.

[Eirambler]

Whatever happens, I have to give credit to Kenny for that team. Some big ballsy calls that needed to be made but most managers wouldn't have made them. I reckon there's three or four future 50 cap internationals in that team who are currently on single digit cap numbers and it took guts to put them all in instead of the tried and trusted alternative in their position. Really hope it works out for Kenny tonight.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Some gutsy calls with that selection. It's a defining night for Kenny. I guess we'll see, but still not very hopeful.

[tetsujin1979]

It's a pretty inexperienced side - only two players (Clark and Coleman) have more than 30 caps - and it's not in anyway his preferred starting XI
Have to give him props for trying something different, so let's wait and see how it works out

[pineapple stu]

It's the kind of side a keyboard warrior on foot.ie might pick when they don't have to face any consequences for screwing up team selection :)

I hope it works...

[sbgawa]

The Kenny that does media can not be the kenny that you hear players talk about as a great man manager.
He comes accross as unbelievably wooden and dopey

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

This is it! It's what people have been calling for. A manager who wants the team to pass the ball and picking players who fit that billing. Previous managers decided that our players weren't good enough to play with this game plan, many supporters lambasted them for their tactics. This will give us a good indication of whether managers of the past were right or if Kenny's way is right! Excitement is building, 3-5-2 looks ideal, I've had a few drinks, let's do this. Ireland 2-0!!! BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!!