Luxembourg v Republic of Ireland - Sun, 14th November 2021 - 2022 World Cup Qualifier

[Colbert Report]

Well deserved goal for Ogbene. Great heads up pass from Hendrick to start it all off.

[NeverFeltBetter]

That was brilliant.

[DCWA]

Assist from the sub. The boss knows the score.

[pineapple stu]

Great team goal there. That's a bloody relief!

[passinginterest]

What a brilliant goal. In Kenny we trust. Trying to force it early in the half. Knight solidified the middle. The first goal is the monkey off the back and now the confidence can flow.

[centre mid]

What an impact from Knight

[tommy_c12000]

Are we watching Brazil in disguise?!

Great end to the campaign. Let’s see which players push on over the coming months. #greenshoots

[brine3]

Not a bad player, that Jeff Hendrick.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Should have had a third there. Need to be ruthless

[Insidetherock]

First saw Ogbene playing for Cork City u 19's in a pre season friendly against my local junior side.. he looked a bit of a beast for an u19, but in the early part of the game, looked poor, disinterested, and not up to much.

By the end of the game.. he'd scored a hat trick

I think he's one of those players, that you wonder, is this guy masquerading as a professional player.. or a genius

Hon Oggy..

[NeverFeltBetter]

Lux have lost the head since the goals. That kind of team I suppose?

[liamoo11]

Are we watching Brazil in disguise?!

Great end to the campaign. Let’s see which players push on over the coming months. #greenshoots

I really can't see how this is a great end to the campaign. It's been very poor and open play like this every day and yiu will lose alot more than you win. Well done ogbene and super from knight since he has been on

[NeverFeltBetter]

Making it look easy now!

[passinginterest]

Knight has been superb. Delighted it's finishing so well. One more now for the prediction to come up!

[centre mid]

If only we'd started Jason Knight

[tommy_c12000]

Wonderful goal. Icing on the cake. With knight, and hopefully Kilkenny and Molumby to come through properly in the next few months…we are gaining some momentum

[DCWA]

I really can't see how this is a great end to the campaign. It's been very poor and open play like this every day and yiu will lose alot more than you win. Well done ogbene and super from knight since he has been on

We are beating a team we lost 0-1 at home too 0-3 away and coupled with a draw against Portugal, I’d say in relative terms this constitutes a great end to the campaign.

[DCWA]

Kenny the king, the boss, we love you. Ireland without Kenny is nothing.

[shakermaker1982]

Idah off and Knight on has made a big difference.

Two cracking goals.

6 or 7 months ago the ref wouldn’t have called a foul for the Duffy/Lux goal.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Job done. Kenny stays. For now.

[liamoo11]

We are beating a team we lost 0-1 at home too 0-3 away and coupled with a draw against Portugal, I’d say in relative terms this constitutes a great end to the campaign.

That's fair enough in terms of the result but the performance has not in any way been a 3 nil has it?

[osarusan]

Cracking game I thought, two teams willing to attack, and attack at pace, and thus leaving space for the opposition to attack also. I thought we were the better side for most of the first half, and although we did need that magnificent save from Bazunu, we could have been ahead either from a penalty or the Ogbene shot.

We started the second half fairly poorly, and could easily have been behind from the chance we gifted them, or the disallowed goal, so we were maybe a bit fortunate to be ahead from Duffy's goal. But we did really well after that, scored a beautiful second and and lovely third, and we finally made Luxembourg look like the limited side they are.

Ogbene dangerous all night, Hendrick very solid again. Knight made a huge difference. Idah fairly poor again, must be really short of confidence also.

[centre mid]

Chippy will be fuming

[passinginterest]

There was a really poor 15 mins start of second half. There was a bit of panic (although we had 2 good chances in that time too) and you could see a bit of doubt creeping in. The 3 up top didn't really work and Knight immediately shored up the middle and changed the game. Still learning and improving. Looking forward to the Nations League and the next qualifiers.

[DCWA]

That's fair enough in terms of the result but the performance has not in any way been a 3 nil has it?

Crap for most part but the bosses sub changed the game so great management decision won us an away from home qualifier against a side who beat us at home so it’s all gravy lad, we love the boss.

[SkStu]

Stephen Kenny’s substitution bringing on Jason Knight was a game changer. He saw the issue and corrected it. A messy, disjointed spell in the first half and some sloppiness at the beginning of the second half was corrected and we ran out deserving winners.

[dynamo kerry]

Chippy will be fuming

I'd love to point out to him if we held on in portugal and managed to beat lux at home we would have finished second.

It was a poor campaign for a white world cup but ogbene and all the other new players make it for me personally. What a group of lads to have to support.

Incidentally, no rice means we get Cullen. That will do me.

[mark12345]

There was a really poor 15 mins start of second half. There was a bit of panic (although we had 2 good chances in that time too) and you could see a bit of doubt creeping in. The 3 up top didn't really work and Knight immediately shored up the middle and changed the game. Still learning and improving. Looking forward to the Nations League and the next qualifiers.

Still learning and improving, I'll give you that. But two things that were different from the pre-Kenny era. Firstly, we passed the ball brilliantly through midfield (through the middle that is instead of square passing ad nauseum) for the entire 90 minutes. And, when we went in front we did not retreat into our shell and defend at all costs (a feature of the McCarthy era). So in that respect we are improving and improving nicely.

[pineapple stu]

I think Liamo (the poster, not Brady!) has a point in that it wasn't a convincing 3-0. But that's the way these go oftentimes - the minnow drops the head after the first goal and then you ram home the advantage.

There's definite progress for sure. The Nations League will be interesting now because Luxembourg/Azerbaijan/Qatar were crap and it will be a more telling level. But certainly Kenny has earned the right to lead the team into it and let's see where it goes.

Still concerns about our ability up front which will be more apparent at a higher level. Idah in particular offers little still But **** it; let's enjoy this and have four months of positivity!

[mark12345]

Well deserved goal for Ogbene. Great heads up pass from Hendrick to start it all off.

Great goal alright. And smashing pass from Hendrick. Another fine performance from him tonight. Long may it continue.

[Olé Olé]

There was a really poor 15 mins start of second half. There was a bit of panic (although we had 2 good chances in that time too) and you could see a bit of doubt creeping in. The 3 up top didn't really work and Knight immediately shored up the middle and changed the game. Still learning and improving. Looking forward to the Nations League and the next qualifiers.
Yeah, it was, in hindsight, a bad idea to move away from the blend that had been serving us we'll with the front three i.e. a midfielder, a forward and a striker to two forwards and a striker. As well as McGrath has done, Knight showed with his contributions to all three goals that he is the better player for that role.

[pineapple stu]

Also, Serbia scored in the last minute to top the group; Portugal in the playoffs.

By far the best team we played; interesting to see how they fare in Qatar

[Razors left peg]

Jesus now a 3 nil is not a 3 nil. Lads are really going to any lengths not to give Kenny any credit

[dynamo kerry]

Great goal alright. And smashing pass from Hendrick. Another fine performance from him tonight. Long may it continue.
Good pass..medium performance but defo improvements lately. He needs a move in jan

[mark12345]

Crap for most part but the bosses sub changed the game so great management decision won us an away from home qualifier against a side who beat us at home so it’s all gravy lad, we love the boss.

Can't agree that it was crap for the most part. Even before Knight came on we created a flurry chances, more chances than we did in the first ten games under Kenny. We were very positive and constructive all night and thoroughly deserved the victory against what was a quite capable team.

[SkStu]

Jesus now a 3 nil is not a 3 nil. Lads are really going to any lengths not to give Kenny any credit

Hahaha it’s absolutely ridiculous. The mental gymnastics by quite a few on here is quite something.

[pineapple stu]

Hard to blame the keeper, there was a deflection.

Good call on that!

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Great to end the group on a high. The influence of Anthony Barry can't be underestimated. The commentary team noted how much he was involved in instructing players. No doubt he made the tactical switch with Knight. Kenny will remain on now, I'd rather just give Barry the job but as long as Barry remains coaching the team and in charge of tactics, this is acceptable.

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!

[Olé Olé]

Great to end the group on a high. The influence of Anthony Barry can't be underestimated. The commentary team noted how much he was involved in instructing players. No doubt he made the tactical switch with Knight. Kenny will remain on now, I'd rather just give Barry the job but as long as Barry remains coaching the team and in charge of tactics, this is acceptable.

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!

I urge everyone not to feed the troll.

[liamoo11]

Crap for most part but the bosses sub changed the game so great management decision won us an away from home qualifier against a side who beat us at home so it’s all gravy lad, we love the boss.

Sweet I do like gravy to be fair

[Strongbow10]

I think Liamo (the poster, not Brady!) has a point in that it wasn't a convincing 3-0. But that's the way these go oftentimes - the minnow drops the head after the first goal and then you ram home the advantage.

There's definite progress for sure. The Nations League will be interesting now because Luxembourg/Azerbaijan/Qatar were crap and it will be a more telling level. But certainly Kenny has earned the right to lead the team into it and let's see where it goes.

Still concerns about our ability up front which will be more apparent at a higher level. Idah in particular offers little still But **** it; let's enjoy this and have four months of positivity!

We need to find another striker badly. Don't think Idah is ever going to have it.

Looking at the options for the future Parrot, Connolly, Oko-Flex, Odubeko, Ferguson, along with Robinson and Ogbene, we really need one of the former group to step up and show themselves as a good striker at top flight level.

[SkStu]

I felt that we were quite disjointed in the first half and it was really, from my perspective, down to McClean on the left. His passing and touch was quite off in attack and we were caught out on his side on the break quite often too. I thought Coleman was poor too. And Duffy was all over the place at times. Gerson, Sinani and Borjes played brilliantly between the lines and it created issues at times in the first half and then havoc in the first 15 mins of the second until Knight was brought on for Idah who, let’s be honest, was very poor. Immediately, we changed. After that we controlled every inch of the park and Knights mobility and quality allowed Hendrick to find a quality performance in the last 30 mins. It also put Robbo into a more effective spot on the park. Knight clearly brought a lot more than just better shape though and I think is now undroppable… that was some performance from him. Really enjoyed the performances from Doherty, Cullen, Ogbene over the whole 90 mins but bringing Knight on worked on so many levels that Hendrick, Robinson and McClean all improved too. Great game management.

[pineapple stu]

We need to find another striker badly. Don't think Idah is ever going to have it.

Looking at the options for the future Parrot, Connolly, Oko-Flex, Odubeko, Ferguson, along with Robinson and Ogbene, we really need one of the former group to step up and show themselves as a good striker at top flight level.

I'd put Connolly in the same boat as Idah tbh.

Hogan and Maguire are options too, albeit Maguire has a poor scoring record and both are close on 30 more, so while I think they should be there, they've another 4-5 years really.

But if there's friendlies in the spring, we need to use them to try new strikers for sure. Even Keane may be worth a try.

[Olé Olé]

Ogbene has now two goals for Ireland. In 70 league games in England he has one.

[SkStu]

The only thing I’d like to add to my post above is that Bazunu’s save was incredible.

[third policeman]

Looking at forward options here as we're 0-0 again - and surely Scott Hogan would make a difference here?

6 in 15 for Birmingham - how is that behind Idah, Parrott and Keane? It's better than Robinson even.

Hogan needs to be rehabilitated, because too many of the current contenders either aren’t ready or are not good enough. Obafemi, if he ever sorts out his issues, could still be a contender. Love to see Ogbene playing at a higher level.

[dynamo kerry]

I'd put Connolly in the same boat as Idah tbh.

Hogan and Maguire are options too, albeit Maguire has a poor scoring record and both are close on 30 more, so while I think they should be there, they've another 4-5 years really.

But if there's friendlies in the spring, we need to use them to try new strikers for sure. Even Keane may be worth a try.


Idah for me needs to be getting half decent service and isn't going to get that in this irish team unless, ironically, knight is playing.
When we set up in our optimal defence and midfield, there isn't room for a classic number 9 to hang around waiting for passes. I'm not sure if idah is less mobile than knight but he definitely played higher up which meant we had less fluidity.

Connolly has different problems I think but I've not watched him enough...he will struggle to get back in this team...

Big winners from the campaign
Bazanu
Knight
McGrath
Omobamidele
Cullen
Ogbene
O'shea
Egan

Some impact
Parrot
Molumby
Idah
Collins

Not as much as I'd like
Connolly

Not much, hard to see a way back
Clark
Odowda

[TonyD]

Well worked goal, I just fear it means we'll be stuck with a PE teacher for a manager for another two years.

Yeah, if only we’d lost :rolleyes:

[Bottle of Tonic]

I felt very nervous around the 60 minute mark but have to say I'm buzzing now with the way the game finished up. Strong mentality shown to get our noses in front and then put it to bed with some aplomb. Fantastic second two goals of a kind Ireland never score. Excellent composure and team play from young Knight, what a lad. Credit to Kenny for his introduction. The future is bright.

[TonyD]

Knight was brilliant for the second and third goals.

Classic from Richard Dunne on TV3 just now. Losing to Luxembourg is not a sackable offence, so beating them shouldn’t guarantee a new contract ! Ok, I can see the point about no need to give a contract yet, but you can be damn sure that if we’d lost tonight Dunne would have very much considered it a sackable offence. ( and in fairness it would have been hard to argue against.