Republic of Ireland V Lithuania - Tuesday, 29th March 2022 - Friendly

[ontheotherhand]

Answer the questions BS, you have until kick off tomorrow

I'd also like to hear the theory as to why Barry, who was responsible for any improvement to Kenny's team, couldn't get one over on Kenny when he faced him and even had a better squad of players. We moved pretty quickly from that to "he's not building for the future" but I don't think you could have asked for a more perfect refutation of the idea Barry was the sole mastermind of anything good happening with Ireland than the scenario that played out.

[Snapshot]

Good man tets, Mod him. Mod him good.

This ever shifting always undisclosed anti SK criticism threshold needs a firm hand.
It's his opinion. Get over it! He's not a fan of Stephen Kenny (is that banned?). He has bravely stood his ground against the barrage. "Mod him, mod him good", comes the rabid cry. He's now ordered to answer "questions" or face disciplinary action. Unbelievable. But I offer a solution: Rename this thread The Stephen Kenny Appreciation Society and declare it a democracy-free zone.

[John83]

Arguing in bad faith is trolling. It doesn't matter what side of what argument. Please stay on topic.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Answer the questions BS, you have until kick off tomorrow

I have been answering questions but none were being answered back. I've asked what exactly has Kenny achieved across 2 threads and how is playing 32 and 33 year olds building for the future. I'm not sure why I should continue to answer a list of questions when none are answered back. Unlike the Kenny zealots, I think you should mod everyone good.

It's like being on trial for daring to criticise the glorious leader. 😂

As it happens, I have to work now and then go to the match unlike some of the Kenny cult members here. 😀

[pineapple stu]

Yeah we lost a game we shouldnt have, in an empty stadium that was a bit of a leveler. We went on to hammer them in the 2nd game. We were brilliant away in Portugal and were unlucky to lose. If I remember rightly we were unlucky enough away to Serbia too, but we drew with both of them at home and cost Portugal automatic qualification.
Slight bit of revisionism there I think. We were struggling in Luxembourg - they even had a goal ruled out for a soft foul - until we got a deflected break 25 minutes from the end, and we hammered them after that. Serbia outplayed us in Belgrade and while you can argue the Connolly penalty call, we had no right getting a result off them. And we didn't cost Portugal qualification - the reason they could leave some players out against us in Dublin was that a draw or a win left them with the same requirement from their last game.

That's not to defend boomers, I hasten to add

[tetsujin1979]

I have been answering questions but none were being answered back. I've asked what exactly has Kenny achieved across 2 threads and how is playing 32 and 33 year olds building for the future. I'm not sure why I should continue to answer a list of questions when none are answered back. Unlike the Kenny zealots, I think you should mod everyone good.

It's like being on trial for daring to criticise the glorious leader. 

As it happens, I have to work now and then go to the match unlike some of the Kenny cult members here. 

Should McClean(32) and Coleman(33) have been dropped?

And answer these, or provide quotes of the answers you've already posted

FTR, he was asked

If every game should be a referendum on the competency of our manager.

If, having criticised playing experienced players he would support youth over result tomorrow.

What represents the SK regime 'crash' he brought up, and was offered various options within context of our performance internationally over our 100 year span, or the option to outline his own view of this foretold crash and what it might be.

And in line with his default thrashing of SK via the sides early results as a reply to everything, I asked if the past informs future outcomes ( particularly interested in that one TBH )

None were answered, not one.

In your own time there BS
Or until KO time anyway

[Razors left peg]

Slight bit of revisionism there I think. We were struggling in Luxembourg - they even had a goal ruled out for a soft foul - until we got a deflected break 25 minutes from the end, and we hammered them after that. Serbia outplayed us in Belgrade and while you can argue the Connolly penalty call, we had no right getting a result off them. And we didn't cost Portugal qualification - the reason they could leave some players out against us in Dublin was that a draw or a win left them with the same requirement from their last game.

That's not to defend boomers, I hasten to add

Costing Portugal qualification might have been a stretch to be fair but rightly or wrongly that's how my Portuguese inlaws and friends look at it. It gets mentioned to me regularly. They are also a bit sheepish over how they beat us out there, my brother in law especially thinks we should have won that game. All in the context that they were laughing at me even suggesting that we could be competitive against them, they expected to beat us 4 or 5 nil based on our form before the game in Portugal. That night in Faro seems to be when Kenny started to turn things around, we were brilliant and very unlucky to lose.

Yes in Belgrade it was a bit different, we were missing a lot of players though and Travers made a poor mistake but we were competitive and on another night could have gotten a draw. The home game against Serbia I actually thought we were poor enough but managed to grab that late goal.

The Serbia and Portugal games were brought up in contrast to the Denmark and Switzerland games in previous group where the myth that we were more competitive against better teams under McCarthy was being used as a stick to beat Kenny. In the over overall context of the qualification campaign we were poor to start but we got better as it went on and we were competitive in the 4 games against the top 2 teams.

I don't know the stats, but in the away game to Switzerland in previous group it felt like we had about 15% possession and were battered off the park. It felt like we'd never be competitive again.

[pineapple stu]

Costing Portugal qualification might have been a stretch to be fair but rightly or wrongly that's how my Portuguese inlaws and friends look at it. It gets mentioned to me regularly.
That's strange - cos it's not a stretch, it's just factually wrong! It's why they left Diogo Jota, Moutinho, Ruben Dias and Renato Sanchez out of the team against us but had them back in against Serbia three days later.

It may become one of those things like how the USSR equaliser cost us in Euro 88 (even though it didn't).

I think saying we deserved to win in Portugal is a stretch too. Another night we'd have lost 4-0 (early penalty, then they hit the post, then missed an open goal). We took our chance from a set piece well, defended doggedly, created very little, and came unstuck at the end unfortunately - but Portugal would have been left wondering how they didn't get anything out of the game if they'd won. It was still an unexpectedly good performance though and comparable in its own way to what Mick achieved against his top seeds. There's no way we were going to get a draw in Belgrade though (we were steeped to get one in Dublin).

There's stats on that Switzerland game here (https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/match/2026133--switzerland-vs-republic-of-ireland/statistics/) - 60/40 possession, and 19 shots v 10. That surprises me to be honest!

But yeah, overall I don't think the comparison between SUI/DEN and POR/SER is quite as bad as boomers is making out.

[Razors left peg]

It might be factually wrong but that's their perception of it. It was brought up again last week when they were playing in playoffs.

I disagree on your assessment of the game in Faro. Penalty came from bad error from Bazunu that he redeemed. We also had some great chances, Connolly alone on another night could have scored a couple and he definitely should have had a penalty. To say on another night it could have been 4 nil to Portugal really doesn't feel how that game went.

[elatedscum]

That's strange - cos it's not a stretch, it's just factually wrong! It's why they left Diogo Jota, Moutinho, Ruben Dias and Renato Sanchez out of the team against us but had them back in against Serbia three days later.

It may become one of those things like how the USSR equaliser cost us in Euro 88 (even though it didn't).

I think saying we deserved to win in Portugal is a stretch too. Another night we'd have lost 4-0 (early penalty, then they hit the post, then missed an open goal). We took our chance from a set piece well, defended doggedly, created very little, and came unstuck at the end unfortunately - but Portugal would have been left wondering how they didn't get anything out of the game if they'd won. It was still an unexpectedly good performance though and comparable in its own way to what Mick achieved against his top seeds. There's no way we were going to get a draw in Belgrade though (we were steeped to get one in Dublin).

There's stats on that Switzerland game here (https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/match/2026133--switzerland-vs-republic-of-ireland/statistics/) - 60/40 possession, and 19 shots v 10. That surprises me to be honest!

But yeah, overall I don't think the comparison between SUI/DEN and POR/SER is quite as bad as boomers is making out.

I think if we got the obvious penalty where Connolly was fouled against Serbia at 1-1 in the second half, we would most likely have gone home with points.
https://twitter.com/markmccadden/status/1376632414123012099?s=21

I know it’s revisionist but the early penalty wasn’t a penalty. Ref gave it, Var told him that it wasn’t a penalty and Hendrick won the ball, and the ref, infatuated with Ronaldo and his own place in history, decided to give it anyway…

Similarly, if we got the penalty against Portugal at 1-0 where Connolly was fouled, the same thing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/pgglsq/palhinha_running_into_connolly_and_penalty_appeal/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

[Jd2793]

yeah we deserved more in portugal. think overall we did a good job on them. most of their shots were long rangers or blocked down we really snuffed them out for 80+ mins and had chances ourselves on the counter. all in all though draw probably fair but when you look at the serbia game in dublin we deserved nothing from that and got a draw. so it all balances itself out IMO

[elatedscum]

No Ronan or Dunne tonight. Bit disappointing but understandable with no injuries or pullouts from the last game…

[Kingdom]

No Ronan or Dunne tonight. Bit disappointing but understandable with no injuries or pullouts from the last game…

Disappointed about Ronan. I wonder is it a case that he hasn't shown up well-enough in training to merit a squad place, or is there other areas where Kenny wants to experiment in, while trying to go for a win and keep momentum going.

FWIW...assuming we can still only pick 11 players (eesh):

-------------- Kells ---

------ OShea Collins Egan ----------
Doc -------------------------- Manning
------ Molumby -- Hendrick --------

-----Ogbene -------- Parrott ---
-------------- Keane -------------

[passinginterest]

I think Kenny likes to get players in for a full camp and make an assessment on them, but he won't push the new players ahead of the more established ones unless his hand is forced by injury or they're really exceptional. If they've done well in the camp overall, they'll probably bump someone else from the next squad and see some minutes. I'm not sure it makes an awful lot of sense but I do think there's some evidence that it is his preferred approach.

[tetsujin1979]

No Ronan is disapointing, would have liked to see him make his debut
Dunne is a little more understandable, the squad is stocked with centre halves, but would still have been nice to see him at least names as a sub
Will there be a goalkeeping debut? Giving kelleher 180 minutes across the two games feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity

[nigel-harps1954]

It's his opinion. Get over it! He's not a fan of Stephen Kenny (is that banned?). He has bravely stood his ground against the barrage. "Mod him, mod him good", comes the rabid cry. He's now ordered to answer "questions" or face disciplinary action. Unbelievable. But I offer a solution: Rename this thread The Stephen Kenny Appreciation Society and declare it a democracy-free zone.

Consistent trolling and pointing the finger at Stephen Kenny has grown tiresome, and downright petty.

Arguing his point would be one thing, but when it becomes repetitive and boring, then mods are right to call him out on it.

And give over with the "bravely stood his ground" nonsense. There's nothing brave about ignoring questions and insisting everyone is wrong but him.

[geysir]

I hope Cullen doesn’t turn out to be one of our injury prone talented midfield players. I’d have thought there was a case for calling up Dan Crowley or whoever is the next best ‘creative’ player. I’m glad Hendrick is aging well. He was rightfully slated for a couple of ragged performances a good while ago, but since then he’s been a good boy.
I’ll go for 3 - 0.

[Stuttgart88]

Cullen hasn't shown any signs of injury proneness though has he? Ever present for Anderlecht, almost always available for Ireland. One suspension?

[geysir]

I had thought Josh was out of this game due to injury.

[third policeman]

Really disappointed about Ronan. I honestly think he has shown more for St Mirren than McGrath had before he was called up and got caps. Why call someone up and not even put them on the bench. Is there even any limit on the number of subs we can name for friendly games? It really comes across as a bit of a snub. I hope he doesn't get too discouraged by the experience. I think he's a proper player and will prove himself as an international at some point.

[tetsujin1979]

UEFA limit matchday squads to 23 AFAIK

[ontheotherhand]

Answer the questions BS, you have until kick off tomorrow


Really disappointed about Ronan. I honestly think he has shown more for St Mirren than McGrath had before he was called up and got caps. Why call someone up and not even put them on the bench. Is there even any limit on the number of subs we can name for friendly games? It really comes across as a bit of a snub. I hope he doesn't get too discouraged by the experience. I think he's a proper player and will prove himself as an international at some point.

To be fair this is how Kenny has handled most call ups. Very few go straight into the squads let alone get minutes. Dan McDonnell reported on the trend earlier. I'm disappointed too though as I've really liked the look of Ronan when I've seen him.

[Razors left peg]

Just to be devils advocate, and Ive used this argument about Jack Byrne before too. Its possible that once Ronan was surrounded by better players in training with the Ireland squad that he didnt stand out as much as he does in a poorer league. Im not a fan of Hourihane but Ive always said that if you put him into the LOI he would instantly look like a world beater, it would probably be the same at St Mirren.

The most likely scenario is that he is being integrated slowly like others before him, but if he went in and was amazing in training Im pretty sure he would be in the squad

[Stuttgart88]

Yes me too but Keith Andrews was saying Parrott has been super in training, much better than he has been in previous camps. So this elevates Parrott (I'm sure there's a kind of pun there) over Ronan, and picking Parrott and/or Keane will necessitate omitting at least one of Ogbene, Robinson and Knight I think, so seen like that you can understand Ronan's inclusion.

[ontheotherhand]

Kenny does know Ronan well so I doubt it's a case of him not being ready to play with the players in the team. I'd say McEneff was a better example of that scenario than Byrne anyway. Byrne did play under two different managers so clearly looked fine in training however you feel about his impact on the field.

Ronan has plenty of time. Talk of snubs is a bit OTT for me. The same sort of stuff was said about Will Keanes first call up and here he is back in the squad getting minutes. If you believe Kenny has a system then it's not bonkers to think he wants to gradually bring players through as the learn it.

Still disappointing though. We always have a creative player waiting in the wings who might just be the next....Wes....well hopefully not I guess...because in that case he will stay in the wings.

[TonyD]

I was listing some of the players McCarthy introduced. He would have introduced more but they were left with the u21's for Kenny. These players were going to be introduced no matter who was in charge.

Building for the future is not playing 32 and 33 year olds in friendly matches. Do you think that's building for the future? Again, he was picking what he thought were the best 11 available to him up until Luxembourg. Look at the nations league prior to that.

Kenny is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. I'm not sure what your last sentence is about? Is that meant to be a witty remark or something?

Eh, weren’t you the one complaining about Darren Randolph being cast aside on another thread ? Talk about wanting it both ways. Once again, any point in service of your agenda of having a go at the manager.

[TonyD]

Switzerland got to the European championship quarter finals beating France and losing to Spain on penalties. Denmark got to the European semi finals only losing in extra time. We battered Denmark in the final group game after drawing with them away. We should have qualified ahead of them.
😂

Should have, eh ? We should have beaten Slovakia in the play off, yet that was a disaster for you. So should have is good enough for McCarthy, but not for Kenny. Gotcha. How do you think we are playing at the moment ?

[Olé Olé]

https://twitter.com/FAIreland/status/1508859029262585876?s=20&t=6-SDTCxpOc35NAVxACGQpw

6 changes. Looks like:
CK
O'Shea Egan Collins
Doherty Hourihane Browne Manning
Ogbene Keane Robinson

[Olé Olé]

I really don't like that midfield partnership. I don't fancy Hourihane, full stop, and don't mind Browne but not there beside a weak partner. I don't know what we will learn from playing that pair beside eachother.

Otherwise, really happy to see O'Shea get a start. Hopefully it will do his confidence some good. Also looking forward to seeing Collins, Manning and Keane. Would loved to have seen Parrott start but no major complaints on the front 3.

[Razors left peg]

I really don't like that midfield partnership. I don't fancy Hourihane, full stop, and don't mind Browne but not there beside a weak partner. I don't know what we will learn from playing that pair beside eachother.

Otherwise, really happy to see O'Shea get a start. Hopefully it will do his confidence some good. Also looking forward to seeing Collins, Manning and Keane. Would loved to have seen Parrott start but no major complaints on the front 3.

100% agreed with all of this

[tetsujin1979]

I have been answering questions but none were being answered back. I've asked what exactly has Kenny achieved across 2 threads and how is playing 32 and 33 year olds building for the future. I'm not sure why I should continue to answer a list of questions when none are answered back. Unlike the Kenny zealots, I think you should mod everyone good.

It's like being on trial for daring to criticise the glorious leader. 

As it happens, I have to work now and then go to the match unlike some of the Kenny cult members here. 

Should McClean(32) and Coleman(33) have been dropped?

And answer these, or provide quotes of the answers you've already posted

FTR, he was asked

If every game should be a referendum on the competency of our manager.

If, having criticised playing experienced players he would support youth over result tomorrow.

What represents the SK regime 'crash' he brought up, and was offered various options within context of our performance internationally over our 100 year span, or the option to outline his own view of this foretold crash and what it might be.

And in line with his default thrashing of SK via the sides early results as a reply to everything, I asked if the past informs future outcomes ( particularly interested in that one TBH )

None were answered, not one.

In your own time there BS
Or until KO time anyway
One hour to go BS.

[ontheotherhand]

Not mad on Hourihane playing either. I've just never seen any evidence that he can be a player for us and time is about up. Maybe he has a Hendrick type revival in him and is worth having around for the NL and Euros but....I just don't believe that. I'd have gone with Molumby and expect to see Egan and Collins having to step in to midfield now a lot to cover for Hourihane going missing.

Everything else looks good. I wonder will Keane play as the central striker or drift back a bit? Maybe we'll see himself and Robinson switching around a bit.

[pineapple stu]

Hourihane has been annoying me less in recent games, with peak annoyance being that Andorra game. Not a ringing endorsement for him, but let's see how he does.

Manning and Keane the obvious two to keep an eye out on today I guess; that's where we're weakest.

[joey B]

Great ball by Manning there,shame it was just offside….

[Razors left peg]

Great ball by Manning there,shame it was just offside….

Was good football with Hourihane in the build up too

[pineapple stu]

Keane looking a bit out of place so far.

Manning having a good game but not having much defending to do of course

[joey B]

Tough enough watch this,Manning and Hourihane the best of our lot so far ….

[Razors left peg]

No creativity going forward. Browne anonymous, Keane looks like a L1 player, Hourihane being good at set pieces is a myth.

For 2nd half Id get Parrott on for Keane, Knight on for Browne to have a look at him in different position.

[pineapple stu]

Hmmm.

All quite dull after a lively start. Not feeling the same sense of concern that I was against Luxembourg/Azerbaijan in the same circumstances, which is good. I think we've still an idea what we're doing, which is more than I could say in those games.

Keane and Robinson both poor; wouldn't mind seeing Hogan or Parrott on for the second half to shake things up to front

[osarusan]

Anybody have a stream for this? Can't find a working one anywhere online.

[sadloserkid]

The only person in the country enjoying this is Boom Boom.

[Razors left peg]

The only person in the country enjoying this is Boom Boom.
Well we can still see what we are trying to do. Its rare we have 70% possession against anyone ever previous to this.

Its the typical friendly with no intensity all round

[passinginterest]

It’s very comfortable. It’s a game that feels like we’ll score and win by a couple. Main criticism would be we’re not really opening them up, it’s all balls in from the wings. Chio is the bright spot. Keane has disappointed, could do with him maybe dropping deep now and again to see if that helps create something, the three forwards are looking to do the same thing a bit too often.

On around 39 minutes my wife did say ‘ooh we’re passing the ball a lot’ so even a woman who can’t stand football can see and appreciate the style change!

[Eirambler]

Hourihane has had seven corners in the first half and we haven't even had a half chance out of them. At one point he tried a first time cross in open play, hit the first defender and then just walked back towards half way while the game continued around him. Honestly have no idea how he made it to the premier league.

[pineapple stu]

Hourihane's done ok from play in fairness; mostly looking to make a good active pass.

Rare bit of excitement there from the selfie-taking pitch invader

[shakermaker1982]

We need to start learning about the offside rule.

[joey B]

Factoring in the opposition it’s been a pretty hopeless second half from us,Lithuania are really bad…..

[Trequartista20]

This is pretty desperate stuff, especially considering who we're up against.

[Trequartista20]

Factoring in the opposition it’s been a pretty hopeless second half from us,Lithuania are really bad…..

I've just checked there; Lithuania are ranked 137 in the world, 13 places behind the Faroes and a full 44 behind Luxembourg. This is poor.

[Insidetherock]

the only good thing to say is.. if this was an actual qualifier I think we would win handy enough