Republic of Ireland V France - Monday, 27th March 2023 - Euro 2024 Qualifier

[RiffRaff]

Wouldnt be surprised if Ogbene got some interest from French clubs on the back of that performance. He's definitely better than championship level

[SkStu]

Collins header was a completely free one. Awful marking he had a lot to aim at
https://twitter.com/leflofloo/status/1640452883199012864?s=48&t=YIS5pyM9lBYqBB9pofQ_og

It was a world class save. The second one in two minutes.

[ontheotherhand]

Meaning we were losing narrowly at home to top teams when Kenny took over

Did you think changing our style of play was going to result in us beating the best teams in the world? Can you bottle that optimism up and send me some? I might need it for the current LoI season.

[pineapple stu]

Collins header was a completely free one. Awful marking he had a lot to aim at
https://twitter.com/leflofloo/status/1640452883199012864?s=48&t=YIS5pyM9lBYqBB9pofQ_og
Wouldn't be too hard on Collins; it was a good header and one of the best saves I've seen. Two quality saves in a row in fact, having had nothing to do all game.

Really does feel like a point dropped. Has to be said France were dreadfully lethargic which obviously helped us and though I think we kept great defensive shape throughout, we weren't the cause of the French lethargy.

But to concede the goal we did and see those two late saves... Also we did waste far too many set pieces before then.

Would almost have preferred no MotM award tbh; that was a great team effort. Pretty much the great performance I had hoped for beforehand and yet it feels an awful result. That's football I guess.

Question now is can we play that well against Greece and Gibraltar in June? Completely different ask as we've seen time and again under Kenny.

[da bishop]

Brilliant effort from both the manager and the players all game ,most of these lads at championship level putting in that performance against players from PSG,AC Milan,Real Madrid etc.

[Olé Olé]

Genuinely, what does this mean? We played well but we haven't moved forward enough to beat the WC runners up?

Do even the positive performances have to turn into a referendum on the manager?

Anthony Barry and/or John Eustace would be proud of that performance.

[ontheotherhand]

Wouldnt be surprised if Ogbene got some interest from French clubs on the back of that performance. He's definitely better than championship level

He was excellent. Mbappe can't have had many quieter nights and a lot of that was down to Ogbene helping out. Great call by Kenny. That Ogbene was still our biggest threat going forward as well is fairly amazing given the job he had. Would like to see him play at RWB against the weaker sides where we don't need him and Coleman working too much defensively. Just let him get forward and rely on his pace to get back when needed.

[Nesta99]

Collins header was a completely free one. Awful marking he had a lot to aim at
https://twitter.com/leflofloo/status/1640452883199012864?s=48&t=YIS5pyM9lBYqBB9pofQ_og

I think thats why he seemd so annoyed with himself at FT. If he had hit the bigger target of the goal it was probably in, he took the glancing header instead and the keeper was up to it. Retrospective thinking by him free header or not. He hit the target, didnt go in and thems the breaks.

[third policeman]

Credit to the team and on the whole Kenny too. Maybe some of the substitutions could have been made earlier and Smallbone would have been a more progressive option in midfield, and offered better set piece quality, when Knight was obviously struggling. Frustrating lapse for the goal, but as others have said, we've been here before - decent performances against better teams without getting the result we maybe deserved, but it's whether we can perform against the likes of Greece and Gibraltar. That's the acid test for Kenny.

[Nesta99]

Did you think changing our style of play was going to result in us beating the best teams in the world? Can you bottle that optimism up and send me some? I might need it for the current LoI season.

It'll be fine, Bradley will be fine, he has his LoI service under the belt for when he gets the Ireland job in July!

[ontheotherhand]

It'll be fine, Bradley will be fine, he has his LoI service under the belt for when he gets the Ireland job in July!

As long as Kenny doesn't come the other way......

[Razors left peg]

Im too heartbroken to be coherent at the moment, all I can say right now is anyone who wants to be negative after than can fcuk off.

[mark12345]

Not a night for knocking Kenny, but one puzzling decision he made was to bring Idah on 20 minutes before Obafemi.

[mark12345]

I'll be negative but not about the performance because it was really good. Looking ahead to Athens in a few months, we'll be beaten by the heat that night and it'll be back to gloom and doom again with tonight's performance a distant memory

[texidub]

I love the way they kept the heads up, gathered themselves, and kept playing after going a goal down against a team that just lashed the Dutch out of it 4-0. That shows real character and belief. And they kept playing decent football too - not the turgid stuff we got for years.

Ogbene put in an epic performance. They all did. As noted elsewhere, we could do with some luck. 1-1 would have been fair. Collins will be scratching his head for a month by the looks of the footage at the end of the match. The younger players should take a huge amount of confidence from tonight.

I might have brought Smallbone on instead of Idah/Browne. Cullen was below his usual high standard, a bit flat compared to his usual Ireland performances. But those are minor quibbles.

The niggling thought is whether this is a turning point or a false dawn, of course.

Greece will be the measure of all things in a few months. Until then, I'm going with turning point!

[passinginterest]

That was heartbreaking. Such a sickener to concede the way they did. Just seen the highlights when I got in and we certainly had the chances to at least get the draw. Couple of outstanding saves from their keeper.

I’d agree that knight shares the blame a bit for the goal. He makes the cardinal error of waiting for the ball to come to him. But he was possibly caught a little off guard by the pass. Cullen is so important to the team in general so it’s a real pity it was his mistake that cost the goal.

Definitely plenty to build on. But as has been said, it’s the results against the weaker teams that will really make or break this team once again.

[pineapple stu]

Im too heartbroken to be coherent at the moment, all I can say right now is anyone who wants to be negative after than can fcuk off.
Paging BOOMers to the thread

Paging BOOMers:p

[mark12345]

Kudos to Kenny for going after Mikey Johnston and having the faith to put him in against France. Wish he'd have introduced him earlier but a very good find nonetheless

[ontheotherhand]

Im too heartbroken to be coherent at the moment, all I can say right now is anyone who wants to be negative after than can fcuk off.

Well don't watch the analysis on Virgin......

[Razors left peg]

Kerr is a miserable bitter man

[Insidetherock]

Just back in from the game, and have to say it was thoroughly enjoyable to be at.

France were better, no question. A little slicker, better first touch, and simply had better quality on the pitch, and bench.

But boy did we give them a game. And boy how close was Collins to giving us a result.

But we're not supposed to beat France. We're not even supposed to beat Holland. But we might.

We have to beat Greece and Gibraltar, and prove performances like tonight are an upward trend, not a brave one off.

France and Holland are higher level than Ireland at the moment.. but if we keep progressing, and get lucky enough to get a play off, then we should be a match for any team we face there

[ontheotherhand]

Kerr is a miserable bitter man

He wasn't always which is a bit sad. The bit of wry wit and the joy he had for the game seems to have dried up and been replaced by the bitterness.

[backstothewall]

Just home.

France looked shaky in full back positions during the World Cup and Kenny obviously had us set up to try to exploit that. He deserves credit for that. I was aghast that he took off Ferguson when he did though. I didn't understand that at all.

I have to re-access my opinion on Molumby though. I thought he was superb tonight.

Cullen must be gutted. He was having a good game up to that point. But it has to be stated that it's yet another goal that's been conceded from a shot from outside the box. That's not a criticism of him at all. It's a collective problem that we've had for a while now.

But it's hard to be too critical. That was a terrific performance, and one which probably deserved a point, but it wasn't to be. It feels like we're gradually ending towards something, but my concern would be that we've been here before with Kenny and it's usually been followed up by some really underwhelming displays, but that's for another day. Tonight we forced their keeper into making a worldie of a save to deny us a point and had one of the best sides in football doing everything that could to run down the clock in injury time. Overall it was a positive night for Irish football, in spite of the result.

Edit: As a total aside, the young woman the FAI have brought in to sing Amhrán na bhFiann in the last 2 games was fabulous and should be a permanent fixture. Lansdowne Road was special tonight and she was an important part of that. The Dutch and Greeks won't be looking forward to visiting Dublin.

[ontheotherhand]

Just home.

France looked shaky in full back positions during the World Cup and Kenny obviously had us set up to try to exploit that. He deserves credit for that. I was aghast that he took off Ferguson when he did though. I didn't understand that at all.

I have to re-access my opinion on Molumby though. I thought he was superb tonight.

Cullen must be gutted. He was having a good game up to that point. But it has to be stated that it's yet another goal that's been conceded from a shot from outside the box. That's not a criticism of him at all. It's a collective problems that we've had for a while now.

But it's hard to be too critical. That was a terrific performance, and one which probably deserved a point, but it wasn't to be. It feels like we're gradually ending towards something, but my concern would be that we've been here before with Kenny and it's usually been followed up by some really underwhelming displays, but that's for another day. Tonight we forced their keeper into making a worldie of a save to deny us a point and had one of the best sides in football doing everything that could to run down the clock in injury time. Overall it was a positive night for Irish football, in spite of the result.

Maybe it was harder to see in the stadium but Ferguson was ******ed. His head was down at times as he tried to keep up the pressing. He'd put in a good shift but I don't think he had anything left in the tank. Idah did well I thought, particularly when he played McClean in.

That said it might have been nice to have Ferguson sniffing about in the six yard box when we had those corners. Nobody else quite has that strikers instinct and maybe one of those balls would have fallen his way.

You must have thought Collins header was in for a second? Still can't believe that save. I've watched it back a few times. Brutal.

Agree on Molumby. Didn't think he had it in him. He wasn't just pure grafting either, he was smart with the ball.

[lofty9]

Just home.

France looked shaky in full back positions during the World Cup and Kenny obviously had us set up to try to exploit that. He deserves credit for that. I was aghast that he took off Ferguson when he did though. I didn't understand that at all.

I have to re-access my opinion on Molumby though. I thought he was superb tonight.

Cullen must be gutted. He was having a good game up to that point. But it has to be stated that it's yet another goal that's been conceded from a shot from outside the box. That's not a criticism of him at all. It's a collective problem that we've had for a while now.

But it's hard to be too critical. That was a terrific performance, and one which probably deserved a point, but it wasn't to be. It feels like we're gradually ending towards something, but my concern would be that we've been here before with Kenny and it's usually been followed up by some really underwhelming displays, but that's for another day. Tonight we forced their keeper into making a worldie of a save to deny us a point and had one of the best sides in football doing everything that could to run down the clock in injury time. Overall it was a positive night for Irish football, in spite of the result.

Edit: As a total aside, the young woman the FAI have brought in to sing Amhrán na bhFiann in the last 2 games was fabulous and should be a permanent fixture. Lansdowne Road was special tonight and she was an important part of that. The Dutch and Greeks won't be looking forward to visiting Dublin.

Best substition he made. Idah caused all sorts of bother, held the ball up, linked the midfielders, was key to how we played thereafter. Ferguson had run out of gas 10mins before he was replaced.

[Razors left peg]

Yeah as other lads said Ferguson was knackered, it was a good sub. I would have loved to have had Ferguson in the last 15 mins but he had run himself into the ground. There's also no way he couldn't have started to keep him fresh for end of game. The great thing is he will only get better and be out main man for years to come, and we are also getting a good supporting cast for him

[joey B]

Knight was out on his feet the same as Ferguson and probably should have been taken off at the same time,really hope this is his last season in League 1 ,better for us and himself if he’s playing at a higher level…..

[Olé Olé]

Best substition he made. Idah caused all sorts of bother, held the ball up, linked the midfielders, was key to how we played thereafter. Ferguson had run out of gas 10mins before he was replaced.

Yep, Ferguson was goosed and Idah did well. Kenny had no choice. Ferguson had a slight limp post match. Not sure if he was dragging himself around because of tiredness or whether it was an injury - could have been the bang to the foot he took v Latvia.

[Olé Olé]

Wouldnt be surprised if Ogbene got some interest from French clubs on the back of that performance. He's definitely better than championship level
Hope so. There is something very effective about him. And coaching somewhere other than Rotherham might also improve certain of the rougher aspects to his game. Although he has improved at Rotherham so maybe that is unfair by me.

But there is definitely more to come from him and I would love to see him take a punt outside of the Championship because I think if he has a decent agent there is a body of work for Ireland and some good performances, as well as a versatile, game player and great lad, that could have an impact in a lot of places

[Kingdom]

Gutted. That was almost close to perfect from team and management.
Kept it tight and didnt allow France the space to play in front of us or the space in behind.
They had a lot of ball in first half, but once we saw that we would have some of it ourselves they used it well and took the sting out of the game properly. Tactics were en point all game, especially when we went 1 down. Substitutions all worked, but ev couldnhave been hooked 10 mins earlier. Knight and Jay went at the right time. Knight has an amazing capacity to cover ground- it is inspiring to watch
. Object was to stay in the game long enough to get something . It took a world class save, from an excellent header (and keeper had.made a great save too just before) to prevent us getting what i thought would have been a justified point.

No point analysing any further, we all saw the game.

Molumby was my man of the match. Lad was amazing and hes a mainstay of the team now.
Genuinely have a squad that amount to.more than the sum of their parts. Johnston, Browne, Idah all offered something when they came on,and when you add ODowda, Andy, Smallbone, Obafemi who will all only get better its exciting.

[Kingdom]

Hope so. There is something very effective about him. And coaching somewhere other than Rotherham might also improve certain of the rougher aspects to his game. Although he has improved at Rotherham so maybe that is unfair by me.

But there is definitely more to come from him and I would love to see him take a punt outside of the Championship because I think if he has a decent agent there is a body of work for Ireland and some good performances, as well as a versatile, game player and great lad, that could have an impact in a lot of places

His decision-making could be better st times, but he is a legimiate threat and a handful.

There was a great 4 v 3 break around 60 mins where he had Ferg, Knight and Molumby all in support and he should have rolled the ball.in front of Evan. It was an excellent opportunity from where we were.

[Kingdom]

Hope so. There is something very effective about him. And coaching somewhere other than Rotherham might also improve certain of the rougher aspects to his game. Although he has improved at Rotherham so maybe that is unfair by me.

But there is definitely more to come from him and I would love to see him take a punt outside of the Championship because I think if he has a decent agent there is a body of work for Ireland and some good performances, as well as a versatile, game player and great lad, that could have an impact in a lot of places

His decision-making could be better st times, but he is a legimiate threat and a handful.

There was a great 4 v 3 break around 60 mins where he had Ferg, Knight and Molumby all in support and he should have rolled the ball.in front of Evan. It was an excellent opportunity from where we were.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

Hopefully last night will end the talk that our players can't compete. They've been talked down constantly by management teams and supporters. We may not have many players near the top of the premier league anymore but that's because the landscape has changed, we have players that are as good or better as we've had in the past. Also, the talk that we can't get results from games against anyone at home should end. Like I said before the game, a full house in Lansdowne and anything is possible. It's been the same for 40 years.

Last night the atmosphere was like the Denmark game under McCarthy and our best performance since then. Against Denmark we came up short and unfortunately, we did again last night. That has put us on the back foot in the group, we have to go and beat Greece next. France were there for the taking last night. I think they were a bit complacent and they made numerous mistakes. A few of them were really rattled by the pressure from our players and the noise from the crowd. So it's disappointing not to get a draw at least. Collins effort goes in against most keepers.

But even with defeat, this group isn't over. Holland may be missing a few players but they are struggling. Only 3-0 at home against a 10 man Gibraltar after a whipping in France. After last night is anyone saying that we can't beat Holland at home? We can qualify from this group. Let's have confidence in our players. Coleman was outstanding last night. Every player gave every last bit of energy they could, Molumby is a warrior, as is Knight. They all are. Let's not have any talking up of teams like Greece next. We should expect to go and beat them and obviously Gibraltar a few days later. Because of the defeat we're going to have to beat Holland at home I think but it can be done. Hopefully some supporters who were calling this group over before a ball was even kicked have changed their tune. We're going to the Euros!

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!!

[Eirambler]

A very decent effort and the players can be proud of their performances. However, in the context of the group it's a point dropped nonetheless, I doubt France will win all their away games so someone will take advantage of the fact we ultimately took nothing from the game.

In the context of the group it is one of five huge games for us - France away is a free hit and everyone will beat Gibraltar twice - so the other five games are the ones that matter. Having taken nothing from the first of the five we really need to beat Greece in June now. In another group a point there would be a good result, but not in this one. If we're only on one point after two of our five critical games, we're already all but gone unfortunately.

The playoff picture is looking bleak at this point also, it looks like we're going to miss out by one or two places sadly.

[backstothewall]

Maybe it was harder to see in the stadium but Ferguson was ******ed. His head was down at times as he tried to keep up the pressing. He'd put in a good shift but I don't think he had anything left in the tank. Idah did well I thought, particularly when he played McClean in.

That said it might have been nice to have Ferguson sniffing about in the six yard box when we had those corners. Nobody else quite has that strikers instinct and maybe one of those balls would have fallen his way.

You must have thought Collins header was in for a second? Still can't believe that save. I've watched it back a few times. Brutal.

Agree on Molumby. Didn't think he had it in him. He wasn't just pure grafting either, he was smart with the ball.

I think you actually get a better idea in the stadium of how much someone has left in the tank. A couple of shots of someone on TV can give an impression that isn't real. At that stage I felt it was the midfield where we needed fresher legs. Molumby was great but he looked like he was running in treacle.

In any case I don't think it matters. Running on fumes or not, he's demonstrated he has a poachers instinct and we needed a goal. IMHO we needed to get him more support, not hook him. I'd have gone to 4 at the back and thrown Obafemi or Parrott on beside him and at that stage.

Given how important set pieces were obviously going to become, I'd also have liked to have had Smallbone on the field.

[Razors left peg]

We are very lucky in this small football fan community of ours to have people that are such experts they are able to see what no one else can. I wish word could have been communicated to the coaching staff that their monitoring of a player was wrong and he in fact was not too tired at all. Everyone else watching the game who could see the player was out on his feet were wrong too.

Blessed we are to have such experts!

[EAFC_rdfl]

Ferguson was definitely spent at that stage. It was also far too early to go more offensive or 4 at the back. That plays right into their hands to make one quick counter attack and get mbappe away, game over. It was vital to keep it at 1-0 and try make one chance stick, which Collins almost done

[weldoninhio]

Its actually becase he trusts his players to come good. Im sure people can see the good and the bad in terms of taking someone off early. As Ive said before, its one area that baffled me on occasions when he was at Dundalk - a tactical change doesnt need to reflect on the player or indeed the managers starting off thinkig.

Ok so we were beaten by one of the outstanding teams in world football, one pass goes astray and we were punished. But by and large that was a good erformance and yes some will say its a result base game but once again we see how this squad is being developed. They were fearless considering who they were facing, not hammered by any means. The French will grab those points as not just with the Collins effort we finished on the font foot and they killed the game with subs and getting frees. To be expected! I'm a bit disappointed not to have gotten a result and thats is a guage of where things are going imo.

Beaten by one of the outstanding teams in World football who didn't seem to move out of first gear.

[Razors left peg]

Beaten by one of the outstanding teams in World football who didn't seem to move out of first gear.

Wouldn't cross your mind to consider they were kept in low gear by a team who didn't allow them to get out of it?

[Jd2793]

Beaten by one of the outstanding teams in World football who didn't seem to move out of first gear.


impartial analysis

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

It was actually our first home defeat in European qualification since 2010 and we've played some excellent teams in that time. Including beating the reigning World champions in 2015. So although there were some encouraging signs, in the cold light of day, it's really disappointing not to get a draw at least. But we should be looking to pick up maximum points from our remaining home games and then we're going to have to get victories on the road. Then it will go down to the game in Holland on the last day.

[Real ale Madrid]

If we played like last night all the time there wouldn't be a whole pile to quibble about. A magnificent performance. Defensively excellent but unfortunately not perfect - but not far off either and when we condensed the game down to that last 15 min spell we were a touch unlucky not to salvage a result.

Looking back to go forward - consistency is an issue for us but I really think the change from 3 game windows to 2 game windows is going to help us a bit. We can treat both Greece games like cup finals as we play Gibraltar 3 days after both and the last game away to the Netherlands is a stand alone game for us. Kenny may wish to "throw" the game in Paris to keep his best XI for the Dutch game 3 days later on the 13th of Sept - it will be interesting but the fact that we could maximize our limited resources into those 4 games with Greece / Netherlands after the effort last night gives me some hope anyway. The Greece away game becomes crucial - the championship finishes 6 weeks before the Greece game so we should be well prepared and acclimatized by the 16th of June anyway! Its the hope that kills you.

[backstothewall]

Blessed we are to have such experts!

It's just a pity none of those experts raised concerns about exposing him to a needless friendly in the buildup to a massive home qualifier.

Perhaps if he had been rested for that game he might have made it through the 90 minutes.

[mark12345]

France were not there for the taking last night, not even close. And we will not beat Greece - we will melt in the heat of Athens. And after that we'll struggle to score more than one against Gib. Last night may well have been the highlight of our campaign

[mark12345]

One more thing. The last creative midfielder we tried to incorporate into the team was Jack Byrne. How far are we removed from that.

[Jd2793]

One more thing. The last creative midfielder we tried to incorporate into the team was Jack Byrne. How far are we removed from that.

we played smallbone vs latvia...

[tetsujin1979]

Beaten by one of the outstanding teams in World football who didn't seem to move out of first gear.
POS and weldoninhio posting, it really is an international window now. I look forward to you reappearing in June.

[BOOMSHAKALAKA]

France were not there for the taking last night, not even close. And we will not beat Greece - we will melt in the heat of Athens. And after that we'll struggle to score more than one against Gib. Last night may well have been the highlight of our campaign

Here we go, it's begun already. We're playing Greece at night. It'll be 30 degrees during the day but fine at night. And France were there for the taking, did you watch the match?

[Razors left peg]

I could tell all the rest of the players were heavily impacted by playing 5 days previously too. The French could hardly stand having played 3 days before.

Enough with the crap. Ferguson was exhausted as was Knight (who didn't play last week) and Molumby because they worked their ar$es off. They put in a massive performance for the team and thankfully now we are getting some good depth to the squad so had excellent replacements off the bench. We used all 5 subs yesterday, which I believe is pretty unusual for Kenny? Everyone of the 16 players used contributed to an excellent performance and we really deserved a draw.

Coleman proved there's life in the old dog yet. I thought Doherty was immense, especially in 1st half. Collins was great throughout the whole game and proved that he has what it takes to be a top class player. Molumby was my motm, he was everywhere.

Ogbene keeps proving me wrong time and again. I've never rated him, but he's so effective. He was brilliant. There was 1 time he should have got his head up and played Ferguson through the middle, that frustrated me but he worked his socks off all night. Wouldn't have given him Motm but I wouldn't argue too hard against it either.

This was Kenny's best performance as Ireland manager, even if we did lose. The team he picked was right, our shape all night was excellent and his in game management was spot on, which has been my biggest criticism of him.

Last night was positive, if a loss can be positive, but this has to be the beginning of something now and not just a once off. Greece away in the heat of the summer will be exceptionally hard, but we need a draw at minimum and look to beat them at home.

I wish the next game wasn't months away

[weldoninhio]

Wouldn't cross your mind to consider they were kept in low gear by a team who didn't allow them to get out of it?

If Ireland had scored they would have went up through the gears. They rested Tchouameni and Kounde and didn't even bother bringing Coman on. It was a very handy night for them. 2 shots on target from Ireland, both at the very end of the game.

But another glorious defeat for Kenny. Lets see how he gets on against Greece, will he continue his record of having Ireland out of contention for qualifying after 2/3 games.