Cyprus match thread

[tricky_colour]

As above, listening on radio, will try pub second half.

[tricky_colour]

I kinda knew he would save it somehow after all the talk on here about
him not saving penalties.
It's worrying they got a penalty though.
Sounds like Cyprus are giving us a match.

[robbie_B]

Not sounding to good at the back. I think our luck has changed, SHAY SAVED A PEN!!

[dancinpants]

This is fcukin' Cyprus people!!!. Most decent teams would go there looking for a comfortable victory FFS. We're 1-0 up and STRUGGLING by the sounds of it!!!

[redgav]

great finish by elliot ,set up by keane but could well have been a free out
Stunning save by shay ,flung himself to his right and left handed push around the post , but jesus h, has kerr not learned anything from isreal and france and swiss games ...as soon a as we score ,the whole team moves back in a defensive mode and allow them back in .it only a metter of time before one of these half chances go in ....we badly need to get on the ball and push up , duff has barely touched the ball since the goal

[dancinpants]

but jesus h, has kerr not learned anything from isreal and france and swiss games ...as soon a as we score ,the whole team moves back in a defensive mode and allow them back in .it only a metter of time before one of these half chances go in ....we badly need to get on the ball and push up , duff has barely touched the ball since the goal

Its a disgrace tbh.

[redgav]

This is fcukin' Cyprus people!!!. Most decent teams would go there looking for a comfortable victory FFS. We're 1-0 up and STRUGGLING by the sounds of it!!!

we are struggling , BIG TIME . before the goal we were defending high up the pitch and stroling it ,since then they've moved right back to almost on teh edge of the box and they are bossing us .Cunninghm looks as tho he was on the beer or something ,very casual and between him and dunne they first left em get a shot away from nothing and from the mellee that fllowed dunne took yer man down from behind

[dancinpants]

Shapeless and leaderless according to RTE. :mad:

[Tram_14]

Sweet jesus what are we like, O' Shea's having a mare, no confidence again. They will score its only a matter of time , Were Sh!te AGAIN

[Jon'o]

one things for sure, if we play like this on wednesday, we'll lose to the swiss

and to think we're one up you'd think they'd go for it FFS!!!!

[Tram_14]

And our midfield is terrible, its wave after wave of cyprus attack.

[redgav]

this is ridicules, has Kerr not learned ANYTHING from isreal and swiss games .We start out with good pressing and defend high up the pitch ,once we scored we pushed right back to the edge of our box and let em into the game .....we are struggling against a sh!te side ,absoloutly strugglin .
Given has kept us in this game 4 times ,duff hasn't touched it since the goal , kilbane is about as much use as t!ts on a nun ,strikers are completly isolated and the defence looks as tho they were on the lash last nite .Its just a matter of time before they score
don't know how you lads are pickin out JOS as having a mare ,all their best chances have been compliments of KC.Kavanagh at least is winning the ball but what use is that if he can't pass it to a white shirt

Some chorus of boos at the whistle

[dancinpants]

Embarassing stuff lads. We won't make the play-offs, we'll get a draw at best with the Swiss on Wednesday...to quote an England supporter speakin' of Englands attempts to qualify on the bbc "You'd think they didn't want to qualify!"

[thejollyrodger]

Its a shambles. we look incredibly fragile, one of the worst performances ever. The midfield is sitting on top of the back 4 and not pushing up aggressively. Were giving the ball away all the time and its only a matter of time until cyprus score. i dont know how were going to go on and win this let alone beat switzerland.

[RedX]

That was possibly one of the worst 45 mins of football i have seen from the Rep of Ireland..started well and scored early from Elliot and it looked like we could go on to win comfortably even at that stage...since then we have been totally outplayed by WORLD FOOTBALL GIANTS CYPRUS...only for Shay in goal who knows what the score would be...defense looks very shaky and especially Richard Dunne...Carr is adding nothing going forward and his understanding with Finnan is non-existant...Kavanagh and Kilbane have not got on the ball enough and i am not sure if Duff has touched it yet..i cannot criticise the strikers simply because they have not seen any of the ball..well done to Elliot for a pure strikers finish..i am disgusted..where are all you Brian Kerr fans now?...win,lose or draw he should be sacked for the worst performance since Jack Charlton took over as manager back in the 80's...its frightening to think what would happen if we were playing a good side...we are playing Cyprus..

[shakermaker1982]

my god our defence looks old and slow. Only player who can hold their head up is Given, we'd be losing 4-1 if he wasn't in goal. One of the worst Irish performances I have ever seen.

THIS IS CYPRUS

[shakermaker1982]

Also why are we playing long ball? We don't have a front man who can hold the ball up and are good in the air. F'ing clueless

[Closed Account 2]

We should take off Kilbane and bring on Steven Reid, Kilbane is having a stinker. The only players who have impressed me so far are Given and Kav (although our strikers have had no service).

Yet again Given has kept us in the match, just like Swtizerland away. It seems like Kav is our only midfielder. Hope his legs dont go in the second half.

[Closed Account 2]

apparently he's bringing on Holland for Finnan :S

[thejollyrodger]

there is a serious lack of leadership on the pitch. no one is getting on the ball and dictating what to do.

Kerr isnt the man to take this terrible pile of pish at half time and get them to perform. Its a mess. Absolute mess. Auf Weindersien Deutchland cos we cant even beat Cyprus FFS

[shakermaker1982]

Finnan off, Holland on. Good idea keeping Kilbane on.............

[Tram_14]

A different Irish team had better come out next half, I'm in shock. Cyprus dominated the entire half, we are constantly dropping back, where is the midfield? can't believe they haven't score. KC is not having a good game but JOS is another penalty waiting to happen.

[dancinpants]

Lads I agree that Kerr's days have to be numbered at this stage...but I won't be happy unless there are players that follow him out the door, too many of them just aren't cutting it!!! :mad:

[redgav]

the only leader we have in the whole squad is watchin the game on satlite tv in salford
No matter what happens on wednesday nite ,I want Kerr gone (and that FA pimp Givens ).This is like watching Houlliers Liverpool at their worst ,no wonder the two of em have such mutual back slapping.


On another point, It'll be interesting to see how many of these fellas will be in wrights in swords tomorrow night at closing time

[Tram_14]

Looks like Duff's goin off.

[shakermaker1982]

Duff looks to have twisted his knee, S Reid on.

[tricky_colour]

Duff dosn't sound too clever, sounds like he will miss the Swiss match.

Kilbanes limping too.

[redgav]

Kilbanes limping too.

from what ?????? how in gods name can he be limping ,its not as if he's challenged anyone ,it must be from not warming up properly yet

[tricky_colour]

from what ?????? how in gods name can he be limping ,its not as if he's challenged anyone ,it must be from not warming up properly yet

Maybe he twisted it getting off a bar stool.

[dancinpants]

Israel 1-0 Faroes

Doesn't matter if Duff misses the Swiss game - when was the last time he had a decent game FFS?

[Tram_14]

Cyprus want to win this game more that us, Its incredible.

[oconghc2]

maybe rose tinted glasses on ...

ive never seen us being outplayed as much! our defense looks as bad as ever! getting ready to switch off tele! cyprus not as good in 2nd half

feel bad for all the fans over there ... actually nah - weather looks nice!

[dancinpants]

Has Cyprus ever conceded a goal in the 5th minute and not ended up getting hammered? I doubt it - step forward ireland!!

[tricky_colour]

Israel 1-0 Faroes

Doesn't matter if Duff misses the Swiss game - when was the last time he had a decent game FFS?

I agree, he has been noticable by his absense in the games he has played recently, doesn't sound like we are missing him too much at the moment
and he didn't worry Cyprus first half by the souond of it.

[tricky_colour]

Job done....roll on the Swiss :rolleyes:

[Poor Student]

Oh dear. Worst performance I've seen since 0-0 with Liechtenstein. First half was hell. Second half was just bad.

[thejollyrodger]

How the hell did we win that match. It just outlines how pathetic this Cyprus team are. The defence was dreaful. We couldnt string a necklace of daises let alone a few passes together.

Two things were good though. Elliott and Given. Elliott is defintely a replacement for Morrision in the future and Given has saved our bacon once again

[dancinpants]

That performance will give the Swiss more to be confident about that us before Wednesdays game. They're all a fcuking disgrace to the shirt.

[Poor Student]

That performance will give the Swiss more to be confident about that us before Wednesdays game. They're all a fcuking disgrace to the shirt.

How was Given a disgrace to the shirt?:confused:

[dancinpants]

Sorry, i should have said MOST of them.

[sligoman]

What in the name of bejaysus was that?:mad:. We were total sh!te. We are gonna be completely fcuked against the Swiss if we play like that. Dunne is a muppet.:mad:. Elliot and Keane didn't get supplied with any balls all night, holy fcuk! Not a hope of us qualifying with that performance. A disgrace!:mad: I feel sorry for Cyprus tonight, they deserved all 3 points.

[concanta]

our only hope on wednesday is if the swiss have a few suspended and that man mr given comes to rescue again

[Adrianovic]

At best that performance was dull, at worst it was a bit of a disgrace.

Although it is easy to blame the manager for when a team plays so poorly, almost inexplicably, I am going to take this easy option and lay some blame on Brian Kerr.

I had my worries about where the support from midfield was going to come from before the kick off, when Duff was partnered by two defensive central midfielders and a defender on the other wing. As we have seen, Duff is often out of the game for long periods (as good as he is) and the service to the frontmen can be stifled.

Thankfully, we got an early goal. Full marks to Elliott for putting it away and saving Ireland's blushes, even at that early stage.

Yet again however, Ireland failed to kick on from that and go out looking for more goals. We seemed to almost invite them onto us to attack our goal, with little or no ambition to drive forward ourselves. Our defence got so deep Shay was almost playing as a sweeper. Cyprus, to their credit, saw this and grew in confidence and lay seige to our goal as best they could.

Suddenly a team of has beens, no hopers and never will be's started playing like they were Brazilian. We looked clueless. Didn't know how to tackle them, how to starve them of possession or that queer idea of actually using the ball ourselves, bleh! If Cyprus had a little more genuine quality or a little more luck, we'd have been looking to Euro 2008 tonight.

Shay Given should be given the freedom of wherever he wants to go in Ireland. He's certainly welcome in my house anytime, although I don't live in Ireland. That penalty save was of the highest order, I'll have to see it again to judge if he guessed the right way or just put in a meteoric dive - but thank god for Shay Given. That and a mass of other great saves. If we, by fluke, make it through to the World Cup then we can thank him.

What worried me more than anything in the first half was that Brian Kerr sat through it and did absolutely nothing. How can you be happy when a team ranked somewhere around 100 in the World, whose fans couldn't be arsed to see them, when our lot out-number them 5-1, and not even consider making a single change? It really baffled me. It was clear we needed something to change, Steven Reid or Holland should have been brought on once it was clear the current crop couldn't hack it.

His half time team talk couldn't have been up to much either.

Kerr will have my support until the end of the qualifying campaign, and maybe even until the World Cup if we manage to pull off a miracle and get there. But, its starting to stare us all in the face that he is out of his depth in this job. I cannot remember the last time we played well. We have struggled to beat bad teams before, and failed to win games we should have won against the better teams we come up against. The odd poor performance can be put down as a law of average, but his average is too low.

I'm sure the future of Kerr will be debated to a death and so I'll drop it.

Tonight, I thought the team were lacking direction as much as anything. Desire might be next on the list of things lacking too.

I have serious doubts over the calibre of Kavanagh, and if he starts on Wednesday night then we can move our qualifying campaign into the daisy ward. He was just part of a poor team performance, it must be said. There are others that went missing, Duff being one of them, and we never really saw Finnan either.

Elliott was spot on, and I thought Robbie worked hard when he was in the game, although he could be called guilty for squandering the odd chance. Joking aside though, they had little or no service for long periods - and when there was service it was so high in the air that some brute of a centre back just swept it up.

I am seriously concerned about Wednesday lads. We really missed Andy Reid tonight, so at least we'll have him back, but if Duff is out then I think we are fighting a losing battle.

I really hope we do it and the team of course have my full backing, but its not looking good.

Ade

[thejollyrodger]

30' Switzerland 0 - 0 France
http://www.livescore.net/default.dll?page=home

Its currently 0-0 in the other game. If the choclate makers can go on to win 1-0 then we have a real fighting chance of topping this miserable group. Cant see it though.

Dunphy reckons this team is in decline. I think the same sometimes but we do have good players. I think we really miss RMK in his glory days. Its just life after Roy basically. No leadership, everything used to go through him.

I hope Duffer isnt seriously injured. The two Reids on the wings mightnt be able to produce as much as he would.

Oh, the other positive was connolly. He looked very good. Why wasnt him and Elliott tried in previous games when we needed a goal. Its disapointing to see Doc come on.

O Shea in my books is a diaster. He will never be a great player, he is a pretender and is crap at the bread and butter stuff.

[tricky_colour]

On a slightly brighter note Cyprus are not a bad side, at least not as bad
as you expect them to be if you have a look through their recent results
they look fairly creditable.

Especially this one!!
Cyprus (CYP) 3:2 (1:0) Spain (ESP)
UEFA EURO 2000 Prel. Comp. NICOSIA CYPRUS - 05.09.1998

[Plastic Paddy]

I expected to have to put my modding hat on and referee an online scrap or two but aas it happens you all agree with each other and I agree with you. :mad:

:ball: PP

PS Rodg, me old mate, I know you don't like the Swiss but it's time to leave the "chocolate makers" tag behind - whilst not inordinately offensive it's a racial slur and I push a rigid PC line on here. Thanks. :)

[thejollyrodger]

for your sake PP ill drop the "T.C.M" tag but i wouldnt call it racist. My gripe is , the racist swizz abuse on Clinton Morrision. Also, their players in Dublin last time showed nothing but disrespect to us,the fans. Its a bit rich of them to expect a big cead mile failte from mise.

Its still Switzerland 0 - 0 France at Half Time. It looks like its going to be a low scoring game whatever happens.

The Cyprus are a bad team but they arent terrible at home. I think the Switzerland only got a few late goals from Frie late in the game to make it 3-1. The 4-0 days are gone out there IMHO.

[Plastic Paddy]

Good man Rodg. For all that I agree with your general point. And like I said elsewhere on this board I would (in best Keegan-esque style ranting mode) "love it, just love it" to see Alexander Frei suffer a reciprocal taunting in front of/from the Lansdowne Road crowd. Oh happy days... :D

:ball: PP

[tricky_colour]

A draw is a bad result for us , means we still have to beat the Swiss but
cannnot top the group. The Swiss will probably settle for a draw,
the French definately will.
I should have put some money on a 0-0 draw.

[concanta]

who the f8ck can we play in midfield on wednesday