Current feelings about the team

[irishbaz]

Hello all

I have been reading posts on the website for a while now, I have followed the national team since I can remember and being a Republic of Ireland fan is not an easy job. Since the Charlton era we have had so much expectation in each campaign and rightly so, we were labeled as having no players with real quality but we were workers a hard team to play against and if you were due to face us it was not something to look forward to. The Mc Carthy ethic was the same how ever we did have some real quality players as well as a good honest work ethic

The less said about the Kerr appointment the better I had great expectations as every fan did however these were let down by (in my opinion) very poor management.

How can I comment on Steve Staunton well how many national managers are employed with no track record in management at any level? why? I have watched the team under him and I am not filled with confidence. I watch his pre and post match interviews and I am embarrassed, he doesn’t seem to have a clue. He might be respected by the players but that’s where it ends.

I think we have a good international team with three or four outstanding talents in Duff, Given, Keane and Finnan we also have some fantastic youth in Doyle and McGeady. What we seem to be missing is the old up and at them approach we seem to be missing a heart, the stomach for the battle. I don’t know where this has gone but the management has to hold some of the responsibility. Kerr and so far Staunton seem to have eroded a fantastic team spirit which in the past has helped to grind out results.

I hope today the team can recapture some of that spirit as I think without it we won’t qualify this campaign or any in the foreseeable future.

[pete]

The less said about the Kerr appointment the better I had great expectations as every fan did however these were let down by (in my opinion) very poor management.


Kerr had his failings but he knew how to manage & prepare a team.



How can I comment on Steve Staunton well how many national managers are employed with no track record in management at any level? why? I have watched the team under him and I am not filled with confidence. I watch his pre and post match interviews and I am embarrassed, he doesn’t seem to have a clue. He might be respected by the players but that’s where it ends.


Staunton is doing worse at all the things Kerr was effectively sacked for. The FAI need to send Stan on an assertiveness course as he needs to make people feel he knows what he doing. I can only imagine his team talks. :eek:

[brine3]

Kerr couldn't motivate the players all that well, but he was great at preparation and organisation. Professionalism we'll call it. A Kerr team would never have been pasted 4-0, friendly or no friendly. He was only beaten by a margin of more than one goal once. There was no room for Mick Byrne in the Irish squad under Kerr. That speaks volumes.

Now we have Stan, who can't motivate the players, but also doesn't have the preparation and organisation of Kerr. Mick Byrne and his **** ups are back.

At this point I'd rather have Kerr.

[Declan_Michael]

Professionalism off the pich got us nowhere - as proven by the Kerr regime. First class plane tickets don't win you football matches. Before 2002 we had some great players, after 2002 we had them plus experience. Those players - Duff, Keane and Given are still at our disposal. You can slag the preparations of Charlton and McCarthy off (I'd love to hear the Little Chef story again..) but personally if it gets us to major tournaments I don't care.

[Dodge]

Professionalism off the pich got us nowhere - as proven by the Kerr regime. First class plane tickets don't win you football matches.
Professionalism off the pitch is training right, eating right and not drinking in the week up to a game. But Staunton likes the team to have the craic so its alright. It has nothing to do with the ****ing flights...

Oh and the players were and are sub par.

[pete]

Professionalism off the pitch is training right, eating right and not drinking in the week up to a game. But Staunton likes the team to have the craic so its alright. It has nothing to do with the ****ing flights...

With Kerr you knew what you would get. Solid team of average players looking to keep it tight & grab the odd goal. If he had 1-2 more quality players would have done well.

With Staunton its back to the give it a lash hoofball "tactics". The only thing he managed is to get sent off. :rolleyes:

[Emmet]

Kerr had his failings but he knew how to manage & prepare a team.

Yes ... his problem was that the team too often capitulated once they took they lead and he didn't seem to know what to do about it!!

[micls]

At the moment im a bit depressed...partly cos i agreed with most of Eamonn Dunphys points(though he went overboard) last night.

If Agreeing with Dunphy wasnt worrying enough then i had to sit through Stans interview........i was ashamed of it, and worried that this is how the world ses us now, bumbling, deluded and raising below average performances by a lot of players as fantastic from one to 14. He even praised the subs who didnt come on.

But the thing that most depressed me last night was having to accept that we just arent good enough. Germany was shocking, we were worse. I honestly think we dont have the players.

Mostly in midfield.We just dont have one. While id prefer to have John O' Shea driving the team bus than playing id put him left back to leave finnan play in his natural position. Maybe Kav would do better...but he was non exisent against Holland, Steven Reid can play a pass when he's on form but when he's not its embarrassing...Kilbane-im sick of hearing ' well he's working hard, he gives it everyhing, he tries his best'.....and i know he does but then again so would i if they gave me the shirt. He's just not good enough.
And the depression sets in because these are the best we have.


Rant over

[eirebhoy]

I honestly think we dont have the players.

Mostly in midfield.We just dont have one.
We could have fielded a much much better midfield than that last night. Steven Reid is a central midfielder now and Andy Reid would have been a much better option than him on the right last night, he wasn't in the squad. Even Jon Dougas is a better midfielder than O'Shea and Kilbane imo. Duff-Reid-Carsely-McGeady would have been my midfield.

[Soper]

This is encouraging me to look into getting coaching qualifications, because I know I would do a better job, just need to prove it.

[brine3]

With Kerr you knew what you would get. Solid team of average players looking to keep it tight & grab the odd goal.

Exactly. In all his matches, both friendly and competitive, Kerr lost only three times. Away to Switzerland in 2003 and two narrow one goal losses against France and Italy, two teams that didn't do too shabbily at the World Cup.

Stan has had four matches and lost just as many as Kerr already.

[el punter]

I don't buy the points about the strengths of managers motivating players. It's international football. It's representing your country. Honestly - if the players are not motivated by this then they shouldn't bother turning up. Banging the dru m in the dressing room and shouting across a pitch while 40,000 others are also shouting is not what international football management is about. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your team and the opposition and using that knowledge to get results is what it's about.

Calling incoherent football 'magnificent' is certainly not what international football management is about.

[DmanDmythDledge]

I don't buy the points about the strengths of managers motivating players. It's international football. It's representing your country. Honestly - if the players are not motivated by this then they shouldn't bother turning up. Banging the drum in the dressing room and shouting across a pitch while 40,000 others are also shouting is not what international football management is about.
I agree with you in one sense but look at it another way. A manager like Alex Ferguson or Martin O'Neill would be able to motivate the team to play to the best of their ability, so I think that a manager with better motivational skills would improve the mentality of some of the players, and thus the performance. Maybe if the manager doesn't come out and praise his team for an abject performance would be a help as well.

[thejollyrodger]

L A D S ... W E R E ... B A T T L I N G... For ... S E C O N D ... S P O T .. A T ... B E S T..


could be worse though... we could always be northern ireland :D :D :D

[craigdublin]

Why do we believe Dunphy? Why do suddenly take him seriously when for years he was the but of jokes. He has shaped our view of the Jack era. He shaped our view of McCarthy and he destroyed Kerr in the final games when we could have qualified for the world cup. Now as Brady says he is out to undermine the next manager. Thats all he does -he destroys. And so many of us are taken in. He claims to critique but its not positive criticism. Its not tinged with support for the team at the end of the day.

"We performed well."
"Vast improvement from the Holland Game"
"We were unlucky"
"We could have lost by more!"
"Beaten by a better team"
"We'll do better against others in the group"
"Staunton needs to control his temper"
"The better players didnt perform to their best last night"
"We didnt threaten them enough"
"Its not been an easy start for Staunton. It'll test his mettle."

In my view - all these comments are valid. But the panel just ridiculously talk of depression and shambles and no hope for the future. Its not valid critique. Its polemic...

[geysir]

With Kerr you knew what you would get. Solid team of average players looking to keep it tight & grab the odd goal. If he had 1-2 more quality players would have done well.

With Staunton its back to the give it a lash hoofball "tactics". The only thing he managed is to get sent off. :rolleyes:
Well I didn't see the Doc make an appearance last night.
So Stan brought on two midgets on the wings as subs in the vain pursuit of hoofball tactics? Gimmie a feckin break. Credit the German defence for closing down all the avenues, onlly Duff looked capable of breaking through the odd time and two players on McGeady in a flash on the 3 occasions the ball came to him.

[eirebhoy]

Why do we believe Dunphy? Why do suddenly take him seriously when for years he was the but of jokes.
Exactly. I was shocked to see the vast majority of people in the pub taking Dunphy's words as gospel. Shay Given had 1 tough save to make it the entire match (not including that fluke goal). We had a couple of sitters too. We may not have passed the ball too well but that's what to be expected with the central midfield that was fielded.

[concanta]

In general there were more positives that negatives on Saturday

We played against a good side and did threaten them periodically.

The defense looked solid and will improve if Andy O’Brien get more club football

Duff and McGeady should be on the wings – Duff needs a bit of pressure off him big time

Doyle looked very good and is defo our second striker

I know its stating the obvious but if we sort midfield then I think we will be ok and
Will have an outside chance of qualification.

In my opinion we have to chose from the following for central midfield
Kavanagh,Kilbane,Ireland,Reid, A Reid, McPhail and O’Shea

I personally would go for Stephen and Andy Reid.

I think we will beat Cyprus – not easily but by 2 goals.

The most important game of the whole group is the home game with the Czechs
We have to win that 100% anything less and its curtains…. I definitely think they are
On the wane a bit and if we show the commitment and workrate as of Saturday and we get a vastly improved midfiekld performance we have a chance…….we need to have 9 points by end of the year

Czechs and Slovakia play on Wed….. I personally think a draw would be good for us – if anyone had to win I would prefer the Czechs to win as I am a little worried about the Slovaks

My team is

Given

Carr
Dunne
O’Brien
Finnan
McGeady
Reid
Reid
Duff
Keane
Doyle

[reder]

There was one fatal flaw is our performance on sat (amongst umpteen general flaws) and that was our complete inability to pass the ball. Football is a very simple game and if you cannot pass the ball, you wont win squat. If the team plays like that against Cyprus, we will do very very well to win out there. It will be a repeat of our last visit which was a disgrace.

The germans could have easily got 3 or 4 against us on sat, Given made a few very good saves and they hit the wood work on a few occasions.

Looking at the Czechs v Wales game it looks like its gonna be a long campaign, there will be no shortage of tickets for Croke Park.

[youngirish]

Positives from Saturday's performance:

1. Overall the defense was solid.
2. Given was outstanding.
3. Dunne was solid.
4. Carr and Finnan at RB and LB are a much better option than either one and Harte, JOS, Kilbane.
5. S Reid looked the part.
6. Duff looked to be getting back to his best attacking form.
7. Mc Geady looked good when he came on.

Negatives:

1. JOS. Not a footballer. I know I go on about it but after 4 years of dreadful performances and 3 managers I really can't believe he's still in the first team.
2. No ideas going forward. Little creativity bar some decent crosses from the wings that our 2 midget striker's were never going to get (Doyle could not compete with the German CB's in the air).
3. Elliot looked poor when he came on. He seems to be going backwards after showing a lot of potential in previous seasons and we need a good third option up front.

[DannyInvincible]

In general there were more positives that negatives on Saturday

Don't know about that. I'd be interested in seeing the statistics from the game. Anyone got them?

We have a team of Premiership players. Is it so hard to ask of them to put in a solid performance against a side pretty much made up of players from the inferior Bundesliga? Passing the ball between one another shouldn't be such a problem for a group of top-flight players. A lot of the Irish players looked like the didn't want the ball. John O'Shea's attempt (or lack thereof) to control the ball and be creative after a throw-in toward the end of the game summed up the night really. He aimlessly hoofed the ball vertically into the air for a German to collect. Shocking and infuriating.


We played against a good side and did threaten them periodically.

When exactly? For a spell of 5 minutes at the beginning of the match when both teams were getting to grips with the game? To be honest, Ireland never looked like they would seriously threaten, bar the rare chance (e.g. Reid's free kick, Dunne's last-minute header). Even these chances didn't come from play.


The defense looked solid and will improve if Andy O’Brien get more club football

There was a spell in the first half when it looked a bit shaky and the German forwards seemed to be able to find space for free headers rather easily at times. Given was fantastic as ever and made up for poor defending. However, and to be fair, the defence did make some important interceptions and overall I think Andy O'Brien is our best choice, although to give away such a silly free-kick was foolish. Dunne will have to get this hoofing the ball up the field out of his game. Ireland haven't got Niall Quinn anymore. The number of times Richard Dunne hoofed the ball up the field on Saturday night recycling the ball back for another German attack is unbelievable. I was resigned to defeat well before the final whistle.


Duff and McGeady should be on the wings – Duff needs a bit of pressure off him big time

Duff had three men on him. We can't rely on one player to provide a spark and create opportunites. That's what Ireland are doing with Duff. I agree with you. And as for Stan taking him off, I thought it was an awful decision. Kilbane should have been the one to come off. I nearly forgot he was in the pitch at one stage. When he's in possession he resembles a dog frantically chasing after a ball, not a man in control of what he's doing. Simply changing things won't get you back into the game as Stan seemed to think in his post-match interview - you have to change things in a postive manner. I felt Duff's input was positive on Saturday. He looked dangerous at some stages and I feel that if he was left on he had the potential to do damage as Ireland's most skillful player.


Doyle looked very good and is defo our second striker

Definitely agree with you here.


I know its stating the obvious but if we sort midfield then I think we will be ok and
Will have an outside chance of qualification.

In my opinion we have to chose from the following for central midfield
Kavanagh,Kilbane,Ireland,Reid, A Reid, McPhail and O’Shea

I personally would go for Stephen and Andy Reid.

I think Stephen Reid has to be in there. Sending him onto the wing on Saturday was a mistake. He wasn't afraid to put in tackles and seemed well up for taking on the German midfield when he was playing in the centre.

Edit: Just another thing (and Dunphy pointed this out); after the German free-kick which lead to the goal was layed off, the Irish wall should have been chasing the ball down. Instead, they stood completely still giving Podolski a chance to get a shot in.

[Keithdaly]

Not sure there is that much of a gap between the Bundesliga and the English Premier League, Dortmund(1997) and Bayern(2001) have won the Champions League, the same amount of wins as the EPL.

[DannyInvincible]

Well, it certainly isn't a superior league.

[Stuttgart88]

In technical terms I'd suspect it is. In financial terms it's not. Players with technical ability do well in international tournaments.

[keenanboy]

Was there with the rest of you on Saturday and was naturally disappointed but refuse to think that its all doom and gloom. Strong defensive performance, full backs solid and Dunne immense.

Midfield area is the obvious problem, I feel that Stan is still trying to find his best pairing...this job should have been done at a US Cup type competition over the Summer, not in crucial qualifiers.


When you have 2 naturally gifted wingers in your squad they should both be on the pitch. McGeady did not have enough time to make an impact. We haven't got talent on tap but we should at least use what we have.

At least the toughest game is out of the way. I didn't think the Germans were brilliant but they did enough and are certainly in the top 3 sides at the moment. I still fancy us to get through.

[Stuttgart88]

Midfield area is the obvious problem, I feel that Stan is still trying to find his best pairing...this job should have been done at a US Cup type competition over the Summer, not in crucial qualifiers.Staunton said he wanted to give his players a rest. That's fine for the senior guys, but let the fringe guys have a chance to put themselves in the shop window. See it as complementing the proposed B international schedule. Certainly given the conundrum we're now facing, it'd be great to have had the benefit of this.

Don't shoot me for mentioning his name again, but I don't think there's much wrong with the team that a player with Kevin Nolan's attributes wouldn't improve drastically (this is not a debate on trying to call him up or whatever -just an assessment of what's missing).

Solving left back is still a problem, but nowhere near as much as central midfield.

[OwlsFan]

Was comparing this team with my mates on a drive back to Frankfurt Hahn with the team of 88 and at least 5 of this team would make that side: Given (Bonner), Dunne (McCarthy), Finnan (Morris), Duff (Galvin) and Keane (Aldridge). We're not as weak as we think. Central midfield is the key area as we all know and if Andy Reid can shed a few pounds and regain his form, all is not lost.

[DotTV]

People seem to forget the Germans were one of the best teams at the world cup.They beat a lot of people's fancies, Argentina, and only lost to the eventual champs in the last few minutes of the game.
Klose was top scorer and Podolski was not far behind them.
They scored a load of goals in the early parts of their World Cup games but against us, they didn't have a shot for the first half hour.
Given did keep is in it with his saves, but Robbie was barely offside for his goal and Dunne should have scored at the end.
We were weak in the centre of the park but we have players to come in their: A Reid, S Reid, Miller, Douglas, McPhail, Carsley, Kavanagh.
We have more choice up front than we have had in many years:Keane, Doyle, Elliot, Morrison, Doherty, Lee.

Our next four games are against Cyprus, the Czechs and San Marino twice.
We should definetly get 9 points against Cyprus and San Marino and there is absolutely no reason why we should nt beat the Czechs at home(they werent great against Wales.)
Twelve points(or even 10) would leave us in a prominent position in the group with big home games to come in Croker.
Just being optimistic

[Stuttgart88]

Just being optimisticThat's not allowed on here :)

Next game is crucial. A convincing win, or rather any win but with a convincing performance, with no injuries / suspensions will open it up for a corker against Czechs.

[wws]

Staunton has nearly lost as many competitive games as Kerr. And he's only played one!

[eirebhoy]

If we're aiming for qualification then we have to get 12 points from the next 4 games imo. 6 points from the 2 San Marino games are pretty much bankers anyway so we should be going all out to win the next 2 games.

[DotTV]

No reason why we can't get 12 points.
We should have learned a bit about Cyprus in the last campaign to turn them over.If the Slovaks can hit them for 6 we should be able to tuck a few away.
Big game in Landsdowne against the Czechs.
We did alright against them in a friendly a couple of years back and they are a weaker outfit now.(I know it was only a friendly but that was out most recent game against them)

[NeilMcD]

I agree 12 points is what we have to get. If we got a draw in Germany then possibly a draw at home to Czechs would have been ok but not now. 12 points please.

[Stuttgart88]

Just wondering if a new manager came in now and got 10 points from our next 4 games would he be heralded as a miracle worker like Kerr was when we got 7 points from Georgia & Albania away and then Albania at home (the latter in a dire performance)? Very probably, despite it being a very likely outcome.

10 points should be the minimum achieved. In fact you'd get very short odds on a Cyprus/ San Marino/ San Marino win accumulator so the real "doubtful" result is Czechs at home.

A spread bet price on points gained from our next 4 games would probably be something like 11 - 9.5 (so 10.25 mid-price).

Any gamblers here agree? I never bet!

Let's say we only get 10 points.

But from then on we get 4 points against Wales & Slovakia. A further 3 at home to Cyprus. A draw at home to Germany and a draw in Czech Rep.

This'll total 23 points. This will be pretty close to securing second place. Where can we likely pick up more? At home to Czechs or away to Wales (not easy).

Long winded way of saying 10 points not a disaster!

[concanta]

to be honest I dont think 10 is enough

We need to beat the czechs - end of

IF Sir Bobby is back and fit by then I think we will get 12

[endabob1]

If we are to have any chance 10 points is a minimum requirement but in reality I think we will need 12. I don't see us getting anything away against the Czech's or the Slovaks and the 2 Wales games will be very tight, they always are.

[Stuttgart88]

There's an excellent post by a Slovak on chatsoccer.net, another Irish footy forum (the main one!), detailing the strength of the Slovakia side, but also saying the 6-1 result against Cyprus was misleading.

Anyone see Wales vs Brazil? I only saw about 20 minutes. This Welsh side has some decent players & Toshack isn't afraid to blood youth either. He's also tactically far more astute than our manager. They've no world beaters in central midfield but they do have central midfielders in central midfield!

[Dodge]

Toshack has bundles of top level managerial experience. He's also the best British pundit on TV (so good they won't show him...)

If Wales get a couple of results before they play us they could be really really difficult to beat.

[endabob1]

Wales are as good as we are and they have a better manager, the 2 games against them will be very tight.
They looked good for about an hour last night but you have to say that any team with Giggs, Bellamy & Earnshaw in it will be a threat, Simon Davies on the Right side is a good ball player too. I think, like us they are weak in the middle of midfield and the system they play (normally 5 at the back) will hopefully give our wide players a chance to get in behind their wing backs.
I reckon Germany will sew up the top spot and second is between 4 teams with the Czechs facourites to go through but if we can win the next 4 games then the pressure will be on the other 3 teams.

[youngirish]

Wales are as good as we are and they have a better manager, the 2 games against them will be very tight.
They looked good for about an hour last night but you have to say that any team with Giggs, Bellamy & Earnshaw in it will be a threat, Simon Davies on the Right side is a good ball player too. I think, like us they are weak in the middle of midfield and the system they play (normally 5 at the back) will hopefully give our wide players a chance to get in behind their wing backs.
I reckon Germany will sew up the top spot and second is between 4 teams with the Czechs facourites to go through but if we can win the next 4 games then the pressure will be on the other 3 teams.

Player for player Wales are nowhere near as good as we are. At a stretch they might get 3 players in our first team - Bellamy, Giggs and Gabbidon (though Giggs is not as good as Duff IMO but it's debatable). Everywhere else on the pitch we are miles better (even central midfield if we played the 2 Reids there). We should beat them comfortably though I suspect we won't due to the management. I can't see them in the running for the second qualifying spot.

If they played Germany the other night they would have been hammerred on the evidence of the Brazil match last night (Germany being at home and being currently far better than Brazil if the WC is anything to go by).

I don't understand all the doom and gloom. We have a number of potentially top WC players (Finnan, Given, Duff and Keane at international level) and a number of up and coming improving players (Doyle, J O'Brien, Ireland, S Reid). It's the team selections and tactics and amateur management that let us down over and over again.

[elroy]

We all know the big game for now is the Czechs at home, no messing we need a win!! You have to win your games at home, simple as that!
We need a good win and performance in Cyprus to raise the spirits and confidence going into the Czech game.
I feel with a little bit of tinkering, particularly in midfield that this team can go places. Everytime JOS gets the ball he wants to get rid straight away, not the attributes of a good CM, therefore we need someone to come in there, who is more composed and confident on the ball.
Finnan should be on the right, otherwise when hes on the left everytime he goes forward the chances are wasted as he has to turn back on his right to cross.

The other thing is the age of this team, given,carr and kilbane to the best of my knowledge were the only guys on sat over 30, we have a very young team! Good chance they'll come good yet

[NeilMcD]

Well the old argument goes which would you rather a better team on paper with a poor inexperienced manager or an average side withh a top class manager. I feel that Stauntons management could bring us down to be on a par with Wales with the astute managment of Toshack

[wws]

Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes.

[NeilMcD]

Well look at Greece at Euro 2004 or Porto also. Notts Forest won 2 European Finals with not world Class teams. There are cases where if you get a good manager in you can achieve more than if you had a poor manager in. The duty of a manager is to get the maximum out of his team.

[wws]

I don't subscribe to tactics, never have, never will, but I was just using this thread to quote Brian Clough

[NeilMcD]

Sure why were you giving out that Staunton was put in charge as clearly you dont think it makes any difference whatsoever. Is this pure Wind up stuff?

[colster]

Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes.

I don't think it is as easy as that. Of course players are responsible but they need to be prepared and organised correctly. A player needs to feel comfortable and confident in the role he plays on the pitch. There's a lot more to tactical preparation than the formation. If it were soley about the players then why have a manager? Why is M O'Neill doing so much better with the same players that D O'Leary had.

[youngirish]

Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes.

Not true IMO. In that case why bother with managers? We might aswell have Brady or Dunphy running the team then (please God no).

[wws]

Not true IMO. In that case why bother with managers? Also how can Martin O'Neill (a good manager) come in and totally turn around Villa with almost the same players that O'Leary had 3 months beforehand.

first of all the words above posted by me are a direct quote from one of the games greatest managers, Brian Clough.

second of all your line above is a classic case of everything thats wrong with football commentary by ppl these days - O'Neill has had only a handful of games yet you've already deemed him as completely "turning around" aston villa - it doesn't stand up to any objective reasoning. even o neill will admit that it well take a long time before any definitive judgement can be made on the matter

basic level of organisation is a minimum, nay expected of any competent professionals - most managers can do this - it doesnt require genius "tactics" plucked from the heavens and used only by the chosen few. what the players do on the pitch is down to their abilities and decisions made on the spot - not in reference to a tactics board - ireland have relatively poor players (in the global scheme of things) therefore only have basic heart and work rate to contribute - no "tactics" in the world can transform these guys into better players

i dont blame staunton, he inherited the same poor squad kerr was lumbered with, though he got a lucky break with doyle

[MyTown]

Given Slovakia's trouncing of Cyprus & how relatively well the Welsh did against Brazil in White Hart Lane last night, I think we have much more than the Czechs to worry about. I've written our chances of a trip to Austria/Switzerland completely off.