Post Cyprus Match Reaction thread

[skitz3]

The Scottish players had something over the Irish players....

National Pride!!

[Stuttgart88]

The Scottish players had something over the Irish players

Physical stature

Leaders / strong characters

Balance

A combative midfielder used to playing in midfied

Seriously, these are very significant factors. We're a team of short-arsed fancy dans with no aggression or proper leadership. We lose balance by playing square pegs in round holes. We can't compete in central midfield because we don't pick central midfielders to play there.

Picking Kilbane with Ireland betrays a total & utter lack of knowledge of the essence of a functional team.

[thelimerick]

Here's what Duff had to say:

'When you come to places like Cyprus you have to pick up points.

'It's not acceptable dropping points here, even if we had drawn, that would still not have been acceptable.

'It's also not acceptable for the fans to see us played off the park by a team ranked 60 places below us, but it shows where we are.

Considering Stan's comments on drawing with Cyprus being acceptable, Duff saying it would not be, and Duff's mention of "where we are", I would assume then that the players are unhappy with Staunton as manager. We have a situation now where after two competitive matches there is virtually no-one with confidence in Steve Stauntons ability to manage our international team.
As one poster previously pointed out, this is his dream job. However, the FAI in hiring him have completely ruined his chances of ever landing another managerial post again. Had he actually begun a career in management and advanced through experience and had proven his ability, we may well have seen Staunton become a decent manager, who knows. At present what is happening for all involved is disgusting. And it all lies with the FAI.
The FAI has only ever been consistent in its failures. Irish football clubs are folding under the pressures of existing within the framework of a mis-managed national league. A national coach hired without any previous experience of managing a club merely scratches the surface on the gross incompetence of our national footballing body. The entire structure is rotten and most be completely demolished. Adjustments and tweaking are not enough here. For Irish football to have any future both at national and international level, massive change needs to take place.
We have tolerated this farce of an organisation for too long now. Saipan should have changed all that and it didn't. Irish fans now need to ask themselves what THEY can do to ensure that Ireland manages to produce talented footballers within Ireland and advance within a strong National League, its acadamies and local structures. Our footballing body is a failure. Its time to bring it down.

[shakermaker1982]

Do we not have any men over 6ft who can actually play football? Do the big strong lads opt for GAA whilst the little midgets play football? You know it's bad when you rely on Kilbane to win the odd header now and again because he's 5 8" or whatever height he is.

The stupid idiot won't even call up a ball winner like Carsley after watching his team get torn apart in MF by Cyprus. Kilbane and Ireland have the presence of a couple of toddlers. We lose Dunne so instead of calling up McCarthy he brings in a right back who froze the last time he played for us.

[mypost]

We have a situation now where after two competitive matches there is virtually no-one with confidence in Steve Stauntons ability to manage our international team.

No-one has confidence in him, bar John Delaney.

Because of that lads, we have to put up with sht like what we saw in Cyprus, for another 3 years. About as enticing as a trip to the dentist.

[littlered]

i agree i dont understand the booing ritual either go and support youre team on wedensday i think in the bad times the true supporter shows themselves.
except for the green jerseys on our tv screen last night you would never of guested there was an irish fan in cyprus

[tall chapy]

After the events on Saturday...
Getting rid of McCarthy in hindsight was an error (I was a McCarthy fan) everyone including McCarthy took the easy option and he departed.
Getting rid of Kerr in hindsight was an error, I was a Kerr fan initially, he is an excellent coach ( maybe not manager) he went in to possibly too much detail. As you may have grasped from his commentary, he knew a lot about the opposition, which is a help. This is one of the major elements that Stan does not have. Kerr was more a political animal, ie: keep those in the FAI happy by not losing..This 'never lose' (at the cost of possibly winning) attitude was his biggest error, instead of going for the jugular, he slammed on the brakes & went into reverse with a rearguard action. He had loads of chances, against the Swiss he had two do-or-die games were must win matches yet he did not throw the kitchen sink at them.
After the Isreal games. Some player lost faith in him & the team, most notably Duff. After the final Swiss game.Many lost faith with him & he was shown the door probably deserved to be.
Then the muppets at the FAI give us 'The Gaffer'.At first the players had a drive and determination & everybody was willing to give him a chance(Sweden game..but then they reverted to type..Chile, Holland..Germany was credible performance where at least they tried..but Cyprus has knocked the stuffing out of the Players, the coaching staff & finally the fans. The players just seem to be more concerned about their premiership careers than playing for their country.IMHO the FAI need to realise thinternational football is about keeping the fans happy, not keeping the FAI people in cushy jobs & keeping the premiership players mollycoddled.Even Kerr realised that not losing, no matter how dire you played was more important than losing, especially against a team ranked 60 places below us.Stan IMHO made one other mistake which has affected the fan homebase, this is to drag us back to the day of the granny passport rule players, its true that they have served us well in the past, but surely we must progress away from that with a plan.It just demoralises all EL players hearing this know that they are well down the pecking order.Keven Doyle was playing EL 2 seasons ago.
Even I knew that the 2 up front & the captain were the only decent players in the cypriot team yet nobody wearing a green jersey seemed to have any idea.There was no plan, the defence did not seem to trust the goalkeeper & vice versa.Any early indication of this may have been when Alan Kelly described Paddy Kenny's goalkeeping style as 'unauthodox',nobody was dedicated to holding midfield, no direction to feed Duff & McGeady as quickly as possible, it was an utter shambles.Though I have defended O'Shea & Kilbane in the past, there were not fit to wear the jersey last night. When they got back to the dressing room Stan should have told them to rip the badge of their Jersey and keep it as a reminder never to play like that ever again as the fans deserve more a lot more....As Thunderblaster & Stutgart88 said Brady needs to be brought in & develop our youth policy & especially in Ireland (EL) PS - IMHO Givens is worse than Stan... and yes the Curse of TV3 that haunted us during the Euro 2000 qualifying campaign has come back to haunt us!! Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors :p

[FarBeag]

i agree i dont understand the booing ritual either go and support youre team on wedensday i think in the bad times the true supporter shows themselves.
except for the green jerseys on our tv screen last night you would never of guested there was an irish fan in cyprus


Well, what are we supposed to do cheer the fcukers?For what exactly? The Irish football team is an utter discrace, they have no respect for the shirt on their backs let alone the supporters who pay out hard earned money to follow them all over the world.I was due to go over for this game but i am not going to fork out any more cash in order to watch donkeys like O Brien, O’Shea Kilbane etc etc make fools of themselves and us again.I hope they get booed.What other way are we supposed to let them know our how dissatisfied we are with them?

[Feech]

Playing Eircom League players instead - always comes up when we have a bad result. Was tried once. I think we got stuffed 6 or 7 in Austria in the 1970s.

It wasn't tried - it was a mess up with dates by the FAI (go figure!) which meant only LOI players were available for that game. I also think you'll find League of Ireland players being mostly responsible for our results during the first approx. first 40 years we played international football.



The national soccer league will never really get hold.
Have you forgotten the fact the majority of Irish are bandwagon jumpers?



The FAI did not squander "the windfall of the 90s". There was no windfall. Have a look at the books sometime. I got hold of their annual reports which are available. A few million doesn't get you very far.

Care to post up how much they spent on blazers one year?



This is the second time in a row we have been completely outplayed by Cyprus (for those who are singing Kerr's praises). We got away with it last time. This time due to woeful player errors (O'Brien and Kenny) we didn't.

agreed!

[littlered]

we might not agree but if staunton and co had your passion we might get places! well im off to the airport to pick up those who did spend hard cash to travel to cyprus!

[onenilgameover]

we might not agree but if staunton and co had your passion we might get places! well im off to the airport to pick up those who did spend hard cash to travel to cyprus!

from what i hear you might be seeing a little protest out there...

[Billy Lord]

Kerr's problem was that he had poor players; Stauton's problem is that he hasn't a clue what to do with poor players.

[barney]

Kerr's problem was that he had poor players; Stauton's problem is that he hasn't a clue what to do with poor players.

That's something I have to disagree on. Kerr inherited a very good side. McCarthy inherited an ageing team with no future and left Kerr with a very, very good squad. Given, Carr, Finnan, O'Shea, Dunne, Cunningham, Harte, Duff, Kilbane, Holland and Keane were all capped by McCarthy and none were even thirty when Kerr took over.

Brian Kerr simply wasn't up to the job.

Staunton is in a similar position to McCarthy in 1996. Unfortunately, he looks like he has no idea how to set his team up to defend properly.

[theworm2345]

Were up to 121 signatures, send it to your friends :)
If anyone here gave a damn I'd get them to sign it

[dr_peepee]

Staunton is in a similar position to McCarthy in 1996. Unfortunately, he looks like he has no idea how to set his team up to defend properly.

Agreed somewhat. But the simple fact is there was at least some level of transparancy and consisteny in what McCarthy was doing back then. I mean regardless of wheather you agreed with some of his experimentation back then (the 3-5-2 for example or later the ill fated Keane in the Sweeper/Sammer role), you could see at least some level of reasoning for it.

Stauntons decisions on the other hand defy a man of his experience. There's no rhyme or reason to some of his actions. This has been said since he anounced his first eleven against Sweden. The 3-0 win masked it for a short while.

Alot, if not all, of his policies provide more questions than answers. He has to account for himself. A press conference. A full interview. Anything. Cos I can't see what he's trying to achieve or how he's planning on going about it.

[geysir]

Honestly I don't think it was much different from last year, a Kerr team with a holding CM was just as shíte and a 1-0 victory postponed the post mortem rumpus. If you don't see that you're as dillusional as Stan is stubborn
Even with the sparse available resources it was poor team setup and therein lies the lack of confidence than Stan has the wherewithall to get the team to function.
His stubborness in not selecting Carsley and loyalty to Kilbane and O'Shea are getting in the way of looking at the team objectively and learning on the job.

[Stuttgart88]

Staunton: Lee Carsley? "We're looking forward. The thing is, if you remember a lot of you didn't have a lot of nice things to say about Lee when he last played for Ireland. I've decided to go with young Ireland and he didn't let me down tonight."

How can he possibly think that Ireland is an alternative to Carsley. He simply doesn't even undertstand basic team set up in my opinion.

This defeat is like a thunderstorm that clears the air. There's far more clarity about the situation now than there was when we won 1-0 in Cyprus, in an equally crap performance.

I feel a lot better this morning than I did after the 1-1 in Macedonia, the 1-0 in Zagreb or the 1-0 in Brussels in '83. For some odd reason.

I do genuinley think the man for man Scotland XI vs Ireland XI comparison in anoither thread tells a really important tale:

Team balance / shape ( manager's responsibility)
Physical stature (nothing we can do?)
Leadership / moral courage (where does this come from?)
Football ethos: Scotland play it, we hump it (manager's fault)
Scotland has a self-sufficient credible football infrastructure (FAI resposibility & our responsibility)

I don't even think Walter Smith is that good a manager. But he knows what he's doing & his players respond to him.

On another day Scotland could have lost 3-1. But that's not the point. The way they were set up & went about their game gave them a chance. They way we're going about our business doesn't give us any chance against a good team. Not even against mediocre teams.

[drinkfeckarse]

Haven't seen the goals, I switched the radio off when they went 3-2 up as I knew we were going to get humped.

To see Scotland battle the French and the obvious pride they had in their jersey reminded me of days gone by when our players took pride in the jersey and wondering what time the nightclub was open until wasn't uppermost in their thoughts.

I came into work this morning to see my Scottish workmates beam with pride in their own side and express shock and surprise at the Irish result to me.

"It looks like you've got your very own Berti Vogts" said one. Painfully true.

[shakermaker1982]

I've never felt worse. I still cannot get over this defeat. When did Stan say that about Carsley? What kind of reason is that for not picking Carsley?! The press gave him a hard time so I went for a midfielder who doesn't track back and cannot tackle because he is so frail....

Scotland and Northern Ireland players have pride in their shirt and the respective managers have experience. We have a joker who has held a reserve team manager post for Walsall and costs a pittance in wages each year.

[Dr. Ogba]

Honestly I don't think it was much different from last year, a Kerr team with a holding CM was just as shíte and a 1-0 victory postponed the post mortem rumpus. If you don't see that you're as dillusional as Stan is stubborn
Even with the sparse available resources it was poor team setup and therein lies the lack of confidence than Stan has the wherewithall to get the team to function.
His stubborness in not selecting Carsley and loyalty to Kilbane and O'Shea are getting in the way of looking at the team objectively and learning on the job.

This was always going to be the problem with picking someone like Staunton for the job. Apart from his complete and utter incompetence as a manager, he has also played with most of these players and so has certain loyalties to certain people (I wouldn't be surprised to hear sometime in the future that he had previously had a falling out with Carsley when playing). Can anyone honestly say that if a foreign manager (lets just say Troussier as an example) came in and assessed all of the players at his disposal and went and picked a team he would pick O'Shea and/or Kilbane in centre mid???? Would he have seen Robbie Keane as captain material??? No chance!

What was desperately needed when Kerr left was for comeone to come in with a clean slate and would have no hesititation in shipping out the dead wood and also kicking arse when required but we were let with Steve "I'm still one of the lads" Staunton. And for this its obvious that Delaney must be the man to carry the blame for this shambles...

[cavan_fan]

It's bad when you are agreeing with Tom Humphries

IRISH TIMES _ TOM HUMPHRIES

LockerRoom: For those of us living out our small lives of quiet desperation there's at least one small solace. We have no audience and we have no gallery of critics. Our banal failings and our humdrum failures are our own to fret over and to live with. In a world which never notices us we are spared the incisions from the critic's scalpel. That's a kindness.

Steve Staunton works in a pitiless, well lit world. He chose it for himself. He went from being an assistant manager at Walsall to managing an international soccer team. We don't know how far beyond the business of picking up and laying out training cones his work at Walsall went, but we know this morning that we are watching a man who has tragically overreached himself.


His sponsor in this folly has been John Delaney, whose culpability is deeper because he is cunning enough a man to have known better. If Steve Staunton goes soon, which he should, John Delaney should hold his hand as he walks the plank.

Steve Staunton is guilty of nothing more than ambition which, so far, outstrips his ability. John Delaney brings rather more into the confession box.

The situation this morning isn't about Brian Kerr, and we are realistic enough to know that nothing which happens in the near future in Irish soccer will restore Kerr to the centrality he has earned and deserves. Let us just remember, however, that in order for the current farrago to take place Brian Kerr had first to be knifed and filleted.

Brian Kerr, whose international teams certainly suffered from the failing of caution but never showed signs of complete dissolution; Brian Kerr, who invested his heart and his soul in the future of soccer in this country; Brian Kerr, who had a vision and a plan for how we might move forward; Brian Kerr, who had given so much service over so many years - Brian Kerr was nobbled and his limp-suited form dragged to the murky wings. Tragedy over. Ta da! Here comes the comedy.

Need we linger on the grim "search for a world-class manager" - as audaciously wielded a bottle of smoke as OJ Simpson's "hunt for the real killers"? In the end, the arcane provisions of the Old Pals Act served to fill the vacancy looking after the Irish team. Steve Staunton was located working humbly at little old Walsall. An FAI limo pulled up kerbside and when the smoked window came down with an impressive purr a man with a quiff leaned out.

"Hey, what's a nice Stan like you doing in a place like this? Let me take you away from all this," said the quiff.

You can't blame Steve Staunton for being bowled over. He arrived a few days later at a press conference in Dublin, blushing like a mail-order bride as he met the media - who wore faces like a set of dubious in-laws. We the media were assured by none other than John Delaney that here in one stroke was the restoration of passion to Irish hearts.

And for those who insisted on looking too closely at Steve Staunton's threadbare CV, well, hey, why not look over there at the kindly, white-haired old man who rambles on a lot. Isn't that Bobby Robson, Sir Bobby to you? Arise, Sir International Football Consultant.

One or other of them must know how to do the job. Steve and Bobby? Mustn't they?

More old pals piled in. If there had been sufficient old pals around Brian Kerr we'd have won the last World Cup apparently. As it was there were so many old pals on board now that we could afford the luxury of not really worrying about Euro 2008 but looking forward to South Africa 2010.

Pick your jaw up off the floor there, Brian Kerr; you know why you had to feel the knife between your shoulder blades. John Delaney told the Daily Mail last January. He'd looked, not into the heart of the nation but into the eyes of the Swiss.

"There was no fear in their eyes," quoth John. "Every Swiss person I spoke to looked confident. There was no fear or intimidation about coming to Lansdowne Road anymore

. . . that wasn't supposed to happen."

Are the Swiss famous for being afraid? Are they bedwetters? It couldn't be left there though. The knife had to be twisted.

"I think the most interesting remark came from Damien Duff," said Delaney, "who said we were playing like a pub team. We were always very difficult to play against, especially at Lansdowne Road. Teams feared us. They hated coming to Dublin but that had gone "

Now then. The Czech Republic visit us on Wednesday night. Can we all head out to the airport to get a close look to see if there is fear in their eyes this Monday morning? Did we have an optician take a look into the steely blues of the Cypriot team this weekend to check if their startled pupils betrayed a quiver of fear when the words Republic of Ireland were mentioned.

5-2. Five goals to two! Beyond our wildest nightmares is what Saturday night in Nicosia was. This was a landmark disaster which took us to the parts of embarrassment excuses can't reach. It was beyond comedy.

There have been calamitous results in the past which could be put down to a bad day at the office; there have been days when we huffed and puffed but couldn't put the ball in the net; there have been days when we got sucker punched by a decent team. But this was 90 minutes of gradual disintegration.

5-2. V Cyprus. We got a goal in the eighth minute and we spent the last 15 minutes being made fools of. The Cypriots could have added two or three at the end but, hey, who can accurately calibrate the different measures of humiliation in conceding five to Cyprus and conceding six or seven?

5-2. We had a back four made up of Premiership footballers and we had a Premiership goalkeeper behind them. We had a right to expect that at least we would set out our stall so as not to concede goals.

Ahead of our defence we had (having mysteriously eschewed the services of a baffled Lee Carsley) an unviable central midfield but also Aiden McGeady, Duff and Robbie Keane. In other words, we had some injury troubles but we had enough talent on the floor to go and do the job.

The evidence of Saturday night (and the absurdly overpraised adventure in Germany and the disturbing evenings against Chile and Holland) is that Steve Staunton has so much to learn that this job may destroy him before he can absorb those lessons. He is a good man who is out of his depth. He must go on grinning and bearing it and providing the ritual cant at press conferences, looking forward to the next match and so on. Somebody needs to take us out of his misery.

It won't be John Delaney who does the job. Delaney has linked his administrative career to Staunton's ability to deliver. The national team has become an instrument of political expediency. This grand tradition we all feel intimately acquainted with and passionate about is a plaything.

Steve Staunton shouldn't be left out there dangling. We are watching a snuff movie and it's horribly uncomfortable. The Irish international soccer team is not a learning tool, not a typewriter with the letters on the keys blacked out, not a flight simulator in which you can make 1,000 bumpy landings. The Irish team represents us and it carries our flag and our hopes.

Wednesday night promises only more horror. Not in an eternity could a manager restore his players' faith in his work after a result like Saturday's. With a few days to play with between Cyprus and Lansdowne the problem for Steve Staunton will be simple: scraping his team's morale up from the floor.

We're on the road to nowhere. Pit-stop needed. Points required. Smart Boy Wanted

[bwagner]

People from dundalk or even more gutted than anyone else.
I was in a pub that some of the staunton drink in (including steve) on Saturday.

We all want him out ,but in respect to this guy he never had a chance ...a reserve coach to international ......Please god tell me what is going on within the fai.


I went home saturday on threw my home jersey in the fire ...gutted , heart broken and ashamed to be irish for the 1st time in my life....

Fai wrong as I may be you have lost 1 fan ,who has love the team since 87.

I thank thee.

[paul_oshea]

look everyone is ****ed off, but you cant be like that. even though those players aren't wearing there hearts on their sleave, or near dying for the cause, its still our country and our team out there, remember that. you don't just abandon your country cos of 11 ( + 1 ) gob****es out there.

[bwagner]

11 cowards was all i saw on saturday plus a feckless gob****e in the stands

[tetsujin1979]

Paul is right, support the team, not the players/management/board.
When they're all gone/retired/lost interest/found a better way to get rich quick we'll all still be going to watch Ireland.

[bwagner]

Guys i know im wrong but i can help feel this way.

Do any of u guys think the team just dont care ....pathom injuries ??? 18 injuries over all in this game and the dutch ......strange.

I dont care if we get beat by cyprus once we put up half a fight ...a gutlless team but this has been creeping up over the past 3-4 years......

[shakermaker1982]

Paul Doyle - the Guardian

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/10/09/why_staunton_must_go.html

it's tempting to talk about the weather. Or the price of houses. Or gonorrhoea. Anything, really, other than Saturday's outrageous humiliation in Cyprus. Any Irish person who didn't at least contemplate burning their passports while watching the 5-2 rogering in Nicosia should, well, have their passports burned.

Let's not beat about the bush: this was the Republic of Ireland's worst-ever result. Nothing else comes close. Drawing 0-0 with Liechtenstein in 1995 was preposterous, but at least our mangy opponents never looked like scoring. And we can overlook the 7-1 defeat in Czechoslovakia in 1961 because the Czechs went on to to reach the World Cup final the following year, just as we can ignore the 7-0 hammering in Brazil in 1982 because, a) it was against Brazil and b) most of the players treated the trip as a jolly, notably Gerry Daly, who gave so much of a hoot that he played with his shorts back to front. The 4-1 home defeat to Denmark in 1985 that spelt the end of Eoin Hand's reign was abject, but the Danes boasted the likes of Jan Molby, Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjaer. Cyprus, by contrast, fielded players most of their own fans hadn't even heard of.

Ah yes, the home fans. Most of them didn't even turn up for Saturday's match, the virtually empty stadium attesting to the fact that they'd abandoned all hope for their national team, who've been whipping boys for so long that they should have scars rather than numbers on their backs. Before Saturday they had managed five goals in a match on just three occasions in their entire history: by becoming the fourth team to grant them that tally, Steve Staunton's shocking troops have followed in the illustrious footsteps of Andorra, Kuwait and a Greek Army XI. It's scandalous.

It would be tolerable if Ireland had lost 1-0 after being repelled by an inspired keeper and then hit with a sucker punch. But they were completely overrun and could have conceded seven or eight. This against a side who, last year, struggled to beat Jordan 2-1 at home.

So why were they so abominable? Yes, they were ravaged by injury but Staunton was still able to start with nine Premiership players and, in Aiden McGeady, one of the most exciting young talents in the Scottish Premierleague. That should have been more than enough to see off the humble Cypriots. McGeady wasn't bad and Damien Duff was average, but the rest of the team stunk like exposed corpses. Worse, they didn't appear to be even trying to play to a particular pattern or plan - they had absolutely no idea what they were supposed to be doing and, whatever it was, they did it badly. And they didn't look like they cared.

After such a clueless, gutless performance, especially coming so soon after August's 4-0 hammering by Holland at Lansdowne Road - Ireland's worst home defeat in 40 years - there's certainly a strong case for sacking Staunton who, since he has no track record whatsoever in management, can offer precisely no evidence that he's capable of turning things around. But the FAI should hold fire.

Stan was appointed on the understanding that he would have a more experienced manager tutoring him as he went. Choosing Sir Bobby Robson, a septuagenarian with a history of health problems, doesn't look especially clever now that he's sidelined through illness for the foreseeable future, but the principle wasn't stupid. It wasn't brilliant either, mind, since rather than name Stan the novice as No1, it would undoubtedly have made more sense to appoint him as a seasoned manager's No2 with a view to him taking over a few years down the line, Steve McClaren-style. But the FAI made its decision and Stan was given a four-year contract on those terms. Unfortunately, his mentor hasn't been on hand to help when it mattered. To sack him in such circumstances after just two competitive games is fundamentally unfair and would be a humiliation his nascent managerial career may never recover from.

The FAI recognises this (or maybe they just don't want to pay compensation), which is why they're frantically trying to find another mentor. Panicked calls have been made to Kenny Dalglish. If the Scotsman accepts, he'll school Stan through the rest of the campaign, which will certainly not end with qualification for Euro 2008 - which is why there's now little point now recalling 32-year-old Lee Carsley, which Stan should have done two months ago - but may at least build a platform for the 2010 World Cup.

On second thoughts, ignore the last few paragraphs: sack Staunton. There's no reason for Ireland to accept being in a transitional period just because the FAI decided to dump them into one. There's a decent squad of players at the country's disposal, certainly at least as talented as Northern Ireland and Scotland's. Why should that pair be toppling Spain and France while the Republic are being slaughtered by Cyprus? There is no justification. The difference is that Northern Ireland and Scotland have good managers who had solid achievements at club level before being made national team bosses and who started making small but perceptible progress as soon as they took the reins of their respective countries. If the FAI succeed in getting through to Dalglish, they should give him the top job. Sorry Stan.


That Tom Humphries article was spot on.

[drinkfeckarse]

I went home saturday on threw my home jersey in the fire ...gutted , heart broken and ashamed to be irish for the 1st time in my life....


You can be ashamed of the team but never be ashamed to be Irish. I can understand the strong feelings but there's worse things in life. We'll have our good times again.

[Paddy Garcia]

We'll have our good times again.

...when the rugby team take the pitch.

[gustavo]

Humphires hit the nail on the head there didnt he.

[drinkfeckarse]

...when the rugby team take the pitch.


:D :D

[macdermesser]

Humphires hit the nail on the head there didnt he.

he did.

The only way things are going to change is if there is a vote of no confidence in delaney at the FAI. A coup. Who is he answerable to? Surely the situation is so bad that financial situation of Croke Park, the new stadium outweighs any compensation to be paid out.

Obvious that Stan and delaney are going to try and ride this out ... if they are let.

"you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time" is apt here.

[shakermaker1982]

Player power is the only thing that would make Stan and Delaney go. They can ride public pressure for another few games at least. Would have loved to been at the team meeting yesterday. Don't think Duffer was best pleased....

[Superhoops]

You can be ashamed of the team but never be ashamed to be Irish. I can understand the strong feelings but there's worse things in life. We'll have our good times again.
Last Saturday evening walking back along the front in Larnaca and listening to the ribbing by the locals was the first time ever in over 25 years of attending Ireland away games that I was ashamed to be an Irish football supporter.

It wasn't so much being beaten, to be honest after last year you wouldn't begrudge Cyprus that, it was the way we were beaten, a gutless display by a team of individuals who had no pride in being Irish.

Staunton can be blamed for a lot of things like not bringing in Lee Carsley or Matt Holland in time of crisis, giving the captaincy to Robbie Keane, his persistence in playing John O'Shea, his failure to demand better peformances from Duff or drop him, his failure to change tactics/personnel during a game when clearly things are going wrong.

However, when the players cross the white line they must accept individual and collective responsibility and the minimum that must be demanded is that they give 100% commitment and show pride in wearing an Ireland shirt. None of this was there on Saturday and there are too many of our 'senior' players in the comfort zone.

The other thing missing was leadership. In fairness, Steve Finnan and Andy O'Brien who have generally been reliable and consistent performers for Ireland both had an unexpected bad day at the office. However, John O'Shea had his not to be unexpected usual ineffective game and Richard Dunne, rather naively, got suckered by an over fussy referee and some dramatics from the Cypriots. Robbie Keane seems to think captaincy is about whinging at and complaining to the referee and his assistants, whinging and dispairing at this team while contributing nothing to the team performance himself or trying to encourage the team, particularly those whose early mistakes were unsettling.

Don't forget we scored the first goal and that should have given us a platform to win the game. The players and particularly the senior players did not respond. Aiden McGeady tried hard and appeared to be exonerated from crticisim, but dont forget it was a badly misplaced pass from him that led to a Cyprus goal. Stephen Ireland was eager to impress but too many of his final passes/free kicks were over or under hit. Apart from after when he scored his goal I never saw Robbie Keane going over to him once to try and settle him down but on several occasion he simply threw his hands up in frustration or dispair, hardly encouragement for a new player.

The truth is we don't have the quality of player to compete with teams/players who are technically better than us (and like it or not, Cyprus were). Worryingly, it appears we can no longer rely on the Irish spirit.

Finally, qualification for Euro 2008 is over for us and if Staunton is serious about building for the future, let's start on Wednesday against the Czech's and let's see a completely new team:

Kenny - Kelly, McShane, St.Ledger, Finnan - McGeady, A.Reid, Douglas, Quinn (or A.O'Brien) - Lee, Doyle.

I could stomach such a team being drubbed by the Czech's but I would expect some passion and effort from them. Only when we see some passion and effort will any pride be rekindled. It seems that the ability to play with passion and pride in the green jersey is something that the likes of Duff, Keane, Morrison and O'Shea can no longer deliver.

[macdermesser]

Player power is the only thing that would make Stan and Delaney go. They can ride public pressure for another few games at least. Would have loved to been at the team meeting yesterday. Don't think Duffer was best pleased....

To be honest, I don't understand Duff and Keane's attitude .. if I was playing for ireland and my manager announced that he was concentrating on 2010, when I am no longer playing, I would not be best pleased. Then again, maybe all that money messes your value system up somewhat. Point is .. at least the captain should be standing up against a remark like that. Team poor as it is, was still good enough to challenge for second place against an ageing Czech and overated German side.

[eirebhoy]

People from dundalk...
There was no need to open yet another thread so I've merged it with the Post match reaction.

[kingp35]

Saying that I was embarressed by that performance on Saturday would be the understatement of the year. I have never in my lifetime seen a performance as bad and tactically inept as the performance on Saturday. teh only players to emerge from that game with their reputations not in shatters were McGeady and Duff.

As soon as the starting lineup was announced I knew we were in for a tough game. Stephen Ireland is not an international player. yes he scored a goal and he took it well but doesnt cover up the fact that he was woefull. My understanding of the situation was that he was in the team to add a bit of creativity in the centre. The only thing he did was give the ball away and hot some ridiculously hopefull long balls into the box that were nothing short of cringeworthy. Jonothan Douglas should have started the game. He is creative, he can pass, he burts into the box, he has passion and pride and above all he has the ability to put in a tackle, something neither Kilbane or Ireland can do. Im sick to death of seeing Irish managers playing players out of position in the centre of the field, its hardly rocket science to see that its not working.

The defence was an absolute shambles. Andy O' Brien was simply shocking but lets face it, he is a very limited player and it was going to hapen at some stage. Dunne was ok but it should have been his job to try and organise the defence better and his first yellow card was for a stupid tackle that he never should have made. Finnan was poor and O' Shea should never be seen in an Irish jersey again.

Clinton Morrisson tried hard but he had no support whatsoever as Robbie Keane went on his usual walkabots and the midfield was non existant. Doyle hould come back into the side on Wednesday instead of Morrisson. Alan Lee actually looked decent when he came on and managed to get around the Cypriot defence on a number of occasions. He seems like a decent man to bring on but this brings me to my next point, why the hell did we wait for so long before making a substitution?

It was clear to all that O' brien was having a stinker. O' Shea should have been moved to centre back, Kilbane to left back and Douglas brought on. Instead we didnt make our first substitution until the game was over. The management team do not have a clue.

I agree with everyone that have said that the real problem lies with the grassroots game in Ireland. the Eircom League clubs have no youth systems or academies at all. Instead its left to the schoolboy sides like Cherry Orchard to train the young players who then hope they will be picked up a youth academy in england. We need to invest in youth academies to develope our players in Ireland. Develop the EL and gets fans interested in the league. Football in Ireland will never develop until youth academies are set up in this country.

Sadly I dont see that happening for a long time.
The

[cavan_fan]

Finally, qualification for Euro 2008 is over for us and if Staunton is serious about building for the future, let's start on Wednesday against the Czech's and let's see a completely new team:


I knwo this sounds crazy but qualification is not over for us IF we have a proper manager.

We have dropped 3 points we shouldnt have. At the start of the campaign we'd have felt we could qualify even if we lost twice to Germany. If we were to beat Germany at home that would replace those points.

Of course we absolutely wont qualify with Stan in charge. We'll lose twice to Czech, Slovaks and get 3-4 points v Welsh and Cypriots at best.

Here's the problem. If we lose on Weds its all over for qualification. If we dont lose Stan will stay on and it will be all over for qualification. I see no way out of this vicious circle.

[Captain Tinrib]

shocking is not the word, people have been saying its all stauntons fault, well i blame the FAI for appointing him in the first place, but i feel if staunton had any idea of how the whole country feel about our team he would do the right thing and step down,he has to see that its not acceptable to be beaten by a team ranked 103rd in the world,Name 1 team in the cypriot league?? name 2 Cypriot players?? i certainly cant,There has to be a change asap, we will lose on wednesday, we will lose every game we play under this circus of an FAI unless there is a new manager with some international experience or even club, ide be happy even to see Roy keane been given the job, but he has been doing well at sunderland so theres no chance of him leaveing there,so who's out there? well there is the likes of Alan curbishly,George graham,David o' Leary,im sure there are more ,.i agree with Eamon Dunphys headline in the star this morning "Stop the Bull****"!:mad: :mad:

[pineapple stu]

Just to correct one point that keeps cropping up in the various discussions -

Stan was not assistant manager of Walsall before taking on the Ireland job. He was not a defensive coach. He was not a coach of any description. He was a player described as a coach so Walsall could spread his wage over both the playing and coaching budgets and therefore afford him.

[blobbyblob]

The shockwaves of this weekend cannot be understated. The years of positive influence that the like of Ray Houghton et al contributed to have been wiped out with this result.

Children left their sitting rooms this saturday to play their playstations instead of grabbing a football to reinact their "hero" as would have been done in '88.

Forget 2008. Forget 2010. We are about to head into a barren hole thats going to be extremely difficult to climb out of. GAA and Rugby are heading into a golden age and the children of today have new hero's.


Where it all began (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng6efHIlNck)

Will we ever see her likes again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YnLtcWcGcE)

USA Baby (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CklsLSwB9XA)

Nice defending Stan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as4_UwNGADM)

ITS ALL OVER NOW

[theworm2345]

Irish president hails Cyprus after Euro qualifier rout

AFP
October 9, 2006
NICOSIA (AFP) - Irish President Mary McAleese praised lowly Cyprus's historic five-goal thumping of Ireland during an official visit aimed at strengthening relations between the two countries.

The first ever visit by an Irish president to Cyprus has been engulfed in football fever after Saturday's shock 5-2 win, regarded as Cyprus's best ever result and Ireland's most embarrassing defeat.

Following official talks between McAleese and Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos, top of the agenda at the news conference was the result that shook European football.

"I thought you were brilliant. I thought Cyprus were absolutely stunning... it was very historic," McAleese told reporters.

"I think I'm right in saying, not in living memory have we been defeated so comprehensively... It's really good to be here for an epoch-making night," she added.

The Irish president kicked off her official Cyprus tour with the game at Nicosia's GSP stadium which McAleese attended along with Papadopoulos. They were among an 8,000 crowd in which the majority were travelling Irish fans.

Asked what she thought of the Irish performance, McAleese answered diplomatically: "It wasn't great was it now?

"We were outclassed on the night, you were two-and-a-half times better than us."

However, McAleese voiced hope that Ireland could learn from the Cyprus experience and pick themselves up for the crucial home tie against Czech Republic on Wednesday.

Cyprus received a lot of criticism after going down 6-1 to Slovakia in their opening Euro 2008 Group D fixture.

"Whatever happened to the Cypriot team (after Slovakia), I hope the same happens to the Irish team," said McAleese.

Cyprus -- placed 103 in the FIFA rankings -- face Wales, who crashed 5-1 to Slovakia at the weekend, in Cardiff on Wednesday.

Local Alithia newspaper summed up the mood in its headline on Monday: "It's not a dream, it's true, we beat Ireland 5-2."

[shakermaker1982]

From the guardian. The first paragraph made me laugh!!!
Jon Brodkin

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2006/10/10/staunton_tries_to_ignore_the_j.html

As Steve Staunton oversaw training yesterday, he may not have spotted Miss Piggy loitering in the car park. Among the vitriol poured on Staunton and his team after Saturday's 5-2 defeat in Cyprus was a depiction of the manager as a muppet on the front page of the Irish Sun, and the paper was continuing its theme. Bemused players peered out of the window of their coach as a furry-headed individual waved them on their way.

Plenty of Republic of Ireland followers would like to bid farewell to Staunton after the humiliation in Nicosia but the former Liverpool defender pointedly continued to talk about the distant future yesterday, as well as tomorrow's qualifier against the Czech Republic. "I know in the long run everything will be OK," he said after waking to headlines calling for his removal and suggestions that he is potentially a game from the sack.

Staunton tends to be guarded with the media so his mood hardly seemed different to normal, but there was a hint at the hurt felt by a proud man at overseeing what is regarded as Ireland's worst ever result when he said: "We owe one to the fans that travelled out to Cyprus and all those that support us."

Achieving that against the Czechs looks especially tricky, though, with Paddy Kenny, Andy O'Brien and Stephen Ireland joining Kevin Doyle as injury doubts. It raises the prospect of Brighton's Wayne Henderson playing in goal and at least one of Preston's Sean St Ledger and West Bromwich's Paul McShane getting debuts in defence.

Staunton referred to the players as "bright and breezy" and training seemed upbeat. The squad must have felt comforted to find fans seeking their autographs but it was put to Staunton that the public had given up on him and his team. "Well, I have certainly not given up on [the players]," he replied.

Criticism for appointing a novice has been directed at the chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland, John Delaney, who talked of finding a "world-class" manager. Yet Staunton, looking a poor choice after four straight defeats capped by the shambles in Cyprus, is the principal target.

The Sun's muppet reference has resonance in Ireland, being a put-down delivered by Roy Keane at those of whom he disapproved. The back page of the Irish Daily Mirror simply stated: "Pack your bags and go Stan." Staunton was dismissive of the censure. "I will take it on the chin," he said. "There's nothing I can do. As I have said before, I can't go out and buy players. We have got a good squad."

The players, as expected, have supported Staunton. "This regime is trying to build for the future so we're fully behind him," said Steve Finnan. True as it is that Staunton is looking towards 2010, the starting XI against Cyprus was hardly young. Two players, Aiden McGeady and Ireland, were 20; no one else was under 25, and six were 27 or older.

The most emphatic sign of Staunton's determination to look forward is his shunning of Everton's Lee Carsley, whose defensive ability would be valuable in midfield. It is a mark of Ireland's lack of quality that Carsley, hardly a regular in happier times, is being cast as a potential saviour. Yet resources are nowhere near thin enough to justify a hammering in Nicosia.

"It was very, very humiliating," John O'Shea said. "We got what we deserved. It was a lack of concentration and a lack of doing things properly." The Manchester United player absolved Staunton of responsibility. "Stan is not on the pitch, is he?" he said.

Staunton is not responsible for individual mistakes that peppered the performance in Cyprus, but has to take blame for a lack of organisation and a midfield unable to protect the back four. The five goals conceded equated to the number let in under Kerr in the whole of the last World Cup qualifying campaign.

Four straight defeats have come without Sir Bobby Robson and an experienced replacement for the international football consultant is likely to be sought if Robson's stint ends on medical grounds this week after a meeting with Delaney. FAI sources have dismissed suggestions that Kenny Dalglish has been approached.

Changes on the pitch are inevitable tomorrow with Richard Dunne suspended, and further alterations will be enforced if Kenny and Ireland fail to overcome hamstring troubles and O'Brien does not shake off an ankle injury. O'Shea also spoke of "incredible anger" at Saturday's display ond a determination to put that right. He does not believe sacking Staunton is the solution.

"Stan is trying to do the right things, he is trying to play the right way," he said. "Stan is learning all the time and we are learning from him all the time. He's got to get his ideas across to us, and that's what he's working hard to do. We have faith in him." Staunton needs a positive outcome tomorrow to start getting the country back onside.

[Stuttgart88]

True as it is that Staunton is looking towards 2010, the starting XI against Cyprus was hardly young. Two players, Aiden McGeady and Ireland, were 20; no one else was under 25, and six were 27 or older.

I was going to pick up on this exact same point, before I even read The Guardian article above.

In the Irish Times Staunton was saying he had to throw in young lads and they did well.

Nonsense, he called up young lads for the squad but only played two of them, and in McGeady's case there would have been a national outrcy if he'd been left on the bench again.

The XI he put out against Cyprus was for all intents and purposes the same XI that Kerr had put out 12 months previously. Stephen Ireland was the only selection that can even remotely be described as bold, and I'm sure most of us would have baulked at the prospect of a KK / Ireland midfield. I really can't believe he went for this.

I've said dozens of times on this forum that the likes of Ireland & Miller, for all their skill, will never be able to impose themselves on a game at a high level unless they're in a dominant team, but are potential assets if they can be isolated in, for example, a 4-3-1-2 formation. How would you accomodate Duff or McGeady in this structure though, as you need the "3" to consist of players capable of grabbing hold of a game?

[warnockp]

Lads, Bottom line is the only relatively succesful manager Ireland ever had was Jack Charlton and that was because he was experienced.

Until the FAI get their heads out of their wholes and appoint a credible manager then we are doomed.

[Dassa]

Lads, Bottom line is the only relatively succesful manager Ireland ever had was Jack Charlton and that was because he was experienced.

Until the FAI get their heads out of their wholes and appoint a credible manager then we are doomed.


Experience is important for a manager, but I believe that the majority of responsibilty lies with the players. I thought that on Saturday some of the ROI players looked like they didnt want to be there or didnt care, this may be that they dont respect Stan, its hard to tell.