We do NOT have a good squad

[tetsujin1979]

Are u having a laugh! you put us level with Sweden!! Oh lads, the naievety and sheer stupidity of some in this country is quite sad really. Sweden are on a different planet to us. Our level is Wales, Norn Iron, Cyprus, Belguim etc etc.....Portugal Sweden Denmark are way ahead of us now.

We beat Sweden 3-0 seven months ago.

[an_ceannaire]

it was a bloody friendly!!! We are the ONLY country in the world to take them serisously! If we were to play Sweden in a qualifier tomorrow i dread to think what would happen

[Stuttgart88]

I don't care how Given stacks up against any other keepers on club form or which club he plays for.

I would not swap him for any other keeper in the world for Ireland. Not one.

[galwayhoop]

we should really be doing better than NI, Wales and Scotland.

why exactly?

yes we should do better than northern ireland. possibly even wales.

but why should we expect to do better than scotland? they seem to be coming back for a horrnedous 15 years or so but prior to this they had a pedigree as one of european football powerhouses who qualified consistently for major tournaments (granted they were useless at them but they usually were there). they have a larger population (not by much granted), a fully professional league where teams qualify for the CL group stages every year and their sports people only really compete in 2 sports (soccer and rugby).

Just because we've been better than them for the last decade does not mean we should always be better than them.

[Stuttgart88]

and I dont think there was ever a doubt over Van De Saars (formerly of juve and Ajax and WC and Euro Semi Finalists Holland) class.

Personally I think there was. At least I doubted him anyway! I don't think he covered himself in glory at Juve at all, and playing for Juve in itself doesn't guarantee your class.

He was quite error prone at times over the years, but as he's aged he's got better. He's a good example opf a keeper peaking in his 30s.

[samabu92]

I don't care how Given stacks up against any other keepers on club form or which club he plays for.

I would not swap him for any other keeper in the world for Ireland. Not one.

100% agree. The arsenal fans I know would swap Lehmann for Given any day.

[tetsujin1979]

it was a bloody friendly!!! We are the ONLY country in the world to take them serisously! If we were to play Sweden in a qualifier tomorrow i dread to think what would happen

Sweden took it seriously enough, 2 of the defenders that played that day got dropped from their world cup squad

[RogerMilla]

i agree fully with cavan fans posting , we certainly have the players, i don't see us qualifying for the next two tournaments and that is an absolute scandal given the talent available to us.

[an_ceannaire]

Will u please tell me who these "players" are
newcastles goalie, a man city defender, a liverpool full back, a newcastle winger and a spurs some time striker is it???
Ya....class!!!!
who else??????

[Billsthoughts]

Sweden took it seriously enough, 2 of the defenders that played that day got dropped from their world cup squad

They didnt look to be taking it seriously at all...

[eirebhoy]

I don't care how Given stacks up against any other keepers on club form or which club he plays for.

I would not swap him for any other keeper in the world for Ireland. Not one.
That Shay Given post was one of the few posts I've read in this thread. I'm trying to avoid it. :)

[Billsthoughts]

Personally I think there was. At least I doubted him anyway! I don't think he covered himself in glory at Juve at all, and playing for Juve in itself doesn't guarantee your class.

He was quite error prone at times over the years, but as he's aged he's got better. He's a good example of a keeper peaking in his 30s.

I dont think he had a shocker of a season or anything they just wanted Buffon. Point I was making is youngirish was using van der saar as an example of someone who is not suddenly a good player over night because he moved from fulham to man u. when in fact he had always played for europes top teams.

[cavan_fan]

Are u having a laugh! you put us level with Sweden!! Oh lads, the naievety and sheer stupidity of some in this country is quite sad really. Sweden are on a different planet to us. Our level is Wales, Norn Iron, Cyprus, Belguim etc etc.....Portugal Sweden Denmark are way ahead of us now.

I dont think anyone is saying we are near Sweden's level of performance. As a team we are at best on a par with Scotland/Wales.

The point here is that the plyaers we have are as good (I believe) as those available to many other teams in Europe, including Sweden, who are far more succesful than us.

If that is the case then the problem is with the management.

I just dont agree with Stans line that we should not be disappointed if we dont qualify as we dont have the players at the moment.

[an_ceannaire]

Ok Cavan man, serously my friend, tell me, who are these GOOD players we supposedly have, cos i count 3 MAYBE 4 at a stretch

[Stuttgart88]

Point I was making is youngirish was using van der saar as an example of someone who is not suddenly a good player over night because he moved from fulham to man u. when in fact he had always played for europes top teams. In that context I accept your point. I'm a bit of a goalie watcher (sad) & throughout the 90s I always thought he was a good but error prone keeper. Maybe not even error prone, but there were many occasions where i felt he could have done better.

I think he has improved with age & experience but I felt this at Fulham too, not just since he moved to Man U.

[Billsthoughts]

I think he has improved with age & experience but I felt this at Fulham too, not just since he moved to Man U.

Most goalies do tho dont they?
thats why I think we havent seen the best of given yet...

[an_ceannaire]

Ok lets be HONEST
Our one EXCELLENT player is our bloody keeper
Dunne is a decent premiership defender playing for a mediocre club
Finnan is a fairly solid full back playing for a relatively poor team by top standards
Duff is a potentially good player, but he has lost his way. Never a superstar but can be decent enough if he is bothered, no ambition
Keane is a potentially very good player but too fond of his own press and certainly no captain
McGeady is the great white hope
Thats it!
One great player, the goalie. A few could be's and the rest are PISH
Basically as Kurt Angle would say, WE SUCK!

[bwagner]

Alan O brien isnt even in the newcastle 22 for tonight's game

[NeilMcD]

Ok lets be HONEST
Our one EXCELLENT player is our bloody keeper
Dunne is a decent premiership defender playing for a mediocre club
Finnan is a fairly solid full back playing for a relatively poor team by top standards
Duff is a potentially good player, but he has lost his way. Never a superstar but can be decent enough if he is bothered, no ambition
Keane is a potentially very good player but too fond of his own press and certainly no captain
McGeady is the great white hope
Thats it!
One great player, the goalie. A few could be's and the rest are PISH
Basically as Kurt Angle would say, WE SUCK!



What is wrong with people being on the optimistic side. YOu seem to take great pleasure in saying we are rubbish. The fact you are using slang like pish hints that you may in fact be from Scotland and here as a wind up but I could easily be wrong about that. Anyway some people like to be optimistic about the future others like to be pessimistic about it. Both can debate their points in harmony. I think what everybody is agreed upon regardless of whether we have a terrible team, a good team, an average team or a very good team is that Staunton is not best man to guide us over the next few years.

[Collyontour]

A bit off the point but received this email today ...........

Heard a brilliant one today. One of the lads in here was talking to
Wayne Henderson on Sunday..he's his cousin. He was telling him about the
other night against the Czechs. At half time, in the dressing room some
of the players were laughing, joking and saying how well they were
playing.


Paul Mcshane, a 20 year old making his debut jumped up and screamed at
them. His exact words were apparently "all of yiz shut the f*ck up and
sit down, its only half time, don't start licking each others f*cking
balls yet"...and they all did as they were told. Staunton just looked at
them and said "do I need say any more?" and walked out.

[RogerMilla]

ceannaire , i hope you are on the wind up
shay given robbie keane damien duff and steve finnan are far better players than anyone on the scotland and NI teams apart from shaun maloney .
sadly our team is not performing. if our manager can get them to do so then we will be back in action and back up to the top 15-25 in the world where we belong

[Stuttgart88]

Great story about McShane

[samabu92]

A bit off the point but received this email today ...........

Heard a brilliant one today. One of the lads in here was talking to
Wayne Henderson on Sunday..he's his cousin. He was telling him about the
other night against the Czechs. At half time, in the dressing room some
of the players were laughing, joking and saying how well they were
playing.


Paul Mcshane, a 20 year old making his debut jumped up and screamed at
them. His exact words were apparently "all of yiz shut the f*ck up and
sit down, its only half time, don't start licking each others f*cking
balls yet"...and they all did as they were told. Staunton just looked at
them and said "do I need say any more?" and walked out.

If thats true, promote him to captain straight away:)

[cavan_fan]

Ok Cavan man, serously my friend, tell me, who are these GOOD players we supposedly have, cos i count 3 MAYBE 4 at a stretch

Most international teams we should be aspiring to have the same level of players as we have.

A typical mid European team will have 1/2 star players, 2/3 solid performers at league level and filler players.

Slovakia are better than us and have Stan Varga in Central Defence. Is he any better than Andy O'Brien??

I'll keep saying it, the argument that our players are not good enough is just an excuse for Stan to drift along and fail to qualify.

[an_ceannaire]

When was the last time the "world class" Damien Duff scored an important goal......for anyone......?
Its such a pain in the arse reading the Irish media talk about what a world class player he is! He is in his ring! Playing for newcastle, beating no body anymore. He had the potantial to he, but he never delivered.

[youngirish]

Mc Shane can't even get into the West Brom team so he's hardly the saviour in central defence we've been waiting for. Saying that I'd play him instead of Andy big nose.

That story sounds like a load of balls btw. I seriously doubt McShane would be so vocal in the dressing room at half time in his first senior appearance.

[youngirish]

When was the last time the "world class" Damien Duff scored an important goal......for anyone......?
Its such a pain in the arse reading the Irish media talk about what a world class player he is! He is in his ring! Playing for newcastle, beating no body anymore. He had the potantial to he, but he never delivered.
He's still better than anyone (yes anyone) Northern Ireland, Scotland, Slovakia or Wales have and they are all doing much better than us at the moment.

Fact is we'd have definitely beaten Cyprus and probably the Czechs with anywhere near our first 11 available and a half decent manager and if that occurred you'd be saying how great our players are.

We have a good first 11 overall which if used properly are more than good enough to qualify for a major tournament. There is no need to persist with shi*te like O'Shea, we have alternatives who are better. Our manager is pure s**te. That's our main problem.

How many World Class players do Germany have? I'd only list Ballack for certain (possibly Lahm) yet they on current form are one of the best teams in the world. Duff, Finnan, Given, Dunne and Keane would all have a strong stake for a place in the German first 11. Get rid of the ginger tosser and much of the current problems will resolve themselves.

[Stuttgart88]

Better than Giggs?

[an_ceannaire]

better than bellamy? i dotn feckin think so!!!!!

[NeilMcD]

Mc Shane can't even get into the West Brom team so he's hardly the saviour in central defence we've been waiting for. Saying that I'd play him instead of Andy big nose.

That story sounds like a load of balls btw. I seriously doubt McShane would be so vocal in the dressing room at half time in his first senior appearance.



Where is the evidence he cant get in the team he has been suspended for the last 2 games due to a sending off versus Leeds.

[youngirish]

Where is the evidence he cant get in the team he has been suspended for the last 2 games due to a sending off versus Leeds.

Yeah good one. Suspended while sitting on the bench last Tuesday? He was only getting his game because Curtis Davies was injured. Now he's back.

[youngirish]

better than bellamy? i dotn feckin think so!!!!!

Bellamy ffs. How many goals has he got this season again? He doesn't even get his game half the time. Fat Keane is even better than that s**t.

Giggs I'll give though he's way past his best.

[an_ceannaire]

who in the name of Gdod is Fat Keane?
And let me tell u, i would swap Duff for Bellamy every time
At least Bellamy is effective and does something

[Stuttgart88]

At least Bellamy is effective and does somethingOccasionally. Very erratic player. Looks class some days and couldn't hit a barn door on others. At least one recent miss I can think of was alarming, though he got off the hook cos a team mate scored instead.

[an_ceannaire]

He does more than Duff!!

[tetsujin1979]

Most Liverpool fans I know were mad for Duff to sign over the summer, when they heard Bellamy was coming, most of the reactions were "hmm, suppose we could do with him".

[an_ceannaire]

ya, IRISH Liverpool fans..........
this is my point! we are as guilty of over rating our own as the english are!!
bet none of them would swap him back now, cos duff has been such a revalation at newcastle.......not!

[tetsujin1979]

Bellamy's not exactly setting the world on fire at Liverpool either, is he??

[Dr. Ogba]

He does more than Duff!!

Very general statement....care to elaborate???

[youngirish]

ya, IRISH Liverpool fans..........
this is my point! we are as guilty of over rating our own as the english are!!
bet none of them would swap him back now, cos duff has been such a revalation at newcastle.......not!

He's played about 7 games. The team he plays in is sh**e anyway so he suffers as a result. I was wrong earlier you're Welsh aren't you? Bellamy better than Duff? Stay off the gear. Yeah Eddie Mc Goldrick is better than Pele and David Healy is better than Georgie Best also.

[Billsthoughts]

Anyone who gets that MacShane E mail should add a bit before sending it on...

[youngirish]

Anyone who gets that MacShane E mail should add a bit before sending it on...

Yeah stick in that him, Stan and Gary D all had a ginger lovefest at half time. Didn't Duff used to be ginger before he started dying his hair?

[NeilMcD]

Lads you cant compare Bellamy and Duff. One is a left winnger the other is a striker. Not a fair comparision.

[EalingGreen]

If thats true, promote him to captain straight away:)

When I read Collyontour's account of the McShane story, my first reaction was to wonder why Staunton wasn't saying it.
Why not "cut out the middleman" (captain) and promote McShane to manager?

Anyhow, on a more general note about the players, I can't help thinking that it doesn't matter so much whether the players are actually world-class, club class, or remedial class etc.

Rather, the question is whether they are as good as they ought to be when they pull on the shirt and if not, why?

It seems to me that several are simply not playing anything like as well as they should. The time to determine whether the team should be qualifying for tournaments, beating the Czechs etc need only be addressed after that issue is fixed.

[Billsthoughts]

Yeah stick in that him, Stan and Gary D all had a ginger lovefest at half time. Didn't Duff used to be ginger before he started dying his hair?

dunno bout that...sounds a bit eh...gay...but whatever ur into....

[Bowsy]

I think we the argument of if we have a great team or a rubbish team is pretty pointless. Ireland has always been a team with a few excellent players and more average who perform above there station. If football was all about the best squad we would never in our history have held a candle to holland, england, france, etc.

An ceannaire, you moan about us having nearly no good players and not being even close to sweden in terms of quality. here is the sweden squad that came to lansdowne:

Goalkeepers: Eddie Gustafsson (Ham-Kam), Andreas Isaksson (Stade Rennes)

Defenders: Christoffer Andersson (Lillestrom), Mikael Dorsin (Rosenborg Trondheim), Erik Edman (Stade Rennes), Petter Hansson (Heerenveen), Teddy Lucic (BK Hacken), Olof Mellberg (Aston Villa), Alexander Ostlund (Southampton)

Midfielders: Daniel Andersson (Malmo), Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg), Kim Kallstrom (Stade Rennes), Tobias Linderoth (FC Copenhagen), Christian Wilhelmsson (Anderlecht), Anders Svensson (Elfsborg), Fredrik Ljungberg (Arsenal)

Forwards: Marcus Allback (FC Copenhagen), Johan Elmander (Brondby), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus), Mattias Jonson (Djurgarden), Henrik Larsson (Barcelona), Markus Rosenberg (Ajax Amsterdam)

The only players here i would describe as really impressive would be Kallstrom, Ljungberg, Larrson and Ibrahmovic (although there are big hopes for Elmander). Some of these players play for swedish teams that have been beaten by Eircom League teams in recent years. The fact is they are a group of well organised average players that play above their station. That is exactly what we should be aiming for. As i see it our squad on paper is as good as this one.

[galwayhoop]

Bellamy ffs. How many goals has he got this season again? He doesn't even get his game half the time. Fat Keane is even better than that s**t.

Giggs I'll give though he's way past his best.


this point is not valid - he plays for liverpool! gerard doesn't even get his game half the time!

i hear that stewards at anfield only work once a month so they don't get worn out over the season!:D