Good win, but poor Irish players were obvious

[rambler14]

Start with the worst John O'Shea, He was absolutely crap looked like he wouldn't get his game with San Marino.
Andy Reid couldn't pass, showed why he'd be dropped in favour of Steven Reid.
Lee Carsley unfortunately got injured and so looked off

[DeNiro]

Agree with the O'Shea remark, he'll be on the bench when Carr returns. I disagree about Reid, thought he passed it well. He opened up play at times. We've no one else to do that. I think Doyle was taken off too early. Kilbane should have come off then. Generally ok, we've still a long way to go.

[Condex]

San Marino - one of worst international sides ever!!

O'shea shocking again.
3 goals or not Keane was pretty poor.
Reid had a pretty decent match.
McGeady did well.
Douglas was crap.
Finnan had a good game.
Kilbane a straight line runner..
Doyle & Duff pretty good.
the rest OK..

[deadman]

fully agree,

mcshane, had nothing to do, but looked industrious

i'm sure roeder will be happy with the amount of work given had to do

[Closed Account 2]

O'Shea is shocking, he is useless for us... a big bag of ******

[deadman]

was in the south terrace. thought kilbane was muck ... until i saw the highlights ... he'd a pretty decent first half ... and he was just muck for the second half

[Soko]

Why did the clown take Doyle off?


O' Shea was the usual muck, Reid did his best to slow every passage of play down as much as possible.



We are crap

[greendeiseboy]

Crap is being too kind.. we are deplorable, useless, painful etc.... here we were up against the 11th worst team in the world and couldn't string a decent passing move for most of the match and caught in possession too much.

And dont give me this rubbish about the pitch or the weather or them throwing everybody behind the ball....... we were at home .. we're supposed to have the stars ... they're a bunch of school teachers and plumbers... and we were made to look ordinary.

5 goals ... yeah.. one was a penalty.. one was going no where near until it took a wicked deflection and the others me grandfather would have scored and he's been dead twenty years.


Keane was terrible ......... ok he got a hat trick but for the most part was mediocre. Caught offside too often, gave the ball away, out on the wing when he is our centre forward .. what's all that about.

O'Shea........ O'Sh**e more like it

Doyle got his goal but what else did he do

Kilbane looked knackered halfway through the game

Duff blew hot and cold

Doulglas did f...all

Carsely........ was he playing or did Harry Hill turn up instead

Krusty the Klowns substitutions were mind boggling

IT JUST AS WELL IT WAS SAN MARINO OR NOT A REAL FOOTBALL TEAM LIKE CYPRUS OR WALES (!!!) THAT WE PLAYED BECAUSE LET'S FACE ONCE AND FOR ALL - WE WERE SH**E

[eirebhoy]

Doulglas did f...all

I thought Douglas played well when he came on.

Credit to Kilbane for setting up 2 goals but he was terrible overrall. I don't know how many times he lost possession.

Finnan was probably my man of of the match.

[drummerboy]

Thought Kilbane was our best player in the first half. He was poor after the break. Not convinced by Reid, too many poor passes. Feel sorry for O’Shea, the more he tries the worse he gets. Duff played a little better. We haven't a hope of qualifying from this competition.

[Peadar]

Can't believe someone said McGeady was good. All he did was run up the line and then stop. Where were the balls into the box?

Finnan did what he had to do defensively but he never makes any decent runs forward. He contributes almost nothing to attack.

I'd get too angry if I was to speak about O'Shea. :mad:

Kilbane was shocking in the second half.
Robbie was all over the place but not in a good way.

Doyler was the the best of our forwards. With so many people around him, he struggled for space. Taken off way too early when Kilbane was obviously struggling.

Douglas didn't have much to do but wasn't any worse that Carsley.
Reid did fairly well and was probably our most creative player.
The ball he put in for Keane's third was perfect.
Got a bit lucky with his own goal but when you whip a ball in like that, there's always a chance.

Duff did ok for spells, was good for other spells but lacked motivation the rest of the time.
The two central defenders did what they had to do.
Lee looked like he was the business when he came on first and was unlucky not to score but that was just a rush of energy as he did little else.
Good result, poor performance but I'll give the benefit of the doubt and suggest that motivation was lacking. Wait a minute, weren't we told that de gaffer was brought in for his motivational skills rather than managerial skills??:confused: :mad:

[elroy]

Wasnt a great performance by any means but in all honesty dont think we were ever going to get much different. Once we'd scored early the job was done and the best thing out of the night for us was that Cyprus held and by accounts ive heard, should've beaten germany.

For me, its all about the two home games against wales and slovakia now, win those (which we should) and we give ourselves a chance, particularly if the germans beat the czechs.

[youngirish]

How can O'Shea continue to get into the team? He must look like Pele in training. What annoys me more so is Finnan was played on the left to accommodate him. Surely if you're going to adopt this approach you would go for Kelly or Carr at right back and leave O'Shea where he belongs on the international breaks. Visiting friends and family in Waterford.

Staunton continues to prove he's a muppet. If you're going to make a point and drop Kenny (which I agree with BTW) then surely O'Shea should be long since given the chop also. Also his substitutions were extrememly negative. Remember Kerr anyone?

God I hate John O'Shea.

[as_i_say]

When will stan just have the common sense to drop o'shea? i was at the match last night and myself and my mate were just appaled at how bad a player this guy is. He cant (wont) tackle, certainly cant pass, cant beat a man etc etc. The only thing he did all night was win a header or 2 against lads 4 inches smaller than him.

It would have been better playing stephen kelly there last night. O'shea looks completely disinterested and ultimately lazy as well. He only gets his game for ireland because he still gets the odd game for Man united. I just could not honestly belive how bad he was last night-he is getting worse every game. Im not so sure he would have been on the bench even if carr was fit-staunton probably would have had him in midfield or something :eek:

Kilbane put in 2 great crosses (which is more than can be said for duff or mcgeady) which lead to 2 goals although he was absolutely brutal in the second half.

These games wont teach us anything except that John OShea is useless. He cost us 3 points against the czechs with his daydreaming/laziness and ive no doubt he will cost us more if he continues to play.

Nothing against the lad personally (he seems like a very likeable bloke) but jesus I havent been this worked up about an irish player since alan kernaghan-and he'd probably walk into our defence now!!:eek:

[youngirish]

Can we get some sort of petition going to oust JOS from the squad and send it to the FAI? I reckon we could easily get a few signatures on it. Say about 3,999,998 (I doubt his parents could be persuaded to sign it though you never know).

PS I've taken the population of Ireland as about 4 mill for the slower amongst you.

[eirebhoy]

Can't believe someone said McGeady was good. All he did was run up the line and then stop. Where were the balls into the box?

I thought he played well. McGeady is not going to be trying anything special for Ireland until he has the confidence of the crowd as he is a very nervous player. He also doesn't want to look like a gready git and risk losing possession. All he has to do is lose possession once and foot.ie users are on his back so thankfully he didn't do that last night. His cross for McShane was excellent and certainly should have led to a goal. Before Strachan got his hands on him McGeady would have tried to beat all the whole San Marino team but Strachan is sorting his game out and is one of the best managers in the world at getting the best out of players.

[bohsRap]

Thought Reid did well apart from some dreadful passing in the first half. You can tell his left peg is dangerous when used properly. What really worried me was our inability to shoot from outside the box. Nobody had the confidence to test their keeper and instead just fed in along the flanks.

[OwlsFan]

Given - nothing to do and spent a lot of time almost on the half way line.
O'Shea - Staunton said in the post match interview he had a good game. He was poor and gave the ball away a lot. However, I don't like the jeering of him that was going on around me. Support your players when on the field. Criticise afterwards.
Finnan ineffective and should go back to his normal position.
Dunne/McShane ok but the latter was caught in possession twice and gave away free kicks in dangerous positions.
Kilbane - good first half. Disasterous second.
Duff - on the ball a lot and did well.
Reid - tried a few long cross field passes too many but got on the ball a lot and tried to be constructive.
Carlsley - disappointing even before he took the knock.
Keane - scored 3 goals. What more do you want from a striker? To suggest Doyle was better is a blinkered view.
Doyle - ok and took his goal nicely.

I thought we'd win by 4 and we won by 5 so reasonably content.

[eirebhoy]

O'Shea - Staunton said in the post match interview he had a good game. He was poor and gave the ball away a lot. However, I don't like the jeering of him that was going on around me. Support your players when on the field. Criticise afterwards.
Yeah, I couldn't believe he was booed. Also, one of the biggest cheers of the night came when he ballooned a shot over the bar. He could obviously sense how the crowd feel about him. He's not playing badly on purpose.

[greendeiseboy]

He's not playing badly on purpose.

you're right ...he's playing bad because he's sh**e

[eirebhoy]

you're right ...he's playing bad because he's sh**e
You just spelt it out for me, well done... :confused:

[geysir]

McGeady did his prospects no harm at all.
I think KK lost the sight out of both eyes in the 2nd half.
I was impressed with Reid's industrious workrate. Maybe he is the best we have got for one of the CM positions. We would have to see him against a better team. Some of his interecepted passes would have been effectivly punished by a better team.
O'Shea, an enigma wrapped in a daydream.

[greendeiseboy]

We all wanted to come away from last night uplifted, that after the encouraging display against the czechs that there was a chance that the cyprus game was a one off. that hasnt happened, thats why theres an air of desparation around this morning......... we won 5-0 but the performance didnt match the result... there were too many negatives and now the danger is that cyprus game may not have been a slip up but that there will be more results like that to come

[Peadar]

Nobody had the confidence to test their keeper and instead just fed in along the flanks.

I think you're right there about lacking confidence. I was on the sideline, with an unobstructed view and saw the goal as Reid saw it in the second half, where he had a great chance to shoot, but instead, turned and played it out to Finnan.

[nedder]

We all wanted to come away from last night uplifted, that after the encouraging display against the czechs that there was a chance that the cyprus game was a one off. that hasnt happened, thats why theres an air of desparation around this morning......... we won 5-0 but the performance didnt match the result... there were too many negatives and now the danger is that cyprus game may not have been a slip up but that there will be more results like that to come

Classic example of the glass being half empty....I think the performance did match the result, if we had of played better we could have won by 10...., imo the game and result went as expected, i don't think you can take too much out of the game either way, positives being we got to play both McShane and Dunne together, and Keane and Doyle got another game together. Not sure what happened Kilbane in the second half.., Duff had a decent game, and Reid did ok. In all I thought our build up play was slow and laboured, It was clear that anytime we attacked down the flanks we got some joy, but we didn't exploit them quick enough or often enough.

[Soko]

Yeah, I couldn't believe he was booed. Also, one of the biggest cheers of the night came when he ballooned a shot over the bar. He could obviously sense how the crowd feel about him. He's not playing badly on purpose.



If you turn up and put in performance after performance for your country that is devoid of quality and effort then yes, you will eventualy get booed. The game is up for this fraud. **** off back to Manchester and don't come back

[eirebhoy]

If you turn up and put in performance after performance for your country that is devoid of quality and effort then yes, you will eventualy get booed. The game is up for this fraud. **** off back to Manchester and don't come back
How can you blame O'Shea for being bloody picked?

[Soko]

How can you blame O'Shea for being bloody picked?


Are you a bit slow? I blame him for pathetic performances with zero passion and showing a distain for the shirt

[eirebhoy]

Soko - I have to put my Mod hat on and tell you to attack the post, not the poster. Comments like that are going a bit far.

Anyway, O'Shea is trying his best for Ireland. He is giving 100% whether you think so or not. I feel really sorry for a player who gets booed just for being a poor player when it's the managers fault for picking him.

[pineapple stu]

Thought overall the game plan seemed to be wrong. We passed the ball, worked it slowly out to the wings and put in a cross, by which time the Sammarinese had time to get back, catch their breath and regroup. Their keeper was useless, but we hardly bothered with a pop from distance. Thought the play was far too slow, to be honest, although it was never going to affect the final score.

Was impressed with McShane in the second half - whether through being told or through his own initiative, he was basically playing attacking mid for the second half and doing an OK job at it too - was up for everything and went past two players before being fouled for the penalty.

Duffer had a decent game, as was to be expected - San Marino couldn't cope with him and he went past players with ease quite often. Robbie Keane won me a few bob with his hat-trick, so no complaints there. :)

All in all though, you can't really tell anything from that game.

[BohsPartisan]

An EL select 11 would have a good chance of beating the national team now.

[fergalr]

Kilbane and O'Shea would not have looked out of place on the San Marino team.

Least deserved hat-trick/MoM I have ever seen. And that chant should not be used for this Keane.

[Donal81]

There's no real value from playing a game like that, other than the obvious three points and a bit of confidence from scoring 5. In terms of learning more about players, it's a waste of time.

I thought everything went through Reid and he worked harder than anyone else on the pitch. He's not Maradona but he can create, which is what we need. I'm not sure where his best position is, though. He was my man of the match.

O'Shea has never once impressed me in a green shirt but talk of petitions are going too far (that's if they were serious) as is booing the bloke. It's up to the manager to drop him and find a better replacement, end of story.

San Marino are probably the weakest team I've seen in Lansdowne. With a population the size of Leitrim's, a good senior team from a local club would have hammered them. So this game tells us nothing really.

Although they drew last night, this is Germany's group, I think. We could make it to second if the big three take enough points off each other and we win every game from here but the loss in Cyprus and the draw with the Czechs at home have probably finished us.

Speaking of Lansdowne, I won't miss the kip! I was too late for the great days and only really started going after Saipan so I don't have too many happy memories of the place. Far too many rainy evenings spent watching a 0-0 draw with Bulgaria or the likes...

[Collyontour]

Anyway, O'Shea is trying his best for Ireland. He is giving 100% whether you think so or not.

I don't think that he does give 100% and that's what p isses everyone off about him. He strolls around the pitch like he's Maradona and when he loses the ball (all the time) he doesn't look like he's bothered. I don't agree with the booing or any petitions but I hope he never wears an Irish jersey again.

[Soko]

I don't think that he does give 100% and that's what p isses everyone off about him. He strolls around the pitch like he's Maradona and when he loses the ball (all the time) he doesn't look like he's bothered. I don't agree with the booing or any petitions but I hope he never wears an Irish jersey again.


Exactly, he doesn't look like he cares because he obviously doesn't have it in his heart. We don't need frauds like him

[cavan_fan]

Last night was International Football fraud. It tells us nothing about Ireland that we wouldnt have learned from a training match.

I've had this rant before but having to play San Marino twice is a waste of everyone's time. The only skill required is can you score against a ten men defnece. As it happens we're not very good at that, we need the game to be stretched so that Duff and Robbie have room to run past players. But then when we play important games (e.g. versus Slovakia) that will be an irrelevnat skill. We may as well have played them at rugby and then complained that Duff is not a very good scrum half.

[rambler14]

Strongest available taem vs San Marino but not our strongest.
Our strongest team wont have O'Shea and wont have Andy Reid.
GK: Given
RB: Foley/Finnan/Joey O'Brien
CB: McShane/Dunne
LB: Harte/Finnan
RM: Duff/McGeady
CM: Carsley/Steven Reid
LM: Kilbane/Andy Reid
Strikers: Doyle/Keane

[drinkfeckarse]

Strongest available taem vs San Marino but not our strongest.
Our strongest team wont have O'Shea and wont have Andy Reid.
GK: Given
RB: Foley/Finnan/Joey O'Brien
CB: McShane/Dunne
LB: Harte/Finnan
RM: Duff/McGeady
CM: Carsley/Steven Reid
LM: Kilbane/Andy Reid
Strikers: Doyle/Keane

Won't have Andy Reid in it?? So while everyone excepts that O'Shea has never performed in an Irish shirt and leaves his Man Utd form over there you put in Steven Reid when he is almost as big a culprit in my book.

Massive potential and a great engine, it gets overlooked sometimes that his perfromances for us have only ever been average IMO. If I had to choose one of the two for the centre midfield spot at this moment in time, I'd choose Andy Reid if only for the fact that he has great vision and is better at opening up defences than Steven is.

Different types of players but Andy Reid has been more effective for us.

[cavan_fan]

I'm not sure S Reid has had the run needed to get into the team, would like to see him play 5-6 consecutive games before we judge. Until he gets that his club form is the best guide we have.

By the way although the return of Carsley is great now if the time to develop his successor, we shouldnt wait for him to retire and have no-one groomed. Best option to me might be Joey O'Brien.

[gwhite]

imo our strongest 11, when choosing from a fully fit squad, would be...
GK: Given
RB: Finnan
LB: Harte
CB: Dunne
CB: McShane (If playing regularly for WBA)
RM: A Reid
CM: Carsley
CM: S Reid
LM: Duff
FW: Keane
FW: Doyle

Finnan has to play at right back, it's his best position. Harte is a better option at left back than KK or JOS. His dead ball ability is worth a start. Personally, I think that's a team that can get a result at home to Germany and away to the Czechs...

[Freoch]

Back to the John O shea thing, a few years ago when he had his one good season at united and we were all hailing our future superstar my uncle met the great jos and asked him what does he do with all the money since being so famous an all he doesnt really have to pay for much in Manchester . Oshea told him hed just bought a new bentley and the coolest thing about it was that if you hold the keys and point one finger just the drivers door opens , point two and the two front doors open and so on.
Now i have this picture in my head of oshea sitting giggling beside the car in his front drive pointing different numbers of fingers at it whenever i see him.

That (constant) far away look in his eyes is him wishing he was with his car.

Reckon the distraction of this vehicle has led to the downfall of one of our brightest hopes? Or perhaps you,ve seen oshea in action with his finger pointing? Maybe he just needs help?

[republicofwhite]

Definitely agree with the midfield and up front with that "fully fit" team. Not too sure about Harte though, when he was playing regularly he was as frustrating as O'Shea is now. Very dodgy at times. Big fan of Joey O'Brien(if playing regularly for Bolton) He's got a bit of pace ,bit of a utility player, brilliant workrate and a fantastic attitude. Kilbane definitely shouldn't be around with a fully fit squad. He's been a good servant but its time step down. In his place McGeady should be coming more and more into the picture and becoming an important part of the squad. On his day, he has serious gamebreaking ability, is ridiculously talented and offers something most of the rest dont.